Ani-me?

My friend Bobby has a post on his blog about making your own animated avitar.


Here is mine. Tell me what you think? Is it me or not?


Got to http://www.meez.com and make one for your own!

Grief. Sadness. Loss.

It is with extreme sadness that I type this post. Our beloved four-legged member of our family for the past two years has died. Buddy, our 4, 5, 8 or 9 year old stray (no vet could tell us how old he was) that my wife and kids rescued from Beach Boulevard two years ago in October has died of unknown causes. And my heart hurts.

I don't like animals as a general rule - but for some stupid reason this little lost dog found that secret place in my heart that very few are allowed to enter - I mean, other than Jesus, My wife and two beautiful children - there pretty much isn't anyone else there... or so I thought. How silly of me to hurt so much over a stinking dog. It's not like he talked to me, spent quality time with me - - but, it isn't about me. It is about my family. Buddy became an integral part of our family. He went camping with us - and if you know the Bambrick's we love camping! Buddy spent most of his time just sitting with us. At our side, at our feet, at the foot of our bed, in my son's arms, in my daughters lap and jumping up on my wife (which I strictly forbade... but thought was really cute). I don't really know how to describe the hurt inside - other than to say the pain that a dad feels when there is NOTHING that can be done to protect the raw, painful feeling of loss over a loved one, from touching the lives of your children and spouse can't be put into words.

As I went into the yard last night to move Buddy from the cold damp lawn, to the side of our home (where Animal Control can come and pick him up) I was completely overcome with all the emotion that I normally keep at bay. A really close friend of mine recently told me that he has wondered where Rick's compassion was - well, at that moment I knew - I don't reveal that side of me very often - but as I carried Buddy I thought of the tears my children would shed, the loss they would feel for thier 'buddy', their companion - I lost it.

Being the 'Man' of the house I tried to regain composure before coming in the house - but my wife knew, she could tell that I was struggling. We had a long family hug and spent the rest of the evening (it was 11:30pm by this time) going over family photos of our many vacations, birthdays and finished with some really cool memories of Buddy. I thought we would all settle down for the night and be ready for church today - when later that night (er... morning) Ashley woke up sick. The stress of the evening was too much for her. Man, I hate being powerless over life's speed bumps.

Thankfully, my wife and son were able to get to church for setup at 7am (ok, so maybe they only had one eye open) and Ashley and I followed at 830. We are all very tired - emotionally drained and as Ashley just told me - she can't believe it's real. She say's it is kinda weird that Buddy isn't here - she looks at our double doors waiting to see his face - I keep hearing his name tag jingling and find myself looking up quickly from what I am doing to see if maybe it was him - maybe he wasn't dead and he is walking around...

He isn't.

RACE...race....C U R E !!!

It is that time again. Time to be selfless, and help find the cure for breast cancer. My wife will once again participate in the annual "Race for the Cure". Please prayerfully consider supporting this great cause.

Here is a paragraph from the official website:

In 2003, the Komen Foundation celebrated the 20th anniversary of the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation Race for the Cure®, the largest series of 5K runs/fitness walks in the world. More than 1 million people participated in more than 100 races in 2005.
The Komen Race for the Cure® Series raises significant funds and awareness for the fight against breast cancer, celebrates breast cancer survivorship, and honors those who have lost their battle with the disease. Learn more about the Race.

If you would like to support my wife's efforts, just follow this link and participate!

THANKS FOR THE HELP!

3 days and counting...

Last night during our Oversight Team meeting we were blessed with getting to 'over hear' the worship team rehearsing for the 1096 performance. All I can say is that those gifted people are so stinking talented.

OH MY GOSH!
I can't wait till Sunday night!

This event is going to ROCK... It is truely amazing seeing how far David has lead this church in just 3 short years.

I hope you are planning on attending the live recording - hey, if you have missed other Revolution events, DON'T MISS THIS ONE! Each time the Rev' team puts on an event they get better and better! Don't be the guy or gal who only hears about how much fun it was - be there yourself!

See ya there!

It's a conspiracy!

This morning we took Garhett to meet with his scoutmaster for his "scoutmaster conference". This is the meeting that takes place in preparation of a boy advancing in rank - anyway, Garhett arranged to meet his Scoutmaster at Coco's Restaurant in Garden Grove.

Each of the kids had a friend with them. Ashley brought Tara and Garhett brought Dominic. When greeted by the hostess (who was the restaurant manager) we were asked if we had any children dining with us who are under 10 years old. Dawn replied, "No, but we do need two children's menus for the girls, they don't eat much". To which, the hostess stated that it is the restaurant policy not to allow anyone over 10 to order from the children's menu. She further stated they have had problems with 16 year olds ordering from that menu....

PROBLEMS??? What could be the problem? Oh, so an 11 year old should be able to eat as much food as an adult man? Give me a stinkin' break. No wonder there is a weight problem in this country. . . No, sorry ma'am your pre-teen daughter has to order the full sized, fat laden, grease seeping, over the top, 5 cheese omelet from the adult menu, not the funny face pancakes...

sheesh! I am sorry, but as far as I can tell this is a conspiracy to make all children FAT. My daughter can barely eat a full plate of most meals, so why not allow her the benefit of ordering a child's portion (after all SHE IS A CHILD) and be done with it.

It can't be a food surplus problem - what, the child should order an adult portion and only eat what they can, disposing of the remnants... Waste!

Is it a problem that if one child eats a proper portion of food, heaven forbid, others kids may do the same... No it can't be that problem- I doubt Coco's is that health conscious.

Maybe it is a financial thing... hmm.. A child's meal is $3.49 and includes a drink - we had two 'kids' so that is a total of about $7 bucks. If we ordered from the adult menu we would only order 1 meal and split it between the kids. That's about $5 bucks plus two drinks... Ok maybe $7 bucks... Works out the same.

I just hate the fact that some overweight hostess/manager is imposing a rule which makes most people respond by saying, "oh, ok, we will just use the adult menus". Which ultimately is BAD for our children. Just look at the obesity rate in California alone.

Come on restaurants... Let the kids eat kids size portions. ...Oh, the hostess let the girls order from the kids menu (this time only). Yeah, like I would ever go back to that place.