Mr. Garner Goes To Washington

On Friday, December 19, I accomplished something that before this year would've seemed unlikely: walking a half-marathon. To be clear, I didn't participate in an actual marathon. But I did walk 13.1 miles. Perspective on this begins in 2012 when Kim and a friend trained and walked in the Baltimore Maranthon . This was a huge and wonderful accomplishment! We were all very proud. For Christmas that year, Santa put in both Kim and my stockings entries into the 2013  Baltimore Maranthon . It was on like Donkey Kong.

Finding this video yesterday and the other variations of skits similar to it reminded me of the power of drama. Such a simple skit coupled with a powerful song from Lifehouse creates an unforgettableimage of Christ's love. Yesterday, after watching a few versions, I sobbed. Full on ugly cry. Was it due to my gratefulness of Jesus's love for me? Was it my astonishment of how much He also loves you? Maybe it was the vivid picture that no matter how far we stray from Jesus, He is faithful...waiting for you and me. And once we fix our eyes on Him, He'll hold back the tidal waves of evil in the world because He has overcome them.

This is a sponsored post written by me on behalf of Zyrobotics, LLC for IZEA . All opinions are 100% mine. It's sad to think that some of you reading this have never heard of or played Space Invaders. Ah, the memories of playing that game at the mall arcade (something else long gone)! Sigh. Now, multiple game platforms exist and few games are more convenient than those playable via apps on your phone. With a wink at the classic Space Invaders approach, Turtle Invaders is a new app for younger children and children with special needs. I downloaded it and took it for a spin.

One of the things I love about the web is finding fascinating people and resources. Last week, a video was shared on my Facebook feed. You can see the first thing that I saw below, a young girl showing words on card. Like me, you've probably seen dozens of these. I chose to watch it out of curiosity. The video wasn't just a story of a young woman growing in her faith, it was also a call to action. A challenge to love people first, regardless of their choices or if they agree with you. At the video's end was apparently the girl's online identity in white text over a black: iEmanuella

Last weekend, I was called out to take the #ALSIceBucketChallenge by a friend. The following week, Georgia was called out by a friend to take the challenge. While I had a week to fulfill my challenge, G was given the typical 24 hours. We made her deadline but not before it had gotten nearly too dark to record outside. G and I agreed we'd "dunk" each other. We also discussed changing things up a bit and not donating to ALS. Instead, we chose to donate a scholarship to Girls Grace Adventure which is a discipleship oriented program for 2nd through 5th grade girls. GGA takes place at Grace Community Church in Fulton, MD , and it seeks to help girls grow deeper in their relationship with Christ, grow closer in relationships with other girls, and grow in abilities to reach out in Christ's love to communities. GGA meets on alternating Wednesdays from late September through early May.

An unusual event happened Monday around 6pm, and I'm curious how you would interpret the event. I arrived at the BP gas station in Maple Lawn and immediately noticed a man talking to another woman at a gas pump. By her body language she wasn't very receptive to what he was sharing. By his voice, he seemed sincere and somewhat desperate. As I turned off my car's engine and finished a text on my phone, the man walked over to a woman at the pump in front of me and began sharing his story with her. As I listened to his words, I considered just staying in my car or even driving away. For a moment, that sad, natural reaction to someone interrupting my routine bubbled up. After all, I was only there to get gas and leave, not to have someone approach me with something to sell or asking for a handout.

I will miss you soooo much! G left me a note on the back of my left hand before she went to Kentucky for two weeks. The star is obvious but I'm not to sure what's on the left. Kinda looks like a shark now. :)

When I first tweeted on August 23, 2008, as @webmonkeydc it was the result of @mheerema nudging me a few times. Then, I had been working for AOL for a couple months after a four year tour at WUSA9 in DC. Coding was a daily activity as was leaning new coding techniques. Thus, my Twitter handle fit. However, there comes a time when  social media skin needs to be shed.

My baby girl is 10 today. I swallow hard at the fact her single digits are gone forever. What a blessing it's been to be her dad these past 10 years! I missed out on much of her first year of life due to my working at WUSA9 in DC. Moving Kim and Georgia to Maryland happened just before her first birthday. Since then, I couldn't have imagined the sweet, caring, nurturing, creative, talented, bold, hilarious, witty, stubborn, debating, persistent, and beautiful young girl she would become.

Few things compare to a morning stroll upon a wooded trail. Patuxent Trails are perfect for walking, running, or biking. Although these trails are less than a five minute drive, I only started consistently using them in May after a six month break from my exercise routine. Yeah, six months.

As I sat in the Chick-fil-A drive-through line, a child's voice caught my attention. The boy sounded as if he were pleading to his mother about something. Looking over my right shoulder, I could see a woman, a young boy, and a young girl walking to a newer model Honda van. The kids each had balloon animals given to them by a local artist inside the store. The pleading seemed to relate to not wanting to leave the store but I wasn't entirely certain of that. Lowering my passenger window, the audio was clearer. "Shut up! You're embarrassing me!" My heart sank. Telling a child to shut up is bad enough but clearly this woman was more concerned about the people around her and their opinion.  She mentioned another sentence about the need to leave and that the children were causing a scene. Take a breath...

After three months, several tiny holes in two bedroom ceilings, multiple failed techniques, falling from a ladder and nearly breaking my hand, and wasting $625 with Home Paramount - a squirrel was caught in our attic in less than a day. Borrowing a Havahart trap from a friend, baiting it with peanut butter, and placing it in the attic on the afternoon of February 13 the next morning we had a squirrel. Yup, on Valentine's Day we caught the little varmint. Here's where any rational person would ask: Why didn't you do that from the start? Well, like millions of men before me, at the time my approach seemed like a good idea. Plus, guys often don't ask for help and borrow things as a last resort. Or at least that's the way I operate. Now, left to my own devices I would've water-boarded that squirrel into telling me the location of the secret Rebel base. Or at least revealing if there were any other squirrels in my attic. Since we had 17 inches of snow outside, ...

It's a bit unfathomable to me that I've had squirrels in my attic for three months. Three. Months. Since late November, we've heard the random scratching that have produced two small holes in the ceiling of G's closet, two in her bedroom, and three tiny holes in our bedroom. It's only expected and reasonable that friends and family would be questioning, "Whatever happened with that squirrel?" 2013 ended with me signing a contract with Home Paramount Pest Control. We've used them since 2006 for termite control and have been pleased with that service. Since we first heard the squirrel, I debated - mostly with myself - about using a company to get rid of these furry fiends. Dropping around $500 just seemed rather unreasonable, especially when methods of these companies appeared to consist only of setting traps outdoors and not actually going into the attic, flushing them out, and sealing the breeches in the house.