ButlerBloggers Headlines

In honor of Saint Patrick’s Day (and yes I know for some of you, it’s just about over already), our friends over at Ranker.com compiled a list of some interesting tidbits aptly named Leprechauns: 7 Things You Probably Didn’t Know. I personally feel like I can relate to the Clurichaun on some days. I’d say there [...]

Happy St. Patrick's Day! Hit the jump for more...

It was a rare evening at home tonight with just me, Brady, and the cat. Bill was at a work event, and the big kids were at their dad's. We had a pretty good night. We ate a really easy, laid back dinner of peanut butter sandwiches, a banana, and some almonds. (It's kind of healthy and EASY) Then we played a bit with the new tractor Brady's babysitter gave him for his birthday.

Oh yeah, did I mention that my baby turned two on Sunday? Where has the time gone? He's two, and he's independent, as most toddlers are. He's really starting to use a lot of words lately, and it seems like his vocabulary has grown out of nowhere. It's his independent streak that led him to having no nap today, which then led him to start to get a little loopy as the night progressed. In an attempt to focus his attention on something besides running around in circles and throwing himself on the floor, I got out my new MacBook Pro to show him a picture slideshow. What we ended up doing instead was playing with the Photo Booth feature that allows you to add effects to your pictures, and this is what we got:

What do you think? Did we do good? And does the fun we had justify the expense of buying a Mac? Please don't tell Bill he agreed to buying a $2000 toy to help me occupy the kids, okay? It's strictly for business and for my writing career. Not for fun and games!

I spent Saturday afternoon assembling a Malm 3 drawer chest from IKEA. I bought it around New Year's when IKEA cut the price in half for a one day special. It took me longer than expected to put it together, but I am pleased with the results. For a 3 drawer chest, it is quite roomy and I like the metal drawer slides. Now, I have to rearrange some stuff in my bedroom to make space for it.

I have a friend who underwent plastic surgery not that long ago. Apparently, it was something she's always wanted to do. Since the procedure (breast augmentation), she's had no regrets. After having lunch with her the other day, I got to thinking about other surgical procedures and what's involved. The writer in me was curious and wanted to explore the topic.

I, personally, have thought about a tummy tuck. After having three children, my poor body just isn't the same, and I know the abdominal muscles are the most difficult to get in shape. But my flab issues are minor in comparison to many who are dealing with serious weight problems. I wanted to explore weight loss surgery and the options for those who may be considering it.

There are several types of bariatric surgery, such as gastric banding, gastric bypass, and sleeve gastrectomy. Regardless of type, there are some things people considering such procedures must do. The first is to determine if you're a good candidate for weight loss surgery, and this involves finding a physician you can trust. Be sure the doctor possesses certifications and can provide referrals. Go with your gut as well; you need to feel entirely comfortable with the person performing this kind of procedure on your body.

Ask questions, of your physician as well as other experts, and be sure the procedure if covered by your insurance. If it's not covered, can you afford to pay for it out of pocket, and is it truly worth the expense? Take into consideration health factors as well as personal conviction. Do your research and choose a qualified physician whom you trust.

What many people don't consider is what happens after the surgery. You'll want to ask what kinds of procedures are in place for aftercare. Not just for the recovery period, but are there programs and personnel who will help you learn to adjust to your new lifestyle and to help ensure your results will be as positive as they can be? Counseling and education are key to making lasting changes that stick. I'm learning that on my own personal weight loss journey. There's so much more to any weight loss than just counting calories and shedding pounds.

Each segment is about 10 minutes long, but if you are a fan of Star Wars and felt the disappointment like I did when watching the prequels, then it’s time well worth spent. Part 2 Part 3 Part 4 Part 5 Part 6 Part 7 In video 7, about halfway through, there is a segment that talks about how the characters might [...]

Suggested by Blood Dancer This match can have multiple layers to determine the winner. Which is the better franchise? Which one has the better actors? Which one has the better characters? Which one had more of an impact?

Tuesday, March 16, 2010 Reading for the Day John 11-12; James 1-3 Focus on John 11:43

“Then Jesus shouted, ‘Lazarus, come out!’”  Many times when I read accounts of Jesus’ life and ministry in the gospels I think, “I wish I could have been there,” but never more so than when I read the account of Jesus raising Lazarus from the dead.  The account contains so many interesting details, nuances and proclamations.  In all of it, though, the most compelling verse for me is John 11:43.  Can you picture being there?  Can you picture standing near the entrance to the tomb, when Jesus has told the people to roll the stone covering the entrance aside?  Lazarus’ sisters sought to stop Jesus, because they were afraid Lazarus’ body would have stunk by that time.  Jesus wouldn’t be stopped.  He shouted, “Lazarus, come out!”  I picture a dramatic pause, and then the mummy-like figure of Lazarus appearing at the door in his grave clothes.  Did the crowd shout?  Did they stand in silent awe?  I once heard someone say the reason Jesus said, “Lazarus, come out!” is if He had simply said, “Come out!” every person in the tomb would have appeared at the door!  No doubt they would!  Jesus is the author of life, and He holds command even over death.  Had I been there in that moment, I don’t know what I would have done, but I would surely have believed Jesus was amazing—probably the Son of God.  The only ones who stood by unimpressed, or at least unmoved by the incident, were the religious leaders.  Far from celebrating Lazarus’ resurrection, they now realized that Jesus’ place among the people had become that of a leader, if not their Messiah.  They started plotting Jesus’ death.  It makes no sense on the surface.  Why would anyone kill a man who had the power over life and death?  The only reasonable answer to that question is – fear.  They feared the Romans would intervene if Jesus proclaimed Himself king.  They feared a loss of control if Jesus were proclaimed a religious leader among the Jews.  They feared the possibility of even considering that Jesus was who He claimed to be.  Fear is a powerful motivator.  In our lives fear will eliminate Jesus from taking central place in our lives, or Jesus will take the central place in our lives and overcome our fears.  Which will it be?  Jesus offers all who seek Him first a place in His Kingdom and the assurance of lives of meaning and purpose.  May we choose Him over fear, that HE may overcome fear in us!

Heavenly Father, Thank You for sending Jesus to overcome every obstacle in the way of eternal life with You—including death!  Thank You for the account of Jesus raising Lazarus, which shows us that for Jesus there is never a hopeless situation.  Glorify Yourself in our lives today, by filling us with Your Holy Spirit and empower us to live the kind of lives that will draw others to You.  This I pray in the name of Jesus.  Amen.

There's not much I can say except that it's been a bad week. I didn't get back on track with Weight Watchers, and I continued to go downhill, falling into old eating habits. I didn't even do any mall walking. Sunday was Brady's 2nd birthday, and I just HAD to have a piece of cake, right?

Yeah, okay, that piece of cake wouldn't have been a big deal if not for the rest of the crap I ate all week. So I took yesterday afternoon to sit down and spend some time on the Weight Watchers website reviewing the program and getting suggestions. There was a helpful tip sheet that offered great ideas for making small changes, you know baby steps - like in the name of my blog.

So here are some of the tips I will implement this week to get back on track:

 

• Drink more water - I like water and this one shouldn't be hard as long as I make a purposeful effort.
• Limit fried foods to once or twice a week - I can definitely do this; today I ate salad instead of kielbasa with the rest of the family.
• Eat fresh veggies as a side instead of chips - It's just a change in mindset.
• If you don't really love it, don't eat it - This one is the BEST advice. It will become my mantra!
• Park far away and return the cart to the store - This small change should help me ease my way into exercise.
• Make exercise a priority, rather than an inconvenience - I should start looking at it as time to myself and something I GET to do.

Looking at these small changes, it seems that so many involve a change in thinking and in mindset. These are all the kinds of advice I gave my students and my clients when I was a counselor, so they really make sense to me. I'm feeling like I'm really starting to get a handle on how to approach this lifestyle change! We'll see if I'm as upbeat and positive next week...

 

The Burger Lab: How Often Should You Flip a Burger? | A Hamburger Today:

The important answer isn’t how many times you should flip your burger but what cooking method you should use in the first place. Juiciest burgers are cooked first in the oven, then finished on a hot grill or skillet. Brilliant!

The three things I’m tired of: psychology, bureaucracy, and commentary.

Psychology

Blaming to excuse.

No matter how you understand people, only one thing cures the heart or the head. Unconditional love has nothing to take apart and mends every broken heart, eventually. So if we already know this is the answer, let’s not waste any more time by taking apart questions.

Stop pointing fingers; learn to forgive others. Stop making excuses; learn to forgive yourself.

The word “psychobabble” appears in dictionaries and spell check software, but “psychobullshit” does not.

Bureaucracy

Institutional blaming and excusing.

It appears to take a crisis to cure what ails institutions. A few renegades can bully their way through, but they won’t stop to cure the system for everyone else. The people of the system don’t often support efficieincy in the system.

Better to beg foregiveness than ask permission, but only if you have money. Actually, either way, you need the money.

Unforgiveable: Delaying action to tell people what you do.

Commentary

People talk about doing, or about what is done. Few do anything original.

Most of what I read, hear, or watch is about something else I could read, hear, or watch directly. Reporters forecast to supplement what they report. Analysts discuss the strategy of politics and sports, or explain markets, science, and history. Later they explain why they were actually wrong. I could watch two hours of trailers, featurettes, and reviews for every two hour movie.

Two thumbs: Most of what I have to say to the world is about what other people do or say.

Tagged: Bureaucracy, Commentary, Psychology

Project 365: 74 'Paths', originally uploaded by ninelives.1972.

Flight paths. Two of them. I snapped this with my phone last week, when the sun was out from behind the clouds. I am missing the sun right now.

Suggested by Drayflare This match is strictly a sword duel. Aragorn can’t summon any undead armies or Gandalf for that matter. Drizzt isn’t able to summon Guenhwyvar. Who wins?

Project 365: 73 'Art', originally uploaded by ninelives.1972.

Bridget's Artwork.

So many truths in this video.

Suggested by Cargo A very simple question. Which weapon would you rather carry into battle?

Monday, March 15, 2010 Reading for the Day John 9-10 Focus on John 10:10

Few verses in Scripture say so much as John 10:10:  10The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly.

Jesus made it clear that the goal of His life is to make our lives ABUNDANT.  In the Greek New Testament we find two words for life:  bios and zoe.  Bios is physical life.  Zoe is the life of God.  Some would call it spiritual life.  When Jesus tells us He comes to give us life, and that we may have it more abundantly, He was talking about zoe.  Jesus cares about our physical lives, but He cares much more about our spiritual lives.  Why?  Because at most we are going to live a century in this, physical life.  Then we will live for eternity in our spiritual lives!  We want to live that eternity with God:  Father, Son and Holy Spirit.  That means in this life we must follow Jesus.  We must make Him first in our lives.  Jesus makes it clear that the goal of His opponent, Satan, or “The thief” as He put it in John 10:10, is to steal, kill and destroy.  Most often Satan disguises his theft, murder, and destruction in pleasant sounding, smelling, tasting, touching or feeling packages.  After all, few of us would go willingly to our own destruction!  The key for us to remember is Jesus ALWAYS leads us to life—abundant life. His way is often hard.  His way is often filled with challenging decisions.  His way will cause us to depend absolutely on His life within us through the Holy Spirit, but all of that is far more fulfilling at the end of the day than following the ways of “The thief.”  As we go about this day, let’s make sure our priority is to seek after the life that is truly life, which comes only through Jesus.  Let’s make sure when the thief comes, and he surely will, that we are ready for him, and are prepared to defend ourselves from his lies, temptation and destruction.  The Good News is we may experience the abundant life of Jesus here and now—we don’t have to wait for heaven to experience it—and we WILL experience it as we live IN Him and in the power of His Holy Spirit!

Heavenly Father, Thank You for all You are, and for the abundant life You give us through Your Son, and our Lord, Jesus!  Fill me with Your Holy Spirit today and everyday that I may live that abundant life moment by moment and offer it to others.  This I pray in Jesus’ name.  Amen.

What can you do to help the cause? If you're not part of the solution, you're part of the problem.

When I was younger, and never too shy for a good political argument, I would often end a dialog by acknowledging that although I don't agree, at least we both vote. It seemed a rather tidy and polite way of ending a laborious and circuitous banter.

Not anymore.

If I don't agree with someone, I'm even more polite than I have ever been!

But now I'll quickly go to alternative dialog "B". That's the one where I get real bitter about the whole process and government. In fact I'm so turned off by the whole establishment, that I want you to be too.

While I still vote, and as early and as often as possible, I make a half decent effort to disenfranchise the opposition.

This is great advice for the nascent Tea Party movement. You can accomplish better results if you identify an intractable nature in conversation, and discourage him or her from voting at all.

But you got to find out early on if you can reach these people with your limited government ideology.

Just trying to help. . . .

Suggested by VincentValentine_117 Three round fight. First two using knives the third strictly being a hand to hand. The first place takes place in The warehouse where Krauser fought Leon the second taking place in a thick jungle. The last being in the forest from Devil May Cry 4. Who wins?