Billboards for Dummies

We've been driving back and forth to my folks' house quite a bit this past week. It's about a 45 minute drive along a major interstate highway, and it's given me a lot of time to ponder billboards. There are a lot of really bad billboards out there. Not bad in the moral sense (although there are plenty of those around as well. My feelings about that whole Vegas ad campaign could fill more than a few posts for starters). Bad in the sense that they don't do what I assume someone intended them to do - i.e., communicate something about their product.

There's one that has an enormous picture of a cute little girl with no hair. In very large font it says, "Ellie vs. Brain Tumor." In a paragraph's worth of very tiny print along the right side, I assume it says where Ellie went for treatment and where you and I can donate money to help children like her. I assume this, because, despite having driven by this sign a half dozen times in the past week, I can't make out a single word of it. I'm sure it looked great on the 8.5 x 11 proof someone looked at while holding it still in their hands. On a billboard on the far side of the freeway while moving at 70-ish mph, it's not so legible. Why did they bother?

There's another one that screams, "Stop the Worry!" but then whispers everything else it has to say. I'm worried that someone will run off the road straining to read and write down the teeny tiny phone number printed along the bottom of the sign while driving.

You'd think that the people who rent the billboard space would have someone helping with issues like this. There should be a minimum recommended font size or something. After all, if the sign you pay for doesn't generate any business, you're not likely to rent it again, right? I've learned from experience that they don't. They will, however, let you correct your error if you figure it out yourself.

We helped out with a new church plant a number of years ago. Just before the "launch Sunday" there was an advertising campaign to get the word out. Part of that involved putting up a billboard. We were newbies at it, and it was fairly exciting. The team leadership put a lot of thought put into where it should be and exactly which of the available signs along that stretch of highway we should go for. A very talented designer came up with the ad for us: "Real people, in the real world, serving a real God." Pretty catchy, I thought, and reflective of what we were about.

The ad looked great on the post cards. Finally the big day came when it went up on the billboard. B and I drove by to check it out. The excitement quickly faded. We had seen the ad dozens of times and knew just what it said, but even we were having a hard time reading the sign. The text just wasn't big enough and the contrast wasn't strong enough to read it from across the freeway. Soon after, that beautiful ad came down and was replaced by one with a simple white background, green lettering, and a very large picture of the pastor's family. (The pastor whose wife, I'm told, said, "Oh, Kenny" -- and not in a happy way -- the first time she saw her very large picture up there!) It wasn't quite as unique or creative, but it was a lot more effective in getting the information out.

Some others should take the time to visit their signs and learn the same lesson.

Christmas Sneak Peek

We had a little taste of Christmas early this week. J went to a birthday party for a friend from school last week. I left the wrapping paper lying around and J put it to good use wrapping "presents" for H. They had been sitting under the tree until Saturday when he could wait no longer to give them to her.

It was really a touching moment. He started by reading the card he'd made for her. It read, "Thank you, baby sister for being so kind to Mii." (There was some other creative spelling as well, but my favorite was "Mii." He's clearly a 21st century kid!)

She unwrapped the small package first and found he had given her his "Cars" book. She then opened the larger one and I was surprised to see his Buzz Lightyear rocket and Spiderman toy. Those are some of his prized possessions, after all.

I'm not sure he really intended them to be hers forever, but, like I said, it was a touching moment.(Except, perhaps, for the parts where she says "My Buzz ship" and they "hug" without actually touching each other.)

Head over to FB if you'd like to see the video.

I'm Back!

With baby on the way, bargain shopping got put on hold for a while. Frankly, all I cared about for most of September through mid-November was keeping dinner down ("morning" sickness hits me hardest in the evening) and praying desperately for some sleep. (Insomnia - which I hadn't had since I was expecting Hannah- was one of my clues that perhaps I wasn't just 10 weeks late after all.)

Well, I'm feeling much better now and finally made it back to CVS last week. I'm sure they had missed me! It was a small start, but it felt good to be back at it. I only bought 3 items - Colgate toothpaste, Complete contact solution, and Degree deodorant. After coupons, I spent $7 in Extra Care Bucks and $2.85 out of pocket. I got $10 in Extra Bucks back.

My favorite part of the receipt is the bottom where they total my year to date savings. For this year: $614.68!

"Me-dee Chris-maaaas!" to you from the Joneses

Reminder

A few minutes of peace and quiet from your child is not always a good thing!

Politics for Preschoolers

Ok, it's been almost a week since the big quadrennial voting event. I've been intentionally avoiding any newscasts or news papers for weeks, because I got to the point where I would become physically ill when I heard words such as "election" "Obama," or "McCain." Two years is far too long for any campaign to last, in my opinion. I'm hoping that Congress will finally make themselves useful and pass a law forbidding such things in the future. (I'm not holding my breath, however.)

In tribute to the big event I've decided to share a couple of J's thoughts on politics:

Last year, B told J they were going to go vote. J was surprisingly excited about the idea. When they arrived at the polling place, J looked around, disappointed, and asked, "Daddy, where's the boat?"

On Tuesday, I explained to J that it was a big day for our country. We were choosing a new president. "But what about Mr. Bush?" he asked. (This is a child who is strongly opposed to change of any kind in the world.)

"Well, Mr. Bush has served his 2 terms," I explained, "and now we have to pick someone new."

"But I don't want someone new to be president," he whined. "I want Mr. Bush to be the president forever!"

I didn't bother to tell him how lonely he is in that opinion!

Brilliant Ideas

J is full of good ideas lately. I'm not sure where he comes up with them, but I like the way he thinks.

We did Halloween this year for the first time. I bought the kids pumpkin buckets to use for their treats. I explained to them what we were going to do with them. J suggested that instead of going out, we could hang the buckets on our front door and people could come and put money in them. Let's see, given the option between a holiday where you:
A. Go to other people's houses and ask them for candy, or
B. Stay home and let other people bring you money,
I've got to say, I'll take B!

Today while we were driving around, J asked me if he was the firstborn in our family. I told him he was. He then said H was the lastborn. I told him that she was the second born, but might not necessarily be the lastborn if God gives us another baby some day. That thoughtful boy then suggested that if we have another baby, Daddy should have it in his tummy this time. That way the bad veins which showed up in Mommy's legs while H was in my tummy won't get any worse. That was the best idea I've heard in a long time! It's about time the men in the family got their share of the saggy, bulging body parts too!