Scribbles and Scrambles ~ A Great Day Check-List

Awaken to singing birds instead of a squawking alarm. Check.

An hour later than usual. Check.

Coffee with a favorite peep. Check.

A long walk-run with two furry friends and a favorite peep. Check.

Finishing up the garden, watering what's already flourishing. While the dogs wrestle, stalk and play and the birds continue to sing and the sun beats down on shoulders bringing the sweat of hard work and resulting satisfaction. Check.

A haircut in the driveway. Check.

A short nap in the cool cross breezes in a room that smells of white citrus. Check.

Reading a few chapters of a good book. Check.

Catching up on writing reviews, e-mails and just getting stuff done. Check.

Hope yours was fabulous just like mine.

Scribbles and Scrambles ~ Bird in a Hand er Pocket?

Of course it's logical to follow a cat day at Dregs with a bird moment.

E-Mail FW: legend claims that a nest of larcenous birdies crawled into the car wash coin return pocket and made off with over 4K.

Crazy, yes. True? Who knows. Funny. Definitely.

Happy Weekend, Y'all.

Scribbles and Scrambles ~ Patience

Birdie sent me this picture. She couldn't resist after enjoying a laugh while contemplating cat yodeling.

The look on this feline face is very similiar to the one I sport while pressing my nose against the glass door, patiently waiting for the UPS driver to arrive bearing my new computer juice.

Let's hope I'm connected soon. Otherwise I might scare the UPS man away. He is already a little iffy after his Lily/Lola encounter.

Shut-Ups....Mango-Raspberry Salad Dressing

I love fruit and nut salads. We discovered the yummiest dressing.

We grabbed half of a mango and smashed it in a bowl. Tossed in a huge handful of raspberries and smashed them, too. Then dumped in a dollop of low-fat vanilla yogurt and a dash of lemon juice to cut the sweet and give it more of a liquid feel. Pour over spinach, walnuts, purple onion chunks and more raspberries.

Would be a nice smoothie base, or fresh fruit or angel food cake topping, too.

Yummo.

Scribbles and Scrambles ~ Uh, Maps n' Peppers

Due to multiple technical difficulties a) my computer is still days away from being "healed" and I'm still banking or blackmailing or whining upon the kindness of family members, b) my computer is the only one that downloads pictures straight from the little picture disk. That said...this is why we have a picture of the infamous-crab-pepper-of-the-paper-plate-region which has absolutely nothing to do with this post.

EER, being the literal and creative friend that she is, wanted to make sure I was able to get to her in case she won one of those amazing Hachette book giveaways. So, with all her scientific, mathmatic and creative skills she drafted a map to help me find her should she win.

Said map is on a teeny, tiny scrap paper roughly 2" x 4", or in graduation season, think "wallet size" map. Little numbers and sketches cover both sides of said "map." She showed it to me. What is it? I wanted to know. She excitedly explained that it was a map from my desk to hers. Yes, we work in the same office. She walked off the amount of steps it takes from my space to hers. A little squiggle with the number two written above it veers right followed by four more steps and a slight lean right....yeah, you get it.

Seriously, This is my life. But wouldn't it be boring without my friends, whether furry, funny, equipped with technology or a combination of all of the above?

Serials and Scenarios - More Books....You Know What to Do...

Here's the final installment of the amazing book giveaway by Hachette Book Group.

Leave a comment and a a way to connect with you and you will go into a "hat" and have a chance to win the following book titles courtesy of Hachette Book Group.

1. B as in Beauty By Alberto Ferreras ISBN: 0446697893
2. Into the Beautiful North By Luis Urrea ISBN: 0316025275
3. Hungry Woman in Paris By Josefina Lopez ISBN: 0446699411
4. The Disappearance of Irene Dos Santos By Margaret Mascarenhas ISBN: 0446541109
5. Houston, We Have a Problema By Gwendolyn Zepeda ISBN: 0446698520

You have until the 31st of May. So get a comment, no matter how lame, posted. : ) And speaking of comments, more on that tomorrow. If you missed the last two Hachette Book Group offerings, it's not too late, go here.

Serials and Scenarios - Chet Galaska's Finding Faith in a Skeptical World

With a book title like Finding Faith in a Skeptical World, I just didn't feel like I should hurl the usual lighter fare Dregs questions at Chet Galaska.

So I asked him just one question. One that I struggle with a bit. When I look around me, and sometimes in the mirror, I get a little disillutioned with what I see as hypocrisy at best, and a total lack of concern for people at worst. The things I do write the book of me. And if I churn out yucky crud, I'm not presenting myself and my faith in a very good light.

This is what I asked Chet and this was his response.

How do Christians sit under truth and even teach truth and then fall into horrific sins? How can God allow us to slap Him and destroy any witness/testimony of His power in our lives? What can we do to protect ourselves from falling into the traps Satan loves to set for us so that we don’t do more harm than good with our lives?

What we’re really talking about is hypocrisy. Here’s a definition of it: “the practice of claiming to have standards or beliefs that are contrary to one’s real character or actual behavior.”

Christians are often accused of being hypocrites. And you know what? We are.

Our standards and beliefs are those taught in the Bible. They’re guidelines to living a selfless, giving, forgiving, merciful, non-judgmental, thankful, kind, compassionate, patient, joyful, peaceful, and loving existence. The Bible also tells us to avoid evil thoughts, envy, anger, building up treasures on earth, revenge and gossip. The second most important command in the Bible (after loving God) is to love your neighbor as yourself.

God’s given us ideals to direct our lives and they’re not attainable 24/7 by me, you or anybody else. Our responsibility is to try to live by them and, with His help, become more conformed to them the longer we practice our faith. We won’t ever be perfect – and totally non-hypocritical – until this life is over. God knows this, and gives us the gift of forgiveness to help us cope with our failures.

I don’t know that Christians deliberately “slap God.” But we certainly often fall short of His ideals. Take a look at the list in the second paragraph and ask yourself if you can get through a day without at least thinking about violating some of them. Are you ever judgmental, even if it’s only in your own mind? Do you ever get mad? Ever pass a beggar without making a donation? The chances are that if you do, your reaction is remorse for not doing the right thing – not defiance of God.

Having said this, there are self-identified Christians who commit horrific sins. The question to ask is “Are they really Christians?” If their unrepentant deeds fall outside of the command to “love your neighbor as yourself,” then they probably aren’t. These people obviously don’t take biblical teaching to heart and can readily fall into traps because they don’t distinguish between right and wrong. And worse, they may not even care.

We are not Jesus or God the Father. We’re people, and God knows we can’t measure up to His standards, at least not all the time. God’s number one rule is that we should love Him. If we love Him, we’ll strive to live the way He wants us to. And it’s the striving that sets Christians apart. A Christian who’s serious about his faith will behave better than those who don’t, and as a consequence the believer gets God’s support, strength, forgiveness and eternal life. These gifts from God are evident in Christian behavior and demonstrate the effect God has had on our lives.
God is forgiving, and this is one of the things that enables Christians to live forward-looking, optimistic lives despite our flaws. His way of dealing with sin is one of the ways he opens faith to non-believers. Look at it this way: if God loved only to those who were perfect, where could anyone who wasn’t perfect – namely everybody – find hope? If Christians were perfect, and never disobeyed God’s rules, then the message would be that imperfect people need not apply for God’s grace.

It’s important to stay in God’s word by learning about Him, going to church, and trying to live according to His teachings. Being aware of what’s right and what’s wrong is the first step in doing this. Having this knowledge is the most important step in avoiding traps and being a good example to the world.

Despite the inevitable lapses, once they understand their faith Christians actions promote it. They volunteer more, give more frequently to charity and give almost four times more than secular contributors. They donate their time twice as frequently as others and are twice as likely to donate blood as those who don’t attend church. They also demonstrate kindness, mercy and a peace that eludes others.

In a nutshell, Christians need to understand their faith and accept Jesus into their hearts. The result will be an ability to recognize traps while the indwelling of the Holy Spirit provides the strength to avoid them. And the knowledge that God is willing to forgive you for your missteps provides the peace of knowing He’ll help you get up, dust yourself off and continue improving as life goes on.

Click on the book cover, poke around a bit. What do you think? What are your thoughts on Chet's answer and my question?

About Chet:

C. William “Chet” Galaska was born in 1951. He began his college education at Drew University in Madison, NJ and graduated from the University of Hartford, West Hartford, CT with a Bachelor’s Degree in Business Administration. He co-founded a company that grew into a multi-million dollar enterprise and was its President for 24years. He also served as Chairman of the New England Chapter of the American Foundry Society. In 2003 he sold his interest in the company and now invests in real estate.

Chet is a former unbeliever who became a Christian after years of investigating the faith with an open mind. His first book, Finding Faith in a Skeptical World, is a down-to-earth explanation of what he learned. He and his wife, Lisa, live in Massachusetts. They have two grown sons, Jon and Drew.