This might be my last blog post

Hi everyone, are you spending your last hours on Earth with loved ones saying your good-byes and farewells? Or are you doing the same old same old?

If you are scratching your head and have a puzzled look on your face as you read this ...I'll help you out. The world is ending. Tomorrow.

Yep, that's right, tomorrow is Judgement Day, the day when we are all judged and if found worthy, taken straight up to Heaven, do not pass Go, do not collect $200. Eternity awaits the faithful servants of the Lord, the true believers, the chosen ones....OK, you get it. Those unlucky enough to be left behind face 5 months of death, destruction, and despair with everything ending October 21.

I'm not making this up. Some guy in California did some "calculations" based on various bible verses, specifically Acts 17:31. He concluded that the world will end exactly 7,000 years after the Great Flood. Hmmm, I didn't know that exact dates of the Great Flood were written down, since everything was destroyed and the current calender we now use wasn't invented yet.

To make things even more interesting, this same person thought the world was ending back in the early 90's but when it didn't happen, he backtracked saying his information wasn't complete. Well gee whiz...imagine that. Everyone had a good laugh and life continued.

Now I'm pretty sure that with the way things look today, it might be easy to believe that what is written in the Books of Acts, Daniel and Revelations is coming true and that God is trying to tell us to prepare for the end. I'm not doubting what is written, but I don't want to spend my life living in fear every time I turn on the TV or log onto the computer. There has always been some calamity befalling mankind that has had people speculating the end was near. Wars, famine, outbreaks of deadly disease, mass murder of innocent people, and natural disasters occur throughout history. There have also been many people who have written or prophesied the end of the world. We are still here.

So basically, I plan on waking up tomorrow and going about my business as usual. Tonight, I will say the same prayers I say every night and tell my husband and children I love them like I do every night. If Judgement Day is tomorrow then I guess I'll be judged like everyone else. I can only hope that I will stand in favor and spend the rest of eternity in Heaven.

I'll leave you with this final thought
"Of that day and hour, knows no man, no, not the angels of heaven, but my father only." Matthew 24:36

Kindergarten Graduation

Carolyn with her teacher.

Walking in.... AKA "The Grand March"
Passing out the ABC cards.

Carolyn dashed off before I could snap the photo. She also forgot her certificate.

Waiting to go back to their spots.


Today was Kindergarten graduation and the school had a very nice program for the parents and relatives. The kids sang a few songs, the teachers read poems, and everyone got to get a "diploma". As part of the program, each child was asked what he or she wanted to be when they grew up. No surprise, Carolyn wanted to be a zookeeper.

She is already telling me that in a few weeks she gets to go to 1st Grade. I keep reminding her that she has to wait until August to go.

Crash Test Dummy

The loving husband has been taking Hapkido classes for the past two years. Later this month he will be testing for his black belt. Because the instructor lives in another state and only holds classes a few times a month, he has been faithfully driving up to Brookings for a 1 or 2 hour session, depending on the day. Friday nights are combo Tae Kwan Do and Hapkido nights and Saturday mornings are Hapkido.

I mention this because for the past 2 years, I have been playing the part of the opponent for the loving husband to practice on....AKA crash test dummy. Now before anyone gets the wrong idea, he has an incredible amount of control so even though it hurts, I do not get hurt.

As the loyal crash test dummy, it is my job to "attack" the loving husband so that he can practice his techniques. Some of the moves require the attacker have advance knowledge and proficiency of falling, landing, and flipping correctly. Because I do not have said proficiency, he is careful to either do the technique at half speed or stop before the opponent (me) is thrown or swept to the ground. I do have one not so found memory of the loving husband practicing a technique that involved a sweep/body slam and he didn't quite do it correctly and yours truly went head first on the floor.

Anyway, other than that one mistake, it hasn't been so bad. Since I have been his practice partner and training companion for several years, he is much more familiar with how much force or pressure he can use. It also helps that we like each other so there is a lot of laughter involved. I get a kick out of the nicknames for some of these techniques. A few would be, Backfist Colonel Sanders, Psycho Chiropractor, Pretzel, Mary Jane, Filipino Handcuffs, Butterflies, Faucet. All innocent sounding names for vicious painful moves.

I also have gained a new appreciation for these skills as they are very difficult to do correctly without causing injury. I truly have to trust the loving husband not to hurt me and he has to be comfortable with me to do the techniques correctly without fear of hurting me.

As he gets closer to testing, I am needed more and more. I don't mind the occasional bruise or sore body part though. I'm just happy to help out. I know in a few weeks he will be doing all this stuff for real and I couldn't be prouder.

Go Sweetie Pie!!