Owner: Euphrony Rambles URL:http://euphrony.blogspot.com Join Date: Thu, 08 Feb 2007 10:56:46 -0600 Rating:0 Site Description: Whatever is on my mind. I ramble on . . . Site statistics:Click here
Biff and the Stormtroopers 1970-01-01 00:59:59 Before I go incommunicado as I travel to Norway and do the whole Christmas thing, I thought I would leave with a few parting amusements. First, I present for you're perusal a song from Tom Wilson - "The Daughter Song". A few months ago, I posted another song from Tom Wilson, better known as "Biff" from Back to the Future, which was very funny and well received. Here is another, which I think about sums up every father's feelings about his daughter. It sure captures mine!Next is one that came out around ten years ago. A guy named Kevin Rubio and some friends did a very professional parody of Star Wars and Cops called Troops. If you have not seen this before, watch it and laugh your rear end off.Enjoy, and Merry Christmas!Tags: Tom Wilson, Biff, Humor, Troops, Kevin Rubio, Comedy, Parody, Star Wars, Cops, YouTube
Prayer Updates 1970-01-01 00:59:59 It's been a little while since I updated everyone on current prayer requests. I still keep the list on the side current (at least weekly), but here are a few to highlight.My friend, Erinlo, is mourning the loss of an old friend. Sarah progressed quickly through cancer, and about a month after diagnosis she has gone home to be with the Lord. Pray for Erin, as she travels to the funeral this weekend, and for Sarah's family and friends.Mike is continuing to struggle in recovering from complications after gastric bypass. He has been out of work for around three months now, all in the hospital, and he and his family need prayers that he grow stronger and be able to move no to rehab and, eventually, back to work. Jill, an old friend from high school, has been seriously struggling with her health. Around two months ago, she began to have headaches and passing out - her whole body will go limp, as if she was anesthetized; she remains alert to her surroundings but unable to respond. The episo Read more:Prayer
I just ate Rudolph! 1970-01-01 00:59:59 So, I made it to Norway. But my mind has yet to catch up. I left Houston at 7 pm, slept maybe an hour in flight, and arrived in Stavanger, Norway at 5 pm the next day (15 hours in transit). The plane was pretty nice, but those seats are only so comfortable, so no sleep for me.Surprisingly, the weather is actually quite balmy for December - hovering around 40oF with rain. I have yet to see the sun, though. Not that I have not been outside in the daytime, or even seen a brightness in the sky that could be called "day" (but only for about 5 hours), it's just that the sun does not rise high enough above the horizon to be seen over the buildings of the town.My hotel is a cheap one; the "twin" beds are not perceptibly larger than a couch and the shower leaks water all over the floor of the bathroom. A few environmental features are highlighted: first, no bars of soap (to save on packaging), instead there is hand soap; second, the lights in the room only come on once you insert your room key Read more:Rudolph
No. 1, With a Bullet 1970-01-01 00:59:59 It's been two weeks since I last posted, and there has been good reason. Or, I should say, reasons. This Christmas just hit #1 on the charts, with a bullet.Which chart, you may ask. Best Christmas ever? Worst Christmas ever?I will answer, without equivocation. But I will not answer with just one word - I'm much to verbose for that.It all started way back on December 18th. Those of you keeping track know that this is the day I left for my little jaunt in Norway. From December 18-22, I spent 30 hours in transit (sleeping none of that time) and returned home on Friday afternoon. To a house with a sick pre-schooler. Seeing as how I had not slept in the previous 24 hours, and had eaten mostly airplane food, I (and Mrs. Euphrony) had reasonable confidence that I would catch this stomach bug. And, on Christmas Eve morning, I awoke with a start - straight to the bathroom. After a luxurious day spent doing you-know-what, I awoke Christmas morning ~8 pounds lighter than when I got home. Yeah.L
Don't be a Pip 1970-01-01 00:59:59 Just a reminder, as we are full swing into the holiday party season, don't be a "Pip".And, if you happen to encounter a "Pip", please be considerate of your fellow man and do not perform a "human sacrifice" by getting someone else to take your place stuck talking to this fellow. Happy holidays!(For some good, meaningful words from Ben Stein (the voice of Pip), check out Seth's blog.)Tags: Animaniacs, Holiday Party, YouTube, Comedy, Ben Stein
Ruminations: 1 Timothy 1 1970-01-01 00:59:59 I thought that today I would give you a little peek into the mind of Euphrony (don't worry, I'm only inviting you into the parlor, where things are relatively neat and tidy). These are some raw first impressions on reading through 1 Timothy
chapter 1. In general, my Bible study is approached very simply: just me, a Bible (or several translations, actually), and a Greek and Hebrew dictionary. No commentaries, no sidebars, no distractions; just me and God and we see where the Spirit leads my study.Actually, this is from two separate readings of 1 Timothy 1, about three weeks apart. I was struck by very different parts of this passage in the two reading, with the first focus being on versus 8-11 and the second reading focusing on versus 3-7. I hope my rambling thoughts make some sense to you.--------------------------------------------3binstruct certain men not to teach strange doctrines, 4nor to pay attention to myths and endless genealogies, which give rise to mere speculation rather
I'm annoyed 1970-01-01 00:59:59 Okay, I got hit with three of my pet peeves all within a half-hour time span this morning. I can handle one at a time, though Mrs. Euphrony would likely hear about it later in the day. She would politely listen to me rant and then gently remind me that I've stood on the same soap box so many times that my shoe prints have worn a rut into the top. Had it been a mere two things, I may well have survived. But three in so short a time span warrants a blog post.Here they are, in order of occurrence:School Zone Speeders:Really, is it so time-saving that you must drive at twice the posted speed limit for a school zone over that long stretch of maybe 200 yards? Come on, people, it will add a possible 20-seconds to your commute to work if you slow down just enough to not blindly run over a kid that is just trying to get to school. I drive by three schools on my way to work, and within a block or two of four other schools. I am slowed down much more, on average, by the train tracks I go over th
Thankful and content 1970-01-01 00:59:59 In the aftermath of this busy holiday, I can truly say that I am both thankful and content.Content with a belly full of good food. Content with an extended family that I can appreciate and enjoy, even when their daily lives are contrary to what I believe to be righteous living.Thankful
for the time I have been able to spend with Mrs. Euphrony and Little Euphrony. Thankful that I have them to spend time with. Thankful that Mrs. Euphrony is feeling better this week (her allergies have been killing her and, being pregnant, their is little she can take to help). Thankful that I have a wife who loves and appreciates me, and a daughter who craves my time and gives the biggest squeezy hugs.Content in the plans that God has laid out for the rest of the year. Content that everything will be ready when Baby Euphrony arrives in around 14 weeks.Thankful that my beautiful wife is brave enough and strong enough to go through the arduous journey that is pregnancy. Thankful for the joy and fun I see i
What a weekend 1970-01-01 00:59:59 I'm exhausted. And after the schedule I've been keeping lately, I have every right to be.Lets see, the most recent spate began this past Thursday. I remember it like it was only, well, last Thursday . . .I rush home after work to pick up Mrs. Euphrony, Little Euphrony, Lil' E's best friend (here to be referred to as BF), and BF's mom (BFM). We hope in the minivan, pop in a movie, and start driving to College Station. We've got an appointment with the VeggieTales "A Very Veggie Christmas ... Live!". Let me tell you, nothing says Christmas like a bunch of talking produce. After 90 minutes in the car with a 3-year old and 4-year old, plus stops for dinner and potty, we arrive at the venue. This is where the real adventure began because, you see, I'm a goof up. I'm sure you quickly counted the above listed names and correctly surmised that there were to be five in our party. Then why, for the love of Pete, did I only purchase four tickets? Why? My first attempt at correction, since
Wait God, you've got it backwards! 1970-01-01 00:59:59 10"Therefore, come now, and I will send you to Pharaoh, so that you may bring My people, the sons of Israel, out of Egypt." 11But Moses said to God, "Who am I, that I should go to Pharaoh, and that I should bring the sons of Israel out of Egypt?" 12And He said, "Certainly I will be with you, and this shall be the sign to you that it is I who have sent you: when you have brought the people out of Egypt, you shall worship God at this mountain." Exodus 3:10-12 (NASB)What strikes me in reading this passage, which I know I've read at least a thousand times, is in God's response to Moses' complaint. Moses whines about his inadequacy to the task, trying to get out of this job Jehovah has set; God belays his complaint with a promise and a sign. His promise is that He will be with Moses, as his strength and support. The sign God gives is that Moses and all of Israel will worship Him on that mountain.Uhm, God, I don't mean to be critical here but . . . uhm . . . well . . . that's kinda back
Star Trek Cribs 1970-01-01 00:59:59 I'm a fan of Star Trek
. I watch the reruns many nights on TV Land, and I've watched the Star Trek 2.0 on G4 before (what this is an ad for). I found this absolutely, gut-busting funny.Tags: Star Trek, Cribs
, TV Land, G4, Humor, YouTube
In case you were wondering: How to bathe a cat! 1970-01-01 00:59:59 Here is a simple 13-step process for safely and effectively giving your cat a bath. Only 13 steps? That's pretty easy, right? It starts slow, but once past the opening credits it is a fast-paced how-to video.Tags: Humor, Cats, Bathing, YouTube, How-To Video Read more:wondering
For James and Kate 1970-01-01 00:59:59 This post is for James
and Kate. James and Kate, twins, were born yesterday morning. They left this world soon after. They were born after their mother went into premature labor at 22-weeks. Eagerly expected, after a struggle to conceive, James and Kate's parents had only recently found out they were going to have a boy and a girl and began selecting names for their children. And now, their parents are devastated. We, their friends, mourn with them and pray for them.I ask that you pray as well.This is not the first bad news we have received this week. In fact, we had learned and been praying for two others, friends of friends, whose babies had died shortly after birth in the last week. For Mrs. E, and I'm sure for Kat as well, this is not the kind of news that sits well as their due dates approach. Why do we have healthy children, when our friends have lost theirs? We do not know, but we are thankful. What security do we really have that our hopes and dreams for the babies we expect
Reality Check (or "I am pampered beyond my own ability to understand") 1970-01-01 00:59:59 My brother has spent the last few days in Nicaragua, with a group from church on a medical mission trip. He's no doctor, but he can sort medicine and help guide patients, and so that is what he has been doing. His last e-mail update (on Superbowl Sunday) contained the following reality checks:There are many casinos here. There are a few that advertise Texas Hold'em.Some of the women here cary things on their head. We saw a women this morning carrying a 5 gallon bucket of tamales on her head buffeted by a small rolled up towell.The pet dogs here roam the street. They are so, so skinny. Its hard for me to believe they are alive. You can count every bone from 20 yards away.It is common to be driving through Managua, the capital over over 1 million people, and see a horse pulling a cart. On the way to Masatepe, I saw oxen pulling carts on the road. These are the skinniest horses I`ve ever seen.Remember the kids playing with the live flare in the street I mentioned yesterday? We drove pas Read more:ability
, beyond
, Check
, Reality Check
Comfy as a cat 1970-01-01 00:59:59 Okay, I don't think you can get much more relaxed than this. This is Lil'E on mom and dad's bed last night.But, so that you don't think that it's all cute and sweet, here's the fireball in Lil'E.As a side-note, Mrs. Euphrony is feeling every bit of being 35-weeks pregnant right now. After sitting in church pews and stiff chairs all day Sunday, her back is killing her. Their is no such thing as a comfortable sleeping position. Heartburn is a constant, never-ending pain. And she says the baby feels like he's about to pop out all the time.As a diversion, she has requested that I post some light-hearted material here to distract her. So I'm asking you to help out. If you have some good jokes you've been saving up, share them. Any anecdotes? Let's hear the amusing ones. Let's try to cheer up Mrs. E a little. I would appreciate it all.Tags: Pregnancy, Comfort, Children, Euphrony Read more:Comfy
Come again? 1970-01-01 00:59:59 For lunch after church yesterday morning, the Euphrony family went to a hibachi grill to appease Mrs. E's craving for fried rice. For those of you not familiar with eating at hibachi grills, the tables all seat around eight people in a semi-circle around the grill where the chef cooks your food. This means that for a party of three (as is our family) you get to share the table with complete strangers. And some are stranger than others. Our table was shared by three old ladies on one side and, sitting by Lil'E, a late-teen/early twenties girl and and a middle-aged woman with her (never got clarified if they were mother/daughter or not).Upon sitting down, I hear bits of their conversation . . . "and she doesn't like air-brushing . . . no, I mean make up . . . blah blah blah . . . ". And then they notice Lil'E and her Big Sister Dora doll she brought into the restaurant. The younger girl thinks Lil'E is adorable and starts talking to her, so of course Lil'E recruits her into playing
Profile of a church 1970-01-01 00:59:59 Got a story for ya. It's all true, so just ponder the truth for a moment.Once upon a time, there was a man. He wasn't the best of men and, being a little greedy, he stole thousands of dollars worth of silver coins from his mom. Mom was understandably furious, but did not know who took her silver coins. She cursed the thief vehemently; so intense was her objurgation that the son began to fear the consequences and regret the taking of the silver. He returns it to his mother, confessing that he took it. Rather than anger with her son, the mother sees this change of heart as a sign that her son may, finally, be finding religion.As a sign that she has forgiven her son, that she is grateful to Jehovah for the return of the silver coins, and as a means of building her son's burgeoning faith, the woman dedicates all that was stolen to the Lord and entrusts her son with the use of the wealth in God's service. Her only explicit instructions is to begin by using twenty percent of the silver t
Tough choice 1970-01-01 00:59:59 If you thought were about to be killed, would you look straight ahead so you could see it coming or would you look away?That is a tough question, but I think I found my answer for it this morning in a taxi cab on the way to the Tulsa airport. I really didn't want to know the answer to this question, but the cab driver is apparently a man who seeks to enlighten his customers through exploration of their inner psyche in times of great distress, which he kindly provides via his driving in heavy traffic on still-icy roads.Thanks. No, really. I'm glad to be home.Tags: Cab Driver, Taxi, Tulsa, Euphrony Read more:Tough
A man alone 1970-01-01 00:59:59 What leads a person to where they are?Why do two people in apparently the exact same situations in life react in such different ways?Why do I react so differently to two people in apparently the exact same situation in life?Why do I not seem to have any idea as to how I should react to the above people??Boy, I've been pondering these questions a great deal lately. What precipitated these thoughts is the presence of a man alone
. I say that he is alone because I know nothing more than what I see. He is of average height, thin but not emaciated, with long hair and beard. He has taken to wearing some of those funny new shoes that look like plastic slip-ons with holes in them, in a bright red color. He carries his rolled-up sleep mat, bound with a rope and hanging down in front of his belly. The pack slung on his back is large and full. I see him almost every single day as I drive in to work, walking along the side of the road. I often see him as I come home, headed the other way to places
Get To Know Me: Geek Edition® 1970-01-01 00:59:59 Okay, if you've been reading this blog for any amount of time, you will likely have discovered that I am a certifiable nerd. I've played the get to know me game a few times, here and here. I've been asked to refrain from quizzing people based on my particular brand of nerdlyness, and I fear I have not contributed enough to people's understanding of anything ending in "ology". But I press on!I am a rheologist, by profession. I study fluid flow, how it behaves under different conditions, for materials that can alternately seem like water or solid rock - what is called viscoelasticity. Here, for your reading pleasure, is a small excerpt from a paper I have been writing for an upcoming conference. This has kept me fairly busy at work, between trying to write and working on getting the little things done that kept popping up.It has been noted that, despite the flexibility of some of these models, no single model does a sufficiently good job of predicting the behavior of all types of dri Read more:Edition
, Geek
BIRTH Story 1970-01-01 00:59:59 No, the baby's not here yet. We have a mere 2 1/2 weeks until the official due date. The actual timing could be anywhere from today to St. Patrick's Day (but we're hoping it doesn't go quite that long). However, I am going to start talking a little bit here about some of the choices we are making in the birth process (and by we, I mean "we" and not "me" - I am not imposing anything on Mrs. Euphrony, but we agree on these things and I support her 100% whatever she wants to do). For a resident of the United States, this will be a non-traditional birth, though it is the way most of the world (even the industrialized world) goes about it. No drugs. No doctor; we have a midwife (yes, they still exist as a profession). We want this birth to be viewed as a natural process and not as a medical condition that requires treatment, or as one that needs to be scheduled to avoid the inconvenience of waiting for ourselves or the doctors. Not that we are granola-crunchy; not at all. We do firmly b
Birth Plan 1970-01-01 00:59:59 Below is the birth plan we have put together, to be given to those attending the birth. It is all aimed at allowing for a natural child birth, allowing the child to come when the time is right without induction or cesarean section.1,2The Euphrony's Birth PlanMrs. and Mr. Euphrony, with their daughter Lil'E, would like to thank you for the rolls you are playing in the birth of our new son and brother, Lil'er E. Our doula, Debbie, will be assisting Mrs. E and our midwife3, Karen, during the birth process. We have a few requests that we hope you will recognize to make this the best possible birth experience for our family.We recognize the need for care for the infant during the birthing process, and ask that such monitoring be minimal.We request that no IV be administered to Mrs. E. (We recognize the importance that the mother be well hydrated and plan on using clear fluids for this.)4Please do not offer medication for pain relief. We would like to use the tub and shower for pain reli
Today, I turn 100 1970-01-01 00:59:59 In honor of my 100th posting, I thought I would offer a lighter bit of fluff. And so . . .You Know You Are Living In 2007 when: 1. You accidentally enter your password on the microwave.2. You haven't played solitaire with real cards in years.3. You have a list of 15 phone numbers to reach your family of 3.4. You e-mail the person who works at the desk next to you.5. Your reason for not staying in touch with friends and family is that they don't have e-mail addresses.6. You pull up in your own driveway and use your cell phone to see if anyone is home to help you carry in the groceries.7. Every commercial on television has a web site at the bottom of the screen.8. Leaving the house without your cell phone, which you didn't have the first 20 or 30 (or 60) years of your life, is now a cause for panic and you turn around to go and get it.10. You get up in the morning and go on line before getting your coffee.11. You start tilting your head sideways to smile. : )12 You're reading this an Read more:Today
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