I was channel surfing and discovered ESPN (or ESPN2) was airing the U.S. Open Of Competitive Eating. The U.S. Open? Man they’ll attach that title to anything. And apparently ESPN will air anything. If that’s going to be a sport, why not lump Fear Factor stunts as sports too. I tuned in long enough to see two guys trying to shove as much salad down their throat as they could. It was very disturbing, and I’m sure there are plenty of people out there who love to watch this.

I finally told Nicole today that I wasn’t come back to Harry & David for the holidays. What prompted me? She shared some bad news of her own, that Jen had been let go. So it looks like I won’t get a chance to say goodbye to Jen. I think I will try to get her number from Nicole so I can try and get together with her for coffee sometime. I promised Nicole I would continue to come distract her from her job, and she was thrilled. She enjoys seeing Elijah a few times a month, and she is one of the few people I know who lives in Denver.

I am hoping to take an infant CPR course in the next few months. It is something I think is important, since I’m with Elijah everyday. They offer one monthly at Fitzsimons, but I think they also offer one at his pediatrician, so I’ll check there too. The one at Fitzsimons is a 2 hour course in the evening, which means, I either take it alone and Geoff watches him, or we get a babysitter to come over (once we move into the new place) and Geoff can take it too. Geoff actually knows CPR already, but it’s something you are supposed to renew and he hasn’t done that in a while. I’ve never taken a CPR course. I remember once at Woodbridge that a child was choking, and thankfully the nursery worker there knew CPR and knew what to do. After that, they started offering a CPR course every few months, and it was strongly encouraged for all Children’s Ministry workers to take it. The church even offered to help pay for some people if money was an issue. I should check to see if our church here has people who are certified.

I mentioned back in March that Kelly was having a short story published in a magazine she works for, and I’d been searching my local bookstores for it. No one carried it, thought Tattered Cover said they may try to order it. Well, Kelly picked it up and sent it to me. It was exciting to see her name in print. The story is called Hack, and it is set in Washington. It’s about a journalist who has grown weary of his job and hopes to move into a new job as a writer. It’s a great ironic story, and if you can find the magazine Doublethink, I suggest you pick it up. I really hope this is the beginning of more fiction publishing for Kelly. Her website is kellyjanetorrance.com if you want to read articles she has written. I’m so proud!

I’m going to close now with a quote from The Muppet Show. (BTW- Season One DVD out on August 9. I think we’ll have to get this for Elijah.)
Rowlf: [treating a viking pig] I know all about them – they come from Denmark. One of my ancestors was a viking!
Miss Piggy: Oh, this isn’t going to be a Great Dane joke, is it?
Rowlf: Well, it’s a Dane joke, but I wouldn’t call it great.