My mom told me that I don't "blob" enough, so I thought I'd post something on this lovely Friday. The topic? My hatred toward dogs.

Many people believe dogs are extremely intelligent, have the cleanest mouths in the world, and are "man's best friend." First, I'll deal with the whole extremely intelligent thing. You could kick a dog all day long and it would still come bounding back for more attention. As a disclaimer, I haven't tried this, but I'm fairly certain it's true. They also can't seem to sense dislike. The yorkies next door always run up to me, wagging their little tails and jumping on my legs, and to this I have two responses. If the owner is watching, I smile and keep walking. If she isn't, I'll yell something along the lines of "get off me you stupid dogs!" and use my best resistance not to kick them off.

Sure, dogs can sit, shake, and fetch, but no one can seem to stop them from barking. I know this, because I live in an apartment complex where everyone seems to own a dog. The yip-yip dogs don't shut up ever, and the miserable rottweilers that occupy the apartment next door always bark in their most threatening tone when they hear you walking near "their property." As for the cleanest mouths in the world thing, I've seen dogs eat their own poop. I highly doubt that's sanitary. Okay, and the man's best friend thing? They're just too stupid to be independent, and their loyalty is limited to whoever they're closest to. But don't worry, there's a solution. Get every dog on earth neutered. In merely a few years, the world will be a better place.

Seth and I have been taking a ColdFusion class, and in order to get on the instructor's good side, I just wanted to say that Professor Mike Kollen (of UCI) is the best teacher ever. This course is a life-changing experience. I now eat, drink, and sleep ColdFusion (just ask my wife).

Yet another reason why I am not a KJV-Onlyist.

Hello, blog readers. We know, we haven't written in forever. Hopefully you aren't too frustrated from visiting our site every few hours, hoping against hope that we'll have written a little something for you to read to brighten your day. The truth is, this week's been one of those weeks where you just can't think of anything you'd like the world to know. Guess what, though? I thought of something to say. We have this old guy who lives in our neighborhood and zooms around on his bright orange rascal, feeling his way around with a cane. We're really hoping he isn't blind because that would be really dangerous. Brandon said that he definitely isn't because he waved at him once. I still think he heard a car and waved to try to fool us into thinking he can see so we won't bum rides by jumping on the back of his rascal. Well, gotta go. We're going to pay a kid who lives two doors down to jump in front of him the next time he comes around. Yay!

I totally called it yesterday. We were eating with some friends after church, and some children were playing in a fountain nearby. Someone asked for bids on what kid would fall in the fountain first, and I called the kid in the red shirt. Time passed, and it looked like no one would win. But then, perhaps thirty minutes after the bid, the kid in the red shirt came through. I so knew it. We should've played for more than nachos.

So we're back from Alabama. We had a fun time, though we both were sick for a good portion of the trip. Thankfully we survived. Click here for pictures of our trip (FYI: The truck we drove belongs to Wendy's Dad, and the pictures of the pond were on Wendy's dad's land).

Since Sunday night I've been having the time of my life, sick on the couch, running a fever, and trying to swallow with an awfully sore throat. Brandon actually had the plague first and then gave it to me, so he's feeling okay now. I'm not sure that I'm ready to go home just yet, but since I have no choice I suppose I'll go. I have a doctor's appointment for the day after we get home, so perhaps he can give me some nice strong medicine. It actually hasn't been so bad being sick, because we had spent time with pretty much everyone we wanted to see already, and it gave mom and my fat cat more time with me. I just hope I can live through the terrible 4-5 hour wait we'll have at the airport due to our connecting flight. They really need to hurry up and create a teleporter.

It's so wonderful to be back in Alabama. I never thought I'd say that a few years ago. Since we've been home I've been able to see my parents and sister, Melissa and her new kitty, Andy and Amanda and their family (including the adorable addition of Noah) and Clay and Shanna who came home just to see lil' old me. It's been so great to see everyone and it's making it so hard to say goodbye again on Wednesday. My mom says that even after living away from her hometown twenty-two years, it still feels like it's home when she goes back. I guess growing up in a place makes you more connected to it than you ever thought it would or wanted it to. I know I have to leave again soon, but it's just so nice to feel like I'm actually in a familiar place again, where all my childhood memories and family are. At least I'm blessed enough to have a great husband who loves me, warm weather and a cranky hamster to go home to. What more could I ask?

Sweet Home Alabama

Well, we've made it back to Wendy's home town after an all-day ordeal. Wendy's dad picked us up from the airport in B'ham, then we drove the three-hour drive to Wendy's mom's house. Wendy's mom was so excited to her (and me)! We brought with us gifts for the pets: a bowl that says, "Fat Cat" for Sutty and a thin/chewable dog bones for Roxy. Then Melissa came over and so we went to her house to see her new cat. After Melissa's, we decided to grab something to eat (real quick-like) so I had my first waffle at Waffle House. I liked it. Unfortunately we didn't have any cash and since they've never heared of 'dem credit cards here b'fore we had to run to Winn-Dixie to buy an Uno set so that we could get some more cash back and pay the nice gals at Waffle House. This morning I woke up a 7:30am (5:30 PacTime) and couldn't sleep. Hopefully I won't be too tired today as I think we're going to Florida. Well, that's about it for now.

It must have been kinda cool to be a ruler. I mean, you get to go out and conquer people, then—like Antiochus Epiphanes—make them celebrate your birthday on a monthly basis (2 Maccabees 6:7).

Last night our Monopoly game was interrupted by loud winds. Though that wouldn't stop Wendy and I. We were persistent to finish the game. The winds struck back with the whole "black out" method. The infamous Santa Ana winds won. The power went out a few times through the night, but thankfully we had a battery powered alarm clock around. Well, the winds are sometimes devastating. If you want, you can see the few pictures I took on my way to work.

I wonder how many famous people I've walked right past and failed to recognize. I mean, I live in California. Surely I've been around a remotely famous person. But if you consider how ugly they are without all the makeup, and the fact that I really don't watch that many movies and have no idea what many writers or musicians look like (for instance I realized I'd never actually looked at Bruce Springsteen when I saw him on Saturday Night Live) and might not care even if I did recognize them. Ah well, there are plenty of obsessed fans and tourists to make the famous people feel better about themselves.

It seems so weird to me that someday the names people are naming kids today will eventually be the names of really old people. There will be 80 year olds named Stacy. And blue-haired denture wearing ladies named Britney. Or old men named Justin, sitting around in the nursing home, chomping their false teeth and yelling at the nurses.

People seem to use the word "antique" very carelessly on ebay. Oh yeah, happy new year!