evpastor's Xanga

The Salish... Wow

Fri, 04 Jul 2008 18:10:48 GMT

With stunning generosity, the folk from my office presented Laurie and me a gift certificate for the Salish Lodge at Christmas. We took advantage of this amazing gift yesterday.

Stopping for a late lunch in Snohomish, we took the scenic route to Snoqualmie, through Monroe, Duvall, and Carnation. We checked in shortly after 4:00; the room was great with a big jetted tub, wood burning fireplace, and very comfortable king size bed.

Since the gift came with spa treatments, Laurie booked a facial for herself and a massage for me. We had an hour to relax in the library with a cup of tea. I was a little up tight about the massage, never having done anything like that before. The spa was conveniently located on our floor, so we showed up early as suggested in the brochure. There was plenty of time for a soak with another cup of tea. The soaking pools with a view of the trees outside were amazing.

It took me a long time to get into the whole "spa" thing... like 74 seconds.

The massage was unbelievable. Head to toe... hot towels and hot rocks... why did it take me 42 years to figure out just how remarkable something like this could be??!?!!

I hit the steam room for a while after the massage (I love steam) and then Laurie caught up with me, glowing from her facial.

Dinner was off the charts. Laurie started with the crab and tomato bisque; I had the sunchoke creme (creamy mushroom soup). Laurie literally cleaned her plate of the halibut entree. I had the buffalo filet; I think it may have been the best preparation of red meat that I've ever had (and I've had some extraordinary steaks). For desert we shared a plate of dark chocolates and a selection of ice cream. It was an amazing experience.

The gift included the famous Salish Lodge Country Breakfast. Four courses of amazing food that started six hours ago and I'm still full. Scones, muffins, pancakes, fruit, oatmeal, coffee, juice, eggs, sausage, ham, bacon, and more... all with a view of the beautiful setting with mist rising from the falls.

It was a 24 hours that Laurie and I will remember forever. What a fantastic gift!

Japanese Learning "Essential" English

Fri, 20 Jun 2008 15:07:44 GMT

Everything a young Japanese girl needs to know should she be so foolish to visit the US.

Servanthood

Wed, 18 Jun 2008 21:14:24 GMT

Checkout my post at www.danneary.com and leave some feedback.

The Metastatic Gaffe

Mon, 26 May 2008 12:50:54 GMT

Obama seems like a great guy... he's simply wrong, fueled by his apparent naivety that our society isn't really threatened, and that we simply need to talk to people to get the good in them to emerge. Check out Krauthammer's article at http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2008/05/post_40.html

Dennis & Laura on the Same Screen... Wow!

Mon, 26 May 2008 01:31:41 GMT

Wednesday, April 30, 2008

Wed, 30 Apr 2008 00:12:07 GMT

I've blogged a bit at http://leadershipcommentary.blogspot.com about being served or being followed as a leader.

Slanted?

Mon, 28 Apr 2008 01:09:51 GMT

We went, as a family, to see Expelled (really enjoyed it… made us both think and laugh). I went to the Seattle Times’ Web site to look up theaters and times (my goto place every time I want to see a movie… which would be about once or twice a year). I wasn’t all that surprised to read the lead line on their unbiased description: “A highly slanted documentary about evolution - or as the movie refers to it, "Darwinism" - and how its proponents have shut off any sort of debate about whether our origins depend, not on random mutation, but a Creator.” Of course it would be slanted; documentaries like these generally have some agenda to push.

Now reflecting on the movie, I no longer agree; I can’t really say that it was slanted at all. No Bible thumping. No jamming any ideas down anybody’s throat, theological ideas or otherwise. The main point of the movie is that it appears that powerful scientists refuse to behave scientifically when it comes to the origin of life.

So… where does the Times get off on declaring the movie slanted? In order to call something slanted, I suppose one ought to have a sense of plumb. And, I suppose that the Times’ writer decided long ago that Darwinism is a perfectly aligned fact of science.

Check out the movie and decide for yourself.

Snow!

Sat, 19 Apr 2008 15:03:24 GMT

1/2 foot of heavy wet snow in April... broke every record here in Seattle. Last Saturday it was high 70s and I was on a golf course. This Saturday I had to call my ol' pal Ted to work on a tree that toppled over because of the saturated ground and the weight of the snow. Weird.

Twitter

Sun, 13 Apr 2008 22:16:36 GMT

I've been messing around with social networking sites this evening. "Twitter" seems like a whole 'nother level of intrusion.

www.twitter.com/dtneary

follow dtneary at http://twitter.com

Monday, April 07, 2008

Mon, 07 Apr 2008 14:41:15 GMT

Could it be that Psalm 4:1a (just those first seven words) are prophetic for all husbands trying to reach wives on a mobile phone... or maybe parents trying to reach their kids???