A minor

Our baby has sweet fat cheeks. Like Levi was in utero, his weight is two weeks ahead of schedule. I can't wait to kiss his chubby little feet.

Good news. The placenta looks fine - no previa. I am relieved not to have the threat of a C-section looming over me. My glucose test results were a little high so I have to go in tomorrow morning for another (3 hour!) test. Blah, blah, blah. Just give me my baby already!

2005 BH Conference Highlights

::: Jeff Meyers' lectures on the Song of Songs (I've always loved this book, and once wrote a paper for Peter Leithart on the literary structure of the Song. Pastor Meyers' lectures were a nice refresher, full of insights that were new to me - overall good motivation to continue studying the book.)

::: gun talk with Jeff Meyers and Herman Gunter

::: lunch with Fr. Wayne McNamara

::: taking Hollie and Annie to the Silver Sands designer outlets

::: smoking with Bill DeJong

::: margaritas and mexican with Bill DeJong, Jeff & Jeffrey Meyers, and Jim Jordan

::: watching Levi shovel sand and enjoy the tide splash on his legs

::: hearing Ethan chant as we drove over the Mid-Bay Bridge to Destin, making our second (and final) trip to the beach, "I'm going to the beach! I'm going to the beach!"

::: floating in the ocean

::: listening to about half of The Rule of Four on audio book on the drive home (God bless Cracker Barrel.)

* Here's Bono on debt relief and Christianity.

* Here's Carl Braaten's open letter to the presiding bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (as if you haven't already seen this).

* And (as if you haven't seen this either) here's an excellent article, "Is the Reformation Over?" by Mark Noll and Carolyn Nystrom - a preview of their recently published book of the same title.

There's a Burger King right around the corner from us, across from campus. Lately, once a week or so, I've bought a cup of coffee at BK and really enjoyed it. This morning I saw through the drive-thru window that their coffee is Douwe Egberts. Yes, ladies and gentlemen (or at least those few of you who appreciate halfzware shag), that's the Douwe Egberts of the original Drum fame. No wonder it's so good.

God Willing & the Creek Don't Rise

I'm looking forward to going to the BH conference next week:

The topic this year is Wisdom literature, with Michael Schneider, Burke Shade, and James Jordan speaking on Ecclesiastes, Jeffrey Meyers on the Song of Songs, and Peter Leithart on wisdom in the book of Kings. Peter will also lead us in a viewing of Shakespeare's Anthony and Cleopatra.

Rev. Jordan called yesterday, and it's still on, despite Hurricane Dennis. He was trying to find a roommate for a conference-goer and help the hotel by consolidating his guests, since there are a lot of emergency relief workers staying in the Niceville area. I guess it's good we made our reservations when we did (just last week!).

I just consolidated four blog roll links into one. For those of you directly concerned, forgive me. I'm not often accused of pragmatism*, but I confess to simply being pragmatic on this one. Plus, I really like the look, design, and overall idea of the MonroeBlogs site. Belated kudos to Josiah and Ron (aka Hugo Fitch).

* Having said this, I was recently told by a close friend that I'm one of the three most misunderstood people he knows, because people think of me as a fly-by-the-seat-of-his-pants kind of guy (which I'm not, really). I appreciated and was interested by my friend's observation, though.

Things You Don't Care To Know

Since Rick asked so nicely...

What was I doing 10 years ago: graduating from high school, spending money like a mad woman and living a pretty care-free life
5 years ago: being a newlywed and probably lying in bed watching movies all day long (also a pretty care-free life)
1 year ago: being mother to a newborn and one year old - so much for the care-free life
Yesterday: went to Jon's grandmother's funeral, visited with my grandmother, and watched my sister's play (A Midsummer Night's Dream)
5 snacks I enjoy: Rice Krispie treats, Double Doozie cookies from Great American Cookie Co. (mmm, icing overload), cupcakes, pretzels, anything chocolate - lay off, I'm pregnant!
5 songs I know all the words to: "Yellow Brick Road" by Elton John; "Sister" by The Nixons; "I Know You're Out There Somewhere" by The Moody Blues; "Come What May" from the Moulin Rouge soundtrack; "Another Saturday Night," "Hard-Headed Woman," "Father and Son," and a kazillion others by Cat Stevens
5 things I would do with a $100 million: pay off our credit cards and house, travel, shop, put kids through school/college, adopt more children
5 locations I would like to run away to: Venice, Italy; Africa; exotic island (I'm not picky); Iceland; and a toss-up between Switzerland and Ireland
5 bad habits I have: worrying, freaking out when others are driving, getting in the last word, laziness/apathy, picking at my nails
5 things I like doing: reading, shopping, lazing around with Jon and the kids, visiting zoos, doing crafty stuff
5 tv shows I like: House, American Idol, Best Week Ever, ER, Will & Grace
5 biggest joys of the moment: Ethan, Levi, this furiously kicking boy in my tummy, upcoming trip to Florida, getting lots of stuff for the beach on sale this week
5 favorite toys: my scrapbooking stuff, computer, tv, crossword puzzles, debit card
5 next victims: I'm not going to single anyone out...you know who you are

Note: Before you start feeling sorry for Jon, I don't throw around money nearly as much as this makes it sound!

Springfield XD in .45 GAP

Maybe it's a good thing I didn't get that .40 caliber XD Tactical back in January after all. Now they're making it in .45 GAP [image]!

Louisiana State Parks happens to issue a Glock .45 GAP as their official pistol, thanks to a college buddy of mine who's now a park manager. And back to the XD Tactical, one of the pastors on my blog roll (aka Silk-XD) recently got one. His is a 9mm, but don't think less of him because of that; he just got it for steel plate matches. Any guesses as to which pastor? (If you're scanning the list and don't know, the cross/plus at the end of a name is traditional shorthand for designating pastors/priests.)