My friend Phil forwarded this to me the other day and I couldn’t resist posting it. I wish my mind worked this way… although if it did, I probably wouldn’t be able to hold down a job, must less afford to send my kid to school. Anywho, enjoy!

—–Original Message—–
From: Margaret Bennett
Date: Friday 22 August 2009 3.40pm
To: David Thorne
Subject: computer room

Hello David

I tried to call you but your phone is off. Just letting you know  that Seb bought a flash drive to school yesterday and copied a game onto  the school computers which is against the school rules and he has been  banned from using the computer room for the rest of the term.

Sincerely,
Margaret

—–Original Message—–
From: David  Thorne
Date: Monday 25 August 2009 9.16am
To: Margaret Bennett
Subject: Re: computer room

Dear Maggie,

Thank you for your email. I am not answering my mobile phone at  the moment  as I am experiencing iPhone envy and every second spent  using my Nokia is like being trapped in a loveless marriage. Where you  stay together for the kids. And the kids all have iPhones.

I was not aware that my offspring taking software to  school was in breach of school rules. Although the game is strategic and  public domain, not to mention that it was I who copied and gave it to  him, I agree that banning him from access to the computers at school is  an appropriate punishment. Especially considering his enthusiasm for the  subject.

Also, though physical discipline is not longer  administered in the public school system, it would probably be  appropriate in this instance if nobody is watching. I know from  experience that he can take a punch.

Regards,
David.

—–Original Message—–
From: Margaret Bennett
Date: Tuesday 26 August 2009 10.37am
To: David Thorne
Subject: Re: Re: computer room

David

We would never strike a student and whether the software is  pirated or not is not the issue. He denied having the drive which means  he knew he shouldn’t have it here then it was found in his bag so I feel  the punishment is suitable.

Margaret

—–Original Message—–
From: David Thorne
Date: Tuesday 26 August 2009 11.04am
To: Margaret Bennett
Subject: Re: Re: Re: computer room

Dear Maggie,

Yes, I agree. Education and access to the tools necessary for  such should always come secondary to discipline. When I was young,  discipline was an accepted part of each school day. Once, when I  coloured outside the lines, I was forced to stand in the playground with  a sign around my neck that read ‘non-conformist’ while the other  children pelted me with rubble from the recently torched school library.  Apparently a copy of Biggles had been found behind a filing cabinet.

Another   time, because I desperately wanted a Battlestar Galactica jacket like  Apollo in the television series, using brown house paint from the shed  at home, I painted my denim jacket and used Araldite to attach brass  door hinges as clasps. Feeling that it was an excellent representation  and despite the oil based paint still being soaking wet, I wore it to  school the next day. Unfortunately, the paint dried while I was sitting  in Mrs Bowman’s English class, securing me to the chair. After the  school handyman cut me free, I was sent to the principal for damaging  school property. My punishment was to scrape wads of chewing gum off the  bottom of every chair in the school after hours. It took several weeks  and it was during this lonely time that I created my imaginary friend Mr  Wrigley. During class, when the teacher was not looking, we would pass  each other notes regarding the merits of disciplinary action and how one  day we would own real Battlestar Galactica jackets.

Also, if you happen to see Seb eating anything over the next few  weeks, please remove the food from him  immediately. He forgot to feed  his turtle last week and I feel a month without food will help him  understand both the importance of being a responsible pet owner and the  effects of malnutrition.

Regards, David.

—–Original Message—–
From: Margaret Bennett
Date: Tuesday 26 August 2009 4.10pm
To: David Thorne
Subject: Re: Re: Re: Re: computer room

David

I hope you are not being serious about the food but I am  forwarding your email to the principal as per school policy.

Margaret

—–Original Message—–
From: David Thorne
Date: Wednesday 27 August 2009 11.18am
To: Margaret Bennett
Subject: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: computer room

Dear Maggie,

Rest assured I would not really withhold nutritional  requirements from any child. Except maybe that one that starred in the  Home Alone movies. I read somewhere that a healthy breakfast helps  concentration and have found, since replacing my usual diet of nicotine  with froot loops, I am able to move small objects with my mind.

Just   this morning Seb and I were discussing the importance of good nutrition  which is why, if you check in his school bag, you will find a bag of  rice, vegetables, a wok and a camp stove. The gas bottle can be a little  tricky but has instructions printed on the side so he should be  alright. Please remind him to stand well back and cover his face while  igniting as the hose is worn and has developed a small leak.

Also, I am not sure what you are teaching in your classroom but  Seb came home the other week talking about a healthy eating pyramid. I  had to explain to him that pyramids are made of stone and therefore not  edible so I would appreciate you not filling his head with these  fanciful notions.

Regards, David.

—–Original Message—–
From: Margaret Bennett
Date: Wednesday 27 August 2009 2.05pm
To: David Thorne
Subject: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: computer room

David

I have no idea what your point is. I will speak to the principal  about the ban but you have to understand that only government approved  software is allowed on the computers and Seb knew this rule.

Margaret

—–Original Message—–
From: David Thorne
Date: Wednesday 27 August 2009 2.17pm
To: Margaret Bennett
Subject: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: computer  room

Dear Maggie,

I understand the need for conformity. Without a concise set of  rules to follow we would probably all have to resort to common sense.  Discipline is the key to conformity and it is important that we learn  not to question authority at an early age.

Just this week I  found a Sue Townsend novel in Seb’s bag that I do not believe is on the  school approved reading list. Do not concern yourself about it making  its way to the school yard though as we attended a community book  burning last night. Although one lady tried to ruin the atmosphere with  comments regarding Mayan codices and the Alexandrian Libraries, I  mentioned to the High Magus that I had overheard her discussing spells  to turn the village cow’s milk sour and the mob took care of the rest.

Regards, David.

—–Original Message—–
From: Margaret Bennett
Date: Thursday 28 August 2009 11.56am
To: David Thorne
Subject: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re:  computer room

David,

I have spoken to the principal and in this instance we will lift  the ban.

Margaret

It’s funny looking back on my blog journey to date. I tend to write some pretty heavy stuff more often than not… which is funny to me, because that’s not really how I see myself. When I look at my fellow bloggers, the majority take a more casual approach/style – which I admire. For some reason I always feel the need to lay it all on the line every single time I post something, not really sure why that is. My blog was started with the sole purpose of transparently sharing what’s going on in my life. I don’t know how good of a job I’m doing at that, but I’m trying. I also want the blog to be more than that too, so I’m going to try and mix things up a little more often, just for sanity’s sake, if for no other reason. So here goes…

Have any of you seen a movie in IMAX recently? We FINALLY have one close to us and will be seeing Ironman 2 Friday night. It’s been a long time since we’ve been to a movie, so we’re excited… well, I am, can’t speak for Carrie. So is there really a noticeable difference between IMAX and standard besides the screen size? Enough to spend the extra money? It’s definitely not cheap, but I figured this would be a great movie to test it out with. Iron Man 2 & Twilight Eclipse Robin Hood are the ones I’m looking forward to this summer. But we’re so behind on movies it’s not even funny. We’ve had the same Netflix DVD’s sitting in our living room for 2 months now, no joke.

What movies are you looking forward to this summer?

I’ve been going back and forth for several months now about whether or not to do this, but I think the time has come to give ‘social media’ a break. I just really need to quiet the noise, turn down the volume and re-evaluate my priorities, where I am in relation to where God wants me to be and where my family needs me to be.

You see, I’m the kind of person that gets easily distracted and sidetracked – especially when it involves something I’m passionate about and enjoy – things like social media and technology for example. These things regularly fill up large amounts of time in my day – which honestly, is the one thing that has kept me from pulling the plug before now. I’ve made so many new acquaintances and friends as a result of joining Twitter last Fall. You guys entertain me, while at the same time inspiring me to passionately pursue Christ. That’s mainly the reason I know it’s time to take a break.

I’m not kidding myself here, I know I’m not a well known blogger like Jon Acuff or Matthew Paul Turner. I kind of equate it to the old ‘tree falling in the woods’ analogy, except that I’m more like a leaf, lol. I am me and that’s all I’ll ever be and I know my ‘online presence’ won’t be missed. But that’s another reason for this break, I’ve been caring way too much about what other people have to say, than what Jesus is trying to say to me (Twitter). I also care too much about where I’ve been than where God wants me to be (Foursquare). And I care way too much about everyone else’s life, than the life God’s blessed me with and has called me to (Facebook).

I don’t know how long the break will last – maybe a few weeks, maybe a month or two – I don’t know. All I know is it’s time to quiet the noise and turn down the volume and start paying more attention to the physical world around me and to the God whose voice often gets drowned out in all the noise I surround myself with on a daily basis. Easier said than done I know, but it must be done. See you after the break.

Those of you who own a Mac won’t get this analogy, but the rest of you undoubtedly will (sorry, shameless Apple fanboy plug). Have you ever been working away on your computer and things just come to a screeching halt? Your programs freeze up, your mouse moves at a snail’s pace and there’s nothing left to do but reboot and start over?

I feel that’s where I am right now in life. This year has been an absolute whirlwind for us and we’re just now getting back into some resemblance of a routine again. We took a week-long family vacation to Disney in February and had an awesome time. We got back home and were starting to get adjusted again when we found out Carrie’s grandfather passed away. So we headed up to Pennsylvania, were planning to only be there a few days and got snowed in for several more. So yeah, February was a blur for us and here we are approaching April already and I’m wondering where the time has gone – crazy!

Back in October I set some pretty tough personal goals for myself, both physically and spiritually. Things were going great up until my first 5K race back on January 23rd, and I started experiencing some pretty intense hip/foot pain. Fortunately, I was able to finish my race but decided I better back off and just give everything time to heal. In hindsight, it was a good decision with everything that’s gone on. But in a weird way, my not running has made me slack off in other areas of my life too… funny how that works isn’t it?

So this weekend is a “life reboot” for me. I’m just stopping and recommitting myself to God and to the decisions and goals I set for myself back in October. It’s a good thing to do every so often — to take a look back and retrace your steps; to see what’s gone right and what you’re going wrong. I started running again today – my time absolutely sucked and my pace has suffered horribly, but I ran a 5K again and that was my only goal.

God reminded me of this short verse a moment ago — it’s exactly what I needed today. God, help me live as only you are able!

We plan the way we want to live, but only God makes us able to live it.
~Proverbs 16:9

What about you? Time for a reboot?

Wow, life has been anything but boring over the last month. Two weeks ago we got to spend a week at Disney with Carrie’s family (and had a blast!), celebrated Landon’s first birthday last weekend and we felt like we were just getting back into a routine when we got the call yesterday that Carrie’s grandfather had passed away. So we’ve been rushing around trying to get all the last minute details worked out to head to Pennsylvania this weekend.

Landon has been such a good little boy in all of our travels so far — we were blessed with an amazingly patient and flexible child. By the time we get back from PA, we’ll have gone through 6 different airports and traveled over 3000 miles, all in less than a month. Getting through security before Landon was tough enough, but now that we have a stroller and all of his stuff — it’s quite the chore, but we’re getting better at it.

Please keep Carrie’s family in your thoughts and prayers. We’re not sure if her grandfather knew the Lord and we know a lot of his family from his first marriage are not Christians. In addition to all of this, Carrie’s dad’s been in the hospital since last Saturday with complications from shoulder surgery. The doctors still don’t know what’s going on, but we think he has blood clots. They’ve put him on Coumadin which has helped, but just pray they find out where the clots are. It seems like anytime he has any kind of out-patient type surgery, he winds up getting blood clots.

We would appreciate your prayers for us too – we’re tired and just want to get back into some semblance of a routine for awhile. I’m thankful that my employer has been very flexible lately. Luckily, I’ll be able to work remotely while we’re in PA so I’m not getting too far behind and leaving them to fend for themselves. Anyways, just wanted to stop in and update the ‘ole blog since it’s been awhile. Thanks for your thoughts and prayers!

Looks like I’ll finally be able to unlock that JetSetter foursquare badge, sweet!

This is going to be a random post, but I feel like the majority of them are anyway, so here it goes. I hate anticipation. I hate things hanging over my head. I really hate waiting for a date on the calendar to arrive, especially when it involves something out of my comfort zone or out of my carefully scripted list of routine.

I had this crazy notion one night a few weeks back to sign up to run a 5K race on the 23rd. It may sound stupid, but this is something I never thought I’d be doing. Ever. A lot of my friends and people I follow online are running 10K’s, 1/2 marathons or full marathons and I feel stupid even mentioning it, but this blog is all about transparency–so I’m not going to lie–I’m nervous. I know I can do it, but the anticipation is killing me. If I could run it right now (even after running 4 miles at 6am this morning), I’d do it in a heartbeat, because I hate having things hanging over my head.

It’s even like this at work. I do IT/Development support, so I get tickets all day long about problems and issues that need to be addressed. I respond as quickly as I can to get the ticket off my desk. Sometimes I even reply too quickly when I should take more time to think through a proper response, but it’s just the way I am.

I’ve always been impatient and I know this is something I definitely need to address in my life. I just need to take one day at a time and slow it down. I need to stop looking at life too far in advance, anticipating certain things with dread and uncertainty. But I’m not quite sure how to do that.

Any suggestions? Anyone else out there like me, or am I just crazy?

I’m writing this post out of total frustration over something that’s completely stupid and trivial, I know. It’s about football (at least to begin with), and for those of you not into football, I don’t expect you to understand and that’s ok. I just need to get this out there–maybe it’ll help me feel better, ha. Doubt it.

In case you haven’t heard, last night my Colts willingly gave up a perfect, undefeated season to rest their starters. We were up by 5 in the 3rd quarter and our coach/GM yanked everyone out and put in backups, including a rookie QB who’s never taken a meaningful snap in the NFL. It was excruciatingly painful to watch, our lead was gone in the span of 30 seconds and our perfect season–gone–just like that.

For me and most loyal Colts fans, it’s not about the perfect season–it never was. It’s about playing to win the game. It’s about giving your all, despite the consequences. It’s about playing your heart out until the final whistle blows, leaving it all out on the field. To be completely honest, I’d have more respect for the Colts if they played all out, lost the game AND every single one of their starters to season ending injuries, than to roll over and quit like we did yesterday. Yes, I know we’re in the playoffs, we’ve won everything there is to win to this point (home field advantage, first round bye, etc), but that’s no excuse for giving up on your fans and your players like we did yesterday. You not only gave up the game, you gave up on your players–the same players that got you to this point–and even worse, you gave up on our fans who cheer you on week after week.

I won’t go into the consequences I believe will result in this pathetic decision–because I doubt anyone cares. But suffice it to say, I wholeheartedly believe this will be the turning point in our season. We will fall because we haven’t learned from past mistakes. We will fall because we decided to take the safe road and abandon the toughness that got us to this point. Even if we do somehow manage to pull off another Super Bowl win, I will have a hard time savoring the win because I will remember the day we had a chance to do what only one other team has done before, but decided to give it up to play it safe.

This may be the quickest/strangest transition ever written, but on a totally different note, I can’t help but apply this same scenario to my own life. In what areas have I given up? Is my life being played all out for God or am I resting, taking the easy road? This is very much a Biblical principle–it’s something God wants from his people! I was reading this morning in Revelations–a book I’ve always avoided because of its complexity and symbolism– but in chapter 3 He says:

“I know you inside and out, and find little to my liking. You’re not cold, you’re not hot—far better to be either cold or hot! You’re stale. You’re stagnant. You make me want to vomit. You brag, ‘I’m rich, I’ve got it made, I need nothing from anyone,’ oblivious that in fact you’re a pitiful, blind beggar, threadbare and homeless.” ~Revelations 3:15-17

^“So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God.” ~I Corinthians 10:31

What about you? Are you playing it safe? Are you putting your all on the line every day for His glory?

Just a quick blog post today, on Christmas Eve. My father-in-law sent this to us the other day and it made me laugh because it’s so true. Enjoy! Merry Christmas to you all!

Men are just happier people — what do you expect from such simple creatures? Your last name stays put. The garage is all yours. Wedding plans take care of themselves. Chocolate is just another snack. You can be President. You can never be pregnant. You can wear a white T-shirt to a water park. You can wear NO shirt to a water park. Car mechanics tell you the truth.

The world is your urinal. You never have to drive to another gas station restroom because this one is just too icky. You don’t have to stop and think of which way to turn a nut on a bolt. Same work, more pay. Wrinkles add character. Wedding dress $5000. Tux rental–$100. People never stare at your chest when you’re talking to them. The occasional well-rendered belch is practically expected. New shoes don’t cut, blister, or mangle your feet. One mood all the time. Phone conversations are over in 30 seconds flat. You know stuff about tanks.

A five-day vacation requires only one suitcase. You can open all your own jars. You get extra credit for the slightest act of thoughtfulness. If someone forgets to invite you, he or she can still be your friend. Your underwear is $8.95 for a three-pack. Three pairs of shoes are more than enough. You almost never have strap problems in public. You are unable to see wrinkles in your clothes. You get to pick who you want to ask out to dinner.

Everything on your face stays its original color. The same hairstyle lasts for years, maybe decades. You only have to shave your face and neck. You can play with toys all your life. Your belly usually hides your big hips. One wallet and one pair of shoes one color for all seasons. You can wear shorts no matter how your legs look. You can “do” your nails with a pocket knife. You have freedom of choice concerning growing a mustache. You can do Christmas shopping for 25 relatives on December 24th in 25 minutes.

No wonder men are happier.

My sister-in-law posted this photo earlier and it made me laugh. It’s the Christmas story told by my 3-year old nephew, Eli.

Caption this: