Random Things from My Weekend - April 12th

• Heidi sold our recently de-commissioned car seat Friday to one of her coworkers. We used some of the money to take the boys out for breakfast at McDonald's. We haven't done that in a while. It was fun. They can really eat pancakes.
• We met an older lady there that was raising her grandchild. We just talked and talked and talked. Her circumstances were unfortunate, but the result was beautiful.
• Saturday night was poker night. I lost, but still had fun.
• My wife and I started watching the True Blood HBO series on DVD. Heidi has read most of the books. I've only read the first. Of course the show deviates from the source material. We're enjoying the show.
• One of the great benefits of not paying for cable has been watching an entire television series with my wife as slow or as quick as we please. We're still working on Arrested Development, and I'm on season three of the X-files.
• I think someone should launch a movie based on a book with the tag line: "We didn't change a thing." I just want to see if it will work or not. Movie producers say it won't, but if the source material is good enough to gain that much attention… I just don't get it.
• I've never really watched porn (please don't send me emails about this statement), but I think True Blood could be flirting with what constitutes soft core porn. Of course, what do I know? And, I'm not being judgmental.
• We finally celebrated my dad's birthday yesterday. He cooked us ribeye steaks on the grill. I made him this illustration and gave him a pound of cherry smoked bacon for his gifts.

• Today, at the grocery store, Owen wanted me to make sure we bought some steak.
• We flew our old Buzz Lightyear kite too. It soared higher than we've ever had it before. Then it crashed to the ground, and we couldn't get it in the air again. It was still really cool.
• Owen watched a hawk scoop a fish from a river on PBS today. He wanted to know why the bird was doing that. I explained that the bird would soon eat the fish, just like he enjoyed eating fish. He said that the hawk's fish looked different. I explained that it hadn't been cooked the way that he was used to. He replied, "Oh" in a doubtful tone. I hope he'll continue enjoying fish.
• Gage now knows his lower case letters. I caught him singing along with the Elmo song last week. When Elmo came on screen and said, "Hello," Gage replied, "Hi!" This morning he was doing pretty good singing the ABC song. We were worried about his speech for a while, and he has an appointment next week with a therapist, but I'm a lot less worried now.
• I think I've been going through a "dark night of the soul." In faith based circles, it's a time when God can seem absent. Brennan Manning says it's a time when God asks whether you're in love with Him or just in love with what your faith can do for you? Do you love the gifts or the gift giver? These times can either draw you closer to God or drive you away. So far, I'm feeling closer.
• I'm also feeling like the night is coming to an end. Church is feeling more like home again. Friends are getting more numerous again. Prayers are being answered.
• Hallelujah.