Attention All Verizon Customers

The Verizon stores located inside Circuit City stores are a lot cheaper. They are corporate stores just like the standalone stores, but offer much better prices and deals. I asked the salesperson at the standalone store if that was true and she simply said "yes". I asked her if she feels that that is fair and she said "We can't compete with their prices because they are a corporate store too". If that makes sense to anybody, please leave a comment. I am bewildered.

Matt

Two More Books

I finished a couple of more books and wanted to share them with you.



The first one is called "Light Force" and it is part of a series of books written by Brother Andrew. He founded the Open Doors ministry. I enjoy reading these type of books because they remind me how easy it is for us to do ministry compared to what some others have to endure. The stories in this book are great and very inspiring.



The next one is "The Difference Maker" by John Maxwell. It is a quick read, but well worth it. He explains in detail how our attitude is the difference in everything we do. As in all Maxwell books, it is well organized and setup to be easy to apply.


Pick them up and give them a try. Click on the pics if you want to order from Amazon.


Matt

Being White

Sounds like a rather insensitive title. I have read many books on diversity since being assigned the task of championing diversity at my previous position. All have been extremely good, but this one does a great job of helping "white" people truly understand what they thought the understood. If you think you are "colorblind", read this book. You will find that being colorblind is just a way of expecting other cultures and races to be comfortable in our (white) societies and customs. That is not diversity. True diversity is immersing ourselves in other races and cultures and truly understanding how they feel in ours. If you are serious about being racially and culturally sensitive, read this book. Sissies should pass on this one and just keep thinking that you have it figured out. Incidentally, you can click on the book pic above and order it from Amazon - if you are brave enough.

Matt

Water Skiing 2

If you look back about a year I blogged about the Mashburn's first Water Skiing adventure with the Mossers. Today we had round 2. Unfortunately as you can see below, I am still skiing using the boom. I found out today that I have to quit walking by the Ab machines at the gym.

In the next picture, you see the only evidence we have that Bailey gave it a shot. 2 reasons: Nick fell asleep at the camera and Bailey was not that interested in water skiing after the first try.

Below you will see the Water Skiing master of the family. Nick mastered the rope handle (off the boom) right away and continued to get better all day.

There was some tragedy in the day as my video camera took a swim. The good news is that I can buy a new one now. The bad news is that a lot of our footage from the day was on the tape in it. Oh well.

Big Thanks to the Mossers for making a great day for the Mashburns possible. We had a great time.

Matt

If You Want to Walk on Water, You've Got to Get out of the Boat

Today I finished the above mentioned book by John Ortberg. I got it from him when he was here a few months ago. He even autographed it for me - cool. I had previusly read "The Life You Always Wanted" by Ortberg

and thought it was one of the best spiritual growth books I have ever read. Even though I enjoyed the Water book, it was not quite at the same level. It did however end with several chapters that were very timely for me in the stage of life that I am in now. Great chapters on hope, faith, and worship. I recommend the book, but you have to stick with it. Starts slow and finished strong.




Matt

Apple Seeping In

It is hard for me to write this blog. Apple influence is seeping into my house. Last week, I got an iPod for myself. A deal I could not pass up (20GB 4G iPod for $99 - you have to watch http://www.woot.com/). I have already dumped 12GB of stuff on it and I really like it. But, that is not the most disturbing news. This morning I was outside doing my morning reading and when I came in I asked Nick what he was watching on his laptop. Much to my dismay he was watching Steve Job's press conference on the new iPod release. It gets worse. I just walked by and he is still watching it. I asked him how long it is and he said "1 hour and 20 minutes". He is watching the whole thing. Unbelieveable! Incidentally, he washed cars this summer to earn money to buy an 80GB Video iPod and a new Laptop - a windows laptop. I still have hope.

Matt

Matt

A Family Tradition

A while back we took the kids to the grand canyon. While there we took a family picture in a tree as a tribute to when my family did the very same thing when I was 12. I found the old picture. We just figured out that it was the very same tree. What are the chances that we would pick the same tree? I have not seen that picture in 15 years. It has been 27 since we took the original. See the comparison below:

Mashburn + Vacation = Injury

This picture of Bailey's finger and the associated precautionary sign is worth a thousand words.

Matt