Yeah Versus Yay

Through the years, I have seen the words Yeah used when someone really meant Yay. I was confused, too, once upon a time about which one was appropriate and which word meant what. But at some point I looked them up in a dictionary and I found out the meanings so that I could begin to use the words correctly. Here's what I found.

Yeah: – Adverb, Informal. Yes.

Yay: -Interjection.  An exclamation indicating approval, congratulation, or triumph.

So, Chris' word lesson of the day is that you use Yay when you mean awesome, way to go, that's great! And you use Yeah when you mean sure, yes, affirmative. Now you know.

Siblings: War and Hopefully Peace

I grew up as an only child until I was 13. When my parents divorced and subsequently remarried, I gained a half-sister, a step-brother, and two step-sisters. My step-sisters were already grown and moved out of the house before I got to really be a sibling to know them on a sibling basis. When I was 13, I lived with my step-brother for two and a half years. We were only 2 years apart in age. We had some quarrels here and there and a few wrestling matches that turned into brawls, but for the most part, we got along pretty well. Later on in life, I even rented a home with him and we were good friends. My half-sister was born when I was 15 years old. So, I got to be more of a fun uncle to her. We never fought over things normal siblings would fight over. Also, we only lived in the same home for one summer when she was a baby and a short season when she was four. The age difference made it easy for us to be siblings without the messy arguments or quarrels. So, based on my upbringing, I don't understand my children and their tendency to constantly fight with each other. Actually, it's almost always my oldest and my youngest. My middle child is pretty easy going and it takes a lot to get him mad (like his Daddy) but he does fight with his brothers from time to time. Yesterday, Joi and I reached our boiling point. Today, my wife is imposing a discipline that we decided on yesterday where they have lost the privilege to have brothers. The fighting got to be too much and we decided to put our foot down. Today, they don't get to speak to each other, play with each other, or interact in any way, shape, or form....until I get home from work. We're hoping that this forced absence will help them appreciate each other and the special gift that they have in one another. When I was growing up I would have loved to have a brother to play with. I grew up on a street with all girls. While I appreciate the times I played with my neighbor (and we are still friends today...almost 34 years later), there were times when she was not home or I would have loved a brother to wrestle with. I remember asking my Mom to give me a sibling. She said that it wasn't likely. In retrospect, I can see why. But, there were some lonely times growing up as an only child. I want my boys to be friends....best friends. I want them to love, respect, and appreciate one another. The way they are fighting and bickering, I'm not sure they will end up being friends with each other. My wife and I are hoping that a little absence will make the heart grow fonder.

Any other ideas on how to put an end to arguing?

Feel Like Someone is Watching You?

Every day on the bus ride home from work, one of my fellow passengers reads a news paper. He's an older gentlemen and looks professional with a tie, white shirt, and business coat. Each day, he gets off the bus two stops ahead of me. Each day, he purposely leaves his newspaper on the bus seat when he gets off. At first, I thought it was by accident, but after watching him do it day after day, I realize that his intention is to avoid having to throw it in the trash. So, my interpretation is that he essentially litters because he's too lazy to deal with the newspaper himself. So, he leaves it for the bus driver who has to clean the bus at the end of his shift. Watching this occur day after day has brought me from mild irritation to general disdain for this man. I don't know if he knows that I watch him or that I notice that he leaves his trash behind each day. I heard a quote once that says that a man of integrity does what is right even when no one is watching him. This brought me to some self-reflection. What do I do that might cause someone to dislike me? What corners do I cut for my own convenience that cause others to shake their heads at me? Someone might be watching. Someone almost always is. But, as a man of integrity, I need to do what is right even when no one is watching. I need to make sure that I'm not leaving behind any litter that is aggravating others.

A New Day

My wife had a frustrating day with our sons yesterday. She handled it well, but it was stressful nonetheless. This morning, as is my habit, I wrote a small note on the bathroom mirror with a dry-erase marker. I wrote "Today is a new day." After I wrote it, I reflected on the beauty of a new day. A clean slate. God's gift to us is a new day or a clean slate. He offered that new day when he sent Jesus to die on the cross for our sins. No longer does God remember our sins or hold them against us. When we go to him in sincere repentance, he forgets our sins even existed. When we rely on Jesus' sacrifice on the cross, we are no longer accountable to our past sins. They are as far as the east is from the west, as the bible says. I am thankful for God's mercy and his gift of a new day. I am thankful that I can rely on Jesus who acted as the scape-goat for my sins. I am thankful for a clean slate. Today is a new day. 

Wife-Pride

I am so proud of my wife. Her book, which was published last year by Comfort Publishing, is finally released. The official release date was September 1st, but everyone who pre-ordered the book on amazon.com are starting to receive their copies in the mail. So, I guess it's officially released. It's so cool to see the early buzz on Facebook from friends and family who received it in the mail and are starting to read it. I am literally bursting with pride. She's understandably nervous, though. It's her first book and she's afraid that people may not like it. However, from someone who read early and later copies of her work-in-progress, I can tell you that it's a wonderful read. It deals with themes like forgiveness, how choices affect those close to you, and family ties. I'm sure it will be well received by her audience. She's got nothing to worry about. A few weeks ago, I finished reading the second book in the series which is being farmed out to publishers as I write this. This book is excellent. It goes deep into major issues like disease, pornography, and marriage commitment. While I liked both books, I can see how her talent as a writer has progressed even within the span of her first two books. Great stuff! I can hardly wait to see book #2 (with a working title of Hope for Today) in it's published and finished form. So, if you haven't yet ordered your copy of my wife's book, do yourself a favor and get one today. You can order it on Amazon.com and Barnesandnoble.com.

Gage's Tooth Adventures

Gage had two loose teeth on either side of his two front teeth. I've been checking them periodically and while they were loose, they didn't feel like they were loose enough to pull out. But, that all changed yesterday. As he was brushing his teeth yesterday morning, he spit, and surprisingly spit out one of the teeth. Unfortunately, the tooth promptly went down the drain and was lost forever. Later that day, he was eating a cookie and *BAM*...out comes the other one. Both teeth fell out in one day. Very exciting. My Gagers is growing up and he's got the holes in his mouth to prove it. Here's a picture of his newly renovated mouth. Enjoy!

Living without TV: An Update

Tomorrow morning will mark one week of living without television in the Copeland household. Well, at least traditional television. We have internet ready Blu-Ray players attached to both televisions in our home. The main television has a Blu-Ray player that has access to Netflix, Hulu Plus, Amazon Instant Video, Pandora, and a few other internet apps. The one upstairs in our bedroom just has Netflix, Vudu, and Blockbuster. Here is our experience so far.

Set up was fairly simple for both players, but I still need to figure out a few of the apps and get them registered. For instance, setting up Amazon Instant Video has been problematic thus far and I will probably spend some time calling Support this weekend. But, otherwise, everything was set up smoothly. Setting up Netflix was a breeze for both devices and will probably be our main venue for entertainment.

We haven't really gone through any television withdrawals or anything. As far as I can tell, the kids are fine watching Netflix only. Of course, we still have our Dish Network DVR (since we are still waiting for the box to send it back to arrive at our house) and they have watched some of the recorded items we had on the DVR. So, the real test will come when we have to send back the DVR. But, so far, so good. Joi and I don't seem to care much about the loss of TV and I've noticed that we are much more apt to be decisive about our viewing, rather than turning on the television when we are bored and flipping through the hundreds of channels to find something acceptable to watch. The only drawbacks are logistical. For instance, we are using a wireless router to feed both of our internet ready devices. It is located downstairs and gives a pretty good signal to our downstairs device. But, the upstairs device has some problems retrieving video from Netflix. It takes a while and it often buffers halfway through a show. I plan to play with the position of the device to see if that helps. Also, I might make my own parabolic antenna booster using tin foil and other household items. We'll see if that helps boost the signal. If we could hard-wire everything, it would probably help, but that's impossible in our current rented home. Wireless will have to do for now. Otherwise, we are enjoying our new life without television. The monthly bill will definitely be lowered by quite a bit, since Netflix is considerably lower than Dish Network. We are already planning more family game time to replace some of the time that we would normally just watch TV. We're saving money and improving family quality time. It's a win-win.

Pirates: A Daddy's Review

My wife and I went to see Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides last night at the Elvis Cinema. We had a date last night because our kids stayed the night with Steffanne, Josiah, and Dylan (Russell is in Arizona with his Dad who is dying of cancer...please pray for them). We wanted to see the movie before our kids did, to make sure it was appropriate for our boys. After seeing the previews, we were a little nervous that it was going to have some sexual moments that we wouldn't want to subject our boys to. Our hesitation was warranted. We were very disappointed by the movie. First, there were tons of sexual innuendo. The period costumes showed lots of cleavage. The topless mermaids showed even more than that (Although, I turned my eyes away whenever a mermaid was on screen and wouldn't look back until Joi said the coast was clear - After all, I have to guard my eyes and mind, too). The movie was simply far too sexual for our boys. We decided pretty early on that it was not going to be an appropriate movie for our children to see. Aside from the sexual aspects of the movie, it was just disappointing all around. There were a few funny moments, but all in all it wasn't a very good movie. There was no good character development. They never told Blackbeard's back story at all. Why was his sword and ship magical? Why could he control the ropes of his ship with a swish of his sword? Where did the prophecy come from? Why was he feared by everyone? I couldn't get invested in Blackbeard's character at all. At least in the other movies you knew the back-story of the other bad guys and were emotionally invested in them (Barbossa, Davy Jones, etc). The love story was lame and the banter was far too sexual. The action was okay. But, otherwise, it was a disappointing movie all around. We will not be letting our boys watch this movie and we will not own it or view it again. Based on the other three movies, I had high expectations for this movie. However, It didn't even come close to reaching the bar set by the other movies in this series. Disappointing.

Tendonitis

Yesterday, I finally went to have physical therapy performed on my tendonitis. My PT said that it was severe. I already knew this because of the searing pain and discomfort when I grip things, bend my elbow, or turn my arm certain ways. It's in my left arm, which is weird since I'm right handed. But, it hurts like the devil and wearing a strap and taking prescribed anti-inflammatory medications weren't helping. So, I went to PT. She tested and probed me for a while and then confirmed that it was "severe". She showed me some self massage techniques and some stretches that I could do. She told me to continue to wear the strap but gave me some guidelines on how to wear it properly. She gave me some massage on my elbow and forearm, which was nice and relaxing. She told me to investigate my computer at work to make sure it's ergonomic. She suggests going back on meds to help with the pain and inflammation. She also suggested working my arms with a high density foam roller to roll out the tight spots and promote healing. I'll do everything religiously. I want to get over this pain. It really hurts. Has anyone else out there dealt with this? If so, what helped you? I'll try anything.

Candy as an Indicator of Age

When I was young, the key indicator of when you were getting old was when you said the phrase "I remember when candy was only _____". When my Grandparents reminisced about buying two candies for a penny and were appalled at candy then being a quarter, I rolled my young eyes and asked questions like "Did you ride a dinosaur to the store, too?"

Flash forward to today. Friday is my day to eat lunch out, so I walked alone to the 16th street mall in downtown Denver and had a Biker Jim's Gourmet Hotdog. For the first time, the dog didn't hit the spot. It was a Belfast Banger and it just didn't taste good today for some reason. So, I thought I would treat myself to a candy bar. I walked to the nearby Walgreen's and scanned the candy shelves. I was taken aback when I realized that a normal, regular sized candy bar is now $1.09. Seriously? We're not even talking about a giant sized bar. This was a regular sized bar. I couldn't believe it. I immediately flashed back to when I was 8 or 9 years old and I would walk to the liquor store near my Dad's T-Shirt shop. I could get a Dr. Pepper and a Whatchamacallit for $1.00. For those of you who are math impaired like me...the candy bar was 25 cents and the soda was 75 cents. Nowadays, I'd have to spend most of a five dollar bill to get the same combination. It's crazy.

So, yes...I am now at an age where I remember when candy was only _____. Am I getting old? I must be. Will my sons ask me if I took a dinosaur to the store when I was younger? Probably. I will answer, yes. After all fossil fuel ran the car that sometimes took me to the store and fossil fuel technically comes from dinosaurs. So, yes, I took a dinosaur to the store to buy my 25 cent candy. I really am that old.

iPhone Goodness

While we were in California, a friend of ours gave me his old 32 GB iPhone 3G. We were hoping to change cell phone service and that I'd be able to set this phone up as my cell phone. However, all cell services that work with the iPhone are a little too expensive for our taste...especially since we are tightening the belt (see previous two blogs). But, I have been utilizing it with WiFi at home and at work (or wherever there is a WiFi signal). In fact, I use it all the time. I've been listening to Pandora at work. I use it for the Calendar which I've been able to sync with Outlook from work. I use many of the free apps that I've downloaded from iTunes. Apps for the news, weather, info, photography, weight watchers, email, and tons of other useful stuff. As I write this, I'm listening to the Denver Police/Fire/EMS radio band via an app that I downloaded. I love this thing! It's been awesome. Right now, I'm using it for everything BUT a cell phone. I wish we could find a reasonable cell plan that works with the iPhone. But, for now, I'm using the junk out of this thing via WiFi. I love it! Thanks, Mig!!!

Straight Talk

Tightening the belt will probably mean trying to get out of our Verizon contract and going with a cheaper cell phone service. They are just too expensive for what we are getting. We play over $100 bucks for two phones with a shared 700 minutes and 250 texts. It just isn't working for us. So, we started looking around. Walmart has the Straight Talk pre-paid wireless program where you get unlimited everything (including data) for $45 a phone (without a contract). If Joi and I both got this, we'd be spending $90 a month. That's much better. I've been looking at online reviews for Straight Talk for a week or so. The consensus is that their phones are pretty lame and there isn't a very good selection of phones to choose from. I've received conflicting reports about their actual service. Some people love it. They use Verizon's network, so I know they offer pretty good coverage. But, some people have complained about lack of signal (even when living near a cell tower) or lack of good customer service (apparently all calls are routed to India where the representative is difficult to understand). Has anyone used Straight Talk or know anything about their service? I like the idea of saving money and I'm just plain tired of 2 year contracts. So, in that aspect, Straight Talk sounds pretty darn good for what you get. Any opinions out there?

Home, Television, Money, and Prayer

We really want to buy a home in Colorado. We are tired of living in rented home's and not having a backyard for the kids. We need space. Our boys are growing and our current home is getting smaller by the minute. We simplify. We get rid of stuff. We rearrange. Nothing seems to help the space issue. Plus, if people come to visit, they have to stay on the couch in the living room. We just need a home that we can call our own. But, houses aren't cheap. And we need a down-payment. So, we have to tighten the belt even further to reach our goal. This time, tightening the belt means...giving up television. We called this weekend to have our Dish Network canceled. It will be canceled within a week. So, we will rely on Netflix via our Wii for entertainment (which is a huge monetary difference - $70 a month for Dish versus $16  a month for Netflix). Plus, our plan is to get two internet ready Blu-Ray players at some point, so that we can take advantage of free internet options to replace satellite television. This one is going to hurt a little. No more basketball or Lakers, unless we can get the NBA League Pass Broadband to work. No more Disney Channel for the boys. We had a family meeting and we all decided that this was the right decision, but it will be hard. However, sacrifices need to be made in order to be able to afford the big picture...which for us is a house of our own. We are doing our part. We tithe faithfully, we try to save, Joi sets our budget, and she only buys generic items from Super WalMart. I've been taking the bus more often to save gas. We are doing anything and everything that we can. Now it's time for God to show up in a big way. Our prayer is that God will provide something for us that will exceed our expectations and desires, so that we can give God the glory. Please join us in this prayer. Aside from fasting more often, I'm not sure where else we can cut back. The good news is that we will probably spend more time reading which will make Joi, Garrison, and I happy. We will probably have family game night more often. We may even get more exercise since we won't be plopping down in front tube when we're bored. I may even get opportunities to play more music around the house via Pandora or my iPod...while we read. There are some good things to this particular sacrifice. But, it will still be hard. So, if we're extra grumpy or shaking a little...it's just TV withdrawal.