Seven Things I'm Thinking

Seven Things I'm Thinking...

1. I'm really proud of my wonderful daughter.  She's growing up way to fast!  She's also developing into such a great leader at her school.  Hearing her confidence as she explained her responsibilities with regard to doing the morning announcements all month, including leading the Pledge of Allegiance (with "under God" included in the recitation) brought a tear to my eye.  She is so smart, and really reminds me of her mom.  I'm thanking God for His presence in this little girl's life, and for keeping us in His grip!
2. We sent Faithful Pup Scout over to my parent's place this week, mostly to give Scout a little vacation from us, but also to give us a break.  Scout doesn't know how well she has it being with my parents, but she spends the whole time moping while there.  Normally, she would have to stay in our kitchen most of the day while I'm at work, and Melody is at school.  She returned home yesterday, and, today, as we prepared to go out, Scout had a fit and wouldn't let us place her into the kitchen.  We finally caught her, and my tempting her with a couple of slices of pepperoni, her favorite, was enough to keep her content.
3. I spent a long time trying to find an appropriate Halloween costume for my daughter, who is 10.  Apparently, the companies making the costumes aimed at teen girls (and even younger), as well as adults, figure that these young kids need to wear risque, sexy, age-inappropriate costumes.  Are you kidding me???  EVERY costume is inappropriate!  I can't figure out why any parent would allow their children to wear such things.  My daughter ended up wearing a homemade costume that was, in my mind, very original, age-appropriate, and not demeaning to women or girls.  I guess I must be in the minority, since I just went through my Facebook feed and saw picture after picture of young girls wearing these inappropriate costumes.  I don't get it.
4. One of the pastors of my church, Grace Community, delivered an incredibly difficult message last weekend.  Pastor Mitchel writes a blog (LINKED HERE) where he reflects on the message, and he shares a story about what resulted from it, in addition to providing a link to the video of his message at the church's website.  Mitchel's words, which come directly from the Holy Spirit, reflect my beliefs in the way I can't find words to say.  If you are a Christ-follower, it is so worth your time to watch this video.  I'm not looking to debate or argue with anyone.  This is God's truth.
5. I did not watch the Maryland-Penn State football game today.  I was out running errands most of the day with my daughter, and I missed the game.  However, a friend texted a message after the game ended letting me know the Terps won.  I was really happy, since this was a big game for the Terps, one of the biggest wins of their first season in the Big Ten Conference.  Later, though, I found out about the beginning of the game, when Maryland's team captains, at the coin toss, decided not to shake hands with the Penn State captains.  Regardless of what may have driven this decision by the Maryland captains, there is absolutely no way they can justify showing such poor sportsmanship.  It was embarrassing to Maryland's fans, students, alumni, and the University itself.  I hope some kind of official statement is shared with everyone, something a little stronger than Maryland Coach Edsall's post-game comments, which only serve to cover himself and give the media something to chew on.  As an alumnus, I am disgusted by this behavior.
6. Howard County schools are closed on Monday and Tuesday (Election Day), and since I am not off from work, I have to send my little girl to her grandparent's house for the next several days.  I'm glad she looks forward to doing this, and her grandparents never complain, but it does nothing but create difficulty for us both.  Being a single parent is never easy, and it's completely unfair to a child with only one parent.  Normal life is anything but normal. 
7. Deer season is in full force.  I've had quite a few close calls over the last several weeks, with deer darting into the road in front of me, deer nibbling on the pumpkin on my front porch, and finding herds of deer running in the field behind my neighborhood.  While driving home along Rt. 650 in Montgomery County near Damascus, a deer slipped off a small hill adjacent to the road directly in front of me.  I hit the brakes, and fortunately it was able to right itself and jump away, but it was close.  Be careful out there!

Have a great evening, everyone!  Don't forget to set your clocks back an hour for the return to Standard Time!