Two Little Indians -- Who Will Be the Next President?

The race for the White House has just become a lot clearer.

The Democratic Party finally has their nominee for President. Barack Obama has officially wrapped up the Democratic nomination for President of the United States. His number one competitor for the position, Hillary Clinton is ending her bid for the Presidency and throwing her support to Obama.

The Republican Party candidate, John McCain, has already challenged Sen. Obama to a series of "town hall debates."

Now comes the hard part for each candidate, who will be their Vice-President nominees. Will Obama pick Hillary Clinton as his running-mate, after such a bitter campaign? Will McCain choose one of his former rivals, such as Huckabee or Romney? Hopefully, we will know soon. In the meantime brace yourself for many an annoying commercial.

Americans...stay informed of the issues, research both candidates well. Make an informed choice when voting in November. Most of all, pray that God will work His will through whomever we elect. Happy voting.

Summer Is Upon Us!

The kids are out of school and the summer is now upon us. The family and I have a few things scheduled for the summer, but rising gasoline costs and uncertain job futures are putting a small dent on any further plans.

The kids will be attending ACU Leadership Camps in a couple of weeks. Specifically Caleb will attend MPulse and Rachel will attend Learning to Lead. We will miss them, of course, but they always have lots of fun, while learning more about the God they serve.

In July we plan to attend a Texas Rangers baseball game. We will go on July 12th to see the Rangers play the Chicago White Sox. We will get to eat lunch at the Legends of the Game Museum before the game starts.

The week before the game the kids will go to "Camp Susie!" This is a time when the kids get to spend a week with their cousins who live in Howe, TX. Their Aunt Susie, Jamie's sister, normally plans several activities for the kids to go along with swimming in their pool.

As for Jamie and I it's work as normal. Adult Education goes on through the summer, so no break for me. Social Work does not stop for anyone, so Jamie works as well. At least we will have a week to ourselves when the kids are at ACU Camps and "Camp Susie." We might just spend that time cuddling on the couch watching movies or we may try to go out on a couple of inexpensive dates. It's possible we might try to book another night at The Dowell House, a Bed & Breakfast in McKinney, TX. We loved the hot-tub!

My Votes for the Major League Baseball All-Star Game

Next month is the Major League Baseball All-Star Game (VOTE NOW)

As we all know the starting lineups for each league is determined by vote from the fans! Fair or not here are my current votes for the league starters. I try my best to fair in how I vote based on the performance of the players.

For the American League

1st Base -- Justin Morneau, Minnesota Twins
2nd Base -- Ian Kinsler, Texas Rangers
Short Stop -- Michael Young, Texas Rangers
3rd Base -- Alex Gordon, Kansas City Royals (only because I don't want to vote for Alex Rodriguez of the New York Yankees)
Catcher - Dioner Navarro, Tampa Bay Rays
Outfielders - Josh Hamilton, Texas Rangers, Manny Ramirez, Boston Red Sox, and Maglio Ordonez, Detroit Tigers
Designated Hitter - I wish I could vote for Milton Bradley of the Rangers, but with current ballot, I would vote for Hideki Matsui, New York Yankees.

For the National Leauge

1st Base -- Lance Berkman, Houston Astros
2nd Base -- Chase Utley, Philadelphia Phillies
Short Stop -- Miguel Tejeda, Houston Astros
3rd Base -- Chipper Jones, Atlanta Braves
Catcher -- Geovany Soto, Chicago Cubs
Outfielders -- Xavier Nady and Nate McLouth, Pittsburgh Pirates, and Ryan Ludwick, St. Louis Cardinals.

I think these guys deserve to start in the All-Star game this year, but of course the fans of the "Big" Teams will of course elect people who are on the disabled list or are doing lousy simply because the player is on their favorite team. Oh, well so be it. At least I tried to be fair.

Missing God

During the past few days, I have been trying my best to prioritize a few things. I have made time to fill out job applications. I have made time to focus on my health/physical fitness. I have even made more time to spend with my family; however, I have failed to make time to spend with my Father. You would think I would make time to spend with my Creator, the God of all the Universe, but I have not.

Before I took my current job, I read my Bible, spent time in prayer, and in devotion with God. Now, I barely read what I need to help teach my daughter's Sunday School class. I miss my God. I miss spending time trying to stay in touch with the Holy Spirit and conversing with Jesus. I do pray every morning, but I have yet to make a specific time to read His Words. I am a little lost without my Guiding Light.

I know God is there, even if I don't see Him. I just want to spend about three days refocusing myself to do His will and seek His direction for me in my life. When is the next holiday break?

The Return of Meerkat Manor

Sunday I was scanning through our plethora of DISH Network channels and I came across a most pleasant surprise on Animal Planet. Meerkat Manor is returning to the air-waves on June 6th. I love this show. The show will now be called Meerkat Manor: The Next Generation. Sean Aston, the host for seasons 1-3 will not be returning, instead the new host will be Stockard Channing. I will miss Aston's voice, but I'm sure Ms. Channing will fill in quite nicely.

If you go to the Meerkat Manor web-site you can answer trivia questions and play games, catch up on past and future episodes, view pictures of the meerkats, and even find a zoo near you that has meerkats in their exhibits. Recently The Caldwell Zoo in Tyler, TX just added meerkats to their family of animals.

My family and I are anxiously awaiting the return of the Meerkats. Who will unite the Whiskers? I can't wait to find out.

Movie Review: Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Krystal Skull

Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Krystal Skull was an adequate sequel to the first the films. It had its moments of action, humor, adventure and treasure seeking. It even had a few "surprise" relationship twists in the film. However I cannot give this movie the excellent review I would have loved to give it. Shia LaBeouf did a great job as Mutt Williams, and Karen Allen's return as Marion Ravenwood was a good site to see. Harrison Ford once again did an excellent job as Indiana Jones, but his age was starting to show.

My son, Caleb, and I went to see the movie this past Saturday. We both came away a little disappointed. The fact that the movie was a little to Science Fiction left us with a bad taste in our mouths. We expected the intrigue and the historical treasure hunting, but not ****SPOILER**** Inter-dimensional Aliens. It left us feeling bewildered that Lucas and Spielberg would have let the series move in this direction. The addition of the Soviet Russians was a nice twist, but they had better "bad guys" in the other films.

Overall - I would rate the film 3 out of 5 Stars just because it is Indiana Jones after all.