Odds & Ends

Ater all these years of having it indelibly etched it my brain that Daylight Saving Time starts on the first Sunday in April, they moved it, and we spring forward this Saturday night. But as much as I hate this time change, my kids are on Spring Break next week, so at least we'll have a week to adjust to it. I'm getting too old for this!

My boy and his best friend are anxiously awaiting the start of Spring Break, not just for the obvious reasons, but for the long-awaited, and twice-postponed, release of the Wii game Super Smash Brothers Brawl on Sunday. It was a Christmas gift pre-order for my boy, and since it's the number one selling game so far in Nintendo's history, I'm just hoping the pick-up line moves relatively fast and that most of the people will be crazy enough to go get it at midnight and be long gone by the time we get there after church.

Those of us in Texas have been dealing with our kids taking the TAKS test this week, with more to come in April. Depending on the grade they are in, students can take anywhere from 1 to 5 tests. And since everything's bigger in Texas, of course testing kids has to be taken to the extreme. It is ridiculous how much pressure is put on the kids and the teachers. Personally, I think when districts deliver tests to schools in armored trucks they have completely lost their perspective and gone over the edge. But maybe that's just me. . . .

I'm feeling very accomplished today. Yesterday I planned and bought the ingredients for what has turned out to be a White House meal. Dined on by President Bush and Presidential hopeful John McCain. Yep, we're having hot dogs tonight!

Speaking of Presidential things, I mentioned in my last post that I am not a political junkie. But Christianity Today had an interesting article that had some rather convicting points, especially at the end, so I link it here for you. (And of course, you could subsitute any candidate's name, in any party, for the one the article highlights.) Are our words and actions in the midst of debates repelling others from Christ? Interesting food for thought.

For those of you watching my Scrabble meter in the sidebar, I promise that I am not chaining my sister to the board. She is playing voluntarily. She has had a bit of a disadvantage in that it takes her a while to get her English back up to speed. And she has drawn some cruddy combinations of letters. But she has beaten the socks off of me plenty of times in the past, so what goes around comes around. Ahh, sisterly love!

And speaking of which, our other sister arrived last night for a 3 day visit. Family togetherness. My stress-o-meter soared up to the top. Prayer and dark chocolate gratefully accepted.