Just got back from the MN Science Museum which had a Dead Sea Scrolls exhibit. I was sooooo hyped to see it, but wow, most of it was a HUGE disappointment.
First off, there weren’t any scrolls. Just a few fragments from a few books. Tiny fragments. I enjoyed seeing the fragments, knowing they were super old and being amazed that they were written with such perfect penmanship. But, after I went to the five or six boxes in the circular room, I went to the next room to see the rest, and found myself in the gift shop. I kept saying, "That’s it?!"
We knew when we went that the majority of the exhibit was going to be fluff–a room about the Dead Sea, a room about pottery, a room about ancient writing in general. We tried to go slowly through it and take it all in, but not only was it fluff, it was insulting fluff. Imagine what you might see if an atheistic scientist tried to show you why the Dead Sea Scrolls are important. He just doesn’t get it. It was obvious how clueless they were to the spiritual importance of this discovery and how they were bending over backwards to kiss Muslim butt. Blech.
The insulting parts, other than the overall patronizing tone, was the way they dated everything BCE, as if they have the authority to yank Christ right out of the timeline. What the heck is Common Era anyway? Lame.
And, of course, the room about the Dead Sea started with a video on what the planet looked like millions of years ago. We gave up listening to the head sets and reading the informational placards because it seemed so pointless. We came to see the scrolls. Period.
So, with that frame of mind, we finally entered the last room and–WOW–I could have looked at them for hours, but since there were only a few small fragments, there really wasn’t much to see.
I would like to see a DSS exhibit done by a Christian historian. Maybe they could get the facts and the spirit of it right.
Thursday, April 1, 2010
Saturday, March 27, 2010
A brief note on the state of our country.
Here’s another entry for posterity’s sake. We (and by we, I mean the morons of this country, myself NOT included) voted in the first black president. Whoopdedoo. His name is Barack Hussein Obama. I’m sure his name will be in all the history books. Just hope they get the facts right. Since he’s been in office, he has proceeded in bullying the Democrats into ramming through all sorts of far left liberal agendas. Most recently, a massively expensive health care bill that forces everyone to buy health care, will bankrupt several businesses and push taxes to the extreme. The bill was so huge, we still don’t know what all is in it. The worst was that they forced it through by doing back-door deals and promising all sorts of goodies to Democrats on the fence. Goodies we’ll be paying for. So, if it’s 2050 and you’re wondering why the land of the free and the home of the brave looks more like Soviet Russia, you can thank Obama and all the morons who voted for him. I actually feel sorry for the black community. If only their hero could have used his power for good and not evil, they might have something to be proud of. Instead, Obama has only reinforced the entitlement-minded, gang-style stereotypes decent blacks were hoping to finally shed. In effect, he’s taken our country backwards and the repercussions are yet unknown.
Wednesday, March 24, 2010
Field trips and Science Fair
Well, I’m debating on whether or not I want to blog about the science fair. You know how I get so worked up over that thing. Sigh. I’ll put it down for posterity’s sake and try not to slip into ranting. Duncan experimented with lasers. He built a burglar alarm and tested it to see which things would break the beam and set off the alarm. He got an honorable mention ribbon because one judge gave him low marks. The other two gave him near perfect scores. Grrrrrrrrr.
Mackenzie did a super cool project testing the effect of gravity on the root growth of a plant. She had bean seeds sprouting on a spinning record player. She even had a prop to explain statocyte (a type of bean cell). She also got an honorable mention because two judges gave her high scores and the third judge –if you can believe this–gave her super low marks on originality!! The whole thing was completely unique. I would like to challenge her to find it online somewhere. I would like to say a few other things to her too, so it’s probably a good thing that the judges are anonymous.
Lauren watered plants with different plant food and measured them to see which one would grow the tallest. She got a third place ribbon. That one actually seemed reasonable to me. I was really proud of all of them. They worked hard on their projects and even harder on their presentations. Because there were three this year, I didn’t have the time or energy to do field trips for all of them. So, that part I was kind of bummed about. Oh well. Time to shake it off and let it go, right? :)
Field Trips
We are studying Russia, and lucky for us, there’s a big Russian population up here. We had lunch at the Russian Tea House and also visited the Museum of Russian Art. The kids did not care for borscht but did like the nesting dolls.
Now it feels like the race is on to the end of the year. Lots to accomplish before SUMMER!!
Mackenzie did a super cool project testing the effect of gravity on the root growth of a plant. She had bean seeds sprouting on a spinning record player. She even had a prop to explain statocyte (a type of bean cell). She also got an honorable mention because two judges gave her high scores and the third judge –if you can believe this–gave her super low marks on originality!! The whole thing was completely unique. I would like to challenge her to find it online somewhere. I would like to say a few other things to her too, so it’s probably a good thing that the judges are anonymous.
Lauren watered plants with different plant food and measured them to see which one would grow the tallest. She got a third place ribbon. That one actually seemed reasonable to me. I was really proud of all of them. They worked hard on their projects and even harder on their presentations. Because there were three this year, I didn’t have the time or energy to do field trips for all of them. So, that part I was kind of bummed about. Oh well. Time to shake it off and let it go, right? :)
Field Trips
We are studying Russia, and lucky for us, there’s a big Russian population up here. We had lunch at the Russian Tea House and also visited the Museum of Russian Art. The kids did not care for borscht but did like the nesting dolls.
Now it feels like the race is on to the end of the year. Lots to accomplish before SUMMER!!
Wednesday, March 10, 2010
Deanna Weniger, campaign manager, sort of
Two weeks ago, I got a call from the former Lakeville City Administrator (whom I’ve met at various Republican conventions). He asked me if I’d like to manage his campaign. I was like, umm, you know I’ve never actually run a campaign before. He assured me there was nothing to it. Riiiiiiiiiiiiiiight. Well for two weeks I was "on call." My phone rang constantly and my email was always full. I wrote press releases, did research, wrote a speech, wrote letters, etc. Kind of felt like reporting again, but I did draw from my advertising experience to craft those glowing letters. :)
My candidate would always gush with praise, something I did not really believe was sincere, but what can you do, he’s a politician.
Well, the big day arrived Feb. 27. It was Senate District 36′s convention at which a candidate would be endorsed for the next State Senator. My guy assured me he had a crew and an able family to help him. I believed him. But when I showed up at 8 a.m. and found that I was the ONLY supporter there, I began to get worried. Where was the team? Where was all this help he said he had? Good grief! If I had known I’d get stuck handing out fliers, I would have brought along some teenagers.
The next thing that worried me was how my candidate seemed really nervous and unfocused. He had seem so self-assured before. He’s been around politics forever. He even ran for a school board and won. Why was he acting so weird?
From there, it went from bad to worse, and then to ultimately humiliating.
He had told his "team" (which consisted of some folks he knew, some of which did not seem thrilled to be there) not to come until 10:30–a mere half hour before the speeches! I was shocked! Why the heck weren’t they there at 7 a.m. helping him put up signs?
Well, needless to say, he freaked out when the convention folks voted to up the speeches an hour. He got all paranoid, blaming his opponent for "dirty" politics. Puhleese!
Then, he wanted me to write mean things into the speech for him to say about his opponent. I strongly advised against it.
Finally, after a round of frenzied calls to the "team" a handful of people showed up and the speeches were on. Now, mind you, I had worked probably 6 hours straight on this speech, not to mention hours working with him on revisions.
He told me he was an expository speaker and just wanted bullet points. I didn’t see why he needed a speech writer to write bullet points for him, so I wrote a real speech. Besides, he had about three minutes (because he had three people speak before him, taking up most of the time) which doesn’t give much time for expository speaking.
So, instead of taking my speech and bulleting it himself, he brings the whole thing up there. Fine! If you’ve got it up there, then just read it through! But nooooo, he decides to do his expository thing from the fully formed speech. It bombed like skunk in a camper. It was horrible. It was embarrassing. I wanted to crawl away and die. And I think he actually only "read" about one page of the speech before he was cut off.
So, after that humiliating display, what do you think he did? Blamed his opponent. Called him a (this is great) glib-tongued charlatan. Which means he hates him because he can speak well.
He came in third out of five, packed up his stuff and went home. Not so much as a word to me. Wasn’t even there when the winner invited the other candidates up to congratulate them on the race and to show solidarity in beating the Democrats. The winner did a Ben Stein type call out…"Buehler? Buehler? Buehler?" But "Buehler" had taken his tacky T-shirts with electrical tape covering up the school board words from his last election, and gone home in a huff.
At that point, I peeled my candidate’s sticker off my blouse and tried to blend in.
And did he call or contact me? No. Just an email forwarded from someone else who complimented him on trying. Why would he send that to me? I guess I know why. Because when you make a complete arse of yourself, blame the campaign manager.
My candidate would always gush with praise, something I did not really believe was sincere, but what can you do, he’s a politician.
Well, the big day arrived Feb. 27. It was Senate District 36′s convention at which a candidate would be endorsed for the next State Senator. My guy assured me he had a crew and an able family to help him. I believed him. But when I showed up at 8 a.m. and found that I was the ONLY supporter there, I began to get worried. Where was the team? Where was all this help he said he had? Good grief! If I had known I’d get stuck handing out fliers, I would have brought along some teenagers.
The next thing that worried me was how my candidate seemed really nervous and unfocused. He had seem so self-assured before. He’s been around politics forever. He even ran for a school board and won. Why was he acting so weird?
From there, it went from bad to worse, and then to ultimately humiliating.
He had told his "team" (which consisted of some folks he knew, some of which did not seem thrilled to be there) not to come until 10:30–a mere half hour before the speeches! I was shocked! Why the heck weren’t they there at 7 a.m. helping him put up signs?
Well, needless to say, he freaked out when the convention folks voted to up the speeches an hour. He got all paranoid, blaming his opponent for "dirty" politics. Puhleese!
Then, he wanted me to write mean things into the speech for him to say about his opponent. I strongly advised against it.
Finally, after a round of frenzied calls to the "team" a handful of people showed up and the speeches were on. Now, mind you, I had worked probably 6 hours straight on this speech, not to mention hours working with him on revisions.
He told me he was an expository speaker and just wanted bullet points. I didn’t see why he needed a speech writer to write bullet points for him, so I wrote a real speech. Besides, he had about three minutes (because he had three people speak before him, taking up most of the time) which doesn’t give much time for expository speaking.
So, instead of taking my speech and bulleting it himself, he brings the whole thing up there. Fine! If you’ve got it up there, then just read it through! But nooooo, he decides to do his expository thing from the fully formed speech. It bombed like skunk in a camper. It was horrible. It was embarrassing. I wanted to crawl away and die. And I think he actually only "read" about one page of the speech before he was cut off.
So, after that humiliating display, what do you think he did? Blamed his opponent. Called him a (this is great) glib-tongued charlatan. Which means he hates him because he can speak well.
He came in third out of five, packed up his stuff and went home. Not so much as a word to me. Wasn’t even there when the winner invited the other candidates up to congratulate them on the race and to show solidarity in beating the Democrats. The winner did a Ben Stein type call out…"Buehler? Buehler? Buehler?" But "Buehler" had taken his tacky T-shirts with electrical tape covering up the school board words from his last election, and gone home in a huff.
At that point, I peeled my candidate’s sticker off my blouse and tried to blend in.
And did he call or contact me? No. Just an email forwarded from someone else who complimented him on trying. Why would he send that to me? I guess I know why. Because when you make a complete arse of yourself, blame the campaign manager.
Tuesday, February 9, 2010
Mackenzie turns 10
Mackenzie, being the outdoorsy person (but only in warm weather) that she is always has a hard time coming up with an idea for her birthday parties which are in Febuary. She wanted to do an Indian party, but that would be much better in the summer. She’s wanted to have a bonfire,,still not really an option when there’s snow on the ground. And this year she said "Absolutely no more sledding parties!" We were stumped. She didn’t like any of my ideas and her ideas were unrealistic. She wanted all her friends to sleep over, but most of them are boys. I was getting ready to just have a family party, when Jud saved the day with his hotel idea. We rented a room at the Americinn in Apple Valley. The boys all came for swimming, cake and presents, and then went home. The few remaining girls stayed over in the hotel and then had breakfast the following morning. It was the easiest party I’d ever done and Mackenzie declared it, "the best party ever, Mom!"
One of my favorite parts, was the cake from the Farmington Bakery. I had called them and said, "Swimming party," and they said, "We’ll think of something." When I opened the box, the cake was so cute with little swimmers in a blue pool complete with diving board. I called to compliment them and scared the lady who thought I was calling to complain!
Happy Birthday Kenzie Mac! We love you!
One of my favorite parts, was the cake from the Farmington Bakery. I had called them and said, "Swimming party," and they said, "We’ll think of something." When I opened the box, the cake was so cute with little swimmers in a blue pool complete with diving board. I called to compliment them and scared the lady who thought I was calling to complain!
Happy Birthday Kenzie Mac! We love you!
Friday, January 1, 2010
Christmas 2009
Since the last month was so crazy with holidays and travel and parties and family, I am going to start with the most recent stuff and work my way backward. You can pretend you are reading consistent, individual blogs over several days than just one giant glut at the end of the year.
Returning home Dec. 31,2009
Upon returning home I have composed a song to remind me of the 12 reasons why a person should not leave their house alone for a week, especially in winter.
On the twelfth day after Christmas, I returned home to find…12 soggy newspapers
11 loads of laundry
10 dirty dishes
900 emails
8 car problems
7 moldy yeast rolls
6 bags of mail
5 overdue bills
4 feet of snow
3 withered plants
2 dead birds (actually one dead and one missing. Where IS that smell coming from? The heating vent?)
and a broken fridge full of spoiled food.
Happy New Year! We’re off to a great start.
Stuck in Iowa, December 30, 2009
I am writing this from a less than super 8 motel in Lamoni, Iowa. Bored out of my mind, waiting for the van to be fixed. So bored in fact, that I read the hotel manifesto and learned this used to be a Mormon settlement. It’s named after some king in the Mormon book of fairytales. We knew we had car trouble when the van started sounding like it was driving over an unending rumble strip, even though we were in the perfect center of the lane. Thought it was a tire issue. Nope. Maybe a brake issue. No, that would be too easy. Turns out it was a wheelbearing issue that was causing a brake and tire issue because the bearings had seized up and melted together.
So there we were, in the middle of nowhere, Iowa, just after closing time and at least 10 more miles to a garage that would help us and a place to sleep. We considered our options: Drive slowly with hazards on down the freeway for 30 more minutes to a real city and risk breaking down or wrecking. Not too appealing, since it was dark and had started sleeting. Call around and try to find someone local and risk hygiene standards to eat and stay in unknown places. We decided on the first plan, but the clanking was so loud, we realized we’d never make it. So, Jud called around and I prayed for guidance. God guided us to two Christian folks, a helpful man and a mechanic that worked after hours. We stayed at a Super 8 that had no pool (hence, our boredom) and wouldn’t let Charlie stay inside, even in his kennel. Poor fuzzball had to sleep in his kennel wrapped in blankets in the van. He survived. The hotel folks felt bad so they let us stay beyond check out time without charging us while we waited for the van to be fixed. Poor Jud had to drive back and then go to a New Year’s Eve allnighter with the teens. He’s sleeping now. In hind sight, we praised God for our protection. We lost count of how many vehicles went in the ditch during that freezing rain, the rain we would have been driving in, had we not broken down.
In Missouri, December 22
We had planned to leave for MO on Christmas Eve eve, but a massive snowstorm was headed our way over the rocky mountains and across the fruited plains. Huge snowfalls were expected in the northern cities, and sleet and freezing rain in the lower states, such as Missouri. Several people advised us to leave early to avoid the storm. I was a bit irked, since I would not be able to get us ready to leave a day early. We had just returned from a fun overnighter to a waterpark with the Wenigers and all that laundry had to be washed. We were rushing to finish Christmas projects (like the quilt), I had to do the newsletter, the house was a mess from all the coming and going, and on top of all that, Mackenzie had a violin recital to go to. My to do list was so long, it would not fit in my Google widget. Leaving a day early was out of the question.
However, not going at all was also out of the question, so I started furiously attacking my list. By Tuesday afternoon, I was frantically throwing clothes from the dryer into the suitcase and ordering the children around like a drill sergeant. I had to let some things go (like some dirty dishes in the sink and an unvacuumed floor.) I had planned to have all the Christmas stuff packed away. Forget that one. And I never found anyone to check on the birds, so I just loaded their cage up with food and water, which as you have already read, did not work out too well. We arrived late to the recital, Mackenzie played beautifully, and we left immediately after, beating the storm. About 30 minutes after we arrived at my folks’, it started pouring down rain and sleet and eventually snow. They had a white Christmas, which was unusual for them.
We had a great time with my folks. The weather kept us from doing much, since they don’t really plow the roads and the roads are rollercoaster hilly. Mostly my mom cooked while I worked on my scrapbook. The kids played with Emma and got caught up on SpongeBob reruns. Jud put together a puzzle and my Dad kept getting called into work. Toward the end of the week, we ventured out to do some shopping and Jud got to eat at Ryan’s and have a big, fat yeast roll with honey butter, a treat he hadn’t enjoyed since South Carolina.We also visited the grandparents in the nursing home. Grandma didn’t know us, but Grandpa was overjoyed to see all the kids.
December 2009
The month started with a bang. We were coming off Thanksgiving break (which we celebrated with family at Jared and Meghan’s house) and right into the last few rehearsals before the children’s Christmas program. This was the first time (since we’ve been here) that the kids did the whole show and my first time doing a musical. The kids were all dressed as different Christmas ornaments. Duncan was a big red ball, Lauren was a Minnie Mouse souvenir ornament and Mackenzie played two parts: a bell and Mary. She also had a solo, which rocked! The kids had a great time. The costumes were awesome, and so was the stage decoration–a huge ornament box tipped over and a massive Christmas tree. The biggest mistake was when Joseph (Samuel Spangler) was very late on his cue and the other actors had to keep "fighting" for what seemed like an eternity until Joseph ran in all out of breath. Everyone laughed when Frosty (Mitchell Bakken) said "This is not good." Despite it’s many shortcomings, the message got across and all was going well until Pastor decided to break the news to all the visitors (many unchurched) that Santa was not real. Ooooh that made some mom mad when all her kids looked at her with questioning eyes. Sigh.
Two weeks later, the Wenigers treated us to an overnighter at a hotel/waterpark. It had three great slides and a lazy river. The kids swam so hard, they were exhausted for two days afterward. Thanks, Grandma and Grandpa!
Returning home Dec. 31,2009
Upon returning home I have composed a song to remind me of the 12 reasons why a person should not leave their house alone for a week, especially in winter.
On the twelfth day after Christmas, I returned home to find…12 soggy newspapers
11 loads of laundry
10 dirty dishes
900 emails
8 car problems
7 moldy yeast rolls
6 bags of mail
5 overdue bills
4 feet of snow
3 withered plants
2 dead birds (actually one dead and one missing. Where IS that smell coming from? The heating vent?)
and a broken fridge full of spoiled food.
Happy New Year! We’re off to a great start.
Stuck in Iowa, December 30, 2009
I am writing this from a less than super 8 motel in Lamoni, Iowa. Bored out of my mind, waiting for the van to be fixed. So bored in fact, that I read the hotel manifesto and learned this used to be a Mormon settlement. It’s named after some king in the Mormon book of fairytales. We knew we had car trouble when the van started sounding like it was driving over an unending rumble strip, even though we were in the perfect center of the lane. Thought it was a tire issue. Nope. Maybe a brake issue. No, that would be too easy. Turns out it was a wheelbearing issue that was causing a brake and tire issue because the bearings had seized up and melted together.
So there we were, in the middle of nowhere, Iowa, just after closing time and at least 10 more miles to a garage that would help us and a place to sleep. We considered our options: Drive slowly with hazards on down the freeway for 30 more minutes to a real city and risk breaking down or wrecking. Not too appealing, since it was dark and had started sleeting. Call around and try to find someone local and risk hygiene standards to eat and stay in unknown places. We decided on the first plan, but the clanking was so loud, we realized we’d never make it. So, Jud called around and I prayed for guidance. God guided us to two Christian folks, a helpful man and a mechanic that worked after hours. We stayed at a Super 8 that had no pool (hence, our boredom) and wouldn’t let Charlie stay inside, even in his kennel. Poor fuzzball had to sleep in his kennel wrapped in blankets in the van. He survived. The hotel folks felt bad so they let us stay beyond check out time without charging us while we waited for the van to be fixed. Poor Jud had to drive back and then go to a New Year’s Eve allnighter with the teens. He’s sleeping now. In hind sight, we praised God for our protection. We lost count of how many vehicles went in the ditch during that freezing rain, the rain we would have been driving in, had we not broken down.
In Missouri, December 22
We had planned to leave for MO on Christmas Eve eve, but a massive snowstorm was headed our way over the rocky mountains and across the fruited plains. Huge snowfalls were expected in the northern cities, and sleet and freezing rain in the lower states, such as Missouri. Several people advised us to leave early to avoid the storm. I was a bit irked, since I would not be able to get us ready to leave a day early. We had just returned from a fun overnighter to a waterpark with the Wenigers and all that laundry had to be washed. We were rushing to finish Christmas projects (like the quilt), I had to do the newsletter, the house was a mess from all the coming and going, and on top of all that, Mackenzie had a violin recital to go to. My to do list was so long, it would not fit in my Google widget. Leaving a day early was out of the question.
However, not going at all was also out of the question, so I started furiously attacking my list. By Tuesday afternoon, I was frantically throwing clothes from the dryer into the suitcase and ordering the children around like a drill sergeant. I had to let some things go (like some dirty dishes in the sink and an unvacuumed floor.) I had planned to have all the Christmas stuff packed away. Forget that one. And I never found anyone to check on the birds, so I just loaded their cage up with food and water, which as you have already read, did not work out too well. We arrived late to the recital, Mackenzie played beautifully, and we left immediately after, beating the storm. About 30 minutes after we arrived at my folks’, it started pouring down rain and sleet and eventually snow. They had a white Christmas, which was unusual for them.
We had a great time with my folks. The weather kept us from doing much, since they don’t really plow the roads and the roads are rollercoaster hilly. Mostly my mom cooked while I worked on my scrapbook. The kids played with Emma and got caught up on SpongeBob reruns. Jud put together a puzzle and my Dad kept getting called into work. Toward the end of the week, we ventured out to do some shopping and Jud got to eat at Ryan’s and have a big, fat yeast roll with honey butter, a treat he hadn’t enjoyed since South Carolina.We also visited the grandparents in the nursing home. Grandma didn’t know us, but Grandpa was overjoyed to see all the kids.
December 2009
The month started with a bang. We were coming off Thanksgiving break (which we celebrated with family at Jared and Meghan’s house) and right into the last few rehearsals before the children’s Christmas program. This was the first time (since we’ve been here) that the kids did the whole show and my first time doing a musical. The kids were all dressed as different Christmas ornaments. Duncan was a big red ball, Lauren was a Minnie Mouse souvenir ornament and Mackenzie played two parts: a bell and Mary. She also had a solo, which rocked! The kids had a great time. The costumes were awesome, and so was the stage decoration–a huge ornament box tipped over and a massive Christmas tree. The biggest mistake was when Joseph (Samuel Spangler) was very late on his cue and the other actors had to keep "fighting" for what seemed like an eternity until Joseph ran in all out of breath. Everyone laughed when Frosty (Mitchell Bakken) said "This is not good." Despite it’s many shortcomings, the message got across and all was going well until Pastor decided to break the news to all the visitors (many unchurched) that Santa was not real. Ooooh that made some mom mad when all her kids looked at her with questioning eyes. Sigh.
Two weeks later, the Wenigers treated us to an overnighter at a hotel/waterpark. It had three great slides and a lazy river. The kids swam so hard, they were exhausted for two days afterward. Thanks, Grandma and Grandpa!
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