Other duties as assigned....

I am not, and I emphasize the NOT, a guy who is mechanically inclined and most definitely 'carpenter-ly challenged. I only bought my first hammer about 8 years ago. My wife would confirm that if anything needs to be done from a repair or construction standpoint at home, we'll be paying someone to do it.

My church, Granger Community Church(GCC) (www.gccwired.com) has recently taken on an endeavor to renovate some buildings in the near downtown area of South Bend and its called the Monroe Circle Community Center (MC3). It will house a food pantry, alternative school....etc. Much renovation is going on at MC3 and there is an outstanding request for anyone who wants to volunteer to help to "come on down."

Although I've thought of helping, my obvious lack of construction skills has prevented me from taking that next step......that is until this morning.

I arrived at work this morning around 7:15 am (which happens to be at GCC) and was organizing my day. One of our facility care workers , Phil, appeared in my doorway and said there was someone here wanting to deliver windows. "Windows," I said. "Wouldn't a window delivery be for MC3?" I walked out to the reception area with Phil to talk with the delivery man.

The delivery man thought as well that the windows probably went downtown, but said this was the address he was given. He said he was going back out to his truck to make some calls. I said I'd go back to my office and see who I could contact to get more information.

I was able to reach Theresa, the GCC onsite project leader, for the MC3 project. She was able to give me the phone number of Mark, the MC3 onsite project leader. I phoned Mark who advised he'd been waiting for the delivery of windows for 45 minutes and was going to have to leave because he had another meeting he couldn't miss. I said if it would help, I could drive downtown and let this delivery person in to the building. Mark was elated as they wanted to get these windows installed this coming weekend and if he left the installaiton would obviously be delayed.

Mark advised he'd hide a key for me and I could unlock the door and let the window delivery man in when I got arrived. I went out to the parking lot to tell the delivery man what was going on and he was driving out of the parking lot. I quickly called Mark back and advised him of what had happened. He said he'd call the window company and get the guy re-routed downtown if I'd still come down. I said I'd be happy to come down.

As I was driving downtown it occurred to me that I've never been down to MC3 and I really wasn't exactly sure where I was going. I hoped I was going to what I thougth was the right place. Mark told me on the phone where he would hide the key for me to unlock the building. Ok, I'd be lying if I didn't say I was freaking out just a little. As I said, I really wasn't certain where I was going and what I was in for once I arrived. Is the back of the building in an alley, can people see me? Chicken, yes. I decided I was staying in the car until the delivery truck arrived.

When I arrived at MC3 the window delivery guy was already there waiting for me to let him in.

As I mentioned, Mark told me where he would hide the key he was leaving but when I got there outside of the building all looked the same. After some minmal effort I finally found the key and unlocked the door. I walked in and was astounded at the work that had been going on inside. For a building that appeared somewhat rundown on the outside, I could tell that the inside was on it's way to being a spectacular place with an incredible future.

When I went back outside the delivery guy had his truck backed up and the back opened, displaying a truckload of windows to unload. He started bringing them down the ramp and I asked if it was ok if I could help. He said certainly. I was a little apprehensive at first as I thought it he drops one of the windows he's liable...if I drop one of them....yikes! But I picked a window up under each arm and marched down the ramp. Here goes nothin!

The further back in the truck, the bigger the windows got. As the last set of the medium sized windows were brought in I realized that there was a door to the outside in the room in which we were storing the windows. I said "guess we could have been bringing them in through here, would have been a lot easier!" And I opened the door for the remaining windows that had to be brought in. It was a good thing as they were double hung (I think thats the right terminology for 2 windows side by side.....see I told you lack of construction skills!). As we were carrying the double hung windows down the ramp it occurred to me that flip flops were not the preferred choice of footware when moving windows and I hoped they wouldn't cause me to fall. Yeah, I didnt!

As we carried the last few windows in we were talking about this and that. I learned his name was Trent and he grew up in Canada. He asked how long I'd worked at GCC and what I did. I said I'd been there about 3 months and I was the office administrator and HR person.......and as we wrapped up....I looked at him and said....and other duties as assigned!

Temptations that Click

We're currently in a series of messages at church entitled "The Enemy Within." Two weeks ago the message was about temptation. There is no one who doesn't face some kind of temptation in their life. We have the choice to cave in to the temptation or walk away.

"Run away, run away, run away and save your life. Run away, run away, run away if you want to survive. Run away, run away, run away and save your life. Run away, run away, run away if you want to survive.....Money, sex, in full control, a generation without soul, Perfect people in a perfect world, behind closed doors all in control, Life, in a world of luxury, cold cash money mentality, You gotta keep the faith, you gotta keep the faith, You better keep the faith and run away" Real McCoy


This past weekend I rented the movie called "CLICK" with Adam Sandler. I like comedies and thought this would be a fun and light hearted flick to watch. How wrong was I! The premise of the movie (my apologies to those who haven't see it) is that Sandler's character gets a TV remote control that allows him to pause, rewind and fast forward his life or things surrounding his life. As you can imagine, it gets out of control. He begins to fast forward past the things in life that he doesn't want to deal with. The temptation to continue to fast forward gets so intense as the movie goes on that he eventually ends up losing his wife and his life. However, there is a surprise ending I won't let you in on

The movie really made me think a lot about my life and who I am and some of the similarities between me and Sandler's character in the movie. Avoidance, especially when conflict may be the outcome, is one of the classic temptations that plagues me. How many things have I left unadressed in my life because of my temptation to avoid whatever it might be if there was the potential for disagreement. What does that mean when it comes to sticking up for what I believe? The more I pondered it, the more depressing it became.

What must God think of me when the temptation to avoid situations in my life consume me. How do I make him feel when I cave into other temptations that I should have walked away from


"Run away, run away, run away and save your life. Run away, run away, run away if you want to survive. Run away, run away, run away and save your life. Run away, run away, run away if you want to survive...." Real McCoy

This week I was reading Jonah 1 and once again God hit me where it hurts and spoke great truth into me. God told Jonah to go one way and Jonah ran in the opposite direction. More often than I want to admit, I choose my own desires over God's desires for me which always leads to regret. Just as Jonah did, I run in the opposite direction, not wanting to face the challenge that You has been placed before me.

"If you point your feet in this direction, you'll never end up over here..." Mark Beeson

God knows that temptation is going to overwhelm and overcome me and that I'll end up succumbing to it more than I want. That's why he sent Jesus. And just like a sponge, Jesus absorbs that which I am too weak to resist. Sin. And I'm forgiven.

God's response is summed up nicely in the lyrics from this Christina Aguilera song entitled "Hurt"

....I would hold you in my arms, I would take the pain away, thank you for all you've done
forgive all your mistakes, There's nothing I wouldn't do, To hear your voice again, Sometimes I want to call you but I know you won't be there


The last line is the killer though. "Sometimes I want to call you but I know you won't be there." It's then that I need Him the most. When I get entrapped by temptation, I only fulfill more temptation when I turn away from the One who can save me from it.

Run away, run away, run away if you want to survive.... Real McCoy

I do want to survive. I believe that, yes, there are indeed things that I need to run away from. But I also don't believe that God wants me to run into and face head on no matter the degree of difficulty. I need to find reassurance that He will guide me through.

Ain't no other man, can stand up next to you, Ain't no other man on the planet does what you do....Christina Aguilera

There's no "I" in team

I think that Lori and I do a good job of pitching in together at home to get things done. When laundry needs to be done, we both do it. When dusting and vacuuming needs to be done, we both do it. When cleaning the kitchen needs to be done, we both do it. For the most part I don't think that either of think any particular chore has a hard and fast assignment to either of us. Of course there are things that each of us just normally do but I know that if it needed to be done and the one of us that didn't usually do that chore would do it.

Last night it was confirmed to me how much we are committed to each other and how we step up to helping each other. Mowing the lawn is definitely not one of my favorite things to do. I love a highly manicured and landscaped lawn, I just don't want to be the one who makes it that look that way. Problem is that I'm so particular about the way the lawn looks I don't like to just cut the grass and walk away from it. At a minimum of extra effort, there is the trimming and blowing the clippings off the side walks and patio that needs to be done each time the lawn is mowed.

One of the things that causes me to resent mowing the lawn is that it takes away from the time I can spend with Lori in the evening. It takes a good 90 minutes to cut the grass and complete the peripherals associated with it. By the time you get home from work and start on the project it's near 7pm before you're finished.

Last night not only was I faced with cutting the grass but we had to go to Niles immediately after work to pick up Lori's car as it had had some warranty work done on it at the dealers. So instead of getting home at around 5pm I didn't get home until closer to 6. However, I quickly changed clothes and cranked up the mower.

I was about 3/4 of the way completed when I happpened to go past the side of the garage. Lori was in the front of the garage untangling the extension cord for for the blower as she was going to blow off the walks and drive way out in the front of the house for me. I was so caught of guard by this. I stopped dead in my tracks and waited for her to look up. When she did I mouthed "I love you" over the roar of the mower and she smiled back. I was overcome by the time I got to the back yard. I could feel tears welling up in my eyes. I was blown away once again by what an awesome gift God had given me as a wife. She knew how much I didn't like to do what I was doing and she came to help bail me out. No natter what it is, we work together to get it done.

The tears never came. Now that would be a sign of weakness! But the potential was there. I finished mowing the lawn with a smile on my face knowing how much she loves me and knowing how much I love her. And remembering, for us there is no "I" in team.

Sprinkle Sprinkle little Star

For the past several years I've had Wissco come and blow out our sprinkler system in the fall and turn it back on in the spring. It's actually an expensive process but knowing my abilities, or more like lack there of when it comes to stuff like that I thought it best.

Two years ago there was an independant sprinkler guy blowing out our neighbors system and he asked if I'd like to get ours done. I'd already had Wissco complete the task for the year but said I'd take his card and call him the following year. His price was considerably lower than what I was paying and our neighbors seemed pleased with his work. So this past fall I had Randy come blow out the sprinklers in the fall and saved myself several dollars.

I'd called Randy in March to see if he could come and turn on the sprinklers at the end of April but got his voice mail. I waited for a week or so and hadn't heard back from him so I decided to go ahead and make an appointment with Wissco (there goes that 'patience' flaw again!) A couple days after I'd made the appointment Randy left me a voice mail and said it was probably too cold yet to turn the sprinklers on and to call him back in April.

About a week or so ago I called Randy back to see what he'd charge to come turn the sprinklers on. He said that I could do it and he'd walk me through the process on the phone and that way I wouldn't have to pay for anything. So believe it or not I was able to 'git r done' and the sprinklers were functioning just fine. I was still a little cold and suppose to rain so after the initial test of each zone I opted to leave them turned off for the meanwhile.

It had rained a few times and we'd had some fertilizer put down and the grass was growing as it does in the early spring, very unevenly. The lawn really needed to be mowed so I decided to for go my trip to the gym after work and come home and cut the grass.

I fired up the lawn mower and started on the tree lawn. I always start mowing on the tree lawn. I don't know why....its a habit. I'm cruisin along and the mower bumps into something. I pulled back on the mower and then pushed forward with more force just thinking that perhaps it was a mole tunnel or something that I need to go over. As soon as I did I heard this zzzzzzzzzzzzzzziiiiippppppppppp. I knew immediately what it was and was sick to my stomach. When I tested the zones for the sprinklers one of the heads didn't retract back into the ground and I buzzed the thing right off. I couldn't believe it. How could I have been so stupid.

So I'm thinkin' so much for saving money on having the sprinklers turned on. Had Wissco come out they check everything thouroughly and the sprinkler head would have probably never been left in the up position. How much was this gonna cost now to have a service call! Probably twice as much as I would have paid to have them come out and turn them on. I could see the $$ signs rolling in my head.

I found out from my son that our landscaper also can service sprinkler systems so I called him and confessed what I'd done. Dan said he'd be happy to come out and make the repair. I haven't gotten the bill from yet but I'm hopeful that it will be less painful than what I anticipated.

See why, when it comes to me, I should let trained people do their job! If were up to me I'd have a yard full of fountains!

Florida boy

This is Josh just before he left for Orlando this past Friday. He called in the early evening to tell us that he was still in Ohio. Apparently it took him longer to get out of town than his original plan of before noon.

Later Friday night, I think around 9:30 he phoned again and said they were just entering West Virginia. I didn't speak to him this time but from what I could gather from his conversation with Lori that things were going well on the road trip.

I think the phone rang again around 12:30 am and it was Josh again. He was at a friends in North Carolina. We were relieved that he'd decided that his plan was to spend the night there at his friend Tim's and then finish his trip on Saturday. It was a little easier to sleep knowing he'd made it to his day 1 destination.

Saturday morning Lori and I were doing our usual Panera thing with our most excellent friend Dixie. We had arrived at Panera around 9 am. I can't remember what time Josh called but it was fairly early (Josh time). He said that he and John (the friend that was making the trip down with him to give him company) were just getting into Jacksonville. I said ''Jacksonville, what time did you get up and get started?" He said that the sleeping accomodations at Tim's house in North Carolina didn't work out so he and John, after resting for a while, decided to keep going. He said he was really tired. I guess I was glad I didn't know that then night before as I probably wouldn't have slept well at all.

Around or near noon my cell rang again and it was Josh again. He didn't even say hello. He just blurted out in a very excited but tired voice...."I'm standing in my new living room!" I thanked God over and over that they had arrived safe. I chatted with him for a few minutes as he described his empty apartment with great enthusiasm. He was so excited! I passed the phone to Lori so she could share in his joy. When she got off the phone Lori said that Josh and John were heading to the pool at the apartment complex to crash in the sun.

Later Saturday night we'd gone to Saugatuk with our friends Richard and Reta for dinner. We were on our way home around 9pm when my cell rang again. It was Josh again. He said hi and then asked what kind of laundry soap we used at home. I said "what?" And he repeated himself. I asked where he was and he was at Wal Mart grocery shopping. Who'd a thought that Josh would have cared what kind of laundry soap we used at home. What a funny boy! Of course the "mom" in Lori kicked in when she heard he was doing something with laundry and she started relaying helpful hints for me to tell him about how to do his wash. Such a mom she is!

It's Sunday evening now and we haven't heard from him all day today. Earlier this morning we were both upstairs and the house creaked as houses do. Lori said for a moment she thought it was just Josh coming in the front door. Yep, it's gonna take some getting used to. Seems like as parents you kind of look forward to those "empty nester" days....but when then finally arrive its not always as easy as you thought.

Packin' his trunk

Josh is packin' his trunk and getting ready to make his move to Florida. It's countdown week with only 4 days to go. He has wanted to attend school at Full Sail since his senior year in high school (which was only year ago) and its finally come to fruition.

This month has been insane trying to get all of the details of this transition completed. From filling out student loan forms to finding adequate housing, we've been on the phone or on the computer non stop.

Lori and I were fortunate enough to be able to meet some of his advisers and see the college when we were on vacation two weeks ago. We were also able to take some pictures of the potential apartment complexes he would have to choose from for 'sight unseen' housing.

I'm so excited for this adventure for him. But intermingled in the excitement is worry and sadness. Worry because he's going to have to jump in head first into life and all that it deals you and sometimes what you're dealt isn't all that great. Sad because, even though we don't always see eye to eye on most things, it will be very strange not seeing him around the house, just coming and going.

Josh has wanted this to happen so much for such a long time and I pray that he will have unbelievable success in his classes and all that a career in SHOW PRODUCTION will bring.

Good Days Bad Days

We have a monthly meeting at work and often our supervisor will challenge us with a question or two to help us grow in our walk in life and work. This week we were asked to give an example of a good day and a bad day at work.

I pondered this good day / bad day and I wasn’t sure if it meant the whole day had to be a good day or a bad day and after contemplating it for awhile I’m not sure that I could pinpoint an entire day that was totally good or totally bad. I know how ill-equipped I am at making the best of a day and nearly every morning in my quiet/journaling time I ask God to equip and empower me to do what is set before me that day in ways that will please him and allow me to accomplish what has been set before me. This has been especially true since I’ve started my new job as what I’m doing is so different from what I’ve been doing (from a career standpoint) for the past several years. I know that if I try to take the reigns by myself that inevitable disaster probably lies around the corner and so I look to God for guidance.

Good as that may sound I do have issues. Imagine that! Perfectionism and the need to please and or be accepted often gets in the way. These get particularly ugly when I find my (selfish – self) trying to perfect or do well the things that God has not so necessarily gifted me in doing. If I were to track it, I would probably find that some of my time is spent on trying to do well things that I don’t necessarily like nor do well because I don’t want to disappoint or let anyone down.

Fixing things is not my forte. Just ask my wife. I didn't even own a hammer until about 9 years ago. I dance around having to fix anything be it at work or at home. But because I don’t want to disappoint, I often will find myself, there’s no better way to say this but backing down, and trying to do whatever it is that needs to be done. I am however working on this downfall and trying to find more proactive ways in which to address it.

All this being said, I do have good days at work. When I can help someone accomplish a task they’re trying to complete, or make someone’s day easier by a service I’ve provided them, or I’ve “conquered” a major project, it’s a good day. However weaved within those good days can be bad days, especially when I’ve tried to take control over what God has planned for me or if I’m forcing myself like a square peg into a round hole to do something that I’m not especially good at doing. Ironically, just this morning I happened to look at the new watch I just bought while I was on vacation last week. I'm always on the look out for unique watches. This particular watch is a black square with a slightly offset round face. It occurred to me that, hmmm, a daily reminder right on my wrist, that I need to focus on fitting into the places where God has created me to excel and not be consumed by the things that someone else may be better suited to do. Not that those situations don’t provide for a great learning experience, but they can also lead to bad spots in a good day.

Bad spots in a good day also are elevated, like cream to the top, when I perceive that I’ve let someone down because of a situation that could have been handled better. There are times when things are out of my realm of knowledge that may cause the outcome be less than desired. Ignorance is no excuse, but I have to learn to make those growing experiences instead of failures. I think someone said if you don’t fail you can’t learn.

Good days and bad days at work are inevitable. What I choose to do with them can make all the difference.

Maxwell Smart's Shoe Phone

Every night before going upstairs to bed I put everything I'm going to take with me the next day on the kitchen counter by near the back door....you know things like my IPOD, my keys, my cell phone.

Thursday morning I had been a work for awhile and realized my cell phone wasn't sitting on my desk. I got up and checked my coat pocket and it wasn't there. I thought perhaps I'd left it in the car so I went out to see if it was there. It wasn't in the car either. I started to get a little panicky. Could I have left it at Panera? I looked up the phone number to Panera but no one had turned in a cell phone. The panic was starting to get a little more severe.

I called my son who I knew was geting off work at 1pm to see if he was going home after work. When I found out he was I asked him to see if my cell was on the counter and to let me know either way. If it wasn't there I was going to have to call and report it lost.

Later that afternoon my son called me. I didn't even say hello. "Was it on the counter?" was the first thing that came out of my mouth when he said "hello." He said it wasn't but had more to add. He decided to call my phone to see if it was in the house somewhere. He could hear it ringing but couldn't find it. He kept calling and following the ring and finally found it....in one of my shoes in my closet

When I go to the gym I never take my wallet or phone in with me. Wednesday when I got into the locker room I realized that my phone was still on my belt. I took it off and tossed it in my shoe that I'd put in the locker while I was working out. When I left the gym I wore the NIKES home that I had on. I completley forgot I'd put the phone in my shoes and it had slid down into the shoe I'd put it in. When I got home an unpacked my gym bag I just tossed my shoes into the closet and walked away.

Mystery solved. Now you know why I dont take stuff into the gym with me unless I need it. Who knows what I'll do with it.

Tan Lines

Our annual pilgrimage to sunny Florida is a little over a week away and I am psyched. Nothing like basking in the sun for a week and then coming back home to find the remnants of winter have passed and spring has sprung. We have been making this trip for years and it's just become part of who we are. When April rolls around you'll find us in Orlando.

As part of the routine for getting ready to make our trek to the land of sunshine I always get some 'fake bakes' in so I don't burn in the tropical sun. For the past few years I've gone to an ultrabronze tanning bed. The max tanning time in an ultrabronze bed is 30 minutes and you start at that time with your first appointment. These beds give you a awesome tan in about 3 appointments and you never burn. They've been great. I'd start my tanning appointments 3-4 days before we'd leave and I'd have a good base tan that was only enhanced by the Florida sun once we arrived. The downside to ultrabronze tanning is the price, $17 a pop.

I decided to be a little more frugal this year and opt for just a regular tanning bed. The place I chose had a BOGO on tans so I bought 5 and got 10. I started tanning last Sunday as I figured the regular bed would take longer. The ole tan was coming on pretty good until yesterday. I arrived at my 5:30 appointment and was ushered right to my reserved bed. I got all lotioned up and layed down on the ever so comfortable hard plastic bed (That was one other thing I liked about ultrabronze tanning is that the bed were regular mattresses). There is always a hand towel folded up laying on the bed that I usually put under my head. After I turned the bed on and layed back down I couldn't feel the towel under my head. I didn't want to risk losing any potential tanning time and sit up to find it so I just shrugged it off and settled into my 13 minutes of heat.

When the bed shut off and I got up I found that the towel was under my back. I didn't think anything about that until I got out of the shower this morning and happened to notice my back in the mirror. Yep, you guessed it. A gi-normous big white square inbetween my shoulder blades. Oh sure, I like to brag about having a tan line, who doesn't! But I don't think I'd want to show off a big white square in the middle of my back as a prize tan line.

Next time I'll risk loosing a few precious minutes of tanning to find the towel.....yah think!

Lessons from the past

In chapter 4 of Daniel, King Nebuchadnezzar, became arrogant and took credit for all that he was accomplishing. God banned him to the wilderness for 7 years and when he returned all of his authority was returned and the King praised and honored God, whom was the source of everything in his life.

Fast forward to chapter 5 of Daniel. Nebuchadnezzar son, King Belshazzar throws a party, gets drunk and uses sacred chalices to drink wine from. During the party God sent a disembodied hand to write a message on the wall and it terrified the King. He called in mystics to interpret the message but they couldn’t. So the queen reminded the king about Daniel and so he called him in to decipher the message.

Daniel laid into King Belshazzar about his conduct. Belshazzar well knew how his father Nebuchadnezzar had behaved and the outcome of that situation. Yet Belshazzar decided to openly discredit God for everything. It seems pretty obvious to me that Belshazzar would have known the consequences his father faced and would have conducted himself better, but he didn’t.

Daniel interpreted the message for Belshazzar and it confirmed from God that the time of his rule was limited and Belshazzar was murdered that night.

Selfishness destroys. I’ve seen it over and over in scripture and in my life. Whenever I put myself above God, thinking I know better, the outcome is never what it could been. I’m enticed by selfishness to be built up, but in reality, it only knocks me down. Selfishness stagnates growths

Why is it that we can be so blind to stop ourselves from repeating the behaviors of those who came before us? Is it because we rely too much on experience but don’t learn to move forward from it. Sometimes we only learn how to repeat the habits learned from within it. What does that say about our potential for growth? What does it take to make an experience something to from which we can build upon and pave the road for a positive outcome. Are the failures of the past so ingrained into our beings that it takes too much effort to get beyond them (or we’re unwilling to exert the effort) so we either settle into a pattern of repeating them or totally ignoring them? What if a sinful pattern in my life could be used to help someone instead of drag them down into a self-serving outcome.

Belthazzar chose to follow the original selfish path that his Father had been persuing prior to God’s revelation to him. Where was Belthazzar when Nebuchadnezzar had his change of heart? Was he at boarding school and didn’t know what had transpired in his life. Why didn’t Nebuchadnezzar share the revelation with his son, or did he? Either way. Belthazzar chose to ignore it. Why?

I see habits formed in my own children that I possessed at the same age in my life. Spending money and not saving it. No identifiable goals for the future. A minimal involvement in church or relationship with God. It clicked finally clicked with me, though. I got it and give God credit for everything I am, can do, and have. I thought I’d demonstrated that to my boys but perhaps what they saw in me in earlier years was stronger than what they see in me now. Why didn’t Balshazzar see the change/growth in his own Father

Who's getting cheated?

I have pretty much the same routine every day. One thing I do nearly every day, without a hitch, is growing in my relationship with Jesus. I accomplish this through reading, journaling and engaging in 'life conversations' at Panera Bread early each weekday morning. However, something struck me about my attitude as I was driving to Panera Bread this morning which led me to writing this post.

I think it was the road rage I was suffering from as I was driving to Panera this morning that caused me to stop and examine my disposition today. This, accompanied by my checklist, my daily to-do’s, seem to be causing me more stress than they should and I don’t know why I’m letting them do that.

My list of what it takes to just 'get out of the house' in the morning seems to be ever increasing. I find myself waking up before my alarm battling with decisions that I need to make before I even roll out of bed.

Do I go work out when I get up or after work? I wrestle with the pros and cons of that nearly every morning. What about breakfast? How will that be affected by my choice in work out time? Then there is getting my lunch packed and not forgetting it. And what about all of the paraphernalia that I drag along with me every day. The papers, the reminders, and the bag they all get put into.

Then there is the actual getting ready for work. The showering, all the teeth maintenance, and the hair goop. Then you have the whitening gargle followed by brushing and flossing. I have to lotion my legs and feet or they get dry as the desert. Getting everything to the car is a challenge in itself. And don't forget the contacts. Of course they never cooperate, always folding up or not going in my eye right the first time.

Toss in the dog. He's old and he's blind (and looney I might add). Sometimes he stays asleep upstairs when I get out of the shower and other days he's up. When he's up he wants to come down with me. I usually do my crunches, have some coffee and watch the news. The dog will sit by my chair and just stair into the kitchen, never budging. But let me decide to have my breakfast and sit down to eat it and he has a crisis and needs to go outside right then and there. However, he just can't go out and get his business done. No he has to pace up back forth about twenty times to find just the right place to go. Once he's done, remember I said he was old and blind, he can't find his way back to the door. In the meanwhile, my cereal has now turned into 'sog city'. Not a pretty picture.

Then the gym bag, my laptop, the bag with all the papers, and my lunch all have to find their way to the car. And the fact that its winter, doesn’t make the situation any more pleasant. Not only do I have bag after bag strapped over my shoulder and in my hand, I look like the Michelin Man in my poofy down filled coat. And try to maneuver between the two cars in our garage with all these bags is not an easy task. Oh yeah, don’ t let me forget the cup of coffee I’m juggling in on hand and the car keys in the other. Everything in one trip equates efficiency. By the time I finally sit down in my car to leave I’m exhausted.

Inevitably, I get ½ way down the road and realize that I’ve forgotten something. Just last week I had gone as far as the stop light at Bittersweet and 23 (about a mile from our house) and thought I’d forgotten my lunch. I whipped the car around and fumbled for my cell phone (that’s buried far beneath my seat belt and layers of the Michelin Man coat) to call Lori to see if it was still in the fridge. She said that she saw me carry it out with me. It was then that I realized that I had dropped in the trunk when I put my gym bag and my laptop in there. So I whipped the car around and started back towards Panera.

Is my routine so pathetic or what! The more I have to do the more I get stressed. And throw any unforseen obstacle in my path, such as the driver 3 cars in front of me today that wouldn't go faster than 35mph, and the stress-ometer often often goes up a few more notches. I race to get to my destination so that I can spend time with God, but there are days when I find that the attitude that has evolved in me on the way there could be putting up a wall that is lessening the intensity with which I want to have with Him.

I don't want my God time to just be a slot in my day just so I can check it off. More often than not, my time with Jesus is so awesome. But when I find myself with an attitude such as the one that had developed in me today because of all of the things that I do to try to meet all of the thngs I think I need to do, I have lessened the experience on my side of things.

Routine is my nature but it doesn't have to be accompanied by self inducing tension. I need to remind myself that God is with me 24/7 and not just for the 40 minutes that I spend with Him at Panera. Don't get me wrong. I've had some incredible experiences with God in those 40 minutes and have no intentions of eliminating that from my regimine. If I could only remember that I can talk to God anytime. And although our standing appointment is awesome, I shouldn’t be getting uptight just to make it on time. Optimal time with God isn't about checking it off on my list of things to do, its about the quality.

Crowned

Friday I had an appointment to get the perrmanent crown on a molar that I broke the side off of two weeks ago. It took nearly an hour to get the temporary crown put on but the hygenist assured me that it would only take less than 30 minutes to put the permanent one on the tooth.

I took the first appointment they had so that I could get the whole process over and get on with the rest of my day. Best laid plans! I got right in when I arrived at 7 am and it wasn't long before they hygenist had the the temporary crown off my tooth.

Although I've never really had any pain during this whole time, the tooth, or what was left of it was very sensitve to hot and cold. They hygenist was scraping and digging to get all of the cement off my tooth from the temporary crown. I'm laying there in the chair and here it comes that 'tube thing' that sprays water and then the 'sucking thing' that gets all the water out. I about went through the ceiling when she sprayed the tooth and then sucked it dry. I said man, that was cold. She was definitely more kind the next time she had to swoosh it out.

Next came the fitting of the shiny "gold" crown. I hadn't been too crazy about having gold in my mouth since two weeks ago when the dentist recommended it. He said he could put a porcelean crown on but he was fearful that it might crack. The last thing I wanted was to have to go through this rather expensive process again so I succumbed to the gold crown.

The metal was freezing and once again when she put it over my remaining tooth I about went through the ceiling. The crown wasn't fitting like it was suppose to and the hygenist kept taking it out turning it and putting it back in but it just wasn't dropping into place. Finally she gave up after I endured several repetitions of the unbearable cold on my remaining tooth, and said the dentist was going to have to come look at it.

Shortly thereafter, the dentist was at my side. I don't know what he did differently but the crown was not nearly as cold as when the hygenist was putting it on and taking it off. The dentist as well would put it on but when he took it off he was drilling or something to make it fit better and then trying it again. This process went on for quite some time. I was just relieved that the drill was not on my tooth as I didn't get any novacaine this time.

Finally the dentist was satisfied with the way it was fitting and said he was going to go polish it and then they's cement it on my tooth and I'd be on my way. Why it had to be polished when it was going to be way in the back of my mouth was beyond me but I figured for nearly $1000 it probably should be polished, maybe even once a week!

It seemed like I'd been laying in the dental chair forever and no one had come back with a tooth. A few minutes later the hygenist showed up and said, "we have a problem." I asked what happened. She told me that when the dentist was polishing the crown it slipped from his hand and they can't find it. I just looked back in disbelief.

I think there must have been 3 or 4 other hygenists and the dentist looking for this crown. I had to go to the bathroom so I got up and walked past the front desk with that little bib thing still haning around my neck. I heard one of the receptionists say to the other, "what is Bob still doing here?" I just chuckled to myself an went on to the bathroom

When I got back to my chair the hygenist had returned again and said that they might have to put the temporary crown back on and re-order another permanent crown. I really didnt want to wait another two weeks to get this tooth fixed but I was obviously at their mercy.

I continued to lie there in my chair listening to the comments from the search going on in the next room. A few minutes later I heard the dentist shout "I found it!" The hygenist came hurrying back into my room to tell me it was located. Yeah, like I didn't know that! She assured me they would repolish it and steralize it and then they'd put it on my tooth and I'd be on my way.

It wasn't long after that that the hygenist and the dentist were back with crown in hand. The cement they put on the crown to attach it is not only the worst tasting stuff but it also extremely extrememly cold. At this point however, I didn't really care how much pain I had to endure, I was ready to be done with it.

What was supposed to be a 30 minute process had turned into a 90 minute parody of errors. Funny thing is that the next day I got a check in the mail from the dentist. Hmmm.....were they reimbursing me for the for the very strange appointment I had the day before. No such luck. It was just a $17 overcharge on the price of the crown.

Titles aren't what they're cracked up to be

Last May we sold my son's car and getting the title for this car has been an absolute nightmare. It has been a perpetual process that I'm hopeful has finally, almost a year later, come to an end.

Because I was co-signer on the loan for my son, the title was in both of our names. When the car was sold I went to the bank and paid the loan and the teller advised that the title would be mailed out within a couple of weeks to my son. During that period my son moved out and changed his address.

I had assumed that the title was forwarded to my son's new address and had pretty much put the entire transaction out of my mind. About a month later the mother of the young man who purchased the car called our house and said they still hadn't received the title to the car. I contacted my son and told him that he'd probably have to go to the BMV and apply for a duplicate title. He advised he would so I again assumed things were taken care of and moved on.

Probably around September we had another message on our home phone from the mother pleading for us to do something about getting the title work completed but she didn't leave a phone number so we had no way to contact her. I called my son to see if he knew how to contact her and asked what the deal was with the title. He had no explanation. I asked him once again to please go apply for the duplicate title and considered myself, once again, done with the ordeal.

The phone rings at the end of November. Mind you its now been 8 months since the car was sold, and its the purchasers asking for help because they still had no title for the car. By now I decided I had better intervene. I probably should have months before but I was trying to give the benefit of doubt that the problems would get resolved.

I went to the bank and explained how we had sold the car in May and never received a copy of the title and these poor people who had purchased it had been unable to plate the car for all of these months. The representative at the bank advised that when my son and I took out the loan with them they had never received a title from the dealership that the car was purchased. However, they never told us that after we had taken out the loan. They suggested that I go apply for a duplicate title at the BMV.

I felt so bad for these people who had bought the car so the next week I went to the BMV and explained what had happened. By now its the first of December. The BMV clerk advised that it would take 6 to 8 weeks for the title to come and that that was the best that could be expected. What could I do? I now had a phone number for the people who had bought the car and I called and let them know the title had been applied for and that I would let them know as soon as it came, but it probably wouldn't be for at least another month.

At the end of December I still hadn't received anything from the BMV so I left a message on the purchasers phone as I felt it was the least I could do to keep them updated with as much as I knew.

Its now the end of January 2007 and 9 months since the car was sold. The young man who purchased the car phoned me and said that he had spoken to the BMV and they told him that the title had been sent to the bank on January 4th. I said I hadn't gotten anything in the mail from the bank nor the BMV and I would contact the bank.

I called the bank the next day and they said that the they received the duplicate title on January 5th and mailed it out right away. I said we had not gotten anything in the mail. She said it was mailed to my son at our address. My son has moved about 2 more times since then so with all the change of addresses he's put in at the post office who knows where it might be floating around. The bank said there wasn't anything they could do and that we'd probably have to go to the BMV and apply for a duplicate title again. That was not the answer I wanted to hear. After a little more discussion the bank said they could give me a lien release that would enable the purchaser to go to the BMV and apply for a title. I wanted these poor people to be able to get the title they needed and I didn't want to be in the middle of this anymore so I asked the bank to send the lien release to the branch I normally bank at and I would pick it up on Saturday.

Chaos continued when I stopped at the bank branch to pick up the lien release this past Saturday morning. When I arrived at the bank both the manager and the customer service rep were busy with customers so I sat patiently waiting. Only a few minutes had passed when the branch manager came over and introduced herself and asked how what she could do for me. I explained why I was there and she invited me into her office. Her desk looked like a tornado had just whipped through it before I got there. She said she recalled seeing an email that I would be in and she was frantically going through her in-box looking for the form. She couldnt find it so she dimissed herself to look elsewhere for it. A few minutes later she was back but had no form. She continued to look around the 'cycloned' desk and was on the phone with the main office. Not long after that she was off to look in other areas of the branch but was back in just a few minutes, still with no form. She then apologised for not being able to locate it and said she could just type something up for me. I said that was fine as long as it was good enough for the BMV. She assured me it was and completed it, signed it and sent me on my way.

I went home after that and hadn't been there for more than 10 minutes when the phone rang. It was the customer service representative from the bank branch that I had just left. She advised that the form had been her desk all along and she wasn't sure why the manager hadn't checked with her for it. The customer service rep wanted to know if I could come back and get before they closed at 12:30pm. It was already 12:10 and I said I didn't think it would be possible. She advised that the person who purchased the car could come get it instead if that would work better for me but I needed to give her his full name. Unfortnuately I didn't know his full name. I knew his phone number and first name but that was it. She said that would be ok as long as he brought the purchase agreement that we had signed when they bought the car with him when he came to pick up the lien release.

I called the young man and of course I got his voice mail. Perfect. I was just getting ready to call the bank back and tell them I couldn't reach him when he called me back. I got his last name and told him that he needed to take the agreement we signed with him to pick up the information and called the bank back. The customer service person apologised over and over for the confusion and thanked me for getting the purchasers information.

I'm worn out just typing this whole ordeal. I can't imagine how worn out the people who bought the car must have felt. Out of courtesy and concern I called the young man today to ensure he'd gotten the lien release on Monday and was on his way with getting the title, but of course I got his voice mail. I'd like to say that once again I've washed my hands of this ordeal but I don't think I'll be comfortable in saying that until I get a call back from him saying that he's applied for a title and then I'll know that the case is closed.

Mouse Hunt Bob and Lori style

We've had telltale signs of an unwanted visitor in our house for about the last month. It's hard to get rid something you never see. However, we were determined and strategically placed Decon throughout the attic, house, basement and garage. Be very quiet, we're hunting a mouse!

It seemed as though it had been a few days since Lori had reported finding any of our unwanted borders 'calling cards.' I was hopeful that it had either left or died. I hadn't been real excited about putting the DECON anywhere in the house (especially the attic) because I figured if the stupid thing ate it and died up there who knows if we'd ever find it. The snap of a trap is music to my ears cuz you know exactly where it's at and the disposal is cut and dry.

We had gone out to dinner Saturday night and arrived back at the house around 9 pm. Lori said she'd feed the dog if I'd go upstairs and turn the bed back. I ventured upstairs but after just finishing two very large diet cokes I thought visiting the bathroom was a better idea than turning the bed down.

I went into the bathroom and reached down to lift the seat. Obviously I wasn't the last one to go the bathroom or the seat would have been up. I looked down I saw something brown and thought to myself 'how gross, who didn't flush?' but then the brown thing moved. I did a double take. When I looked back into the bowl, what I thought was, excuse my french, a turd, looked back at me! It was a fat little brown mouse with the biggest eyes you've ever seen. I dropped the seat and lid to the toilet and walked back out into the hall. I called to Lori come upstairs right away.

While I was waiting for Lori to come upstairs (to save the day) I began to wonder how this rodent got in the toilet. Earlier that morning I had removed the cover to the ceiling light in our bathroom. Lori had been convinced that the mouse was living in the attic and when I removed the cover that was confirmed. 'Calling cards' were in the plastic fixture. I began to envision what must have happened to the mouse....

The bathroom is pitch black and then some twine drops from the light fixture. Moments later a ray of light no bigger than a pin shines through and the mouse, with a mouse-size flashlight in his mouth, begins his covert mission down the twine. He's almost reached a point where he can drop to the floor without injuring himself when we get home and he hears the door open from the garage. Not being a mouse experienced in espionage, and kind of clutsy as well, he looses his grip and falls into the toilet. Plop! Thinking he wouldn't be seen if he kept himself near the inside edge of the bowl, he forgets that he needs to be perpendicular with the edge and realizes that when the light goes on and 1/2 of his body is exposed....calling on his method acting classes...he begins to think I'm a turd,I'm a turd....

Lori came running upstairs and came into the bathroom where I was standing with a dumfounded look on my face. I shook myself back into reality and my first words to her were 'how are we going to get it out of there?' Of course my first thought was to flush the little bugger, but was quick to rationalize that that would probably just plug up the toilet and we'd have a worse mess.

Lori wanted to see the mouse so we slowly lifted the lid and there he was, big as life staring right back at us. Then he started to run around the inside edge toilet trying to escape, slipping down into the water and then back around the edge again. We closed the lid and just looked at each other. How are we going to get it out of there?

Per Lori's suggestion, I went down to the kitchen and got a trash bag. When I got back to the bathroom Lori had gone into 'take charge' mode. She said close the bathroom door and she'd roll up the bathroom rug and stuff it along the bottom of the door so if it escaped the toilet it. I wasn't sure if I was suppose to salute or ask what she wanted me to do with this trash bag? I opted to ask about the bag. She said lets slide it under the lids but over the top of the toilet. So we start to do this and I'm thinking 'do you think it's just going to jump into the bag for us?' I said 'just how are we suppose to get it into this bag?'

I saw the toilet brush and grabbed it thinking I could push the mouse into the bag with the brush and pulled the bag back and stuck the brush in. Well, not so much. It was like the thing was on a mini race track. It was going around and around the bowl at the speed of light. I pulled the brush out and said that wasn't going to work.

Lori spotted the a box from my contact solution in the bathroom trash a pulled it out and folded the flaps in. I looked at her and asked her what she was going to do with that? She pulled the bag back and was trying to scoop up the mouse with the box. But I think the speed of the mouse and the fact that she's a girl freaked her out and she couldn't catch him. Being the man and protector (yeah right) I took the box from her and chased the mouse around until I had finally scooped it into the box. I shoved the box into the bottom of the bag and closed the bag at the top. Lori looked at me and said....'so that won't work, huh!'

"What are you going to do with it?" asked Lori as I was leaving the bathroom. "You aren't going to kill it are you? It has the biggest, cutest eyes!" I said no, I'll just take out to the back of the yard and let it go. "Oh no, you can't do that it will just find it's way back into the house" she said. "Ok, what then?" I responded. She didn't say anything so I made my way downstairs. I decided to just put it in the trash can behind the garage. I didn't think it could get out of the very deep trash can and figured it was the only option I had. I came back in and told Lori what I'done and that was that.

This morning Lori confessed that she had to fight the urge to not go get the bag out of the trash and drive it out into the country during the night. Girls!

Twenty Four and in control

Our church started a series of messages entitled "24" in which we're taking a look at the kind of life that is available to us 24/7. We borrowed the series title from the television series called "24" where each episode is an hour in the life of the main character. You can check out more about this series at Granger Community Church by clicking on this link www.gccwired.com.

Two weeks ago the weekend message was about how we so easily compartmentalize our lives. We have a box for family, a box for work, a box for our social life, a box for the multitude of other things going on in our life including a box for religion. We put the box for religion in the middle of all of the other boxes so that it appears we let God touch all areas of our lives when, in fact, what we're doing is just giving God a slot and allowing us to remain as the "majority stockholder." Appearance is everything, not.

The thing is though, is that God wants to be the bigest part of our life, surrounding all of it, not just a slot in the compartment. But we won't let him. Why, because often we think we know what we need better than He does.

I never really thought about whether I 'compartmentalized' my life too much until this past weekend at the gym......

I mentioned not long ago that a couple of months ago that Lori and I decided to join Anytime Fitness. It's open 24 hours (hence the name, duh!) so there is essentially no excuse to not be able to find time to workout. We have been going faithfully 6 days a week.

This past Friday I knew I wouldn't be able to go to the gym after work because we were having dinner with friends. However, I was too lazy to get up and go before work to compensate for the change in routine. Yes, I was breaking the 6 day rule and the bad thing that dinner was going to be at Hacienda. I knew that I wouldn't be able to resist the chips. And I didn't!

On Saturday's we've been getting to the gym about 7:15am and then going out for a bagel and coffee aftewards at Panera. But this particular Saturday, Lori seemed to be sleeping in longer than usual and she came downstairs about 6:15am.

We waivered back and forth for a few minutes on whether we could be showered and ready to go to the gym and still have breakfast by no later than 9:30. But we did. We walked out the door at 7:55.

So I'm thinkin' you're probably thinking by now, "who takes a shower before they got to the gym?" I don't wear hats and there is no way that I'm going out in public with bed hair! Now, back to the story.

We get to the gym and I am ready for this workout! I had already skipped a day and that was wackin' me out. On top of that, I pigged out on chips at Hacienda and was emersed in deep regret over that. I was ready to burn calories!

Not long after we started going regularily to "Anytime" I had mentioned to the owner/trainer that I was getting incredible side aches on the elliptical machine. She offered 2 pieces of advice: one solicited, one not. The solicited piece of advise was that I was probably going to fast and not breathing correctly which could be leading to my side aches. The unsolicited was that if I was going to fast and my heart rate was over the range that the machine said I should be within, I was burning muscle and not fat. Not that I'm a weakling (well I might be but let's not go there)but, I really don't have any muscle to be wasted!

Why is consistency such an issue with these confounded cardio machines? Why is it that one day I can go at a pretty good speed and stay within my heart rate and the next day my heart rate sky rockets and I have to go at a snails pace (or so it seems) to stay within the heart range. Stupid heart range!

Saturday morning was one of those "snail" days. At first it seemed like I was good to go. I was clippin' along at pretty good speed and my heart rate was within the range it should have been within. I was getting into the music on my IPOD and watching the TV in front of me. It was all good. I happened to look down and noticed my heart rate had rocketed way past where it should be. So I slowed way down to decrease my heart rate and ended up being stuck at that pace. I couldn't get my heart rate to stay down unless I keep my speed way down as well.

Is it possible to have "ellipitcal road rage" as I think I was about to have it. I wanted to go faster but was being restricted by the machine. I was convinced I needed to go faster because in my mind faster equated more calorie burn and more calorie burn means more fat loss. And I ate so wrong the night before. Why didnt this machine understand this?

I don't typically eat much beef nor fried food either. Saturday night we went out to dinner again to a place called "Between the Buns" and I ate food I wouldn't normally eat again. Yep, I scarfed down a burger and fries and didn't think twice about it. Off the deep end again on eating!

Sunday is the day we've decided to take off from going to the gym. But since I'd missed Friday I told Lori that I wanted to go on Sunday this week to make up for lost time.

Lori was the early riser on Sunday morning, at 5 am, and I didn't come wandering downstairs until 6:30. I told her I was pretty sure I wanted to go to the gym but she opted to stay home and clean the house and do laundry. I got ready and took off, all psyched up for a power work out.

I arrived at the very unpopulated gym (apparently a lot of other people take Sunday's off from working out too, at least at 7:30 am anyway) and took my place on an elliptical machine. I selected the cardio workout and started pedaling. I don't think I was on the blasted machine for more than 3 minutes when my heart rate was already over the top. How could this be? I wasn't in the mood to just "putt" along so I took control and switched over to manual. I took the and hand towel that I'd grabbed on my way in and covered up the display. I was going at the speed I wanted to go at today, and this machine wasn't stopping me.

I felt like I was going at a pretty good pace and that I was getting a good work out. About 30 minutes into the hour I had planned to be on the machine I decided to remove the towel and just see how outrageous my heart rate was from my decision to take matters into my control. I was surprised to see that was going along at a speed I thought was adequate and my heart rate was within the acceptable range.

If the machine could have spoke it would have said, "Ha Ha,I won. You can't cover me up and pretend I'm not there. I'm still in control even when you try to pretend I'm not."

Tieing all of this back to the message on comparmentalizing our lives, I wanted to control the machine and make it conform to what I wanted. I have to wonder where and when I do this same thing in other parts of my life, especially when it comes to my relationship with God, without even realizing it? Where do I try to hold onto control and only give God the corner of the box? Where do I think I know what's best for me?

But just like the elliptical machine that kept my heart rate within the healthy range it needed to be in, despite my attempts to take control of my life, God is really in control of it and He is caring for me even when I'm too selfish to realize it.

Steve and Barry's

Lori and I decided to visit the new Steve and Barry's store that now occupies the building Target was formerly in on McKinley in Mishawaka. We've been to the Steve and Barry's in Orlando a couple of times so we thought we'd check this one out.

For those of you who aren't familiar with Steve and Barrys is a university and collegiate apparel store that also includes jeans, t shirts, sweats, jackets, polos and collegiate wear. Their prices are incredible. I don't think I saw anything over $15. If you want more info on the store check out their website www.steveandbarrys.com.

So we had perused the store for a while and were ready to check out. Course they have one of those fun 'heard the cattle' roped off line that you have to follow with 50 other people in line until the next available cashier calls you.

Earlier while walking around I had noticed a couple of guys shopping and the reason they stood out to me was because one of the guys had a leg brace that covered his entire leg. I dont know if it was broke but it made walking a challenge for him.

So we get in cattle line to make our purchase and a squirmish starts to happen not far from us. When I turned to look it was the guy with the leg brace shouting at the top of his voice "I didn't take anything, leave me alone" with another guy chasing him down with hand cuffs. The guy with hand cuffs kept trying to get the guy with the brace to put his hands behind his back so he could cuff him but he kept resisting and saying he didnt do anything wrong and he didnt take anything. However, the guy with the hand cuffs kept insisting he was beyond the 'point of purchase' and was persistent in trying to cuff him.

Not long after there were more store employees on the scene and trying to help get the hands of the guy with the brace behind his back. The guy with the brace was pretty irrate by now and was yelling pretty loudly and kept fighting back. It wasn't long before a knife emerged from the guys pocket.

My heart beat had increased a little when all the yelling and struggle were going on but when I saw the knife it majorly increased. Fortunately, because of all the struggle that was going on the guy with the brace couldn't keep hold of the knife and it fell to the floor. About that time they had gotten the guy with the brace to the floor but still didn't have both of his arms behind his back and there was the knife lying within his reach. Ok, my heart rate increases again so fast that I'm sure if you had looked at my chest you would have seen my shirt moving.

Then I heard the snap of the hand cuffs and saw that they finally cuffed the guy and had him back up on his feet again. Still the knife is laying on the floor. Three people hauled him off to the back of the store.

I found it interesting that with all that going on, people continued to shop as if nothing was going on. Cashiers continue to ring up purchases as if nothing was happening. And the people standing in line waiting to make their purchases continued to stand in line as if everything was normal. Course then again, maybe they were all like me. There hearts beating so fast they thought a coronary was just around the corner, paralyzed by fear, eyes popping out like a cartoon character after and 'ahhhoooga' sound. I guess I should stop before word gets out what a chicken I am...(LOL)

I never saw any merchandise that this person was being accused of shoplifting. There was a rather large display that was beyond the 'point of purchase' and I'm not sure what the rules are to look at or obtain those products for purchase. I have to wonder though that if they guy with the brace really didn't do anything wrong then why the struggle?

I can't say that any of our visits to the Steve and Barry's in Orlando has been quite that exciting. I'm sure we'll visit the store again, however I hope the next time we go it will be a little less exciting.

Christmas Day 2006

Christmas morning came early, but in the back of my mind I think I knew it would. Lori and I were both serving at church for Christmas Eve services and didn't get home until about 1 am Chirstmas morning. 'Course, I had to wind down some once we got home so I surfed on the TV for about 30 minutes before dozing off.

Our old and senile dog has had this tendency to wake us up very early on the weekends and apparently getting woke up early also applies to holidays as well. About 5:30 am he started his whining. You never knows if that just means I want you to get up, or I need to go out. You don't want to risk the going out thing so one of us usually springs out of bed, (oh ok, stumbles out of bed) and takes the dog downstairs and lets him out.

It's kind of become a tradition for us to have cinnamon rolls for breakfast on Christmas morning. Last year I went to the mall and bought a box of Cinnabon's rolls. It was my intent to do that again this year but it ended up being Pilsbury's Grands Cinnamon Rolls from Martins. Our oldest son was suppose to be at our house by 9am for breakfast. I drank about a pot of coffee from the time I got up until the cinnamon rolls were finally baked and ready to eat. Usually I have a serving (1 cup) of Kashi cereal for breakfast which has 1 gram of fat and 13 grams of protein. I had not one, but two cinnamon roles today which were 9 grams of fat each and maybe 1 gram of protein. This was just the beginning to an onslaught of extreme food indulgence throughout the day.

I love to watch our boys open their gifts. I can hardly stand it until we get to give them to them. Although we've always spent the same amount of money on each of them, when they were younger we always tried to have the same number of gifts for them to open. We always made them alterate between each other when opening a gifts, never letting them just tear into them. As they've grown up their lists have grown up too and the price tags have increased. It's not so easy to have the equal number of gifts any more. I'd rather get them what they want in a few items than what they don't want in numerous packages to open. This morning Adam had a few more boxes to open than Josh did because Josh's requests had higher price tags than Adams. There was a day when that may have mattered but today it didn't. They even made some jokes about it. They both seemed really pleased with all that they received and we had a really good time together.

Not long after we finished opening gifts at our house we packed up and headed over to my mom's house in Niles. Not exactly an 'over the river and through the woods' kinda trip, but hey this is Michiana suburbia.

My mom made a feast. We gorged ourselves on ham, sweet potatoes, baked beans and desserts that seemed to be neverending. I felt pretty good about myself before I started in on the dessert. I'm a sucker for pumpkin anything and of course when there is pumpkin cheesecake and a pumpkin cream cheese roll I had to have both. I think it was when I finished the last bite of my piece of cheesecake that the bloated feeling overtook me.

Opening gifts with at my mom's house is quite the frenzy and different from the sedate gift opening session at our house. My sister and I distributed the gifts. Once everyone has all gifts that belonged to them its a free for all. Paper is flying and bows are bouncing as gifts are torn open. My poor 80 something year old grandmother is slowly tearing the wrapping paper of hers and all along saying I can't see what anyone else is getting. By the time we're finished there is a mound of shreaded colored papper about 5 feet tall in the middle of all of us.

The pattern seems to be the same year in and year out at my moms. Once the meal is over and the gifts are opened. The party seems to just fall apart. My grandmother wants to go home and take a nap. My kids and my sisters kids have places to go and leave. My sister and her husband take off. And Lori and I usually head over to her mothers house. It almost leaves me feeling empty or greedy. We eat, we get stuff, we leave. It's the same pattern year after year.

Christmas at my mother-in-laws is yet another different experience. There is always an abundance of food left from their big meal and its strewn across my her entire counter top. Even though we just finished eating an enormous meal at my mom's house I'm popping a couple of buckeyes in my mouth and entertaing the idea of cutting into that pumpkin pie that we brought with us. The grazing seems to continue throught out the late afternoon into the evening when we decide it must be time to sit down and eat again.

Gift opening is by far the least public event of the day at my mother-in-laws house. My mother-in-law never buys gifts for the adults. Its always a card with cash that she passes to you like a secret agent passes a code to an operative. There is never an hoopla over gift exchanging and its always done in a very quiet as you arrive kind of fashion.

Three different celebration styles all in one day, but I wouldn't trade the experiences of anyone of them. I don't think I'd want them to all be the same because variety is the spice of life. I'm so grateful that I have family to spend the holidays with and count my blessings for just that. Each party, unique in its own way, providing memories in my heart that no one can ever take away.

Food Drop

In the many years that I have been attending Granger Community Church, the creativity in which we reach out to the community not only in the Christmas season, but all year long, never ceases to amaze me.

For the past few years we at GCC have been partnering with the Feed the Children organization in December to help feed the less fortunate in our community. You can read more about this event at www.gccwired.com. This year I believe our congregation donated enough money to purchase 7 semi truckloads of food and personal care items.

Our videographers document this event from start to finish so it can be shared with the congregation at our services. There is video from the early morning when every one arrives to unload the trucks to actual delivery of the food to various families in the community. Its a heartwarming and inspiring thing to see in action.

This year the media team at GCC worked very hard and delivered a media to be used in the weekend services the very Saturday of the event. While the offering bags were being passed the congregation was able to view a media depicting the work they did to uplift someone elses life this holiday season.

As we were watching the media, I noticed that one of the recipients of a food box was the mother of someone we know. I thought to myself how cool was that. The next day I phoned her son to let him know that his mother was in video and if he wanted he could log on to the GCC website, watch the weekend service and see the media.

I hadn't heard back from her son and was curious to get his reaction to the media so I sent a quick email to see if had had an opportunity to view it. I cannot tell you how devastated I was by his response. I don't know if I was more angered, diappointed or saddened by his comments......

"The intentions were good – but it probably would have been better to leave here alone. I realize, obviously, that no one knew who she was, and that it was random. You have to realize that that kind of stuff throws her off the deep end, actually, and then we have to hear about it for days and weeks.

It caused her to go into defensive mode. Unable to grasp the concept of a free-will gift for the holidays, she ended up putting all but just a few of the items back in the hallway. (Don’t ask me to explain how a couple of items made the cut and others didn’t.) I presume other tenants, who must know she’s a loon, simple took it for themselves. Either way, old people got stuff provided by well-intentioned people.

The fact that it was video taped grieves me because a crazy person was video taped without her consent and then broadcast. I don’t like that part, but it means nothing, really, because the intent was innocent and, again, well-intentioned. Nevertheless, it is my request the video be pulled (at least the part with her edited out, if possible) from future public display.

I’m glad that there are those who reach out to the elderly. Frankly, I don’t know what to do with my mother. It is a constant burden"

I have to wonder if its about the inconvenience he claims was made to his mother or if it's just that his mother is an inconvenience to him and therefore chose to make these statements.

This is a a well orchestrated event that has no random-ness about it as alluded to in in his first paragraph. This was intended to be a blessing and not a character evaluation. Does it matter if she was confused and put some of the items back out in the hall. I dont think so. Does it matter that perhaps she knew for even just the briefest moment that someone cared about her. I think so.

When Jesus fed the 5000 with a loaf of bread (John 5-15)I dont think there was anyone singled out as unworthy to receive His bounty.

IPOD challenged.

With the advent of my recent Anytime Fitness membership I have been salvating over IPOD's. I bought an FM radio so that I could tune into the various televisions that are mounted around the gym but there isn't a whole lot of rhythm in the evening news. My wife has had her IPOD for quite a while and sings it's praises constantly.

From what I've determined IPOD's don't go on sale. I wanted the 30 gig but the Nano's were less expensive...what to do, what to do! Well, IPOD's do go on sale, sorta. I was at Best Buy this past weekend drooling over the 30 gig Black IPOD and a clerk approached me. The IPOD wasn't on sale but the store was having a promotion of 20% off and a $20 gift card on purchases over $200. It was as if the sky opened up and a bright light beamed down....can you hear the chorus....it was a sure sign it was time to make that purchase.

Since I already had ITUNES on my laptop I thought this will be a piece of cake to set up. I fired up ITUNES and connected the IPOD to my laptop. I had already downloaded about 900 songs into ITUNES so I figured it would take a while to transfer them so I sat the laptop on the floor and went to do some other things. About 10 minutes later I decided to check on transfer progress and found an error on the screen. I didnt have the most current version of ITUNES and it needed to be downloaded onto my laptop before I could proceed. So I downloaded it and of course that meant rebooting and more time that I had anticipated. I fired up the transfer again and went about my business. I came back down and found another error that set me back another few minutes from getting this task complete but eventually everything was uploaded to the IPOD.

I could hardly wait to get to the gym on Monday. I get to listen to music, my music, while I'm working out. I even made a special playlist and named it 'workout music' (because I wasn't any more creative at that momment).

One thing about listening to music, especially upbeat music with lots of rhythm is that it can make you pick up your pace without even realizing it. The elliptical machine gives you a target heart rate to maintain for optimum results and it yells (well its a display but it seems like yelling) if you go over that target rate. I was so getting into the music that I was flying along and had to keep reminding myself to slow down. 'Pump up the Volume' didn't mean pick up the pace.

I've teased my wife about about singing outloud when she's listening to her IPOD. Ironically I have found myself singing along as well. It's really hard not to do that. At least people know that she's singing along because she is actually singing. I, on the other hand, must look like I'm a little 'off my rocker' because I don't actually sing, I just mouthe the words. Call me the Milli Vanilli of IPOD singing.

Yesterday when I was done working out I decided to continue to listen to my IPOD rather than shutting it off. I went into the locker room, gathered my stuff and made my way out to my car. I got in the car and was getting ready to back up and I realized I told my wife I'd call her when I was on my way home. I pulled my earbuds out and they fell to my lap and I pulled my seat belt across my lap while the phone was ringing. Yes I can multi-task. When we finished our conversation I reached for the earbuds to put them back in my ears and I realized that the wires were under the seat belt strapped across me. I pulled them from under the seat belt and got them back into my ears. Yes, all this while driving too. I was once again jammin.

I got to our subdivision and was pulling into our drive and detached my seatbelt. Somehow the wires to the earbuds got tangled in the seat belt and I found myself having to tilt my head down because the wires were pulling down. Of course I could have just pulled them out of my ears but that would have been too easy.

Today I was back on the elliptical machine and lip syncing away. My time completed and I was stepping down off the machine and the wires from the earbuds got hooked on the arm handles and my head got a severe yank to the right.

Don't get me wrong, this IPOD has been the best purchase I've made recently. However, its pretty obvious that I'm either going to have to get better acclamated to it or its gonna do me in!

Credit DENIED!

My credit card was denied today and it was a good thing. It reassured me that the VISA does check the validity of the charges being made.

Each year I put all of the Christmas gifts we purchase on one credit card and then pay the entire bill when it comes. It eliminates the hassle of carrying a lot of cash around and we get beaucoup points towards free nights at a variety of hotels.

Over the course of the past couple days we had been doing some intense shopping and using the same card repeatedly. We were at our last stop today which was a local gas station to purchase gift cards for gas. It almost seems a shame that one would give gifts of gas but at todays prices these gift cards recieve beaucoup appreciation.

We needed to get several gas gift cards of varying amounts. The gentleman behind the counter who was apparently new to his position was reluctant to execute the transaction and called a more experience co-worker over for help. Although she new how to process the gift cards she didnt know how to do more than one at a time and apologized for that inconvenience. I think she thought we would leave after she said that be we were on a mission and weren't about to give up.

I ran my card through a 4th time with 3 more cards to go and the attendant behind the counter said it was denied. I knew very well that I had more than enough credit left on my card so I pulled out my cell phone and called the credit card company. We had gifts to buy and I wasn't giving up that easy.

As I mentioned earlier, we get hotel points towards free stays on this card. I had turned the card over and dialed the first 800 number I saw. Well that was the reservation line for the hotel line so after apologizing for dialing the wrong number I canvassed the back of the card again for the correct 800 number to customer service. I found it and dialed.

Why do you have to go through a never ending barage of computer voice driven options before you can actually speak with another human being. The first recording says to make your transaction more efficient please enter your card number. More efficient, yeah right. When you finally do get to speak to a live person they ask you for it again. After you enter your account number you requested to enter various other information and given a variety of option, none of which ask you if you want to speak to another human.

I was tired from shopping all day and I fat fingered my account number not once but twice and had to call back. I was getting a little frustrated now because I just wanted to be done with this whole process.

Finally I got through to a living, breathing human who, but of course put me on hold and transferred me to someone else. Meanwhile the line behind us was getting to be longer. Eventually I was taken off hold and things finally started to happen.

The bank card representative asked me questions about my account that only I would know. One of which was a number I had used at one point that I had no recollection of. Fortunately I was able to respond to all of her other questions with the correct answers.

Although it was quite a time consuming process once I finally was able to speak to a customer service representative I was quite impressed with all of the degree of 'fraud' protection that they went to to ensure my protection. It very well could have been someone else with my card and I could have been up a creek without a paddle. Hats off to VISA and the persuit to protect my credit today. Credit denied isn't always a bad thing.