Dumbest Commercial Ever

This commercial for Kay Jeweler's Love's Embrace collection has got to be the stupidest commercial of all time.

That is one creepy guy!

Happy 40th Birthday Sesame Street

Sesame Street has been with me my whole life. It was one of my favorite shows in the early days of living in my old house on Hartman Knoll.

Back then: Only Big Bird saw Snuffleupagus (everyone else thought Big Bird was imagining the creature - oh how I rooted for someone, anyone to get a glimpse of Snuffy just to prove Big Bird right.) I figured there must be some connection to the show and the number and letter of the day - but could never find one. There was no Elmo. I was always surprised at the number the Count stopped on. I thought maybe, or at least wished that Sesame Street was a real place.

Probably the single clip that stands out to me the most from those days is the 12 Song.

What I'm Watching on TV

Flash Forward - It's been OK. I've started losing interest a little bit though. We still have last week's episode to finish and there was a new one on tonight.

Survivor Samoa - This season of Survivor is the worst one I have ever watched. It seems more fake. And the constant focus and Russel, the bad guy is annoying.

Popular Science's Future Of - I like this show quite a bit. It focusses on various aspects of life and what they will be like in 30 years. Technology that is being developed now is demonstrated - technology that is expected to be ubiquitous in three decades. Some of it is really cool. Some of it is a little terrifying. Some of it, I just shake my head and think, "Why would anyone want that?"

Jay Leno Show - I don't watch it that often. But it's on every night, so it's easy to catch once in a while. I record it, so I think I'll make a habit of watching the end of Monday night's telecast when Jay does headlines.

Rob mentioned that Friday Night Lights is starting on DirecTV soon. (They will probably be on NBC this winter.) I can't wait for Lights, and will watch it for sure.

Also, NBC Nightly News, SportsCenter, sports - those are the usuals.

Game Show In My Head

Kylee, Makenna and I enjoy watching Game Show In My Head. The show airs on CBS on Saturday nights. It's full of those hidden ear piece type of segments, in which the host tells the contestant funny things to do. But Game Show In My Head has a twist. The contestant wins money by getting other people to do crazy things. It's amazing what some of the contestants can get people to do.

Some of the strangers that are approached are so nice to the contestants. I'm afraid if I were approached by one of the wacko contestants I would be less than kind. It's made me think.

I tried my own little version of Game Show In My Head with Kylee and Makenna on Tuesday before we left for Taco Bell. My criteria:

• gather them in a circle in the middle of our driveway (all holding hands)
• sing a song about Taco Bell

I got them to do it, but they were running for the truck in embarrassment before the song was finished. Oh well, at least we weren't standing out there in our underwear. . .

Shout to the Lord

They sang Shout to the Lord on Idol Gives Back and the Results Show. You can see both of them on YouTube. (They'll open in a new window.)

Idol Gives Back version
Results Show version

There is one main difference between the versions. On the Results Show they sang "My Jesus," on Idol Gives Back they sang "My Shepherd." (The original song says "My Jesus.") By the way, the Itunes version says "My Jesus."

I'm not going to nit pick their edit in Idol Gives Back. I'm glad they sang it both times. In my opinion they certainly did move in the right direction including the name of Jesus the second time around. However, if they would have only sung it the first time with "Shepherd," it is still clearly a song sung to Christ. There are lots of songs that Christians sing in church that don't contain the name Jesus. Millions of people heard the most important truth of all "nothing compares to the promise we have in Him."

Listening to Shout to the Lord on the Results Show stirred a memory from just over seven years ago. We used lyrics from Shout to the Lord in our 2000 Christmas letter, my favorite Christmas letter we have ever written. I read it this morning and nearly started sobbing when I read the line "We had always hoped for twins." Guess I'll share it.

Wishing you a doubly Merry Christmas

When we were children, the year 2000 seemed like such a distant time. It certainly did arrive quickly. While last year it became much easier to determine “How old I will be in the year 2000,” it would not have been easy to predict just how eventful this year would be.

Last winter we decided we would like to move back home. We started looking for jobs and a house. As it happened, we found a house first. We felt so blessed when both of us quickly received job offers. Steve accepted a second grade teaching position at Bremen Elementary School. It was hard for him to leave Eastlawn, but he has quickly grown attached to Bremen. It’s a great place to teach. Kristi opted for a speech-language pathology position with Plymouth Schools. She is enjoying her new position as well. We particularly enjoy our daily car-pool time between Nappanee and Bremen.

Our house is great. Since moving in on June 30th, we have made quite a few improvements. It has been a lot of work, but also a lot of fun. We especially like living close to so many friends and family members. Our house is pretty big and close to the park. As it turns out, these features are going to come in quite handy.

We found out we were expecting a baby on July 1st – our fifth anniversary. On September 26th we found out we were expecting twins. Our babies are due on February 25th. We are getting pretty anxious. We had always hoped for twins, but were quite surprised when we heard this wonderful news – a true “double blessing.”

It is humbling to look back on the year and see how God has worked in our lives.There is a song we really enjoy singing in church by Darlene Zschech. The chorus goes:

Shout to the Lord, all the earth let us sing. Power and majesty, praise to the King. Mountains bow down and the seas will roar At the sound of your name

I sing for joy at the work of your hands Forever I'll love you, forever I'll stand Nothing compares to the promise I have in you.

There is so much truth in that last line. In this year of a terrific “double blessing,” we are most grateful for the ultimate blessing – the promise of eternal life through faith in Christ Jesus.

“…All who put their faith in Christ share the same blessing…”
Galatians 3:9