10 Years Old Today!

Today is a very special day for us as our oldest daughter turned 10 at 4:11 AM this morning. Double digits now. Growing into the young lady I know her to be. Soon to be a teenager.

But no matter what, she is still my princess, and will always be. Happy Birthday Princess, Daddy loves you very much.

Blog Contest Winner! -- Money Games

A while back I entered one of the blogging contest, this one on It's a Woman's World, maintained by Petula, for a chance to win a copy of the book Money Games written by Randy Petrick.

Mr. Patrick decided that two winners were not enough, and since he really wants to help people out as much as he can, he decided to give everyone who entered this contest a copy of his book! I was really surprised, but after reading more about him, I can understand why.

The book arrived yesterday, and upon opening it up, I found he had signed it with a personalized greeting on the first page, had included a personal note written to the group of people he sent this batch to, as well as bookmarks. I was impressed.

I will be reading this book over the next couple of weeks and then writing up a review of it.

Stay tuned and thanks for reading!
Eric

Wednesday's Musings

All my life I have been a creative person. I didn't have a whole lot of friends growing up, so like any other introverted child, I invented them. But not one friend, I invented whole worlds, with governments, wars, people, storylines, the whole nine yards. I even wrote a short novel at age 12.

I have written other novels over the years, but never tried to publish them. Sometimes I wonder if I should have. Now however, I plan on doing that. Try to publish the one I am working on now.

I am working on a Christian Suspense/Horror novel at the moment (Yes Virginia, that is a real genre in fiction.) and this is the one I want to try.

Now, it is nowhere near being finished, or for that matter, the main writing hasn't even started. I am currently on writing the notes for the story. Notes on the town it's located in, the characters involved, and the basic story idea. Right now I am up to 48 pages of written notes. Novels do take planning and preparation.

So I will keep you up to date on this. It's a long term project, one I expect to have completed by this time next year. Who knows, perhaps I will start putting some of it on here for feedback.

So have a great day and as always, thanks for reading.

Eric

Tuesday's Ramblings

I have had issues with my weight for most of my life. I was extremely heavy in High School, and through most of my adult life, with one period of time in 1999 to 2001, I have been over 300 pounds. Dieting is hard for me, as I tend to eat out of habit, or as an emotional crutch. I do like to exercise but I tend to stop long before I get back into the habit of it. Usually it's because of a lack of time.

But those are excuses and I know it.

So I am going to do this again, and this time it is a contest. Between me and my best friend, to see who can lose the most percentage of body weight before summer. I would like to be able to put on a swimsuit without having to cover up completely with the overly large t-shirt because I am too embarrassed, or don't want to embarrass my family.

So I weighed in and set the Weight Watchers scale up to maintain my weight and track my weight changes on Saturday. I do have a blog for weight loss and training, and will go back to that and use that to mark all of the stuff I do to lose weight. You can access it here or on the Training button above.

So the weigh in this morning had me down 8.7 pounds. It's all water weight, but hey, it's a start.

Manic Mondays

So I am working when my wife calls and says check out her site. I see pictures of my two daughters. I told her I was going to steal them and put them on my blog here. She will just have to take others. These are mine!









What can I say? I am blessed with two very beautiful children!

Spiritual Sunday

I am currently doing a study on the book of Proverbs. Now I do realize that most people recommend that you simply read a chapter a day to get through this book, but I am trying to not only read through it, but study it verse by verse. I want to really dig deep and learn and understand.

To that end, I am using a really great site I came across called Biblos.com. I am using their lexicon with a multiple translation of the particular verse I am on at the moment. (I highly recommend it.) I am particularly interested in what the actual words meant in the original languages. To me that helps me to gain an understanding I might not otherwise have.

One of the things I have gained is that in first couple of chapters, Christ is pointed to. I noticed that if you substituted Christ for the word wisdom, it really made sense to me. As I was seeing this, I had to read other parts of the Word to see if I was on the right track. So far I believe the Word backs up what I thought about this. I will be posting the scriptures a little later on, to show what I saw.

I realize the most people do not read their Bible, let alone study it, but it is something that I would suggest you do.

Valentine's Day Recap

So Valentine's Day has come and gone and overall it was a really good one. My main present for my wife was me cleaning the kitchen and working on the house. I thought, flowers die, cards get thrown away, and candy gets eaten, but a clean house lives on...for a least a day!

Later on we had a family dinner. Our family, plus my wife's mother and father, and her grandfather as well.



I would like to draw you attention to the chandelier. My wife is quite the artist when it comes to decoration.



The food was fabulous, with a chicken cordon blue casserole, asparagus, green beans, home made bread, with a lemon cake for dessert. My wife outdid herself.

It was a great family night.

Happy Valentine's Day!

I wanted to take this time to wish everyone out there a very Happy Valentine's Day today.

Guys, if you haven't done so, make this a special day for your better half. If you have daughters, then do that for them too. Just remember, it does not have to be something extravagant, it could be as simple as washing the dishes, folding laundry, whatever. If you do something extravagant, then great! If you have forgotten, get your butt to the nearest Walgreen's or CVS and get her something quick!

And don't just stop there after midnight. Keep doing things. Fill that love tank. You'll be glad you did.

So Happy Valentine's Day!

Free Form Friday

I was able to do something I haven't been able to do in a very long time. I was able to take off from work for a little while and visit my daughters at school just in time for their Valentine's Day party.

Now, my youngest had already asked that I come, even though I didn't find that out until about 11AM this morning. So I asked, and was told it was fine. Later on, when Mommy asked her if she was surprised that I was there, she told mommy "No, I knew he was coming." How is that for faith?

Here is a photo of my youngest at the party:

Now my oldest was very surprised, and very embarrassed. It was like "Oh NO! Not my daddy!" And to top it off, I had to go and give her a quick hug and kiss on the top of her head in front of her friends! (Bad Daddy! Bad Bad Daddy!) I think she was glad to see me. I think.
I will have to say that fourth grade has changed quite a bit since I was in that grade.

I wasn't able to get a picture of my oldest, as the party had already ended when I got there and they were in clean up mode.

But it was a fun time and I was grateful to be a small part of it.

Thankful Thursdays - Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Edition

I keep thinking of the things I am thankful for and every time right up there with salvation is my family. My wife and two daughters. They are worth every sacrifice, every drop of sweat, and everything I can and will do in my life.

And thankfulness includes giving up certain things. Not just because as a follower of Christ I am commanded to (you'll understand in a moment), but because of my family and what they mean to me.

I subscribe to Sports Illustrated and one of the most anticipated issues is the annual swimsuit issue. Men you know what I am talking about.

So my wife calls me right before I left for work yesterday and told me my "porn" magazine had arrived. I was a little confused to say the least, and then she explained to me what she meant. I have to admit, that there was a part of me that really wanted to see that issue. And it was waiting for me when I got home.

I opened it and saw a glance of one of the pictures and closed it again. I couldn't do it. What kind of message would that send to my daughters? That for them to get attention from a guy they would have to look like the women in the magazine, or dress (or undress) like them? Would they think that their self-esteem or self-worth had to come from being like that, looking like that, dressing like that?

And how would my wife feel if I started looking at the women in it? I know what I would think if she looked at well tanned, buff and cut guys in skimpy outfits. I want to have more respect for my wife than that, and not only tell her, but try and show her and my daughters what a true, loving husband and father can be like. I may not have had one growing up, but I want to be one.

I threw it in the trash and covered it up with the other garbage.

So I am starting off this particular type of posting then, this Thankful Thursday, by saying I am thankful for my wife and daughters, and their love for me.

Last Couple of Days

It's been interesting the last couple of days. The girls and I have played some more, mostly wrestling, and I wound up with a really terrible headache. I think it may have been an increase in blood pressure, but I'm not sure.

Then last night we had a line of storms blow through. Tornado sirens were going off, the wind whipped the trees, and hail rained down. We had to wake both the girls and move them to our safe location in the house. We don't take chances in times like that. After we moved them, we brought our laptops into the living room because the dish had gone out because of weather.

Now I used to be a storm chaser in Missouri about 10 years ago, and I have seen my share of bad weather, and last night, for the month of February, was pretty bad. I do count ourselves blessed, as the apparent tornado/straight line winds apparently skipped us, then picked back up to the east of us. It was almost as if we had a bubble around us. But that is what prayer is all about.

Anyway, that is basically it for the last couple of days.

Manic Monday Night

Okay so I was excited to have the very first thing I won on a blogger giveaway arrive.



I had entered to win this particular contest, because I thought my youngest daughter would enjoy it.




And for awhile, she did, and so did her big sister.


But eventually my youngest grew bored with the game and it turned into a contest with my oldest as a memory game. A good learning experience that she took as a challenge and I am proud of her for the results.

Then we decided that was enough and we wrestled for a while. Why? Well, my oldest backed her rear end up to me and farted. You have to love the affection in our family. So it turned into a farting contest between me and my two girls, wrestling all the way.

Eventually we all settled down, at the "request" of mommy and my oldest and I sat down and looked at Microsoft's Astronomy application on my laptop.

Then it was bedtime. Another Manic Monday night at my house.

Manic Monday

I am tired this morning.

Here at work we are implementing a new application I wrote and it was supposed to go live this morning. My co-worker that does the process my app replaces didn't get the memo and did the process manually. So I got here at 5:45 and will be here till 4 this afternoon. And I get to repeat it again tomorrow morning, to ensure everything runs smoothly.

I'm not mad or anything, except at myself. I should have made sure everyone knew we were going live.

But at least I beat the traffic, and I got more time in for my morning Bible study, so there is a silver lining to all this.

Hope your Monday is better.

A New Blog For Giveaways

After being turned on to entering blogger giveaways by my wife, I finally decided to split off the giveaway stuff from this blog into a new blog. This blog, named Dad To 2's Giveaways, will be a listing of giveaways from other bloggers, as well as listings from me for items that I will be giving away from time to time.

The final transformation will take place in about 10 days, so bare with me on this, as I am still entered in some contests from this blog.

I have also added links under my header to the new blog as well as my wife's blogs so please go and visit them as well.

Thanks!

If You Have Kids, You Need This

It's called a Medibag 4 Kids and if you have kids, you need this.



You can win it over at LadyBugSoup. I suggest you go and enter.

Win Tools From Loggerhead!

Have you ever heard of LoggerHead Tools? I hadn't either until I stumbled across Lacie's blog and saw she had reviewed some and is giving away some as well.

She is giving away this:



Now, don't get all excited because of the flowers and the card. This is meant to be given away as a gift to someone. Like a valentines day gift to your spouse or whatnot. So guys, look at the tools and overlook the other stuff. Gals, look at it as a great thing to give to your husband or dad or boyfriend. This prize is valued at 74.95

So, head over to her blog and enter. Good luck.

Shower Curtain Giveaway

I know, you must think I have lost my mind entering in to win a shower curtain. But this one is really cool! Take a look!



The maker is Izola. ihchicky over at Everything Up Close is giving one away. Go there and enter...Good luck.

Politics as Usual

I did say that I would blog about politics every now and then. This is one of those times.
President Obama has promised "sweeping reform" in that lobbyist would not be allowed in the white house. He even signed an executive order to that effect. What really wasn't said was that he could make exceptions.

Here is one exception: William J. Lynn III, an ex-Raytheon lobbyist who is nominated as deputy defense secretary.

Then there is the problems with government officials being investigated by grand juries, such as Obama's first choice for commerce secretary, New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson.

And let's not forget about those nominated who have "forgotten" to pay federal and state income taxes:

1. Nancy Killefer, who failed for a year and a half to pay employment taxes on household help.
2. Timothy Geithner who was confirmed as Treasury secretary despite not having payed $34,000 in income taxes.
3. Tom Daschle who has not paid close to $130,000 in taxes for a car and driver service over three years.

Now, I don't know about you, but if I were to do something like that, the IRS would be all over me, in court, with liens, the whole nine yards.

President Obama needs to keep his word. Replace the new Treasury Secretary who could not figure out Turbo Tax online, and didn't pay his taxes, withdraw Daschle's nomination, as well as Lynn's, and then nominate people who are honest and pay their taxes.

Show America that you keep your word Mr. President. I said I would give you the benefit of the doubt and see what you would be like. So far I am not impressed.

UPDATE:
Daschle has asked Obama to withdraw his nomination. Maybe Obama's team will do a better job of vetting candidates now.

Anyone Want a Free Breakfast From Denny's?

Okay, I have to admit that I frequent a lot of blogs belonging to Moms. One of the main reasons is that Moms tend to find the best deals. For example, the blog Your Coupon Buddy has posted about Free Breakfast at Denny's happening tomorrow. Go get your grub on and have breakfast on Denny's.

Win A Camera!

Do you want this camera? Here is your chance to win it! Go to GERRITNOW and enter in to win! You have until February 22nd.

Good Luck!

Another Giveaway for Guys!!!!

I have found another giveaway for guys! Unbelieveable I know, but go over to Debbie's blog at GERRITNOW and enter in for a chance to win a Columbia Sportswear Men's Steens Fleece.




The contest ends tonight at 11:59 PM so you better hurry!

It's Official -- My Blog Makeover

If you have seen my blog before, you will notice a lot of changes. Gone is the black, dark, serious blog I have kept for almost 3 years. Instead I have opted for a more whimsical, fun type of blog that I am not afraid to show my two daughters. I still will blog occasionally on things I feel need to be blogged on, whether of a political, religious or controversial nature, but I will tone it down some.

I wanted to thank my wife, Angela for making both my new header and button. You can see more of her work on her blog. If you wish, you can grab the button, located on the right side of the blog to put on your blog. I would greatly appreciate it if you did.


Stay tuned to this blog for future giveaways. I have some ideas on things to giveaway that are more guy oriented, so ladies, you stay tuned as well, as your husband, dad, brother, or boyfriend may like what I have to give away.


I hope you enjoy this new format. I would appreciate any and all feedback that you might have for me.

Thanks,
Eric

Spiritual Sunday

I have noticed how some bloggers will name the days of the week and stick to a theme for that day. Well, for Sunday's only I will do that as well. I would like to comment on things I have learned from Bible study, sermons I have heard, on so on and so forth. I do promise to keep them as short as possible.

I am currently doing my study on the Book of Proverbs and a very good question was just asked of me by my oldest daughter. Why do I mark up my Bible? Why all the colors? I use several highlighter colors when I mark things in my Bible during study.

• Blue for things that we are commanded to do, or need to do.
• Yellow for things that are promised to us.
• Orange for things that God does, whether to those who follow him, or those who do not.
• Green for things that we are to avoid altogether, or that people do that God cannot stand.
  

I explained this to her, and I am not sure she may have understood it or not, but it is my hope and prayer that a seed was planted, that she would start her own study soon.

So tell me, do you mark your own Bible? What colors do you use and why?

Have a blessed day!