This is the week, just a few days away, that I turn 40 years old. I'm sure my wife will tell you I don't act my age, but I'll tell you that most days, my body feels it. If I walk past you early in the morning, or late at night, you'll swear I'm eating a bowl of loud Rice Krispies. (Snap, crackle, pop) To hear me go down a flight of stairs is like listening to a popcorn popper with just a few kernels in it. You'll notice all of my comparisons are food, not surprising, I'm always hungry as well, not sure if that has anything to do with 40 or not. Thursday is the big day and I will spend the evening at a gathering for the radio station with a few close friends. We're hoping to raise awareness for the station, and maybe some funds as well. I hope this night, and an on air fund raiser at the end of the month, will get us back on financial stable ground. I really love the new sound of the station, I'd hate to lose it.



I've kind of reflected back over my 40 years and realize how lucky I have been, to live where I've lived, visited where I have visited and met the people I know. I'm thankful I met Marcy, who may have saved my soul. I'm thankful that I began going to Lutheran Church of Hope. I'm thankful that God spoke to me 6 years ago, and sent me on my first mission trip that next year. I'm thankful that I went to Mexico, for a reason that only God knows, because I have met the finest people I know on that trip and can't imagine my life without them. I'm thankful for my 3 crazy boys, who drive me nuts, but make me laugh. Who make me want to pull my hair out, well, someones hair, but who make me want to cheer them on. I'm thankful for the house we live in, as messy as it may be. It shelters us from the Iowa heat and the arctic winters we have grown to love. I'm thankful for the job I have, and pray it is here for a long time. I'm blessed and I know it, even when I don't show it. I want to thank all of you for being a part of my 40 years, some for all 40 and some for just a few. I hope I have made a positive impact in your life, because you most certainly have in mine.



Now here is an article I found. This is taken from an AP news story about 2 suspected terrorists removed from a plane in Germany. What I found interesting, wasn't so much about the 2 arrests, but about a film that was released which has caused the Netherlands to be a target for Islamic terrorists. Here is the piece:

The Dutch anti-terror chief warned earlier this month that the Netherlands remains a top target for Islamic terrorists because of publicity surrounding an anti-Islam film, "Fitna," by lawmaker Geert Wilders.
"Fitna" sets Quranic texts against a background of violent images, which the report said "is considered a major insult and provocation" by terrorist groups. The country's terrorist threat has been rated as "substantial" since the film's launch in March.

So, your religion is portrayed as violent in a film. What do you do? Get angry, dispute it, then blow up things in the name of your religion. Do you see the flaw in this whole thing. Your doing EXACTLY what they say you do in the film, but you claim your doing it to defend that you don't do it. Holy shit that is one f'd up rational. I can't even wrap my mind around the stupidity of that whole thing.

Misc.

There was an article in the Des Moines Register that I had to share. There is a high school outside of Des Moines called Prairie City/Monroe (like a lot of schools in Iowa, it is two towns that share a school building). This past week, they were playing a team from Albia, if I remember correctly. It was late in the fourth quarter and PCM was up 38-0. One of the PCM players was injured, so the game was stopped to take care of him. The coach's for PCM and Albia were discussing just stopping the game, seeing as there was no chance for the outcome to change. Someone, and I really can't remember who, but I believe it was the PCM team, came up with the idea to let the special needs kid on Albia's team score a touchdown. The quarterback for PCM agreed to fumble the next ball and both teams would allow this player to pick it up and run it back for a touchdown. It was the coolest thing I had read in a long time. They interviewed the quarterback after the game and he talked about how cool it was to see how excited that kid was after running into the endzone. It was so nice to see that a bunch of high school kids wanted someone else feel so good. They gave up a shut out, something a team strives for, for the good of another. (Me, wiping away a tear)

I took the day off the other day, and worked harder than I have in a long time. I'll give you a short run down, just so I can brag it up a little:

1. I started by delivering Max to preschool at 9am. He had cried every time we had dropped him off, so I was working him pretty hard to not cry. Marcy gave me the info that she would bring him a surprise if he didn't cry when I dropped him off. It worked and we had our first tear free drop off. We'll see if that carries through until Monday.
2. I then went to Lowes to pick up paint brushes, for use later.
3. I went to the WDM library to renew my library card so I can return to checking out books. I then save a book that I have been wanting to read so I can get it when it is returned. I found another book to read in the meantime.
4. I returned home and sealed 4 more windows that I had previously stained. I received 20 windows, free, from the manufacturer because the windows in the house were rotting and under warranty. I had all ready installed 2, stained and sealed 2 more and these 4 left 14 windows left in their boxes.
5. I took those said 14 windows and carried them up an extension ladder into my attic for winter storage. I had to build some storage areas in the attic, to make storage easier.
6. I then cleaned the garage to get it closer to allowing a second car to enter. It is getting closer to winter and I don't want to be scraping windows all winter long.
7. I fixed a retaining wall block in my flower garden that had sunken down. I had to pry it up and jam dirt under it to level it out.
8. I had built a retaining wall to build a garden behind, but I had never finished it by packing dirt behind it to stabilize it. We'll, that was my next job. I also leveled part of the dirt in the garden.
9. While all of this was going on, I did 5 loads of laundry (washed, dried and put away) and a load of dishes.
10. I took the cloth vertical blinds down from the back sliding glass door, washed them, then had to iron them because they curled up, and re-installed.
11. I learned how to wire my outlets in the basement, so I hooked up 8 of them and flipped the switch for 5, and they all worked. The others will be hooked up in the morning.

That was my day, and I hope it sounds as busy as it was. I was so sore the next day from lifting the windows into the attic, I thought I would have to take a day off to recover from my day off.

Today, we had a food day at work and I ate until I was sick. Everyone brought food that was so yummy, and I'm not one to pass on free food, especially now with me economic status as it is. The office also wore their favorite team (Iowa or Iowa State) apparel, since the interstate rivalry is this weekend. I like both, but root for ISU when it comes to the head to head match up. There was a group of Iowa fans that were very vocal around my cube and they had an Iowa blanket thrown over a chair. I decide to play a trick and rolled a brownie into the shape of a turd, and left it on the blanket. I know, it's juvenile, but it was funny as hell when they finally saw it and tried to decide if it was a turd or not. They finally figured out it was a brownie, although I don't know how, possible the sniff test, I'll ask on Monday. I couldn't help but laugh at what I had done. Sometimes I amuse myself and I don't care if anyone else thinks it's funny or not.

Pray that my material in the Houston warehouses doesn't float away. I'm not, by any means, suggesting that plastic is more important than people and homes, but prayers for them should happen without asking, it should be the first thought you have, so I don't need to mention it, right?

Weddings and old friends

Here it is, the end of the summer, the boys are in school (Max starts pre-school on Wed), the pools are all closed and football season starts this week. I'm always glad for fall, the weather is cooler and that helps cut down on my sweating at inopportune times, my Redskins begin their 12 rebuilding season in a row and the grass stops growing so I don't have to mow any more. I have all ready taken down the pool and hauled all of the supplies into the attic for the winter. It does make me a little sad, realizing that another summer is gone. We had a great summer, our trip to NC was a lot of fun and a hit with the boys. I'm working on replacing all of the windows in the house and spent part of Saturday on a ladder 2 stories up and not feeling very comfortable. Being on the ladder wasn't as bad as trying to hold the window so it didn't crash to the ground and smash into a bunch of pieces that I can't put back together. I would have to lean back to swing the window open and closed, which just added to my uneasiness. I finally had Marcy get on the ladder and I installed it from the inside. She is much more stable on the ladder, might be because she is a foot and a half shorter and 100 pounds lighter. The two windows we replaced were rotting out, so I wanted to get them done before winter, the rest are on a need to do basis.

Marcy and I have spent the last two weekends at weddings and I don't want to sound to sappy, but the weddings are kind of emotional for me. They remind me of when I met Marcy and our short courtship and then marriage. Both of the weddings were really nice and I even had fun at the receptions, which isn't always the case for me. See, I'm dance challenged. I don't enjoy it and I don't have the ability to do it without looking like I may be having a seizure. I'll attempt a slow dance, just to keep the wife happy, but I really don't know what the hell I'm doing there either. I pretty much grab onto Marcy, which is the only part I do enjoy, and then walk slowly around in a circle while spinning slowly. It seems to work and like I said, the wife seems happy. The last wedding was for Holly and Larry, I have been going to Mexico with Holly for several years now and met Larry on our last trip when Holly brought him a long. I've always loved Holly, she is so sweet and really has a heart to serve, and Larry seems to be a perfect match for her. He was my roommate while we were in El Paso and I liked him a lot. I was able to spend the reception with some friends from my Juarez trip, which is always fun. These two weddings will have me dreading the next one just a little less.

We watched Gustav do far less damage than expected, so prayers were answered. Michelle is in Jamaica for a visit and was actually delayed in DSM a day and then got stuck in Memphis for a night because her flights were cancelled when she was trying to get down there. I'll be anxious to hear how much damage was done when she gets back. We are keeping our eyes on Ike, which may be the next storm to hit Jamaica and hope that it doesn't cause too much damage, if it goes that way.

I had an old friend from high school get in touch with me last week. It was good to hear from him and we hope to have a get together this week to catch up. I haven't seen him for almost 10 years. In fact, the last time I saw him, mom was still alive. He asked me about her and even remembered a specific story about her. It's nice to hear someone tell a memory of her with such fond memories. The thing I remember the most about him is, we both failed photography in 10th grade, because when we were supposed to be taking pictures on the school grounds during class, we were sitting on the bike racks talking. We had a lot of conversations on how much we hated school, what we wanted to do with our lives and how hot this one girl was that was in our class (I can't remember her name).

I'll try to post a picture of Max on his first day of school on Wed., he is getting so big:)