What We've Been Up To...

Now let me explain what I/we've been up to during my prolonged silence...

Memorial Day weekend: My brother-in-law Matt surprised my sister Steph with a trip here for her birthday. Of course, my sweet niece Maddie (who is four months younger than Morgan) came along. Despite the above picture of toddlers-being-toddlers, the girls had a great time together, and Jonathan & I had a great time with Steph & Matt. We even had a kid-free double date where we went to Wildfish (pricey but really yummy - and this comes from a non-fish eater) and watched Terminator: Salvation. Definitely a memorable weekend that we hope we don't have to wait another two to three years for ;)

Two weeks later: Dad and Mom came down to visit. It's always great to get to spend time with my folks as we don't see them near as often as I like. And now that Morgan is getting bigger, it's even more important to me that Morgan knows her grandparents. While they were here, we visited the President Lyndon B. Johnson Ranch in Johnson City which was free and totally worthwhile. Mom also installed a swing in the backyard for Morgan, and Dad helped Jonathan lay more than 100 pieces of sod. Beyond that, we did a lot of just hanging out together and visiting. It was great. I felt spoiled after having family come twice in three weeks time.


Herbener Family Reunion/Fourth of July: We saw lots of out of town family over Father's Day weekend for a family reunion and the Fourth of July. Morgan became particularly enamored with Jonathan's Uncle Tom (who married us) and Aunt Kay, now known by Morgan as Tom-Tom and Kay-Kay. We're glad they live up in Arlington so they aren't as far away as some of the rest of the family. In fact, we are already contemplating going up to be with them in the fall (as well as catching a Texas A&M game at the new Cowboy stadium).


Visit with Aunt Jenny: Last sumer Jen & I (and Morgan) got together once a month during her summer break. Unfortunately, this last week was the first we were able to get together this summer. As Morgan is older this summer than last, she was able to more fully comprehend just how "special" it is to have time with her Aunt. They read Morgan's recent favorite book (several times), and Aunt Jenny gave Morgan her own private piano lessons. It was so cute to hear Morgan say "Play again Jenny" and "Read Jenny." I grew up with awesome aunts so I'm really glad Morgan is building relationships with hers.

In addition to these things, we have made a few trips to Fredericksburg on weekends, joined the gym and started going three times a week, caught a summer flu bug, volunteered for a week of VBS at our church, and crammed in some CLE and playdates in between it all. Summer fun... Whew, I need a vacation!

Wickedly Cool

So here's a nifty little follow up to our NYC trip a few weeks ago ... remember how we had our credit card information stolen while we were there (which was discovered when we went to purchase our Wicked tickets)? As we had narrowed it down to one of two vendors who possibly perpetrated this offense, we decided it would be um... fair to let them know that they were potentially employing someone with this capacity to defame their business. One of these two vendors was the hotel we stayed in. When notified of said possibility, the manager on duty acted like "Yeah, so? You can't prove it was us. What do you want me to do about it?" Honestly, we weren't jerks about it ... really. When I got home, I posted a review of our hotel on TripAdvisor, my favorite of all travel forums, recounting our experience. No kidding when I tell you, the VP of their Property Management emailed me the next day to inquire further and then asked if he could call and speak to me as well. It took a few weeks but finally last week, he did call. Mr. VP was super cool and very apologetic. AND ... to make up for it, he offered to let us stay at either of their two NYC hotels "as his guest" whenever we want! Cool, huh? We currently have no plans to go back, but I promise you if the right airfare comes along, we'll be heading back to the Big Apple ... and leaving Little Miss with G&G again :)


Also, in the wake of NYC, I recently checked out the Wicked soundtrack from our library and am loving it just as much the second time around. Sadly, I feel like I have forgotten significant parts of the plot already that occassionally shake lose while I'm singing along as Glinda or Elpheba. In fact, I'm really starting to get the itch to suck it up and purchase tickets for one of the June performances of Wicked here in S.A. as part of Broadway Across America. I'm going to start praying for this little gift :)

In further pursuit of my own personal Wicked Mania, I additionally checked out Wicked (the book) by Gregory Maguire and have to say that so far I am whole-heartedly disappointed - nearly to the point where it is ruining the musical for me and I'm tempted to quit reading it just to perserve the integrity of that experience. Can anyone else offer me their thoughts on this?

What's new with Morgan? Well, I'm glad you asked. Her latest obsession is her "puppies" - the two pictured below. She loves to take them everywhere - as seen here eating lunch with her. She also takes them in the car, wherever we go running errands, and gives them rides in her little toy stroller. It's pretty amusing.


One is a husky like our real dog, Sasha. However, she insists its name is Roxie, like our cat. Whatever. Not a fight worth fighting. And the other is Tramp, from Disney's Lady and the Tramp. It does feel a little weird to tell my daughter that her dog's name is Tramp and then to hear her call him that. Does anyone know if this dog has another name?

Blasted blog!

I have to admit I'm growing weary of my blog. I desire to be like so many of my faithfully blogging friends, but frankly I don't have that interesting of a life nor do I have that kind of time. Well, I guess technically I could make the time in the evenings once M is down to bed, but I just don't want to. By that time of the day, I'm tired and want to relax. Isn't that okay? And... since I started Facebook, I haven't wanted to come back to my dusty ol' blog. It symbolizes effort and commitment where Facebook is more like a drive-thru - you're in, you're out, you're on your way. Instant gratification for me and all my Facebook "friends".

But for those faithful few who keep checking in on me (or more likely - my cute daughter), I'm here blogging for you with the randomness of my life of late. I'm warning you; it's lame...

1. What I LOVE Right Now.

Seriously, this stuff is A-Freaking-Mazing! What is it you ask? It's like a miracle dishwashing solution for anyone with hard water. We replaced our dishwasher about a month ago after suffering through many long months of its lackluster performance. However, I was pissed when the new dishwasher seemed to not do much better. About that time, it dawned on me that our hard water was a potential culprit for all the spots and splotches on our "clean" dishes. In doing some research to test my theory, I came across LemiShine. I found it at Walmart for like $2.50. I gave it a whirl, and my dishes (which have a rough finish to them that doesn't clean easily) looked like they did the day I bought them. Brings a tear to my eye even still. I've used it several times since and still rave at how my dishes look. I'm telling you JUST TRY IT if you have hard water!

I told you my life is lame ... and revolves on simple pleasures. Oh, and no, I don't regret buying the new dishwasher ;)

2. What I HATE Right Now.

Yes, it's true I have a complex over this book series. I feel like something must be wrong with me because EVERYONE else I know (and whose opinions I respect) LOVES this series. I just don't. I can't stand it. I read Twilight (Book #1) and hated the first 17 chapters of it (these chapters were mostly about budding teenage romance). The last seven chapters were the only ones worth reading (the ones containing a good vs. evil battle) but still didn't vindicate the rest of the book. I decided I'd start New Moon (Book #2) in hopes that things would get better. Nope. After three chapters, I could see it was going to be more of the same and stopped reading. I will probably watch the Twilight movie when it comes out on DVD later this month to see if I like it any better than the books, but I will likely not finish this series. Plus I have a few good friends (Twilight groupies) who said they'd fill me in ad nauseam on the rest of the story over dinner or coffee - a prospect which sounds infinitely better than wasting more hours of my life on these books. There are just too many other more worthy reads on my list.

So what's my beef with these books you ask? No, it's not the vampires; I don't care about that. Let me see if I can enumerate some of the reasons...

a. The pathetic teenage love story. It's so over-the-top and melodramatic. It's the whole "My Life is Nothing Without You" mantra that makes me want to stick my finger down my throat. This is the same reason I dislike Shakespeare's Romeo & Juliet. I know, again, this makes me weird. And yes, I was a teenager once, but honestly I don't think I ever acted this way over someone I was with. If you knew me back then, please correct me if I'm wrong...

b. The female lead, Bella. The author wants the reader to believe this girl is supposed to be intelligent. Um no. The girl is so irrational in her thought processes and actions that there's just no way. A friend of mine from high school (who enjoyed the series) summed Bella up well: "Bella was so whiny if she had been in the same room as me I would have slapped her."

c. Poor writing. I appreciate that these are Stephenie Meyer's first published books, but her writing did not overwhelm me. And I can forgive a lot for the sake of a good story.

Enough of my rant. I still love all my Twilight-entranced friends and hope they will tolerate me despite my perhaps-too-loudly-and-avidly-stated distate for Twilight :)

3. What Is Going On In My/Our Life Right Now.

A few highlights:

• Morgan turns 18 months on Friday. I can't believe she's already this old...
  
• My youngest sister Kelly gets married in a week. M & I will head up to be with her and the rest of the family next week in preparation. Jonathan will join us for the wedding weekend.
• I've been able to expand my legal practice in the past few months.
• JD & I booked tickets for a four day weekend in NYC to celebrate our 5th anniversary. Grandpa & Grandma Schlueter are going to watch M!!

Well, my friends, that's all I can think of :) Hope that satiates you for another month or so ... until I get inspired to write again!

World Peace or....

At least now I know what's important to God.

Snack Time at Sasha's "Pad"

While I was getting lunch ready yesterday, Morgan decided to kill time by hanging out with Sasha. Sasha usually isn't too tolerant of Morgan sitting on her mat; thankfully, she was distracted by her bone this time. Of course, by time Morgan got up, her fleece pants were coated in white dog fur. Awesome....

Hmmm....Can I try some of that?

In other pop culture news, I have relented and am reading Twilight. Normally I am not a fan of anything in the Fantasy/SciFi genres. However, I was persuaded to read Harry Potter a few years ago and was very pleasantly surprised. So the buzz over this book by people whose opinion I respect got the better of me ... well, that and Kara showing up and handing me a copy of it. I'm about half way through it, and I have to be honest, I'm not getting all the fuss so far. In fact, at this point, I'm annoyed with both main characters who seem to have no depth or substance to them and the extremely adolescent teenage love story. I hope it gets better or I don't think I'll be wasting my time with the other three books in the series (unless I feel the need for some plot closure :). I guess I'll be losing a couple friends after this...

My Thanksgiving Meme

So I'm already thinking about food in anticipation of Thanksgiving!! The whole giving thanks thing is great and all, but isn't everyone's focus really on the food anyway? Okay, and maybe some football too...

I do love food, but more than the food at Thanksgiving, what I also love about the day is that it ushers in the Christmas season in such a nice way. But in an effort not to brush aside the importance of Thanksgiving and rush onto my favorite holiday, I've decided to stop and reflect - on food ... and a little bit on Thanksgiving :)

1. Which do you like better: Cooking at your house, or going elsewhere? Going elsewhere is certainly more relaxing – though I’ve never cooked Thanksgiving at my house and would like to give it a try.

2. Do you buy a fresh or frozen bird? Again … never cooked a turkey but would like the opportunity.

3. What kind of stuffing? Good old fashioned Stove Top – sometimes people get a bit too “creative” when they make it themselves. I don’t want any giblets in my stuffing (Mom!).

4. Sweet potato or pumpkin pie? Do I look like a Southern girl to you? I don’t want no stinkin’ sweet potato pie – bring on the pumpkin!

5. Do you believe that turkey leftovers are a curse, or the point of the whole thing? Modest amounts of leftover turkey are okay. I hate when it gets reintroduced as other dishes though – i.e. Turkey Surprise, Turkey Goulash, Turkey Casserole, Turkey Ice Cream.

6. Which side dish would provoke a riot if you left it off the menu? If at a Kilmer family event, it would be the dinner rolls…

7. Do you save the carcass to make soup or stock? Ewww… carcass.

8. What do you wish you had that would make preparing Thanksgiving dinner easier? A babysitter ☺

9. Do you get up at the crack of dawn to have dinner ready in the early afternoon, or do you eat at your normal dinner hour? We’re noontime Thanksgiving meal people in our family. However, I’ll be making the pies (my contribution this year) ahead of time!

10. If you go to somebody else's house, what's your favorite dish to bring? The rolls (so I know that they’re good ☺).

11. What do you wish one of your guests wouldn't bring to your house? Freaky canned cranberries – you know the kind that come out looking like the can it was in…

12. Does your usual mix of guests result in drama, or is it a group you're happy to see? Good group ‘cause we have a good fam.

13. What's your absolute favorite thing on the menu? Tie between mashed potatoes and rolls.

14. What are you thankful for this year? As always, I’m beyond grateful for the life God has blessed me with. It is filled with my wonderful husband and daughter, awesome parents and sisters (mine and JD’s), a job I love, the good fortune of living in the best country on the planet, and a God who provided it all!

I'd love to see your responses. Fellow bloggers, here's an easy post for ya (especially my NaBloPoMo friends)...

My Camo Kid

Anyone who knows JD & I knows that at this time of year we can often be found out at the ranch due to hunting season (all Jonathan, not me :). This year we've been so busy that this weekend was the first time we made it up. Unfortunately, Jonathan didn't get a deer. However, we were able to finally put Morgan in the John Deere camo t-shirt Aunt Kaye gave her. I decided to accent it with a bit of pink though...

The three trees - you almost couldn't see them, could you?

One of Jonathan and Morgan's favorite pastimes - "wiggle seat"
*Oh yes, the finger/thumb sucking is a recent habit. Boo.

Travelin' Girls

The last week of October my mother-in-law Linda , Morgan and I took a four day trip to L.A. This was a pretty big deal since we went sans our significant others. We managed really well! Even Morgan was a great traveler. Our primary purpose was to visit with Linda's grandmother (and therefore Morgan's great-great-grandmother) who soon will be 107! Granny loved seeing Morgan and couldn't say enough great things about her - in fact, she predicted Morgan will be a valedictorian :) We'll see... It was a great time for all of us. We look forward to going back with the entire family in two weeks for Granny's birthday celebration.

Granny and Morgan pondering the intricacies of a battery charger

Morgan hamming it up on the swing at Venice Beach

Nothing better than chasing sea gulls, right?

Thanks Acorn...

GO VOTE!!

Hey friends! It's FINALLY election day. After 21 months of being inundated with this political mess all over the news, we can finally see an end in sight (praise the Lord!!). Don't overlook what a privilege it is to VOTE and live in this great country. Please get out and vote today - regardless of who you vote for. This is an important and highly polarized election so expect (and don't be deterred by) long election lines. Be educated and prayerful about your choice then grab a bunch of friends and head to the poll!

Voting is your civic responsibility. If you don't vote, I don't want to hear you complain for the next four years, got it? :)

Dusting off the old blog

Sorry folks, I know many of you probably wondered if I survived my 30th birthday since I haven't posted since before then. I did indeed survive. In fact, courtesy of my wonderful husband, not only did I survive, but I did it with style. He (with some help from his family) threw me an awesome surprise party at Carino's. I was completely surprised, and it was a lot of fun. In addition, Jonathan gave me a beautiful necklace to commemorate my milestone birthday.

Since then, life has just been busy - a good busy mostly. Thanks to you faithful blog-checkers who have continued to stop by looking to see what I was up to. I hope to be better about posting updates in the coming weeks. I already have requests for more Morgan video so I'd better get busy. So don't give up on me ... and never fear, I haven't had the 30 mental breakdown some experience :)

I'll "talk" with you soon. -B

I'm a Slave.

That's right, I'm a slave to my planner. I can't live without it! My mother has always had one, and I always wondered about its necessity growing up. And now here I am ...

Funny thing is I never used one while I was working, but now that I stay at home I find I need it. The inherent problem with planners is that they show you just how much time you have left to fill. And so I try and try to make sure all my minutes are utilized, and when someone asks if I can, my planner seems to say, "Sure you can; you have space on Wednesday afternoon." It's really a killer!

Instead what I really need is to schedule time to rest and spend time with those I care about. As I was in my car today listening to one of my favorite sources of inspiration, Sara Groves, her song "Just One More Thing" played and reminded me about keeping perspective of my time. Below are the lyrics; I particularly love the chorus. The emphases added are mine.

There's always just one more thing
There's always another task
There's always I just have one more small favor to ask
And everything is urgent and everything is now
I wonder what would really happen if I stopped somehow

I'll be there in a minute
Just a few places to go
You wake up a few years later and your kids are grown
And everything is important
But everything is not
At the end of your life your relationships are all you're got

(Chorus)
And love to me is when you put down that one more thing and say
I've got something better to do
And love to me is when you walk out on that one more thing and say
Nothing will come between me and you
Not even one more thing

There will never be an end to
The request upon your time
It's your place to stand up and tell the world
You've got to rest awhile
And everything is important
But everything is not
At the end of your life your relationships are all you've got

And love to me is when you put down that one more thing and say
I've got something better to do
And love to me is when you walk out on that one more thing and say
Nothing will come between me and you
Not even one more thing

That being said, one of the things noted on my planner this week is helping out with our church's Vacation Bible School. The theme is Veggie Tales' The Pirates Who Don't Do Anything.


This is definitely one of the more worthwhile things I've chosen to spend my time on! If I'm going to invest my time and energy, I'd like to put it into something that has potential to have lasting effect - what better way than to plant the word of God and the love of Christ into a child!

Hope you all find the time (or make it if you have to) this week for those you most value in your life or who could be benefited by just a little more of you in their lives :)

**And for those of you who haven't listened to Sara Groves yet, I'd love to lend you her CDs!

Thankful for...

1. A little relief from the busyness.
I finally had two days last week with absolutely NO commitments or obligations! One of those days I didn't even leave the house just to enjoy it :)

2. Time to catch up with friends.
Morgan and I were able to resume our playdate with Kristi and Audrey after a several week hiatus, and Amanda and I enjoyed an extremely tasty breakfast at Magnolia Pancake Haus. I had the most wonderful apple cinnamon waffle ever ... and they even gave free pancakes to Annabelle and Morgan! Could I love MPH anymore?

3. A small group babysitter.
The Newcoms have two new family members so we now have six kiddos in our small group. Kelly brought Christina, one of her pharmacy employees/all-around hardworker/superstar, to watch the clan. She is incredible with kids; I could seriously use a lesson :) AND I was able to secure a full-time sitter for future meetings.

Anyway, why is this super you may ask? It meant all the adults/parents were able to participate in small group without anyone having to miss out in order to watch the kids.

4. A LONG overdue date night with my husband.
Ian and Kara graciously watched Morgan so we could enjoy this privilege. We went to Texas Roadhouse for dinner and then saw Wall E. We tried to brainstorm the last time we had been to a movie just the two of us, and we couldn't even remember! It was so nice... I'm ready to do it again :)

5. Three mornings of prayer time with Jonathan.
We've fallen out of this habit of late and are trying to get back on track. After only three days, I can already see an improvement - we both find we feel a lot better and relate better with one another when we make this investment in our relationship with God and each other.

6. Time to see THREE movies: Sweeney Todd, Singin' in the Rain, and Wall E.
This never happens - maybe one movie but not three! (For those of you who are curious, Wall E is just okay. I say wait until it comes to DVD. And for those of you who saw it, do you agree with me that the underlying message is "Recycle or you'll get fat"?)

7. Morgan has started standing all on her own.
Though not for very long ... which is why I don't have any pictures to post of it.

8. The Fourth of July coming up.
I don't know why I like this holiday so much; I just do. We live in such a fantasticly blessed country, and my heart always swells with pride when we celebrate the Fourth. I think it's all the patriotic music :)

So what are you thankful for?

Rockin'

So I'm totally shocked (and thrilled!) that David Cook won American Idol last night. As JD and I sat down to watch it, from the very beginning I kept saying, "I'm so sad David Archuleta won." Yeah, I'm an optimist :) Needless to say when they announced that Cook beat him, I was in awe. In our experience with AI, the teeny-bopper vote usually dictates the winner. I don't think that was the case this time around ... for which I'm really glad because if David Cook didn't win Jonathan said he wouldn't watch the show for a third [next] season (as he was pissed about Jordin Sparks winning last year).

Now I'll be anxious to hear what kind of music he puts together for his first album. As one last "hurrah", here's a little Cook action from last night:



By now you must be thinking that I'm probably going to go into withdrawl since Idol is over. Oh no! In fact, AI was just a warm up for my favorite guilty pleasure reality show of all time ... So You Think You Can Dance. SYTYCD for short :) I used to be ashamed to admit I liked this show, but no longer. Mostly because I've acquired a few friends who support and share my addiction. If you have never seen it and are a Dancing with the Stars or Idol fan, I encourage you to check it out. It premieres tonight on Fox. You might just be surprised to find you like it ... in which case you can join my fan club!

Jealousy

No, this isn't what it seems; Sasha did not urinate on Morgan. (If she had, she would be now be residing at the pound.) In fact, Sasha seems to really like Morgan - mostly to lick and occasionally smell. And Morgan really likes Sasha as well - which means I'm never getting rid of that dog! What's actually happening here is that Sasha is stepping over Morgan while the two were playing together on the floor. This just happened to be the shot Jonathan captured while snapping photos of their playtime. Lovely...

We returned yesterday from a quick trip with the family to L.A. for the weekend so stay tuned for a picture-filled account of our travels (once I have more energy to write it!).

My heart is broken

One of the great losses of living in Texas as a displaced Midwestern girl is the absence of one of my favorite foods - sweet corn. Having grown up in Illinois with the majority of my relatives being farmers, I was able to enjoy sweet corn in many forms for several months of the year. In fact, we would eat it until we were sick of it ... and then eat it just to get rid of it.

Since I left, my awesome aunts now go to the effort of shaving it off the cob, freezing it, and then pulling it out at Christmas time for me since it is the one time of year they know I will be home to enjoy it. It has become one of the things I look most forward to at Christmas dinner!

I like sweet corn best right off the cob. I enjoy the process of husking it, preparing it, and then buttering and salting it to perfection. Ask Jonathan; I'm a pro. He even has me doctor up his ears (corn that is) :)

Now I know you Texans will try to tell me I can get corn at HEB. And let me tell you NO; it is not the same. NOTHING can replace the perfect sweetness and juiciness of Midwestern corn. Yes, that's right, NOT everything is better in Texas (contrary to your indoctrination).

So here's my great sorrow ... it seems my beloved daughter does not share my passion for the most wonderful of all vegetables. I have twice now tried to feed her a baby food called Sweet Corn Casserole, and both times she has acted like I am forcing her to eat nails. Granted it doesn't look too good and I sure as heck am not going to taste it to see if it resembles the sweet corn I love. But really? I guess that's what I get for birthing a daughter who is a true Texan. I can only pray she will some day see the error of her ways. (Sigh)

I [Heart] Grass

...particularly my grass right now because it is green! In San Antonio, you have to enjoy your lawn when it actually looks like a lawn and not a barren desert wasteland of brittle straw. What makes it even more spectacular is that it's freshly mowed. That was done for the first time this season yesterday afternoon (and was LONG overdue; I had to bag the grass after just one pass around the backyard!).

I have to admit, I really do enjoy mowing my lawn. I did it as a job while I was a pre-teen for some elderly neighbor ladies and wasn't a huge fan then (imagine that...), but it has developed into something I actually had to fight this year to do. Last summer we had a neighborhood college student and a lawn service taking care of that duty while I was big and pregnant. So Jonathan actually had to tell both of them that we don't need them this year. Bottom line: I'd better live up to my claim to "want" to cut the lawn or else I am going to be the one groveling for them to come back :)

I seized the opportunity today after church to snap a few pics of Morgan (on her seven-month birthday) on our beautiful lawn. It's not Masters quality grass like I'm seeing on TV right now, but I will enjoy it nonetheless! As you can see, M likes the grass too :)

The New Michael Jackson

Yeah, so David Cook is my choice for the next American Idol. He totally changed and yet rocked Michael Jackson's "Billy Jean." It's not on YouTube yet, but I'm sure it will be as soon as some tech nerd can get it done. Totally worth checking out ... as well as his last few weeks' performances.

Kristi Lee Cook has to go! She's sneaky though in that she sang "I'm Proud To Be An American." I mean really you'd have to be a terrorist to vote someone off who sings that song, right? Also on my "blah" list are SaYESha and Ramiele. The Aggie and the Aussie aren't doing it for me either. I'd trade any of them to have Rocker Chick back.

Oh yeah, and David Cook looks like my friend Brian Jones so maybe that's another reason I'm rooting for him. I'll see if I can get a good comparison photo. Brian's wife, my good friend Kristi, thinks I'm on crack though she admits a slight resemblance. Just imagine David Cook as a lawyer who grew up in Waco, Texas.....

3/26 Postscript: Tech Nerds unite! Here's the YouTube video:



I'd like to say he's the "white" Michael Jackson, but well ... you know the problem there.

The Easter Effect

It's funny how Easter and Christmas bring non-church-going people into church. Is it to please family, maintain some sort of tradition, because they understand that but-for Jesus neither holiday would exist or because they somehow feel guilty or convicted into going? Regardless the rationale, I'm glad they go. I just hope that whether or not they believe the stories about Jesus' birth, death and resurrection they see the hope and peace that those around them who do believe experience and desire that for themselves.

I was reading the newspaper yesterday and came across an editorial by Garrison Keillor. In case you don't know who he is, Keillor is best known for his radio show "A Prairie Home Companion" in which he tells very down-home, folksy tales of fictitious Midwestern town Lake Wobegon. You may be more familiar with the movie knock-off of his radio show that came out a few years ago. Anyway, I can't say I'm a Keillor fan, but the editorial's title, "Keillor: A pagan's thoughts on Easter", intrigued me. However, the title was not nearly so intriguing as Keillor's statements within the article. Here are some I found insightful and thought-provoking:

Holy Week is a good time to face up to the question: Do we really believe in that story or do we just like to hang out with nice people and listen to organ music? There are advantages, after all, to being in the neighborhood of people who love their neighbors. If your car won't start on a cold morning, you've got friends. (So true. Ask anyone in my small group...)

I don't doubt God's existence - there He is - but I doubt His interest in us right now and I haven't the faintest idea what He wants from me.
(I think A LOT of people feel this way - that God is real, but far off and uninvolved in "my" life.)

[Peter] repented. I would too, but not quite yet.

Skepticism is a stimulant, not to be repressed. It is an antidote to smugness and the great glow of satisfaction one gains from being right. You know the self-righteous - I've been one myself - the little extra topspin they put on the truth, their ostentatious modesty, the pleasure they take in being beautifully modulated and cool and correct when others are falling apart. Jesus was rougher on those people than He was on the adulterers and prostitutes.
(I'm still not sure where he was going with this chain of logic though I feel like he's trying to justify his unbelief.)

So I will sit in the doubter's chair for a while and see what is to be learned back there.

And that dismal statement is the tenor which Keillor's article ends on. I find this sad because it means Keillor has not understood or experienced what life in Christ is truly like. However, while he is a self-proclaimed "doubter", I find it encouraging that he isn't sitting still in his doubt. For example, in this same article, he talks about reading the Gospels in order to better understand the whole God thing. I pray he and all who truly seek find what they are looking for.

Any thoughts - either way?

Here are a few pics from our Easter weekend spent at the ranch with JD's parents and grandparents:

Our sweet bunny

Morgan loved the steering wheel of the big John Deere tractor

That's right, we're all wearing John Deere hats on a John Deere tractor :)

Morgan's first ride on the tractor

Stereotypical Voter

Here are just of few of the curious things that caught my attention while early-voting last week as I surveyed the other voters around me:

Jaguar, Minivan, Farm truck.
Christian fish emblem, yellow ribbon magnet, cattle guard.
Hispanic, African-American, White.
"The next generation", Generation X, Baby Boomers, and those so old they don't even have a moniker.
Complainers, contemplators, changers.
Cowboy hats, khaki pants, post office uniform.
Aggie, Longhorn, Cowboy. (This is definitely the Texas primary!)
Military crew cut, blue hair, weave.
Baby stroller, walker, school bag.

As I noted each of these characteristics, I tried to contemplate what it said about who these people would be voting for for President. However, it occurred to me that those characteristics I couldn't see speak as loudly as those I could. For example, I don't know these people's family histories, health issues, financial portfolios, or religious affiliations. I don't know if they have loved ones serving in our military or have suffered some sort of loss at the hands of our government. While I enjoyed my experience people-watching, I was challenged about the detriment of stereotyping and how my "false read" could affect how I treat and relate to people.

However, I had to wonder what the lady in front of me in line was thinking about me when she offered to get me a sample ballot and brought back the Democratic one. When I look at myself, I see someone who is nearly 30 years old, white, a lifelong Christian, stay at home mom, lawyer by training, married to another lawyer who works for a big firm. But how do others see me?