Xanga's come up with a new way of designing one's blog, which has its good and bad points (as is only to be expected in a fallen, sinful world).

Anyway, here 'tis.

The links section didn't transfer over, as apparently some HTML code in it isn't permissible.  I might try to figure out what it is that's giving Xanga fits (possibly the Flickr thingummy?) and see if that'll work.

In any case, which do you like?  Original, or New & Improved?

This weekend is the Samsung 500, a NASCAR race held at the Texas Motor Speedway.

Now there's a "sport" deserving of quotation marks, as it strikes me as being a "sport" on a par with ice dancing.

Except ice dancing is vastly more entertaining.  I've never seen the point of auto racing, unless one is one of the drivers.  A bunch of cars zooming madly around a track hundreds of times?  Where's the interest factor in that? 

Yet people have been arriving at TMS since last weekend, anxiously awaiting this week's festivities. 

This afternoon I was out in the Hulen area, so on a whim decided to take a detour to Kohl's, which is rather off the beaten path and I've only been there a couple of times over the years.  It was recommended to me, however, so I figured it'd be worth a trip.

Figured wrong.  Maybe there IS good merchandise and maybe the prices are reasonable, but who wants to try to sort through the mess left by the weekend shoppers?  It was right at 4 p.m. and this was still what it looked like:

The photos taken with my cell phone don't do it justice....trust me, the place was largely a wreck.  There was one hard-working salesperson doggedly plugging away in one of the clothing areas, shaking out and folding some t-shirts, attempting to bring some order out of the chaos.

Naturally it's appalling that customers are such a lot of messmeisters, but seeing as that's the case, stores really ought to try to have sufficient staff to bring their merchandise back to order.  The foundations department simply wasn't shoppable, nor was the handbag area, even late on Monday afternoon. 

Once again my preference for catalog/online shopping was reinforced by a trip to a brick-and-mortar store.  Blech!

This morning I was at my Woman's Club department meeting, and the guest speaker was Emmitt Smith.

No, not that Emmitt Smith!

This one's not an ex-football jock, but a renowned organist, who told tales of his years as organist for weddings held at TCU's Robert Carr chapel.  A couple of his stories concerned mishaps with "unity candles", for which he has no affection at all, and said some pastors refuse to permit them (the mental image of a bridal couple's lit candles erupting from their spring-loaded containers and shooting into the air will be with me for quite some time to come).

What with the overwe'ening desire for all things new, and now that unity candles have become ubiquitous, there are new "unity" symbols on the horizon.  Unity sand, for instance, where the bride and groom  -  and also their parents and/or any children from previous relationships  -  simultaneously pour sand from individual vials into a larger vase or bottle.

Sounds messy.

Mr. Smith also mentioned having recently seen a "unity salt" ceremony. 

Poking around on the net, it appears there's also something called a "rose ceremony", but I'm not sure what it entails.

What happened to tradition, that's what I want to know.

A Las Vegas wedding chapel with an Elvis impersonator's not good enough any more? 

Wonderful, wonderful reflection from Tim Challies:

"Mary." Of all the sentences in the Bible, this is one of my
favorites. Mary Magdalene has come to Jesus' tomb and is distressed to
see that his body is gone. Convinced that someone has taken away His
body, she stands outside the tomb weeping. Two angels appear and ask
simply "Woman, why are you weeping?" She replies, "They have taken away
my Lord, and I do not know where they have laid him."

But then
she turns and sees someone. She does not recognize Him, though it is
the very one she seeks. Somehow her eyes are closed so she cannot see
who it is. This man says "Woman, why are you weeping? Whom are you
seeking?" She supposes He must be the gardener and says, "Sir, if you
have carried him away, tell me where you have laid him, and I will take
him away." She wants the body back and begs that this man might return
it to her.

But then, in an instant, her eyes are opened. Jesus,
as He had called Lazarus out from the tomb, calls to her. He says but
one word. "Mary." At at that very instant she knew. At that very
instant she saw and knew and understood that the One she sought was
standing right there behind her. She turned and cried out "Rabboni!"
(which means teacher). I wonder, did she scream this word and throw
herself at Him? Perhaps she could do little more than call out in a
whisper as she feel at his feet. We don't know. But we do know that she
clung to Jesus, overwhelmed with His presence, overwhelmed to know that
He was alive. She saw and heard and believed.

As I read these
words, I think of the way Jesus called me and the way He has called
countless thousands of men and women to Himself. Like Mary I was once
unable to see Jesus for who He is. I saw a man who may as well have
been a gardener. He was a good man, a moral man, and maybe even a great
man. But only when Jesus called me by name was I able to see that He is
the god-man. Only then was I able to see Him as the Lamb of God who
takes away the sin of the world. Only then did I really and truly know
Him. And only then were my eyes opened so I could see and my ears
unstopped so I could hear and my heart renewed so I could believe. Like
Mary, He called me by name.

This evening several members of the family gathered at Kirstin and Matt's house for dinner, the traditional egg hunt (held indoors due to the chilly temperature, and hidden by Dmitry), and decorating cookies:





Bryson was quite pleased with his haul:



Benjamin showing off his basket to his Aunt Jessica:



Bethany in full-bore creative mode:



Brianna was so cute with the ribbons in her face:

Once again Don proved to be correct.

As a friend once exclaimed in annoyance (back when we were all about 18 years old), "Doggone it, Ivy, why do you have to be so confoundedly right all the time?" 

This time it's his stubborn insistence that Wolf brand chili is the only canned chili worth eating.  A few days ago Wolf wasn't on sale where I was shopping but Hormel was, so I bought that.  I wasn't going to expect him to eat it; mostly it was for Dmitry, who is powerful fond of chili dogs.

I'm pretty fond of 'em myself so the other day I decided to treat myself to one for lunch.

Hormel chili is clearly inferior to Wolf.  The difference was stark....positively stark. 

Add chili to my list of comestibles for which I accept no substitutes, or at least not without making a face.  I inevitably purchase Jif peanut butter, Oscar Mayer hot dogs, and now Wolf chili.

Even if they're not on sale when I really, really need 'em.

Anyone else have nonnegotiable foodstuff items?

I wish to heaven Sonic would hire the advertising agency that handles Bud Lite.  Bud Lite commercials are almost invariably clever and entertaining, while the current crop of Sonic ads are irritating as heck.

This evening while watching the Mavericks game (the Nuggets just took the lead, with the Mavericks blowing the lead they've held for the first three quarters) I've seen both the Bud Lite commercial with Walter the Squirrel, which had Don and me chuckling, and an absolutely horrendous Sonic ad featuring an annoying man eating a breakfast sandwich with gravy on it...he insists he's coined a new catch phrase, i.e. "That's so gravy!" to express approval. 

The Mavericks have regained the lead.  It's small, but it's a lead.