Choose or Lose

A video that MTV.com came into Delaware take that features my very good friend Steve. About Senator Biden's bid in the upcoming election.

Steve and I went to Morocco this past summer.

And go Steve for not being afraid to voice your own opinion!

Polka will never die!

Gotta love Dresden--

*****

"Calm down?" He waved a shaking hand at the door. "They're going to kill us. Just like Phil. They're going to kill us and we're going to die. You, me, Thomas. We're all going to die."

I forgot my bad leg for a second, crossed the room to Butters, and seized him by the front of the shirt. I hauled up until his heels lifted off of the floor. "Listen to me," I snarled. "We are not going to die."

Butters stared at me, pale, his eyes terrified. "We're not?"

"No. And do you know why?"

He shook his head.

"Because Thomas is too pretty to die. And because I'm too stubborn to die." I hauled on his shirt even harder. "And most of all because tomorrow is Oktoberfest, Butters, and polka will never die."

He blinked.

"Polka will never die!" I shouted at him. "Say it!"

He swallowed. "Polka will never die?"

"Again!"

"P-p-polka will never die," he stammered.

I shook him a little. "Louder!"

"Polka will never die!" he shrieked.

"We're going to make it!" I shouted.

"Polka will never die!" Butters screamed.

"I can't believe I'm hearing this," Thomas muttered.

Vacation!

I took a vacation to Virginia Beach September 10-13. Here are pictures!

Spent all day Thursday at the beach. It was windy and warm, once the sun finally decided to show itself!


The statue of Neptune at the beach.


Becky and I at the Naval Base in Norfolk.


Me and my awesome cousins, Danny and Karissa, who let us stay at their house for the weekend!


The nuclear submarine U.S.S. North Carolina. Danny used to be in the Navy (is now in the Reserves) and we were allowed in and on board and given a tour. Now I can say I've been on a nuclear sub. Danny's current job? Building these things (and also the carriers too).


Bet you didn't know that swearing is illegal in Virginia Beach!


Becky and I at the Music Builds Concert.



Jars of Clay.


Switchfoot. I think this is when they were playing "This is Home." Which was one of my favorite performances of theirs. Especially because of the Narnia (and Heaven) references.


Third Day.

And the encore had to be the best ever. All three of the groups came up on stage together (along with a guy from the fourth group who had been playing) and they all did a cover of U2's "When Love Comes to Town." Absolutely amazing.

Without a doubt, it goes down as one of the best vacations I've ever had. (The concert goes down for best ever. Hands down.)

Lay Down Softly in Our Sorrow

But the God that sometimes can't be found
Will wrap Himself around you
So lay down, sister, lay down

Slower passing are the hours
To tell this tale that takes its time
The finest moment, no man can measure
Is to look your Savior in the eyes

-'Rita' by Bebo Norman

Accomplishment

I stepped on the scale this morning, and weighed 20 pounds less than I did a year ago at this time!

Change

Today, the walls and structure of the sanctuary here at the church came crashing down.

Wedding Highlights!

Julie and Tim are officially married now! Congratulations, Mr. & Mrs. Singer!

Highlights:
-Being a part of the bridal party.
-Ball and chain.
-Getting myself a manicure and pedicure (never had a pedicure before).
-Brunch with the bridesmaids and bride at Bob Evans.
-The groomsmen. They were hysterical!
-Talking with Bethany and getting to know Susannah and Lydia better (three of the other bridesmaids)
-Seeing Keith in action (the photographer, who was a good friend of mine and Julie's from marching band in college).
-Climbing a rockwall in my bridesmaid's dress! (No lie - Keith made Julie get up on it in her wedding gown!)
-Having Chad for a groomsman. He was a good friend in my college days; we both went to IV together. Lucky me, I was only one of the bridesmaids who actually knew her groomsman.
-Watching Tim & Julie say their vows.
-Mama Z's wedding cake! It's the best ever!
-Talking with Papa Z about some things that had happened in the past and clearing the air.
-Fondue!
-Dancing.
-All of the compliments, both in regards to the wedding program and our dresses, hair, etc.

And way too many others.

Pictures will be forthcoming, when I can find time to get mine off my camera. And when others begin to post them.

In the meantime, here is a sincere apology at the lack of posts of late. Between helping to plan a wedding, the church's building project swinging into action and getting things ready for Morocco, I have found it really hard getting half-decent posts up. I still can't promise much before Morocco, but hopefully after, things will settle down somewhat.

care for a cup of coffee?

Hebrews 11:13-16

All these people were still living by faith when they died. They did not receive the things promised; they only saw them and welcomed them from a distance. And they admitted that they were aliens and strangers on earth. People who say such things show that they are looking for a country of their own. If they had been thinking of the country they had left, they would have had opportunity to return. Instead, they were longing for a better country -- a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared a city for them.

Concealing any bodies?

Yesterday morning, I turned out of my development to head to work, and was greeted with traffic on my road. There's usually not much traffic on my road - only the occasional back-up when there are lots of cars coming out of the Catholic church. This time, there was dead-stopped traffic. And a cop car in the entrance way to the church, with a cop in the middle of the road. He had stopped traffic from completely getting down our road and into the two developments off of the road, and was intermittantly letting traffic out, after first stopping each one, speaking with the driver for a few brief moments, and then checking their license plate/tag.

I automatically assumed that it was one of those 'license/seat belt/registration' stops that I've seen every now and then around the state. So I grabbed my license/registration/insurance cards and waited paitently for my turn in line.

When it came my turn, I was greeted, not with a request for identification, but with an apology.

Police Officer: Good morning, ma'am. Sorry to inconvience you this morning, but we're investigating an incident that happened early this morning in Scottfield [i.e., the development directly across from mine]. We just want to make sure you're not concealing any stowaways in the backseat or trunk of your car.

Me: *shock* Oh. Um. Okay.

PO: I can see by looking in the window to your backseat that there's no body in the back seat. Would you mind popping your trunk so I can make sure there are no bodies in the trunk?

Me: *quirks eyebrow* *briefly nods* *pushes button to pop trunk*

PO: *quickly glances in* Okay, ma'am, I can see you're not hiding someone in your trunk. *closes trunk* Is this your car?

Me: *nods*

PO: Alright then, I'll just get your license/tag numbers and you have a good day, okay?

Me: *nods* *drives off*

I was so surprised by the conversation that I didn't think to ask what sort of incident they were investigating, but had made up my mind to ask my News Journal friend if she knew of anything going on.

She didn't, but said that she would do a little digging, and got back to me with the news around three o'clock yesterday afternoon. Apparently, there had been a break-in, followed by a rape, in Scottfield yesterday morning around 7:30. He had been seen fleeing the scene on foot, but hadn't been apprehended. And so consequently, the police had stopped all traffic flow going into and out of (pending checking) the developments, in the off-chance he might have snuck in a car, or someone was trying to sneak him out.

Yes, I was quite shocked, especially because of the close proximity to my house. But I'm not scared or worried or anything (I do hope they catch whoever did that awful crime). I am just planning on staying safe and using extra procaution until further notice.

Late yesterday afternoon, my News Journal friend called me to ask me if I'd give an interview to another one of her reporter friends who was doing an article for it, and then she ended up calling me later yesterday evening. She told me that she'd been able to speak to several people living the neighborhood directly near where it happened, but hadn't been able to locate anyone in a car that had gotten stopped. So I got to be the lucky one.

I just told her everything that happened, and you can it in today's edition of The News Journal (section B, page 2, if you've actually got a hard copy of it).