NOTE: at :37 seconds, upon hearing me say, “Do like this (and blow),” he leans forward, almost into the candle and was saying “Mmmm . . . smells good.” Then at about :47, he says, “That’s hot!” and at 1:00, “I turned it off!”

Now.  That should cleanse your palate of all this cakeballin’ nonsense I’ve subjected you to for the past week!

The birthday party was a big time,

I forget every time until it’s actually time to do a birthday party or something with several different “phases” to it how truly bad I am at moving through the schedule.  But I guess you have to have an agenda, even for a child’s birthday party if you want to be respectful of everyone’s time.  We had folks here from East Texas and over Forth Worth- and Grapevine-way, and I felt like I didn’t really get to visit with many of them properly.

We had way too many hot dogs but luckily did not cook them all at once . . . so we have a freezer-ful if anyone can think of a great reason to have a hot dog party anytime soon.  I can’t let them take up too much space in there for too long!

Our church is transitioning from meeting in a local school to a new building that has work yet to be finished on it, so we met at our house this morning.  It was really nice — a fairly large crowd for us, and it felt very warm and comfortable.  We are moving our way through the book of Revelation, and it’s so amazing.  So much to digest.  I need to get a new notebook, keep up with it, love it, and dedicate it to my Bible study notes like I used to — I love coming across those notebooks — they are so important to me.

I have been watching my way through Season 4 of Celebrity Rehab on Netflix, and I just feel my heart hurting for the people in it.  I told my mom the other day that when I watch a show like that, I feel like I am getting tuition-free lab experience.  (And yes, I recognize that it is still television, but I do also believe that those practitioners are experts in the field and that there are many, many people whose lives have been touched by addiction, if only tangentially, and many nuggets of great information can be gathered in watching it).

Watching it reinforces for me the extreme importance of praying for our friends, family, and especially our children that they will seek and find God’s wisdom and shroud themselves in it.  I have certainly benefited from those kinds of prayer in my life.  I won’t lie.

My sleep is getting all whacked out because of finally feeling like I have the energy to do things like write in a blog, organize digital media, etc.  Tonight, I am determined to be in bed by midnight at the latest.  No more single digits anytime soon.

July is officially looking to be one of those months with too much month at the end of the money — probably just a sign that I should be home and get things done around here that life will not allow once school starts back in August.  I’m going to meditate on that one.