Many posts all at once...(updated)

Ok, I admit it. I haven't posted in way too long. I really appreciate all/both of you that told me to post again. I also admit that I am having an unbelievably good Friday night. Yes, I am here at Lowe's (Ryan, not the Home Depot knock off) blogging, while watching an MMA card that is streaming live on Sherdog.com (that includes Ken Shamrock, who has lost 7 of his last 8 fights, fighting a dude who is 6'8" tall and weighs 385 pounds...and has lost 5 of HIS past 6 fights), and watching the NBA rookie/sophomore All Star game (kind of), the whole time eating pizza. There are some other things I'd rather be doing...just not many.
Anyhow, I have been super busy and have had many posts in my mind. Thus, I will put them here in quasi-list fashion. If you want to hear more about any of the items, let me know...I will expand.
*The last two days for me have been "No thinking" days. I have had such little sleep that I do not allow myself to think. I don't mean to not think at all. I'm talking about thinking about the future, about where things go from here, how I'm going to provide for my family and what God's plan entails on a detail basis. Being so tired I would spiral downward into negativity and cynicism. I tell you what, it's been nice.
*Speaking of thinking, I have found out lately that I think a lot more than most people. Not better mind you, just more. The other day Rachel and I were talking and after Rachel talked for about 30 seconds I asked her if she wanted to hear what I was thinking about while she was talking (I had told her about my hyper thinking). Of course I was thinking about what she was talking about but much more. It took me 3 minutes to explain all that I was thinking about for those 30 seconds.
*I would like to thank Alex Rodriguez for his steroid use. I went almost six moths without hearing the words, "TAINTed sample". Tee hee hee. I laugh every time.
*Further, why is the identity of the source that outed A-Rod's steroid use so protected while the actual test was supposed to be "anonymous"? Shouldn't that be protected?
*The stimulus package is a slap in the face to all Americans...except those who want big socialized government.
*24 and Lost are ridiculously great shows. They look at the phrase "jump the shark" and say, "We are jump the shark".
*This MMA show "WarGods" is partially sponsored by "Wasabi".
*Michael Phelps gets high in November and is ridiculed (appropriately). Santonio Holmes gets high in November and becomes Super Bowl MVP (...also appropriately).
*The Grammy's confirmed, once again, that I (and we, if you follow Christ) are not from this world and do not belong here.
*My Saturn has over 108,000 miles on it. A good buy.
*A senator tried to add an amendment to the "stimulus" bill that would mandate that all construction workers for any of the projects had to be United States citizens. They wouldn't even bring it to a vote. Yes, union workers, your Democratic elected leaders love illegal immigrants more than they love you.
*There is a huge difference between being broken personally and going through a Godly brokenness . The first, you are sorry for what you've lost...personally. The second, you are sorry for what you have done and how it affects God. A Godly brokenness is the only one that leads to repentance.
*Seek to understand how you've hurt someone long before you ask for forgiveness.
*The real reason for this recession/depression is simple. Government forced on greedy banks/mortgage firms to relax regulations on lending. "Owning a home is a right" they basically told them. They lent to people they wouldn't normally lend to (people who couldn't afford the loans). When they defaulted (didn't pay) the banks got screwed. The government then bailed them out...with your money. Other industries saw this and said, "Hey, we want money too." and it started. With this stimulus bill the government is borrowing money to fix past mistakes (and spending a ton on ridiculous pet projects). Have you ever heard of people paying off one credit card with another? Ever heard of paying one bill and letting others go? Have you ever heard of this being a good idea? No, it's horrible and every financial analyst will tell you not to do it. Yet, this is exactly what our government is doing...and worse.
*The Onion News Network (I think they are new but they have some good reports) reports that the real cause of the recession is that everyone gave their money to Obama's campaign fund...that's funny.