THE MAJOR’S LIFE BLOG

1.  Of all of the regular weekly blog entries that are posted on here this is the one that I look forward to compiling and posting more than any other. This is totally unrehearsed, and I am totally unprepared for it. This is raw, and that’s what makes it so cool. I have absolutely no clue what I plan to blog about for the next 9 items of interest, but I’ll just let my fingers do the talking and watch what happens.

2.  The 10TH season / 9TH summer edition of “Big Brother” on CBS-TV begins this Sunday night at 8 PM EDT / 7 PM CDT. Please don’t bother me while it’s on (three nights a week as usual).

3.  Some days everyone around me is a lousy driver. They either drive too slow in front of me, pull out in front of me, or tailgate me. This was one of those days. I couldn’t wait to get off of the streets.

4.  Everytime I sneak a peek at this book I spend more time in it than I intended. I need to find some time this weekend to intentionally spend a couple of hours with it. It’s what I do for Life Pointe Church. It’s how I serve God and His children here in Homestead.

5.  This afternoon I ordered a medium roast beef sandwich combo (with curly fries and a Sierra Mist) and an apple turnover via the drive-thru at Arby’s in Florida City (where all the food is). That’s what I paid for, and I’ve got the receipt right here to prove it. I got the curly fries, the Sierra Mist, and the apple turnover, but in lieu of the medium roast beef sandwich that I was truly looking forward to devouring I instead got - get this - a REUBEN !  I can dig mistakes like that when they work out in my favour flavour !

6.  Are you tired of all of the rain here in Homestead (nearly 14 inches over the past 22 days) ?  GOOD - I’m forecasting very little to no rain at all for the next 5 to 7 days (until perhaps early next week). Let’s see if I’m right.

7.  The Washington Redskins and The Indianapolis Colts kick-off the 2008 NFL season with the annual Pro Football Hall-Of-Fame Game in Canton Ohio on Sunday August 03RD 2008. That’s only 26 days away. THAT’S WHAT I’M TALKIN’ ABOUT !

8.  I saw my hot new laptop on sale at a Best Buy in Plano Texas last week. The longer I wait the cheaper it gets with more power. Laptops with 4 GB of RAM are pretty much standard nowadays. So are desktops with 8 GB of RAM.

9.  I survived my 5TH cold in 8 months. It lasted 6 days. I kinda knew that I was getting it before I got it, and it was pretty much gone before I realized it. Here’s hoping that I don’t have to be blogging about my 6TH cold in 10 months come Labour Day Weekend !

10.  THIS JUST IN - My brother and his wife (my sister-in-law) now have a cold. My 6-DAY cold ‘peaked’ on its 3RD day. That was my last full day at their house. I felt a little bit better on the 4TH Of July - the day that I left them behind and flew back home. A single contact with my nasty cold germs left behind and it was pretty much all over for the both of them. They’ll probably infect each of their coworkers.

Here now is a final ‘quick-hit’ wrap-up of my 7-DAY / 6-NIGHT Texas vacation:

1.  I spent 4-DAYS and 3 NIGHTS on the River Walk en San Antonio.

2.  It was my 4TH trip to San Antonio, but the 1ST that wasn’t military-related.

3.  I adore the River Walk. If I had to live in Texas then that is where I would live.

4.  Every day would be a ‘Major’s Walk-A-Thon’.

5.  How did I get my 5TH cold in 8 months ?  I touched things !

6.  The 5-HOUR drive to and from San Antonio with my brother was a lot of fun.

7.  My brother and his wife live in a ritzy suburb of Dallas - Allen.

8.  They live in a peaceful and quiet suburban yuppie neighbourhood.

9.  Allen is surrounded by McKinney, Fairview, Lucas, Parker, Plano, and Frisco.

10.  I’ll be back in Allen in exactly 20 weeks for Thanksgiving !

I do more before 8 AM on a Saturday morning than most many some people do all day on Saturday ! 

PUBLIX - I did my occasional grocery shopping this morning, and I bought over $61 in quality food, beverage, and other general merchandise. I saved over $15 in combined advertised special savings and coupons. My groceries were taken out to my car for me, so this is a new and developing positive trend for this particular Publix location (Homestead’s Oasis Plaza). I think that it would be safe to say that Publix is my favourite store in the free nation !

WOODY’S - Normally I get a haircut at Homestead’s legendary Woody’s Barber Shop during the week as part of my Lunch hour; however, I decided that my spaghetti noodle textured mop top could not wait another 2 or 3 or 4 days to be snipped. It had to be done NOW !  It’s hot outside, and it’s also breezy outside. I’m sweating, and I was starting to look like this nerd again:

STARBUCKS - ‘I’ll get a grande White Chocolate Mocha and an Apple Fritter.’
‘That’ll be $6.08 please.’
‘No problem. Here’s my exact change !’

TODAY is Flag Day here in the U.S.A.
Respect and protect the American flag and all that it symbolizes today and every day. We live in freedom today because of those who fought for us on our behalf as they carried our American flag.

Sky: Sunny & Clear
Temperature: 78°F
Relative Humidity: 67%
Winds: E 9 MPH
Barometric Pressure: 29.97 Rising

My thoughts:

1.  NO - Your eyes are not deceiving you. This is really an edition of ‘The Major’s Walk-A-Thon’. I just had to take advantage of this extremely unusual cool and dry air over Homestead this late in the winter season (which incidentally I forecasted with precision accuracy nearly a week ago). When dewpoints reach the lower-60s in late-May in Homestead you just know that you are living through a strange weather phenomenon. Of course if you have no clue what a dewpoint is then you probably just think that it’s really sunny outside ! 

2.  Before I even ventured on this ‘Walk-A-Thon’ I went over to Florida City (where all of the food is), and I ate the mother of all MASSIVE breakfasts to end all MASSIVE breakfasts big and small - at Denny’s !  I walked in, I was treated with love, care, and respect, and I ate one of the biggest meals that I can remember in recent short-term memory. Everything was just oh-so-perfect with this breakfast experience - including the environment, the surrounding clientele, and the rockin’ music that was playing in the background. I think I found my new favourite breakfast hang-out joint on future Saturday (or holiday) mornings.

3.  I ate so much food that I just had to walk it all off, and so I did via a basic ‘old-school’ standard-issue 1.3-mile walk around the circumference of my beautiful neighbourhood. I did the walk in a little more than 23½-minutes, and I walked to the fantastic beat of my glorious Christian rock, pop, and hip hop music on my green 2GB iPod Shuffle. Editorial Comment Alert - If I were the Music Director of the main lobby of Life Pointe Church on Sunday mornings then I would play my iPod Shuffle in lieu of the current music selection on the iPod that has been played endlessly for about a year now. But that’s just me.

4.  One side of Lakeshore’s dumpsters were clean and empty. The other side were dirty, full, and overflowing onto the ground. Gee I wonder which side the City Of Homestead hasn’t gotten to yet ? !  The north side is anxiously awaiting with baited breath the emptying of our dumpsters.

5.  I guarantee at least one more edition of ‘The Major’s Walk-A-Thon’ this Summer - on location from the River Walk in San Antonio Texas. Look for it during the week of the 4TH Of July. 

This is the 50TH edition of the ‘Bedtime Stories’. It’s after 10 PM on a Sunday night, and normally I’d be getting ready to go to bed at this time so that I can get about 7 hours of sleep before I have to wake up and go to work bright and early on a Monday morning. But tomorrow is Memorial Day - the day that is set aside each year to honour our fallen military heroes during times of war.

http://www.usmemorialday.org - In Memory Of Our Honored Dead

http://www.history.com/minisites/memorial - Memorial Day

http://www.memorialdayfoundation.org - The Memorial Day Foundation

http://www1.va.gov/opa/speceven/memday/index.asp - U.S. Department Of Veterans Affairs

http://www.remember.gov - U.S. White House Commission On Remembrance

It’s 8:44 PM on a Wednesday night as I begin tonight’s edition of the ‘Bedtime Stories’, and I’m gearing up for a MASSIVE day at work - a MASSIVE day of meetings !  I’m actually looking forward to it, as my career renaissance continues. The past 10 months has been the best 10 months (by far) of my entire 23-year Air Force / Department Of Defense career. It goes hand-in-hand with the best 21 months of my entire Life. I look back at August 2006 as the official month of my ‘Awakening’. It’s been ready-set-GO ! ever since being reborn on God’s fantastic journey for me.

Friday kicks-off the long Memorial Day holiday weekend, and I’m not going anywhere special. I’ll be right here blogging up a storm, so hang out with me if you have no special plans that will whisk you away to some exotic land far far away with no Internet access.

Tomorrow on the blog it’s our top-rated weekly feature - the ‘Thursday Night Internet Hoax Hall-Of-Shame’. Tomorrow I promise you no long horrific chain letter E-Mail that most of us already know is bogus. Instead I bring you a picture - a picture of an adorable cat - an adorable cat that measures 5 feet 9 inches in length and weighs in at 87 pounds !  Is it for real ?  Gather up your crew and surf on over to the blog tomorrow afternoon to see for yourself !

Don’t forget about the ‘Friday Night Blogroll Review’ where I go public with my favourite blog entries of the week from my favourite bloggers that are near and dear to me. I’m pretty sure that this dude and this dude and this dude will be on there, and I’ve also reserved a spot for this girl and this girl.

So that’s what’s comin’ up over the next 48 hours here on the blog. Have a wonderful Wednesday night everyone, and until we blog again remember this:

The legend continues, as we enter the 8TH month of these ‘Tuesday Night Grab Bag O’ Thoughts’:

1. Travis sent me an ‘Untwitter’ (an ordinary cell phone text message) shortly before 2 PM from my favourite Chinese restaurant aqui en Homestead. Apparently he’s eatin’ good in the neighbourhood at the Peking House. NICE !

2.  I’m a ‘Law & Order’ type of guy - not the actual TV shows, but the simple Life concept of law and order. I wouldn’t survive in a world of anarchy and chaos.

3.  Just in time for the long Memorial Day holiday weekend - we may actually experience the effects of an extremely rare cold front here in South Florida with cool and gusty northeasterly winds coming straight off of the ocean and afternoon high temperatures struggling to get past the 80°F mark. Look for it (potentially) on Sunday and Memorial Day Monday.

4.  Tomorrow (Wednesday) is the last official day of the 2007-2008 television season. It will forever be remembered as the season that the 100-day writers’ strike interrupted. It also continued a trend in which prime time network television viewership hit all-new record lows.

5.  I have so many exciting ideas floating around in my brain for Life Pointe Church. Some of these ideas will never see the light of the day, but I think that most of them will in some way either sooner or later. I’m not alone. I hang out every Sunday morning with a whole bunch of my friends who serve, praise, worship, and love Him. They have some really cool ideas for their church. These are our future leaders at the LPC. We are going to spread the Kingdom of God here in South Miami-Dade !

6.  You think I’m old-fashioned ?  This morning I personally witnessed a late-50s-something guy (a co-worker of mine) rockin’ an electric typewriter like it’s 1972 !  He felt right at home on that thing !

7.  Speaking of the early-1970s I had two dogs when I was a little kid. Brandy was a German Shepherd, and Girlie was a sheep dog. Brandy was taken away from me in 1973 because she was digging holes underneath the backyard fence, crawling under it, and then running loose and terrorizing the neighbourhood. Girlie was taken away from me in 1975 because I was allegedly not taking care of her - as a 7-year-old. The real reason why she was yanked away from me is because of the impending arrival of my little brother.

8.  The people that complain the loudest about the rising gas prices are usually the people that waste the most gas with their lousy driving habits. Don’t throw stones at the oil man when you live in a glass house.

9.  I would see Neil Diamond LIVE in concert. Go ahead. Make fun of me.

10.  Florida Power & Light should have a roving team of technicians that fix street lights that don’t work properly. If you’re wondering why there are no lights on late at night or early in the morning on selected streets it’s because they may be on all day long instead. Sometimes it takes FPL several months to the greater part of a year to find out about these malfunctioning lights and then correct the problem. You can help them out by reporting these street lights via their official web site.

Hello Friends. It’s the Monday night edition of ‘Bedtime Stories’. Thanks for joining me here.

Everyone needs to run - don’t walk - RUN ! - over to Harmony’s blog right this very minute to check out this masterpiece. I laughed hysterically when I first read it, and I think that you will too. I just couldn’t wait until this Friday night to share it with you on the ‘Blogroll Review’. Harmony’s been on a blogging roll lately, so she may top herself with something even more crazy and hilarious later this week. Catch it now and thank me later.

Paul is sick at home again. He caught the bug that everyone around him had over the past couple of weeks. Feel better and get well soon !  Sunday is going to be Fun Day at Homestead Bayfront Park !  You’re not gonna wanna miss any potential shenanigans.

I may never tweet, but I actually enjoy reading Phil’s Twitter messages - no matter how mundane some of them are. I think that The P.J. will outgrow this passing fad before the end of the Summer. Incidentally when are we going to hang out for Lunch at El Nachito ?  I’m free on most weekdays between now and the end of June.

Well that’s all I’ve got for this Monday night. This is the night that I stay up late (past 11 PM), watch “Monday Night Raw“, and serve The Lord on behalf of Life Pointe Church here at home. I consider this to be the Lakeshore Campus of the LPC.

Have a great evening everyone, and until we hang out again here on the blog or LIVE and in-person remember this:

There was no walk around my neighbourhood on this Saturday morning. It was about 73°F and the relative humidity was very near 100% with lower visibility due to light fog. The South Florida summertime weather pattern has taken hold, and it will have a firm grip on us for the next 5+ months.

Last Saturday morning was the season finale of ‘The Major’s Walk-A-Thon’, and so I present to you a recap of the season that started on Christmas Eve with my TOP 10 thoughts (in chronological order):

1.  Monday December 24TH 2007 - If this were May, June, July, August, September, or October then I would have probably been eaten alive by every bug known to mankind, but this is December and it is just so refreshingly delightful outside !

2.  Tuesday January 01ST 2008 - You can tell where the party-animals live here in my neighbourhood. Their dumpsters are overflowing with leftover holiday week garbage. The dumpsters that were still able to be closed from the top are where the retired folks live … Dogs can be party-animals as well. I came within inches of stepping in some of their ‘holiday leftovers’ during my walk this morning. It was a close call !

3.  Saturday January 05TH 2008 - Walking is a great time for praying. I prayed for the residents of Homestead, Florida City, Redland, Leisure City, Naranja Lakes, and Princeton to be blessed by the Glory of God. I prayed that the believers stay strong and unwavering with their personal relationship with Jesus. I prayed that the non-believers be guided onto the on-ramp of the fantastic journey by the believers. There’s plenty of room for everyone who truly believes in Him !

4.  Saturday February 16TH 2008 -  A friend from afar recently asked me why I started this weekly walk. Besides the obvious health and fitness reasons this walk - inspired and encouraged by this fellow WordPress blogger - is symbolic of my walk with Jesus Christ. I’ve been walking with Him on His fantastic journey for about 18 months now. I was once a mannequin - plastic and rotting. Now I am alive. Since I am alive I am living Life (always capitalized) the way that I should have lived it during my previous 39 years on His great Earth. That includes throwing everything up in the air like ‘Tossed Salad’ (catch the symbolism there) and only catching the good stuff - the right stuff. A physical walk is now on my agenda to complement my spiritual walk with my Creator. No longer am I sitting still in neutral. I am now moving forward and going places with my Life. The Lord Almighty is driving me. I am merely His passenger.

5.  Saturday February 23RD 2008 - I received some disappointing news at my Doctor’s office yesterday afternoon. After numerous analyses of my blood work over the past several years he has finally made the determination that diet and exercise alone is not bringing down my bad cholesterol (LDL). It’s still in the ‘elevated’ range, and it doesn’t appear to be coming down on its own. He has prescribed Lipitor for me - 10 milligrams per day to start off with. He gave me a free 14-day sample of it to ensure that it doesn’t cause any bad side effects with me. If I feel fine after the first 14 days then it’s on to Walgreens to get my prescription filled. I take my first dosage this afternoon. This will probably be the start of daily medication for the rest of my Life. I am no longer a young buck. Apparently I am now a middle-aged dude with high cholesterol. I am facing the music.

6.  Saturday March 08TH 2008 - My semi-basic 1.4-mile walk on a rare full stomach was done so during treacherous weather conditions - with thick dark clouds hanging low overhead, strong gusty northwesterly winds of up to 25 MPH, cold air pouring in, and even a little bit of leftover drizzle on this fresh side of the powerful cold front. I will dream of mornings like this from April through October when it’s hot and sticky outside with no wind … The ducks were out and about this morning, and they appeared to be lost, dazed, confused, and perhaps even drunk. They were stumbling about, wandering around with no sense of direction, and I saw one of them nearly tumble over in a state of mass chaos. They were wondering why the weather had suddenly changed on them. Some of them probably drank too much (rain).

7.  Saturday March 29TH 2008 - Whenever I walk the walk I feel like I’ve taken back my neighbourhood. I’ve lived here for nearly 13 years, but I’ve only really lived here for the past 3 months. Before Christmas Eve 2007 the only walking I did was to and from the mailboxes and the dumpsters. From 1995 to 2007 I merely existed in this neighbourhood. Now I am fully alive. Taking back my neighbourhood from obscurity has been just like taking back my Life from the darkness. I’ve wrapped my arms around my entire neighbourhood just like I’ve embraced this new Life that God has given me.

8.  Saturday April 19TH 2008 - I may not have big muscles to show for it, but I am the most physically fit today than I have ever been in my entire life and Life. I am in far better shape today than I was during my late-teens and early-to-middle-20s when I had to run a mile-and-a-half every year in the Air Force.

9.  Saturday April 26TH 2008 - ‘The cat by the dumpster’ was there again. He looked at me with his sad yellow eyes with no fear. I think if I dropped a few morsels of tasty food by his side then he would have gobbled it all up in a split second and then followed me for the remaining mile-plus of my walk. 10 years later … 

10.  Saturday May 03RD 2008 - 2 little dogs were out for some early-morning shenanigans without their owner. I think they escaped from their patio. They were having a good ole time running all around in the street and on the grass - until they saw me !  That’s when they ran behind me and straight outta sight - probably back to where they belong. I wonder which one of those little dogs was the trouble-maker ?  Which one said to the other one, ‘Hey, follow me. We’re gonna go out and paint this town. We’re gonna go and get us into some monkey business this morning. Let’s go dog !’

And so we have right here right now the Tuesday night edition of ‘Bedtime Stories’ - brought to you by Zicam.

My unexpectedly long Good Friday / Easter Sunday holiday weekend will soon come to a close as I pray to God and lay myself to sleep in about 2½-hours. I’ll get about 6 hours of sleep tonight, and then I’ll wake up at 5 AM tomorrow morning and be at work by 6 AM. I’m looking forward to getting back to my desk at work and catching up with everything there. Once upon a time I dreaded going to work, but now I adore it.

I saw the International Space Station and the Space Shuttle Endeavour over the eastern skies of Homestead tonight just after 8 PM. It was so cool watching the Space Shuttle play tag team with the ISS up in Earth’s orbit from practically sea level.

I bought my very first atomic radio-controlled clock today. It picks-up its signal from the NIST signal out of Fort Collins Colorado. I now know exactly what time it is, and I can set my watch and VCR clocks to its precise time.

FedEx delivered my fresh new 2GB iPod Shuffle from Apple late this afternoon. Now I can get to work and fill that thing up with today’s hottest Christian rock, pop, and hip hop hits !

And that’s how I roll tonight with my ‘Bedtime Stories’. Be sure to catch this blog in action again tomorrow for some more cool stuff, and don’t forget that Thursday night is ‘Internet Hoax Hall-Of-Shame’ night. Until then remember this:

Zicam - Get over your cold faster.

Good Night Everyone !  Good Night Nancy !

So I’m laying in bed this morning (off from work and dealing with a cold) when Kelly-Kel - the morning show host on 91.9-CALL-FM - proceeds to announce to her audience that (based on what a listener had told her) we would not have another Easter Sunday in March for another 192 years - until 2200 !

Of course that is absolutely nonsense, but I was still in bed - with a cold. I eventually managed to get out of bed at around 7:45 AM - a good 2½ hours later than normal for a typical Monday morning. After taking a shower, feeling a little bit better (and certainly refreshed) to begin a brand new day Kelly-Kel proceeded to make the stunning announcement again - no more Easter Sundays in March for another 192 years !

That was the final straw that broke the Easter Bunny’s back !

I called Kelly-Kel over the telephone, and I told her the real facts about Easter Sunday. It will always be the first Sunday after the first full moon that occurs on or after the 21ST of March. This year the full moon occurred on the 21ST of March (Good Friday), so this Easter Sunday was the 2ND earliest Easter Sunday on record. The earliest calendar date that it can possibly occur on is the 22ND of March, and the latest that it can possibly occur on is the 25TH of April. There will be plenty of Easter Sundays to come in March !  Easter Sunday occurs in March generally every 3 to 5 years. Our next Easter Sunday in March will occur in just 5 years - on March 31ST 2013. One more fact. Easter Sunday will occur on April 24TH 2011 - the 2ND-latest calendar date that it can possibly occur on.

Due to audio difficulties at the time Kelly-Kel couldn’t put our actual recorded telephone conversation on-the-air, but she did reiterate the information for all of her morning show listeners.

THANK YOU Kelly-Kel for clearing all of that up for everyone else !

It’s time for the Sunday night edition of ‘Bedtime Stories’ - brought to you by Puffs.

Another 7-day week has concluded here on this blog, and it was the 2ND busiest week in our WordPress history based on total views. It was the busiest Monday in 5 weeks, the 2ND busiest Friday of 2008, the busiest Saturday ever, and the 3RD busiest Sunday of 2008. It was the busiest Thursday / Friday / Saturday / Sunday 4-day period ever!  Thank You Everyone for reading this blog on a regular basis !

I’ve got what appears to be my unprecedented 3RD cold in less than 5 months. Once upon a time I used to get a cold about once every 18 months to 3 years. Of course that was back when I was a plastic mannequin. This past Friday night I was amongst an estimated 5,000 to 9,000 adults, teens, and kids at the ‘Moonlight Easter Egg Hunt‘ at Harris Field, and on this glorious Easter Sunday morning there were over 700 of us at the movie theatre for Life Pointe Church services. I was shaking hands and hugging people all over the place this morning, and now I have a head cold. Go figure !

I’ve already E-Mailed in sick to work for tomorrow. I think that it’s best for me to sleep-in tomorrow morning and feel better before I go back to work (hopefully on Tuesday morning).

So until you hear from me again here on the blog please pray that I feel better soon. Oh yeah, and remember this:

Puffs:  A nose in need deserves Puffs indeed.

Have a safe and peaceful night everyone. Good Night Venus.

1.  When I arrived at Harris Field shortly after 3 PM yesterday afternoon one of the first persons I recognized was Tom. He was up on a ladder posting huge signs on the fences of the baseball fields which were later transformed into our MASSIVE egg hunt fields. After that Tom recruited me to assist him in putting up and securing into the ground the four canopies that spanned the Registration area. Tom is a genius with his hands, and when all was said and done Tom put in about 14 hours yesterday of blood, sweat, and tears. Tom is what Life Pointe Church is all about !

2.  The lines at the Registration tables began forming well before 5 PM, and at their peak they were over a quarter of a mile in length. I’m no statistician - oh wait a minute - YES I am - so if I had to estimate how many people actually showed up for our event then I would put it in the general vicinity of about 5,000 to perhaps 6,000. That’s pretty much triple the amount of people that we were expecting. If 2% of those adults and kids show up for one of our three Easter Sunday services tomorrow morning (8:30, 9:40, and 10:50) then we will be quite busy at the movie theatre.

3.  From inception to event we had exactly 4 weeks to plan and prepare for everything. We did an incredible job pulling everything together, working as a team, and putting on this event for our thousands of guests. Ms. Annie H. and Ms. Kelly J. were absolutely amazing as leaders of the overall Registration area. Sure we had our glitches that occurred, and chaos that ensued, and tempers that flared, but at the end of it all this event was nothing short of an overwhelming success story. We came. We saw. We conquered. We will go back to the drawing board once the dust settles, and decide if we want to do this all over again next Easter. If we do then we will begin planning for it many months in advance to greatly improve upon everything.

4.  Based on various reports all throughout Harris Field the kids and the teens in attendance were very well behaved. We had some problems with some of our adult guests. We encountered a few of these problems during the lengthy Registration process, within the concessions area, out on the egg hunt fields, and especially during the prize-claim and exit process. It was a long night for everyone. In response to one particular verbal outburst that occurred late in the evening we may be ‘church people’, but we are also regular human beings - just like you. We are no better than you. We never make that claim. We make mistakes too - just like you. We also learn from our mistakes - just like you.

5.  We took Harris Field back at around 10 PM, disassembled everything, and cleaned-up the joint with several boxes of trash bags chock-full of garbage. I was absolutely proud of my City Of Homestead for being there on-site with a pick-up truck to collect all of the trash that we collected. They have learned from their mistakes in the past, and we will as well.

6.  Pastor Travis brought us all together at the end of it all to cap off the night with an awesome prayer to put everything back into perspective. This event was not at all about us. This event was all about giving back to our community. That is why we exist - to serve God first and foremost - and to serve our guests - those who live and breathe all around us. Some of our guests will hopefully join our rapidly growing family and mission in the future. God is always at work here in Homestead Florida. Unfortunately Satan is working hard too. On this night God absolutely won hands down - no questions about it !

It’s past 11 PM EDT on this Good Friday night, and I just got home from the ‘Moonlight Easter Egg Hunt‘ at Harris Field about 30 minutes ago.

I was on my two feet for nearly 8 hours non-stop this afternoon and this evening, but now I am sitting down here at my computer. I forgot how nice sitting down actually feels !  I can’t wait to get in that bed of mine to lay down and go to sleep. I’m pretty sure that’s going to feel totally awesome as well !

Tomorrow morning’s regularly-scheduled ‘Walk-A-Thon’ has been cancelled. I got enough exercise standing up and walking around for 8 hours today. In lieu of ‘The Major’s Walk-A-Thon’ I shall present to you a very special edition of the ‘Tossed Salad’ featuring a recap of the events of today.

Until then remember this:

Have a good night’s sleep on us. Mattress Discounters !

Good Night Everyone !

It’s right around 8:30 PM EDT on a Thursday night, and I’ve got your ‘Bedtime Stories’ for you right here - right now !

This is the calm before the holiday weekend storm. I’m enjoying the calm - the peace, the quiet, the safety, and the security of my own home. But I can’t wait for the storm to begin. The storm of faith, fellowship, and Love at Harris Field in the heart of Homestead tomorrow afternoon and evening, and the glorious celebration of Easter Sunday at Life Pointe Church for about 5 hours on Sunday morning.

I’m working tomorrow morning, but then I’m taking the afternoon off. I plan to be on-site at Harris Field tomorrow afternoon right around 3 PM or so to help get that place transformed into our ‘Moonlight Easter Egg Hunt‘. We will totally ROCK that place for several thousand guests for about 4 hours tomorrow night. Gates open to the public at 6 PM, and the fun begins shortly thereafter. Be there for the biggest Good Friday event in Homestead’s history !

I’ll have an early edition of your ‘Friday Night Blogroll Review’ posted here on the blog shortly after 12 noon tomorrow, and then late on Friday night (or early on Saturday morning) I’ll have the ‘Life Pointe Church Moonlight Easter Egg Hunt Tossed Salad’ on here featuring a full recap of the night’s events.

Until we meet tomorrow afternoon at Harris Field, or until we meet back here at the blog remember this:

L’Eggo My Eggo !

Have a great night everyone !

It’s time for the St. Patrick’s Day edition of ‘The Fortune Cookie Message Of The Week Club’ - because whenever I think of my Irish descent I think of - CHINESE FOOD !

‘Never bring unhappy feelings into your home.’

Once upon a time I used to be a generally sad and miserable person. I like to refer to that time of my life (not capitalized) as ‘Ages 0 to 39′. During the Summer Of 2006 I awoke from the darkness. I am now ‘Chasing Daylight’. It’s morning again.

Two recent search engine terms that led to this blog are quite interesting. One is a question, and the other answers the question:

Q - Does God speak through a fortune cookie ?

A - God speaks to me through fortune cookies !

Greetings fellow bloggers - those who read and those who write. It’s time for the Sunday night edition of ‘Bedtime Stories’ - brought to you by Cookie Crisp cereal.

Here are some things that I resolve to do during this upcoming holiday week:

• Wear a green shirt tomorrow to celebrate my Irish heritage in honour of St. Patrick’s Day. (I’m 50% Irish in case you didn’t know.)
• Eat Chinese food for Lunch tomorrow to celebrate my love of foods that are green - such as broccoli.
• Go to Publix tomorrow afternoon after work to do some serious shopping for food. Yes Venus and Kristina - even though I don’t cook my own food I still eat food.
• Get a tattoo on my lower-right thigh with Jesse.
• Wash and dry bath towels twice this week.
• Prepare for the WORM. (This only makes sense to my coworkers.)
• Shave on Tuesday night.
• Go out clubbing with Paul.
• Attend Life Group this Wednesday night and arrive before Nancy.
• Serve at the ‘Moonlight Easter Egg Hunt’ on Good Friday night. (Visit easterinhomestead.com for the 411.)
• Induct another ‘Chris Day’ into ‘The Chris Day Club’.
• Get a haircut with Travis at Woody’s Barber Shop.

Be sure to return back here tomorrow afternoon for another fun-filled day here on the blog. I may even have a fresh new edition of ‘The Fortune Cookie Message Of The Week Club’.

Until then remember this:

If you like cookies, you’ll love Cookie Crisp !

It’s time once again for ‘Bedtime Stories’ - brought to you by Ross - Dress For Less.

The Dog, The Cat, & The Rat - Check out this cool video !

Traditional Irish Blessing - In honour of St. Patrick’s Day !

Those are your video ‘Bedtime Stories’ for this Saturday night. Be sure to catch the blog again tomorrow afternoon for another fresh new edition of the ‘Life Pointe Church Sunday Morning Tossed Salad’.

Until then remember this:

It’s Shoe Week At Ross !

Sky: Clear
Temperature: 67°F
Relative Humidity: 100%
Winds: Calm
Barometric Pressure: 29.94 Rising

My thoughts:

1.  This morning most of my walk occurred before sunrise. I walked from 7:17 AM to 7:42 AM. It was a basic 1.3-mile walk around my neighbourhood, but I did so counterclockwise rather than the normal clockwise. I like to take risks like that ! 

2.  The Spring holidays are here. Tomorrow is Palm Sunday, and that leads in to Holy Week including Good Friday and Easter Sunday. I can tell that the holidays are here. A lot of my neighbours are on vacation now. There are a lot of empty parking spaces all around.

3.  I passed an adorable little black cat at the southern tip of my walk this morning that could have passed for a ‘Baby Boots’. Boots was my home buddy for 12½ years from 1995 to 2007. ‘Baby Boots’ looked at me with loving eyes. He just knew that I am a friend of felines.

4.  What an amazing music set I listened to on my iPod shuffle during my 25-minute walk:
- “Breathe You In” - Thousand Foot Krutch
- “Glorious” - Ever Stays Red
- “Nuisance” - John Reuben With Matt Thiessen
- “New Skeptic” - The Fold
- “Strong Tower” - Kutless
- “Live Like We’re Alive” - Nevertheless
- “Awake” - Seventh Day Slumber

5.  After the walk I ventured over to the former sanctuary of Life Pointe Church to help stuff thousands of Easter Eggs with candy in preparation of this MASSIVE event that’s gonna rock Homestead on Good Friday. After that I hung out with most of the prayer group that meets at the original church building every Saturday morning. We all did Lunch together at Loly’s Restaurant in the Old Dixie Center just up the road. It was a great time of fun, food, and fellowship.

1.  It was still twilight outside at 7:30 AM when we arrived at the movie theatre to transform it into our corporate place of worship that we know as Life Pointe Church. Just across the street at Campbell Drive Middle School Christ Fellowship Church was setting up their brand new location. I think that our stretch of Campbell Drive between our two places of worship should be renamed ‘King Of Kings Boulevard’.

2.  I learned this morning that Anne J. personally made all of the black tablecloths that are used on top of all of our Hospitality tables in the main lobby. They seem to be slowly disappearing too. I have a feeling that Anne will soon be making a few more for us.

3.  With Lisa and Luciana setting up the Kids’ Life Registration table every Sunday morning you just know that there’s going to be something different added to the display to enhance it even further. Pastor Paul stated announced that the Kids’ Life table and the Guests’ Information table are not in direct competition with each other. Thanks for the reminder Paul. I passed on that information to Terry and Patricia.

4.  Pastor Paul led this week’s teaching, and it was all about worship. It is the Spirit that refers to our expressions of worship, and it is the Truth that refers to our lifestyle of worship. We do not ‘go to’ worship. We do not ‘attend’ worship. We live worship. It is our lifestyle. Just as we do not ‘go to’ church or ‘attend’ church because that signifies that a church is a building. We are the church - 24-7.  Wherever we go, and whatever we do we should always be the church.

5.  We are just 12 days away from the biggest Easter celebration that Homestead has ever seen. It all happens on Good Friday March 21ST from 7 to 9 PM at Harris Field in the heart of Homestead as we present the ‘Moonlight Easter Egg Hunt’. For more information on this mega-extravaganza for the whole family be sure to check out our special web site for this event at easterinhomestead.com.