Friday, September 30, 2005

Breaking my new toy in...

I am blogging in my living room from my BRAND NEW computer... Sydney and I purchased new Inspiron 700m's so, we both have personal computers. Exciting. Now I can watch TV and blog all at the same time. One of my favorite things in life is purchasing a new computer, setting it up and enjoying it for the first time. Life is good. Now, I have no excuse for not blogging and keeping up on others blogs.

Thursday, September 29, 2005

The WOTD...

The Word of the Day: Tired.

First thing that comes to your mind.

Meet Benji.

(Not the dog, Jes... From this point on, when you think of "Benji"... you will no longer think of the dog... but of the following pictures.)


Mom and Benji... Minutes after delivery... okay...
not minutes... but about 12 hours later





Another Angle of Little Ben.




YET... Another Angle..
(Ya'll asked for pictures...)



Sleeping!



He's AWAKE!



Jakers, Micker Makers and Benji



Here are "the girls"
...swooning over him.



I always take about 50 pictures
of the same thing... here's another.



Asian Ben... he kinda looks
oriental in this picture anyway...


My beautiful wife and Bug Bug.



Our family is now complete.
And you know what? It's perfect.


Wednesday, September 28, 2005

FALSE ALARM!!

I guess September 27th was not the day the little guy would arrive...

BECAUSE...

He was born at 1:47 am on September 28th!!
He is here... finally!

His name you ask??

Benjamin Thomas...

No I am not kidding... we had the name Benjamin picked out long before this blog... and who knew the Lord was sending us a boy...? That said, I am sure our blogging family will see the humor in naming my son after my alias. I am expecting a little razzing... actually, I will be disappointed if you don't. LOL. Sydney and I talked about it and in order to keep us straight on this blog... I will continue to be "Ben" and Benjamin Thomas will be known either as "Benji" or "Junior."

Anyway, pictures? Well... I snapped a couple of pictures at the hospital and then OUR CAMERA went on the fritz... so I brought it home and had to smack it around a bit... it seems to be working right now... so I will have to see whether it will work tomorrow when I go back.

So, pray that our camera works... so I can get some good pictures of Benji uploaded for all to see.

YES.... Sydney was really pregnant and YES she did just have a baby named Benjamin. NO we are not making this up. lol.

Life is good! The Lord continues to bless us!

Tuesday, September 27, 2005

TODAY MIGHT BE THE DAY!

Sydney is on her way into town... Looks like he might arrive today!

Keep us in your prayers!

WOO HOO!

Jealousy rears its ugly head again...

Is it "it's" ugly head or "its" ugly head? I ALWAYS goof that word up. It's my achillies heal in grammar.

Anyway, I must admit that I am coveting... and that is not a good thing because "thou shalt not covet, dangit!" (Dangit was added for effect... the word dangit is not in the original ten commandments.) Anyway, I am admitting that I am jealous right now... and it bites. I have met some really cool friends thru my blog and I see all of these people living in a land far from Minnesota... getting together, playing games, eating cookies and drinking pop, meeting each other and making fun of each other... and I am jealous. Don't get me wrong... I am happy for my friends that they are eating, drinking and being merry... but for Sydney and I, we are left out. Not a good deal... of course the response I will get from this post is "Move.To.Texas." Which sounds good in theory... but in reality is not going to happen. I can't imagine not living in Minnesota.... where the fishing is great... Snow is the norm... there are no poisionous bugs or snakes... No earthquakes or hurricanes...Just a few west nile carrying mosquitoes and a tornado every now and then... That's all we have to worry about.

LONG... SUMO (even) introduction to the following thought... do you find that you covet alot, or is it just me? The Lord has blessed us with a group of friends up here that we "roll with." This group is the same group that we have marriage retreats with and a fantasy football league with... so we are not short on friends by any means... but why is it that it's not enough? Why is it that we want it all... we see other friends getting together somewhere else and we get jealous... because we are missing out. Someone gets something new... a new car, or pickup... or four wheeler... and we think, "Wow. I wish I could get something new like that..." We are a people who are never satisfied. Why is it that we are not satisfied with where the Lord has placed us?

Just a thought...

So, in order to get over my jealousy... I just tell myself. They didn't REALLY have any fun... and Eddie PROBABLY wasn't that funny. And Katie's cookies... I am SURE they were really bland... nothing special. The chocolate brown color of Amstaff's walls were IN ALL PROBABILITY really not that warm and inviting. Jes was ALMOST CERTAINLY very quiet and reserved. And when Cav asked what a "Toe Be Gone" was... I KNOW I wouldn't have laughed until my eyes watered. So I tell myself anyway...

So Jealous.

The WOTD...

The Word of the Day is: Cookies

First thing that comes to your mind.

Monday, September 26, 2005

A typical Monday...

Sydney and I rented 2 movies this weekend... Fever Pitch and The Pacifier. We didn't get around to watching the pacifier... so I am now watching it while I am at work. I have it running in a little box in the corner of my screen. Technology is crazy. I can work and watch a movie all at the same time. Actually, I am blogging AND watching a movie while I am working...

Is this a bad thing??

*** Update***

Movie's over. Pretty good movie. If you haven't seen it... it's not too shabby.

The WOTD...

The Word of the Day is: Light.

First thing that comes to your mind.

Friday, September 23, 2005

The sum of a life spent...

The sum of one's life...

Yesterday I read a post over at Hula Doula's place called the Beaded Purse that really got me thinking. What will sum up my life? The fact that I will be gone someday boggles my mind. (What? The world won't stop when I leave? Crazy thought.) But when I do leave this world, how will my life be summed up by the people that love me? For sure they will talk about:

My passion for the Green Bay Packers...
A quick wit with humor always springing from my lips.
My love of the Sydney and the kids...

Different people will sum up my life differently depending on the level and depth they knew me.

Of course one hope's they don't sum up your life negatively and that they do see what meant the most to you...

For example:

Will my kids remember that I am quick to anger? Will they say that I was great when I was in a good mood, but watch out when he was serious... because he would become angry easier. Will they remember how much I love them? Will they sum up my life as a Dad who took the time to be goofy with them?

Will co-workers be able to add to this sum of a life spent by saying that he was a man of principle. He was a God-fearing man that wore his faith on his sleeve, or will he say that he was a man that was a crab depending on the day?

Sydney... how will the one who knows me the best sum up my life? Will she reflect on my distant character. Will she understand what she means to me and how blessed I was to be her husband? Or will she too sum up my life as man whose eyes were quick to burn with fire. Quick to anger and slow to love?

I know how I would sum up my life:

A man with faults... who loved the Lord. Who continually strove to improve... A guy who hurt his family at times... but was humble enough to ask for forgiveness. A man who was not even close to perfect. A guy who got stressed out easily about money and providing for his family. Someone, who continued to challenge himself through personal goals. A man that easily got bored with the routine of life. A man who loved enjoying life... his wife, his kids... watching the Packers... full of humor but at times quick to anger.

A man with faults... but saved by grace none-the-less.

The good thing people...? There's still time to change the sum.

The WOTD

The Word of the Day is: Shoes

Remember... first thing that comes to your mind.

Thursday, September 22, 2005

And so I introduce to you... WOTD

I have decided that I will bring back something I did on my old site before MiM. And since it was my idea... I decided that I would re-introduce it to my MiM followers.

The post idea was the Word of the Day. Otherwise know as: WOTD

Each day, I will post one word. It could be anything. What you need to do is respond by saying the first thing that comes to your mind. Doesn't matter what it is... just blurt it out.

So from now on... you will for sure have one post. Usually 2 posts. This does two things... one, you will look forward to visiting my site to see what the word of the day is... your day will not be complete with out the WOTD. And two, it will ensure that I always post at least once.

*This idea has been patented by "Ben" of MiM. Any infringements on this patent without prior consent, will be prosecuted.*


Today's WOTD is: Best.

Tuesday, September 20, 2005

My crazy life... er um... wife.

I ALMOST forgot about this post....

A recent conversation with my wife as I was looking out the Kitchen window...


Me: "It looks like somebody drove through our front lawn."

Sydney said: "It was me... I was chasing the dog with the van."

My response: *Left Eyebrow raised as I looked at her in bewilderment...* "What kind of trailer court do we live in?"

I didn't even ask why she was chasing the dog with the van. Sometimes I wonder about this person I call my wife... BUT, as long as she is not chasing me with the van... Life is Good... I think.

How can you mispell that?

Well, after a couple of weeks of waiting... I received my Passport back from the Indian embassy... The visa was in the passport and everything looked fine until... I saw it. They spelled my name wrong. And not my last name. How can you spell "Ben" wrong?? Okay... the name "Ben" is not on my passport or my Indian visa... but my real name is only four letters and it is a pretty common name... After all was said and done.... and I got over the initial frustration... I decided to give them the benefit of the doubt that in India, it ISN'T a common name... so that is why they mispelled it. Now... I am running short on time because I had to send my passport back to the Indian Embassy and then once I get it back, I then have to send it to the Nepali Embassy to get a visa from them... and I only have a little over a month before I leave. Not good. How do you say that in Hindi?

Monday, September 19, 2005

Perspective.

A shift in perspective... Life could look so much differently if only you moved a couple steps to the left or a couple of steps to the right. My friend Katie, who was inspired by a post of mine, wrote a post that inspired this post. (So I guess, you could say that another one of my posts... actually inspired this post. Funny.) ANYWAY... she inspired this post by explaining that nobody sees the same rainbow because each person looks at it from a slightly different angle and therefore the light reflects differently... thereby giving everyone their own personal rainbow. This also illustrates that a person's perspective is an individual thing. A life of bitterness and disillusion can be changed by making one small adjustment. The key is that if you are going to change your perspective... you must choose to change it. Whether you wish to change your world view by jumping on a plane and traveling acrossed the world to change your perspective... or whether you choose to change your perspective by taking a different route to work or changing your living room around so you are viewing life from a different perspective... Ultimately, you are making the choice to do so.

I have chosen to change my perspective in several areas lately. One such area is football. I am a die hard Green Bay Packers fan. Jake and I spend our Sunday afternoons watching the Pack... cheering them on. Eight years ago, I used to watch football and how my Monday morning went was dependent on how well the Packers did. Sad I know... but if the Pack would lose, then I would whip the remote on the couch in disgust and I would turn the TV off. I was literally ticked off. But for some reason, lately... although I still watch the Pack, I haven't let it get to me when they lose. If you ask Sydney, it is like I am a "changed man" compared to how I used to be. Maybe it is maturity... but when you think about it, maturity is nothing more than a change in perspective. Yesterday, this thought of changing my perspective occurred to me again... and really hit home... recently, I have been focusing on the future... the next job... rather than being content with where I am at right now. The Lord has placed me where I am today and I need to be open to this and okay with staying exactly right where I am if that is where He chooses to keep me. This thought alone has allowed me to wake up less stressed each day... knowing that the Lord has me where he wants me for this moment. Enjoy life even though it is not exactly where you would want to be... because God has a purpose for you, right where you are.

Amazing what a little shift in perspective will do to completely change how you experience life.

Friday, September 16, 2005

Mumbai and Kathmandu... Are you ready for Ben??

As I mentioned yesterday, I am heading to India and Nepal at the end of October. I work for a University in Minnesota as the Assistant Director for International Student Services. 30% of my responsibilities is to recruit international students. Every morning I log on to my computer and respond to inquiries about our university... Of course I have been given the charge of increasing our international student population. A year ago, I established a business relationship with a company in Nepal and since then, our numbers have begun to climb. As a result, we have gone from 160 international students two years ago, to 220 international students today. Although I must say that with that increase has come growing pains. This is largely a result of not having enough jobs on campus to employ all of these students. Also, it seems that this recruiting agency is telling students inaccurate information which gives them unrealistic expectations when they get here... so I am headed to Nepal to speak with the director of this recruiting agency to make sure he is telling our prospects the right things. Also, since I am over there... I will be stopping in Mumbai India. One of our former students has a few connections with some recruiting agencies over there, so we are going to try and increase our numbers from India. Over the last few years, we have only had about 2 or 3 Indian students. Current Statistics show that, other than China, India sends the most students to the US. Our perspective is: if this is the case, why do we only have 3 students from India then? So, I will be attempting to establish realationships with at least one agency in India. Besides this, I will be taking a few days to experience the culture and eat the food while simultaneously trying to avoid bacteria... thereby reducing my chances of experiencing dissentary.

Anyway... good times ahead as I become a world traveler.

Thursday, September 15, 2005

Exhibit A


This is what I am talking about.

I've got nothing... again.

But I am going to India and Nepal on October 30th...

Anybody want to hear about that?

*Disclaimer*

With work as busy as it is... I may have to leave you hanging till later today/tonight... That is if you want to hear about my ALL EXPENSE PAID trip.


(Well that and Sydney's a BED HOG.)

Tuesday, September 13, 2005

We know he's thinkin' it....

My name is Eddie Renz...

And I love Brooke Burke's Belly Button.

(Say that 20 times real fast.)

Choose.

Today, I choose You. I choose You like I have chosen no other. Although I have made mistakes in the past, You don't care about those... All You care about is that I choose You today. Some think this is too big of a task... They get overwhelmed by how much effort this will take for the rest of their life or what they will have to give up if they choose You. How it will effect their future, their friends. They attempt to focus on the peak when the base of the mountain is barely visable beneath the clouds. They attempt to focus on the peak rather than the first step directly in front of them. They focus on tomorrow or the implications for choosing You for the rest of their life... But You don't ask us to do that... You only give us today and Your only request is that we choose You.

So, this is my resolve... When darkness clouds my view, I choose You. When there is a glow on the morning horizon, I choose You. When there seems to be nothing exciting about an ordinary day, like today, I choose You. Each day, You give us a choice... Some for the first time... and for some You give the opportunity to choose every day for the rest of their life. Without any regard for tomorrow, TODAY, I choose You. I choose You, like I have never chosen You before. Above all You have given me, I choose You. Above all, I choose you. Its a choice You place before us every single day. Some choose to ignore, some choose to follow... but, in the end, we all have made our choice.

I choose You.

Choose you this day, whom you will serve... But as for me and my house we will serve the Lord.
Joshua 24:15

Friday, September 09, 2005

The perspective of a conservative...

If the late 1700's was considered the Age of Reason, then certainly the early 21st century will be known as the Age of the UnReasonable. How anybody can think we continue to live in a time of reason, to me, is unfathomable. With the direction our country seems to be shifting, in terms of morals and politics, it seems that reason has been tossed out the window. People tend to lean toward the fringe where laws are made based emotion rather then reasonable or logical thought. When things go wrong, or honest mistakes are made, reason is ignored so that blame can be placed. News is filled with blame placed on one political side or the other without any thought or respect of the otherside's point of view.

This has recently come into play with the press embarking on a fiendish, witch hunt because the federal government did not "respond soon enough" or they were "slow to react" after Katrina hit the New Orleans area. The Democrats are quick to blame Republicans and the President for a slow response, specifically implying that this apparent lack of response was because it was poor black people down there and not rich white Americans. (In all reality, I believe that it was an underperformance on behalf of the local and regional leadership, as they should have requested the federal government to enter the scene rather than standing around wondering when the federal government was going to arrive… it is a classic case of sovereign states rights… the federal government can not jump into the situation until they are invited… but that is a subject for another post.) I must say that I for one am a little fed up with this idea that conservatives can not be compassionate, or that just because republicans have a different political perspective than that of its counterpart, that we don’t care about people if they are from an African American background, Hispanic background, or from some other background other than European decent. The liberal left will scoff at this idea... but I would make the argument that if anybody is uncompassionate, it may very well be the liberal left. While many, including moderates, would think this thought as preposterous or ludicrous, I suggest that you give me an opportunity to apply a little reason to my thoughts before you immediately dismiss them based on the emotions you may be currently feeling right now. Of course these words for some will insight fury, or immediately place liberals on the defense, but hear me out. Thomas Pain in his introduction to the Age of Reason states,

“You will do me the justice to remember, that I have always strenuously supported the Right of every Man to his own opinion, however different that opinion might be to mine. He who denies to another this right, makes a slave of himself to his present opinion, because he precludes himself the right of changing it.”

I agree with Mr. Pain 100% and I request the same justice he requested of his audience back then. Civil discourse is always the best approach. Now when I say that the liberal left can be uncompassionate, what I am saying is that their emotions tend to rule their thoughts. While they feel like they are helping a situation, at times they are actually compounding the problem because they are following their emotions rather than using rational thought. For example, with the hurricane in the New Orleans area or any other natural disaster, after the storm has passed, I believe that even though one’s emotions may be saying, “Everybody jump in a car and go help…” restraint must be considered. Is this not compounding the problem if everybody jumps in a car and drives down to New Orleans before there is a sense of order or before there is a chance to formulate plan of attack? I heard this suggestion several times in the days immediately following the hurricane… and my thoughts were, “That’s insane, why would anybody try and do that… aren’t people trying to leave the area? Wouldn’t this just cause more problems?” Of course, I can’t fault those who are feeling like they “just want to do something personally to help others…” I would just argue that it is important to apply reason as you are attempting to be part of the solution. Its not that I don’t care about what happens to these people; however, I know that in a situation like this, if chaos is running ramped and there is no sense of order, then rushing to the scene will just make me part of the chaos.

Depending on how one approaches compassion is really going to determine what side of the line you fall on, liberal or conservative.

Compassion in its simplest terms is:

A sympathetic consciousness of others' distress together with a desire to alleviate it.

I believe that, whether you are liberal or conservative, it is human nature to have compassion for your fellow man. Now the approach on how to alleviate it is really where the views part ways. I truly believe that both liberals and conservatives are compassionate, generally speaking of course; however, I would also argue that the left’s approach in showing its compassion can be detrimental to those in which their compassion is directed. Let me explain. Which do you believe is more compassionate? Providing aid and social welfare which becomes an enabler to those by not requiring them to work or grow… or providing aid and welfare that requires people to be challenged through work or education as they are supported… eventually giving to these people, whom you are trying to help, the ability to help themselves? Of course the old adage of "Give a man a fish, feed him for the day... teach a man to fish... feed him for life" applies here.

My perspective on compassion is that if a liberal sees a dog that has just been run over in the street, their emotions will immediately kick in and they will attempt at all costs to try and keep this dog breathing… even if the Vet arrives on the scene and determines there is nothing that can be done, the liberal will demand that something be done, even when this may not be in the best interest of the dog. The conservative will approach the situation with reason rather than emotion…The conservative will still attempt to aid the dog, but upon hearing the verdict from the Vet… the conservative will more than likely pull out his or her .22 rifle and immediately shoot the dog in the back of the head… putting it out of its misery. Which is the more compassionate approach? Now, while this is a graphic picture, I am by no means trying to make a correlation between how we choose to approach those in need and shooting a half run over dog. What I am trying to present is a classic case in point of how conservatives and liberals have a different perspective on how to properly channel their compassion. (The proper approach is probably somewhere in the middle allowing the Vet to put the dog to sleep rather than shooting it… although from a conservative perspective, a bullet would be cheaper... RELAX... I love dogs just as much as the next person... this is just an illustration.) That said, I realize that I am generalizing all liberals, which is not the intention of this post. However, I do intend to imply that there is a fundamental difference in our approach as we experience compassion. I would also argue that just as it is not right for me to classify all liberals as exactly the same, it is not right for liberals to say that conservatives can not be compassionate. I am sure there are both uncompassionate liberals and conservatives alike.


In conclusion of this extremely long post, I would argue that although liberals feel that conservatives lack compassion, this is simply just not the case. It's not that we don't love others or that we are not concerned for their well being... Our approach is just slightly different.

I guess you'll never know...

I tried to write a poem to explain what fantasy football is... in traditional Haiku format... with a Yoda twist.

It didn't work... and it was weak.

This was About the best line:

Players choose you will (said in your best yoda voice.)
From current NFL teams.
...Harder than it seems.

Needless to say... I gave up.

Thursday, September 08, 2005

We are... THEE Gangsta's of Love

Some people call us the space cowboys, yeah
Some call us the Gangsta's of Love
Some people call us Maurice (Reet Riew)
Cause we speak of the properties of love ... and football.

That's right people Fantasy Football is starting up... TOnight.
Sydney and I have a Fantasy Football team together and our team name is:

The Gangsta's of Love.

Now the reason our team is named the Gangsta's of Love is a long story... so bare with me for a bit.

It all started when I was traveling up to Canada on a Fishing trip (yep, capital "F" Fishing trip... Fishing in Canada is better than any other place in the world... although besides Minnesota I haven't really been fishing anywhere else... so really, all I can really say is that it is better than fishing in Minnesota... but it deserves a capital "F") Anyway, we were listening to the radio on this 12 hour trip up past Grand Rapids Manitoba and Steve Miller's song "The Joker" comes on. As we were playing cards, I casually told my brother in law Tom that Sydney call's me her Gangster of Love. Of course his response is, "Nah Uh. There is no possible way that Sydney call's you her Gangster of Love." Which in reality... is absolutely correct... but I had him going. So I said, "When we get back home, you ask her what nickname she calls me around the house and see what she says." So after a week of Fishing, we arrive back home and as I give Sydney a BIG hug and smooch, I quietly whisper... If Tom happens to ask you what nickname you call me around the house... you need to respond... "My Gangster of Love." Sydney's eyes twinkled with mischief as she laughed... So, sure enough... later that afternoon/evening, Tom asks Sydney what her nickname for me was... and she told him... and you should have seen the look on his face. So, till this day, I am Sydney's Gangster of Love. AND Tom still thinks that Sydney calls me this. Too funny.

Anyway... fast forward a couple of years and my friends and I start up a Fantasy Football league together... Now we decided that our Spouses/Significant others had to name our team... Some guys manipulated their wives so they got the names they wanted... but I handed over the reigns to Sydney and let her run with it... so her name for my team was: The Gangsta’s of Love.

Anyway, Sydney and I, over the past few years, have run the team together. Now Nine year’s ago when I met Sydney, she didn’t know jack about football... BUT, I must say, she is a very quick study and she is very knowledgeable on the subject now. I have a few friends at work that give me a hard time because my wife is in my Fantasy League with me... They give me a hard time that is until I ask them one question: “Does your wife give you a hard time about watching too much football?” (Which of course the answer is ALWAYS yes.) My response is a simple, “Mine doesn’t.” I’m no dummy. Besides that... Sydney and I enjoy working together... except for when we are at the draft and we have differing opinions about who we should take... (Although we did rather well at compromising this year.)

Anyway, we are in a Quest for the coveted, “Lombrady Trophy.” This is a traveling trophy that was handcrafted by one “Benjamin Eduardo MicMinneasota.”



This year is as good of a time as any for the trophy to come back home.

Go Gangsta's of Love!

Wednesday, September 07, 2005

No seriously... I'm Wayne Gretzky

Human nature is a funny thing... for the sake of human pride, we "tweek" the truth just a little bit to avoid an embarrassing situation... or to put ourselves in a better light. For example, in High School Gym class, I was playing broom ball and when I was "checking" someone up against the glass, my legs slipped out from under me and I landed on my chin and split it open on the ice... I had to get 7 stitches. To this day, I still have a scar... but then the question becomes, "What kind of loser splits their chin open playing broom ball?" So in order to look more "tough" I used to tell people that I was playing hockey and not broom ball. Cause, of course everybody knows that if you are playing hockey and not broom ball, you are more of a man somehow... you are living on the edge... not just "shuffling your feet acrossed the ice" to whap a ball as you flail your cut off broom at said ball while your stocking cap has shifted down over your eyes. So to clarify... The truth is: I am not Wayne Gretzky. What's that? You're Shocked? I hear ya... I am having a hard time believing it myself.

So, with that said... TODAY is your day to come clean. On this semi-annonymous site, I am giving you the opportunity to correct your "tweeking" of the truth. MiM accepts annonymous comments... so if you still aren't up to admitting your embarrassing predicament... but you want to at least get the truth out, feel free to post annonymously. But then we can't make fun of you... and what fun is that?? Be brave. Lay it out there for all the world to see...

Tuesday, September 06, 2005

Spies Like Us

We're back from our covert mission: AKA Tom and Annie's Wedding. Thanks Katie for being such a fantastic guest blogger... You did a bang up job. You do realize that the agency is now going to have to kill you because you know too much... and now Syd and I have to switch to the other side... because we THOUGHT that we were defending the world, but were really, unknowingly, working for the Covenant... Anyway, that post was better than ninety percent of the content on this site, so hang on to my password and sign on... I will make the request again. Maybe in about a couple of months when I am in India and Nepal. (You know... on a covert mission.)

That's all for now. I have to catch up on all the paperwork that comes with working for the CIA. It's not all glamour folks.

Friday, September 02, 2005

The truth about Ben and Syd - CONFIDENTIAL

Now many of you know that Ben and Syd are pseudonyms. What you don’t know is that they choose to use these, not because of internet privacy concerns, but because they are CIA spies. Yep, you heard it here people, Ben and Syd are spooks, agents, invisible people in this counter-terrorism world.

I mean, didn’t you think it was a tad bit obvious that their favorite TV show is Alias and that Ben dreams about stealing Russian nuclear subs?

In fact, if you go back through some of their old posts you can see the secret codes they use to transmit all their spy information to their handlers. Hey, maybe I’ll point some out to you:

Take his first entry: Introduction and Background – hmmmm secrets? Very spy-like. In fact this was when Ben first introduced Syd to his life of spy games. She was clueless to his double life as a secret agent man (not secret Asian man) but he clued her in and recruited her into the agency and the rest is history my friends.

Skip ahead a bit: The Pressure and It always seems like the retreat goes too quickly: retreat is codename for covert mission with spy network across the globe. Yep you thought it was a marriage retreat, oh no, they were out kicking communists’ butts.

And there’s: Psychotic in the Bedroom: Oh no, this isn’t some PG-13 rated story of Ben and Syd and why they have three kids with one on the way. If you read between the lines you see Syd’s last mission. And it helps explain Ben’s cuts and bruises that he had the next day at his cover-job, like he really works for a university. You gotta have good stories for all those war wounds when you’re out there protecting the country.
Also: A Series of Unfortunate Events: Again with the cover stories, but Syd, phones and screw drivers, girl you need better material.

A little background on Ben’s training: That’s the gutsiest move I ever saw Mav. See our friend likes to downplay his ability to kill a man with just the flick of a wrist by making us believe that he is a big wuss.

And then of course you have to realize just how intelligent spies are: I say . . . . ; see Ben knows I would station him in Aruba or Hawaii if I was in charge

Cause they are obsessed with how we, the normal people, view them, the talented, spy-like people: There’s good news and bad news. Ha ha, I laugh that they act so surprised, now if you knew some of the stuff they’ve done on all their missions. I mean people, Syd is 8 months preggo and still can hang out of a helicopter by a bungee cord with a M-16 strapped to her back and rescue the cold fusion scientist. That is dedication to country people.

Sometimes being a Spy married couple can be hard: Where’s Joseph when you need him? See Ben and Syd don’t always get to go on missions together so sometimes they have to pretend to be other people and therefore be with other people. It’s all part of the job. But they do get to come home to each other (remember, 3 kids and 1 on the way)

The thing I’m trying to figure out is why the George Bush Center for Intelligence would even have this type of artwork up: Warning: Post about a fat naked lady with hard nipples (this post does have point). Hmmmm, never knew the CIA were so ummmmmmm SICK.

And then there is Syd and her spy research: At the risk of crossing the line once again. And then Syd had to talk about it herself: Officer, Officer, He stole my blog. I mean really what does this have to do with counter-terrorism or saving the world?

So my friends you now know the truth about Ben and Syd. If you watch CNN this weekend you may see some of their action as they are out there somewhere in the world fighting the bad guys and saving the day.

P.S. Those pictures, so not what they look like. You know how people get stock photos in frames, well that’s what you’re looking at. In fact, Ben is 6’7” and has olive skin and bright red hair. Syd is 6’ even with long blonde dreads. The whole thing is a facade people, facade.