Jason's Percolations

Before turning out all the lights tonight, I went in and found my two oldest boys fast asleep. I saw some appropriateness to their arrangements and decided to document it.

Walker

As you can see, Walker is nicely tucked into his covers. He has a normal pose and has his toy and book orderly placed to the side of him as he slumbers. Reserved. Contentious. Systematic. Planned.

Eli

Then, there is Eli. He chooses to completely disregard the notion of using his pillow for his head and chooses a posture that includes one leg through the headboard and one leg to the sky. His book was on the floor and half of his face is laying on his toy.

Goes with the flow. Passionate. Creative. Emotional. Happy.

It is so fun to watch them grow.

For whatever reason, I was able to avoid the madness around the the TV show “LOST” while it was revealing all of its secrets each season. I heard people talk about it, but had never engaged in conversation and honestly found all of it quite silly.

After a bit of prodding, though, my curiosity got the better of me and I watched a couple of episodes of the first season online. Unfortunately, that was all it took for me to get hooked.

After having to back-track a few episodes and pick up my wife, we have been booking it through all the seasons and, just tonight, arrived at the end of Season 5 (a big white light) and are ready to move to Season 6.

The problem? Well, we can’t seem to find the first episodes of Season 6 online anywhere. So, we are stuck and will have to wait for something (we aren’t sure yet) to happen. This stinks.

If you have any options, please let us know!

I have to admit that there is a feeling of disappointment as I write this short message to let you, the small group of readers out there know that, yes, it is true that the streak (only lasting four days) has already been broken.

Shock.

Horror.

The good news, though, is that Jason is going to get back up on the horse and ride again. There is one good reality that comes out of breaking a streak…a new streak is just waiting to be taken on.

Here goes nothing. :) 

I really haven’t the slightest clue why our two dogs (dachshunds) go crazy over those small, green, toothbrush-shaped treats known as Greenies, but wow. Considering how low on the totem-pole our dogs have fallen since we now have three children, perhaps it is the fact that we rarely give them treats that has them so worked up.

Whatever the case, they were very happy when Katy surprised them this evening. If you have never tried them for your dogs, give them a shot.

Katy had purchased some strip steak (on special, of course) at Publix for us to enjoy on Memorial Day. I was pondering how I would prepare them, so I started poking around to see what I could come up with that involved beer.

I found a pretty good recipe online, but I was not able to follow it completely, because I lacked a couple of the ingredients. However, I was not deterred and while I think that the original recipe will be better to try again (especially using dark beer…go with Abita Turbo Dog), it turned out well and was a nice break from the standard Moore’s/Dale’s marinade route.

Here is what I did:

• 1/4 cup of beer (I used Sam Adams Summer Ale)
• 2 tablespoons brown sugar (a little more never hurt anyone)
• 2 tablespoons soy sauce

Pour that mixture over your steaks and allow it to sit for a few minutes. Then add a dry rub on the top side. The dry rub consisted of:

• Salt
• Pepper
• Garlic Powder
• A bit of Greek Seasoning

After 10-15 minutes, flip the steaks (in the marinade) and place the dry rub on the other side, allowing the steaks to remain for another 10-15 minutes. Then, place them on the grill at medium-high to high heat and cook for six minutes on each side…and enjoy.

Katy seemed pleased. I really liked it, too.

One of the ways that I help serve at my church, Clearwater Community, is to assist with the audio needs of Sunday worship services as well as other functions that we have from time to time.

Before I ever joined the team, I remember thinking that manning a sound board looked really complex. A plethora of knobs, dials, and faders litter the contraption, and that is only one piece of equipment. We also have various wireless microphone receivers, compressors, and a basic effects machine.

While it looked unmanageable to begin with, now that I am at a place where I know most stuff without having to think about it, I can look at those that want to learn and an amazed as to why they look so puzzled…even though I was there just a few months ago.

I think the biggest focus that I have is to ensure that all this technology is transparent to the church…that when people gather to worship God and expose themselves before God, the last thing they are thinking about is how it all happens. So, this role is very much behind-the-scenes, but that is where it should be.

Technology is a wonderful thing, but it dims in comparison to pure worship and adoration of a God that dwells in unapproachable light.  

Tonight, Katy thought it would be a good idea to start knocking out some of our home-related to-do items…items that include dusting off the to-do list to actually get started.

With the boys at my parents’, we have been trying to do a bit of fixing up of the old place: cleaning closets, painting over unapproved works of art, patching where doors have punched holes in the dry-wall, etc.

The holes in the wall…the story is that we had to remove all the door-stoppers because Eli, when he was young, would unscrew them from the wall and eat them. Since there are no door-stoppers, the children, as they drive high-speed fire trucks through the house have hit the doors, which hit the walls, which brings us full-circle back to tonight.

I can’t say this is the most interesting post…but the streak is still alive.  :)