Part of the problem

The day after Halloween I heard Christmas music (if it can be called such) on the radio. Emotions of disappointment and frustration at the cheapening of this holiday arose. I personally believe that such celebratory actions should take place after Thanksgiving.

Last night, as we finished 90% of our Christmas shopping, I realized I'm part of the problem. How can I complain about the reminders of the holiday and still be shopping for it at the same time?

In my pathetic defense, the items we want are still in stock in November, and there are so many good sales... I'm helpless in light of such deals!

Then again, if we all get the shopping done in November, maybe we could actually focus on the Savior in December! We wish you a merry shopping season until Thanksgiving! Then we'll wish you a Merry Christmas!

Oh, and yes, we are in favor of hunting, as long as you eat the meat and don't take Cheney. (Doc. & Cov. 49)

Preaching Esau

As always, the statements on this blog represent the opinions and views of the author (and his intelligent wife), and I am responsible for the content herein. I love my job.

Beware. I'm venting. Consider yourself warned...

I strode out of the voting booth extremely grateful for the opportunity to participate in a process of election and accountability. I knew the issues. I understood the projected outcomes and consequences; I voted according to my understanding of the principles of the constitution and my interpretation of scripture. (1 Samuel 8, Mosiah 29, Alma 60, Helaman, 3 Nephi 1-7, and most importantly Doc. & Cov. 134-which clearly states our Church's stance on the purpose and role of government.) I understand that "[God] holds men accountable for their acts in relation to [government]" based on those scriptural standards. (Not on the media's fear-frenzy or popular trends). This felt good - doing as best as my perspective could comprehend.

I free-fell from this happy zone shortly out of the booth. A woman walked up to me and asked, "do you know anything about the issues on the ballot?" (She probably chose me because I was still in my suit coming home from work.) Shocked that she would come to vote unprepared, I started to do my best to present as fair of a view of the candidates and issues as I could. I went one by one, using what information I could remember from each republican and democrat candidate's website. (Seriously - if you don't understand why we have a two-party system, please learn.) I thought I was doing her a service by trying to give a balanced perspective.

Then I noticed something.

I looked up from my hands (apparently I watch my hands when I'm trying to remember things) to notice her staring at me cock-eyed and flustered.

I paused, and she said something like, "I just wanted to know if I was okay voting for these people..." then she named who she voted for.

She voted without knowing issues, candidates, or even what the proposals were.

I was so upset I could not respond. I took my daughter's hand and she courteously suffered through a tirade on the privilege we enjoy and the responsibilities we have based on our freedoms.

This, along with many conversations with other family and friends, has shocked my system. I have been thoroughly surprised at how ignorant many people are to the issues at hand. People who should know better seem to be either lazy or easily persuaded by hot topics. Like Esau, - who sold his eternal inheritance, priesthood, and birthright for bean soup - many will wake up surprised, depressed, or horrified that they get exactly what they voted for.

Ideally... (no offense intended to the over-programmed-busy-doing-good-individuals out there)

...It is not enough to only pay attention to the circumstance in government for a few weeks prior to an election.

...It is not acceptable to be decieved and buy into hype instead of voting upon eternally established principles.

...It is not okay to participate in politics without an understanding of (1) logical fallacies {or else one will continually be deceived by flawed arguments}. (2) Macro or micro economics {or else the implications of issues and motivations for such are incomprehensible} (3) An ability to understand and read, for oneself, the bills and such so one can see through the hype. Particularly when there are so many free courses on all three of those issues online. I can only assume someone reading this has the internet...

Disagree with my opinions. Vote for people I oppose. That's fine. But do it intelligently.
Agree with my opinions. Vote for the people I choose. That's also fine. But do it intelligently.

Anyway, please forgive me for my potentially-offensive primal rage, poor writing, syntax, and the lack of song matching this post. As I said at the beginning, I'm venting (you were warned).

Time to go watch The Daily Show. Yes, I watch the daily show. If you've read The Art of War you know how important it is to study the strategies and arguments of your opponents. This will either strengthen your own beliefs or demonstrate the flaws in your opinions.

Thinking. Isn't it about time?

Find that warning label...

When it comes to the kitchen in our house, Dad is the master chef, Mom and #2 are the bakers, #1 is the critic, and #3 is the garbage disposal. This evening, when Melissa went to a(nother) meeting I decided to bake some brownies with the kids.

#2 and I had an interesting conversation towards the end. I got out the Pam cooking spray (never settle for anything less than the real Pam, she's the best...) and greased the pan before flouring it. I put the spray back on the counter.

"Dad? What's that for?"

(Thinking I could use this moment to teach deductive reasoning) "What do you think it is?"

(Pointing to the P) "It says Poison-us on the can."

"What?!?" (Laughing) Why would I use that?

"So you can Poison-us and eat all brownies by yourself."

He then looked up at me, eyes gaping in fear, lips pursed tightly together and stealthily took the can off the counter, climbed onto the counter, opened the cupboard, and put the Pam away. After quietly closing the cupboard and getting down he plead to himself, "I'd still like a brownie..."

It's good to know he does not fear death. Just lack of brownie...

... and then he opted for the doughnut Melissa brought home because "I've never had one of those before."

Poor deprived child. Good thing he's not a merman or he'd sell his soul to a sea-witch for a cupcake.

Kawalski, what's the status on that halloween?

As previously mentioned, we did a Madagascar Penguins Halloween. Here are the final pictures of the pumpkins (home grown, along with the watermelon) and family festivities. #3 was going to be a Lemur, but that didn't work out so we used a past costume. Melissa received compliments from nearly everyone that we passed, whether they knew us or not.

But we're not from happy feet people. No liberal dancing birds here.

80 mph... In pink!

For Melissa's 30th birthday, she wanted to go watch the national qualifying rounds of the skeleton up at Park City. Noelle Pace (who was in our ward until the most recent split and the reason Melissa thought it would be fun to go and watch her) ended up winning! From what we understand, she'll be on America's world cup team and be able to compete in the next Olympics. Attached is the craziness of going down a sheet of ice on a couple pounds of metal/plastic at over 79 mph. Go Noelle!



What's really amazing is that there are not any yellow streaks on the ice. Apparently no one from our family has gone down the mile-long track.

Madagascar

The children are quite excited to be the Madagascar Penguins for Halloween. (David is "Skipper" I'm "Kowalski", #1 is "The Private" and #2 is "Rico".) I've just finished #2's costume. Behind them in the picture, my fabric is visible. I have David's and mine cut out and about 6 hours of sewing to finish them up. With 10 days to go before Halloween, I think I'm way ahead of schedule for my usual decide-one-week-before-Halloween-that-I-want-to-make-family-costumes rush. :-) I really do enjoy the challenge of turning flat fabric into something beautiful.
The children also enjoy sitting on my lap to help by raising and lowering the needle. Hopefully they'll choose to learn this great skill. Stay posted for the finished product...probably in about 10 days! ;)

Failure apparently is an option...

I grew tired of the children's near constant complaints about whatever Melissa's makes for dinner, so this evening, it was time for a home evening they would never forget. Forget "starving children in Africa", pssh, that's weak. Cast aside "it will make you big and strong", those are sissy little girly-man reasons. Say hello to "It could be worse".



Crickets.

11 Cents a piece at your local Petsmart for the "large" (1-knuckle sized) variety. I gassed the little buggers with cotton balls dipped in rubbing alcohol, fired up the trusty charcoal grill, and began with a song and a prayer.

We placed the crickets on the table, then talked about how Zacharias sent John the Baptist and his mother to live in the wilderness when the soldiers of Herod came to kill the children. We talked about how Zacharias died at the hands of the soldiers between the altar and the porch of the temple protecting the location of his son. I taught about John living on locusts and wild honey. We then pointed out that things our children have to eat could be worse, so we were going to see what it would be like not having poptarts, mac & cheese, pizza, and spaghetti.

#2 piped in, "I want the biggest one!" and then picked it up, smiled, and pounded it.




#1 gave me the "Are you serious?" look, then ate it also. "Dad, it tastes like chicken tacos! Crunchy"



Melissa and I looked at each other and ate ours at the same time. The bible dictionary states that they taste like shrimp, Melissa agrees. I thought #1 was more accurate with her tastebuds.



#2 blurted, "Yea! Crunchy and yummy. Can I have some more?"

I begrugingly replied, "No."

#1: "You forgot to say 'please'".

#2: "Can I please have some more?"

Sure, kick me while my lesson is down. The only people who won't be complaining about the meals are Melissa and I. But we weren't complaining in the first place. Oh well, another failed attempt at teaching in the home.

But then again, no one complained about dinner...

Scarecrow Festival

Grandma and Grandpa Hoffman got me the year-long Thanksgiving Point membership as a gift, and so we took advantage of it for the scarecrow festival! Rock wall (Maggie made it 7 feet high with Dad's help until panic took over.) The bouncy castles and games were the favorites.