Things change...

The salvation army used to be an outreach ministry...and now they're a thrift store that gives 20% off on anything with a blue tag on Wednesdays.
The Y.M.C.A. used to share the Gospel with people on their turf....and then realized that kids were attracted to pools....so they built one...and then they built a basketball court...and now they're a health club that costs $47 a month.
Sometimes I'll be driving somewhere and to pass the time I'll turn on the radio. Now keep in mind, I'm not in my car to listen to the radio - I'm in my car to get somewhere. But often a strange thing happens. I'll get to where I was going, and just sit in my car. I'll be so into whatever is on the radio that I'll forget about where I was going...and focus on the radio.
It's easier for me to get wrapped up in the little things that should be no more than distractions along the way...than to focus on the Way. I'm kind of stupid that way.

the enemy within

Target is the enemy.

I feel strongly about this. Down with Target, their red shirts, Todd Oldham furniture and reasonable prices! Do they still sell Todd Oldham stuff? doesn't matter...
Two days ago I was all bout Target. I enjoyed their products as much as the next blogger. But then I tried to take something back. It was a gift for Cooper - and like all gifts for Cooper, I like to take them back and get something for me. He never complains.
Actually, it was a duplicate item. So my plan was to take back this aforementioned item and purchase a Slip-n-Slide. Seems reasonable so far. Target wouldn't give me the money for the baby thing (I'm still not quite sure what it was). Now this isn't that unusual. Lots of stores will make you take store credit. What separates Target from stores I will not shop at is they said that I would have to exchange my baby thing for something - not just in the store - but in the baby department.
"So if somebody buys me a skateboard and I don't want to skate....you're saying that I HAVE to exchange it for something in the kids section!?" I asked. "yup" they mumbled. "You mean that even though my wife came in here earlier today and asked about this exchange...and was told that we'd be given a gift card....that we won't be given a gift card?" "Yup"
You can see why I'd be a little infuriated. Clearly they've missed the mark when it comes to customer service.

no comment...

I noticed a couple of things about this blog yesterday. I've had this thing for just under a week and hadn't paid much attention to the counter at the bottom. Turns out there have been about 400 hits on this deal in it's first 6 days. I'm guessing that my mom just looks at it 30 or 40 times a day...still, I was kind of surprised. And then...I noticed that someone had left a comment. It was a short, anonymous comment - but a comment nonetheless. I'm still new to this blog thing, and I'm not really sure how it's supposed to work - but I guess I had forgotten that you could leave comments. This could lead to all kinds of insecurities about my Bruce Willis Haiku, my repeated use of the word "pedantic", exhaustive references to Kirby Puckett or my photography skills.
Still, while I'm surprised that there have been as many hits (is that the right word? sure it is...it is, right?) I'm also a little surprised that there are as few comments as there are (the "few" being one). So the question is - should I leave open ended questions? (see what I did there?)
Should I care that people aren't commenting? (I did it again) Can I remove the comment option on my blog? (I am, after all, the king of my blog) Is a blog still a blog without a comment section? You're starting to see my blog ignorance come out now...
but don't dis the king in his own blog.
see - I can be street.

Roll over Beethoven

This was a big day for rolling...
I could see how you'd take that wrong.
Griff rolled over for the first time in a pool. Swimming laps wasn't impressive enough for this four year old - so now he's doing somersaults. While I was watching the Steelers in Latrobe with Rob, Ben, Josh & Bjorn....Chandler, Ali and Rachel were rolling down a very steep and long hill while being ignored by the Bus. Normally that would be enough...but not today.
Today, Cooper Thomas Edward Murphy rolled over for the first time!
Birth (check), Sleep through the night (check), Roll over (check), crawl ( ), Walk ( ), wreck your old man's car ( )
This was a big day in the Murphy household.

15-1

Headed to Latrobe, PA today. Going to go see the four time Super Bowl Champion Pittsburgh Steelers at training camp. This is the same Steelers team that won 16 games last year. The same team that had rookie of the year Ben Roethlisberger. And it's free!
I'd argue that this is the best value in sports. Sure, they'll try and sell me a $20 t-shirt...but this Steelers fan aint buying. You see, once you buy...then it ceases to be the best value in sports. Then it moves out of the top ten in my eyes.
Keep in mind that I'll get to see the most famous jaw in all of sports (and I'm not talking about Ron Jaworski), the most dynamic running back to ever play the game - of course they used to say that about the juice. I'll get to see 300 pound men getting yelled at...and not do anything about it. When do you ever get to see that?
Today - if you're like me and go to the Pittsburgh Steeler's training camp.

it's a radical kind of love....like totally

Every time see the word "radical" I think of some '80's surfer saying, "it was totally radical out there. It was a wall of waves dude. Like tubular." I never hear the word tubular without it being attached to someone's impersonation of a surfer dude. Anyhow, I've been thinking about, talking about, hearing about this "radical" love of Jesus. He even mentions to his followers that they're supposed to have the same love. I've asked a lot of people - even groups of hundreds - if they feel like they're basically loving. Most of us feel like we're ok at loving people. But Jesus says that even "tax collectors"the people who at the time were robbing people, bullying them around, and turning their backs on their neighbors - even they felt like they loved people.
But Jesus calls his followers to a radial kind of love. Anybody can love the people they love. We all do that. We love our friends...and maybe even some of our family...because they're lovable. But he tells us to love beyond that. To love the unlovable. Even beyond that...to love the people we can't stand - our enemies. So if our goal is to love our enemies...then loving the unlovable should be easy. In fact - we might even love the lovable people that much more. It's sort of like he's setting the bar a little higher and encouraging us to jump.
...might be worth a shot.

As seen on tv

I've never bought anything off an infomercial. I take that back. I've never called an 800 number and ordered anything from an infomercial. Something always stops me. I want to. I'll pick up the phone...it's just that I know if I order one thing - it's on. I'll be ordering garbage off of infomercials for the rest of my life. Oh I've bought some stuff - just not mail order.
If I see that beautiful red square on a package - the one that says, "As seen on TV", I'm in. That's all the salesmanship you need for me. To know that at one time, this product was good enough to be in an informercial - it's gotta be quality. A knife that can slice through paper, a tomato & a tin can - you'd be silly not to want one of those. A rotiserie that you can set and forget...and still have ribs that fall off the bone!
There was actually a store nearby that sold nothing but "As seen on TV" items. It was almost as though God Himself decided to send down a little slice of Heaven and place it between the Pretzel Plaza and the Sock Sanctuary. This store had special vacuum cleaners that could go under your couch, flashlights that ran without batteries, slidy (it's a word) things that you could put your furniture on...and move around the house. It truly was a SUPER market.
Sadly, that store is no longer with us. If only people had realized how close it was to going out of business. If only I had realized. One more pair of electric scissors might have put them over the top. I could have bought two more stackable hampers....I don't know....something.
...if only I'd done more.

Jesus is my homeboy

I would like to appear spiritual...without all of that messiness of actually changing how I live or what I believe.

I've been trying to figure out how I can work that. I know I can deal with showing up for church every once in a while. That's not really a sacrifice (a big part of my goal here is no sacrifice).

I can wear a cross around my neck - just don't expect me to carry one. I've seen a lot of rich people that talk about Jesus... and I'd like to be one of them.

I know I can wear trendy t-shirts that proclaim my faith...so I don't really have to live it. I've heard, "the Bible is open to many interpretations" and "you can't believe everything in the Bible". So if I want to believe that - I've figured out that you can just believe the stuff you read in the Bible that you want to believe...or already believed in the first place. So, in effect, you're just following yourself. You basically just believe in you. You basically are just following...you. It just so happens that this book, or this religion, happens to agree with you about a couple of things.

This is a pretty sweet way to go.

dumb guy

I just found out what "blog" stands for...and I have two of them. It's sortta like I found out what Honda means four years after I bought one.

Actually, I don't really know what it means...I'm guessing some guy named Sigurati Honda designed a car and named it after his favorite person. I don't think I could name a car "Murph".

Anyhow, blog stands for web log. I'm not sure that you learn something every day...but I learned that today. I'm still not sure what most abbreviations mean on I.M. (instant message - I know that one)
I get "lol" a lot. It strikes me as something I couldn't, with a good conscience, type very often. I just don't laugh out loud very much. My abbreviation would be "cis" (chuckling inside).
I like "K" for ok. Who has the time to find that "o" on the keyboard? It's all the way over on the right side between I and P.

Even though I have time to write random things here a couple of times a day (my rule of thumb is if I'm waiting for Griffin to get dressed or watching Coop - I'll check my e-mail...and write random stuff while I'm waiting) - I still don't seem to have the time to figure out which keys to type to make a smiley face. Most of the time...when people type one out to me, I have no idea what it even is.


My biggest problem with I.M. is there's no spell check. There probably is, but I have no idea how to use it. I'm pretty spelling insecure. There are a couple of words that I never like to spell - license, biscuit (which is a great word...so it's a crime I don't write it more often), conscience, sense
I also don't like the fact that I have no idea who I'm talking to when "snoopjazzLL458" sends me a message. I'll hit their "buddy info" to try and figure it out - but that rarely works. Sorry Snoopjazz.

Mondays

So my basement is still flooded (sort of) Coop is constipated, the house smells like Regis Philbin's feet, Griffin has a friend over, and we're having 25 people over tonight.
Should I rip out that sweet sweet brown, shag carpeting in the basement? (knowing that the padding is glued to an even nicer brown and gray tile floor)
or
spray a couple of cans of Lysol? (knowing that I'd just be masking the problem...and killing some "household bacteria")
or
play ball in the front yard with the boys?
-obviously, it's time to throw around the 'ol pigskin...
...or in this case, the foam thats been shaped to look like a football.
(have you ever heard a quarterback actually say, "hut one, hut two"?)