From the Inside Out

I’m delighted to be participating in my first blog carnival with “Everything Finance.” A blog carnival is similar to a magazine, in that it is dedicated to a particular topic, and is published on a regular schedule, often weekly or monthly. Each edition of a blog carnival is in the form of a blog article that contains permalinks links to other blog articles on the particular topic.

Over 125 articles were submitted for this edition and my retirement planning blog was one of those selected. You can check it out here (look in the “Everything Else Finance” section).

While you’re there, stay around and peruse some of the other great blogs in the carnival.

Instead of pondering the reason for the holiday, I spent 12 hours at the church working on the set of “Pirates of Patmos.” I’m not sure why it took so long, but it did. I’d hoped we would finish by early afternoon so we could relax and enjoy the last few hours of the holiday before regrouping for rehearsal tonight. Alas, it wasn’t in the cards.

It’s almost midnight now, and I’m exhausted. Before I head off to bed, I want to give honor to the brave men and women who gave the ultimate sacrifice to protect our freedom and preserve peace. Without them, I wouldn’t have the liberty I so richly enjoy every day.

Regardless of how differently you and I may have spent this day, lets not forget the real reason behind the holiday. Hundreds of thousands of soldiers have paid the price for our freedom. Please remember to honor them and keep their families in your prayers.

The Cost of a Soldier

A True Soldier is tough indeed
standing tall and strong when there is a need
A Soldier also feels sadness, pain, and sorrow
Sometimes not looking forward to the trials of tomorrow

When a Soldier is wounded in battle
the nerves of his buddies it does rattle
When news reaches friends and family at home
how their worries and minds begin to roam

A wounded Soldier feels inadequate at best
stopping him from much needed healing rest
A wounded Soldiers wonders will he ever be alright,
trusting in God that he’ll make it through the night.

When a Soldier is wounded far beyond repair
the loss and pain felt can not compare
The Cost of a Soldier is set so very high
they assure our freedom will always apply

To stand beside a Soldier and walk through his pain
will humble a civilian, no longer to complain
Love, patience, trust and hope is what a Soldier needs
to get them through some very treacherous deeds

Dear Lord please watch over our Military today
as they work to keep our freedom everyday
For the wounded and the families of Soldiers lost
Please Bless them with abundant love, for we know not the cost.

The Cost of a Soldier is set so very high
our support for them we should never deny

Denise Girod

The ship for “Pirates of Patmos” is up…well, mostly.

We spent the better part of the day setting up the stage. The bow and Crowe’s nest are complete. Tomorrow we’ll be working on the quarter deck area. It’s alot of work, but it’s coming along nicely.

I’m so excited that we’ll have the set on stage an entire month before the performance begins. It’s a luxury we don’t normally have, but I’m thankful that it’s worked out that way.

Here are some pics. from our work today:

Gary in the Crowe’s Nest

The main cannon

Work still needs to be done

Setting the sail

So, you’re driving down the road minding your own business when all of a sudden you see it. An unmarked police car sits on the side of the road waiting for an unsuspecting speeder to pass. If you’re lucky, you can slam on the brakes fast enough to avoid getting caught, but for many, it’s simply time for another ticket.

What if you could be alerted to speed traps before you hit them? Well, there’s a free Web community that attempts to offer this service to people. It’s called Trapster.

Trapster provides a forum where people can report speed traps and red light cameras by pressing a button on their phone or calling a toll free number. When a trap is reported, others are alerted as they approach the trap.

So how does it work? It combines technologies such as GPS and wireless location, voice transcription, geocoding, reverse geocoding, and SMS, with a central database server. It communicates in real time, using the Internet. Pretty cool, huh?

I’m signing up today, so I’m not sure how well it works yet. If you’re interested, check it out here.

Tonight we trekked out to Dallas’ Deep Ellum to see one of the guys from our church perform at The Door. If you’ve never been there before, it’s a unique club that offers a clean, alcohol-free environment for Christian bands.  Back when I was growing up, there was a similar place we frequented called “Footloose”.

Kyle at The Door

The Door prides itself on finding up-and-coming talent. They feature both local and national original live bands. Their scheduling agents found Kyle through his MySpace page and booked him to play at the club.

We had a large group from our church show up to support him — providing a built-in cheering section. Kyle was the first musician to open tonight. He played a 30 minute acoustic set and did a great job.

Afterwards, we walked over to the Twisted Burger to grab a bite to eat and fellowship with friends.  It was a fun evening and a good way to start the holiday.  Have a great Memorial Day weekend everyone!