Chris​Hubbs​.com

Give me a three-day weekend, and do I post any? Nooooo. But it was a very nice weekend.

I had all of Friday off from work. Friday morning I woke up with a very, very sore back - the kind of sore where you can’t bend over to reach to flush the toilet because it hurts too much. The back is still sore today, but it’s better than it was on Friday. It gets looser during the day, to the point where it’s not bad at all, but then it starts all over again in the morning. I’m headed to the chiropractor again today to see if he can help. But enough griping. I sound like an old person.

Friday morning we decided to go garage saleing. Normally this isn’t a very exciting thing, but it was a nice morning, and I figured I could do the driving and Becky could shop and we’d have fun. At the second sale we stopped at, I noticed an electric bass and bass amp sitting out there for sale. I couldn’t resist going to check them out. After some drooling, I made an offer of $100 for the pair, and the gal took it. So now I am the happy owner of an electric bass and amp. I wish I could provide more detail on the bass, but there’s no name printed on it anywhere. I opened up the back of it, and still, no name. The woman said it belonged to her father, and I’d say he’s had it for a while; the insulation on the wires isn’t plastic, but rather that woven stuff that I have seen on old wiring in houses. The amp is an old Roland bass amp, about 30" square. All in all, it sounds good. There’s a bit of a buzz, but I think the cable connecting the bass to the amp has a bad connector. I’m gonna try a new cable tonight. I don’t know when all I’ll have opportunities to play it (other than for my own fun at home), but I’ll find times. And for $100, I couldn’t pass it up.

Friday afternoon we went out for lunch and then did some clean-up at home in preparation for Ryan’s visit. He showed up around 4 pm. We had a great time seeing him this weekend; Ryan, I hope we didn’t work you too hard!

Saturday morning we borrowed the neighbor’s pickup and procured a load of topsoil and a load of compost from the local garden center. All that dirt went into the planters behind the garage in preparation for the strawberries that Becky was ready to plant. After that was done, I tilled the garden so she can get some tomatoes started. Then we crashed Saturday night.

Sunday morning was the usual two services at Noelridge. I was unexpectedly without either my flautist (sick) or my bass player (car in the ditch the night before). Regardless, the music went OK. Always a joy to celebrate the resurrection with our brothers and sisters.

Ryan headed home Sunday afternoon and we didn’t do much the rest of the day. Now it’s Monday and I have to deal with a full five-day work week this week. :-( But ignore me, I’m whining again. Fortunately, this week my evenings should be much calmer.

This week has finally brought spring-like weather to our little piece of Iowa. Temps will be in the 70’s all week. I love it.

Springtime also means it’s time to catch up on all those outdoor tasks that have been building up over the winter. Last night we did some cleanup in the garden. I’ll probably get the tiller out this weekend so Becky can plant some tomatoes next week. I also pulled the grill out of the shed and put the snowblower in its place. And the picnic table is now out of the garage and back on the patio in back. There’s still plenty more to do, but it’s good to at least get things started off. My natural laziness dislikes outside work, and my family can tell you that I’ve never been one for being outdoors a lot, but I sure love the way it all looks when it’s been well-kept. And I need the exercise. :-)

Tonight we’re gonna go shop for some type of play-thing for Laura that we can put in the backyard for her to climb and play on. Becky’s been doing all the research, so hopefully we’ll find something that meets with her approval. :-)

My other piece of rather mundane news is that I found some new footwear for the summer. I’ve typically worn out a pair of cheap Walmark brand Birkenstock knock-off sandals each summer, but this season the footwear phenomonon that is Crocs has reached my door. I finally found a pair my size and the style I wanted yesterday at the mall. They are very comfortable and amazingly light. I don’t think I’ll be regretting their purchase.

I just looked at the forecast page and now they’re predicting 81°F for the high on Thursday. Note to Mother Nature: we want some spring right now. Please save the 80’s for a couple of months. Thanks.

OK, so my ankle is a little bit sore this morning.

I wonder if it has something to do with playing soccer barefoot in the church basement with the high school youth group last night?

Well, maybe. :-)

I haven’t hung out with the youth for a while, but did last night at the youth pastor’s invitation so we could plan the youth Sunday coming up on the 30th. And yeah, then I had to stick around and play soccer. Good times.

Yesterday was the annual Eggstreme Easter Egg Hunt out at the Berberich’s home in Stone City. This is I think the fifth year that we’ve had a hunt at their place. It’s a beautiful venue, out in the country with acres of clear lawn and then miles of trails through the woods. This is the first year that we haven’t had a big hand in actually organizing and preparing for the hunt; we just showed up. It was nice. :-)

The Berberich family has become like our own family to us; the parents are about our parents’ age, and their seven children range from older than me to a big younger than my sister. They’re up to 11 (I think) grandchildren now, with a couple more on the way this year. So much fun. Past years we’ve gone out to their place on Monday nights to play basketball on their indoor half-court. They are the models of generous hospitality; you are always welcome in their home, and there’s always a cup of coffee, a fresh-baked roll, and time for some conversation.

But somehow amidst the busyness of this year, we’ve managed to drift apart a bit. That’s the way things go sometimes, I guess. As we were driving out to Stone City, I realized that it had been an entire year since we’d been out there, and nearly nine months since I’d seen the family, dating back to their daughter’s wedding last summer. I have occasionally wondered if there was some reason that perhaps we’d slipped off their radar screen, some offense we’d caused or some misunderstanding that had kept us apart. But what a joy to see them again Saturday, the hugs and the “wow, it’s been too long”, and the “is that Laura?!? I didn’t even recognize her she’s so big”. Restored fellowship is sweet.

So we had a great day out there. Laura did her first real hunting for eggs and had fun. We enjoyed the food afterwards and the chance to catch up a bit… with a hundred or so people there it was hard to have too much time to talk! But we all agreed as we left that we needed to get together again, sooner rather than later. I have confidence it won’t be a whole year before we visit again.