Thank God For September 11, 2001

The only good soldier is a dead soldier
Thank God for improvised explosive devices that kill American troops

Yesterday on the way home from work, Sean Hannity had some religious freaks on his show who were claiming that the reason 9-11 happened was because of the immorality of America and it was God's way of punishing us. This group from Westborough Baptist Church, goes to the funerals of American soldiers and holds up signs and sings chants with the aforementioned slogans. Now, last night Jawana and I had a talk about things that make me mad, and at the time the only thing I could come up with was tailgaters… I had forgotten about this… but this makes me mad: People who twist and distort religion to support absolutely insane beliefs. What is wrong with people? The other things that I could lump into the "make me mad category" would be (1) Those who think they are entitled to something when they are not (ie illegal aliens) (2) People who are lazy (3) People who repeatedly make stupid decisions.

Internet Sex offenders
So we're sitting back watching Dateline NBC on her massive 62" HDTV (and contrary to what Jeff says, I'm not dating her just because she had a 62" HDTV) , and they are doing a story on internet child sex freaks. They've got video of these fat 40 and 50 year old men going into houses to have sex with 14 year old girls. Hello. That is so wrong in every imaginable way possible. What in the world is wrong with people? Sickos. What was insane was, how non-chalantly the perpetrators were acting about it all. It was as if it they were like, "I have sex with underage girls all the time, it's no big deal." Good Lord man, get a girlfriend who is your age. Don't be such a freak. I guess now they won't be able to get any girlfriends, only boyfriends since they're going to be locked up in prison for a while.

So, this is what it's like
At times over the years, in the back of my mind, I've been a little concerned that I was too focused on my career and education. Indeed, I was spending every waking hour working on something: either my day job, or intently studying audio/video production and graphic design for my side business. The rewards from all that hard work are definitely paying off. However, the one key area, which I now clearly see that I was definitely missing, was someone special to share my life with. And now, it appears that I have found that important piece of the puzzle. She is the most amazing girl I've dated. When you consider that we've spent 27 of the past 28 days together, it's really like we've been dating for 5 or 6 months. We're on the accelerated dating plan, if you know what I mean. Hmmm I'm not even sure what I mean.

Your Body Is A Wonderland & the Ultimate Sex Guide
The past 2 Sundays at church we've been having a fairly open discussion about sex. One of the songs we did for the praise and worship set list was this song by John Mayer. I think the crowd was a little surprised as we played it, "This isn't a song about Jesus!" But, it's a song about love, and that's part of the message, so it fit quite well in the context of the study. Dave was talking about how the Song of Solomon makes this pop song seem like a Disney product. I would have to agree. I didn't realize the Bible gave such graphic and clear explanations on sex. Take a few minutes and listen to the message here, you'll be entertained and informed. You can't help but wonder, if more people read this particular part of the Bible, we might see significantly fewer problems in people's relationships with the one they love. (along with the 4 key areas I discussed last week)

Mission Impossible
No, I'm not talking about what would once be described as my search in finding a girlfriend. I'm talking about the new Tom Cruise movie that just opened up. The industry is reporting lackluster earnings for the movie over the opening weekend. Do you think it may be related to Tom's recent actions of insanity on Oprah and Good Morning America….plus the whole scientology thing. I still can't believe that women are not allowed to make a single sound during childbirth because it may adversely affect the child. Insanity indeed. I personally would have a very difficult time watching the movie, now that I am aware of his ulterior motives and constant propaganda pushing. I just don't think I could get into his character with those things running through my head. You know?

There is nothing like
a good home cooked meal. As a bachelor I eat out a lot. Not because I don't know how to cook, but rather because, it is difficult to cook for just one person. You know what I'm saying? Ok, so I just lied. I can't cook at all. But that doesn't change the fact that it's difficult to prepare meals for a single person. Right? Sunday afternoon we made the dreaded trip to Hell On Earth, Wal-Mart, to do some shopping and pick up some pork chops for dinner because she wanted to cook. That sounded like an awesome idea to me, since I eat out 99.9% of the time. Once again, she didn't disappoint and whipped up a fabulous dinner for us as I helped her daughter assemble some kind of whacked out pseudo lego castle thing as shown in the picture below.

Speaking of Wal-Mart, if you're looking for a job, get a job at COSTCO. COSTCO is the competitor to Sam's Club. Saturday, Clark Howard was talking how the average checker-outer person makes $40,000/year (after 4-years). That's not bad for sitting at the end of a conveyor and scanning items into a computer and bagging them up for people. Not only that, but they actually treat their employees with respect, and you can tell when you go in the store that COSTCO has a superior business plan and working environment than Sam's. Employees are happy. Not disgruntled like pretty much every Wal-Mart employee I've ever seen in my life. Even the freakin' greeters aren't happy at Wal-Mart.

Everything happens for a reason.
Do you believe that? I'm starting to believe it. Driving back from lunch, I thought of all the previous relationships I've been in, and how none of them have worked out for whatever reason. Now, here I am in this one and am finding it is unlike anything I've ever experienced before. She is just so amazing and I can't help but believe that God is the one who has brought us together… through MySpace. It was God and Tom I tell ya'. LOL We sort of had a discussion last night about religion. As you probably saw, it is one of the 4 items on the list of things couples must agree on in order to have a successful marriage. As I tried to explain last night, we are both Christians and are on a path to learn and grow in our faith, together. And, I think that is really awesome. She is Baptist. I attend a multi-denominational church. But, I think we are on the same page from an overall religion standpoint in that God sent his son to die on the cross and forgave us of our sins if we believe in Jesus and repent of our sins. Believe me, I'm thankful for that grace and mercy.

Does Money Mean Anything To You?
If you've known me for any length of time, you are well aware of my stance on personal finance: Cash only, buy used cars, and never pay retail for anything. Last night my girlfriend said that material things did not matter to her. Which of course, I agree with because they don't mean anything to me either. I'm not out to impress anyone, and don't really care what anyone else thinks about -stuff- . But, then she said something to the effect of money not mattering to her either. Imagine me slamming on the brakes, because that's essentially what I did in my head. I didn't bring it up, but probably should have asked for clarification on that. Of course money isn't everything, but it sure is nice to have. I mean that from an overall family (or individual) perspective. Because, when you have money, I find one tends to have fewer problems. For me, it all comes back to being able to provide a better life for my kids than what I had growing up. My parents were very poor, but sacrificed immensely to provide me with things I didn't really need in retrospect. But hey, I was a stupid kid who was all caught up with having to have the latest and greatest toys. Now when I look back, I wish they would have put that money in mutual funds or some other investment vehicle. As a couple we are doing well financially. When you consider the average annual household income is $40,000, indeed we have been blessed immensely. I can't help but think back to the Bible where it talks about being a good steward of God's money (because it's all his, we just manage it for him), and the better we manage what he gives us, the more he will bless us. It may sound crazy, but I can literally see that, as I've become smarter in handling my personal finances and changed my views on material possessions in the past 5 or 6 years. If it wasn't for Dave Ramsey and Clark Howard, I'm fairly confident I wouldn't be in the situation I find myself in today. Speaking of situations…

Is he acting differently?
Many have commented that I've been acting differently recently. I wasn't sure how to break the news. (Although several of you are already aware) So, I'll just come right out with it. It has happened. Indeed, my life will be forever changed on or about Dec 1, 2006. We're 2 months into it, and have 7 months to go. (waves, bows, as spotlights shine on me and the crowd cheers) Thank you. Thank you very much. I know many thought it would never happen (including me sometimes. LOL), but patience has paid off in the best way possible. Am I nervous? Yes. Am I excited? Incredibly. At this point, the final piece of the puzzle is to get married. I guess the process is reversed. Usually you get married first don't you? But whatever. It's all good. So there, now everyone knows.

... and this has been a week's worth of posts in one day.

Hoot Hoot