Rare Sighting

Seen today chatting it up with and tickling patrons of the Uptown US Postoffice. He looked pretty healthy and even pretty (ok, maybe that's an exageration).

Where did you see him last?

Word Verification Required for comments now

I have several other BLOGS and I track some BLOGS that are not mine. There has been a disturbing trend of more SPAM--that is when someone that you don't know posts a comment that links you back to their commercial (sometimes unpleasant) content. When anyone posts a comment here, I receive an email with the content almost immediately. When a comment's contents have been inappropriate, I have deleted them.

Today I have activated two features on this BLOG to reduce or eliminate offensive comments: (1) Only registered users of BLOGER.com are allowed to comment and (2) a word verification precedure will be required.

Please leave your feedback to let me know what you think of these two features.

The Mysterious Sam and Ashley

At the last family gathering, Glen pointed out that Samson 2 and Ashley "mysteriously" had their own Blogger accounts. After that I noticed that not only did they have their own accounts, but somehow they invited themselves onto this family blog (or maybe Glen invited them when he noticed they knew how to use the computer). Even more mysterious was that on their Blogger profiles, they had pictures from Uncle Glen's flickr account at flickr.com, but, as I said earlier, maybe he just helped them after learning of their knowledge.

However it worked out, though, welcome to the family blog, Samson 2 and Ashley!

yea for Daniel

Read on Daniel's blog that he won the practice race on Thursday. Very good. When do we take up the collection to sponsor Team Daniel? Proud of your efforts Daniel.

per beth's request

my mom suggested that i tell her what i could use for my birthday, and of course the question of what i want for my birthday usually takes me off guard (especially in early august when my birthday is the last week of september) when it comes to thinking spur the moment about things that i want people to give me as a celebration for me existing in human form for another year. so, as she requested, here are some things i could use.

-a shaving razor. i've owned before, and thoroughly enjoyed the gillette brand "mach 3 turbo" system.
-a blender and some fruits. ie: bunch of bananas, oranges from the guy at the traffic light.
-giftcards for albertsons, ralph's, target, anywhere with food. (when i say anywhere, i exclude mcdonald's, because i like to pretend that it doesn't exist).
-argyle socks
-medium white t-shirts
-peace on earth. (there, ya happy now steve? now everyone thinks i'm a hippie...sheesh.)

if i can think of anything else, i'll post it, i guess.

take care everybody!

Trip to Washington DC

The Remington's asked about my recent trip to Washington, DC. You can see a couple of photos here.

One of my Los Angeles clients received a contract from the Department of Labor to assist youth and young adults make good career choices. The more than a million dollar check was presented by Department of Labor Secretary Elaine L. Chao.

Got Oats?

I got a shipment of Coach's Oats today. 48 ounce bags, $5. Let me know how many you want. Do you need a new recipe for oats?

Alton Brown did a Good Eats episode on oats. I am going to try these: Overnight Oats made in a crock pot slow cooker and Steel Cut Oats that includes buttermilk, dried fruit, cinnamon, and other good things.

Friendships & Time

For the last six Thursday nights, I hung around intentionally with the women from my Growth Group (about 10 people...six women...from church that meet on Thursdays to share life and our faith walk, while digging in to a passage of Scripture), plus some women from another Growth Group. I had talked our group into taking a mosaic class together through the city. I just wanted to play with sharp objects to unwind from the school year. Then, the class was cancelled.

We decided to get together weekly, anyway, since the time had been set aside. So we did. We took walks, ate dessert, played games, went to a movie, swam and ate pizza, and went to Old Town Pasadena for a digital camera photo scavenger hunt (for those of you who don't know what that is...two teams...each has the same list of items to search out and snap a photo of with the group in the photo...within a certain amount of time) and dinner at the Cheesecake Factory. Not all in one night. We had a good time relaxing together and getting to know each other better.

I had fun playing with girlfriends each week, passing by the guilt-ridden "we've got to get-together" stage. Life is so demanding as a grown-up, that this was a good little interlude. Not to mention the fun I had with Glen kayaking this summer. Playing together is a blessing for me. As a kid, I'd hurry to eat dinner to go out to play until dark. A simpler day, yet I still get a taste of that now.

Cycling updates for local boy [UPDATED with correction]

Daniel has moved from 10th to 6th place in the GC standings. He races again SUNDAY, August 7. Find more information at the DW BLOG here.

Popcorn Petersons

The popcorn experience at the Petersons is something to behold. The large bowl filled to the brim and shared with enthusiasm is worth any trip to Southern California. I am sorry that I will miss it. When you see Beth this week ask her about her 14 course meal on board the ship. She has some great stories to tell. I will be thinking about all of you. I know Beth is looking forward to seeing Daniel on his bike. I do know both dogs know popcorn.