Here's an easy and fairly quick meal that all of us really enjoy here in the Lathrop household.  I developed it after Simon and I ate shepherd's pie at the Scottish Festival in Tulsa.  Here's the Americanized version we came up with:

I have attached a video of Joshua shooting skeet and Dee and Mike's place on Christmas Eve 2007.  Joshua and I had a blast hunting in the woods on this same day.....  I apologize for the wind noise....

http://www.box.net/shared/static/ku9hgoow00.wmv

A man was being tailgated by a stressed-out woman on a busy boulevard. Suddenly, the light turned yellow, just in front of him. He did the right thing, stopping at the crosswalk, even though he could have beaten the red light by accelerating through the intersection.

The tailgating woman hit the roof -- and the horn -- and screamed in frustration as she missed her chance to get through the intersection on his tail.

She was still in mid-rant when she heard a tap on her window and looked up into the face of a very serious police officer. The officer ordered her to exit her car with her hands up. He took her to the police station where she was searched, fingerprinted, photographed, and placed in a cell.

After a couple of hours, a jailer approached the cell and opened the door. She was escorted back to the booking desk where the arresting officer was waiting with her personal effects.

“I’m very sorry for the mistake,” he tells her. “You see, I pulled up behind your car while you were blowing your horn, flipping the guy off in front of you, and cussing a blue streak at him.

“I noticed the ‘Choose Life’ license plate holder, the ‘What Would Jesus Do?’ bumper sticker, the ‘Follow Me to Sunday School’ bumper sticker, and the chrome-plated Christian fish emblem on the trunk. So naturally, I assumed you had stolen the car.”

I assume we're all growing tired of the criticism of the holidays, and how we're all expected to celebrate in way that doesn't offend anyone else religiously.  Most people claim that they just want to celebrate "Christmas" or "Xmas" the way it was originally intended.  However, all of this hoopla seems to come from the misconception that December 25th was originally a Christian holiday to acknowledge the birth of Jesus. 

The fact is, Jesus was born in March, not December.  And, the church didn't celebrate his birthday for several centuries, only his death.  When the church gradually began to develop a calendar commemorating the events of his life, they decided to begin an annual birthday celebration.  Unfortunately, the church had neglected to keep track of Jesus' actual date of birth, although it has since been loosely determined.  The date of December 25 was selected "at random."  How convenient that much older religions already celebrated Yule around this time.  Again, keep in mind that the Christian holidays fall on the holidays of ancient religions.  Coincidence? 

And yes, all of this info can be verified.  Go ahead.  Be open minded and research it yourself...

Knowing the facts, I'm ALL FOR celebrating YULE the way it was intended, long before modern religion contorted it.  A quick history lesson:

A celebration of the winter solstice has been held since time immemorial in the Northern Hemisphere. Throughout the ages the festival has had many names. It is certain that a mid-winter festival called Yule was celebrated in the Nordic countries well before the year 1000. Though challenged by some scholars, the fact that Yule/Jól was celebrated in Iceland and throughout the Northern Hemisphere well before the advent of Christianity is now widely accepted. The exact date, or dates, that Yule was celebrated is not certain, but it was probably connected to the full moon nearest the winter solstice. The calendar has been changed many times since, and it is impossible to reconcile the references to an exact date.

This only scratches the surface, but there's more info out there...

I just want to go on record as stating that Simon Lathrop is the greatest driver in the world and I fully believe he saved our lives yesterday!  Here's what happened...

Simon and I left for work early so we could go to the gym at lunch. It was still dark outside.  So, we're driving down HW 33, which is a small two lane "highway" between Guthrie and Stillwater.  Out of nowhere emerges a dog.  A black dog.  In the middle of the road.  And he's just standing there motionless.  I'm convinced he was either retarded or attempting doggie suicide.

Simon swerves into the oncoming lane to avoid mowing down the dog.  There's an eighteen wheeler coming toward us.  He quickly steers the car back into our lane, only we're perpindicular to the road.  I can feel the car pitch clockwise.  Simon corrects.  I feel the car pitch counter-clockwise, on the edge of fish-tailing.  

I realized later that my hand was on Simon's leg, squeezing in fear, while repeating over and over again, "Honey, honey, HONEY, HONEY!!!"  We were flying toward the ditch, and all I could think was, "I don't want to go out like this!"  I was just about to panic when Simon righted the car, and we were once again traveling smoothly toward our destination.

I was rattled, to say the least.  But, Simon was calm, cool and collected.  He even giggled, then comforted me when he saw the terror on my face.  And, just let me say, ladies and gentlemen, he did all of this with a cup of coffee in his hand and HE NEVER SPILLED A DROP!!!  Incredible!  How lucky am I?

Hi everyone! I am typing in a new font. It's time for another book club post! This book is called Home and other big. fat lies.  It is about a girl named Whitney and is a orphan. She is going to a new foster home again.  But this time, it is out in the middle of now where. Eveyone is low because the logging company shut down (If you want to know why, you have to read it). Everything is about logging. Until the Might Termite (Whitney) arrives. She likes to make a good first impression at new schools. Her new family has a son, Striker, who loves the forest. Striker telling Termite to go back up to the house after they get off the school bus. But the sicho dog Babe (He is not really sicho, that's just what Whitney thinks of him), will just keep barking at her. What is she supposed to do? Well, she waited until Striker went way into the forest. When Whitney saw a giant tree, she decided it will be called Big Momma. But what about the animal bones. the candles, at the trunk of Big Momma. A couple of weeks later, the Logging company is back in business! Can Termite and Striker save the forest? Read the book of you want to find out.