Roofin' Time (and other busyness)

Like the title says, it was time to put a new roof on. Douglas (a.k.a. the third base coach) picked this morning to replace his original roof with a new one, and a good pick it was. We got a little spritz of rain and some good sun. The crew started early and had it all done in probably 7 hours.



Doug had devised a motorized pulley system for getting the shingles to the roof. It worked out splendidly.

Who knew roofing was a spectator sport? Seriously, the Rabe girls did do alot of work.

But it's kinda hard to prove it.


Today was my first and last day taking care of Arka and her family's house while they were away. What a snob! She barely acknowledged my presence when I get there, and won't even look at me while we're outside. Humpf! Even the hamsters were kinder to me. I say it was my last day because the family had car trouble around St. Louis and came back. They may or may not try again after getting it looked at on Monday.


I was a little confused when Josh called to have me pick him up on the highway. As I was on my way, I started getting worried. When I got close, I started feeling bad. His car was obviously banged up and a cop was parked behind him.

Upon further inspection, however, it became clear what happened. If you look closely, that's hair in the head light, and yup, the deer did have to change it's underwear after that mess on the left side. Josh wasn't too shaken, only bruised, and he probably gets a new car outa the deal eventually, though it was a pain.

Evening Randomness

What was really random was actually getting a bunch of stuff done last night. My roomie acquired a new dish washer on his delivery route today. So I got to check out his FedEx shop in Morton when I picked it up, and did some work around the house for a few hours. Hasn't happened alot recently. But the randomness I'm referring to is the request to ride along for a people delivery. My friend Ashley has been ferrying children back and forth between church and the south end of Peoria for a music camp this week. Normally her hubby rides along, but he's outa town this weekend. So I go to stuff myself into a car with these cuties.

Man. Who knew taking one picture could be such and ordeal. I learned the "Bug" song they will be singing at church Sunday night, and alot about Ashley's job and the kids she gets to hang and work with.

It's Golf Time

Wednesday was another day of hard hard work...whatever. I knew that golf was on the schedule. My boss signed me up with him for the schools golf fundraiser. What I didn't know was that it was a full 18 holes. 5 hours of Weaver Ridge, the finest golf course around, in a scramble format. That means my bad play doesn't effect our score :-)

About 80 people showed up so the caravan of golf carts was pretty spectacular. However, once we got to our starting holes, we didn't run into another sole the entire time.

The carts are equiped with GPS. GPS!! Ours didn't work though.

Gorgeous

This might seem like another scenic shot, but no. It's me bragging about being the only team member to get my ball across the water...dry. No one was more stunned than I.

Due to the erratic behavior of my driving shot, this hole was particularly nerve racking. It did not get far.

The school head honchos watch from their perches to see the prize winning hole-in-one shot which never happened.

Our athletic director, Nate, always makes prize hand outs a blast. Pastor Lyall, of course, went away with something. But to my surprise, so did I. I won 15 new balls, more than making up for the six, yes six, that I lost that day.

I'm Paying Attention...Really

Yes, I'm blogging in the middle of Men's Bible study. I've seen this video before alright? And I was actually doing other productive things before on the computer before it came to this.

I got to host again this week, like in the old days. Mostly because of the pulled pork you see here. Josh wanted to fix it, but it needs to be done on location. With his homemade BBQ sauce, it was fantastic. The guys are sort of restarting the series tonight and we saw three new faces making it a great night, despite a few who went AWOL :-)

More German hospitality and Discipleship

Yes, Dan and Elke had me over for dinner again on Monday, and it was wonderful. When you hang out with this family, you can't miss that you are also worshiping with this family. It's a good thing. The meal was great, as usual. I also got to try something new. If you haven't figured out already, that's my favorite thing to do. I just realized it recently actually. Bee pollen! Well, flower pollen, but collected by bees. I don't know much about the process or actual health benefits of it, but Dan gets a supply of bee pollen from a farmer in Montana (I think). The bees enter their hive using a special passage or door which strips the pollen off of one leg. Put it on bread with honey and bam!! A great snack. Anyway, the purpose of this visit was not just fun. I get to dog sit for Arka for the next couple of weeks. A big old puppy who is lots of fun to spoil. My type.

During Tuesday discipleship, I was just very grateful for the continual attention God pays toward our sanctification. Our responsibility and dependence on Him in the work of our growth.

Cedar Point Explanations

So the background of this Cedar point photo shoot is that one of our fearless leaders, Peter, planned a trip for all us singles to check out his family farm and Ohio's finest roller coast park, Cedar Point.

The pictures pretty much speak for themselves, though you may not know who everyone is. I'm sorry. Gotta live with it. Mom, you can ask me who the girls are later. So here are the highlights.

Four separate 4-hour drives were required for the trip. Not a bad length. Perfect for naps and trying (but failing) to squeak through without potty breaks. I was one of the many guilty parties.

The farm. This is the warm and friendly home base we had for the weekend. I love farms.

We got to the park at 10am and stayed until almost 8pm. Definitely good for getting plenty of rides in. Considering the short lines, good weather and the logical progression from ride to ride which Peter lead us on, it was a packed full of good times. It is my opinion that this place had some of the most thrilling rides available.

Favorite picture of the weekend.

Scariest ride on the face of the earth. Noah is fired!! (just kidding...you're not fired)

The generous fam who put up with us all weekend! Thank you!

And son.

Cedar Point Photos

No time to post but here is a link to the Cedar Point album and fun at Pete's farm from this weekend!

AH!! Must blog before long weekend!

Kari's Surprise Birthday party Tuesday. Very fun to surprise the all-knowing. Couldn't get pictures. Too many anti-picture people in frame. You win this time people!!! But Ryan was there holding the last piece of cake.


Work this week was going to be me whining about projects, but it's been pretty good so far. I've ditched my maintenance boss, Ken, and will be doing all IT in June, then back to maintenance in July. I'm doing alot of wall mount installations and running wires at the middle school. It's nice to be somewhere different and have a really tight schedule. Also, I'm so not working more than 5 hours a day.

Our buddy Nick is in town for the summer from Iowa State. While he raises support for a Cru internship there next here, he's spending time with folks to spread the word. Ryan and I made a deal with him. If he rode bikes with us Wendesday we would listen to his schpeal. Ryan gave me the girl bike, as he so gleefully points out. Nick did a great job and I'm really excited for him as the Summer goes by and he gets back to full time ministry. We'll miss him again!!


Finally, a relaxing Friday (not really because I botched up my schedule) on the golf course with my boss and church friends. Then off to dinner with the fam to celebrate Mom and Bro's birthdays!!! At golf, we continued to prove that anyone I don't know, my boss knows and vice-a-versa.


Off to Cedar Point for the weekend with the Sunday School class. Please pray that I have the energy and sanity to survive the van rides. Don't see how that's possible without God.

About The Place Setting Pole Poll

You guys stink.

On which side do you PREFER to see your fork?

Left 10 (66%)
Right 3 (20%)
I use chopsticks 0 (0%)
I refuse to answer because I love Chris and Jerelyn too much 2 (13%)

Learned Me A New Game

Learned me a new game on Friday. Joe and Ginger were once again very gracious in having my roommate and I over with a couple of others to enjoy dinner and a new board game, "Power Grid". I did not win.



Saturday morning was my first time doing anything at the Washington Cherry Festival. Storm once again got me into a 5k which was very fun. Alot of BCC folk participated (and smoked me). It was a personal best time for me though, very nice.






For some reason I saw this jeep and thought of Storm. Weird huh? :-D







The rest of the morning and afternoon was a thoroughly enjoyable hike in Matthiessen State Park organized by J-Gerb. Pictures of the hike can be found here.

...thanks Noah.

...thanks Gerb.

FINALLY!


Later capped off the night with some man talk time with Ryan and Ben.