Movie Friday: Ben Hur

Wow, five blog posts in one week!  Maybe I'll finally get back into the hang of this (or maybe I'll start writing all of my posts on one night like I did this week - whatever works)!

It's time to get back into the routine of Movie Friday.  I'm getting to the point that I have gone through my classic movie collection, so it is getting a little more difficult to come up with movies!

Today I'm sharing a classic from 1959, Ben Hur, starring Charlton Heston.  This winner of 11 Academy Awards is set in 26 AD and follows a wealthy merchant from Jerusalem.  The film has a great plot, which has too much depth for me to share here.  If you would like to read more about the movie, you can find a detailed account of it on Wikipedia (here).

Have a great Friday and a relaxing weekend!

Tomorrow's the Day!

My company is going to be here tomorrow.  I thought this video was appropriate.  The Ozark Jubilee, which this clip comes from, was filmed about 80 miles from here.  Totally fitting in my opinion!

Have a great Thursday!

Would You Be My Neighbor?

As I mentioned on Monday, my neighbors have put their house up for sale.  This means that there is only one house out of nine on my block that hasn't been for sale in the past 5 years.  It also means that when the one next door sells, only one person will have lived on the loop longer than I have (and she and her late husband have been here as long as their beautiful 1960s brick rancher).

So, here's the place that's for sale next door.  Before you get all excited about it though, when the elderly couple that lives there now bought it 6 years ago, they completely ripped out the original kitchen and bathroom and updated them.  So, it's a nice house, but missing some of the best original features.  After talking with the people that live there now, I found out that it had a pink and black bathroom.  Now it's builder grade white.  Sigh.  The best feature of the place, in my opinion is the nice shop in the back yard.  Otherwise, I think I prefer the Shack.  My house may be 120 square feet smaller and short one bedroom, but my lot has more trees and is 10 feet wider.  I'll take the smaller house to have the larger yard.

Look closely for the yellow house in the background of these photos (to the left in the first photo and to the right in the second photo), and you'll catch a glimpse of the Shack!

Click on any photo to see it larger.  Have a great Wednesday!

Get Your Kicks

On Route 66.

Living just a short drive of about 20 miles from the mother road, I felt this was fitting for my area as well as the era that we all love so much.  I completely forgot that this song mentioned Joplin, MO in the lyrics, and with all they have endured over the past month (and all they are going to have to endure for quite a while to come) it reminded me of better times in Joplin, and in the better times to come.

Hope you all are having a great day!

Company's Coming!

Emotions are so strange when company comes to visit.  You're excited to see them and can't wait for them to get here.  Then there's that, oh crud, the house is a mess feeling.  I hate that part of it.  Tonight I managed to power wash the house.  I hate that so much, and I skipped it altogether last year.  I paid for that decision tonight though, the yellow siding of The Shack was almost the same color as my green shutters in some places.  Never fear, after a couple of hours scrubbing away, the house looks great.  Or as good as it can at the moment.  I'm having the wooden soffits replaced with vinyl and new guttering as well this summer.  So, the old wood has some bad places in it and a couple of pieces have been taken down in anticipation that I would have replaced them with new wood.  I even have the new wood cut and painted and ready to put in place, but I don't want to mess with it again, so I'm going with vinyl.  Once that is done, the outside of the house will be completely maintenance free.  Yay!

Yet another house has been listed for sale on my block.  Out of nine homes on my block, only one hasn't been on the market since I moved in 5 years ago this summer.  I'm starting to take it personally!

I hope that everyone is having a relaxing summer.  I'm teaching summer school, and looking forward to that being over on July 1.

I'll post pics of the house next door that's for sale soon.  Would you be my neighbor?

Quote of the Day

As I finish up my sixth year representing my church at Annual Conference, I am reminded of a wonderful quote that I want to share today.

“Do all the good you can,

By all the means you can,

In all the ways you can,

In all the places you can,

At all the times you can,

To all the people you can,
As long as ever you can.”

- John Wesley

Have a great Monday!