Congratulations Missourians….we’ve been awarded the title of Most Sexually Adventurous State. Evidently thousands of horny Missourians and their interests in a variety of sexual techniques helped tip the scale in this 5 year long study conducted by the New Sex Institute in Beverly Hills.

On a related note…actually I don’t know how its related at all but I’m sure if I thought for awhile I could come up with something….there is a really interesting looking show about Dragons coming up next month on Animal Planet.

This past weekend a group of us went to see Because of Winn-Dixie. The movie turned out to be just what I hoped it would be. It was a fun, sweet family film that captured the essence of Kate DiCamillo’s award-winning novel. It had such great themes of love and hope and rebuilding after devastating grief. I was accompanied by members of my family as well as the Jimmy’s House clan. Half way through the movie Jimmy’s six year old daughter Lydia scooted onto my lap. After about half an hour of sitting up straight and devouring Twizzlers she decided that she needed to get more comfortable. She turned this way and that, much like a cat trying to find just the right spot. I could tell she was having difficulty and I had my suspicions about why this was occuring. After a few minutes my suspicions were confirmed when she turned to me, patted me on the stomach, and said, “Big belly”. I have to admit, it was quite comical. Nothing like the innocence of a small child to remind you that you need to get your 36 year-old body back into shape! Between that and the uncontrollable coughing fits I had at work last week that brought with them spontaneous, explosive farts (much to my embarrassment and, I’m sure that of my administrative assistant) I had a really good week!

Easter is a month away, but just to get you in the spirit of Peter Cottontail’s impending approach I submit to you this link found by our own James D. (Turn on your sound for the full effect)

And just so you cat lovers won’t feel rejected, here’s this.

First off, Happy Birthday to the first and most kick-butt President we’ve ever had, George Washington.

Head on over to SciFi Chick’s site to take the “What planet are you from” quiz…I’m from Neptune. I always knew I was from outer space…now I know exactly where in space I’m from.

Check out the new and improved Dancing Tarts site, now with banner made by yours truly. I need to resize it again as its not quite right but looks okay for my first attempt at doing something like this for someone else. The tarts are my wife and three of her friends from work who decided to do a group blog (he,he…I called my wife a ‘tart’). The name is taken from a title that I gave a post when I had just started blogging.

Ah…its great to be back to work! (Can you feel the sarcasm?)

Today was one of those days where the feeling of melancholy was just heavy. I’m sure the bland weather had alot to do with it as did the fact that today was sort of a free-day (because of the holiday), a day with no specific pressure to do anything and so consequently it was a day with alot of time for thinking. Usually I love melancholy days and today wasn’t necessarily any different and yet it was. I’ve always been the kind of person who has internal conversations but every since I’ve started blogging, my internal monologue has been going 100 miles per hour….talking to me about commiting more time to creativity…drawing, making things, taking pictures, practicing with Photoshop. Its not that the voice is overbearing, its just getting more insistent and the desire to step out and do something different is growing.

What stops me from embracing these desires is that same thing that has always stopped me…fear. I’ve always struggled with the two things that I believe are necessary to doing anything well…the need to practice and the courage to face failure. I’ve never been one to enjoy practicing or studying. I’ve also always had this irrational fear that if I were to ever step out and begin using my talents in earnest that something would happen to me and I wouldn’t be around to see the completion of whatever I had started. It can be comfortable to just stay where you are and not listen to your heart. While I’m sitting around doing nothing I can harbor the dreams that maybe buried somewhere within me is a talented artist or writer or photographer…..those dreams can be very comforting because as long as they are in my heart there is always hope…always possibility. Having the courage to attempt to make those dreams a reality brings with it the possibility of discovering that I’m not talented in those areas….or that my talents have limits that I’m too afraid to face up to. I also worry about having an inability to handle too many things at one time. I want to be a good father, a good husband, a good friend, a good employee, a good supervisor, a good Christian. Those things take time and I’m not convinced I do any of them well and the idea of adding anything else into the equation can be terrrifying.

So that’s where I’m at. I have a growing feeling of discontent with where I’m at as far as exercising my creativity and an internal voice that’s has gotten more bold since I’ve actually been listening to it lately. Its a hard place to be but also a place that is fraught with possibility. Will anything be different this time? This isn’t the first time that I’ve felt this way and at the same time blogging has opened up a door within me that it seems like I’ve been holding closed for a long time. I’m not sure what tomorrow will bring but I’m open to grow and change and see what happens. I’m on the edge and I pray that I have the courage to jump. Thanks for letting me share….Happy Monday!!!

On a related note I’m curious if any of you bloggers feel the same way about your own internal voice…..I find it very odd that I’m just constantly having these conversations with myself and mulling over things and the possibility of turning them into blog material…its fascinating and quite surprising.