A walk in my checkershoes

Sometimes it's about time, part 2

2006-11-07T12:54:00.000-06:00

So... I guess the most recent news is... SHE SAID YES!!! But not only is that the most recent news, but that's just about the best news. I'd put it #2 on my list, behind Romans 3:21-26.

It seems a lot of people want details, but I know I can't tell the story the same way that Jen can. But I'll try....

Jen and I went to the Badger game on Friday because it's fun. (We were able to get tickets at the last minute from a friend.) The church was having it's semi-annual dance that night, and neither of us wanted to go, so it was an excellent excuse to avoid stepping all over her feet.

After the game, we didn't have any real plans, to we decided to go back to my place and watch a movie. I "forgot" that I had a bunch of camping gear all over my room because I wanted to use the tub that I normally store the gear in. I apologized for the messiness and asked for a minute to wash the tub before I put everything back in it.

Ah-ha... An opening.

Ever since I knew I wanted to spend the rest of my life with Jen, I've only had one thought in my head about the proposal. I'm not into anything fancy or anything that requires a month of planning. I don't really understand the proposals that require the woman to hunt around town for little notes or flowers or whatnot; is that how he will woo her for the rest of his life? Doubtful, but they always make for an interesting story. I guess I'm a little more practical.

Instead of just washing the tub, I filled it with water and brought it back to Jen. I set it down and asked if I could wash her feet. Confused, I went on to explain that there are 2 great symbolic acts of love and service that Christ showed others: His death, and washing his disciple's feet. I explained that this is how I want to demonstrate my love for her through this act of humble service.

The irony is that early on in our dating relationship, she had asked me to wash my own feet. It was hot...I wasn't wearing socks all day... I'll agree that my feet didn't smell very good. But it was kind of humiliating.But now it was humbling.

As I washed her feet, I told her that this is how I want to offer my life to her, as a servant, for the rest of my life. And I asked her to marry me.

Fun, right? So I've been on cloud nine ever since, and I can't seem to get this smile off my face...

Kaboom! Sort of...

2006-07-03T10:18:00.000-05:00

Saturday was the annual Rhythm and Booms event in town. Supposedly it's the biggest fireworks display in the midwest. How do they judge that? What's "the biggest" mean? Does that mean in terms of the number of shells they shoot off? The duration? The number of people in attendance? This has been going on for well over 10 years now, and I still can't figure it out.

So I decided to open up my house for a gathering before the show, not sure whether or not the fireworks would actually take place because of a 40% chance of rain. I can only think of one other year they've actually postponed the fireworks because of weather, but Sunday wasn't supposed to be any better. Anyway, during the day, the weather was perfect. Great for burgers and brats and a little bocce.

...And a nap, apparently...

Possibly the funniest event of the day was a result of some decision that couldn't be made about bocce. I don't completely understand it... But we all had a good laugh.

Eventually, almost 20 people showed up for the fireworks, which is a pretty big group. So we started walking to a good location, only to be told as soon as we arrive that the show had been cancelled.

Bugger.

Although, I guess it was probably a good thing when the 50mph winds blew through the neighborhood...

Emotional Peaks and Valleys

2006-06-20T16:07:00.000-05:00

As you'll see, I haven't updated this whole thing in a long time. Maybe that's because I haven't had any interesting pictures to post along with a new blog, maybe not. But I've been really busy with work and homework, and dealing with a lot of personal changes.

God's really been working hard with my life, so the past couple months have been filled with a lot of emotional peaks and valleys. I guess it all started back before I made the decision to get baptized, which was the end of April. I had decided that I was playing a spiritual game and holding onto my religious pride and piety for too long. Pride and piety never saves anyone, so I don't know why I held onto those for so long. Once I made the decision to get baptized, I decided to give my testimony to all of my friends and family. I didn't do it because I was trying to change anyone else, but just to explain how God was changing me. So getting through that was somewhat of an emotional valley... I had to think about how I'd lived the past several years and how I'd talked the talk, but walked a pretty crooked walk.

But the baptism was amazing... It was actually more emotional than writing my testimony because I never thought about what I was really writing. But when it was read back to me before I was dunked, that was the first time that I really knew what I had written... So it was powerful. That, and the fact that my mom had a camera 2 feet from my face...

So that was a pretty big high, and God's still working on me. (He will until I die, because I'm nowhere near finished.) He's also been generous throughout this changing... I've got some really great friends out of the "ordeal" and He's even given me the opportunity to date an incredible girl. I've been really blessed...

I'm still working on getting a new job, but I'm definitely being patient. God's been really gracious lately, and a new job would be fantastic, but I also know that I haven't deserved anything that I've been blessed with thusfar. So whenever it happens, it happens. Until then, just keep plugging away at the whole school thing until I get that all-important piece of paper.

Small World is an understatement

2006-01-23T12:46:00.000-06:00

On saturday, I had the opportunity to hang out with a friend I've known since 7th grade. We used to go to the same church, and hang out all the time. We even used to visit each other while in college, which didn't happen with any other friends from high school or church. She got married a few years ago, moved around, yadda yadda yadda... Anyway, her husband is overseas serving in Kuwait (Go Joe!) and she's been...bored.

Ditto, here.

So we spent the day catching up on about 5 years on missed communication, which was cool. Throughout the day, we talked about church, both past and present. Out of nowhere, she starts spouting names of people she knows from somewhere, and I happen to know the same people from my current church. Weird....

We end up at the bowling alley that night. The 20-something group was throwing an event that had something to do with trucker hats and mullets... I looked pretty dapper in my mullet, if I do say so myself. (Probably the only time I will every voluntarily cut my hair into one of fashion's biggest blunders.) But as my friend and I are sitting around and talking to everyone, I get a tap on my shoulder because I'm about to be introduced to someone.

"Nate, I'd like you to meet..."

"Wait, I already know you!"

It turned out to be a girl who I used to be friends with WAY back in the day. Our families went to the same small church until I was in 6th grade, and there were only 3 people in my sunday school class. Her family even lived close to us, so we were at their house all the time. I really hadn't heard anything about her family for years. (I ran into her mom once while shopping, but that's about it.) This friend had moved to Zoo York and had spent quite a bit of time there. She moved back recently, Googled churches in the area, and ended up at Blackhawk. How weird is that? An old pastor I knew would call that a "God Sighting" and I don't think I could disagree.

As if that's not enough, my mom wanted to go see "The End of the Spear" this weekend. I knew it was about missionaries in Ecuador, and knew a little something about the story, but nothing significant. After 27 years of life, my mom finally tells me that I was named after one of those missionaries: Nate Saint. Of course, after seeing that flick, I apparently have HUGE shoes to fill. And I'm trying to find a new pair of checkershoes!

THEN... tomorrow night, I show up at church and find out that one of the 2 new members of my small group lives a block away from me. Seriously?! I figured that I was the oddball of this 20-something group and my small group because I was the only person from the Eastside, let alone the Northside.

It's a small world after all... Just never go on that ride at Disneyworld; you'll go crazy halfway through.

Frat Rock

2005-12-20T10:22:00.000-06:00

Throw your phones up in the air, and wave 'em like.... I just don't care.

I've been to a few concerts in my day, but two things have finally gotten on my last nerve: people who use their cell phones as lighters during rock anthems, and people who decide to call some unfortunate soul who couldn't make it to the concert just so they can hear a part of the concert.

The pseudo-lighter effect is just plain cheesy. Hundreds of blueish LCDs don't have the same ambiance as the butane glow that's persisted through decades of rock legends. Fire is a symbol of life, of something natural, of rock's undying spirit. Sure, rock music has evolved, but the spirit is still the same. Cell phones only represent a materialistic nature, which is more like pop music; one hit wonders deserve a cell phone glow because, like materials, they'll be gone tomorrow.

Can you imagine being the poor soul getting this call from your friend who's at a show you only wish you could be at? Wouldn't you just want to reach through the phone and throttle your friend for basically saying, "Here's what you're missing, SUCKER!"? Not only that, but isn't it essentially stealing? I'm not allowed to bring a recrding device because they want everyone to pay for the experience. But Joe Fratboy gets to bring his cell phone to call all of his already-paid-for-friends...? How is this different from bringing a recording device? Sure, phone calls can't be mass-produced and sold, but you are still providing a service to those who cannot pay to attend the concert in person. Not to mention that the person on the other end of the phone cannot really hear what you want them to hear; all they really hear is noise. Joe Fratboy's a real friend, isn't he...

Put the phone away; I'll see you in the pit.

Into Indo

2005-12-16T12:07:00.000-06:00

Oh, the sunsets... If only all the sunsets during the trip were like this. Actually, I can only remember 3: the night of my brother's wedding, the night at Tamahlot, and the night at the dirty beach. I know there were sunsets on the other nights, but I just don't remember them. Chris and I had to ham it up for one of these pics, because I think we needed to release a bit to energy... We rushed to get to the beach to see the sunset, so we were still a bit hyper.

The first place we really visited was Taman Mini, which was basically a "little Indonesia." It showed us a snippet of the different island cultures and things to see and do while in Indonesia. My grandmother got a kick out of the pseudo-Tigger, who apparently was very "gabby."

We also went to the bird park located at Tamah mini. I was the only one who really wanted to go in, but was able to convince my mom and Chris to join me. Everyone else in my travel group was afraid of the bird flu... nuts to that. If I'm going to get sick, I'm going to get sick. And I don't remember hearing of any cases in Indonesia, let alone in an entirely enclosed bird sanctuary! But whatever...

Welcome to Bali! Thanks to Chris and Val for traveling to Bali with us; they were the greatest friends, interpreters, and guides that we could ask for. I should bake them pies...

The first day we were there, we went to the popular town of Kuta, where they had a Polo store every 100 feet. No joke. But just about everything there was really inexpensive; I got a huge bottle of water for what was basically 15 cents. T-shirts were around $1.50, nice luggage for less than $30... Good thing I only walked out of there with the water.

The following day we went on a big tour of the island. Our first stop was the biggest Hindu temple on Bali. I think this was also the biggest Hindu temple in Indonesia, but don't quote me on that. Big was a bit of an understatement... And even though it was rainy (check out my mom in her "poncho sarong"), the visit was really cool. The temple is on the tallest mountain on Bali, over 3000 feet above sea level, which afforded us some great landscape views of the whole island.

Val and I ended up breaking away from our big group and somehow ended up with a guide of our own. (Don't we look cute together in our sarongs?) Along the way, I learned the difference between bale, bole, bali, and bule. Bahasa seems easy to learn, I just wish I would have had more time to learn. (Bahasa is the official language of Indonesia, and the word "bahasa" translates into "language." So if anyone says they can speak the bahasa language, they're being redundant.)

Ah... lunch. Maybe it' s because I was really hungry, but the food at the Dirty Duck Diner was some of the best I've ever had. Not just in Indonesia... But I can have the same opinion about freeze-dried food after a long day of hiking. I was so hungry and the food cost so little, that I asked for everything on the "special" menu. The honey basil prawns were possibly the best part of the meal... But the entrees were delicious, too...

Afterward, we all went to the beach to watch the sunset, which was a surprise because it had rained all day. The next couple of days were spent relaxing, swimming, snorkeling and whatnot. Overall, a great time. I just wish I could have stayed longer.

O brother, what a wedding!

2005-12-16T10:33:00.000-06:00

Congrats to my brother and his new bride! I thought she was taking enough of a risk by marrying him, but then she stepped it up by dancing with him! I guess he remembers a lot of the moves from his days in show dance... yes, I remember and we still have the video tapes. Maybe that will be my belated wedding present...

The wedding itself was really great, at fit the personalities of Tim and Rina. I don't know much about Indonesian wedding traditions, other than a really big reception. Apparently, Tim and Rina had to "trick" people into showing up for the wedding instead of the reception, because they wanted people to attend the ceremony more than the reception.

I guess the other Indonesian tradition is that the groom will pick the bride up at her house the morning of the wedding. This conflicts with the western tradition that it's bad luck to see the bride in her wedding dress before the wedding. Oh well... bad luck either way? Nah... What God has joined together, let no luck put asunder.

The day itself started off well...very relaxing. Tim, Chris and I opted not to do all the things that the ladies were doing: cream baths, facials, massages, haircuts, etc. Therefore, we were left with some free time to sleep or listen to Chris sing showtunes. We were supposed to meet up with Rina and her immediate family at the photo studio for some family pictures before the wedding. I think there's a good reason why I never hang around when women are getting their hair and makeup done: I don't recognize them in the process... Sometimes even scary...

I recognize these people...sort of...

Ah... Now isn't that better? Chris was religated to using my camera to take some pictures, and must have been a little bored because I ended up with several pictures of Chris. Weird; anytime I try taking a picture of myself, I end up with one of those arm-extended-toward-the-camera pictures, but chris manages to avoid that... Maybe he's just too sneaky.

One of the highlights was the Newlywed Game. The new bride and groom were pulled on the stage with 2 other couples, and were asked questions about each other. I guess the winner was supposed to ask his/her partner to dance... I still don't know who came out a winner on that deal, but at least it was entertaining.

I guess Tim and Rina will move back here in the summer, so I'm looking forward to seeing more of them.

Sometimes, it's about time.

2005-08-01T15:13:00.000-05:00

So the biggest news in my family is that my brother is now engaged. Yup, it's official.

The couple has set a date of Dec. 4, which might not seem like a lot of time to plan to most people. I'm not sure if I feel that way, too. But I know I need to get my passport and try to figure out when I'll fly out there. From what I'm seeing, most of the flights to Indonesia take 2 days (mostly because we'd pass the International Date Line and lose a day in the process). Although, there are some cheaper flights that would involve almost 24 hours for a layover. I don't know if the airline would spring for a hotel in that instance, or I'd have to crash in the airport. My guess, probably the latter, which wouldn't be fun. I guess I'd spring for the hotel anyway, just for a good sleep and to get out of the airport. I mean, 24 hours is usually a good amount of time to catch some sights, especially in places like Seoul. So I'll have to put a bid into Priceline and see where my flights take me.

Never steal a man's cheetos

2005-07-14T14:01:00.000-05:00

I'm still trying to get caught up on my homework, and I have very little motivation to do that. Therefore, updating this blog slips down my priority list.

A few weeks ago, my brother returned from Indonesia, with his girlfriend. I guess they'll be getting married soon, but I don't know for sure. It was also his 30th birthday back in June, so I wanted to treat him to a celebration worthy of turning 30. With the help of my cousins, we coordinated going camping for a few days and basically hanging out in Wisconsin Dells. I'm not sure if this is official, but I think the Dells is the waterpark capital of the Midwest, so there was plenty of things to keep us busy during the day. We spent a whole day at Mt. Olympus theme park which was pretty cool. It used to be 2 smaller parks: Family Land and Big Chief's Go-Cart World. So it combined a sizable waterpark with a go-cart/rollercoaster park, which filled our day very well. They have one coaster, Hades, that's one of the best coasters I've ever ridden. It's a wooden coaster, but it flies... supposedly, it gets up to 70mph, with some pretty wicked dips and curves. But the best part is after the big drop, when track goes completely underground, for the entire length of the parking lot. Pitch black, 70mph, unknown track... sweet.

After hitting up the theme park, we headed back to the campsite, but needed to stop at WallyWorld to pick up a few things. My cousin and I were in charge of getting more snacks, and we were in a "cheesy" mood. (It is Wisconsin, after all.) We already had potato chips, so those weren't appealing. We already had chex mix... So we were basically left with cheetos. My cousin suggested cheese balls, which sounded perfect to me: not hard like regular cheetos, not as big as cheese puffs, still cheesy enough to make your fingers orange for days. So we searched high and low throughout that Wal-Mart for some cheese balls. We were even considering getting one of those 5 lb tubs of balls, but they didn't even have those. For 15 minutes we searched...no luck. So we ended up with cheese puffs and were fairly satisfied with the choice.

So after dinner that night, we were sitting around roasting marshmallows or talking or whatever we were doing and my brother's girlfriend claimed to hear a raccoon. We had heard one the night before, but hadn't seen any evidence of one, i.e. stolen food or ransacking. She then goes near the food, which was all in a screen tent, and declares that a raccoon was near our food, had just grabbed something, and fled the tent. We could now hear a phantom "crinkling" noise making its way away from our campsite. (Kind of like the sound of a bag of food being opened and closed repeatedly.) Hmm... it's never good when someone steals your food, let alone a thief crawling with rabies or whatever. But we were willing to cut our losses... after we found out what the raccoon took. I figured it would go after the marshmallows, since they're sweet and we'd recently been eating them. No...not the marshmallows. Maybe the bread? No...all accounted for. Chips? No... Chex mix? No... Doritos? No... Cheetos? ...crap.

Well, maybe it was the mood we were in at the time, or maybe we just really didn't want to have wasted those 15 minutes in Wal-Mart, but we wanted those cheetos back. So I grab my headlamp, my cousins grab a few flashlights and we start following that "crinkling" sound. He hadn't gone too far...even raccoons can't go far without eating some cheetos. So I started scanning the forest near our campsite, and, sure enough, I notice a pair of beady eyes. The raccoon was just sitting there, about to open the bag of cheetos (using the opening we had already made earlier that night). It looked caught off guard, but didn't run away, probably because I didn't run after it. (One of my goals in life is to never catch rabies.) Seeing that we weren't doing anything but yelling at it, the raccoon reached into the bag, pulled out a cheeto, and proceeded to eat it right in front of us. Cocky little punk, eh? It wasn't as funny as the second time the raccoon snagged a cheeto while we were still standing there. I had to take a picture; it was too funny. But the raccoon continued to sit there, staring at us. My cousin later said it was like the raccoon was watching a movie...sitting there, staring, and eating cheetos. Gimme back my cheetos! Nuts to rabies, I couldn't let that thief taunt us anymore, so I chased after it.

So everyone knows about the 5-second rule, right? Actually, I think it was 10 seconds back in college, but whatever. So how would that rule apply in this instance? The cheetos weren't dumped out of the bag, and the giant rat only ate a couple of them... and we really didn't want to throw away the entire bag just because of that. My parents didn't raise me to waste food. So we kept the cheetos. Of course, we were all nice enough to let my cousin eat the top layer of cheetos the following day, just to make sure there wasn't anything wrong with them. (I'm sure the CDC would not approve of our methods, but it seemed to make sense at the time. What would you do to save some cheetos?)

So after going through all that work to get the cheetos, rescue the cheetos, continue to eat the cheetos, I wish this had a happy ending. My mom heard about our raccoon encounter, and decided to throw the cheetos away! This makes even less sense because I've seen some of the rotting food my mom has eaten just to avoid throwing it away.

The moral of the story is: never tell your mom what you did while camping. She'll throw your cheetos away.

Survivor: Atomic Wings

2005-06-15T11:14:00.000-05:00

Jeff Probst has nothing on me.

So I went out on Sunday for a little pre-birthday dinner. I decide to check out the Quaker Steak and Lube, which is known for its hot wings. Supposedly, they have a variety of hot wings that are 5 times as hot as any other hot wings in this area: Atomic Wings. I had heard that the wings were so hot, Quaker Steak makes you sign a waiver before they serve them to you. I've never shied away from a challenge, so this seemed to be appropriate for a birthday challenge... (Speaking of, if I ever do the Birthday Challenge, I might have to include Atomic Wings in the mix somehow.) I only ordered a sample, which was 5 wings.

For a hint of how hot these wings were, they included something with the order that was meant to cool your palate. Usually, that's bread, because it soaks up the spicy oils in the wings that hang out in your mouth. No bread for these wings... They were so hot, they offered Jalapeno peppers to cool your palate. I know people who can't handle jalapenos in the first place, so those people might actually have fire shooting out of their ears. (Their ears if we're lucky, to quote Krusty the Clown.) Most hot wings are covered in an oily sauce, which is usually loaded with tabasco, or some other liquid hot sauce.... Not these. These wings were covered in a hot paste instead of a hot sauce.

Yeah, they were hot, but eating them was fairly easy. To me, hot mustard is harder to eat, because the spiciness of the mustard goes up into my sinuses, making my eyes water and sinuses drain. That is what I compare "hot" to in terms of eating. The "hotness" of these wings were more evident after they hit my stomach. Ever seen that Simpsons episode with the chili cookoff (...I'm missing the chili cookoff... less artsy, more fartsy...) where Homer eats the Guatemalan insanity peppers? Well, it was like that. No, I didn't "brain my damage" or talk to a Johnny Cash-possessed coyote, but I could definitely feel it in my gut. Every part of my body that came into contact with that hot paste increase in temperature by at least 50 degrees. In the mouth, I could tolerate, but in the stomach...? It was almost hot enough that my stomach was saying "Are you serious? I'm not digesting that." Sufficed to say, they took some time to get down.

The other big problem was that no matter how well or often I washed my hands, there was still some of that paste residue on them. This became very painful when I had to take my contacts out that night. Putting them in again in the morning was no treat either. It took a FULL DAY for my hands to be rid of that stuff.

Strange, mystical journey, indeed.

Va-Va-Va-Vroom

2005-06-10T09:30:00.000-05:00

If you ever get the chance to test drive a sports car, don't pass it up. It's those simple thrills that make life exciting and fun.

I was helping a friend look for a new truck/SUV last night. We went to the Ford dealer, since she currently owns a Ford, and I think her family might disown her if she bought anything other than a Ford. This didn't make sense to me, because she's having problems with her SUV right now, and the car is less than 3 years old. She's had the thing in and out of the dealer way too many times for a car that's less than 6 years old, let alone a car that's half as old. Why go with the same maker if you've had so many problems in the past? Do the cars really get more reliable in 3 years? Yeah, right.

Anyway, after the ford dealer, we ended up at the Nissan dealer looking at Frontiers. They're basically the same idea as a Ranger or Explorer Sport Track, but with a slightly different look. I told my friend that they looked like a kid with a big head. They have this really masculine, aggressive front end, and then everything wimps out past the crew cab. Maybe thinking of kids with big heads made us hungry or we just needed to eat, it doesn't matter, we decided to head out. On the way out of the parking lot, my friend noticed four 350Zs sitting by the exit. "What are those?" she asked. Doesn't everyone know what the "Z" is? So I explained what they were. She expected them to cost $40-50k, and I told her they were closer to $30k. I guess that got her interested enough that she wanted to look at them. Although, maybe she just did it for me, who knows. Anyway, the more she looked at them, the more she became interested. The sales guy came out, and my friend asked if it would be ok if we could take a closer look inside. No problem.... Then the guy asks if we want to take it for a spin. Does anyone really need to ask?!

Do you remember when you were kids, pretending to race cars (Matchbox, etc.), and the only engine noise you could think of for your fast cars was "Vroom"? "Vroom" gave us a hope, a desire to experience something so exhilarating that the only way we could image the experience was to make up words to describe it. This car put "Vroom" to shame. Sure it was only a test drive, but I don't regularly take a test drive car up to 95 mph in less than 10 seconds. Sure, the visibility is limited and the space is a little cramped, but I was more interested in the experience... Vroom, indeed.

Sports cars are like drugs.... They're so exciting and inticing that my friend actually contemplated going with this cramped 2-seater barely capable of carrying 1 suitcase instead of a crew-cab truck with a 4-ton towing capacity. Gotta find another place for my fix... I hear the Forester is a good SUV, and that'd give me enough of a reason to at least take a peek at the WRX. Just a peek, though... right?

Crimson Tigers

2005-05-27T14:58:00.000-05:00

So I'm the only one at work today in the afternoon. How dull.... At least I was able to get some homework done, so that's always good. I really didn't want to have anything to do during the weekend, and I've at least limited any homework I will be doing.

Not much has happened since my last blog. I went to the Exclusive Company yesterday and picked up the new Alkaline Trio album: Crimson. So far, my opinion is that it's really well-produced (much like the last album), but still isn't the caliber of songs that were on From Here To Infirmary or Maybe I'll Catch Fire. Regardless, I'm looking forward to seeing their concert in June.

Oh yeah, I also upgraded my Mac to Tiger 10.4. I had a few bugs to work out the first day, especially the DHCP issue with my wireless router. That was a pain, because I guess the DHCP request from the Mac kept crashing the router. I thought updating to 10.4.1 would be the best idea, but I couldn't get the upgrade because of the issues with the router. (Duh, right?) I ended upgrading the firmware of the router, and then things worked fine. I also had a couple crashes in the first 2 days, but none since. It apparently didn't like it when I would put the powerbook in standby by simply closing the laptop. I don't know what the deal was with that, but things have been fine since. Oh well. I also got an Airport Express, and that thing's flat-out awesome. Hooked it up to my stereo using the mini-to-optical cord and I never would have expected the result.... Plus, having a wireless repeater is always nice.

I know my birthday is coming up in a few weeks, but I don't know what I want.... Probably nothing. It's all stuff anyway, right? Yeah....

Thank You Mom

2005-05-10T11:29:00.000-05:00

Have you ever noticed how hard it is to thank someone? Of course, it's easy to thank someone for saying "God bless you" after you sneeze, or for opening a door for you. But have you ever thanked anyone because the impact he/she has had on your life was so amazing that it humbles you every time you think about it? This is the on-your-knees-I'm-not-worthy kind of gratitude. Just thinking about how you'll never be able to live up to the standard they represent will double you over in agony. Ever thanked anyone like that?

I've come to the realization that most of the women in my life deserve that kind of thanks. The time, effort, sacrifice, and love that they've put into influencing me and helping me throughout my life deserves more than a simple "Thank you." Who am I that I should deserve this kind of love? These women deserve to be reveared and lifted up in all of our lives. I don't know much, but I know I'll have to work my entire life just to be a fraction of the examples that they are.

"Her children arise and call her blessed; her husband also, and he praises her: 'Many women do noble things, but you surpass them all.' Charm is deceptive and beauty is fleeting, but a woman who fears the Lord is to be praised. Give her the reward she has earned, and let her works bring her praise at the city gate." (Proverbs 31: 28-31)

Mifflin St Weekend

2005-05-02T10:43:00.000-05:00

Well, this past weekend was the infamous Mifflin Street block party. Notorious for random acts of drunkeness, violence and mayhem, I hear this party has been a "tradition" in Madison since the '60s. (I find it odd that they would consider a gigantic party to be a tradition, but Madison seems to be known for its party traditions; see: Halloween on State Street.) Sufficed to say, a party that draws over 20 thousand people will also leave a considerable mess. So the coolest thing happened at 7:30am Sunday morning: our church gathered some people together, went to Mifflin St. and cleaned everything up. They didn't do it to get noticed, or anything like that. They just wanted to demonstrate the love of Christ by being good servants of the community. The city always has a plan to clean up the mess, along with a local Co-op, so they were amazed to find that the streets they were intending to clean already had been cleaned. The local news even expected to tape some of the clean-up, but they arrived too late.

Powerful. This type of activity just shows one of the reasons I am making this church my home; this church has an intense passion to serve the community as a way of demonstrating God's love. The church's mission is to transform minds, and I see it happening in our community. (Romans 12:1-2) Powerful.

Aside from that, I wrapped up my second course towards my master's degree. I was impressed with how our final project turned out, and actually got a lot of positive feedback on the concept. Going into this class, I thought it would be tougher than the first, but it ended up being much less time-consuming. I'll be taking 2 classes this summer, so I'll have to see if I can handle that kind of load along with work.

Answering the phone, strangle self with cord, repeat if necessary.

2005-04-27T20:06:00.000-05:00

Being assigned to answer the phone at work is like a demotion; I can't get any of my regular work done because I'm answering the phone (or several phones at once). Since I can't get my regular work done because I'm answering the phone, I have to find some other time to get it done.... Yeah, right.

I also can't understand why managers feel they should only make an appearance when things aren't going exactly right. What about all the other times when things are not only going well, but when we're excelling at what we're doing? What's the point of working hard if there's no personal reward? Knowing that I'm putting forth my best effort only lasts so long.

I think this is going to be one of the most expensive weeks of my life. At the beginning of the week, I paid off the credit card. Today, I dropped over $1500 for summer tuition. Sunday, I have to make a commitment toward how much God is telling me I can afford to give to the church relocation effort, and I think I have an idea of how much He's requesting. Like I said, expensive week.

At least it's just money.

Spin-o-rama

2005-04-26T12:15:00.000-05:00

I don't know why I came to the conclusion that I needed to have my own blog, but I guess this is where I'm at. I created an account with MySpace, so I figure this is natural progression...? Funny thing is, I usually don't have that much happening that's worth "blogging" about. So I'll have to see what I can come up with to post on a regular basis. Otherwise, I guess it's just work and school for now.

I suppose I should get back to that "work" one.