Curb Your Wheels, Sucka!

When I first saw this sign three years ago I thought it was just a big scam set up by the city of LA so they could make a buck from inattentive parkers.  I soon learned that "violators will be cited" is for realsies.  No foolin'.   They should add "immediately" to the sign.  They get you real quick.

A couple years later I was walking back to my car that was parked in a garage and to my surprise I saw that it had rolled from out of it's spot into the driving lane within the garage.  No one could get by in either direction.  The parking attendant had put some blocks behind my back wheels to keep it from hitting the car parked behind me.  I thought "Well that's unusual".  The car was in park. As a precautionary measure I decided to apply my parking brake every time I parked.

A couple of weeks later the same thing happened in a different garage... with the parking brake applied.  

Long story short, I now have respect for this sign and this law because if I ever park even on the slightest incline I have to have a curb to turn my wheel against or I will be chasing my car down the street.  If that ever happens, I assure you that there will be pictures/video posted here.

Holy Guacamole

Homemade Quesadillas tonight- smoked cheese, grilled chicken, crispy tortillas, lemonade, and my baby's from scratch guacamole.

Godchicks 2010

This weekend our church put on it's annual women's conference called Godchicks. It may sound strange- but it's my favorite thing all year. You may be saying "but Matt- you're a guy, why are you going to a women's conference?" There are several reasons- but the men come here to serve the women and show them how much they are valued. Amazing things happen at Godchicks. It is a place of great beginnings. Here is a peek behind the scenes at some of the people that I am privileged to call my friends and share my life with-

The Shack

I just finished reading The Shack by William Young.  I wish I could recommend this book, because there are parts of it that I love... but there are also things about it that are not good at all.  Any thoughts from anyone else who read it?  I'll bet you've got some strong feelings...

Apple Cider Vinegar

Sometimes I get stomach aches. I've tried several things with varying degrees of success. Sometimes Aloe Juice works but only sometimes. Medication almost never works. Recently I got one of these aches after I flew on an airplane. It would not go away... it stayed with me until the next day. Until... I tried some Apple Cider Vinegar mixed with water. My pain went away almost instantly. I've only tried it once, but I plan on trying it again. The only thing is, it doesn't taste so good...

Roots

Here's a video from my recent trip to Arkansas. I've got a little hillbilly in me...

One Sick Puppy

Gidget has been sick the last couple of days.  I'll spare the details.  I gave her some medicine tonight, here's what the box says:

"If medication is to be dispensed, client can be advised that dogs usually find this wormer very palatable and will lick the dose from the bowl willingly."

This was not my experience- Gidget did not find the wormer palatable...  Had to squirt it down her throat with a syringe.

The Dentist

I went to the dentist today.  Everything checked out.  I really like my dentist and the staff.  I look forward to going there just about as much as you can look forward to going to the dentist.  Good people can make something unpleasant not seem so bad.

French Crepe Company

This morning we took a friend to the French Crepe Company at the Farmer's Market at the Grove. We got the Strawberry and Nutella...

finish it off...

Birthday

We went to a birthday for 3 super cool girls tonight. A hint for a great birthday party: Games. I got to play baseball and some 'Round the World Ping Pong...

Another thing to consider: Burger/Bun mismatches. Had to double up on the meat.

Finally!

It's about time- I've been waiting for Ginny to start receiving some senior citizen discounts.  And 80% off of Sunset Magazine!  Does it get any better?

PS- You may be wondering why information is blacked out on the photo.  It's because I don't know who is reading this and if you're creepy or not.  You may be some kind of senior citizen stalker.  And I am not buying any more robot insurance!

Captivating

In 2002 I read a great book called Wild at Heart by John Eldredge.  It changed the way I looked at myself and brought a lot of clarity to my life.  The book is about men- who they were designed to be and why they are the way they are.  It is a great read for any man and also for any woman who wants to understand men.  Ginny read it and it did wonders for our relationship.

After that success, we recently decided to read Captivating.  This book is the women's equivalent of Wild at Heart.  It was written by John and his wife Stasi.  I knew what a treasure women were before we read this book, but John and Stasi translated the complex and mysterious ways of women into a language that I could understand.  I have even more respect for the amazing women in my life, and it was cool to take that journey with Ginny.

Voting

So... if you know me, you know that voting is very important to me.  Today is the primary in California, so naturally I began doing research weeks ago and was very excited to get to the polls when they opened at 7 AM so I could proudly display my "I Voted" sticker all day long.

We arrived at 7 AM, along with the poll worker (that's right "the" as in "only one").  He began setting up the booths and trying to find the roster and punchers and all the materials while we read the learning materials on the walls of the elementary school classroom.  It's remarkable any of those kids learn to read.  He decides to start letting us vote without being set up, so he looks for us on the roster- which took way longer than it should have.  Then he gives us the wrong party ballot with no poker.  Same story with the other voters who had arrived.  While we are voting on a school desk (booths with privacy shields had not been set up), he is trying to put everything together.  When we finish we hand him our completed ballots and he tosses it on a table because the ballot box hasn't been set up.  Then he says "trust me, it will get in the right place".  I'm thinking, "Yeah, this guy's earned my trust, he seems responsible".  I hope he finally got things together and all the completed ballots wound up in the right place.  I didn't get to wear a sticker because he couldn't find them- so I made my own.  Now that I think about it- was that guy a real poll worker?

Juan in a Million

About three years ago Ginny came home from a women's event at our church and told me that she had adopted two children.  She signed us up to sponsor two little boys in Guatemala through Food for the Hungry.  They are both named Juan.  Yes... they are our little Juans.  And we are reaching the world Juan by Juan.

We regularly get updates on our boys with pictures and little notes from them and even progress reports from school.   And there is usually an opportunity to send something back on special occasions.  Well the other day, we got a request to send them birthday cards for the upcoming year.  "Ginny's" Juan will be 11 and "my" Juan will be 13.  And they also said that for $32 we could throw our child a birthday party as well as one unsponsored child.  I thought that was amazing.  These kids have nothing and we have been donating so that they could have food and clothes and other essentials.  But how cool is it that we can provide them with something special that will feed their souls and give them good memories, which I imagine are somewhat rare.

I have friends who have traveled to Guatemala to meet their kids.  I would love to do that.  Who's with me?

Here's some refrigerator material from Juan:

Santa Monica Farmer's Market

One thing I love about southern California is the produce.  I've never been a fruit and vegetables guy, but I'd never tasted fruit and vegetables like this.  It's fantastic.  We love to go down to the farmer's market at the 3rd street promenade in Santa Monica on the weekends.  It smells amazing, and they give samples that you can walk around and snack on all day.  I felt like I had never had a strawberry before I tasted one of these.  There are always very colorful characters at the promenade as well.

IN-N-OUT: A Word of Warning

Be advised that just because IN-N-OUT has an employee standing outside at the drive thru line to take your order, it does NOT mean that the speaker system isn't hooked up. Ginny learned this the hard way:

I love my Wife

Foxy and Jasmine

Three years ago Ginny and I pulled out of our driveway in Austin headed for LA.  We weren't a hundred miles down the road before my phone rang and my mom announced that she had just bought two dogs to keep her company in our place.  They are Foxy and Jasmine, a Papillon and a Japanese Chin.

I recently started trying to paint. For my third and fourth attempts at art I decided to make the subjects Foxy and Jasmine.  Be kind- I'm new to painting.