Happy Shawny Gras!

Happy Mardi Shawny Gras!

You may be asking yourself "What is Shawny Gras?".

I'm happy to explain.  Shawny Gras is that special few days every year when people all over the world in my house, celebrate life, happiness, and the birth of Shawn. I know it would probably make more sense to spell it Shawni Gras. But it's my blog. So I can do what I want. Neener, neener.

You see, today is my birthday. But it will be celebrated more than just today. It will be celebrated all week, until Saturday or until Kristi gets tired of me saying "Do I have to (insert household chore here)? It's my birthday week."

I realize this particular blog entry may seem very shallow and self focused. You know, because it draws attention to the fact that today is my birthday.  But that's not my intention. I think Shawny Gras should be celebrated by all.

Shawny Gras is lot different than Mardi Gras. Shawny Gras celebrations do not include parades (yet). It does not usually involve anyone in costumes. And no one is exchanging anything for beads. You see, there are plenty of activities everyone can do between now and the end of the week to celebrate life with me. Here are just a few examples....

 1.  Eat some cake!

1976

  2.  Enjoy a project or hobby

1978

 

3. Clown Around. Have fun. Why so serious?

1980

4. Play a game.

1981

5. Enjoy a rocking haircut and get dressed up in your casual wear...

1979

...or formal wear

Class of '93.

6.) Get together with friends for lots of chuckles and belly laughs

1993

7.) Take your significant other out for a night on the town.

1994

As evidenced here, Shawny Gras is an all inclusive celebration. Its not just about me.
I encourage you to pick one or multiple of this options and have a blast this week.

But for now, if you'll excuse me... I'm got some celebrating to do.
Happy Shawny Gras and... 
Peace Out!!

1986

For My Sister On Her 40th Birthday

Today is Shannon’s Birthday.
Shannon is my older sister.

She is the person who...
1. encouraged (dared) me to jump off a 2’ high ledge when I was 3 years old.
I broke my arm. I cried about it for hours.

The Stinson's, pre-Leslie. 1978?

2.) when I was 6, gave me an education on The Tooth Fairy, The Easter Bunny, & Santa Claus all within 5 minutes. I cried about it for days.

The Stinson's, in all our 1980 glory.

3.) sat with me and said “Yeah, I can do your hair for you. It will look cool and winged back like the guys on TV.”  I'm still crying about this.

The Stinson's, with special guest: Shawn's hair. 1986?

4.) who might kill me for sharing all these pictures.

She is also the person... who looked out for me, laughed with me, encouraged me, and gave me guidance and advice when I needed it. I’m thankful for her and all the great times we’ve had together.

Oh yeah, she’s also the person who turned 40 today!!!!
So maybe, she’ll give me guidance on how to survive that when I get there ....a looong time from now.

Happy Birthday, Shannon.
Love you!

The Accent Blog

Sometimes I have good ideas to blog about.
Sometimes I just borrow (steal) ideas from others.
Sometimes I take the time to make a 6 minute video with the intent to post it.
And sometimes, I wait and post it 18 months later.

Ok, so here's the deal. In September of 2011, Jamie (and some other bloggers) posted videos they all called an 'accent blog'. Each was just a video of the blogger reading a list of words and answering questions so you could hear what their voices sounded like. Jamie posted her accent blog, so a day or two later, just for kicks, I created my own.

I uploaded it to youtube, watched the result, and was very surprised. Due to my crappy internet connection, there had been some sort of glitch in uploading and my voice didn't match my mouth. It was so bad that it seemed "Godzirra" might "destroy my virrage" at any moment. So I chose not to post it.

I happened to find that video again recently. One element of the video that I had forgotten about was a little lesson at the end where I took a couple minutes to explain the correct way to say my name. It might not seem that difficult, but some folks just don't get it. If you don't have time to watch the whole thing, I recommend skipping to the 5min mark, so you can at least benefit from the lesson.
Now, for your amusement and education I present "My Accent Blog (from 18 months ago)".



The List:
Aunt, Route, Wash, Oil, Theater, Iron, Salmon, Caramel, Fire, Water, Sure, Data, Ruin, Crayon, Toilet, New Orleans, Pecan, Both, Again, Probably, Spitting image, Alabama, Lawyer, Coupon, Mayonnaise, Syrup, Pajamas, Caught


The Questions:

1. What is it called when you throw toilet paper on a house?
2. What is the bug that when you touch it, it curls into a ball?
3. What is the bubbly carbonated drink called?
4. What do you call gym shoes?
5. What do you say to address a group of people?
6. What do you call the kind of spider that has an oval-shaped body & extremely long legs?
7. What do you call your grandparents?
8. What do you call the wheeled contraption in which you carry groceries at the supermarket?
9. What do you call it when rain falls while the sun is shining?
10. What is the thing you change the TV channel with?

Was I wrong about any of that? If you think so, let me know.

I Get Knocked Down, But I Get Up Again

First, I've got to say a huge thanks to all of you that liked my page on Facebook yesterday. I appreciate all of you. Now the pressure is on me to keep all of you entertained (or at least not annoyed) with the random thoughts I post on my blog.
If you haven't yet liked Tales From Street Road on Facebook, you can go do that now.

Now...on with the randomness.

This is not a new video, but I just saw it this week.


Clearly, this guy made the best out of a bad situation. He could have given up. He could have just laid there until someone brought a stretcher to get him. He could have acted like it was someone else's fault. But he didn't. He fell, he quickly assessed the situation, and then made the best out of it.

When I saw this video it made me think 2 things:
1.) I hope the next time I fall, or fail at reaching a goal, that I can have the presence of mind to make the best of the situation, get up, and try again.
2.) I wish I could dance like that.

What would you have done in this situation?

Sunday Setlist 02-03-13

Here's what we did at our church service this morning...
All went well. No musical train wrecks (or actual train wrecks) occurred.

Our service was very blended today, an even mix of traditional hymns and newer choruses.
It's always interesting to see different groups of people in the congregation perk up during different song styles. It's as if they are waiting on their style to play before they engage. But I don't mind at all. I'm glad that we strive to offer everyone an opportunity to worship regardless of their style preferences.
Here's the list..

Praise To The Lord The Almighty (Hymn)
Hosanna (Praise Is Rising) (Brenton Brown)
Welcome / Announcements / Fellowship
All The Earth Will Sing Your Praises (Baloche)
Holy, Holy, Holy (Hymn)
Offertory Prayer
Choir: We Serve A Mighty God / What A Mighty God We Serve (Gerron Davis) He Knows My Name (Tommy Walker)
 My favorite moment of the morning happened during this song. I could really hear the worshipers singing out on this one, so we repeated the chorus at the end acapella. It was great hearing the crowd with voices only praising the Lord.

My second favorite moment was during rehearsal when we noticed the misprint in the worship guide calling this song. "He know my name." That led to a conversation acknowledging that  "He know where I stay too."

Message: Bro. Steve
Invitation: Wherever He Leads I'll Go (Hymn)
Hosanna (Praise Is Rising) (Brenton Brown)

How was your service today? What do you think of ours?
Feel free to ask questions or make comments.

This post is part of the Sunday Setlists that can be seen at The Worship Community.  Go there to see what other churches are doing and maybe even submit your own service.