Another running update

I ran 3 miles yesterday. The first two were way slow but the third was a little quicker. But only 30 seconds quicker. I'm 1 run and 10 miles behind on my goals. It was a cold and snowy week last week.

Here's a book for you

Well here's a book for some of you. I met Marla when we were at Cedarville and got to know her and her future husband while we worked together at camp. I consider them friends even though I'm really lousy at keeping up with my old friends. Recently I ordered a couple of her books from Amazon. I've read the newest one. It had a warning in the front that I completely ignored and jumped right into the book(It's not that this book is inappropriate at all, it's just meant for women). After all if you know the author you must read it. I also figured that if I was going to recommend the book as a pastor I should read it. Well I recommend it. It's easy to read and fun. It's informative. It's a good look at how to understand your husband. The book is really good at showing how God intends sex to be. But it's meant for wives. I'm not a wife. Guys buy this book for your wife. She'll read it for the title alone.

You choose

Which picture of the top of our steeple do you like more?
Edit: Apparently these pictures need some explanation. That's the moon behind the cross on the top of our steeple.

Snowshoeing

I went snowshoeing a couple of times this last weekend. Actually most of the time I let youth group kids use the snowshoes and I struggled along behind them. It was fun and there's plenty of room out behind our house where you can feel miles away from everything. Here are some pictures.

Running update

I didn't want to run today but knew that with the storm coming that I might not get to for a few days. So I ran 2 miles. I'm on target for frequency and 2.7 miles behind on my distance goal. I ran the second mile more than a minute quicker today.

Another snow picture and running info

Here's a picture of a little town about 9 or 10 miles from here. They plow their snow to the middle of the road. It makes the intersections a little scary. Good thing there's only 2 or 3.

Went running today. I'm 3.3 miles behind my goal. But only ran 2 miles again. I ran the second mile faster again but it wasn't because of the snow. I tried to run it faster. I wish there was a way I could show you the little graph they show me but it isn't bloggable yet. At least I don't know how to do it.

Now taking suggestions

I'm looking for some suggestions for a mini-vacation. Spring break is the first week of April and poses some little problems for a week long vacation. So we're looking for a 3 day 2 night or 4 day 3 night alternative for during the week. Anybody have any good ideas? We've thought about trying to rent a cabin or house. The whole hotel thing isn't our favorite, I don't sleep well with the girls in the same room. We could do a suite or even a room if we had to though. Help me with some ideas please.

Left for Dead

I read a book that Steph and I gave Dan for Christmas. Aren't I a good brother-in-law? Giving gifts that later I'll use. So about the book. It's an incredible story of how Beck Weathers was left for dead on Everest and he how he later walked into camp. They still didn't think he'd live but he did. He lost a hand, most of his other hand, and his nose. The rest of the story is how he was able to save his marriage. Strangely the book made me want to go climb a mountain.

Snow

We got just a little. Ok maybe more than a little. We even cancelled evening church last night and now school was cancelled today. I may post a picture for you later. (edit: ok it's later and here's your picture) I went running Saturday before the snow came. I didn't want to but I knew it would be a few days before I would be able to go out again. The wind was awful coming from the East. My pace was exactly a minute quicker for the mile back. I am now officially 1 run and 3.7 miles behind on my goals.

Nike + iPod

I now have everything I need for the Nike + dealy. It's starting to warm up too. So I've actually used it a couple of times. I'm looking to set a goal for it. I can set distance goals, speed goals, calorie goals or frequency goals. I'm thinking of setting a distance goal. Something like 100 miles in 12 weeks. You can only choose from 4, 8, 12, and 16 weeks. Speaking of goals, I went to a Pistons game a couple of weeks ago. I still have a way to go before I hit all the major sports this year.

A Game

How many people can you name from this video?

I'm back

Sorry for the drop off in posts. The faster internet is back and so I'll post more. Since I posted last not much has happened. I did get to see Facing the Giants and I recommend it to anyone. It's a really good movie.

To make up for all the lost time I'll share some fun with you. I found out today that China is trying to correct it's Chinglish. China has had a problem with the interpretations on many signs. Read this article from the Wall Street Journal. Make sure you check out the slide show and then you can search for more examples. I've seen some really funny ones. This morning on Headline News they showed some examples from menus. My favorite was Husband Wife Lung. Sounds yummy.

Dungy and Daniel

Daniel chapter 1. No lions real or costumed. Daniel was taken from his home, family, everything he knew and was placed into a different culture. There they tried to make Daniel like everyone else. They taught him the language. They taught him the literature. They changed his name from a name that glorified God to a name that glorified a false god. They also tried to change his diet. "Daniel resolved not to defile himself". He refused to become like everyone else. He stood up for what was right even though it made him different than everyone else and people didn't think he'd succeed if he was different. The chief official was afraid that he'd look worse than the others. Daniel and his 3 friends ate veggies and drank water for 10 days and looked better than the guys who ate steak and drank wine. Being willing to be different and staying true to God didn't hurt them but instead helped. Tony Dungy is similar. He entered the coaching culture that taught that guys must be tough and tough on players. I've met these guys in ministry. They tell you that you aren't to be friends to the people you minister to. Instead you must be an authority figure. Dungy came to coaching with the idea that serving God came first. Family was second. Football came somewhere after those. That was different. He also came with the idea that you don't have to curse/bully/humiliate (sorry flashing back to my high school football experience) to get players to play for you. You could be a Christian and a nice guy and coach football. Dungy wasn't afraid to be different in a culture that didn't value the same things that God values.

Super Bowl thoughts

Wooooooohooooooo!

As I drove home last night, by the way it was 6 below zero, I was thinking about what Ken had told me earlier in the week. "the sad thin[g] will be if 'you win' sunday, you will discover the meaninglessness of it all" I'm not trying to bash Ken at all. Ken is my friend. So I was contemplating what he had said. I've decided that this Super Bowl was far from meaningless. Jesus Christ was glorified and praised last night. Tony Dungy used every opportunity to give praise to God. On a personal level, I celebrated with a brother in Christ. I'm happy for Dungy. I'm proud of how he represented Christ. Also on a personal level this Super Bowl was a great opportunity for my family. We bonded over the whole thing. We wore Blue and White together through the playoffs. We walked through the house saying "Go Colts". We wore our jerseys. We talked about how Dungy was a good modern day example of Daniel chapter 1. I'm afraid that this whole experience has made a difference in my life. But I think every experience makes a difference in my life. I'm glad this one was a positive one that glorified God.

I think that anyone could have won the Super Bowl MVP. Everyone played good last night. I would've loved to see the o-line get it. Manning had plenty of time. The running game worked. The o-line blocked great. You could argue for Rhodes, Addai, Sanders, Manning, really any of them.

I was sitting next to a Jr. Higher when the Bears went up 14-6. He was a Bears fan. He yelled in my ear "What's the score now Pastor Paul, what's the score now Pastor Paul". I reached over and patted him on the cheek. I had nacho cheese all over my hand from the taco I was eating. He had nacho cheese all over his cheek. He didn't say much the rest of the night. I'm not one to rub it in, but I also don't like to take it either.

Slow internet

Sorry I haven't posted more about the Super Bowl this week. I really am pumped but our internet has messed up and we only have way slow dialup right now. It's not worth waiting for. So I'll have more soon hopefully.

Hello Super Bowl week!

Oh man how great would it be to be there. Last year Dan and I attended the Super Bowl festivities in Detroit. That was a great time. We're 5 days away from the Super Bowl this year. I'm pumped. I watched the Colts news conferences last night. I'll see a little of the stuff during lunch today. Oh and by the way. I get pretty excited for the Super Bowl every year. I watch the media days and stuff every year. Not just this year because the Colts are in it. But hey. The Colts are there.

Go Colts!

State of the Union

Ok so I watched the speech last night. I don't have the normal thoughts but here is what I noticed.

1. Nancy Pelosi's mouth never stopped. Was she sucking on a cough drop?

2. Dick Cheney looked like he almost fell asleep. I don't think he was paying attention.

3. I think I heard the President say that he believed in global warming? I don't follow politics much is this a change?

4. Dikembe is really really tall.

5. Great idea to cut gas use by 20% but how are you going to do that? And if you figure out a way to do it why pick a number as low as 20%?

6. Why do we need to do more drilling when the President proposed cutting our oil usage?

7. If we double the Strategic Petroleum Reserve where are we going to put all that oil? The reserves are almost at capacity now. Capacity is 727 million barrels and right now we are at 688.6 million barrels. Doubling the capacity sounds expensive.

Wow

Ok this is going to be patchwork.

1. I'm glad I was wrong on how the game should go. I'm glad the Patriots were classy at the end. They had a great run and stretched the Colts to the limit.

2. Wooooooooweeee. What a game for the ages. Linemen scoring, great comeback, bad calls, a sweetheart of a story. I watched it in my chair, standing up, on my knees, everything except for upside down. Sheesh. I can't wait to watch it again on NFL Network.

3. Manning was incredible in the second half. The defense came up big at the end of the game.

4. At the end of the game I ripped off my jersey. I then ran outside and did a front flip into the snow. It was cold and wet. That was way dumb.

Television

I like to watch T.V. But I watch different things than apparently normal people watch. I have never seen an episode of American Idol or Survivor. I've never seen Greys Anatomy or ER. I've never watched 24 or Lost or Prison Break. I have seen NBA games from before I was born. In fact I've seen them multiple times and I still yell at the refs. I've watched boxing on ESPN Classic. I've watched mini golf championships, dart throwing championships, strongest man competitions, I love to watch curling. I will watch some non-sports t.v. I like Seinfeld reruns. I watch Mythbusters sometimes. But give me a choice and I'll take sports (even games I've already seen) almost every time.

Colts Patriots

Ugh. It's only Wednesday. I don't want to listen to sports talk or read sports media cover this anymore. I will of course watch and read much more. I'm sick of the Patriots. I will not even attempt to hide my disdain. I'm sick of the genius talk. I'm sick of the golden boy. I'm sick of the dynasty. I want the Patriots to lose. I want them to look bad doing it. I want a response from them like the Pistons response to losing to the Bulls in 1991.

I'm excited and scared of this game all at the same time. I'm ready for the Colts to win and take their place among the greats. I'm also scared. The stinking Patriots. I hate the Patriots. I'm scared of what will happen if the Colts lose. I may cry. I may have to give up sports media forever. I may have to drive 2 hours to find a White Castle. Hey that's tempting if they win too.

I think that's enough from me right now.

Invincible

Last night was one of those nights. Sometimes I get these awful headaches where pretty much all I can do is sleep. I got one of those yesterday morning. I slept as much as I could that afternoon and felt a little better that evening. So I sent Steph to rent a movie. I don't do that often. It's not that I don't trust her to pick movies. It's that I don't trust her to pick good movies. Last night she hit a homerun. She came home and said that she rented a football movie based on a true story. My mind instantly went to a movie I'd heard about with the Rock in it. I have a rule. Don't watch a movie with the Rock in a starring role. But then she said it was Invincible. It was a pretty good movie. It had its slow parts. But it was clean and inspirational. It made me want to watch Rudy. It made me want to play some football. It also made me wish that he had played for the Colts. If he had I'd probably buy the movie. It was good.

iPod

My sister got me an iPod for Christmas. At first I wasn't so sure about it. The instructions included didn't help me at all. The itunes store was so bogged down I couldn't do anything. But now I have changed my mind. The thing's great. I have a fm transmitter for it so I can use it in the car or with any of the radios in the house. I have 203 songs on it and it'll hold a ton more but I'm running out of ideas. Now I'm looking forward to getting the running thingy for it. It'll keep track of my runs and store all the info online. That could be neat. I'll let you know. Thanks Tam!

Sports

I'm a huge sports fan. One of the biggest fans that I know. I'm not Stump the Schwab material but I follow pretty closely. Here's my problem. And I've probably whined about this to you before. My teams don't win championships. You may tell me that championships are overrated and I should be happy to cheer for teams that have winning records. I tell you that it's easy for you to say that because your team has won a championship. Let's look at the history. I became a serious sports fan when we moved to Indy. Before that I was too young to really get into it. I went to a Monday Night Colts game back in the late 80's and was hooked on them ever since. They haven't been to a Super Bowl since I've been a fan. I became a Notre Dame fan when we started going to games in 1989. The year after they won the championship. I've cheered for the Pacers since we started going to their games in the early 90's. They went to the finals once and I was so thrilled that we flew a Pacers banner from the top of the bell tower of the old school house we lived in. They lost to the Lakers. I don't know what it is to win a celebrate a championship. Sometimes I feel I never will.

Go Irish!

I am ready for some football. I tend to grow more optimistic right up until game time. Man, ND could use a bowl win.

New Years resolutions

I don't usually make resolutions. Last year I started running. This year I'm thinking about making a sports fan resolution. Help me decide.

1. Go to a sporting event for each major sport. I'm thinking a year of at least one game each of NCAA basketball, football, NBA, MLB, NFL, and I haven't decided if NHL is a major sport or not. This may be difficult because Sundays are hard and I've never been bored enough to go to a NHL game before.

2. Go to a decent Bowl game. That of course rules out the Motor City Bowl.

I'm also open to suggestions. What do you think?

Me as an elf

My mom gets a little bored sometimes. Here's her latest creation.

Paul the Elf

Under Construction

I've decided to make a few changes to the blog. Blogger has made a ton of changes and I guess they want me to too. So I added a couple of things like labeling my posts and added some links to some of my friends pages. I may change some more.

Deep thought

So I've been thinking some about the idea that we cannot come to knowledge objectively. It seems that there is some wrestling going on between postmodernism and modernism in the Christian world. Some see it as a bigger struggle than others. It seems to be popping up in a lot of my reading lately. For instance I'm reading a book today that was given to me a couple of months ago. It is "Christ Our Mediator" by C. J. Mahaney. Before getting into his true subject Mahaney has decided to weigh in on this subject some. As the first chapter moves along he says some things that frustrate me. See I tend to be more of the thought that we cannot know things objectively. That we do subjectively filter them through the lens that we see the world through. He starts of by telling us that feelings and emotions cannot be trusted. "It would be fine to follow our feelings if we could always be sure they're faithful to reality. But they aren't; their perspective on reality typically has huge blind spots." I have no problem with that statement. Our feelings do tend to blur our view of reality. So he goes on to say that we should read the Bible and find the objective truth. "The humble are those whose first response to objective truth from God's Word is not to ask, 'How do I feel?' but to say, 'I'm not going to let my faith be determined and directed by the subjective and the experiential. Instead I confess openly before God that I will believe the objective truth of His Word, regardless of how I feel.'" Here's my problem. I believe that absolute objective truth exists. I don't think I can know it objectively or fully. I believe that I filter everything through my lens (culture, experience, sin...). I'm a little wary of some of the things he's saying but I can see some of his points. We shouldn't base what we believe on what we feel. I know he's trying to tell me that postmodernism and it's subjectiveness isn't where the Christian should be, but I'm used to that type of thing. He ends every chapter with "suggested words of prayer for you". Well, the ending of the first chapter pretty much has me ticked and thinking about just putting the book away. "Thank You, Father, for directing my attention upward and outward to objective truth, and away from self-centeredness and enlavement to subjectivity. I turn away from self-focused arrogance and toward You - to receive forgiveness for that arrogance. I direct my faith toward You and Your Word, for You alone are worthy."

What is more arrogant? To think that I taint truth subjectively through my worldview or to think that I can separate myself from all of that and think that I can know truth objectively?

Merry Christmas

Hey we had a good time down at the Weaver Plantation. Hope you had a good time! I just want to thank God for Christ and Christmas!

Bowl season

The college football bowl season started yesterday with a blowout. I didn't watch though. I was watching Rocky III. Me and a friend decided to watch all 5 before we go watch the new one. Laugh all you want. But I'm getting well versed in Rocky trivia.

Neat article

I know some people that read my blog aren't fans of the Mannings. This is a neat Manning story. I'm a wimp and all and get teary eyed at lots of sports stories. This one got me too.

Meteors

This is a picture of me last night between 11 and 12. I look scared and fat. Maybe I look scared because the flash was quite blinding. I was cold, well just my face. I went out and laid in the yard and watched the meteor shower last night. It was one of the best I've seen. The clouds cleared off perfect for it. I almost forgot about it and then the jet flew over. I never hear jets up here. There just aren't that many that fly over. But there seems to be one that flies over very regularly at about 11:00 at night. Very weird. Anyways it reminded me to check the sky and so I did. The wife and girls were asleep but I grabbed my sleeping bag and headed out into the yard.

Paralyzed

Yesterday Stephanie reminded me of this song by Sixpence None the Richer. It was perfect. Here's the story.

Last week I visited a man from our church in the hospital. He'd had some mini-strokes and was in the late stages of Alzheimers or dementia. Anyways he could no longer swallow and really couldn't communicate real well. He recognized me and tried to talk. He laughed some, smiled some, said a few things I understood and a bunch I didn't. I don't know how much of that was because of his brain and how much was that his throat and tongue weren't working right. His mouth was so dry that his tongue was scaly. His family talked right in front of him like he couldn't understand. I'm pretty sure he could. They were talking about how they were going to remove the feeding mechanisms. I'm not sure where I stand on the whole situation and I'm not writing to discuss that. Please if I'm ever in this situation do not discuss it in front of me. He had written out ahead of time that he didn't want a feeding tube or any of that stuff. But as they removed the bag of food I found myself in this situation. "I breathed in, I breathed out, Soaked the ground up with my eyes. It's hard to say a healing word When your tongue is paralyzed".

Money

I've been thinking quite a bit lately about Christians and money. I'm not sure what started this thought pattern. I've been disturbed for a while about Christian radio and the amount of financial planning shows and advertising there. I'm willing to bet that there is an estate planning Sunday School class out there somewhere. I know there are enough seminars. I took a Jr. high boy that I don't spend much time with out for dinner the other week. He asked me why I was an assistant pastor. He said I was smart and could make a bunch of money in business or something. (Leaving the headaches and time schedule of being a pastor for more money and freedom somewhere else is a constant temptation for me.) I told him that money wasn't the biggest factor in my decisions. (I hope I mean that and it isn't just something I say) He was blown away that I was buying dinner for him at Culvers. Money and the problems that surround it are not new. Maybe how easy debt is now is new though. Steph and I are getting closer and closer to eliminating our college debt. But the temptation to take on new debt is always there as well. A newer less mileage car is something that I think about often. Do I need it? Do I want to get into needs vs. wants? And do I really want to change my views about money? I'm also wondering if it's really as wise as we think to store up our money for a time when we'll retire. I don't know. I don't do it as much as I'm told I should. I tell myself that I will save more when I get rid of my student loans. But will I or will I replace that debt with other debt? It would be cool to own a house...

This is good stuff

Oh man. That's good stuff. She should've just waited for someone to say something about the smell and then yelled "The smeller's the feller!"

The BCS

I've changed my mind. I've decided that the BCS is good. They follow figure skating and gymnastics lead by having votes determine champions. I've decided that this is great. Imagine how many Super Bowls the Colts would have been to by now. Bring the BCS to the NFL!

College football thoughts.

I've heard many theories on why Florida was voted higher than Michigan and given a shot at the National title. I haven't heard the truth yet. What is the truth you ask? You can only find it here. Here is the truth.

The voters had no choice. They could not give Michigan a shot at Ohio State. There is no other scenario that would cause more damage than Michigan beating Ohio State in a national title game. The Harris voters and even the coaches do not want to see the BCS blown up. If Michigan beat Ohio State in a national title game the BCS would have to change. Both teams would have one loss and their losses would be to each other. Confusion would reign. The public's confidence in the BCS would be even more shaky. That could not be allowed to happen.

You'll hear many other ideas on why Florida suddenly passed Michigan in the polls. Mark May will tell you the voters just realized that Florida was better than Michigan. Kirk Herbstreit will tell you that voters didn't want to see a rematch and that they forgot about Michigan in the two weeks. But you will only hear the truth on Weaveswrites. The voters couldn't vote for Michigan.

I personally would like to see Michigan and Florida play. The winner of that game could go on to play OSU if you really want to see that but I think, especially with the vote controversy, that Florida Michigan is a much more intriguing matchup. It will be fun to watch Michigan and USC in the Rose Bowl. And it would probably kill Michigan fans to lose to OSU twice in one year so it's probably best there isn't a chance of that happening. I'm worried about ND playing LSU in the Sugar Bowl. LSU seems to be fast and ND is definitely not.

It's obvious that Brian Kelly was using Central Michigan as a stepping stone. But why use them to step to Cincinnati? I would rather stay at Central another year with my phenom freshman QB than go to Cincy. Cincy will never out rectruit OSU in Ohio. They won't out recruit Louisville any time soon in Kentucky. Shoot they probably won't out rectruit Kentucky. Why go to Cincy where you have very little chance. I'd rather hold out and try for Rutgers even.

Bond

Ok Burrill you asked. I did not like the new Bond movie. I'm not sure why. Maybe it's because I was sick and fell asleep and that made it not make much sense. Maybe it was the lack of Bond gadgets. Maybe it's the fact that it was supposed to be before Bond was Bond and they talked about September 11th. Maybe it was the intro, the song was one of the worst and the crazy intro thingy was the worst one yet. Maybe it's because I was confused after he met the girl, the "money" who was "worth every penny". I was convinced that she was Miss Moneypenny. I'm not sure what it was but I was not impressed.

Snow

School cancelled. At times I can't see the trees on the other side of the parking lot. But who's at church? Not the secretary. Not the senior pastor, he says he's coming. Nope it's me. And I have a million calls about the ladies Christmas party tonight. Is it still happening? They are trying to not cancel it but I can't see how they can have it. We are supposed to get 8-12 inches. So I have to tell ladies that it isn't cancelled yet. I'd bet money it will be though.

The trip back

I was sick most of vacation. Sunday was our last day and I woke up with bad stomach cramps. I took some medicine and went to church anyways. After church we went out to eat. I took my golf clubs just in case. There is a par 3 course behind the restaurant. I ended up feeling good enough to try and play. The longest hole on the 9 I played was 90 yards. So nothing impressive. We left that afternoon and I tried to listen to NFL on the radio. Not real easy. I decided that Beckley West Virginia might be a good stopping point so I had Steph call my parents and ask them to get online and see what was there hotel wise. While she was on the phone a tunnel came up that would've cut the reception so she got off. Dad would call with the info. We never got cell service again. Southern West Virginia had nothing for us and usually we get good service. Not even in Beckley. So we pulled into Beckley and I was wondering if my dad had made reservations somewhere. I was thinking I had to get a hold of him because if he did we'd have to go there so we didn't get stuck trying to cancel or get stuck with the room. I think it's pretty hard to cancel a reservation around midnight. I pulled into a gas station to use a pay phone. It's a Verizon phone. I follow the directions for making a coin call. They don't work. So I try a collect call. It doesn't work either. So I go to the next gas station. Verizon phone again. I tried anyways in case the other phone was broke. Nothing. Next gas station. Verizon phone. I try making a credit card call. Nothing. Next gas station. Verizon phone. I'm furious. Finally I get a credit card call through. Dad had not made reservations. So I just need to pick a hotel. I try the first one only I make a wrong turn somewhere and launch myself down a windy WVA road with no turn around spots. I get back and try the next hotel. It doesn't look that nice. So I try the third one. I go in and ask if there's a room. There is! It's expensive but at that point I don't care anymore (and I had help). Nice bed and a good night's sleep. Next morning on the road again. The brakes aren't working right. Almost not working at all. So we do the entire trip and stop at a parts store. I fixed the brakes after the long trip. They pad had come off of the backing. One of the pads had come apart and part had gotten stuck. But it's all fixed now. Great drive.

first day back

I feel good. I still have a cough but it isn't that big a deal. I feel so good I may even run.

I have some vacation stories to share but they'll wait until tomorrow. I spent today visiting in the hospital. And there weren't even any funny stories to share from that. Except from maybe when the sedated guy rolled over and showed us he was wearing a backless hospital gown. But that almost isn't even funny anymore.

still sick

It's Laura's birthday. I'm old. I have a 5 year old. She's out putt putting with her Aunt, Uncles, cousins, Grandparents, mother and sister and I'm sitting here in the living room with my pajamas on. I have a fever, did a little vomiting and just feel lousy. It's 63 degrees and beautiful outside. Supposed to get up to 67. I should be putt putting and then going real golfing. But I'm stuck watching college football alone. Maybe tomorrow. It'll be 66 tomorrow.

Steph got up at 4:20 this morning to go shopping. She's crazy. Her mom and brother went too. At least she was able to get gifts for all the cousins and get them at a good price. South Carolina has this neat thing going on this weekend. There is no sales tax today or tomorrow. It makes me want to go out and buy a car or huge t.v. or something. So it works. It's a good economy stimulator. Maybe it's a good thing I'm sick.

Bo Schembechler

I'm a huge sports fan. So something like Bo dying is a huge sports story. Bo said some bad things about Notre Dame. So I wasn't a huge fan. But he is a giant in NCAA football history so I thought I'd put some Bo quotes on the blog. Of course all of this is stolen from other places, I never met Bo.

Bo on discipline. "I screamed. I kicked players in the butt. When someone screwed up, he was sent off for laps. Around the field. And around again. Keep going until I stop you. One time, I sent a kid out there and flat-out forgot about him. I think he was running for two hours before someone said to me, 'Hey Bo, he's still out there.'"

Bo on Dan Dierdorf when Dierdorf played for him. "'Hello, Coach Schembechler', he said, very politely. 'I'm Dan Dierdorf.' I stared at him, went right past his hand to his waist, and grabbed a fistful. 'YOU ARE FAT!' I said. And I walked away."

Bo on Woody Hayes "I never met anyone like him. I never will. He was the greatest teacher I have ever see, the greatest motivator I have ever met, and quite possibly the best coach in the history of college football."

Bo on his death. "I will die one day from a bad heart. I've pretty much accepted that."

pneumonia

I'm sick. I cough constantly, so wash your hands when you get off the computer. I'm trying to get better before we head down to South Carolina. I'm tired of doing nothing. Bed has gotten boring. So I went to work today. Work got boring so I went to bed. Sick stinks.

New football movie

Hey there's a movie out in some theaters called Facing The Giants. It's about a football coach and team. It looks pretty interesting from the trailers. Here's another thing that makes it interesting. It cost $100,000 to make. I saw the directors on Headline News this morning. They are both pastors at a Baptist church in Georgia. All of the actors are volunteers and the movie is not only clean but full of the Bible and God. I've watched the trailers and it doesn't look like one of those cheap Christian movies. It looks good. Here's their website.

Facing The Giants

Notre Dame - part 3 the game

The game was just like I remember all Notre Dame games. A little chilly and a little drizzle. We had really good seats though.

Notre Dame won and we had a great time. Thanks again Mr. Strong!

Notre Dame - part 2

After we got our tickets it was off to do some of the pregame traditions. We went to the grotto. We didn't do any praying there but we did watch others light some candles.











Then we went and watched the players walk from mass to the stadium. Do you know who that is walking towards me giving fives? That's right I got a five from Brady Quinn.











I like this picture of players with the Golden Dome in the background.














This is the band warming up. The older guys in front of them are the band Chicago. They played 2 of Chicago's older songs.

Notre Dame - part 1

I went to two different top 10 NCAA football games in consecutive Saturdays. And I may go to the Central Michigan vs. Western Michigan rivalry game this Thursday. I love fall. So here is the story of the Notre Dame game.

My college roommate, the great Tobin Strong, has a younger brother named Justin. Mr. Strong, the way he referred to himself during our dealings (which was perfect given the spy theme), is a law student at Notre Dame. Because of this very distinguished position, he sometimes has an opportunity to buy tickets to home games. He very graciously agreed to do that for me. However he did not have the opportunity to get them until late in the week. And he was not going to be in South Bend on Saturday. He devised a very James Bondish way for me to get the tickets and I readily agreed. I took a kid from youth group and Saturday morning we headed south. Upon arriving on the campus, we headed for the law school. We went down the stairs and followed a hallway that was full of turns and was very mysterious. It opened up into a lockerroom and we found the correct locker. It has been years since I've opened a combo lock and I couldn't do it. Joe, being still in school, has more recent experience and on his second try opened it. There taped on the back of the locker in an envelope was the tickets. I taped the check to the back of the locker and we were off.

Halloween

We didn't do much trick or treating but the girls dressed up and did a little. Here are their costumes.





And here's my treat. Our local store has a $2.99 a pound New York Strip sale. I had mine cut really thick.

Sick and tired

Sorry I haven't posted much since I got sick after the Michigan Northwestern game. I'll try to catch you up a little on the last couple of weeks and I'll probably use a lot of pictures to do it.

College football rule changes

In the past I've been very critical of the NCAA clock changes. This last Saturday I was all for them. It was cold and raining and I wanted the game to end. I also renewed a disdain for the t.v. timeout guy.

So now it's Wednesday and I'm still sick from Saturday. I'm coughing up brown stuff and just feel sick. Big fun.

Race results

I did it. I participated in the 2006 Mackinac Island Great Turtle 5.7 mile trail run. I was able to run the entire way. I finished within my goal times. I finished in the top 10 from my age group. Here's my stat line from the website: 9 110 Paul Weaver Remus 53:03 9:19. The first number is my place in my age group. The second is my overall place. The third number is my time and the 4th is my pace. The race started at the Mission Point resort and started uphill. Really uphill. We went up a big steep hill and at the top the view was great. You could see some of the island and the resort and see the water. There were some really cool houses at the top of the hill. After that though, we disappeared into the woods. There was great views of trees and more trees. There were uphill parts and downhill parts and then there was a mile that was pretty much all downhill. After that mile we came out on the shoreline. The view there was cool for a couple of seconds and then I was too tired too enjoy it anymore. I slowed down for the last mile before finishing in a sprint trying to beat the guy in the second picture. I didn't beat him. He's also the guy in the first picture. He's the guy I ran with when I was training. We were pretty evenly matched. I wonder what my time would have been if I hadn't had the hamstring injury. We had a good time walking around the island, hanging out with family, playing in the indoor waterpark at the hotel, and just being away for a couple of days. These are before and at the end photos. I'm loving the guy in the hair and hat. I wonder if I could be him for Halloween.

The waterpark at the hotel in Mackinaw

I had some problems with the lens fogging over.

Man I love even a mini-vacation.

Running update

The race is just days away. I'm a little nervous. I'm pumped about the 3 day weekend though. I'm leaving Thursday and coming back Saturday. I ran the distance of the race last Friday and did ok. One of the toughest things about my hamstring injury is learning pacing again. I either go too fast and wear myself out or go too slow and have plenty of energy left at the end. I'm looking forward to having a milkshake after the race. Steph won't let me have one until afterwards.

"I'm going to Carolina in my mind"

This is what it's like here in Remus Michigan.

Next month we go to Myrtle Beach where the November average is 69 degrees.

NBA talk

I love the NBA. Preseason started yesterday. I watched some of one of the games. There are a couple of preseason issues I like and I couple I don't like.

First, the Pacers. Stinking Stephen Jackson. You want to be a leader and you've got 3 other players out to 3 in the morning at a strip club? There's marijuana in the car. And you get in a fight. Man I wish the Pacers would get rid of this guy. Hint to Larry, you waited too long to get rid of Ron, learn from your mistake. Oh and if you didn't hear, Jackson didn't fulfill his probation requirements so he has another year. Stand up guy right there.

Speaking of Artest, I'll give you a couple of recent Ron quotes. "When the Pacers gave me $6 mil a year, I was grateful for the money and I thank (GM) Donnie Walsh, but I wasn't getting what I deserved. I should've been getting $14-15 million, so I never wanted to give them that extra $9 mil. That extra nine is my mind and leadership. Sometimes I felt I was giving too much. I mean, I was an All-Star and Defensive Player of the Year, but I never wanted to give them an MVP-type season because they didn't treat me like one." Forget the rest of the quotes. I can't stomach anymore.

Here's what I like. Sorry Pistons fans, the NBA is cracking down on the whining. You can no longer curse, throw your hands up, or make other gestures that show disgust. Everyone knows that this is aimed at Rasheed. But it's good for the game. These outbursts, from any player, are just disgusting and wrong. I wonder if this includes Sheed's "Ball don't lie" shouts after a missed free throw? I hope they encourage Prince to leave his wings down after a foul call.

How long would you wait?

Let's say you crash your car in the middle of the night. You break your leg and lose consciousness. When you awake you are still in your car and you are 30 feet from the road in some bushes. You are diabetic. You can reach your insulin and some crackers. How long do you wait before you try to get back to the road?

This happened to a guy. He waited 4 days. No way am I waiting that long. I need my food and lemonade.

Some of the places I run past

I promised some running pictures and I'm finally delivering. Here's a few.

This is Anna Moore. She's the two mile mark.

This is Paul's place. He's the three mile mark.

This is an old place in Millbrook I've run past. I've been told it was the old train station. It made me laugh.

Here's the close up.

How can we compete with this?

This church is a half mile away form ours.


You get the sin and the scarlet letter all in one stop. And $200 OBO, come on at prices like that sheesh.

I'm bummed

Our church last year started a Young Adults group. This group really expects me to be a part of it. Their group goes from just out of high school and up to I don't know, we have people pretty close to being in their 40s in it. They had scheduled a scavenger hunt for this Saturday. I had an opportunity to go to the Notre Dame Stanford game. So I called on Tuesday to make sure they were doing it before I gave the tickets up. They reassured me that it would go on. So I gave the tickets up. Last night after 9 I got a call. The event has been postponed to November 4th.

Ugh.

Ronan Tynan

Ah the fall. I love football. I love the cooler weather. I actually enjoy watching playoff baseball. I watch the Yankees and the Astros. This year the Astros just missed. So it's just the Yankees. I'm the worst kind of Yankees fan. I only watch the postseason and if they are playing the Red Sox. I despise all Boston teams. So cheering for the Yankees is perfect.

Even if you aren't a baseball fan you need to check out the 7th inning stretch sometime to hear Ronan Tynan sing "God Bless America". He's good stuff, and he's Irish, and he has a great set of ears. Go Irish!

More John L. Smith

The man, the myth, the crazy weirdo. Another example of his coaching genius this last week. Did you see them lose to Illinois? After the game there was a fight at midfield because the MSU players were defending against a flag plant. They should know that the best way to defend against this is to win. In the postgame interview, John L. showed that he hasn't yet moved past the ND game. Check out this short little video. Right after he slapped himself he said "and I got slapped".

Yikes!

I may have nightmares about this tonight. Can you imagine how awful it would be. Ugh. How do you not notice anything before you buy that house?

Monday Night Football in New Orleans

I got sucked up into the hype and the emotion of the return of football to New Orleans. It happened as I was watching the pregame show waiting to see U2 play. U2 was not that great but the footage of the hurricane and the stories got me into the game. I almost came off the couch when the Saints blocked the punt and returned it for a TD. It was great to see the fans and listen to them cheer. This is one of the games I would've gone to if I was wealthy. I also think the Music Rising fund started by Edge of U2 is one of the neatest charities I've heard of. They are giving instruments back to musicians, schools, and churches that lost instruments in the hurricane. Imagine a church without music. It just doesn't seem right.

Saturday Night Football in Lansing

I still am not sure how Notre Dame won Saturday. I almost turned the game off and went to sleep. When they were down 16 points at the beginning of the 4th quarter it was bad. When the wind switched and the hurricane switched directions it was worse. How do you score 19 points in the 4th to win when the weather is that awful?

A story that helps you understand how John L. Smith, the MSU coach, just doesn't get it. Last year when MSU beat ND in overtime in South Bend, the Spartan players planted a MSU flag at midfield. That was an attempt at an incredible insult to Notre Dame. After Notre Dame won Saturday John L. sent 3 of his biggest players to midfield to protect against revenge. That says a couple of things to me. 1. John L. already had a plan in place to do when they lost. He was already prepared to lose. 2. He doesn't understand Charlie Weis. MSU's biggest 3 players are nothing for an Irish player to fear compared to what Coach Weis would've done to them. In a game where John L. Smith looked bad from a coaching point of view his actions afterwards just make him look dumb.

Hamstring update

Yesterday I went for a walk. I took the camera so I could take the pictures I promised you. At the first mile mark I pulled the camera out to take a picture and...the batteries were dead. So dead I couldn't even close the lens back up but had to continue walking with it open and out. I walked 5 miles. I was going to take pictures of my mile markers: the hay barn, Anna Moore, Paul's Place are some of them. I'll still do it. I tried to jog after I finished the 4th mile but I just couldn't do it. My flexibility is getting better but I'm just not there yet. Hopefully it will be soon. I would like to do well at the race.

Good quote

I'm a sucker for a good speach. I recently read the inaugural address of John Jenkins, the new Notre Dame President. I read it because I saw a quote on a Notre Dame commercial during a football game. The quote is "If we are afraid to be different from the world, how can we make a difference in the world?". I've used this quote some in youth group lately.


Here's another quote I like from the speech, "Our faith inspires our use of reason, and reason sharpens our understanding of faith. Together, they both serve our search for truth. " There are some quotes I don't like as well, but I don't need to bring those up.

Physical Therapy

I started physical therapy today. She started by seeing just how hurt I was. She stretched and pushed and all that stuff. Then she massaged the muscle. I love massage so I was looking forward to that. They lied. It wasn't a massage. It was a "push my fingers way deep into the spot where it hurts the most". After that she used some thing that shoots ultrasound and electricity into my leg. Then she put icy hot type stuff on it and sent me home with orders to stretch and come see her again the next morning at 7. I hurt.

Ouch

Saturday was a bad day. Notre Dame got killed (I hope you got to go to that game Burrill). I didn't get to see the game though. I was playing flag football. It was big fun until... We started the game up 9-2. Playing by ones to 12. I was having a blast. I threw for some tds, caught some tds, returned an INT for a td. I was having a great game until I lunged for a flag to make a defensive stop. I felt it pop. I pulled my hamstring. I injured myself a month before the race I've been training for since January. Ugh. I see the physical therapist Wednesday morning. The one good sign I've had was when I left the doctor she said "Good luck at the race".

Interesting verse

I came across Deuteronomy 12:4 today. It's only interesting when you think of trying to redeem other religious practices. It says, "You must not worship the Lord your God in their way". It isn't just that the gods were incorrect, some of the ways are wrong as well.

The reason I bring this up is because of the book "A New Kind of Christian", by Brian McLaren. In the book he talks of Christian Indians and their desire to dance the old dances but to God. I must have loaned the book out. I don't see it here anywhere.

In Deuteronomy here they weren't even to use the same places.

Sorry I've been lax

Wow the Colts have won. Notre Dame has won twice. Laura has started kindergarten. Some old friends have stopped by the blog. I didn't know jelly was still around and Burril I checked out the blog. I'm going to go out and take some pictures of some of the odd things I've seen while running. I'll post them soon. I promise.

The FIRST college football game of the year

This is hard for me to write about this today because I'm still very frustrated. Yesterday Dan, brother-in-law, and I went to the first college football game of the year. Kickoff was at 6 just so they could say that. Boston College at Central Michigan. I had a great time. At the same time it was incredibly frustrating. Did you know that the CMU box office doesn't take credit cards? Well actually one of the ticket windows does and they do that over the university web site. They don't have a single credit card swiper thingy. Burger King now takes credit cards but CMU doesn't? So I wait for 45 minutes in line, after the window opens 30 minutes late, only to be told to go wait in another line that is trying to figure out how to do the website thing.

But the frustration is only starting. I hate Boston College. I will root against them anytime. I pretty much feel that way for all Boston teams. How great as a sports fan is it to cheer against an entire city? So I really wanted Central to win. I never imagined they would have a chance. But wait, what happens? They should have won. That's right, when Central had the ball at the end with a chance to tie, they should have been playing for the win. They dropped passes and while that was frustrating, it was nowhere close to the frustration that came from the coaching. I know the great job that Brian Kelly did at GVSU, so quit reminding me. Last night he was awful. The qb substitution thing drove me crazy. He insisted on putting Brooks in at QB when Lefevour was playing great. One instance had Lefevour bringing the team down the field to a first and goal situation and Kelly put Brooks in. CMU had to settle for a field goal. Another time that Brooks was in he fumbled. Coach Kelly also frustrated me by running a trick play at the end when CMU was moving the ball down the field with a chance to tie. The play took 5 players and froze them in 3 point stances for the entire play. Lefevour threw an INT. Why would you cut your team in half for a trick play when you really need to score? Here's Kelly's quote, "We thought we'd get a shot at them either calling a time-out or us cutting someone loose," CMU coach Brian Kelly said afterward. "Dan tried to make too much happen." Maybe coach you tried to make too much happen. Great idea by the way. Down by 7, moving the ball, maybe we can force the other team into calling a time-out. I could go on forever. But I'll leave you with this quote from the Detroit Free Press.

"After the game, Kelly lectured the Chippewas for close to 40 minutes. "It's no consolation to play Boston College close and not beat them," he said. "I didn't want anyone walking out of that locker room, saying, 'Boy, we played hard.' Playing hard is not good enough. If they gave you wins and losses by playing hard, then that'll be fine, but they don't."

Man, I'd love to lecture him right now. He's right but he deserves a good bit of the blame as well. Oh and CMU had a running back carry the ball 7 times the entire game. Zero when the had the ball at the one yard line. In fact, they didn't even have one in the backfield.

St. Ives

Yesterday I played St. Ives again. It really is a beautiful course. It normally costs $85 during the week and $99 on the weekend. I played for free.

Last Thursday

Last Thursday, Tobin, Kara, Zeke, and Ollie invited us to join them for part of their vacation. They were staying in a house that sits on the East Bay in Traverse City. It was very relaxing and came at the perfect time. Here are some pictures.

The gracious hosts.

The view from the hammock.

Any idea why this thing isn't riding in the water right?

Check this out

This is a blogspot page that goes with the sermon series I'm doing right now. Now be careful because the people there don't know about this page. This blog is for family and friends. That thing is for people from our church. There are links to my sermons on there as well.

This reminds me of the "Independent George" episode of Seinfeld. Make sure you don't kill independent Paul.

Happy Anniversary

Today Steph and I celebrate our 8th anniversary. Well we'll probably wait and celebrate it in a couple of weeks when things aren't so busy but today's the day anyways.

Last week

There might not be many posts these upcoming weeks. With pastor gone things here are busy. Here's what happened last week. I ran 7 miles. It wasn't awful until I stopped running and then my knees and legs hurt. It was weird that walking hurt more than running. Thursday, Laura and I met her uncles and some cousins for her first MLB game. We saw the Tigers beat the Rangers. Laura fell asleep in the 8th after the cotton candy wore off. Friday was messy night. I got Jr. and Sr. Highers absolutely filthy. They loved it.

Help with sermons

Here's another opportunity for you to help me with some sermons. Pastor is going to be gone for 3 weeks so that means I have 6 sermons to do. Here's what I'm thinking.

Many Christians feel unfulfilled in their lives. They aren't happy and aren't living the lives that they are sure that God intends for them. I've been thinking about this and have come up with 6 reasons that I believe hinder us having the lives that we should. I've titled the series "Get a Life". John 10:10 says that Jesus came so that we "may have life to the full".

1. Sin. This sermon will talk about how we can't have a life without having new life. Besides salvation I will talk about how we hold onto our old lives.

2. God's love. "...how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ...this love that surpasses knowledge" Ephesians 4:18-19 The more that we know that love the more our lives will be "filled to the measure of all the fullness of God". The more we know God's love the more full our lives will be. I will include worry and lack of faith in this sermon. I will talk about how a loving God has our best interest in mind. This will include people who feel their life isn't complete because they do not have a love interest. Trusting God and that He wants what is best for you life is key to having a life.

3. Lack of passion, lack of being involved in something bigger than yourself. In Braveheart William Wallace says "Every man dies, not every man really lives." Too many Christians never get involved in anything bigger than themselves and their own family. God made us and the church specifically for us to DO things in the church. We have more of a life when we become emotionally and physically involved in our church.

4. Bitterness, lack of forgiveness, grudges. These things freeze us and make it so that we cannot continue with our lives. We become mired in the past.

5. Materialism, not being content. We try to look for lives in the wrong places. If I only had... I'd be happy.

6. Lack of Sabbath. We do not take breaks like God intended. We need hobbies and days off.



Can you think of any that I'm leaving out? Most honest people would admit that their lives have been less than fulfilling at some point or another. Do these 6 reasons sum up your experience or am I leaving some out?

Another day another 6 miles

I walked 18 holes and ran 6 miles again yesterday. Next week it's 7. I'm a little nervous and excited at the same time. That's a long ways. I'm looking forward to the race and am trying to decide if I should have another one picked out. Do I need another goal in order to stay inspired?

Finally another book finished

I read "The Slumber of Christianity" by Ted Dekker. Ted's deal in this book is that Christianity has failed to teach Christians to focus on heaven. Since Christians aren't focusing on heaven they become disenchanted with life now and go into a slumber to protect themselves from the unsatisfying lives that they live. There are some interesting things to this book but I think he misses the boat on some stuff too. He doesn't mention sin until the last couple of chapters. One of the greatest things about heaven is the lack of sin. One of the biggest things that lead to dissatisfaction in life today is sin. He believes that life will become complete if we learn to look at the good things in life today as a foretaste of what is to come. If we focus on what is to come we will enjoy those things much more today.

My conclusion is that we do need to focus on the future. However, we also need to understand that the reason we are not satisfied today is because of sin and that sin leads to a lack of focus. It isn't Christianity's fault, it's our own.

The fair

Yesterday I went to the fair to watch a couple of youth group kids show rabbits. They did pretty good. It's hard for me at the fair. I didn't grow up on a farm and didn't spend much time around them. Animals look like animals to me. They all look the same. I did eat an elephant ear though.

I ran 5 miles yesterday with 3 quick half miles in the middle. I felt good at the end. I did it in just over 50 minutes. My warmup and cooldown times were pretty slow so I'm happy about that.

Dan here's a question, my times right now are under what my training schedule calls for. Is it bad to push my times right now?

Running

I walked 18 holes and ran 6 miles yesterday. When I finished I felt like I could do more. That's the most I've ever done. I'm not ready to run again today though.

My training schedule

Here's a link to my training schedule. I'm training for the Great Turtle 5.7 mile run on Mackinac Island. I plan on sticking very closely to it. You'll notice that it has me running 182 miles including the race between now and October 21st. That's a lot of miles. I've been thinking about looking for some sponsors to help me pay the registration and hotel. Do you think this is a good idea or not?

Kayaks

Dan and I have talked about how great it would be to have a kayak for a couple of years now. I took a couple of pictures in the U.P. and am posting them here for him.

There are actually 3 groups of kayaks in this picture. There is the obvious group. Then if you look between the two sailboats over by the shore you can see another group. And then on the left side of the picture up by the shore is a 3rd group. The picture below is of the kayaks that still haven't been launched into the water.

This summer's guilty pleasure

It seems that every summer I get wrapped up in a t.v. show that I'd rather not tell others about. A couple years ago I watched Big Brother. Last year it was Rockstar: INXS. I hadn't found one this year and was happy. Until last night. This one may actually be more embarrassing than the others. Ok here goes. Last night I watched, and I plan on continuing to watch, "Who wants to be a Superhero". This is a "reality show" where they compete to be the world's next superhero. The winner will be featured in a Stan Lee comic book and will have a movie on the Scifi channel based on their character. I even have a favorite that I'm cheering for. Major Victory. The show made me laugh out loud while Steph was trying to sleep next to me. Good stuff.

Anniversary

Well I've officially been doing this for a year now. I'm still not sure how many people actually read it but it's been fun anyways. I'll keep doing it for now and we'll see about the future.

Happy Anniversary everyone.

Things here are crazy

The past two weeks I've done youth trips in Ohio and the Upper Peninsula. This week is VBS. Things are crazy. So I'm giving you this link. This game is a ton of fun and actually made me laugh out loud. Enjoy!

Running

I'm still running but it isn't as often as it was before. Summer is a really busy time for me. Yesterday I ran 5.3 miles in 55 minutes. So I need to get faster but I'm pretty sure I can finish the race on the island.

Kings Island

We were at Kings Island with the youth group on Friday. On Sunday 27 people went to the hospital after Son of Beast broke. It was shut down all morning Friday and we were among the first to ride it after it opened. I think the idea that I could've been hurt makes the ride even more exciting.

Here's the story

My pirate name

Steph and the girls went to McDonalds and got game pieces for the Pirate game. She wanted me to check online to see if they won anything so I had to go to playatmcd.com and register. They didn't win anything but the website game me a pirate name. It's fierce and scary. I'm catfish Paul.

How big a sports fan are you?

Sports Illustrated says that 3 soccer fans bought wheelchairs and handicapped tickets to the Argentina Holland World Cup match. They were ejected from the match when they were spotted jumping up and down. That's awful. Know what's worse? I've thought about doing it for football and basketball games. I mean most of the time those spots go unused. What's the harm?

Tonight I may be the only person I know that will watch the NBA draft or what is televised of it.

Did you know that the NBA will not use leather basketballs next year? They are going to use a synthetic ball next year.

Not sure what to say about this

Dog owners this is for you.

Make up time

I've been gone a lot lately, been sick and haven't done much writing on the blog. So I'm going to give you a true story that happened recently while we were reroofing the parsonage.

When the guys decided to reroof the parsonage they decided it would be best for my family if the girls and Steph went somewhere else for the time it took to do it. So they went down to Dan and Darcie's and I stayed to help with the project. The problems started when the guys brought their families with them to do the job. Well not all of them did but there were at least 6 kids running around Jr. High age and under. They drank most of our Gatorade. Ate our food. But anyways. When you have that many kids running around they need certain things. A bathroom is one of those things. So I have these kids dragging in all that dirt into my house to use my bathroom. Now maybe you need to really know me to understand this. But I really like the bathroom. I like to read my Backpacker magazines while I am in the bathroom. That weekend I was in the middle of two articles. I liked them and wanted to finish them. So in the midst of this weekend one little boy needs to go to the bathroom. His mother takes him in. She goes into the bathroom with him. The boy proceeds to drop his pants and pee into my magazine rack. With his mother in the bathroom! Was she checking her hair!?! Did she try to stop him or aim him?!? Why is this 3 year old boy at the construction site my kids were encouraged to leave? So, while mourning my two articles, I have to smile when told the story and act like it's no big deal. Now I will never finish those articles. Now I look at the magazine rack and contemplate throwing it out or burning it. Now my new Backpacker magazine sits on the counter. I'm afraid to store it in the rack. As I get older I like other people's kids less and less.

Here's a good article on Tony Dungy's faith

I love this guy as Colt's coach. Now if they'd only win a Super Bowl....

Is this necessary?

I guess I understand the need to prove that Al-Zarqawi is dead. But was it necessary to show him this way? I know they wanted to get the pictures out as quick as possible but pictures of him laying there in with what looks like his blood behind him? It just doesn't seem right to me.

X-men 3: The Last Stand

I didn't like the movie. Steph did but I had too many problems with it. I'll leave those problems in the comments section so I don't ruin the movie if you haven't seen it and want to.

Take that NHL

I'm not a hockey fan and never have pretended to be one. I've watched a little olympic hockey and a little NHL. I've never thought of the NHL as a major sport on the same lines as NFL, NBA or MLB. Game 1 of the Stanley Cup Finals was yesterday. More people watched game 1 of the women's NCAA softball championship last night. Is hockey a major sport?

Today

Today is one of the good days to have my job. Friday we are taking the youth group canoeing so today I have to go scout the river. I get to leave the office early and take my canoe out for the first time this year. So my afternoon will be spent on the Chippewa River. I'll pay for missing this afternoon later this week but I'll worry about that later.

I'm back

I learned a lot about the Upper Peninsula. They do truly know what internet is. In fact they may be more advanced than Remus is. I caught some fish and played some golf and didn't sleep as much as I wanted. It was an ok time. Now I'm looking forward to my golf trip the 15-17th. It's a tough job.

Reading schedule

Monday Deut. 19:16-25:6
Tuesday 25:7-29:5
Wednesday 29:6-33:6
Thursday 33:7-Joshua 5:14
Friday Joshua 5:15-10:15
Saturday 10:16-15:9