i may have even hurdled an old lady

this is the coolest hotel room i've ever stayed in and it's just a shame that no one is here to enjoy it with me. i'm in nashville and tired from a long, crazy day...but we'll get to that in a minute. because back to the hotel - i've stayed here at the wyndham union station quite a few times, but they've done some remodeling. it was a neat hotel before the remodeling, full o' history bc al capone stayed here back in the day. but now my room is great, too. it's all very contemporary and i feel, at this very moment, like a rich person as I sit here on this funky-cool bed w/ funky-cool carpet, furniture, and a big ole flat planel tv all to myself. also, my bathroom has marble tile on the floors and other neato furniture in there.

too bad i have to be down at LifeWay at 7:20 a.m. and I can't enjoy this setup again until after dinner tomorrow night.

so i was on my way to the airport this morning and hit awful traffic. sat still for 1/2 an hour and then putted along for another 1/2 hour, it seemed. i was, for the first time in my life, actually worried that i might miss my flight. which would be bad bc i was presenting first thing today. so even though i needed a restroom facility in a bad way, i kept on going. by the time the express parking driver dropped me off at the first A-terminal gate i could get out at, i headed to the restroom and was ready to do my oj simpson thing through the airport. problem was, they don't let you check your luggage w/in 40 min. of takeoff. so i had to carry on my suitcase and that meant a search at security. they confiscated my hairspray and BRAND NEW tube of gel. but i was off. i raced through the airport and made it to the gate as they were boarding. by this time i was feeling much better bc i had endured a trying situation and emerged the victor. however, about 2 nanoseconds after i sat down in my assigned seat the guy in front of me reclined his chair so far back that i had to put on my reading glasses to read the words on the seatback in front of me: "Please secure seatbelt when seated." i'm telling you, he was THAT close.

i think that's all i have to say at this moment. more later.

the blog is in a lil slump

but i did get an email from a friend that i think will tide us over for a bit...

enjoy.

Jack Bauer Appreciation Day
2007/05/09
Apparently Jack Bauer has been having a rough time of it.
In the last 21 hours, he: Has been released from Chinese custody where he was tortured for months on end, learned that not only was his brother evil but he's now dead (after he tortured him), learned that his father is evil, learned that his beloved girlfriend was also tortured in China after being abducted while on the hunt for him, blew a plan that wound up giving his Chinese captors Russian defense technology and had to violate direct presidential orders, thus getting himself arrested.
And, to top it all off, 24's critics and fans have been dumping on him.
So the folks at Blogs4Bauer decided to soothe Jack's battered soul and declare today Jack Bauer Appreciation Day.

They suggest that, in honor of the intrepid terrorist hunter, his fans should:

1. Give someone your word that you'll do something.
2. Commandeer a vehicle.
3. Whisper (you know, in that husky, menacing Jack way, unless, of course he's speaking to a member of the fairer sex who's not a terrorist, then his whisper is on the softer side).
4. Scream, although your outburst must start with, "D****t!"
5. Boycott Chinese food today.

However I think they're missing a few items. I'd add, 1) Look lovestruck as you gently caress someone's cheek 2) Demand that someone "patch" you through to someone and 3) Angrily shut off your cell phone.
That about covers it.

all is well with The Hopkins. Have a nice day!

pics for mi madre, padre, and anyone else who cares

So we found a landscaper to come through. Here are the pics so you can see our new and improved front yard. And just so ya' know...since Dr. Chapman doesn't mention the Chick-fil-A chicken biscuit in his book, The Five Love Languages, I'm pretty sure my love language is "words of affirmation." So go ahead and comment. :-)

and so it begins

that whole "preacher's kid" thing...we heard that tonight Brandon carried a cardboard box full of Jello Pudding through the children's area at church shouting, "Co-old Beer! Get your Co-old Beer!" i'm swelling with pride. :-/

and Ab had a hard time falling to sleep tonight for the tears she felt necessary to shed on behalf of her sweet Sanjaya. 30 minutes, i tell ya'. That girl is loyal to the bone...you should definitely try to be her friend. After dancing around the room victoriously when S was voted off, B felt bad enough to pray for his lil sis at bedtime. It started off nice, but ended with, "And God, just please help her get on with her life."

:-)

"Junior Sponsor" - I've been living a lie

just when i lose hope in the jack-ness of 24, those writers do something extraordinary to keep the show atop my list of faves. that was some good stuff, you have to admit.

So B is no longer an egg-hunter at Easter time. He is now an egg-hider. This makes me sad, as it is just another reminder that I am getting old. It is actually right for people to call me, "Ma'am", though I never wanted to be one of those. It did bring me great joy, however, to see him heading over to a water sprinkler cover at the end of the hunt on Sunday. He had stashed some eggs in a special hiding place with the intent of securing them for himself after the unsuspecting little children walked right by it. It seems it's not that he doesn't WANT the eggs; it's simply that he doesn't want other people to know that he wants them. 11 years old is greatness. And, as we discuss the "go or don't go" of his final preteen camp, I am reminded of my own entry into the youth group. My mom convinced me that I would be attending preteen camp that year as a junior sponsor. That was the only way I would agree to attend such a juvenile event. In fact, it never even occurred to me - until just now- that I had not actually reached sponsor status that year. It was all a ruse.

Anyway, we're about to enter uncharted waters...dad is dad AND youth minister to son. Which is great for you, as I'm certain the next 6 years will provide much bloggable material.

I Don't Even Really Look Forward to Monday Nights Anymore...

Monday night's episode of "24" was, hands-down, my least favorite episode in 6 seasons. Come to think of it, this is my least favorite season, so it makes sense that the worst episode ever would be in it. And to prove it, I think I'll give you a list of reasons (SO IF YOU HAVEN'T WATCHED IT YET, DON'T READ PAST THIS SENTENCE!)
* Where is Chloe? And when we do get a glimpse, where is that personality that we've come to know and expect?
* Jack was only on the show for about 10 minutes Monday night. What's up with that?
* Storylines that don't make sense:
- are we to believe that the President can be removed from office just...willy-nilly? He gets 1 minute to state his case, the VP gets one minute to make his and, "OK, everybody. We'll get back together in 10 minutes to decide who is King of the Sr. Prom...er, I mean President of the United States."
- That guy chopped his ARM OFF and I don't think he thought that all the way through. Because then he tattled on the terrorist and went out on the beach to die in the sand. Alrighty.
- Nadia, Silver Spoons, and Milo....WHAT????
* We need a mole! We need a mole!

So baseball has started, sort of. If it will stop raining maybe the kids can play in a game. Last night B had a game that didn't count because they had to call it off in the 2nd inning when that monsoon blew in. Good thing about that one, too, because B had just given up his first ever opposite field, over-the-fence monster homerun. So it's like it never even happened.

A got Honorable Mention at Math Pentathlon, which is great since it was her first year to go. The Gold Medalist had 15 points, she had 11. And she had a great time and is already planning to do it again next year.

That Stinks!

So Sanjaya's hair dampened A's enthusiasm for him, but sadly, Chris was her #2 fave. So last night when I went by her room I saw her on her bed pouting. She, quite seriously, said "I am angry with everyone in America right now."

B overheard her and asked, "Is it your least favorite country now?" To which she answered, "No, that's Asia."

Of course, that threw B into all kinds of fit, shocked and disgusted that she doesn't know the difference between a continent and a country. It's always an adventure...


the case for trucks: C took out the seats of my van and went and bought mulch for the flower beds. That was three days ago and my van STILL smells like manure. nice.

a weak attempt to hold your attention

ok, so after the faux-hawk, even A is wavering in her devotion to young, strange Sanjaya Malakar.

and speaking of Thunder, she and C are off to Austin this weekend for Math Pentathlon.

it seems i have nothing else to say about that, so that wasn't a very good story at all, was it?

but this one is informative...I saw a news story about a study on the cleanliness of people's offices. Apparently, your office very well might have more bacteria than the toilet of a public restroom. So I picked up a little prize at Target for Clay yesterday....it's called disinfectant wipes. because ewwwww. wipe down those keyboards, people.

note to self---wednesday blogs are uninformative and boring...

AAAAAAAYYYYYYYYY.....

on "24": I wonder what happened to li'l Ricky Schroeder to make him so mean? I guess it just goes to show that money can't buy happiness.

on "Thunder": now the band has 2 security guards. I think if I were 8, I'd want to be one of "The Poppin' Girlfriends" and would take whatever they could give me, too...Marketing Staff, Accounting, Refreshments, whatever it takes to get a foot in the door...

on spelling: now we play "PelEton" instead of "HORSE" in the driveway, just for grins.

on landscapers: why do people make appointments and then not keep them or have the courtesy to even call? hmmmm? Two weeks into the process of getting someone to put in some beds and still no luck...

on the FIGHTIN' TEXAS AGGIE BASKETBALL TEAM: Gig 'em and WHOOP!

Weird, but Cool

B & A pooled their money and bought American Idol for PS2. It took me a couple of days before I decided to venture upstairs and check it out; mostly I was just enjoying regular chuckles to myself as I listened to them sing. It comes w/ a microphone and works kind of like karaoke. But it also works kind of like guitar hero in that it gives you points for hitting the right notes...it actually detects if you're sharp or flat, and whether or not you hold the notes for the right amount of time. Anyway, I've never been a singer. Check that...I sing all the time. Loudly, mostly in the car. I've even thought that I should probably tone it down because the kids might think that's normal and begin to annoy their friends with loud car-singing when I'm not around. But I can only copycat other singers, really. And mostly only MALE singers. But, I've now played American Idol twice--and been crowned THE American Idol...twice. Once I beat Taylor Hicks and the 2nd time I beat all the other Hopkins.

The coolest part, though, is that the time I was on my way to defeating Taylor Hicks, B was upstairs with me. I was singing unashamedly and was making my voice do some funny things to match the songs I was singing, like on "Crazy Little Thing Called Love" (perfect score!). Anyway, B said this: "You're so weird. But even though you're a weird mom, you're somehow a cool mom at the same time. Some other kids' moms are just weird."

I think that's the nicest thing he's ever said to me. :-)

And A...well, she's going to be a writer like her mom. In all her band preparations, you know she's been writing songs. And they're a little rough, but they have some REALLY deep stuff. She wrote this: "Down in the sea where the ocean goes by I feel the breeze of friendship down in me. Friendship...oooh kindness....oooohhh friendship Yeah..."

Tour de Spelling Bee

Well I learned that when Lance Armstrong breaks away from the pack of bikers, he's actually breaking away from the "peloton", not the "P-E-L-E-T-O-N" as B spelled it. He was pretty upset when he got out in the 3rd round bc he'd spelled that word right before. I didn't even have it circled in his book bc every time I'd called it out he'd gotten it right. But maybe I called it a "Pel-oh-tawn" instead of "Pel-eh-tawn"...i can't really remember. Regardless, I think he learned to go a little slower and think more next time. And he IS planning on a next time. The 1st place winner was also last year's winner and she's done now, because she's an 8th grader. But I'm just going to go ahead and say something that maybe I shouldn't...it seems to me that he'll never crack the top 3 unless he suddenly begins to enjoy words more than the field of athletic competition. The words those top 2 had to spell were ridiculously hard and he wouldn't know them unless he started to pore over the dictionary or read grad school text books. But no matter, the whole experience was really neat, and he can now say that he's been a part of a live television production, in the newspaper, and on TV. That's more than I can say, because the cameraman apparently didn't notice how nice I looked.

I have more to say, so check back later this week.

Gladiator

I was trying so hard to change it up a bit, but here we are again on Monday night...me posting a blog. sigh. it's hard to get out of a rut sometimes. Actually, I'm just killing time waiting on C and B to get home from baseball practice so we can watch "24". Don't worry London, I'm not saying anything else about that. ;-)

If I were just now posting my list called "been there, done that" (april, 2005) i'd add "danced w/ Clay on a yacht in Galveston Bay."

I'd also be compelled to add some other very important things like "Worked in a Wienie Wagon", "Slept in the TAMU VP's house", "Had a Philly Cheesesteak in...Philly", "Dined with Disney Princesses", and "drank a Starbucks White Mocha in downtown Chicago". But all of that is old news by now, except for that yacht part. The weekend was much fun. In fact, we were starting to think about a St. Louis trip this summer since the ski trip thing didn't work, but now the fam has landed on a few days in Kemah followed by an Astros game. good times.

Band Update: Just found out a little while ago that each of the members in Abby's band has a "band name". Are you ready for this? She's "Thunder". Then there's "Lightening" (obviously), "Laser", "Clone", and "K-Slayer". And that's good, because now if that whole Disney audition falls through, they can try to bring back that show "American Gladiators." lim (laughing inside myself)

what does one WEAR to a wedding on a yacht?

I have this little website that details the number of hits my blog gets each day, and I noticed that Tuesdays are big for "because i can". I suppose I've set that expectation the last few weeks, but who wants to be so predictable? Besides that, London Josefys have publicly reprimanded me now twice for my lack of concern over their inability to keep up with America & "24". So what have we to talk about?

I could tell you that I've finished youth VBS '08 materials and am now working on an empty-nester unit called "Living 3:16 in a 9/11 World", but that might bore you.

I could tell ya' that I bought C a Cingular Blackjack for Vday, so he can check my blog from Wal Mart and such ;-) but that might cause you to covet. (You can get GREAT deals at www.wirefly.com if you're interested.)

I could tell you that I found out last night that A and 3 of her friends are in a band. That's right. "The Poppin' Girlfriends" and she and the other "lead singer/dancer" have already written 6 songs. And just the fact that A is a lead singer/dancer is entertaining enough bc...I've heard her sing, and, well, it's not her gift. They got together after school today to rehearse, but 2 of the members were distracted by other things. A said they just played, but "that's OK, because we have 5 years." Their end game is to audition for Disney when they reach the age of 12. Hey, that turned out to be a pretty good anecdote.

I could also tell you that our Sharon is getting married this Saturday on a yacht in Galveston Bay and that we get to be a part of it. But again...covetousness....

The ski trip is off for the kids and me. It got to be too much cost and too big of a hassle to make it work for only 2 days of skiing after it was cut short. The kids are fine with that, though, and C is going to fly back early so he can be at the bee. Did I mention that kids at school have offered him cold-hard cash to cough their names during the televised event...right before he spells a word. those 6th graders....M-I-S-C-H-I-E-V-O-U-S, i tell ya'.

I'm sorry I can't hear you. I'm deaf in my left ear.

Jack's dad puts the "fun" in dysfunctional, don't you think? Clay and I decided last night that he's even more villainous than Nina was. It's up for debate, I'm sure, but definitely...BAD DAD. And who would expect Chad Lowe to be such a conniving evil-doer? I don't think they cast that part well, bc - in my opinion - he doesn't really have the face for it.

Abby and I have been watching the "Little House on the Prairie" dvds from season 1. It's a little less heart-pounding, but it did shake her up last night to see Mr. Ingall's quarry worker friend blown to bits in an unfortunate accident involving dynamite. Graphic violence is everywhere, I tell ya'.

You might be wondering why I'm blogging instead of working, as I should be, right now. It's because the security guy is here to fix us up since we switched our phone over to Vonage. He's in the office (where I wish to be) working; this prevents me from doing the same. But my handy-dandy lap-top at least provides me with the diversion of web sudoku, email, and this here blog.

No big news on the kid-front...Brandon continues to enjoy his new celeb-status at school, saying "I got popular." And Abby, well she's just happy to have Heelys and a brother who can spell it.

I'm going to go now because I think I just went deaf in my left ear. I was walking right under the alarm-sounder-thingy when mr. security guy tested it. Burglars beware...

Bzzzzzzz....

Here's the Ellis County Spelling Bee '07 Champ! Among the words he had to spell were "sitzmark" (i don't know what that means, but he ripped it out like its a word he uses every day) and "magnanimous" and the winning words were "omnipotent" and "credenza". And, in the end, it was down to him and an 8th grader from Ennis. She knew omnipotent, but jumped out there with "o-m-i" and then backed up to respell it correctly. but you can't change letters. So if you're in the Dallas area on March 17, you can watch B on TV for the Dallas Morning News Regional Spelling Bee. He and I will have to come back early from our spring break ski trip to be there.

p.s. thank you to the "24" writers who obviously read my blog and made the necessary changes to give us what we've come to love and expect. the power of print...

:-)

FLIPPIN' SWEET

I think my favorite part of the marriage retreat was Saturday morning, before we left the house. Because Clay came into the kitchen and said, "You ready to go?" with cherry red lips. In the words of Napoleon Dynamite, his lips "hurt real bad." So he had grabbed some of A's Napoleon Dynamite "Flippin' Sweet Cherry" chapstick. Turns out, the stuff goes on more like lipstick, because he looked really, um...transvestite-ish. But I didn't know he had put on chapstick, so in my horror and confusion, I asked, "WHY are you wearing lipstick??" whew. that was a close one. Always, and I do mean ALWAYS look at your spouse before heading out to lead a conference. Because that could have been embarassing. He wiped it off (and kept on wiping, I might add, for at least an hour) and we all had a good laugh. Because, naturally, I shared that story with the whole group.

THE FOLLOWING PARAGRAPH CONTAINS GRAPHIC DESCRIPTIONS REGARDING THE TELEVISION DRAMA, "24". READER DISCRETION IS ADVISED.
I've been somewhat disappointed in this season. Until now, Jack has balanced violence with the utmost integrity. :-) That sounds funny, but you know what I mean. All of a sudden, just 30 min. after saying "I can't do this anymore" he suffocated his brother with a plastic bag for no apparent good reason. Sure, with hindsight we now know that it was for a good reason, but at that point, Jack had no clue whether or not his dad or brother had any information at all about the nuclear explosion. And here we are 2 whole hours later still waiting for something 24-worthy to happen. I'm just not feeling as involved yet this season. Chloe's character has lost her chloe-ness, and although I am a fan of Morris, the goings on at CTU are mostly irrelevant so far. sigh. But in fairness, I guess that's why the show isn't called "6".

i'm baaaaaaaaaaaaaaack

I just clicked on here today bc it's still in my favorites folder and enjoyed reading about myself. And I realized how much fun this page was for me and what a great diversion from real writing it had been. So I'm not promising anything, but you can check back from time to time if you want. Because I might have had something to say that you might find interesting. To get the blog rolling again, let's start with a list. because those are always a crowd-pleaser:

Things That Have Changed Since I Last Blogged:
* I no longer like to mow. But that's ok bc it's winter now.
* Middle school has been good. Except for one mean little bully, B is having the time of his life. He even won the middle school spelling bee and is heading to the county bee on the 13th. tapestried, if that's even a word, will NOT trip him up this year.
* A had a "boyfriend", but she broke up with him bc he made fun of Hannah Montana. the NERVE.
* Cl is the assistant coach of B's basketball team. It's very fun to watch this year bc they're pretty good. And last game Cl got a tech for saying "He pushed him in the back" about a boy on the other team who was trying to play rugby out there. The ref said, "no, he didn't" and Cl said "Yes, he did." TECHNICAL. so that's kind of a fun story.
* We're, along with the other staff couples, speaking at our marriage retreat this weekend. Cl and I have the topic, "Partnering Together in Ministry". bc we're pretty good pahdnuhs.
* For spring break we're all 4 going on the sr. ski trip to winter park, co. both kids are going to ski, so that should be fun to watch. that, along with a mission trip to Mexico, will be our family trips for '07.
* Cl actually got paid for his own writing assignment. The BGCT asked him to write a Super Summer session. He did. And it was very good!
* This morning, it snowed the biggest snowflakes I have ever seen in all my live-long days. They even made a big splat when they hit the ground. oh, and it's very cold and i'm ready for summertime.

ok, well i guess that's it. i'm going to click on my favorites folder again and see what other interesting things I can find before I get to work. Have a splendid day!

death of a blog

i suppose that every blog must come to an end eventually. because i don't want 'because i can' to be the jeff bagwell of bloggerdom, this is the last post on the blog. it has run its fun-lovin' course, becoming a chore rather than the joyous hobby it once was. now we must once again rely upon cell phones and email in order to keep up with one another. here's one last update so you don't have to call right away....:-)

a news:
* hair cut off this past weekend for locks of love. very cute. very older-looking. very hard on dad.
* horse camp in 2 weeks. very excited.
*tonsilectomy july 19. very about time.
* summer softball team invite. very pleased with self.

b news:
* all-stars (baseball). very busy.
* finishing elem. school next week & trading it in for middle school. mom & dad feeling very not so young anymore.
* invitation to first boy/girl party from random girl we don't know. very NO.

c&c news:
* summer of a youth minister. also very busy. and very fun.
* season finales watched. very bored.
* death of a blog. very unsure what to do with self when sitting at computer.

adios.

bacterium

Our first full-family return to Midland in a year and a half was a splendid occasion. good times were had with friends. and might i just add the words La Bodega, Jumburrito, Rosa's and Oscars. :-) sorry to everyone about the little present we left called "streptococcus".

looks like we'll be adding "tonsilectomy" to the calendar for our already busy summer. A has her 7th bout in 12 months. nice!

and speaking of nice, i have a friend who works for the IMB who is always giving me good books to read. I've been on a leisure-reading fast of sorts (b/c of my commitment to prime time TV), but I decided to give some attention to the book she gave me in n'ville last week. It is "Servant on the Edge of History" by Sam Jones, a missionary in Vietnam during the war. It's so good that I have to read it with highlighter in hand. Here is one such nugget that has been especially meaningful and illuminating to me this week:
"I often find myself veering to the left and the right of a thin, almost indiscernible line that runs between caring and not caring, wanting to help and not being able to help. Somewhere in between these two is a place where the missionary must walk with a measure of balance."

exactly.

iffen you lernt yer letters...

i think that tv/books/music definitely influence the mind. i first began to realize this several years back when i was reading some historical fiction from early American history. so immersed in these pioneer stories, i began to begin say things like, "iffen yer pa gits home soon, we kin et supper." yeah, i did get some funny looks.

and now...well, now in my mind the president and his peeps wear neatly pressed suits at 3 a.m. also, i don't know if i'll feel quite safe on my flight to nashville tomorrow, because who KNOWS what could be going on in the cargo hold. but i AM much tougher nowdays because jack is a heavy influence on my life, so i'm sure i'll be ok. :-)

farewell dear Camdens. here are some things i've learned from you:
*don't be helpful, be harmless.
*people actually LIKE it when you get all up in their business
*swim freely in the fishbowl