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

I'm in the UP fishing

Sorry I don't think they've heard of the internet up there.

Here's the reading schedule

Monday Numbers 29:24-33:2
Tuesday 33:3- Deuteronomy 1:2
Wednesday 1:3-4:22
Thursday 4:23-8:20
Friday 9:1-13:17
Saturday 13:18-19:15

More on the car saga

We took the car to another mechanic yesterday. This is the third. This time he acknowledged that something was wrong but he couldn't figure out what it was. His advice was to drive it until it ran hot consistently or sell it. He seemed to favor selling it. I can't bring myself to sell a broken car. That's not fair. I can't trade it in because I still owe money on it. So I guess I have to drive it until it breaks more. I hope that isn't this weekend when Steph drives it to Ann Arbor while I'm in the Upper Peninsula.

I read two books while on vacation.

I read two fiction books while we were down in South Carolina. I love reading on the beach. That's very relaxing. The first book was ok. "Thank you for smoking" was funny at times and I really did find myself rooting for the bad guy. The book is about a guy who is the public face of a group that encourages smoking. I think I found myself cheering for him because everyone else was against him and everything went wrong for him.

The second book was much better. "Velocity" by Dean Koontz. It was very suspenseful and almost scary. It was about a guy who got a note under his windshield wiper. The note basically said that if the guy didn't get the police involved a pretty young teacher would be killed; if the guy went to the police an elderly woman heavily involved in charity would be killed. The book went on with choices like that while the hero tried to find out who was behind it all.

Reading schedule

It's ten to 1 in the morning and I've just finished driving eight hours. But you're going to want the reading schedule. Well at least someone is.

Monday - Numbers 6:18-9:7
Tuesday- 9:8-13:29
Wednesday - 13:30-16:2
Thursday - 16:43-21:27
Friday - 21:28-26:10
Saturday - 26:11-29:23

Here's a picture

Played golf on a par 3 course today. Played better the back 9. 36. So a picture for you. Hopefully there will be more later.

Anybody know anything about cars?

Well we made it down here to Myrtle Beach. I haven't been outside yet but it looks beautiful. The sun is out and I'm sure it'll be in the 70's. The car developed a problem on the way down. It makes a very weird clunking noise like someone is under my hood trying to tell me to let him out. When the clunking starts the heat guage goes up. It doesn't overheat but runs hotter than it should. Then the clunking will stop and it will cool down. I knew hiring that guy to fan the motor was a bad idea. We took it to a dealer in West Virginia and they changed the thermostat. Which did nothing. So I'll probably take it to another one today. Hopefully I'll make it to the beach too.

Vacation starts today

We head south later this afternoon. If I have internet access down there I will try to update the blog and possibly post some pictures as well. Have a good week!

Reading schedule

Monday - Lev. 11:30-14:47
Tuesday - 14:48 - 19:9
Wednesday - 19:10 - 23:19
Thursday - 23:20 - 26:29
Friday - 26:30 - Numbers 3:17
Saturday - Numbers 3:18 - 6:17

Wow I knew there was a reason I hated those Geico commercials. Lev. 11:30

Cold and rainy

Yesterday's run stunk. I'm sure today's will too. It's 50 and raining. The good news? It's 77 and mostly sunny in Myrtle Beach.

Good day

I got work done today. It was great. I also got some reading done today. Hopefully this trend continues. Just a few more days and I'm heading south.

Ugh

I've got two songs going through my head again and again. "Vacation" by the Go gos and "Going to Carolina in my mind" by James Taylor. I don't leave until Monday night and I'm frozen in a strange world where I've already left and cannot get anything accomplished. So instead I sit in my office and sing those songs over and over.

Sleepless

This morning I had to mow a guys yard before I got to church. I borrowed Steph's mp3 player and listened to the songs that I've put on it. One was Sleepless by The Waiting. One of my favorites. It's one of those songs that builds up and builds up and then the singer just unleashes his agony. I love those ones. Here's the lyrics.

Sleepless

Another night and sleep escapes me

Cling to my pillow like a bride

I pass the time closing corners of my mind

I have something there to hide

Oh sin, Oh sin

It leaves me here without and hollowed out within

Oh sin, Oh sin

Like a fool to his folly

I keep coming back again

And His children are all sleepless

Inventing their excuses why

We play the game,

Dividing up the blame

Against our Father's own reply

Oh sin, Oh sin

It leaves you all without and hollowed out within

Oh sin, Oh sin

Like a fool to his folly

You keep coming back again

And it leaves you far from home

It's a bright and burning fire that leaves you cold as stone

It makes you everybody's friend and leaves you desperately alone

It's a price too high to pay

Turn off the news and try to sleep now

Because I'm losing track of shooting sprees

And I can't abide another symptom analyzed

When it's all the same disease

Oh sin, Oh sin

It leaves us here without and hollowed out within

Oh sin, Oh sin

Like a fool to his folly we keep coming back again

written by Brad Olsen and Chris Falson

Here is a link to a sample of the song.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00005UMSR/ref=ase_elyrics0f-20/102-5706009-0754500?s=music&v=glance&n=5174&tagActionCode=elyrics0f-20

It's not much but it's an idea I guess.

This weeks reading schedule

Monday - Exodus 26:2-29:32
Tuesday - Exodus 29:33-34:3
Wednesday - Exodus 34:4-37:27
Thursday - Exodus 37:28-Leviticus 2:1
Friday - Leviticus 2:2-7:15
Saturday - Leviticus 7:16-11:29

Are you guys still doing this?

Race Results

I finally found the results from that first race. I finished faster than I thought. 29:10. 65th place.

Some pictures from the first 5k

Can you tell which one was taken after the first mile and which one came after the finish? Maybe the smile gives it away.

New e-mail address

I decided not to put this out there for everyone to see. If you want my e-mail address leave a comment and I'll send it to you.

This means I have a faster internet. Hopefully that means I'll post more.

Draft weekend

This weekend we took the youth group to Sleeper State Park. It was pretty nice. They have some cabins that are off seperate from anything else and we had those to ourselves. The weather was pretty good. The only problem is that I missed the first few rounds of the draft. When I got home and got caught up I guess I'm satisfied with the Colts picks. It's hard when your picks come as late as theirs did. Hopefully Addai will be a great rb in their system.

Reading schedule

Monday May 1 Gen47:27-Ex. 2:23
Tuesday Ex. 2:24-7:24
Wednesday Ex. 7:25-12:25
Thursday Ex. 12:26-16:26
Friday Ex. 16:27-21:27
Saturday Ex. 21:18-26:1

This weeks reading schedule

Ok today is Wednesday. So with today the rest of the week is this.

Wednesday - Genesis 31:47-36:11

Thursday - Genesis 36:12-40:10

Friday - Genesis 40:11-43:24

Saturday - Genesis 43:25-47:26

Read through the Bible

Steph and I decided the other day to read through the Bible in the next 9 months. I have a program on my computer that will figure out how much we need to read each day when you give it the days you want to read and stuff. We aren't going to do it on Sundays but will the rest of the week. If anyone is interested in joining us I could post the schedule each week. Leave a comment if you are interested because I'm not going to take the time to post the schedule if nobody is interested. We started a week ago but you aren't that far behind if you want in.

The first 5k

Saturday morning was beautiful. Dan, James, and I got there early and registered. We got a free t-shirt and free putt putt passes. We walked some of the course and just enjoyed our time together. The wives and kids were going to meet us about race time since we got there to register at 8:00 and the race started at 9:30. They got there just as the race started. The start was weird. I felt like I was part of a huge stampede. I got stuck behind some older women at the start but that was fine because I wanted to be sure that I didn't start too fast. The course was really neat wrapping around ponds and through little bits of woods. It crossed roads and railroad tracks. It was paved some and trail some. My first mile was 10 minutes and 5 seconds. I finished the second mile at 19:52. I still had good energy left and was feeling good so I really picked up the pace for about the last half mile. I don't remember my time at the finish but Dan is pretty sure it was 29:15. We know for sure that it was under my 30 minute goal. And I ran the entire time so that was another goal met. I won a door prize that was a free dinner at Fazoli's. So it was a great first 5k. I really enjoyed it and look forward to doing it again.

Dan finished 7th overall. I finished 65th and James finished 66th.

Later that afternoon Steph's brother Paul's family and her parents came up. We had 8 adults and 8 kids for the afternoon and evening at the Weaver house. It was fun.

I'm better

I feel much better. I even went golfing yesterday. Now I'm going to run a short little run today and hopefully be ready to run tomorrow. Oh and I love food again too.

Still sick

I'm still very sick. It's looking really bad for the race Saturday. I want to do it and will do it if I can. We'll see. I've only eaten twice since Sunday and both times it was grilled cheese.

In case you were wondering...

Here's a link to an update on the destroyed $1,000,000 Ferrari.

Bad news

This weekend is my first organized run. I'm planning on running a 5k in Mt. Pleasant. Unfortunately, things aren't looking good. I planned on running 3 miles yesterday to get ready. Yesterday I couldn't get more than 30 yards away from a toilet. Today the same problem is haunting me. So I not only cannot run to get ready, I also can't eat and am probably just getting weaker and weaker.

A week in the life of an assistant pastor

Ok so I thought I'd let you in on a typical week for me. First off, there is no such thing as a typical week. Things are always changing. Here's this week as it happened and as it is planned.

Sunday. Sunday School opening starts at 9:45. I was at church somewhere around 9:30. I didn't teach Sunday School this week so that was a little break. During church I do announcements and pray for the offering. This week I also opened the service because pastor was getting ready to do some baptisms. After the morning service our choir practiced for their cantata. That took all afternoon. I don't do anything for the evening service but after it I do youth group. That ended and I finished cleaning up about 9. So that was a long day.

Monday. Monday started around 9. I came over to church and spent most of the morning working on our church's projector. I was looking for replacement bulbs and things like that. I got it all fixed just in time for lunch. After lunch on Mondays I go calling. I called on an older couple in our church. The man is trying to get veterans benefits but he's had a stroke and cannot remember any of the info they want. So now I'm trying to help them with that. I made another visit and then got home close to 3. I then went running around 4 and hung around talking about future plans with the youth group. I got home at 5:40, ate supper, showered and was back at the church at 6:10 for calling. I was 10 minutes late. We saw 2 people and got home about 8:30.

Tuesday. Tuesday morning I started at church working on a future youth event. Later that morning I worked on the brakes of an older ladies car. I took a break in the afternoon to be in the office and then ran. I finished the car just before 9 and then watched the History Channel.

Wednesday. Today I've posted this. I will work on Jr. High youth today. I also will work on the lights in the sanctuary. I will work on the veterans thing. I will put together a cd of music to play before the cantata.

Thursday. My day off. I'm planning on golfing. I've never had this many people want to golf with me the same week. Maybe it's because it's the first week for some of them.

Friday. I'll work on Sr. High youth. I'll work on a powerpoint that I've been putting together for our future baptism classes. My parents will come up in the afternoon and I will grill supper and then be back at church at 6 to prepare for the cantata. I will probably be home around 9.

Saturday. I have no plans as of now for Saturday.

Sunday. We have a semi-sunrise breakfast at 8 and it starts all over again.

Documentaries

Do you like documentaries? Last night I got hooked. The History Channel is doing a week long special on "Ten Days that Unexpectedly Changed America". Last night I watched the one on Antietam. It was excellent. It probably guaranteed I watch the rest of the week. That battle truly was incredible and insane. Unfortunately I fell asleep during the second documentary on "The Massacre at Myst". I'm looking forward to tonight. It's "Einstein's Letter" about the beginning of the atomic bomb.

So here's the question.

Do you like documentaries?

I'm not a huge fan but these seem pretty good. I even included the link above that tells about each of the documentaries.

Book report

I've been dropping the blog ball. I've finished 3 books that I haven't told you about. I finished "God: As He Longs for You to See Him" by Ingram. It was a good book that gave some fresh views about the attributes of God. I also reread "She Calls Me Daddy" by Wolgemuth. It's an easy book to read. It is about being a father to daughters. I have two of those so I'll probably end up rereading this book a few times. I also read a fiction book. "Last of the Breed" is a Louis L'Amour book. It was my first L'Amour book. It was ok to read but I wasn't a big fan of the ending and wasn't nearly as cowboy and Indian like as I thought a L'Amour book would be.

Update on the wish list

I got a nice backpack and the adapter. I've still got lot's of time left on the Office trial. I think powerpoint is something I'm going to need though.

Laptop wish list

My true wishlist is getting more refined the longer I have the laptop.

Now I plan on buying the Student/Teacher version of Microsoft Office. It costs about $80.

I want to buy a laptop backpack. The nice ones cost about $75.

I want this adapter and software so I can burn my home videos to dvd. It costs $49 or $79 depending on the version.

I haven't decided what order I'm going to get these yet. I have a 60 day trial of Office so I'll probably get the backpack and adapter first.

Free Golf

Nothing better than free golf. I golfed free twice this week and even got sunburnt once. Unfortunately, the golf course opens the first of April so no more free golf for me.

Dodgeball

He should plead insanity. Dodgeball and glasses will give anyone temporary insanity.

I'm a little afraid at night

You've probably heard about the pastor's wife who killed him.

Did you know she's 5'3 and weighs 120?
She's 32?
She's a pastor's wife that only has daughters?
She was married to a man that drove her crazy?

Steph is 5'1 and weighs around there.
Steph is 30.
Steph's a pastor's wife that only has daughters.
Steph is married to a man that drives her crazy.

Spooky

Last weekend

This last weekend Steph and I dropped the girls off at my parents and used a gift certificate for a hotel that my sister gave Steph for Christmas. It was a good time. We ate at Applebees and then went shopping. We had thought about going to a movie but while we were at Best Buy we looked at laptops. I've been wanting a laptop for some time. We looked and looked and then I turned over one of their price things and saw a deal for a laptop that wasn't on display. All the info on it was hidden by another price tag for a laptop that was on display. Being convinced that if they had to hide the info and price that it must be a good deal, I made the impulse buy. We now own a Sony Vaio FS-810/w. We skipped the movie saving money now that we had none. We went back to our suite, watched basketball, and played on the new computer. We also went out to Steak and Shake at about 10:00 for shakes. I've been looking for fun toys for the laptop and I've come up with a GPS, but I've never really been lost so that would be a waste of money. I looked at a car diagnostics kit, but that cost almost what a car costs. I'll probably just end up saving up and buying Microsoft Office.

By the way, everywhere I find it on the internet it cost more than $100 more.

Sports Gambling

My mother was just after me again for my sports betting. Now understand I haven't bet on sports since I was in high school. But that's what moms are for.

George Mason opened the tourney at 400-1 odds at PinnacleSports.com. They had one guy make a $20 bet. If George Mason wins, that $20 bet will pay him $8,000. Go George Mason.

Oh and don't bet on sports.

Praying for strength and courage

I'm praying for strength and courage for Abdur Rahman. He may be executed for being a Christian.

Running update

I'm still running just about every Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday. I've been getting a little faster but still have a ways to go. I can't wait for the cold weather to break so the running isn't quite as bad. At least we didn't get that bad snow storm that they got down in Indiana.

I'm a big football fan but this is a little crazy

This guy turned his half year prison sentence into a 5 year sentence. He says he'd do it again and his brother says he would have done it.

Would you go to prison for 5 years for the chance to go to the Super Bowl and see your brother play?

Colts sign Vinatieri

Say goodbye to the idiot kicker. This makes me happy for a couple of reasons. Nothing better than signing a key player away from the enemy.

What's up with Indy and kickers whose names are hard to spell and start with Vs?

Sixpence sings about my weekend

It has gotten to my head
Permeates the path I tread
But I tread, I'm moving on
In a new and happy song
I can sing about the night
How my tunnel without light
Led me to the other side
Where the sky is blue

It's all I can do to not let them ruin me
I will not let them ruin me
I will not let them ruin me again

There is fire inside the tree
Flames of knowing kissing me
I have waited long to see a sign from you

It's all I can do to not let them ruin me
I will not let them ruin me
I will not let them ruin me again

Moving On - Sixpence None the Richer

I'd tell you more but I'm already close to the moved on stage and don't want to look back. The sky is blue on this side of the tunnel. I'm hoping I stay here and I'm hoping everything else stays on the other side of the tunnel.

A snowplow?

This is a sad story and all but why in the world did a train in Texas have a snowplow on it?

March Madness Blues

The tourney is finally here and I loved it yesterday. Now the second day is here and I'm at work. Here's the weird part. I'm the only one here. Pastor left early. The secretary left early.

Why am I still here?!?!

What I'm listening to

I've gone old school with a little Hokus Pick "Brothers from Different Mothers".

Goodbye

It's time to say goodbye to two sports figures.

John Chaney was the long time coach of Temple Basketball. The guy was a jerk at times but was a great coach. He even looked like an owl. Some guys just belong at some schools.

Edgerrin James was the long time running back for the Indianapolis Colts. I liked Edge. I was pretty upset when the Colts drafted him instead of Ricky Williams though. And I wasn't very happy when they traded Marshall away either. Edge over time wasn't as excited about being a Colt so I won't cry as he goes. He was late to training camps, hated playing preseason, and said some dumb things towards the end. He will be hard to replace though.

My family's Star Wars names

Yesterday Steph watched a little boy for a lady from our church. It was a last minute thing. The mother had someone lined up to watch him but that person never showed up. Steph was telling me about it and Laura said, "We're her only hope." That instantly took me to Star Wars and I came up with names for our family. Laura is Obi-Laura-Kenobi. Colleen is R2Leen2. Steph is Princess Stephanie. And I, of course, am Anakin Weaver.

The weather

Yesterday it was in the 40's. Today it's in the 40's. And unfortunately, it still looks like this outside.

Ok here's some pictures

These are from many years ago so laugh it up. The hair is good stuff.Tobin and the Brooklyn Bridge

The Times Square Double Tree Guest Suites


and the hair.

NCAA brackets

I love the NCAA tournament. I love watching the games. I love filling out the brackets. Here's your chance to join me. Join and fill out your bracket and see if you can beat me, it shouldn't be that hard. Oh and it's free.

Go to http://tournament.fantasysports.yahoo.com/. Click on join group. Enter this info.

Group ID# 19084
Group Password letpaulwin

I'm a jerk but...

This video made me laugh out loud yesterday when I saw it. I feel like a jerk for laughing at a girl with a broken kneck but man is this funny.

Here's the video and story.

Mastercard's priceless commercials

Mastercard is doing a promotion where you write the next "priceless" commercial. I thought that would be cool and I would submit the story of getting engaged to Steph. It would go something like this...

Engagement ring - $1700
Two night stay in Times Square - $700
Parking in the hotel parking garage $70
Giving her an engagement story she'll never forget - priceless

Unfortunately they've already shot the commercial. You just write the lines or something. So I didn't do it.

You know, Tobin was a big part of that weekend. Thanks Tobin for all the help there and for taking a great picture. I just had that picture blown up to an 8x11. Maybe I'll post a copy here later for everyone to see.

www.burrillstrong.com

Burrill is the younger brother of my college roommate, Tobin, and a friend of mine. Budah, one of the names we lovingly call Burrill, and I have had some fun times including tailgating before Michigan games and once we had a bet that I couldn't work his name into the announcements at church. Of course I won that bet. Nothing like mentioning Budah during the announcements at a Baptist church. Anyways here's a link to his website. I think he's ok with me posting it here. His page is much cooler than my little blog. Check it out.

I'm a little confused on why they would do this

A clothing company, "Second Coming Clothing Company", is selling t-shirts. This is one of their designs.

“The Original 10 Commandments, BrokeBack on the Mountain.” An angry Moses is looking over the Israelites and their calf. Then it says, “In his anger, Moses broke the two tablets of stone that the Ten Commandments were written on while walking back down the mountain.” The italics have been added.

Update on the ferrari

1 million dollars of wreckage.

Wonderlic

Ok I've had some good fun laughing at Vince Young. If you don't know, he supposedly scored a 6 on his wonderlic test. It's a test that all potential NFL players take at the combine. It's 50 questions and you have a limited amount of time to finish. Well I took a sample test. I'll give the link to the test and tell you my results later. I don't want to help you out at all.

http://espn.go.com/page2/s/closer/020228test.html

Two news stories for you today

Here's the story of a mother who wrestles a polar bear to save her kids.

Here's a million dollar car crash.

Both prompt questions.

Would you wrestle a polar bear to save someone else's kid? I know she saved her own kids but everyone will at least say the would fight a bear for their kid. Would you do it for someone else's kid? Laura has a few friends I might let a bear get... Did I type that?

Would you let an acquaintance, that you don't even know his last name, drive your million dollar car?

Sick

I'll be back soon. I'm sick and I had a Jr. High Retreat this last weekend. That makes me sick and tired.

Weather update

It didn't snow as much last night as they said it would. Today has been interesting though. We are having a thunderstorm right now, yes I know I shouldn't be on the computer. Instead of rain though it's ice coming down. It sounds like hail. It's kindof cool. I went outside and it hurts. It's just little ice balls coming down. Weird.

Pitchers and catchers report

Maybe spring will come after all.

It won't be today though. Here's the NOAA forecast.

http://www.crh.noaa.gov/ifps/MapClick.php?CityName=Remus&state=MI&site=GRR

"Thursday: Occasional snow, mixing with freezing rain after noon. Steady temperature around 27. Blustery, with a east wind between 16 and 20 mph, with gusts as high as 36 mph. Chance of precipitation is 80%. New snow accumulation of 1 to 3 inches possible.

Thursday Night: Occasional snow, freezing rain and sleet, becoming all snow after midnight. Areas of blowing snow after midnight. Low near 16. Blustery, with a east wind 14 to 22 mph becoming north. Winds could gust as high as 39 mph. Chance of precipitation is 90%."

Their Hazardous weather Winter Storm Watch says 2 to 4 inches tonight and 6 or more tomorrow.

3 miles

We ran 3 miles yesterday. I was dying at the end and it took just under a half an hour to do it but we finished. I've got a long ways to go before I do my first 5k though.

Does it get any more romantic than this?

"Mood lighting. Candles. Flowers. Romantic music. A sackful of Slyders.

White Castle wants couples who love little burgers as much as each other to share Valentine's Day romance over a bag of belly bombs. They're even taking reservations."

Nothing says I love you like a gut bomb, slider, belly bomber, rectal rocket. Here's hoping that Steph reads this.

This was my 6th cheeseburger that night. Oh I love the castle.

Super Bowl sermon mp3

Ok I think I've made it possible for you to hear me. Let's give this a try.

Super Bowl Sermon

Joe Montana story

Friday while in Detroit we got to see part of the Dan Patrick show. I have posted a picture of Dan and Joe Montana. I tried to start a "Fire Millen" chant but Dan missed it and then started his own a few minutes later. However, a cool moment came during his interview with Montana. He asked Joe to call the Taylor TD play in the huddle. So Joe called the play and then Dan asked him to act like he was at the line and to do the call there. Joe hesitated so I yelled out "BLUE 32!" Joe laughed and said "Ya, blue 32". Then he said no and changed it to red something or another but he did mention what I yelled out. That was pretty cool. If you heard the show Friday leave me a comment and let me know if you could hear me yell or just Joe mention it.

Ok here's how it went in Detroit

As I told you I went to Detroit last Friday for some of the Super Bowl festivities. My brother-in-law Dan provided the tickets and transportation for a birthday gift I won't soon forget. We started off the morning by going to the Renaissance Center, which was media central. When we got there it was incredibly exciting right from the start. The place was bustling and we got there as Cold Pizza was ending. We saw Woody and Skip and the rest of the crew. Dana was interviewing Clinton Portis. The crowd was full of energy and it was neat to be there. After that interview we walked around some. We saw Joe Theismann, Matt Leinart, Bonnie Bernstein, Tom Jackson, Chris Carter, Shannon Sharpe, the Bud Light daredevil, The NFL Network crew of Eisen, Mooch, and Terrell Davis. One interesting story from there was walking down the hall and seeing Sal Paolantonio walking the other way. As we approached him I gave him a head nod. He got a kindof confused look on his face as he returned the nod. When we saw him on tv last night Steph commented, "He's still probably trying to figure out where he knows you from". Just in case you ever read this Sal, you don't know me. I was just giving a friendly nod.

After that we went to Ford Field to see what was up there. It was pretty dead. I did my usual attempt to try and find an unlocked door so that I can wander into stadiums when I shouldn't. This time I found an unlocked door and two security guards standing on the other side. They weren't in flexible moods and I sensed that if I pushed my luck they may attempt to test my flexibility. Luckily for them, I backed off and went on towards the gift shop. In the gift shop I bought my dad a Super Bowl XL edition of the terrible towel. He says he plans to use it as a golf towel. I like my clubs too much to do that to them. We then went and checked out the Winter Blast. The Winter Blast is a city festival that Detroit does every year. They had sled dogs but no snow. They had a wave pool and surfers but there was a pretty decent line to check that out. So we just walked on down through and looked here and there but did little else.

We ended up at the NFL Experience. Dan and Darcie had provided me a ticket and we waited in line for about a half an hour while about 300 people cut in front of us. The organization at the door wasn't the best. Once in we went downstairs right away to check out the autograph session. There was a young guy at the gate of the cattle herding system they had set up to hold people in line. He couldn't tell us who was signing that night. He also couldn't less us enter the line even though there were rows and rows of the cattle things with no people in them. He said we could wait in the line that was waiting to get into the official line and then we could get autographs from mystery players to appear later. Fearing that we would be waiting in line for Jeff Garcia and Vanderjagt we decided to skip that part of the NFL experience. We wandered around the world's largest football card show which seemed to include everything but football cards. We did get some free cards from some of the big name card makers. We also played a plinko like game where I won a pack of cards and Dan won a mini autograph ball. By chance I did get Garcia and Vanderjagt cards. We then went upstairs to check out the rest of the show. Upstairs we got our pictures taken with Marcus Allen. When I finally got through the line and up to Marcus I asked him if he got tired of this type of thing. He said, "No, I've got stamina". I'm not sure if he meant it to be a joke or not but I laughed out loud. We walked around the 3,000 cheerleaders who were incredibly loud. We saw all of the things where you could run or kick or catch or whatever. We didn't do any. I wimped out. We saw a place where you could get free pizza but the line for that was longer than the one for Ronnie Lott's autograph. So we got in line for Ronnie Lott's autograph. He was a half hour late but signed Dan's football and a pennant for me. I posted that picture. Diet Pepsi machine was there but I'm still very anti-Patriots so I avoided him. We did find out that signing autographs downstairs was Larry Johnson, Chris Chambers, Scottie Vines, and Jason Hanson. I like Larry Johnson but not enough to wait in that line. After that we left, hit White Castle, and then came home exhausted. It was a fun day.

Pictures from Detroit

Ok here's a game for you. Name the football players.

I'll tell you more of the stories early next week.

Weaves at the Super Bowl

I'm going to the Super Bowl festivities on Friday. We have tickets for the NFL experience and we plan on seeing some of the other things going on. Here's a question for you. If we get into a crowd around something like sportscenter, what do we do to stand out in that crowd? Here's some ideas I had. Tell me which you like or give me your ideas.

Start doing the YMCA dance.

Start a "Fire Millen" chant. Actually that would probably help us blend in.

Do the escalator/elevator/canoe thing where you gradually disappear behind something.

Wear a yellow t-shirt.

Take off my shirt.

More on the goodness of God

I have to preach this Sunday evening. That's right our church is having Sunday evening service and saying "What Super Bowl?". They even asked the biggest football fan in the church to preach that night. So I'm on. And I'm trying to make it as different a service as I can. I'm not sure how that will work yet. But I'm going to preach on the goodness of God. This is my thoughts so far, feel free to chime in.

As I sat back and watched the Colts lose in the playoffs again I was sick. As I type this I thought back and can remember where I sat and my reactions to the last few times the Colts have lost in the playoffs. Once at Rob's in Brownsburg, once I bounced a full sippy cup off of a youth group kid's head... Anyways I sat there and realized that now I want them to win more for them than for me. This group of guys needs to win a Super Bowl. I decided that I was going to do everything in my power to see them succeed. Than I thought again. I'm 5'10 and weigh 195, Oh yeah I'm 31 too. I can't become a player and help them. So maybe I could be a coach, well I'm probably overestimating my knowledge about football and even if I was a football genius by the time I made the pro level even as an assistant these players would probably be retired. So, without committing major felonies, I really cannot help this team succeed. I don't have the knowledge or power to do it.

I'm a huge fan of the Colts. But God is even a bigger fan of ours. Romans 8:31 says that He is for us. God wants you to succeed. He is a fan our yours. How do we know that? Well he came and died for your sins. And example that Chip Ingram gives in God As He Longs For You To See Him is of an uncle that pays a ten million dollar ransom for you when you were kidnapped. Are you worried the next day how that uncle feels about you? No. You know he cares about you. God payed a bigger ransom for you. Know that He cares about you. So if God is a bigger fan of yours than I am of the Colts than what differences are there between my fandom and His.

The first difference is that He has the power to do something. God is all powerful. He is sovereign. He can bring the things into your life that will help you succeed. When we doubt God's goodness sometimes we are doubting His power.

The second difference is that He knows what needs to be done. God knows everything. He knows what you need in your life to help you succeed. When we doubt God's goodness many times we are saying we know more about what we need than God knows.

The perfect example of all this is Joseph. Remember Joseph? Joseph's life kindof starts of by being thrown into a pit. That would be bad. But it gets worse. Joseph is sold into slavery. That would be bad. But it gets worse. Joseph is thrown into prison for something he didn't do. But because of all that Joseph ends up second in command over Egypt. Egypt is the world power at that time. So Joseph is second in command over the world. Except that being second in command really meant being in command because pharoah didn't really do anything. Do you think that when Joseph sat down with his guidance counselor he said, "I want to be thrown into a pit, sold into slavery, and then go to prison."? Joseph trusted God's knowledge and power even when God was bringing things that Joseph knew were bad into his life.

It reminds me of two a days when I played high school football. I swore my coach hated me and just wanted to punish me. He made us run gassers and do monkey rolls. I hated both. They were bad things he was bringing into my life. But they prepared me for football in late October. If I had not done those bad things in August I wouldn't have been prepared to play football in October. Now if only coach had let me leave the bench and put some of that to use...

God knows what's best for us. He has the power to bring it into our lives. He only wants goodness for us. We need to trust that goodness of God through every circumstance in our lives.

whoa long post

Happy Birthday

That's right I'm now 31. I actually feel older this time. I was complaining about my knees aching while I was running and was trying to find the cause for that and someone said to me, "Well you are getting older". They are right. I am. And running makes me feel it more. I said something about being old to Steph and she told me, "You're not old, you're middle aged." You're not helping here Steph.

Gareth is sending me to jail

Ok here's the announcement you have been waiting for. Well some of you. I've done it. As far as I know this is a first time ever thing. Tree Climbers Guild on cd. That's right I've transfered the Tree Climbers, in all their glory, to cd. If you want a copy post a comment here and I'll make sure I get one out to you. I do not have a cover for it yet. Any ideas? I could try and do the original I guess, but I'm guessing it won't scan very well.

What's next you ask? Well I've already started on SporkChild's, aka Mattman, Somewhere in a Box cd.

Two miles

I ran two miles yesterday. I think I'm going to add the Proclaimers I would walk 500 miles to Steph's mp3 player so I can listen to it while I run.

Running

I don't think I've talked about it yet on the blog but I've decided to enter a foot race. I guess it isn't called a race it's a "run". And the way things are going I doubt I'll be doing much running. Maybe a jog here or there.

My brother-in-law, Dan, ran in this "run" last year and inspired me to give it a try. He now, to me anyways, is a running superhero. I used to be in about the same shape as Dan. That is before he started running. We'd play basketball and football and both be winded. Now Dan runs circles around me. And I don't like it. So I started running. I started January 7th. I take Wednesdays off. I can now run a little more than a mile and a half. I'm going to try 2 miles in the next week or two. My first goal is to run well in the "33rd Annual Dexter-Ann Arbor Run" on June 4th. There are a few long races there but my goal is the 5k. Here's a quote from the website, "NOTE: There is no minimum pace requirement for the 10K and 5K events." That's good for me. I've looked at the calendar and that race is on a Sunday. There goes my first goal. I guess I'll have to find another 5k around June.

Then my goal is the Great Turtle 5.7 mile run. It's on Mackinac Island. We had fun going up there last October to watch Dan. This year I hope to run as well. I'm not sure if Dan is going or not but I'm planning on it. I have a running partner who is planning on trying to run in it as well. I'll try to keep you posted a little on it as I go.

"Jesus Blood Never Failed Me Yet"

I thought I'd share my notes from Sunday School and Youth Group yesterday.

This song has been stuck in my head for more than a week now. Jars of Clay first heard it as a 70 some minute recording of a homeless man singing it over and over again. They used it as an example of people going through extreme suffering and how their faith can seem so m;uch stronger than ours. As I was thinking about it and my various insignificant woes, I thought "Why should I take advice from an insane man." My prejudice striking right away reasoned that if a guy was homeless and singing the same chorus repeatedly for 70 minutes he'd have to be insane. (I've since learned that it was looped and that he didn't actually sing it that long) Then I thought more and decided that maybe he seems insane to me because he doesn't fit into my logical comfortable box. Maybe said homeless dude is more sane than I'll ever be. I can learn from his faith. "Lord, I believe: help thou my unbelief".

God is good and wants goodness for us. We need to trust Him and remember He has never failed you yet. I'm not to the place yet where I'm able to completely let go and let Him handle everything. And I'm not sure where the line between trust and responsibility truly lies. For example, I hate planning for retirement. I'm 30. Who knows if I'll even ever retire. I could die. Christ could come. I hate that responsibility. So if I just say "I'll live by faith", will I ever be able to retire? I hate all the Christian money people these days. Probably because I don't yet know the line between faith/trust and responsibility. I do know that I've been through some tough times financially and still "Jesus Blood Never Failed Me Yet". I think I need to learn more about God's goodness and how He only wants good for me. This will help my faith. This will impact my decision making. This will change everything.

Romans 8:28-31

I'll have more on God's goodness later this week.

What I'm listening to

This song is laugh out loud funny. It's about a boy who thinks he's good looking. So he goes to his mom and she says,
"She said,
'Son, well, you know,
you're an ugly boy.
You don't really look like him

In this long line
There's been some
real strange genes
You've got 'em all
You've got 'em all
With some extras thrown in'"

The song goes on and ends up like this,
"Now I'm here with you little darling
And you say, 'You're beautiful as you are'
And I've managed somehow to survive

You arrived in my life like a fragrance
You helped me find a way to laugh
Now I know a so-called beauty lies

God gave him a face
Then he gave me something above
God gave me grace
Man, he gave me a sweet, sweet, sweet love

You make me feel like I'm a real good looking boy
I feel I'm a real good looking boy"

With grace all of us are good looking.

The song is Real Good Looking Boy by The Who.

These lyrics may not be 100% correct. I'll check them soon.

Colleen plays the piano

I haven't talked about my kids much here on the blog but my younger daughter, Colleen, is in the picture with me there on the beach under the "Who is Weaves". Here she is playing the piano.




If you have dial-up it may be slow, but it's there. I'm trying to figure out how to stop the autostart on this. It's annoying.

Congratulations Andrei Kirilenko

In honor of AK-47 getting a triple double for my fantasy team I gave myself a mohawk. He's the first Russian born player to get a triple double in the NBA. Congratulations Andrei!

The follow up to a Beautiful Day

Is a bummer.
I overslept and didn't get my ritual shower. I took one last night at 10:30 but if I don't have one in the morning waking up is different and not a good different.

Nothing went right at church.

I annoyed Steph until she yelled at me, believe it or not that doesn't happen often (the yelling not the annoying, I'm good at the annoying).

My running partner cancelled for a hair appointment. By the way if you are going to have something scheduled with me and then cancel it, make sure it's not for something like a haircut.
It's half raining half snowing out.

And to top it off God is convicting me because I have such a good life but don't appreciate it enough. Way to pile it on.

Beautiful Day

Ah yesterday was great. If you don't know, Thursdays are my day off. So yesterday I slept in. Then I went golfing, it was close to 50 degrees. Oh and golfing is free November to the end of March if you are a Canadian Lakes property owner. I have ways of looking like I'm a property owner. After golfing I ran. After running I played basketball outside. After basketball I played Tiger Woods golf on the PS2.

It was a beautiful day.

What I'm listening to

It's not very often that I get a cd that I tell others about. I bought this cd for Stephanie for Christmas and I cannot stop listening to it or telling other people about it. It is a bunch of old hymns remade with more modern music. Don't read that wrong and think this is a bunch of rocking out. The music here never overwhelms the lyrics. Some of the songs (man this is hard to type and admit) have a country type sound to them. We prefer to call them folk songs in our house. A couple of the songs have the Blind Boys of Alabama on them and at least one of the songs has a banjo. Man, as I type this I can't believe that those things can be on a cd and I would like them. At the same time I cannot stop listening to the cd. My favorite songs on the cd are "Nothing But the Blood", "It is Well With My Soul", and "They'll Know We are Christians by Our Love". But having said that I pretty much like every song on this cd. If you think you would like an old Jars of Clay mixed with Third Day singing some songs with great lyrics check this cd out.

New features on Weaveswrites

I'm going to try and add some new features to the blog. Every week I'm going to try and tell you what I'm reading, what's I'm listening to, and I need some ideas on other things. Each weekday will have a different topic. For example today will be what I'm listening to. So please leave me some feedback on other things you'd like me to include.

Uganda

I'm not really a political guy at all anymore. The whole political process just really frustrates me. I have never in my life written my senator or any other politician. None that I can remember anyways. But I will bust off an e-mail after reading the article linked above. Joseph Kony is an evil evil man. He must be stopped. I'm not big on the U.S. being the policeman of the world but someone needs to step up and defend children. It might just take a decent reward offer.

So I'm encouraging you to do the same. Write your senator, congressman, whoever it takes to get something done.

As I've written this post I've discovered stuff that has ticked me off even more. I admittedly know little about politics and am learning this stuff from biased internet sites. However, I'll try to be as unbiased as I can. Apparently Joseph Kony has been indicted by the ICC, International Criminal Court. The U.S., under President Clinton, signed the original charter for the ICC. However later fears that American servicemen could be charged for service to their country in the future changed the minds of our legislators. I appreciate that fear and understand it needed to be addressed. Unfortunately in their zeal to distance themselves from the ICC, they passed a bill that makes it illegal for the U.S. to aid the ICC. Which means that the since the ICC has indicted Kony the U.S. cannot offer a reward through the Rewards for Justice program. Our intelligence agencies cannot even pass on information they might receive on his whereabouts. Please correct me on this if I am wrong.

Bill Gates and Warren Buffett play online bridge

Bet you can't guess their online names. I'll tell you in the comment section.

Christmas vacation

We leave today for Christmas vacation. I'm really looking forward to warmer temperatures. Right now it's 21 degrees here in Michigan. It's only 23 in West Virginia, but Friday it's supposed to be 51 and mostly sunny. Excellent. The NOAA site even says it may snow Christmas morning. Not that I care. I'm sick of snow. Myrtle Beach is supposed to be in the 50's too. I'm really hoping to get down there for some golfing.

Have a Merry Christmas.

This is a blow to my Americocentric ways

I love American sports like basketball and football. I often make fun of soccer even though I find it fun to play. I've gone to MLS games and find them like hockey to be slow and boring compared to football and basketball. I love the Superbowl and always am amazed at how many people watch it and how many countries it is shown in. Last year, according to Superbowl.com, 144 million people watched.

December 9th was the draw for the World Cup. This is similar to the seeding for the NCAA March Madness. Understand that December 9th there wasn't even a game played. It is estimated that over 300 million people watched. More than twice what the Superbowl gets and it wasn't even a game. The U.S. census bureau says that the United States population is 297,890,005. That earns a "wow".

Thoughts on Christmas

I've been thinking about Christmas lately and teaching it in youth group. Here's a couple of interesting thoughts.

Jesus was the only baby born to die. All other humans are born to live but are tainted by sin and because of that must die. Spiritually humans are born dead but can have spiritual life. Jesus was born spiritually alive but took the punishment, spiritual death, for sins from us.

Jesus was born without sin and lived without sin.

If Jesus had not taken our sins upon himself would he have ever died? Tell me what you think about that question.

I've been neglecting sports here on Weaves writes

I haven't been talking about the Colts undefeated season. The big question is whether to play the starters or rest them. You have to play them. The Colts first playoff game will be January 15th. If you sit them now you sit them for a month. Anybody remember how long it took the offense to find its rhythm this year? Keep playing and keep the rhythm. Now that being said, I firmly believe that when the game is in hand you sit them in a hurry. Oh and I think you could mix Mungro and Rhodes in some more to give Edge some rest.

The other big topic is Ron Artest. Some of you may know that I've wanted to trade Artest for a while. Ever since they lost to the Pistons in the ECF a couple of years ago. He has never fit into the offense. He has always been a distraction. These things aren't new. I will not be sad to see him go. I'm not opposed to shipping him into deep freeze in Toronto for a couple of players and a first round pick either. Remember that you heard that from me. It's funny because I chatted to Rob last week and told him I was hearing rumors of a trade and then boom here comes Artest with his interviews.

A Primer on Postmodernism

I just finished reading "A Primer on Postmodernism" by Stanley J. Grenz. This was a good book. I would recommend the first 3 chapters and the last chapter to everyone. The rest of the chapters should only be read by someone who wants to go way way in depth into studying postmodernism. Let's just say that Grenz is thorough. It's too bad he died earlier this year because he wrote some pretty good books. Here's a teaser from the last chapter entitled "The Gospel and the Postmodern Context".

"As Christians we must stand against the postmodern rejection of the metanarrative. We simply do not share the despair over the loss of universality that leads to the radical skepticism of the emerging era. At the same time, we dare not allow our resounding "No!" to postmodernism at this central point to blind us to the validity of its critique of modernity. On the contrary, closer inspection of the phenomenon should convince us that we are in fundamental agreement with the postmodern rejection of the modern mind and its underlying Enlightenment epistemology."

Good stuff there, good stuff.

Sunday School outline

I know some of you like this sort of thing so here is my outline from Sunday School yesterday.

Being a good leader – I Samuel 11

Saul was working. V. 5

He cared about people. V. 5, 6

People were inspired to follow him. V. 6-8

Saul used his authority to help people. V. 9-11

Saul wasn’t about gaining more power or punishing those who weren’t loyal followers of his. V. 13

A good leader has the Spirit of God. V. 6

Look: “Effective leaders use their authority to honor God and build up their people, but ineffective leaders use the people to build up their authority.” Warren Wiersbe

Took: Recognize whether or not God has made you a leader. If he has make sure you are building the people you lead, not building your self.

University of Colorado

The University of Colorado has truly been one of sports biggest embarrassments of all time. And they just made it worse. They fired Gary Barnett yesterday after an awful end of a decent season. He found out because someone leaked it to the media before they told the coach. He started out the season 7-2 and they athletic department was talking about extending his contract. Then things got ugly ending with a 70-3 loss to Texas. I'm not against firing Barnett. I just think the timing and the reasons are wrong.

While Barnett was at Colorado there was a huge scandal with his recruiting. Visiting recruits were given drugs, alcohol, and sex. The administration of the university, including the chancellor, president, and athletic director, resigned or were dismissed because of this scandal.

A former player, female kicker Katie Hnida, may have been raped while she was a player under Barnett. In a press conference after she went public Barnett said, "It was obvious Katie was not very good. She was awful. You know what guys do, they respect your ability. I mean you can be 90 years old, but if you can go out and play, they respect you. Well, Katie was a girl. Not only was she a girl, she was terrible. And there's no other way to say it. She couldn't kick the ball through the uprights." I don't care if the comments are taken out of context, as he claims, you don't make those comments in a press conference where you are responding to her allegations.

Barnett and his staff have been accused of having a slush fund. They have had gross accounting oversights that have included thousands of dollars.

An assistant coach sexually harrassed athletic trainers and a grand jury faulted Barnett for not properly reporting the trainers claims.

It wasn't any of those things that got Barnett fired. They were looking to extend his contract at the beginning of this year. Any one of those scandals could have been enough to cost him his job. However, it took losses at the end of the year to get him fired, earning the University of Colorado an official Shame on you. Mom you can shake your finger at them now.

"Don't Give Up, Don't Ever Give Up"

I love when the Jimmy V classic comes every year and I get to hear part of Jim Valvano's ESPY acceptance speech from 1993. I cry just about every time. If you've never heard or read the speech click the link above. I recommend listening to it. It seems to be more touching that way. You can download the MP3 at that site.

Our Christmas tree

I bought a balsam fir from a local tree farm last Thursday. It's 7.5 feet tall and one of the best I've ever picked out. We don't usually spend $35 for a tree but I didn't want to keep looking. Here's a picture of it.

Here are two of the more important ornaments.