Now I am not one to puff myself up and let my ego get built up. I try to keep things in check and show appreciation to others. Anytime I think I am feeling good about myself, something inevitably happens that brings me crashing down to earth to remind myself not to take myself too seriously. Case in point: Yesterday, after church, I run into one of the church elders who recognized me from my broadcasting stuff. So we're out in the atrium of our church having a nice conversation as people are walking by. He asks me about the business, I ask him about his son who plays basketball. We chat for a while and then part ways. I then start talking to some of the guys in the band who were hanging out nearby. Had a nice chat so as I head out to my car, I run across folks who smile and say hello and I return their greeting in kind. As I get into my car, I look up into the rearview mirror for some reason... and there it is... shining in all of it's glory. I'm looking straight at a category five booger hanging on for dear life at the end of my nose. I was looking to some how crawl under a rock and perhaps take up residence for about the next five years or so... just absolutely crushing to the psyche'... But the more I thought about it, the more I realized how I can't take myself so seriously... by the time I left the parking lot I figured there's nothing I can do about it now and was laughing as I got to the highway to head towards home.
Side note: Now this past weekend was the NFL draft. I need to keep my GUY credentials in order here so I feel the need to comment... it was mighty lame in my eyes. But the funniest thing I read online was from Kentucky Sports Radio's Matt Jones who said the following... " There are a number of stories that come from the day but the most interesting to me is the saga of former Fort Thomas Highlands Micheal Mitchell. Mitchell was picked in the second round by the Oakland Raiders (team motto: "We are officially nuts"). He is a Safety out of Ohio University and his athleticism is impressive enough that Mel Kiper had him ranked as the 73rd best Safety in the draft. From 73rd to 1st, that's quite a leap. When you add to the fact that (Raiders owner) Al Davis is 143 years old and is making the call, you can't help but love the randomness of it all..."
Matt, I couldn't agree with you more... Have a great week everybody!
Monday, April 27, 2009
Tuesday, April 21, 2009
Love And Food... or Love Of Food? Is There A Difference?
So,
what's a guy to do when he's tired, busy, cranky, irritable, and just plain snotty? Simple, spend a weekend with the gal pal... It's funny, someone pointed out an observation to me that I didn't realize before but now that I think about it, it makes sense. It seems that most often due to my whacked out schedule, I don't post as much as I should. But when I do post, it almost always seems to happen after spending time with the gal pal, or I've finished chatting with her. She cracks me up. Every time I go see her, and I spend about ten to twelve minutes with her, I feel every tired, busy, cranky, irritable and just plain snotty attitude disappear. They don't exist anymore. They are replaced by awe, and by amazement. We went to lunch after church on Sunday with her folks and I think all four of us were almost ready to nod off at the table we were at in a mexican restaurant. Of course the lone exception being when her dad and I both were busy inhailing the tortilla chips and salsa that we had before our meal arrived. I normally don't eat like that with the lone exception of when the gal pal and I go to that restaurant. Of course, her dad wasn't buying that... He laughed at me and just kept saying "uh-huh, sure Mik". I even pleaded that if I wanted to eat heavy duty mexican food, being of mexican descent, I could just go home or over to my sisters' and I could whale-out all I wanted. He acknowledged that and then laughed when I told him that when I do eat mexican food, sadly, it's usually Taco Bell. Or as I like to call it after eating there each time... Taco hell. I dunno... They just opened a Del Taco in my town and I've gone there and tried it a couple of times. It's not too bad actually. I liked it. I've tried Jack In the Box and again, not all bad. Okay so nothing can take the place of homemade... My question today: outside of homemade, what's your favorite chain for mexican food and what's your favorite meal from there? I know, I know, not the most ponderous question we've ever dealt with, but hey, why not? As I type this out, I'm dreaming of FOOD.... GLORIOUS FOOD...mmmm... (oh yeah, and how awesome my gal pal is...) That figures. I started this entry to say how much I love and appreciate my gal pal and I get side tracked by my one true weakness in this world... FOOD...lol
what's a guy to do when he's tired, busy, cranky, irritable, and just plain snotty? Simple, spend a weekend with the gal pal... It's funny, someone pointed out an observation to me that I didn't realize before but now that I think about it, it makes sense. It seems that most often due to my whacked out schedule, I don't post as much as I should. But when I do post, it almost always seems to happen after spending time with the gal pal, or I've finished chatting with her. She cracks me up. Every time I go see her, and I spend about ten to twelve minutes with her, I feel every tired, busy, cranky, irritable and just plain snotty attitude disappear. They don't exist anymore. They are replaced by awe, and by amazement. We went to lunch after church on Sunday with her folks and I think all four of us were almost ready to nod off at the table we were at in a mexican restaurant. Of course the lone exception being when her dad and I both were busy inhailing the tortilla chips and salsa that we had before our meal arrived. I normally don't eat like that with the lone exception of when the gal pal and I go to that restaurant. Of course, her dad wasn't buying that... He laughed at me and just kept saying "uh-huh, sure Mik". I even pleaded that if I wanted to eat heavy duty mexican food, being of mexican descent, I could just go home or over to my sisters' and I could whale-out all I wanted. He acknowledged that and then laughed when I told him that when I do eat mexican food, sadly, it's usually Taco Bell. Or as I like to call it after eating there each time... Taco hell. I dunno... They just opened a Del Taco in my town and I've gone there and tried it a couple of times. It's not too bad actually. I liked it. I've tried Jack In the Box and again, not all bad. Okay so nothing can take the place of homemade... My question today: outside of homemade, what's your favorite chain for mexican food and what's your favorite meal from there? I know, I know, not the most ponderous question we've ever dealt with, but hey, why not? As I type this out, I'm dreaming of FOOD.... GLORIOUS FOOD...mmmm... (oh yeah, and how awesome my gal pal is...) That figures. I started this entry to say how much I love and appreciate my gal pal and I get side tracked by my one true weakness in this world... FOOD...lol
Sunday, April 12, 2009
And On The Third Day, He Rose
Happy Easter folks,
Hope you all have a great weekend and a good week. Me and mine are doing fine. Nothing major going on right now (whew!) and trust me, I don't mind the doldrums of day to day life. In fact, I kinda look forward to them. But that being said, this is my favorite part of the year. Well this and early fall... I love spring because that means warmer weather and no more wearing mulitiple layers of clothing. As much as I like winter, I can only stand it for so long. Spring means golf, baseball, my gal pal in a much better frame of mind... (hint: she HATES winter and just being cold in general). Easter is a starting point for me. A new beginning of sorts. I have come to appreciate the REAL meaning of Easter. I don't mind kids doing the egg hunt thing (so long as they don't trip over the left over Christmas lights in the process... that's a true story which I'll write about someday...). The easter candy stuff is okay too... I don't get wound up about it. However, the REAL meaning of Easter is something I never took seriously before. But I do now. I guess in the commercialization of Easter, some things get lost. But I don't want that to happen any more. I have a heart of gratitude that wants to say thanks to Him for taking my sins and all my crap and letting me lay it down at the foot of the Cross. I seen a bumpersticker the other day that says it all... 1 tree + 3 nails = 4 given
Hope you all have a great weekend and a good week. Me and mine are doing fine. Nothing major going on right now (whew!) and trust me, I don't mind the doldrums of day to day life. In fact, I kinda look forward to them. But that being said, this is my favorite part of the year. Well this and early fall... I love spring because that means warmer weather and no more wearing mulitiple layers of clothing. As much as I like winter, I can only stand it for so long. Spring means golf, baseball, my gal pal in a much better frame of mind... (hint: she HATES winter and just being cold in general). Easter is a starting point for me. A new beginning of sorts. I have come to appreciate the REAL meaning of Easter. I don't mind kids doing the egg hunt thing (so long as they don't trip over the left over Christmas lights in the process... that's a true story which I'll write about someday...). The easter candy stuff is okay too... I don't get wound up about it. However, the REAL meaning of Easter is something I never took seriously before. But I do now. I guess in the commercialization of Easter, some things get lost. But I don't want that to happen any more. I have a heart of gratitude that wants to say thanks to Him for taking my sins and all my crap and letting me lay it down at the foot of the Cross. I seen a bumpersticker the other day that says it all... 1 tree + 3 nails = 4 given
Sunday, April 05, 2009
The Parting of a Great Lakes
Whew!
That's the best way to describe the last week and a half I reckon. I was looking so forward to going to Boston for nationals, but that got derailed in Iowa. (side note to Di from Dubuque: I hate that town because the last two years I've driven out there for the Hurster Cup playoffs... twice I've gotten to meet State Troopers if you get my meaning...lol) So I had taken that time off from work and still thought about going out to bean town just to take everything in. But then I thought about my gal pal and figured spending the time with her would be a good thing as I really didn't have the heart to watch another hockey game that my team wasn't in. So my gal pal tells me that her grandfather wasn't doing well and it was a matter of time till he passed. I got out of church on Sunday morning and drove the long trip getting there in the evening. When I woke up on Monday morning, my gal pal calls me and tells me that he passed away at the hospice during the night. I went over to see her and her folks and hugged them. I didn't know what to do except to just be there. I spent lots of time with my gal pal because she was very close to her grandfather. They watched UK games together all the time. They shared alot of special moments together. I just tried to simply be there for her and her family. They were prepared for this as was her grandfather. He was very prepared and ready to go. He said he couldn't wait to go to Heaven. His faith was of utmost importance to him and he shared it with others in testimony and witness right up till the day before he passed. Friends and family rallied around my gal pal's family in a wonderful and loving way. It was funny because to give you an idea how serious they are about UK basketball... during the whole process of mourning and burying my gal pal's grandfather, in addition to saying kind words to the family about their loss, they also talked about UK getting a new basketball coach that same day. The conversation was going back and forth and they all were excited about UK naming John Calipari as their new coach. In fact on the day of the funeral, they had "Coach Cal's" news conference that same morning and I took my gal pal into the back office of the mortuary where they had the TV turned on to it and she watched it until it was time to head in for the services to begin. It was a very strong and moving service. Two different pastors preached at the service and while I am usually pretty stoic and not one to show any emotion at all, I had to hold back tears on a couple of occasions as I saw them mourning a really good man. It made me think a lot about my dad. I miss him a lot sometimes. I really do. It hit home during this whole time with my gal pal's family. I miss him so much but I don't wish him back for one minute. He's with my mom in Heaven. I couldn't him bring back here just for my benefit. That's just selfish. I know that he's in my heart. I felt in my heart that I just know that I was meant to be here. After a series of circumstances that came into play, I came to the conclusion that the good Lord didn't want me in Boston. He wanted me to be with my gal pal's family. I was meant to be there. The time that I left to be there until the time I came home which was the day AFTER the funeral... was the exact same number of days I requested off from work two months ago so I could go to Boston. Yeah, I think God had a hand in this and directed me where I needed to be. As for my gal pal, she was amazing. She handled everything with grace and kindness and no matter how tired she was, she always welcomed everyone that came up to her to express their condolences. She was exhausted, but reached out to everyone that was there and she was a real inspiration to me. I was so grateful for the honor of being allowed to be a part of the experience. I am grateful to have gotten to meet and know her grandfather a little bit. He was quite a charachter. I'm glad and thankful to God that I was able to be there and supportive of my gal pal. I learned so much about my gal pal, my faith, and the love of a community for a really good person.
That's the best way to describe the last week and a half I reckon. I was looking so forward to going to Boston for nationals, but that got derailed in Iowa. (side note to Di from Dubuque: I hate that town because the last two years I've driven out there for the Hurster Cup playoffs... twice I've gotten to meet State Troopers if you get my meaning...lol) So I had taken that time off from work and still thought about going out to bean town just to take everything in. But then I thought about my gal pal and figured spending the time with her would be a good thing as I really didn't have the heart to watch another hockey game that my team wasn't in. So my gal pal tells me that her grandfather wasn't doing well and it was a matter of time till he passed. I got out of church on Sunday morning and drove the long trip getting there in the evening. When I woke up on Monday morning, my gal pal calls me and tells me that he passed away at the hospice during the night. I went over to see her and her folks and hugged them. I didn't know what to do except to just be there. I spent lots of time with my gal pal because she was very close to her grandfather. They watched UK games together all the time. They shared alot of special moments together. I just tried to simply be there for her and her family. They were prepared for this as was her grandfather. He was very prepared and ready to go. He said he couldn't wait to go to Heaven. His faith was of utmost importance to him and he shared it with others in testimony and witness right up till the day before he passed. Friends and family rallied around my gal pal's family in a wonderful and loving way. It was funny because to give you an idea how serious they are about UK basketball... during the whole process of mourning and burying my gal pal's grandfather, in addition to saying kind words to the family about their loss, they also talked about UK getting a new basketball coach that same day. The conversation was going back and forth and they all were excited about UK naming John Calipari as their new coach. In fact on the day of the funeral, they had "Coach Cal's" news conference that same morning and I took my gal pal into the back office of the mortuary where they had the TV turned on to it and she watched it until it was time to head in for the services to begin. It was a very strong and moving service. Two different pastors preached at the service and while I am usually pretty stoic and not one to show any emotion at all, I had to hold back tears on a couple of occasions as I saw them mourning a really good man. It made me think a lot about my dad. I miss him a lot sometimes. I really do. It hit home during this whole time with my gal pal's family. I miss him so much but I don't wish him back for one minute. He's with my mom in Heaven. I couldn't him bring back here just for my benefit. That's just selfish. I know that he's in my heart. I felt in my heart that I just know that I was meant to be here. After a series of circumstances that came into play, I came to the conclusion that the good Lord didn't want me in Boston. He wanted me to be with my gal pal's family. I was meant to be there. The time that I left to be there until the time I came home which was the day AFTER the funeral... was the exact same number of days I requested off from work two months ago so I could go to Boston. Yeah, I think God had a hand in this and directed me where I needed to be. As for my gal pal, she was amazing. She handled everything with grace and kindness and no matter how tired she was, she always welcomed everyone that came up to her to express their condolences. She was exhausted, but reached out to everyone that was there and she was a real inspiration to me. I was so grateful for the honor of being allowed to be a part of the experience. I am grateful to have gotten to meet and know her grandfather a little bit. He was quite a charachter. I'm glad and thankful to God that I was able to be there and supportive of my gal pal. I learned so much about my gal pal, my faith, and the love of a community for a really good person.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
