All weekend was Father’s Day weekend, and it was a great one! I made Chris pick everything we ate and did, and on Sunday, he wanted to go swimming at the pool at Mammaw’s condo. However, although I have added a picture of our swimming fun, this blog has nothing to do with swimming. There’s a mystery afoot!!

So while Ali was napping, I set out to Wal-Mart to find some of the new floaties that also have the piece across the chest that we have heard are really great to keep babies from dunking their heads in the water. I searched the four different places in Wal-Mart that they had pool toys, but with no luck. So I headed across the street to K-Mart, hoping I would have better luck.

I have never been in that K-Mart, and although it is across the street from WM, it just seems like such a crummier part of town, so I was suspect before I went in. And boy, was I right.

I search the first pool place, no luck. So I head back to the toy department. I go down the aisle where the water toys are, and there are two other girls on this aisle, talking and looking at things. Still no luck, so I go off the aisle and start looking down other aisles to see if there are any other water toys. I notice this guy in blue jeans at the end of the aisle that I just came off of, and he catches my eye at first because he looks like this guy that goes to our church that is really creepy looking (more so because I had this dream of him one time and he was an evil guy in my dream – but I digress). He was standing at the end of the aisle, and every 15 seconds or so, he would lean over, look down the aisle at the two girls, then jerk back up. He reminded me of a husband that is dragged to the lingerie department with his wife, and is too nervous to go down the aisle, so is just waiting for his wife and keeping an eye on her. Then I remembered that the two girls on the aisle were younger than him (20’s – he was in 40’s), and they were black and he was white, which made it more improbable that they were all together. So I watch this guy a bit, and he continues his VERY conspicuous spying. I go back down the said aisle, looking again for floaties. He is aware I’m watching him. Sure enough, within the minute I’m on the aisle, I catch him peeking twice. A bit freaked out now, I leave the aisle going the other direction.

That’s when it got really freaky. There’s ANOTHER GUY doing the EXACT same thing on the other end of the aisle!! This time its a well-dressed black guy. OK – now my heart is racing, and I’m thinking there’s about to be a kidnapping or murder right in the middle of K-Mart! So I think about reporting suspicious activity to a manager, but I don’t see one. I go to the exact opposite corner of the store, still trying to find floaties. STILL no luck. I ask someone for help, they send me to the gardening department, right on the other side of the toys where the bizarreness is happening. I’m scared, but more intrigued and curious. So I head back to the opposite end of the store. At least 10 minutes have passed. I get back over there, and the two girls are STILL on the same aisle, and the two guys are still conspicuously peeking at them, this time they are both on the same side of the aisle, flanking it on the left and right, still doing their crazy lean, peek, jerk back up. WEIRD!! So now I think – there’s no way these girls don’t realize they’re there. Maybe they’re body guards and these two girls are celebrities or something! They finally leave the aisle and I get a good look at them, and they certainly don’t look like celebrities to me. Creepy guys still hanging out watching them.

So I finally leave, without the floaties I was looking for, without reporting said creepiness to manager.

I am SUCH a curious person. I need ideas of what could have been going on!! Chris’ theory is that the two guys worked for the store, and that they suspected the girls of shoplifting (which makes sense since they were on the same aisle for 20 minutes!), and were TRYING to be conspicuous so the girls knew that they were watching. Sounds like a decent theory, but the white guy wasn’t dressed like an employee – had on jeans. But then another friend said that a lot of stores have plainclothes employees around to specifically watch for shoplifters.

The mystery here reminds me of my favorite blogs ever by Greta about the Stranger in the Garage. Although that one was much funnier than this one.

Anyway, I have asked God to add this to my list of things that I want answers to when I get to heaven! :D That’s a LONG list, so I hope God is keeping up with it well!

In the meantime, anyone have any theories? Or see any kidnapping or murder in K-Mart cases on TV? :)

Bizarre.

(cue superhero theme song music) :

“Ali – Superhero Morale Booster!!

Da da da dum!”

Gina’s having an emotional day?
Don’t cry because of T-Mobile! Ali is here!!
uh oh – Mark is stressed and feeling overwhelmed?
Never fear! Ali is here!!!!
Nicole – too many technicians make you angry today?
Time to feel better! Ali is here!

Sue has the look of death?
Happy time! Ali is here!
Kirk – dazed and confused by conflicting programming requests?
Let Ali write the code! She’ll get it done in no time!
Wait! No, Mark!! Don’t kill Gina – being an airhead is not a killing offense!!

She starts fashion trends. . .

Tames the wild beasts. .
Yes, it’s true – she’s the REAL power behind the big desk!!
If this blog made zero sense to you, click here for a little history on the Slappey Communications Morale Booster.

I was laying in bed a couple of nights ago, about to fall asleep, and had an idea for a giveaway! I quickly scrawled it on a scrap of paper so I could look at it in the morning and determine whether it was a good idea, or it was a completely non-sensical, half dreaming idea. And, it actually still looked good in the morning!! So I am doing a scavenger hunt giveaway. The prize is a good one – a $50 gift Card to Chili’s/Macaroni Grill/On The Border (thankfully out of business – I’ll blog about that another time)/Maggiano’s (don’t think there’s one in B’ham, but there might be one where you are!)!!!!

Now, I really, really, REALLY want all of my readers to enter (if you are reading this blog right now, you qualify as a “reader” – join in the fun!!!), so I decided to have two ways to enter (and you CAN do both to maximize your chances).

1. The simple way: just leave a comment on this blog. Say whatever you want to say or nothing at all. you do not have to be a blogger to comment – just choose the “anonymous” option if you do not have one of the login types. BUT be sure to write your name in your comment if you choose anonymous so that I know who won!! You get one entry into the contest for leaving a comment on this blog.

2. The fun way – you can get up to 12 more entries into the contest by playing my scavenger hunt!! I went through 12 of my friend’s blogs and found facts for you to look up. I even made it easy by giving you the date of the blog in which you can find the answer. All you have to do is click on their name, find that entry, find the answer, and E-MAIL it to me. Please do not post your entries as a comment on this blog, or everyone will cheat off of you!! Email me the answers – as few or as many as you want to look up – and you get one entry per correct answer. My email address is RVZCallahan@aol.com.

I will do a random drawing, and the winner will be announced on June 25th after 12 noon, which should give everyone has a chance to do the scavenger hunt when they have a free moment. If I have your email address, I will email you, but if I don’t, be sure to check my blog on 6/25!!! I will mail the gift card to any US or Canadian address, so my International readers can still play, but you will have to have the prize sent as a gift to someone over here!

OK – here’s the scavenger hunt questions:

1. Which one of Amanda’s children just graduated from Kindergarten? (hint: 5/18/08)

2. How many times is Ann Marie making herself blog per week? (hint: 5/16/08)

3. What is Barkley’s baby’s name? (hint: 5/15/08)

4. How old is Kendall? (hint: 3/21/08)

5. What kind of new workout DVD did Gina get? (hint: 3/25/08)

6. What item does Greta use to gauge Sam’s growth? (hint: 6/5/08)

7. In spite of Jaci’s talent at sports, Mia has gone a different direction. What sport is Jaci into, and what hobby is Mia into? (hint: 5/19/08 & 6/11/08)

8. According to Jarrod, how are men wired? (hint: 6/13/08)

9. What did Harris know before Jennifer did? (hint: 6/4/08)

10. What is Leslie’s due date? (hint: 6/7/08)

11. I’ve been wondering why Rachel G’s youngest son’s name changed through her blog, so I searched her blog to find out why. What are his two names, and why did they change what they were calling him? (hint: 6/27/07)

12. In Rachel J’s blog, she wrote a great analogy about “Structure determining Function”. What was the basic idea? (hint: 5/12/08)

Good luck everyone!!!!!

disclaimer to my blog-friends: Sorry for not asking your permission before linking your blog into mine – I just figured you were like me and liked traffic to your blog. However, if you don’t want all the extra traffic I’m going to be sending to your blog, please email me and I will replace your question with a different one. :)

Here’s a visit in pictures (and a video) to our Father’s Day dinner last night.

Ali greeting Pop and giving him neck sugars:
Although I gave Ali a whole tray of food, she really preferred to eat Gramamma’s food. She did great with the corn on the cob, and loved it!
Really getting into it.
Then she wanted to sample the sauce everyone else was eating. I thought it would be too spicy for her, but apparently she has enough of her Daddy in her that she wanted to keep dippin!
Wii time! Mammaw rocks at Wii. The rest of us can only get a fastball up to about 70mph at best. Mammaw’s fast ball? 95mph!

Mammaw giving JC a run for his money.
Mom and Nick playing. Mom really got into it and started hopping around like the legless (and very veggie-tales like) Mii’s.
We finally convinced Dad to play. He got really into it. Can you tell?
Ali was going back and forth giving Pop kisses. By the time I started recording it, she was getting distracted by kitchen knobs and Dad’s toes, but (in my unbiased opinion), the kisses are too cute anyway!

I had to make dessert for dinner at our house tonight (celebrating Father’s Day with Mom, Dad, Mammaw, JC, Lindsay, and Nick). Ali had just gotten up from a nap, so she wanted a “snaaack!!”, so I gave her one. I delayed and left her in her high chair as long as possible so that I could finish up dessert, but she kept telling me matter of factly, “ah done. ah done.” So I finally got her out and put her down and started hurrying my dessert making, knowing that she was going to need entertaining or she was going to start climbing the stairs or something very soon. However, she went to her bookshelf, picked out a couple of books, brought them into the kitchen, sat on the floor and read, page by page, the whole time I was making dessert!!! Ah, the wonders of a self-entertained child!!

On a sad note, though, Eli will not be coming home tomorrow. :( He had another heart rate drop today, so it will be another five days. Please be praying for JC and Lindsay, as this is crushing news!! And pray that Eli will stabilize completely and be able to come home as SOON as possible!!!

I’m so overjoyed for two couples today: JC and Lindsay are still on schedule to get their baby boy tomorrow, and Kendall is finally officially adopted by Deidre and Brad!!!

First, JC and Lindsay. Eli has done well, and they are going to get him in the morning! It’s hard to believe that he is coming home!! Here are a few new pictures that they took. He’s really starting to look like an infant and not a preemie anymore!! Such a cute little guy!!!

Brad and Deidre: I have their blog in the background right now, and I am feeling teary-eyed (something that I don’t experience much) listening to the music on it. Kendall is finally coming home!! After 15 months of being “paperwork pregnant” and the ups and downs and uncertainties and disappointments that were more intense than I could have ever handled, they are officially, by the Guatemalan government, Kendall’s parents!! She will be home in 4-6 weeks!!! Ali, AJ, and Nathaniel will have a new Thursday night Small Group friend their age. Here are Kendall’s latest pictures (she is almost 15 months):
God is so great for providing for His children, and protecting His children’s children!

OK – This blog is about a month too late to be at it’s peak of funniness, but it was such a great idea, I have to post it anyway. This is a brainchild of my husband’s – an idea that I think could have gone far as a Saturday Night Live sketch. Obviously, writing it out won’t do it justice, so I need you to visualize the SNL sketch of this in your head while reading.

If you haven’t ever seen “The Moment of Truth”, please don’t. It is a horrible and cruel show (but somewhat like the worst train wreck imaginable – so hard not to watch once you start). But the basic idea is that they ask contestants horrible questions in front of their closest family and friends and a live studio audience, and if they tell the truth based on an earlier lie detector test, and ruin their lives by doing so, they can win money. Once they get up to about $100,000 or so, they will ask them a vague question like “Do you think you are a good person?”, and the person’s answer will be deemed false and they will lose it all, resulting in ruining their life for nothing.

Anyway, with that long introduction, here is our sketch.

Host (Mark): Hi, I’m Mark Wahlberg – you might remember me from the Funky Bunch, or the New Kids, and I am the host of “The Moment of Truth”! Tonight we have a special edition. FOX was contracted to host a democratic debate, but decided at the last minute to host the contestants on “The Moment of Truth” instead. So tonight we have two contestants: Senator Barack Obama and Senator Hillary Clinton.

We will start with Senator Obama.

Now, you will be asked up to 15 questions, each one getting harder than the last. If you can make it to the top, you can win $500,000 to donate to the underprivileged American of your choice. Let’s begin questioning:

Mark: Question One: Have you ever referred to your competitor, Senator Clinton, as “whitey”?
Obama: Yes.
Dramatic Computerized Voice (DCV): That answer is. . . . . . . TRUE.

Mark: Now we have a guest that will ask you your next question. Our guest is. . . Rush Limbaugh.

Rush: Senator Obama, were you ACTUALLY offended when a caller into my show said that her 11 year old daughter thought you looked like Curious George?
Obama: No.
DCV: That answer is. . . . . . . TRUE.
Mark: Would you care to elaborate?
Obama: We all know that Curious George has his faults. He’s overly nosy, he makes mischief, and though I may read his books on the campaign trail, I am not responsible for everything the silly little monkey does.

Mark: Ok, Senator Obama. The questions are about to get harder. Are you sure you want to continue?
Obama: I think if America is going to move forward, its critical that I press on in our quest for the truth, and I…
Mark: Of … course. Here is your next question: Have you ever supported a Muslim terrorist organization?
Obama: Fidget, folding hands, YES.
DCV: That answer is. . . . . . . TRUE.
Mark: Would you like to expound on that?
Obama: Yes, it was just one time, it was just a small insignificant donation. My support for the Al-Quaeda Children’s Hospital is a side issue. It has nothing to do with my running for president. Anyone who wants to focus on that issue is being divisive. We need to come together and concentrate on the issues that Americans truly care about.

Mark: Now that you have withdrawn your membership from your Church and publicly disassociated yourself from your family’s pastor of 20 years, do you intend to return kiss-up campaign donations from Jeremiah Wright?
Obama: Uh-oh. No.
DCV: That answer is. . . . . . . TRUE.

Mark: There is a lot of talk about the “dream ticket” with you and Senator Clinton together? Are you worried about Bill Clinton nosing in on your presidency if she is chosen as the VP?
Obama: Is the sky blue? Is the grass green? Am I black? Of course!
DCV: That answer is. . . . . . . TRUE.

Mark: If you get elected, do you REALLY plan on changing the way politics are done in Washington?
Obama: True! That is my main goal!
DCV: That answer is. . . . . . . FALSE.
Mark: Oh, I’m sorry Senator Obama. Unfortunately, you have just admitted to terrorist activities and cost yourself your chance in the white house for nothing. Your pre-selected disadvantaged American will be receiving nothing, just like the rest of America. Thank you for being on our show.

Mark: OK, let’s move on to Senator Hillary Clinton.

Mark: Let’s start with an easy question that everyone already knows the answer to. Have you and your husband Bill had more than 50 people killed for your own political gain and/or C.Y.A.?
Clinton: rolling eyes, Of course not. Ha Ha.
DCV: That answer is. . . . . . . TRUE, but just barely.

Mark: Is Chelsea really your daughter?
Clinton: No.
DCV: That answer is. . . . . . . TRUE.

Mark: Would you care to elaborate on that?
Clinton: Well, there’s just no possible way that Bill and I could have had a child together.
Bill Clinton, from the couch: And I would like to clarify that that is HER fault, not MINE!
Mark: Senator Clinton, Would you like to expound on that?
Clinton: No.

Mark: Let’s continue in this line of questioning. Did you force your daughter, Chelsea, to have plastic surgery when your husband became president because she couldn’t seem to get past her “awkward phase’?
Clinton: Yes.
DCV: That answer is. . . . . . . TRUE.

Mark: Were you paying Monica Lewinsky, ahem, under the table during her time as an intern so that Bill would leave you alone?
Clinton: True.
DCV: That answer is. . . . . . . TRUE.

Mark: Is it true that you can’t believe that Senator Obama has taken such a large delegate lead over you since he is black?
Clinton: Well, that depends on what your definition of “is” is.
DCV: That answer is. . . . . . . CRAP.

Mark: I’m sorry Mrs. Clinton. No rewards for economically marginalized Americans today.

Are you having one of those days where you wish you were at the beach? Well, Ali’s here to help. Here’s a video clip of her having the time of her life in the surf. Sit back and let her take you to the beach with you. Or let her make you wish you were at the beach even more, depending on if you’re a glass-half-full or glass-half-empty type of person ;)

(I’m totally bummed that I had to change the video type to put it on here, because the quality of video on my new camera was really good. But it’s not nearly as good now, but it is 9 meg instead of 111 meg!!)

Eli Junkies! Sorry I haven’t given you an update in a few days. Here you go:

My Dad sent this to JC and I a while back, so I thought I’d post it in hopes that it would be true by the end of the week :)

Eli did get set back another day on Sunday – another heart rate drop – so it will be at least SATURDAY (correction from earlier) before he gets to come home. Please keep praying that he will get to come home then!!

Other than that, JC said that he is opening his eyes more, especially if you shade them from the light, and he gets to wear clothes now that he’s in an open crib. :)

That’s all I’ve got – I’ll keep you updated!

Today was my day to judge speeches at the Nationals for the NCFCA (National Christian Forensics and Communications Association – whew!). I judged a couple of years ago at the Regionals and had a blast, so I jumped at the invitation to judge at the Nationals (which are being held in Birmingham). The NCFCA is a very large, very well organized speech and debate association for homeschoolers. I think it must have just been getting started when I graduated, because I had not heard of it until after I was out of school. However, it has become “all the rage” in the past few years with many of the homeschool families that I know.

Disclaimer: I greatly respect homeschoolers, was homeschooled myself, and plan on homeschooling my child(ren). Everything I say below is meant in fun and is not meant to negatively shade homeschoolers in any way.

Being a former homeschooler (all 12 years! Never “went” to school until college), it’s always interesting to “resubmerge” myself in the homeschool culture. And every time that I do, I am always very aware of the dramatic changes that have taken place in the last nine years. What I remember about “homeschooling culture” was that I, known as a complete goody-two-shoes by all of my non-homeschooling friends, felt like the complete rebel and very worldly in homeschool world. Mainly because I didn’t wear denim jumper dresses with tennishoes and tall white socks, talk quietly (or not at all), and wear my hair extraordinarily long and very unkempt. Oh, and I wore makeup and shaped my eyebrows .

Not to say that there weren’t other homeschoolers “like me”, in fact, and all of my friends were “like me”. But anytime I went to some sort of homeschooling conference or get-together, I certainly felt outnumbered.

I was one of those homeschool kids that could pick out any other “homeschooler” within 500 feet, but would have completely freaked out if I thought that anyone else could pick me out of a crowd as a “homeschooler”.

ANYWAY, the world of homeschooling is definitely becoming more modern. Not to say that you can’t still easily find those socially and physically awkward kids – they are definitely still there (and to be honest there are those kids in all schools – ever seen “Beauty and the Geek”? I haven’t heard of any of those guys being homeschooled yet), but there are many more “modern”, “normal” kids homeschooling. So much so, in fact, that I went to meet my Mom at a homeschool DANCE last year and was, first of all, amazed that homeschoolers were dancing (we’ve come a long way from denim jumpers), and second of all, amazed at all of the “goth“, “emo“, and other types of ultra-mod, ultra-cool kids that would have made me look like a “homeschooler” compared to them.

Today was another opportunity to see the “new homeschooling culture” – there was quite a lot of kids that you’d never be able to pick out of a crowd as a homeschooler, but there were also still some more “typical” homeschoolers.

Disclaimer section over. Now for the unbelievable amazingness of these kids:

What astonished me was the level of preparedness and knowledge that these kids had to have to do what they did today. I judged Extemporaneous speeches, which means that they are given a choice of three topics thirty minutes before giving a seven minute speech about the topic that they just laid eyes on for the first time. They all had an introduction, stated the question, had two or three well thought out points, and a conclusion. AND, they have to have multiple sources and properly cite them!! The ones I heard quoted at least 6 different articles or books. From what I’ve heard, these kids have boxes of magazine and newspaper articles with them to hopefully be able to find articles that relate to their speech (I do not think that they are allowed to use the internet during their 30 minute prep time). Sounds pretty hard, right? Oh, but it’s so much harder. Here are the topics that I judged today :
1. Will Saakashvili’s election promote Georgia (the country, people) to NATO membership?
2. Can the new administration in Kenya clean out years of corruption?
3. Can Malawi’s agricultural success be repeated throughout the continent?
4. Will recent election successes move Serbians away from the recent deadly tensions?
5. Can anything end Mugabe’s reign of power to end the violence in Zimbabwe?
6. Will South Africa get serious about fighting crime after the disbanding of their special forces?

OK – I admit that I could not have put together a single intelligent paragraph about any of these issues. I just don’t stay in tune to international situations. I was particularly glad that the following question wasn’t chosen by one of the students: “Is the international community finally making headway with the Janjaweed?” because I would have thought it was some sort of war on drugs issue. For those of you as uninformed as me, after looking it up, I discovered that the Janjaweed are armed gunmen in Darfur, Sudan, and Chad.

So, you are wondering, “how were you qualified to judge??”, and I can say that I think I did a pretty decent job – I remember quite a bit from my speech class in college (which is really amazing, considering that I have a very poor long term memory), and so I was able to judge them on their technique, ability to clearly state and follow their outline, and, since I knew nothing about their topics, I could judge their ability to educate and convince me all at once. It was a very fun experience – I wish I could judge more of the events this week, particularly humorous interpretations and duo interpretations sound like fun to me. If you want to judge, it’s going on all week long at Berry High School and they need over 1,000 judges. Sign up at NCFCAjudges.com or email me for more info.

Altogether, I was blown away by the talent, preparedness, poise, and abilities of these kids!! From their abilities in public speaking, it looks to me like the NCFCA’s underlying purpose is to prepare a WHOLE bunch of homeschooling kids to run for president one day, which wouldn’t be such a bad thing. Especially since they wear makeup and shape their eyebrows nowadays. ;)