March 2005 Archives

It never ceases to amaze me the debate that can go on regarding Evolution Darwinism vs Creationism. It is utterly amazing that some people are so threatened by the thought of Creationism that they had it banned from schools. And, the amazement does not end when the debate spreads to the internet and blogs get involved.

I don't get involved in such debates, though. I see no reason to do so. My God is a Mighty God and just because science is learning how to decode the wonderous things my Creator has been able to do, does not change the fact that He created the world. It just means that we are using the brains God gave us to decipher the coding that went into our world and continues to keep it spinning.

So there. :twocents:

And, you can read Boyd's two cents here.

I did something bad to my sims and I don't know what. I know it has to do with a house I installed, but I installed a few houses and I don't know which one caused the problem. But, now when I open my cheat window it runs all kinds of errors. I can still make cheats work, I just have a bunch of weird code in my cheat window.

If I have to uninstall my game and reinstall it, I am going to cry. Really. :(

If you have never heard of e-Sword, I want to recommend it to you now. This is one of a few free Bible softwares available, but I truly believe it is the best one there is. Not only can you download various Bibles that you can compare, but you can also download maps, devotionals, dictionaries, commentaries, charts, topic notes, and so much more.

There is also a ton of features for you to use. You can search the scriptures using key words, you can create your own commentaries and Bible studies, you can copy and paste verses easily between applications, take study notes, print out various pages, and more. This software is amazing and it is free! You pay nothing. All you do is download the modules that you want and install them into the main platform.

I have been using e-Sword for years and highly recommend it. It has helped me so much in my Bible study and research. Let me know what you think.

Oh this little plugin rocks my world! All I have to do is name a verse from the Bible and that plugin will immediately link it for me. Isn't that just cool? :)

Example: John 3:16

Now, if I could just figure out how to get the links to open into a new window. That would really rock! Got it! A very nice lady helped me find the right code to change. Now it does exactly that and it definitely rocks!

The move is done. Both blogs are back up. No url changes. Nothing lost. MT installed. All plugins installed. All entries imported. And, you didn't even realize I had left you!

Yeah. I'm bad. :)

I have 500 megs, can have music on my site, subdomains, all kinds of stuff. It is cool. It doesn't cost a lot. It has worked beautifully up until now. And, the problems I am having with MT suddenly are because of the service I use. I am constantly running server errors. I don't know why.

But, I do know when I tried to reach the people that host me ... they hung up on me. I asked them if they were the name of the host, as they answered the phone with a standard "hello" and they hung up on me. So, I called back and a foreign accent then tells me to email them my username and password.

No ... no ... I don't think so. I need another host quick!

It looks like David has been having issues as well.

Okay, this sucks. I think I am going to have to do two separate installations of MT on my site to handle two blogs. I shouldn't have to. I should be able to have more than one blog on one installation, but since I added another blog things have went wonky.

Today, I cannot change any of my templates. As soon as I click "Save" I get a 500 Internal Server Error. On both blogs. I still cannot despam my blogs using the despam URL in my comment emails. It tells me that page does not even exist. I never had these problems until I added a new blog.

Billy Graham has a free offer this month for Why the Resurrection? by Greg Laurie.

"This book provides a powerful response to the question of life after death by examining the resurrection of Jesus Christ."

Click here to take advantage of this free offer.

Happy Easter!

We just passed out Easter baskets and will be having an Easter egg hunt here this afternoon if the weather permits. Of course, we have a feast planned for today as well. We are grilling tons of ribs, pork steaks, deer burgers, and polish sausages. There will be two kinds of potato salad, baked beans, chips, and deviled eggs as well.

We will be viewing Jesus and The Passion Of The Christ today.

Lots of fun, food, and rememberance. I hope you have a wonderful Easter as well. :)

As he looked up, Jesus saw the rich putting their gifts into the temple treasury. He also saw a poor widow put in two very small copper coins.[a] "I tell you the truth," he said, "this poor widow has put in more than all the others. All these people gave their gifts out of their wealth; but she out of her poverty put in all she had to live on.

Some of his disciples were remarking about how the temple was adorned with beautiful stones and with gifts dedicated to God. But Jesus said, "As for what you see here, the time will come when not one stone will be left on another; every one of them will be thrown down."

"Teacher," they asked, "when will these things happen? And what will be the sign that they are about to take place?"

He replied: "Watch out that you are not deceived. For many will come in my name, claiming, 'I am he,' and, 'The time is near.' Do not follow them. When you hear of wars and revolutions, do not be frightened. These things must happen first, but the end will not come right away.

Luke 21:1-9

From the site, He Chose the Nails:

"The wood. The thorns. The nails. Christ's sacrifice has defined the very essence of mankind's faith for the past 2000 years. Max Lucado invites you to examine the cross, contemplate its purpose, and celebrate its significance with He Chose the Nails. With his warm, caring style, Max examines the symbols surrounding Christ's crucifixion, revealing the claims of the cross and asserting that if they are true, then Christianity itself is true. The supporting evidence either makes the cross the single biggest hoax of all time, or the hope of all humanity."

This Easter, I would like to share with you this site. It features a flash presentation of words and music to stir your soul and remind us of what God has promised through Jesus.

http://www.hechosethenails.net

Today I woke up to a bunch of comment spams and trackbacks. When I went to despam them using the despam link, I kept getting error pages saying that the page did not exist. Is there a bug that I don't know about with MTBlacklist when you have two blogs or some new spam that tricks MTBlacklist?

Oh, and it only occurred with the trackbacks.

Anyone?

If you are one of those people, like I was, suffering from your comment popup window displaying your individual archive page after a comment was posted, let me help you out and save you some searching ...

On the "comment listing" template find the following code:

<MTCommentFields>

Replace it with:

<$MTCommentFields static="0"$>

On the "comment preview" and "comment error" templates, find the following code:

<MTCommentFields preview="1">

Replace it with:

<$MTCommentFields preview="1" static="0"$>

There you have it! When someone posts a comment, it will revert to the "comment listing" template and not the "individual archive" one. :smile:

Guess what? I am weird. My doctor just confirmed it. :laugh:

No joke. In 15 years of OB/GYN practice, I am the first woman he has ever seen to have had a calcified endometrium. And, that is all that was wrong with me. The endometrium makes up three sides. Two sides were normal and one side was calcified. It isn't any longer, though. My doctor said he scraped it all out during the DNC with the egg shell looking thingie ... which was also just a piece of calcified endometrium.

There is no reason to believe that it will calcify again, so as far as the doctor is concerned, I am good to go and there is no reason to believe that my ability to get pregnant has been hindered at all. I am to wait a month before we try to get pregnant so my endometrium can return to normal. But, that is pretty much it.

God is very, very good. LM will be ecstatic. :smile:

From Jesus to Christ

How did a Jewish prophet come to be seen as the Christian savior? The epic story of the empty tomb, the early battles and the making of a great faith.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/7244999/site/newsweek/

So, I was doing a little bloghopping ... trying to catch up ... and came across a couple of neat things that I decided to steal and bring over here. :smile:

I got this from Serenity:

You are a Folkie. Good for you.
What Kind Of Sixties Person Are You?
brought to you by Quizilla

I got this from Kelly:

My name is: Angel
I may seem: a little strange.
People who know me think: I am too nice.
If you knew me you'd probably: like me.
Sometimes I feel: like no one understands me.
My days are pretty: tiring.
Yesterday: I cleaned house and worked on my blog.
In the morning I: get the kids up for school.
If I could be doing anything right now I would be: sitting on a pier in San Francisco.
Money: is something I would like a bit more of.
One thing I don't have that I wish I did is: a house of my own!
One thing I have that I wish I didn't is: a broken down SUV!
All you need is: love. Corny, but true.
All I need is: my own home in the country and a bit more money.
If I had one wish it would be: for every person to know Christ.
Love is: a pain in the butt at times.
If I could see one person right now it would be: my Daddy.
Something I want but I don't really need is: more time.
I live for: my kids and God.
I am afraid of: fire, snakes, and becoming my mother.
It makes me angry when: people are self-centered and selfish.
I dream about: everything.
I daydream about: living in isolation in the deep woods of some mountain region in a log cabin.

God is so good and He loves me so much. He has listened to me cry and pray for two days. He has heard me and He answered my prayer. He has also shown me where I was wrong and how I can correct my behavior and be a better wife to my husband ... praying for my husband, lifting him up in prayer, and involving God in my marriage as He is meant to be.

I am truly blessed.

I have been a on brief hiatus due to surgery. Thank the Lord the surgery went well and everything is okay. Actually, it hasn't been that bad and I have come to acknowledge a basic truth in life.

Darvocets are a girls best friend. :laugh:

Today, I am being interviewed by Donna. I don't know about answering the questions with any kind of creativity, but I will be honest. In return, I will ask five of you five questions in an interview. So ... fess up and admit that you want my silly self to ask you even sillier (than me) questions. :)

1. What do you do when nobody's looking because you don't want anyone to know you do it?
   I play make believe. :) Really. I love it when I have the house to myself. I will pretend I am a famous rock star making videos, an actor on vacation, the maid to a mob boss telling all his juicy secrets to the feds, a FBI agent tracking down a dangerous serial killer, etc. Yeah. I am weird like that. I am also a big kid at heart.
2. What's your most heartfelt wish for your children?
   For them to have a close relationship with God, always stand strong for their faith, be what they want to be, and live in a truly peaceful and compassionate world.
3. What's your favourite TV program? Be honest even if everyone else thinks it's silly.
   I Love Lucy! That is my all-time favorite, but I have to admit that I have been totally eat up with Strange Love. It is like a car wreck. You cannot help but watch! LOL
4. What's your favourite daydream?
   My favorite daydream is also the most favorite daydream that I had when I was a child. I daydream I live out in the wilderness, miles and miles away from any town, in a log cabin. I am a forest ranger and I have lots of pets like a hawk, a wolf, and a chipmunk. Yeah. That is so cool. I even drive a white jeep with a hawk painted on the hood. I am single, have no man, and have no kids. I am totally alone except for the company of the animals and I so love it.
5. In the morning, are you a jump right out of bed and go kind of person or more of a just 15 minutes more kind of girl?
   Depends. Sometimes I am up and at em quick like. Other times, I just want fifteen more minutes. I get up early every day except for on the weekends and then I like to sleep to at least 7 or 8 AM. It also seems that the longer I sleep the more sleep I want.

Now who wants to be interviewed?

Just got this in email and wanted to pass it on ...

Most draconian budget in recent memory cuts social programs by $238 billion over next five years.

Call Congress NOW at 202/224-3121. Tell the Capitol operator your state, and get connected to your senator's office.

If this budget passes:

The program that feeds pregnant women, babies and young children in need will be cut by $658 million over the next four years. That's assistance for 660,000 women and children.

Families who need low income housing assistance won't get it. By 2010, 370,000 fewer families would receive rental vouchers than this year.

Elementary schools (No Child Left Behind) will receive $12 billion less than was promised. Special education programs would lose nearly $7.6 billion in the next four years.

TrueMajority has joined with Children's Defense Fund, the National Council of the Churches of Christ and the entire Coalition on Human Needs to block these cuts.

Our country's budget is a moral document. It shows what we care about and what we value enough to spend our money on. This budget is by no means compassionate. And with the huge deficit engendered by runaway Pentagon spending, it's not conservative, either.

Right now the congressional budget committees are debating the budget. This is the time to let them know your priorities.

Just pick up your phone and call the number. It takes two minutes to call your senator's office.

You don't have to be a policy expert to lodge your opinion; congressional receptionists are trained to quickly and politely record your views. Just call 202/224-3132 and tell the operator what state you live in, and you'll be connected to one of your senators.

To make your call easy, here are some things you can say:

I live in _________, and I'm calling to ask my senator to strengthen programs that help people survive during tough times. Our government should provide Head Start and health care for poor kids. We should provide housing assistance for those who need it. Please, let the Senate Budget Committee know that these kinds of basic programs should not be cut.

Thank you for lodging my request.

Or if you can't call, click the link below and a free message from you to your representative and senators will be sent:

http://truemajority.kintera.org/budgetcallday

Here's more:

The many groups that make up the Coalition on Human Needs have analyzed President Bush's proposed budget and determined that programs children rely on would be cut in unprecedented ways. See http://www.chn.org/pdf/budgetcuts22705.pdf.

Our friends at the Children's Defense Fund assembled a fact sheet with talking points on the proposed budget's effects on children at http://www.childrensdefense.org/action/talkingpoints.pdf.

This newspaper column by Molly Ivins captures the situation in concrete terms: http://www.truthout.org/issues_05/H022105B.shtml.

Via TrueMajority

Too important not to pass on ...

Kentucky residents are facing severe cuts if George Bush's new budget becomes law -- but you can help stop it in it's tracks.

Bush recently unveiled his reckless plan to privatize Social Security, and now he's touting a budget that slashes key programs that help Kentucky's working families.

Bush plans devastating cuts to America's top priorities, from homeland security to health care to education to benefits for veterans and much more. Despite these cuts, this budget is a fiscal disaster, with Bush's trademark irresponsibility pushing America deeper into the red with another record deficit.

And this budget is a huge disaster for Kentucky. Here are just a few of the cuts Kentucky faces under Bush's 2006 budget:

Homeland Security

• The Bush 2006 budget cuts $420 million to state and local funding for homeland security, including a $16.9 million cut for Kentucky. These cuts will take police and firefighters off your streets.
• The Bush budget cuts the COPS program, which has put 1,401 officers on Kentucky streets, by 96 percent.

Health Care

• The Bush budget cuts $45 billion from Medicaid, enough to provide health care to 1.8 million children. Kentucky's share of these cuts is $722 million.
• Bush's budget cuts the very same community and rural health care programs he touted during the campaign, even though more than 29,000 Kentucky residents have lost their health care coverage since Bush took office due to his failures.

Education

• Bush underfunds his own No Child Left Behind Act by $13.1 billion in his budget. In Kentucky, that means a shortfall of $173 million, leaving behind 43,106 Kentucky children.
• Bush promised to fund Pell Grants in his State of the Union address, but his budget is $6.6 billion short. That's $104.6 million less than what's needed in Kentucky, a real burden for the 74,914 students in Kentucky who receive the grants.

Other Priorities

• Bush cuts $17.3 million from Kentucky job training programs in his 2006 budget.
• The Bush budget would require many veterans to pay a new $250 annual "user fee" to use the Veterans Administration health care system, and would double the prescription drug co-payment for the 380,618 Kentucky veterans.
• Bush cuts Kentucky clean water programs by $4.9 million.
• Bush's 2006 budget also cuts the Low Income Heating Energy Assistance Program -- which helps low-income families afford heating fuel in the winter -- by $234.4 million, including $3.2 million cut for Kentucky residents.

And Bush's irresponsible budget is a record $427 billion in the red, increasing each Kentucky family's share of the federal debt by $37,525.

Take Action

Take action today to help stop Bush's disastrous budget in its tracks. Write a letter to the editor of your local paper explaining why Bush's budget is such a disaster for America.

Be sure to include some of the facts about Kentucky above, or download our full report here for even more useful information.

Write your letter here:

http://www.democrats.org/action

And be sure to tell your friends to join in. Forward this email to all your friends in Kentucky, or tell them to find the report for their own state here:

http://www.democrats.org/bushbudget

Sincerely,
The DNC Grassroots Action Team

Now get busy!

As you know, I decided to share with you my Ray Charles box set, The Birth of Soul. Last week y'all got the first CD and this week, you will get the second. I hope y'all are liking this treat. :) I am sorry I am late with it. It just totally slipped my mind.

The second CD is a collection of songs from 1954-1957. These songs are from Ray's Atlantic years and are the best in my opinion. This set especially has some of my favorite songs on it. Ray's combination of gospel and blues made him the grandfather of the music that is nearest and dearest to my heart ... Soul.

Enjoy! :P

• What Would I Do Without You - Ray Charles
• This Little Girl Of Mine - Ray Charles
• Rockhouse, Parts 1&2 - Ray Charles
• Mary Ann - Ray Charles
• Lonely Avenue - Ray Charles
• Leave My Woman Alone - Ray Charles
• It's Alright - Ray Charles
• I Want To Know - Ray Charles
• I Got A Woman - Ray Charles
• Hard Times - Ray Charles
• Hallelujah I Love Her So - Ray Charles
• Greenbacks - Ray Charles
• Get On The RIght Track - Ray Charles
• Drown In My Own Tears - Ray Charles
• Come Back Baby - Ray Charles
• Ain't That Love - Ray Charles
• A Fool For You - Ray Charles
• A Bit Of Soul - Ray Charles

(Click here to go to my Radio Blog instantly.)

You may remember that I blogged about Adagio Teas. Well, I got an email from them saying that they were sending me a sample of tea. I was highly disappointed. I wanted the ingenuiTEA Set and the tea sample. Greedy, I know.

Anywho ... they sent me the set! I got the teapot and four sample teas. Let me tell you ... the tea is da bomb! I have decided that strawberry tea is the best tea ever made. Mango comes in at a very close second.

Someone just got them a new customer. :smile:

I haven't been around much because I have been having a ball with The Sims 2 University. Oh yeah, it is fun. So far, I have sent Johnny and Ophelia, implanted one of the premade young adults, and created my own college student.

What I am lovin' ...

• I love that there are semesters, homework, research, and term papers.
• I love dorm living. It is just too cool.
• I love it that my simmies now have cell phones and mp3 players.
• The new fashions are nice.
• I love the new furniture.
• I especially love the sprinklers.
• I love the new careers and majors.
• The new social interactions are da bomb!

What I ain't crazy about ...

• Semesters go by too fast.
• It takes a lot more effort to become friends now, but the "hang out" option helps.
• Once you are accepted into a Greek House, you have to play all the sims in that house.
• Gameboys take up way too much of a sims time.
• Semester time does not pause when sims are away from the dorm.

Now, I am off to the dentist. When I get home, well it will be time to sim again! :smile:

So, I am standing outside talking to LM when our nephew opens the front door and Jasper bolts out. I did not think nothing of it at first until I noticed that our landlord was in the door of his office across the street. We are allowed to have Jasper, the deposit for him was paid when I moved in, and he is on our lease ... but he is not supposed to be outside without a leash on him.

Leash. Yeah. Whatever.

Anywho ... I go after Jasper and he goes under the truck. So, I get a broom and swipe at him with it causing him to bolt out from under it and towards the door. I go open the door and he goes back into the house.

A few minutes later, the lady who handles the leasing calls me to the office to ask me if they just saw a dog enter my house. I received a letter last week telling me that I had three days to remove the dog from my house ... at which time I informed the landlord that I did not have a dog and could not remove what I did not have. The landlord decided that Jasper was a dog, obviously. Not only that, but he figured he had proof when he saw Jasper bolt out of the house and me chase him back in.

So, I spent a few minutes explaining to these people that my cat is a cat. He is a big cat. Okay, he is a really big cat and can eat some small dogs ... but he is still a cat. In the end, I had to take Jasper across the street to prove that he was indeed a cat.

Silly, I tell you.

Here is something about me that you may not know: I am dangerous with anything sharp. If it cuts, I will cut myself with it. I have numerous scars on my hands, fingers, and other parts of my body from the various sharp objects that have come to be in my hands. I even cut most of my thumb off and had to have it reattached.

Anywho ... I just cut up some squares with my rotary cutter. Guess who is bleeding?

Yeah. That would be me.

I was sleepy by 8 last night. I went to bed at 10:30. I got up this morning at 6 AM. I am ready to go back to sleep now.

What is up with that!?

This has been an ongoing thing for the last week. All I want to do is sleep and it is driving me insane. I am not talking just feeling a little tired and thinking I need a nap. I am talking dead tired, "falling asleep where I sit" sleepy. It makes no sense.

I need to find something to get me busy so I can wake up. I have already washed the breakfast dishes, dusted, and done the laundry. I don't feel like doing anymore cleaning. I guess I could sit down and get to working this quilt and finish watching my Gidget movies. I don't know. I don't even feel like simming.

Oh, the HORROR!

So, I take Donna's suggestion and link to Adagio Teas so I can see what cool prize I can win. The prize is dependant on one's page rank. Does anyone have a clue as to how someone figures out their page rank? I have no clue but I am definitely curious.

Anywho ... I haven't heard anything yet but I am hoping I will soon. I love tea. I drink one gallon of tea a day all by myself. If thier tea is good tea, I could make them a profit all by my lonesome. :laugh:

Speaking of tea ... Lipton has a orange, passionfruit, and jasmine flavored green tea that is da bomb! I mean, it totally rawks my tea lovin' booty. You can't even taste the nasty green tea at all. It is definitely a :thumbsup: in my book.