GO OUTSIDE!!!!!

Get ready to go outside tonight. I don't care that it is freezing cold in your town. There is something amazing occurring tonight. Something that hasn't happened in about four hundred years. Something that won't happen again for another eighty years.

The TOTAL LUNAR ECLIPSE is TONIGHT!!!

The show should start at 11:33 pm Arizona time.

Drag your kids out of bed! Drag yourself out of bed! It is sure to be amazing.  Just cross your fingers that the clouds don't block the view.

Seriously people! You have to get out of bed and see this. It will be such a wonderful experience to have. Rose is currently putting together her telescope so that we can get a better view when the moon turns red!

That's right...RED!

You absolutely do not want to miss this. So set your alarm clock.

We're going to start watching earlier than 11:33 pm. We want to see the entire shift from Full Moon to Red Moon and Back.

What a marvelous planet we live on!

Return to the Family

My dear sister, together with her partners, has launched the 2011 Blogging Campaign.

Okay, first of all I have to say, it sounds absolutely crazy saying that about my sister! I mean, she's my sister...a regular person. To the ordinary onlooker she appears to be only a Mom, crafter, and hair guru. But just like Clark Kent and Kara Zor-El, she has another side-a super side. It's a bit unreal sometimes to realize what a big name in blogging she is.

As I was saying, my sister has launched the 2011 Blogging Campaign.

The theme is "Return to the Family".

She introduces the Campaign by stating:

"In today’s world, the family unit is often discounted, and even overlooked, so we are calling for a revolution. We would like to invite you to return to YOUR family, by using these two steps: 1) having regular family dinners and 2) having uplifting art in your home."

I completely agree with these two principles!

I am a firm believer in having regular family meals. We eat breakfast and dinner together every day. It is a time to grow together as a family. We use this time to talk about our days. We listen as family members cheerfully tell of the good things that have happened that day. We talk about the trials they passed through and discuss ways to overcome them in the future. We plan for future activities. And sometimes we just try to see who can tell the funniest joke. No matter the topic, we grow together and strengthen our familial bonds.

And I have always felt that beautiful, uplifting art was an integral part in changing a house into a home. At some point, one of the general authorities had stated that every LDS home needed Five pictures to truly make it a Gospel-Centered Home:

1) A picture of Christ

2) A picture of the Temple

3) A picture of your Family, must include Children!

4) A picture of their Heritage: Grandparents, Great-Grandparents, etc.

5) A picture of the Prophet

I used to have one or more of all these pictures. In our last move my Temple picture broke and I have yet to replace it. And I still haven't hung my picture of President Monson. I love the man and support him as the prophet. It's just that putting up his picture requires taking down President Hinckley's picture. I just haven't been able to part with it yet. Maybe I'll just hang President Monson next to President Hinckley. Hmmm...  Decisions, Decisions.

As part of their campaign they teamed with artist Liz Lemon Swindle** to provide Christ-centered art for the project. I'm still going through all her paintings,trying to decide which one I want Hubby to get me for my birthday. ;)

Anyhoo, I think that this is a wonderful program! They're trying to get the word out to everyone. So I'm doing my part in this little corner of the blogosphere. I hope you'll take time to check it out.

**Isn't it great that her name is "Liz Lemon"! Haha! When I read that name my interest was sparked immediately. Of course,being the nerd I am, I was thinking more along the lines of Liz Lemon as played by Tina Fey in 30 Rock. I was quite surprised to see pictures of Christ when I followed the link.

Sonic Screwdriver!

One of my favorite blogs to read was The Park Bench. It was a gathering place for nerds to go for all the latest news. The author has gotten busy with life and not posted for a while, which means I've had to troll the internet myself to keep abreast of all things science and sci-fi. I have to say, I am not anywhere near as good as Liz. Science news is often buried under the flashy celebrity gossip. And the Sci-fi nuggets I manage to find are, more often than not, fake. It can be quite discouraging. But as the true nerd that I am, I keep plugging along.

Imagine my surprise and delight when I came across this story! This AOL.news story is the U.S. version of this story for the U.K.'s The Telegraph. They both report that a team of British engineers has created a gadget that can manipulate objects via ultrasonic sound waves! Can you believe it!  I am so excited! What a marvelous development! It will be fun to watch and see how their new tool develops.

Meanwhile, the Doctor Who Christmas Special is just weeks away. A trailer was released, but is "not available in my area". That's because I live in America and not the U.K. *sigh*

I really love America. It is a wonderful place to be. It truly is the greatest country. I'm happy to be here and wouldn't trade it for anything. But sometimes, when I know the Doctor is coming and I know that he'll arrive in the U.K. soon, but I'll still have to wait months to see him...well, sometimes I wish that I could live in the U.K. ;)

Luckily for me, though, some wonderful fan who feels sorry for us Americans will post the episode somewhere on the wide, wide web. Which takes me back to trolling the internet... Haha! Wish me luck.