Most tolerant people on earth...

Proposition 8 was on the ballot here in California last Tuesday. It was an amendment to the state constitution, saying that marriage was to be defined as only between a man and a woman. The intent was to make homosexual marriage illegal in California. It passed.

I have some mixed feelings about it, mostly because I think Christians are overly-focused on the evils of the homosexual lifestyle, while ignoring many of the other sins of society.

Since the election, relatively small groups of homosexual activists have been protesting, demanding tolerance and acceptance of gay marriage. Only, it seems that the tolerance only goes one way. Watch what happens when an elderly lady tries to express a differing opinion:

From KPSP news, Palm Springs, CA

A great woman...

This is just a quick post to publicly say I married the best mom and woman in the world.
















And she is very cute too!

Happy birthday, Mrs. J!

Today is better than Christmas, Thanksgiving, and July 4 rolled into one. It's the birthday of my favorite person, the Mighty Mrs. J! We've got a sitter for the kids (thanks, Mercy and Ryan!), and we're going out on the town.

Of course, the town we're going out on is Downey, but that's a whole different story.

She really is the greatest wife and mother ever. I am blessed beyond anything I ever deserve, and every day I'm thankful for her. Happy birthday, wifey!

The saddest day of the year???

My friend Michelle wrote a bit about the fact that some experts say that January 21 is the most depressing day of the year. I don't know if that is true, but it might be. I know I've been feeling a little post-New Year's drag.

I know in my case, it's not weather-related, because I'm in almost-always beautiful southern California. Some of it is physical, because I've been spending a lot of time inside recently. I don't think being locked in an tiny office for hours at a time is really conducive to good spirits.

Much of it is probably emotional and spiritual. When I'm working on a project, I tend to get wrapped up in it. And I neglect everything outside work and family. That means I don't call my friends back. Praying goes right out the window. I don't contact my family that lives in another state. Then of course I feel bad about my failures as a friend, child of God, and relative. That makes my mood even worse.

Yes, it is a lot of fun being me.

The good thing is that all of these things can be changed. I can only go down this road so long before I've got to make a u-turn. I think the turn is coming soon.

Sorry there's no wacky comedy today. And no kid pics either. I'm sure I'll be back to normal festivities within a couple of days...

Christmas at the J house!

Well , the internet has slowed to a crawl, no doubt waiting for pictures of my family opening gifts on Christmas morning. The anticipation, it is palpable. ("Palpable" means "so intense as to be almost able to be felt physically," for those of you who went to Brethren High.) Since I don't want to let my legion of internet fans down, here are some pics.



This is actually Christmas eve, and the girls are ready to go over to Grandma and Papa's house.














This is Christmas morning. The kids are exhausted because we got them up at 5:30 in the morning to go to Julotta. But they can't wait to open presents...

















Here's Santa with his favorite elf. If you're wondering, my hat says Feliz Navidad! (That means Merry Christmas for those of you who learned Spanish in Mrs. Worchester's class.)












Here's DisneyGirl with one of her precious gifts. Personally, I think SHE'S the precious gift, but I might be biased...
















Here's the traditional candy free-for-all, that comes after we open all the presents. It's usually followed by the traditional Christmas sugar rush...












Then comes the traditional Christmas sugar-induced stupor. ("Stupor" means "an acute lack of mental alertness brought on, e.g. by shock or lack of sleep," for those of you that went to BCHS.")












What did I get for Christmas? Well, here are my four favorite gifts. And I couldn't be happier...

Random thought I had while watching "One Hit Wonders" on VH1...

How did a gifted lyricist like Edie Brickell end up marrying a talentless hack like Paul Simon? I mean, doesn't she scoff at his feeble attempts to write, while she comes up with brilliance like this:

Philosophy, is the talk on a cereal box
Religion, is a smile on a dog
I'm not aware of too many things
I know what I know if you know what I mean

It makes me want to cry, every time I hear it...

A house divided...

Sure, to the outside world we look like a happy family. We love each other, encourage each other, have a great time together. Few people realize, however, that something very sinister threatens to tear this family apart. It seems that a horrible sickness controls 2 members of this once-happy family. The rest of us can only wonder what went so wrong.

This evil that infects 2 of us? I hate to admit this, but the Mighty Mrs. J and Disney Girl are...morning people! Yes, they are from that disgusting group that greet the sunrise with a smile and a song. They can hardly wait for morning to come. Meanwhile, the normal part of the family just hides their heads under their pillows, praying for the madness to end.

But they are kinda cute. Here they are earlier in the year, when we celebrated the finalization of Toddler Houdini's adoption:















It's a difficult path we walk. We appreciate your thoughts and prayers...

Joining the digital age!

Well, the Mighty Mrs. J and I have gone all high-tech and fancy--we both got iPods! I know what you're thinking. "That's really big news--about 5 years ago." OK, we're just a little late on the gadget bandwagon.

What finally convinced to take the plunge was a conversation I had with one of the guys we church with. One Sunday when we were at his house BBQing and worshiping, I mentioned the great music that was playing in the background. He showed me that it was all coming from his little iPod Nano that he had plugged into his house's intercom system. He said his family really enjoyed traveling with music, books, Bible teaching, whatever--all on their iPod.

Now the thought of carrying audio books everywhere we go was too much for me and the Mighty Mrs. J. We had a Costco gift card, and it just covered two of the 2GB Nanos. So we took the plunge.

I think I've created a monster. The Mighty Mrs. J just spent the better part of the afternoon downloading songs and podcasts and whatever she could from iTunes. And I've got mine loaded up too. (Maybe I should post what I'm listening to on the side of this blog. If I can figure out how to do that.)

To show you just how spiritual I am, I should tell you I have Christian music from Chris Tomlin (the album "Arriving" is awesome), Terry Clark (I love his music!), and several old gospel quartets. Of course, I also have several episodes of the "Dogwatch Social Club Cigar Show". They might not be quite as Holy Spirit-inspired, but they are good for my soul.

It's good to be part of the 21st century...

p.s.--The pic is of the Mighty Mrs. J corrupting the World's Sweetest Toddler by letting her listen to the iPod. It won't be long before all the kids want one...

Are stay-at-home dads happy?

Am I happy being a stay-at-home dad? I thought I was. Then I saw that this blog had been linked to in another blog. The topic at that other blog? (Yes, there are other blogs. I know, shocking!) How unhappy the marriage of the blogger is with her stay-at-home husband. It got me thinking about my whole situation.

You probably should know that I tend toward being slightly dramatic. When I see a commercial for some new medication on TV, I always imagine that I have the ailment the medicine is supposed to cure. Even though, as the Mighty Mrs. J has often pointed out, it would be very hard for me to be suffering from the traumatic effects of menopause. So, I started thining that maybe I wasn't happy after all. I wondered, am I really happy?

Answer? Yeah, I really am happy with where I am right now. And not just because I have a writing business I operate from our house. (The blogger woman suggested that the only happy SAHD's are ones who work also.) In fact, I came up with a list of reasons why I'm happy to be a SAHD:

1. I have a profound impact on my children's lives. Much more than I would if I was at an office 10 or 12 hours a day.
2. I have a terrific wife who realizes that marriage is a partnership where both of us have to give up things to make the family work. I give up some of my self-identity by not working outside, and she gives up some of her time with our kids.
   
3. We get to show our kids that families comes in all shapes, sizes, and configurations. I hope our 3 musketeers grow up to know that they aren't bound by what society says is normal.
4. I get the challenge of doing kid stuff, and working to run a small business on short amounts of time and money.
5. We see every day just how good God is to us. He provides in miraculous ways, even when we don't understand how He's doing it.

Will this arrangement last forever? I have no idea. If the writing business takes off like I think it will, then maybe both of us can stay at home full time. That would be ideal.

By the way, if you want to read the blog that prompted this post, here it is. I gotta warn you. If you go there and find something you don't like, don't blame me. I don't vouch for anything there. Or anything here, for that matter.

And just to prove how deliriously happy we are, here's a picture of us. Try
to ignor that I look all doped up (more than usual). This pic just goes to prove the old saying, the couple that takes cheesy pictures together, stays together.

10 reasons why the Mighty Mrs. J is the best mom/wife ever!

1. She laughs easily, at herself and at the ridiculous situations we get into.

2. When someone she loves is in danger, she turns into Rampaging Mama Bear, ready to pounce on anyone who threatens her cubs.

3. She thinks gross medical stuff is cool and interesting. So does my son. They're weird and wonderful like that.

4. At her core, she is happy and content.

5.She loves to read. She loves books so much she has trouble getting rid of them. Even if she's never going to read them.

6. She is teaching our kids to love reading as much as she does.

7. She's smart, and she's not afraid to challenge me when I'm muddle-headed (which is most of the time).

8. She's patient with our kids, even when they're trying to drive her insane.

9. She loves me just the way I am. But she supports me when I try to make myself better.

10. She's more like Jesus than anyone I know. Our kids will grow up to love Him partly because of what they see in her.

And, a bonus reason:

11. She doesn't complain when her husband wants to smoke a cigar outside, even though I know she doesn't like it!

Happy Mother's Day, baby!

Wifey, and Disney

I just realized that I have not posted a picture of The Mighty Mrs. J. She's a beauty! Smart, too. But you figured that already, since she married me...

On another subject, why do they call Disneyland the Happiest Place on Earth? I hardly ever see happy people there. Mostly, I see really tired people dragging their crying children from ride to ride. Look at the faces of Little McGyver and DisneyGirl. Happy? I think not. The wifey looks chipper, though. Must be the new meds. (That's a joke, by the way. She's naturally, and almost nauseatingly, cheery.)