Bullet Points for a Thursday Morning #2

It’s been a crazy week so I’m reduced to one of these play-by-play lists. Sorry.

  • Note to self: eating at Texas Roadhouse only two hours before playing a rec league basketball game: not such a good idea.
  • Looking forward to getting out of town this weekend.
  • There is pretty much nothing cuter than a four-year-old excited about being invited to a friend’s birthday party.
  • Is Thanksgiving really only two weeks away? Where has the year gone?
  • I’m getting a kick out of Fake Geof Morris this morning.
  • It’s been far too long since I’ve listened to Mel Brooks’ The Producers soundtrack. Hilariously clever lyrics.
  • I’m with Kari - it’s too early for Christmas music.

Observations from the weekend

  • Your house doesn’t have to be amazingly clean to invite friends over.
  • Even if it was amazingly clean when the night starts, it won’t be when it ends. Not with 4 kids playing for three hours.
  • That’s OK. You can always clean up again.
  • Good food + good conversation = a great time.
  • Hearing friends’ back stories is fantastic.
  • When your friends read your blog, you have to try to remember which stories you’ve already blogged and thus shouldn’t re-tell.
  • We should do this more often.

Bullet points for a Monday Morning #3

A week without a blog update + lack of creativity = desperate measures. Hence, the bullet points.

  • This past weekend felt far more like autumn than summer; this morning when I woke up it was 53°F outside and 63°F in the house. Beautiful sleeping weather. It’s gonna warm up a bit this week, but nothing too bad.
  • I thought it felt like I ran into a strand of web as I walked into the dining room this morning. A few minutes later I felt something on my neck. Becky, you can thank me later for killing that spider. :-)
  • My sermon on Saturday night went pretty well. I intended to link to it here but didn’t get it uploaded last night. It’ll have to wait.
  • Now I need to get my backside in gear for my next sermon, only two weeks hence. How do I focus all I want to say about worship into 30 minutes?
  • Next week I’m headed to Denver for some training and a conference. I think it’ll probably be warmer in Denver than it will be at home while I’m gone.
  • Nick & Allie led worship Saturday night at Imago and did a fantastic job. Allie wrote a new tune for the hymn Under His Wings that has been stuck in my head all weekend. Thanks a lot, Allie. ;-)
  • My poor backyard is being overtaken by crabgrass. Gotta do something about that.

Well, now, that was random, eh?

Bullet Points from Montreal

I’ve been in Montreal since Monday night, and it’s my first trip here, and for that matter, my first trip out of the country. I don’t have any profound essays to write but a bunch of little observations that work most easily as bullet points. So here goes.

  • It’s the little things that mess with you. Ordered a Whopper at Burger King the other night (I was craving the fries) and was asked if I wanted “the trio”. What in the world is “the trio”? Ends up that’s what I know better as a combo. [lightbulb goes on]
  • The roads are bad. They aren’t marked very well, the lanes are narrow, and the traffic is horrible.
  • The other weird traffic thing: rapidly-flashing green lights. As far as I can tell, a rapid green is equivalent to a green left arrow in the US; it’s letting you know that it’s safe to turn left, because the folks opposite you still have a red. Rather non-intuitive, but it works once you get the hang of it.
  • Sewing machine stores in shopping malls. Apparently people in Canada really like to sew or something.
  • A big report came out today in Montreal that is the result of a year-long commission holding hearings and taking suggestions on how to deal with all the ethnic and cultural issues they have in Quebec. It’s interesting listening to talk radio this afternoon to hear what people have to say about it. The commission’s conclusion is that the worst of the division is more stirred up by the media than by the ethnic groups involved. Figures.
  • Of course French is the predominant language here in Montreal, but pretty much everyone I’ve run into switches pretty much effortlessly into English. Still, it frustrates me a bit that they have to; it feels like I’m making them do me a favor rather than being able to just interact with them on their terms.
  • Tim Horton’s (a donut/breakfast chain - think a Canadian Dunkin’ Donuts) has tasty food, but no trash cans. Weird. It feels like a fast food, there are lots of tables to sit and eat… but apparently they expect you to just leave your trash on the table. Very strange.

Well, enough of that. Still, it’s been an interesting place to visit. Tomorrow I fly home.

Tuesday morning this'n'that

I have a couple other posts floating around in my head, but need to gather some thoughts (and pictures) before writing them. So… a little this’n’that, aka bullet points for a Tuesday morning.

  • Softball last night was fantastic. Beautiful weather, good competitive game. Oh, and we won.
  • Not my favorite: opposing pitchers who whine about us taking walks when they are unable to throw a strike.
  • Definitely my favorite: Becky, who struck out (looking!) said whiny pitcher to start the seventh inning.
  • My list of projects is getting long. I’ve accomplished some, but others are going to slide right into June without me even touching them. :-(
  • Next week: headed to Montreal. Looking forward to it.
  • Also next week: Becky’s folks come to visit. This will be two years in a row that they’ve come to visit the week that I’ve been on travel. Hmmm… wonder what I should infer from that?
  • These Fractal Drawers might be one of the coolest things I’ve ever seen… at least this week. (Saw them on Boing Boing, then Daniel shared them, too… thanks Dan!)

Bullet Points for a Monday Morning #2

  • It was an amazingly beautiful weekend. Fortunately the beautiful weather is sticking around for today so we can play softball.
  • Oh, and I’m going to ump the second game of the night. I don’t remember if I’ve said it before, but I enjoy umping games almost more than I enjoy playing them.
  • Got a bunch of projects completed on the house this weekend.
  • New carpet put down in basement: complete.
  • Nasty mold scrubbed from laundry room wall: complete.
  • Pegboard hung in laundry room to organize tools: complete.
  • Tools organized: not so complete.
  • Crock Pot cord repaired: complete.
  • Music leading both Saturday night and Sunday morning: yep.
  • Double-edged sword: if I had the Versus channel I could’ve watched the Dallas Stars play last night. On the other hand, had I stayed up to watch, I would’ve had to watch until the fourth OT to see them win.
  • Go Stars! Bring on those Red Wings.
  • If the Stars win the Stanley Cup this year I’m gonna buy that Mike Modano jersey I’ve always wanted.
  • Enough with the bullets already.

Bullet Points for a Tuesday Morning

  • FINALLY with some warmer weather here in Iowa. Softball is supposed to start in two weeks and it’s been too cold to get out to practice. Tomorrow, though, we’re supposed to hit 70. Hallelujah!
  • I drove to Naperville, IL last Friday to see Andy O, Eric Peters, and Jeremy Casella play a concert. Hung out with them before and after the show (with the “after” including pizza at Giordanos!), had a great time. What a great group of guys, and so darn talented to boot.
  • I posted a bunch of pictures from the concert on Flickr.
  • My Flickr Pro account (gifted from Geof last year) is about to expire. I want to pay to continue it for another year, but for some reason when I go to pay it won’t accept my password… the same password it just accepted for me to log in. It happens on two different browsers. Something funky is going on.
  • What, you say, it’s tax day today? Somehow April 15 is a lot less exciting when you’ve had your taxes filed and refund in hand for a couple months already.
  • And to come full circle, back to softball. We’re actually going to be playing in two different leagues this year: our usual Monday night church league, and then on a Friday-night city league team to which we were invited by a friend of mine from work. Becky had to think all of about two seconds before agreeing to play in the second league… should be a lot of fun.

Bullet points for a Thursday Morning

  • Playing basketball three times a week is good for your game and your weight, but sure does make you sore.
  • Hard to believe it’s almost February already. Next weekend: trip to Lincoln, NE to see Caedmon’s Call and Andy O.
  • Five-hour road trip to see said musicians: seems relatively short. Oh, and Mom is coming down to watch the girls so Becky and I get a couple days out to ourselves!
  • Doing double-duty this weekend - leading at both Imago and Noelridge.
  • I’ve registered a domain name to hang out a shingle for web design services. Don’t know how much business I’ll manage to drum up, but after doing so many freebie websites for friends over the past several years, it’s fun to think that I could actually get paid for it instead.
  • Tweet140 mocks me even as I’m writing this post.
  • Haven’t traveled for work yet this year but that’s gonna change soon - there’s the threat of a last-minute trip to Seattle in mid-February, and a scheduled trip to Augusta, GA in early March.
  • I think I might actually only finish two books in January, which is a real low for me. It’s not that I haven’t been reading - it’s that I’ve been reading a long, thick book that has to be read slowly.

This excuse for a real post brought to you by the two Advil I took with breakfast this morning.

Bullet points for a Wednesday

  • Just realized I never gave you all any feedback on the first service at Imago Christi. It went pretty well - had 60 in attendance. Music was OK, though I starting singing the wrong verse of one hymn at one point, which threw everybody off. :-(
  • Just started my new book list for 2008. You can find the link on the sidebar. Only one book on it so far.
  • I have resolved to not get any more books from the library until I read through the pile that’s next to my bed. It has grown to where it won’t fit under the lip of the bedside table any more - must be 15 books there. They’re good things that I want to read, I just keep preempting them with newer stuff from the library. Gotta whittle that pile down.
  • Just heard that Andrew Peterson will be doing a concert in Cedar Rapids the day after my birthday. Happy Birthday to me! Hey Andrew and Heather, when will you be back in the area for spring break? Want to come down to CR?
  • Speaking of Andrew and Heather, we’ve been plotting (well, Becky’s been plotting) our trip to WA this summer for the wedding. It’s looking like fun.
  • Next note on the wedding: I’m gonna have to buy a suit. I haven’t owned a suit in years. The blazer I wore during college hasn’t fit me through the shoulders since probably 2000.
  • It’s harder than it should be to remember that the Saturday night service at Imago wasn’t a one-time event. I’ve got to plan music for this Saturday… should do that today.

Bullet Points for a Friday Morning

  • I’ve stuck you, my blog readers, with far too many links this week and not enough other stuff. Now, that being said, they are all good links. You’ll find good stuff if you visit them.
  • Finally thinking about Christmas shopping. I think it’s gonna be a Amazon year. I have some good book ideas for almost everybody.
  • Chatted with Ryan for a while yesterday and it’s interesting to see us progressing remarkably parallel paths of theological thought and reading. Makes me wonder what it was in our common upbringing that’s moving us that way.
  • In the same chat conversation there were enough ideas come up to give me an outline for one of those books that I’d love to write but keep lamenting I never have the time for. I really should make an effort.
  • Tonight we’re doing Texas Roadhouse for dinner. Becky’s been looking forward to steak all week. Hooray for Christmas bonuses!
  • Church plant update: the lease agreement for the building was signed yesterday. Assuming the other party signs it (which they should), we’re officially in the building and will be starting January 5. Awesome and scary at the same time.
  • You know, if you go back to the real definition of awesome, something that inspires “an overwhelming feeling of reverence, admiration, fear, etc., produced by that which is grand, sublime, extremely powerful, or the like”, then the scary part I juxtaposed in the previous bullet is pretty much redundant.