I know you really thought this might be the case, here’s proof. Holy sheepshit! Who taught these idiots biology?

Candidates for certification to teach in public schools in Texas are being told that they will be held accountable for any “heterosexist” leanings and must become agents working to change society, according to one candidate who was alarmed by the demands.

Alrighty then, time for a beer. Go read that article, come back and say what’s on your mind. I’ll leave you with one more piece, then retreat before my head explodes:

That case was taken up by the the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education, which promotes civil liberties on the campuses of America’s colleges and universities.

FIRE officer Adam Kissel said the report from the Race, Culture, Class, and Gender Task Group apparently would involve screening teacher applicants for “wrong” views and withholding their degrees if “the university’s political re-education efforts proved ineffective.”

I figured the best way to organize all of these posts might be to do it by day and/or event. So, here are some pictures from our first day spent at Pop and Nana’s house. You can click on the image to enlarge the photo if you want a closer look.

While reading my devotions to start the morning and the new year I was reminded that it is okay to reflect. Thanks Chuck!

It has been quite a year!

We started 2009 in Clay (Syracuse) New York and finished it in Nashville, Tennessee (celebrated in Milford, Indiana with Sarah’s in-law)

In February we traveled to Nashville to watch Jeremy fill the job of Front House Engineer for the Belmont University Country Music Showcase. This performance takes on the similar format as American Idol with tryouts, final performances and judges. What a springboard used by God to move Jeremy forward in his career.

In May, after 10 years of employment at Syracuse University – University College we took a job at Tennessee Orthopaedic Alliance.

We left a lot of good friends and family behind, thank goodness for the internet, email and webcams allowing us to keep in touch.

We have made new friends here as well. Friends at Work at office and Friend at his passion

This resulted in us selling our house of 27 1/2 years. The good news is, God sold it in five days, the sad news is we left the house that we raised our children in, and the house that Becky’s father was raised in. But in the end, it was the right thing to do. So on Mothers day 2009 we packed up the van and the PODS, celebrated the day with Ted and Debbie Thompson (Becky’s sister) and headed to Music City.  The warmth of Tennessee has been wonderful for Becky’s health.

Less than 30 days after our move, we welcomed a son-in-law into our family. Sarah Anne Bayne married David Miller

God provided a wonderful place for us to live that allowed Jeremy to move in to the basement. This resulted in saving both of us money in rent as he finishes college and the muscle we have needed to move furniture. We have also been able to get to know his girl friend McCauley and a lot of his friends.

We have been to Florida, Indiana, Kentucky, New York this year. We have traveled through Ohio, Pennsylvania, Alabama, Georgia.

We left a great church in Syracuse when we moved. Calvary Chapel of Syracuse with Pastor Ken Lang. We knew this would be one of the most difficult things to do. We visited a number of churches, both large and small. In the end it was Jeremy who introduced us to the place where we think we will land for a while. Jeremy is one of the monitor engineers for the singers there at the church, so we decided to try Long Hollow Baptist Church. While we knew that this would be a hard decision, God has been gracious to find for us another man of God that preaches the word with passion and honesty. We will always miss Pastor Ken Lang, because he filled a void when we needed it in our lives and we thank both him and God for that.

We have found new stores, new doctors, new roads, new malls, new friends, new jobs, a new place to live, new weather patterns. We have left behind – but keep deeply in our hearts and minds- friends, families and many memories. We praise God that He has allowed us to have shared these memories with many people and look forward to making new memories as we move forward.

It has been quite the year and we praise God for each moment, event and memory. Without Him we would not have stepped out in faith we would not have made the scary changes and without Him we would not have the courage to continue to move forward. Stand firm on Philippians 4:13 and Proverbs 3:5-6

Happy New Year

We are just about to ring out another year.  On to new beginnings, new resolutions.  I look foward to new ideas, new memories, new friends and new experiences. We have many things planned. Dave & Mike will be climbing Mt. Kilimanjaro the end of January.  I’m a bit apprehensive and will personally be glad when that trip is crossed off their ‘important things to do’ list.

Alfy and I will move on to a trick obedience class.  At almost 7 months old we will be responsible pet owners and make a trip to the vet to get him neutered.

The kids will go back to school to prepare for another quarter of homework; Amanda will be working toward show season and the first horse show in April; I will keep busy with new projects and leading in a new capacity at church.

For last year’s words belong to last year’s language
And next year’s words await another voice.
And to make an end is to make a beginning.
~T.S. Eliot, “Little Gidding”

May all our friends and family have a safe and fun New Year!  See you next year!

and very well

Things have been quite busy for the two of us Carmans lately. Here’s a run-down of the latest:

- We moved into our new house

- Jacquie has been busy with photography clients

- Abe has taken a new, more demanding position at his current job

- Teddy has been napping, a lot

- We lost our internet, so blame that for lack of posting

I cannot forget to mention to the most exciting, happy news of all! We recently found out we’re expecting our first baby Baby Carman is expected this July, around the middle of the month. Currently, BC (as (s)he is affectionately called ’round these parts) is the size of a plum! It seems crazy that I’m already 12 weeks along. We recently heard the baby’s heartbeat It was the sweetest sound in the entire world! Because of lack of preparation, I forgot our little video camera. I’ll have to post the sound byte so you all can hear it as well, once I get it loaded to our computer.

I’ll be sure to update as often as I can and will soon be posting recent sessions Again, lack of preparation is keeping me from posting anything right now. Oops! Once the house is more put together, I’d like to do a little “walking tour” video on here so you can all see what our little nest is looking like these days. We’ve done a lot of work and made so many improvements! We’re pretty pleased with it.

I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas and wish you all a blessed and joyous New Year! Can you believe it’s going to be 2010? I can’t!

Much love to all of you

Merry Christmas everyone!  We had four fewer people than last year so we downsized the roast to a more reasonable size.  Fewer leftovers, yes, but there’s still plenty for Lissa’s dinners this week!

Mike’s family and my father showed up around 4:10 PM to consume hors d’oeuvres.  (Bless them all for not showing up early!)  Mike firmly reigned in my tendency to go overboard with food, so we limited ourselves to fresh salsa and Tostidos scoops, fresh-baked pesto bread with Parmesan-garlic olive oil for dipping, Lays potato chips, and caprese salad made with three different kinds of tomato.  My father particularly complimented the salsa and asked for the recipe.  It’s very simple –

1) drive to Stop and Shop

2) buy a container of Fresh Salsa (you’ll find it in the produce section with the dips/chopped onion etc.)

I washed all the romaine and butter lettuce and ripped it to pieces and sliced up three carrots last night, as well as chopping up mushroom and onion for gravy (which I finished except for pan drippings before the folks arrived).  Once the roast was ready, I had only to a) steam the green beans, b) microwave three slices of bacon, c) boil the egg noodles, d) add grape tomatoes to the salad and dump it into a serving dish.  I’ve decided that microwaving bacon in a bowl is perfect for this preparation of green beans; I steamed them fresh and crisp, then tossed them with the resulting bacon fat and crumbled the bits over the top.  Delicious!  Even vegetarians admit that bacon is the perfect food.

After a break to clear away the carnage and open some presents, we re-convened for dessert.  Again, I kept it small this year — I baked an apple pie (thanks Mom!) and served it with banana bread and zucchini bread (a gift — thanks again Mom!).

I’m munching zucchini bread as I drink my coffee and looking around at my clean-and-tidied living room.  It’s a good way to approach the New Year.

I hope all of you made Santa’s Nice List this year!  But if you didn’t . . . well, I hear the people on the Naughty List have more fun anyway