How logical are you?

During my blog hopping today, I ran across this quiz: Test your logic

As the name implies, it's a fun little quiz to determine how logical you are. The questions look something like this:

A. Mel is a woman
B. Mel scored 93% on the logic quiz
C. None of the men in Mel's office scored above 93% on the logic quiz

Conclusion:
Women are more logical than men, and as a result men should always comply with our wishes.

VALID or INVALID?

You be the judge ;)

We survived

We're back in town.
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I'm still tired.
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Ian was spoiled rotten.
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Our house is a mess
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Pictures to come

Did you miss me?

So for the past two months I have been completely buried at work. I'm talking late nights until 9pm, working weekends, 12 hour days, etc. It was rough. Anyway, we ended up hitting our deadline, and now I'm free! Since I haven't been posting all that much (yes, I know you all miss my 5 posts per month) I figured I would give a summary of a few things that I've been thinking about over the past couple of months.

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I've decided that Costco is a gift from God. I hate shopping, especially grocery shopping. You go to the store, pick up all the stuff you need, use it all up and what's your prize? You get to do it all again the following week. Not fun. But then, God saw fit to give us Costco. Now, instead of silently cursing because you forgot to pick up pasta for the spaghetti you planned to make for dinner *SURPRISE* Not only do you have pasta for tonight, you have 12 additional packages sitting in your pantry for whenever you need it. If this doesn't convince people that God exists, I don't know what will.


I'm sick of videos on news websites. Are people not allowed to read anymore? There's nothing more irritating than seeing an interesting headline, clicking the link to read the article, only to have Windows Media Player launch and then display

....buffering....

Then you have to sit through some ridiculously loud 15 second advertisement before you even get to the report. I'd rather read plain text any day.


I'm finding it increasingly difficult to toe the party line when it comes to Christianity. I'm a seeker; always have been, and I assume I always will be. I ask weird questions, and often come to unconventional conclusions. That's who I am and I accept that, but I find myself getting frustrated that I'm expected to conform to what "traditional Christianity" teaches. What happens if I just don't agree?


Hurricanes suck. 'Nuff said


Snopes exists for a reason. Use it BEFORE you forward me a message telling me Bill Gates wants to give me a million dollars. Actually, he doesn't want to give me a million dollars. Trust me.
On a similar note, don't forward me a feel good message that at the end says "send this to 575 people, including the person who sent it to you." Umm, no. I'm not going to do it. It's very rare that I ever forward those messages on to anyone, but I'm definitely not going to send it back to whomever sent it to me. Why would I do that? If you decide you want to read the message again, why not just go back to your inbox and re-read it?


If I hear one more person question Sarah Palin's ability to be Vice-President and raise a family, I'm going to scream. You do realize she's not a single parent, right? Why doesn't anyone ask how Barack Obama plans to raise his two young children if he were to become President?


I was saddened when Bernie Mac died. Two things I really enjoy in life are good music, and lots of laughter, and Bernie Mac had a gift for making me laugh until I cried.
"When a kid gets one-years-old, I believe you got the right to hit him in either the throat or the stomach. If you grown enough to talk back, you grown enough to get ****** up!"
Bernie Mac, The Original Kings of Comedy(2000)
Sure, it's a bit crude, but it's also hilarious.

46 things you probably didn't want to know about me

A friend of mine sent me a fun little quiz today, so I decided to answer via this blog. Feel free to add your answers to your own blog, but please let me know if you do. I want to read your answers as well.

1. WERE YOU NAMED AFTER ANYONE? Nope. As the story goes, I was supposed to be named Rachel, but about 3 days before I was born another family at our church had a little girl and named her Rachel, so my parents chose Melanie.
2. WHEN WAS THE LAST TIME YOU CRIED? Feb or March of this year. Ian had his first big fall -- Update: Answering question 17 made me shed a tear.
3. DO YOU LIKE YOUR HANDWRITING? uh, sure
4. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE LUNCH MEAT? Turkey
5. DO YOU HAVE KIDS? Are you kidding me? Have you read any part of this blog?! (yes, I have a kid)
6. IF YOU WERE ANOTHER PERSON WOULD YOU BE FRIENDS WITH YOU? Yes. I rock
7. DO YOU USE SARCASM A LOT? Refer to answer 5
8. DO YOU STILL HAVE YOUR TONSILS? Yep
9. WOULD YOU BUNGEE JUMP? Nah. I'm more interested in skydiving
10. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE CEREAL? Honey Nut Crunch
11. DO YOU UNTIE YOUR SHOES WHEN YOU TAKE THEM OFF? Nope
12. DO YOU THINK YOU ARE STRONG? Yes
13. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE ICE CREAM? Caramel Turtle Fudge - Blue Bell
14. WHAT IS THE FIRST THING YOU NOTICE ABOUT PEOPLE? Eyebrows. Weird, I know.
15. RED OR PINK? Neither. It's all about blue and purple
16. WHAT DO YOU LIKE THE LEAST ABOUT YOURSELF? Nothing. I may not be what society perceives as perfection, but I'm exactly the person I need to be, at this moment in time, and at this stage in my life. That will always be true.
17. WHO DO YOU MISS THE MOST? Preston and Paula - May you both rest in peace
18. DO YOU WANT EVERYONE TO SEND THIS BACK TO YOU? NA
19. WHAT COLOR PANTS AND SHOES ARE YOU WEARING? Gotcha! I'm wearing a skirt (blue jean), and the shoes are brown leather sandals
20. WHAT WAS THE LAST THING YOU ATE? A fish sandwich
21. WHAT ARE YOU LISTENING TO RIGHT NOW? My boss talking to my co-workers
22. IF YOU WHERE A CRAYON, WHAT COLOR WOULD YOU BE? Violet
23. FAVORITE SMELLS? Vanilla, Newborns, New Car smell, Chocolate
24. WHO WAS THE LAST PERSON YOU TALKED TO ON THE PHONE? My mother
25. DO YOU LIKE THE PERSON WHO SENT THIS TO YOU? Yep, she's swell :)
26. FAVORITE SPORT TO WATCH? Pro Basketball
27. HAIR COLOR? Brown
28. EYE COLOR? Brown
29. DO YOU WEAR CONTACTS? I'm supposed to. I wear glasses when I drive though
30. FAVORITE FOOD? Not nearly enough time to address this question
31. SCARY MOVIES OR HAPPY ENDINGS? Happy Endings
32. LAST MOVIE YOU WATCHED? Sicko
33. WHAT COLOR SHIRT ARE YOU WEARING? Blue
34. SUMMER OR WINTER? Summer
35. HUGS OR KISSES? Hugs
36. FAVORITE DESSERT? Only one? Hmm...Probably peach cobbler
37. MOST LIKELY TO RESPOND? NA
38. LEAST LIKELY TO RESPOND? NA
39. WHAT BOOK ARE YOU READING NOW? Adventures in Missing the Point by Brian McLaren and Tony Campolo
40. WHAT IS ON YOUR MOUSEPAD? Dell
41. WHAT DID YOU WATCH ON T.V. LAST NIGHT? I didn't watch an entire T.V show last night. I saw a little bit of Good Eats and Family Guy
42. FAVORITE SOUND? Laughter
43. ROLLING STONES OR BEATLES? Neither. Well, do you count The Grey Album?
44. WHAT IS THE FARTHEST YOU HAVE BEEN FROM HOME? Jamaica
45. DO YOU HAVE A SPECIAL TALENT? Living life
46. WHERE WERE YOU BORN? Texas

Charismatic Church Movement...Who's with me?!

Listen up people 'cause I have something to say. I have an idea, but I'm going to need some help to carry it out.

I am here to propse that we, those who attempt to attend church on a regular basis, begin what I've lovingly named, the charismatic church movement (which from here on out will be referred to as CCM). What is a CCM? I'm glad you asked. CCM is a movement to turn our quiet, reserved, prim and proper traditional churches, into band blaring, hand clapping, praise dancing churches. That's right, I want drums so loud, that you can feel the rhythm in your chest. I want shouts of praise from everyone in attendance. I want preaching so boisterous and extravagant, you can't hear anything else, and do you want to know why I want all these things? Hmm, do ya? Well, I'll tell you.

I'm heading up the CCM so that you, the quiet churchgoer, will be so inundated with noise, you won't even notice the giggling, squealing, crawling, jumping, and yelling, that my 15 month old son is doing.

Now I know it sounds like I want this for purely selfish reasons, but I assure you this isn't the case. I don't want this just for my benefit, I want this for all the parents out there. I'm willing to bet that most parents that have children under the age of 3 (please God, tell me it gets better as they get older) would appreciate this. Just think of this as my act of Christian service.

Oh, and for you parents with your 3 month old infant that naps so sweetly and quietly during church. I see the looks you give me as I carry Ian out of the sanctuary with his legs flailing as he screams "GA GA GA WRAAAAAA". I don't judge you though. No, I just take comfort in the fact that in about 6 months, you will join the rest of us packing sippy cups, juice, snacks, books, toys, tranquilizers, and anything else that will keep your kid quiet for an entire church service.

Yes, I look forward to it, because on that day, we can stand together before God and everyone else, and loudly proclaim "CCM Parents Unite!!!!"

How do you rate as a husband/wife of the 1930s?

I thought this was funny little quiz. Take the test yourself, if you dare.
I barely made the threshold for an average 1930's housewife. Wow! That's better than I expected. I must be having a good week
Ok, I'm off to go see what the heck it means to "darn a sock."

44 As a 1930s wife, I am Average Take the test!

Scoring:

0-24 - Very Poor (Failure)
25-41 - Poor
42-58 - Average
59-75 - Superior
76+ - Very Superior

Future Star? You be the judge

My dad had a dream about Ian. In this dream Ian was an 18 year old young man and my dad made the comment that future Ian looks a lot like the young singer Chris Brown.

So what do you think, is he right? Does Ian have a future as an R&B crooner?

Chris Brown photo from www.Rhapsody.com

I love The Internet

They don't call it the information highway for nothing. Anything and everything thing you want to know can be found on the Internet.
Need a recipe for banana bread? You can find it on the Internet. You want to know how a hybrid car works? You can find out on the Internet. You want to learn about quantum physics? Yep, the Internet.

Today while I was taking a mental health break at work, I decided to browse around on the web. I stumbled across an article with the title "How to Eat More and Weigh Less". Intrigued, I clicked the link to see what it had to say. The article discussed a diet plan called Volumetrics. You can read the article for yourself, but I'll try and summarize the concept.

So every piece of food has an "energy density" that can be calculated. The categories for energy density are: very low, low, medium, and high. The goal is to eat more of the very low energy density foods and eat a small amount of high energy density foods. Ok, that part is pretty straight forward, but here is where it gets a little complicated.

According to the article, in order to calculate the energy density for your food, you need to find out the weight of a serving of the food you are eating in grams and then divide that by the number of calories in the serving. So by now, you're probably thinking "Who has the time to calculate all that crap before eating?"
I thought the same thing, but thankfully the author lists some of the categories of low energy density foods (the ones you want to eat a lot of) and high energy density foods (the ones you want to eat a little of). Some of the low energy density foods are : vegetables, fruits, lean meats. Some of the high energy foods are: chips, cookies, and high-fat meats.

Still with me? Good, because this is where your life is going to change forever. What this Volumetrics diet has revealed, is that the secret to getting to a healthy weight is to eat MORE fruits, veggies, and lean meats and to eat LESS cookies, chips and high-fat meats.

This is ground breaking! Who knew?! With the obesity epidemic in America, you would think people would do more to get this message out, but it was only by the grace of God that I stumbled onto this article. If I hadn't happened to click on this link how would I have ever known the truth?
However, there is good news. I have now shared with you (the 3 people that actually read this blog) how to be healthy. It is now your responsibility to pass this information on to others.

Together, we can make this world a better and healthier place.

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*Note: Just in case you hadn't noticed, there is a hint of sarcasm in the post above

Don't know who to vote for?

Check out this link for the best presidential candidate for you. It's a fun little quiz

http://glassbooth.org/

I've joined in the madness

So I've decided to immerse myself in the world of blogging. I'm not exactly sure why. I don't know if I'll have much to say, or if it'll be interesting, but I figured I'd throw caution to the wind and "just do it".
I'm sure there will be plenty of run-on sentences, misspelled words, and comma splices, but who cares? It's my party and I'll use bad grammar if I want to.
So who am I? I'm a wife, a mom, an employee, and a host of other titles, but really I'm just a woman trying to find her way and purpose in this world.

You can call me Mel.