This Friday I have a big, fat bag of nothing.  But somehow I’ve come up with this!

Have you been reading little Sammy Luce’s recent Family and Parenting Skills blog posts?  You haven’t?  Well go there NOW!  If you are offended by the recent Willie Wonka remake a few years ago, then be prepared to be offended by the awesome tie-in.

I’ve read this post on Church Crunch about how to make my blog more iPhone and mobile friendly, but the “how-to” still alludes me.  I just can’t figure it out…

For the record.  I still love my Macbook.  In case you were wondering.  I like to think of it as my 4th child…the one I don’t have health insurance for. (Does Applecare count?)

I’m really excited about two new hires I’ve made on my Children’s Ministry team over the past week.  I’ve got a great new assistant, that is proving to be a fast learner; and was able to hire for a newly created Part-Time Elementary Ministry person.  A real-life doing ministry in front of kids position!  This is huge for Trinity Church and for my life…especially as it relates to Saturday Night services.

I’ve noticed the RT’s and twitter replies have been getting less and less for the past month.  Anyone else worried that twitter mania has come and gone?  By the way, you can visit my twitter page at http://www.twitter.com/mostawesomepersonontwitter

I’m leaving for a week long vacation on Saturday.  Gonna hang out with some new and old friends, and a visit a ton of family for the entire week.  The kids are real excited about swinging through Dallas on our way back to catch a Texas Ranger game, but  I’m worried that my 3 year old thinks I’m playing in the game.  Since I hit a baseball topic, I’d also like to throw in a little “Yankees Suck” reference.  Ok, I feel better.

I’ve been reading the John Adams Biography referenced on my blog sidebar for over 3 months.  I’m still on chapter 2, but it’s a really great book…promise!

If my intentions for reading books ever proved to be the books I actually read then I would be the smartest person in the world.  Does that count for something?

I took a group of 100 kids to Amarillo for a fun (nothing-spiritual) getaway day.  It was a great success, hanging out at Wonderland Amusement Park and the wonderfully FREE Amarillo Zoo.  By a great success I’m not counting the adult that was puked on by a 4th grader on the way home.  And by puked on, I mean a kid stood up on the bus and blew chunks into the back of his head.  And by back of his head, I mean GROSS!

I’m real excited about implementing some new child dedication steps at Trinity over the next few months.  It’s going to be a fun ride.  And the baptism procedures have been tweaked as well…When @jabberfrog sees them, she’s going to totally know where I stole them from.  And by stealing them, I mean I was inspired by the things she uses at lifechurch.tv…

See?  There really was a big bag of nothing this Friday, huh?

HT: And like most things I do, I stole the “Bag of Nothing” reference from a good friend.  You should check out his totally time-wasting site at www.bagofnothing.com

Things I Learned on Vacation:

• It’s a lot more fulfilling to drive into the Mountain timezone that to drive out of it.
• It’s a wonderful thing to hear your kids say, “That’s beautiful!” from the back of the car.
• My oldest son has a proneness to Altitude sickness.  I have a proneness to other people having altitude sickness making me sick.
• Rain can really spoil your vacation, if you don’t have a place with an indoor pool.
  

  No, I did not wear floaties.

• When you have an indoor pool be prepared to swim for a minimum of 2 hours each time.
• A family of 5 sharing one bathroom is an adventure.
• My kids hate walking around Wal-Mart in Ruidoso as much as they hate walking around Wal-Mart in Lubbock.
• Redbox has changed the way we travel as a family.
• Driving up the mountian to Monjeau Lookout is the coolest thing to do when in Ruidoso.
  

  We're all shivering while a stranger was taking our picture at Monjeau Lookout.

• When visiting Monjeau Lookout in the evening, wear a jacket.  It was freezing cold!
• Visiting Bonita Lake is the stupidest thing to do when in Ruidoso.
  

  Seriously? It's a lake and you can't swim or picnic?

• “You are in Bear Country” signs can really freak out a 7 year old boy.
  

  We never saw any bears, but saw a few dozen deer.

• It’s all right to eat popsicles as an after-breakfast treat.
• I will never actually read the books I take with me on a family vacation.  I’m beginning to think it’s a urban legend that adults get to read books while vacationing…
• My kids like to stare at strange looking people when they get into a swimming pool. (Embarassing…)
• My wife enjoys having in a iPhone on vacation.  (Yet, she still asks me for directions while holding it in her hand.)
• Having wi-fi where your staying is much preferable to not having wi-fi.
• Almost nothing rivals playing in a cold stream.
  

  Ryan would later fall in this very stream, and get a bad case of wet pants!

• Tripadvisor.com is a real lifesaver, and I’ve found most of their online reviews to be spot-on!
• It is ALWAYS better to rent a condo than to stay in a hotel room.  Trust me, I’ve done both.
  • It’s better even if the condo has a few bugs crawling around.
• Those roaches in the condo, will try and sneak home in your bags.  Trust me, I’ve seen it firsthand.