Reflections on Eric and Kathy

Congratulations to Eric and Kathy Sandberg who were wed this weekend! We traveled over to Rockford to catch the wedding, which was awesome. They are a great couple and it was really cool seeing them get married. It was also fun for us because those occasions help remind Kathi and I why we got married, and it made it remember our wedding day.

One embarassing thing did happen. As we were moving through the receiving line, we were introduced to Eric's parent's who are from Minnesota. Recalling a road trip I had made with some friends a few years back where we stayed at the parent's of a friend, I said to Eric's mom, "This may sound weird, but I've slept in your bed." An awkward and perplexed look came over her. Then I remembered that it wasn't Eric's place we had stayed at, but my friend Chris's. Mortified I tried to excuse myself from the embarassing situation. Now in Eric's mom's eyes, I'm that creepy guy that sleeps in stranger's beds.

Reflections on Cardinals Win

Last night, the St. Louis Cardinals clinched their first World Series title since 1982. Here's my reaction to this year's Series. Con: For the third year in a row, the series was way too short. I'm getting really sick of the 4-0 or 4-1 series victories that have been happening. I miss the days of nail-biters that we saw early on in the decade. Pro: The National League won it all...finally. There's been a lot of talk about the baseball balance of power swing dramatically to the AL. Fortunately, the Senior Circuit turned in a good showing in the post-season much to everyone's surprise. Con: Crappy showing by the Detroit Tigers. They really displayed their youth this series with a total 8 errors in five games with five of those coming from the pitching staff. I really had hoped for a better performance from this Cinderalla story. Pro: The winning team won it all at home. That hasn't happened since 2002 when the Angels shocked the Giants in seven games to win it all in front of the hometown crowd. It's just fun to see a stadium errupt in cheering frenzy.

Well, now it's officially the offseason. Let the hotstove-ing commence. Hopefully, we'll be in for a better post-season next year when the Cincinnati Reds stun the baseball world by going wire-to-wire. It'll happen!

Reflections on Fright Fest

It's been a while since I've posted anything. That's the bummer about not having an internet connection - I'm dependent on the Libertyville library for my internet access. Anyway, this weekend we went to Great America again. The last time we were there we won free tickets to their "Fright Fest," which is basically the theme park dressed up with cheap Halloween decorations. But, once again we went on a day that wasn't too nice weather wise, and we ended up doing all of the roller coasters in about three hours. Then we went home and I fell asleep.

Reflections on Kevin's Musk

I have become convinced that the whole body wash gel trend is a complete scam. When I was living in Germany, I could never find an actual bar of soap in the stores...it was all body wash. Fruity Europeans. And it looks like that's the path the America is on as well. But, it's all a ploy by the health and body industry to extract more money from you. I suspect that on average you can get about 30 washes out of a $4 bottle of body wash. Compare that with 100+ washes you may get our of a 50 cent bar of soap. And it doesn't provide you with that much more of a benefit...moisturizing my butt. But, for all of my angst on the issue, I'm a closet Suave For Men user. It gives me a nice musk.

Reflections on Anxiety Weekend

This weekend was typified by high levels of anxiety in both Kathi and I. Over the past couple of days Kathi's mouth has really been hurting, so she is filled with anxiety about having more dental work done and the financial strain that will cause. I, on the otherhand, am looking at our current support raising situation and getting anxious about how we're not moving forward at the pace I had hoped. I look at our number right now and I wonder how in the world are we going to get to 100%?

We really need prayer for this. At the heart of it is a fundamental mistrust in God's desire and/or ability to provide for all of our needs. All of this worrying is starting to become debilitating, especially for Kathi. We are in need of some renewal in our hearts and our minds.

Reflections on Yankees Demise

Oh, how sweet it is. It's becoming a very satisfying annual tradition watching the Yankees and their $200 million payroll get ousted from the playoffs by scrappy young teams. Now we get to be witness to the Bronx fallout all winter long. George is mad because he hasn't won a Series in six years...aw, poor, poor Yankees. Twenty-six titles apparently isn't enough for the grotesque ego that is New York City. Now that they've been eliminated, we can all get back to enjoying baseball.

Reflections on Granny's Memorial

Today was my grandmother's memorial service in Troy. It really was a nice celebration of her life, which included the memories of the countless people that she touched in this life. It was amazing to hear about the impact that she had outside of our family. Thanks to everyone who has been praying for us. Your thoughts and prayers mean so much to Kathi and I as well as the rest of our family. Tomorrow Kathi and I head back home to resume daily life.

Reflections on October

October is my favorite month of the year, and everything about it I simply enjoy. The weather gets cooler, and the leaves start to turn. Occasionally, you get a late summer thunderstorm rolling through. More than any other time of the year, I become more reflective on God's beauty in nautre. And, of course, it's baseball playoffs! Although this year we have nothing to look forward except the inevitable Yankees sweep.

It's going to be a bitter sweet weekend. The drive home will be nice, and we're planning on spending sometime with our friends in Columbus. But, it's going to be really hard facing up to the grief. I've been pretty dead emotionally the last few days. I need prayers for comfort and the strength to be sad.

Reflections on Grief Process

We found out that the memorial service for my grandmother is going to be this Sunday at her church in Troy, Ohio. So, Kathi and I are planning on driving down to Dayton on Thursday and spend the weekend there. Right now most of us are doing pretty well. At this point it's easy to put it at the back of your mind because of everything else that is going on. But, it's going to be hard (but good) to deal with that grief this weekend. Please pray for us.