Odds and Ends on Saturday.

Whenever I have found a hair stylist I like, he or she moves. Today I tracked Andre to her new location and got a hair cut I am pleased with.

I tried the Atkins low carb diet in the 80s, and remember feeling starved and deprived. Tho early days of low carb living were spoiled by the bad press of guys filling a plate with bacon and announcing it was healthy. I think I would have discovered a healthier lifestyle if I had understood more back then. I hear the movement has become more balanced after Dr. Atkins death by new physicians and scholars and more balanced approaches that include that last 30 years of research.

Building regular exercise into your schedule is one of the best things you can ever do for the quality of your life. If none of this works to save my life I will not regret one moment in enjoying walking, stretching, and lifting.

I understand Campings vision of May 21st is an earthquake surrounding the globe and hitting your street at sunset, unleashing untold death and suffering for those left behind. The open graves of the wicked with serve to shame and desecrate them and leave the world in the stench of death from May till Oct....and....have a nice day.

Harold Camping is delusional

Well, I have been trying to be fair minded and light hearted with the latest date setter controversy, but yesterday got to me. I have lived for many years with the dream of seeing this Changing Lives Center for Women opened. We toured the property 8 years ago when the old structures were still there and it looked like an insurmountable task. The beauty of the campus and the sacrifice of the Christians who have the burden to help was overwhelming. This is what Christianity is all about.

So, coming and going I see two versions of Campings Posters along I-10. Both of them give the date, and say "The Bible Guarantees It". What??? Campings interpretations and dating methods are suddenly infallible Bible promises????

The Bible may speak boldly about the return of Christ, but May 21st???? Come on Harold. I feel sad for those who have bought your predictions, and I am willing to go out on a limb and say that God my come today, or next year, or a thousand years from now, but I sincerely doubt your delusional predictions are worth the billboard rent and the unrest and damage you are doing to the body of Christ. That Women's Center will bring light in the darkness and hope for troubled families for many years to come.

The Changing Lives Center Dedication

I had the privilege of attending the formal dedication of a 66 unit apartment center for homeless women and children, abused and abandoned women and children, and others who will come for healing, training, and preparation for a new life.

Nine years and many obstacles later, the 12 million dollar facility in a poor neighborhood downtown a few blocks from our State Capitol and Federal building will soon open for full time ministry.

They have thought of everything from worship, to childcare, to security, and it brought tears to my eyes all morning to see this site transformed from an old travel court motel in the 50s, to a slum dwelling in the 80s, to its new form to transform lives and protect children who will be given the best gift a child can receive, a mother free from addiction and double minded living.

Kitchen has a cavernous feel

For the first time since we moved here in 2003, the colors of our home are matching. The tile just fits everywhere, and replacing the carpet in the guest bathroom will be so much easier to keep clean.

We are close to the finish line of a project that began on April 13. Still to come, are grout sealing, repair of all baseboards, painting, installation of new granite countertops, installation of tile blacksplash, placing of all appliances, changing of cream colored plugs and switches to white, new lighting and tables and chairs for the countertop eating area. Fun, Fun,Fun.

Watching the news about UBL, I thought we called him Osama years ago? I am wondering how the world of Islamic extremism will exact their own version of revenge?

Tile 95 percent done, personal renovation ongoing

Cat approves of the project so far, notice all the baseboard are off because of the water damage we had.

We have been so pleased with the work done by Stradling's Cabinets installation crews. Care and skill demonstrated daily. because we did the tear out of the old tile in three stages, this job has probably taken them longer than most, and I am thinking we will see grouting done today.

Since it is so important for me to lose weight and maintain healthy blood sugars, I am really doing a lot of study on the best ways to eat and lose weight safely and healthily. I have come to realize that there really is no way to lose more than one or two pounds a week safely and have it actually be fat, not water and muscle. The sooner we fatties get that through our head the easier finding a diet for the long haul will be. Eating naturally with healthy fats, nuts and fruits, small amounts of healthy proteins, and abundant vegetables and legumes has been an adventure.

I am now at the weight I maintained through most of my 30s, and hoping to head to the weight I maintained during the last part of my 20s, Unfortunately, after college when I ate in the cafeteria, and before marriage, I gained lots of weight living in a bachelor situation during grad school. This coincided with the popularization of a health nemesis.....HAMBURGER HELPER!!!!!! It was so simple, so filling, so full of salt and carbs..... Thankfully after marriage I was diagnosed with high blood pressure and began my ministry as slender as I ever have been, that was age 26, and that is my goal weight.

Internet glitches are a way of life

This is a sharper image of the Napali Coastline from the ocean than the one in my opening page. I should put this one there, or have the courage to change it more often.

There are three computers in my connected life, two laptops, one office, and one home, and Laura's Dell. I can get online with any of them with this WWAN toy I share with the church office. In truth, my Android is a personal computer with Internet as well, so that's four.

I decided to update my personal laptop to the latest Internet Explorer version and now all kinds of things are not working. Picture uploading, final uploading of new blog posts have been accomplished with my cell phone link. I will work and worry until the glitches are ironed out.

It's Monday, my latest recuperation period is over and I am back in our summer schedule, which gives us a Bible Study break until Fall. It allows me to read more and think more and enjoy a short vacation during Laura's quick six week summer holiday which will begin next month.

Our seven week Sabbatical was so wonderful last summer that we cannot complain if this summer will be less ambitious. I hope to see more of the local Arizona sights, which includes a photography trip to the Grand Canyon which I have not visited since moving to a Canon Digital SLR with good lenses.

To any friends or relatives passing through the state, in two weeks we will have a kitchen, and we have a nice guest room with your own Bathroom outside the doors. Stop by for a visit, we mean it y'all, we are not "whistling Dixie".

From Pastor Don, very glad to still be alive and working. Thankful for our country and the apprehension of the 9/11 mastermind.

He brings me to His Banqueting Table

The Lord was so present in the breaking of the Bread today. We thought about our brothers and sisters in the south and the devastation of so many communities.

I spoke on the latest rapture predictions of Harold Camping and Family Radio. I simply think all date setting is missing the point. Wolf has been cryed thousands of times in church history, and so far, as of today, the date setters are batting the big "zero". Just live and serve God, the final invitation to the Feast and the Wedding are in God's mind alone. I look forward to being surprised.

I was mostly undogmatic about anyones views, except I have a deep dissatisfaction with those teachers who keep writing books and profiting from decades of failed prophecy's. At some point its about fear and greed and the desire to be in the spotlight with our national evangelical obsession.