Correction!

Yet another grave mistake has been made and the editors of this blog would like to apologize to and recognize MARILYN, the flexible young lady featured in a recent post. The writer of said post mistakenly called the sweet Marilyn, Madeline (or some spelling thereof). That writer has been sacked. Thank you

Let's Share

Nothing major to speak of here, but I've gotta share this basket weave cake design that Carol almost lost her hands to Sunday afternoon


And these icicles you know we all would have wanted to play with as kids. I had just removed a bunch of them earlier that day so that kids at school wouldn't play with them. But Sarah just wanted them down so that she didn't lose an eye...

FAILED!

It's not nice to blog about failure, but it's my own so back off! It's true that a little time is opening up in my schedule for things which need to get done, but Christmas break and this weekend were massive failures. Lets take a look at the weekend shall we?

The Harms and Emmerts were only in town simultaneously for a short time this month, so the hood celebrated the occasion with another party. But times, they are a changin'. This is the first time a hood party was without the usual wrestling/tickle matches. This floor area is usually used for wrestling, but this year, is filled with the newest additions to the families.

This was followed by a 10pm movie and a midnight talk with a buddy.

On Saturday
9:30am chat with JedWas canceled due to unforeseen circumstances
10:00am chat with Rodney, which was the unforeseen circumstance. I was blessed to have Rodney make some time to catch up during his party. Rod was a big influence and challenging example when I graduated college, and he stopped by to see how the house was doing and brain storm on some cool ideas.
10:45am coffee with a friend who apparently knows for a fact that I will be married by July 2011. Keep your calendars open people.
12:00pm Showalter time. First computer support call of the day was paid ahead by...these...Mexican things who's name escapes me again. Soooo good.

After a quick computer cleaning, it was contest time. Joel beat me in Smash Brothers, Noah beat me in PS2 basketball, Marilyn out-stretched me (but not here) and Kendra beat my record on iPhone Sudoku. Thanks for the ego boost guys.

4:30pm Jog. Not as impressive as Ben's 10-miler at the same time.

6:00pmA late addition to the schedule was Hagrid making me a steak dinner while I worked on his computer. It was a pretty sweet deal.

8:15pmFinal computer stop was at Mom 'n Pop's. Whew!

Pileup!

I found out another thing which inhibits blog frequency and causes pileups, besides having too much to blog about. Being picky. I have no need of an extra computer laying around, so loaning the laptop out is my pleasure. It turns out, however, that the end of the day I can't stand to blog from a desk and most often prefer to log in from a warm bed. Laptop's back (it's yours any time Stubers). That's my story and I'm stickin' to it.Caleb is the youngest of Mike's unfortunate offspring. We had a good time playing with his toys and stacking jelly packets. I learned yet another ways to carry a child through a restaurant. Got to see Goben before he headed out for Hollywood again as well.

These ladies were SOOO lucky to have me go to a wedding with them. Not so much the wedding actually, because I had the wrong time. It's pretty clear I just wanted the free meal. Nick, Joy and I chatted and chowed down at the reception while they attended to the bride and bridesmaid dances. Nick and I SOOO got out of dancing. Thanks for inviting me!

Holly's new annual tradition of starting the year off with a healthy lunch occurred this weekend as well. There were four courses and each one included a healthy secret ingredient. No one guessed more than one of them. Next year I think there will be some people who study up ahead of time so that Holly doesn't stump us so badly.

Tuesday night cat fight!!! I'm not sure which story to go with. Tickle war or who gets to stand under the mistletoe with Ryan? Either way, Sarah was a little hyped up after the Iowa game and needed to work off some energy.

Wednesday night choir has it's perks, like dudes with 4-wheel drive and sleds in their trunk.

I constantly have to remind people who offer me food that I'm not picky. I'm a cheap bachelor and we are low maintenance in regards to food. Here's my proof. Men's bible study desserts consisted of leftover donuts, cake, cookies and ice cream from last week's New Year's Eve party.

Goof Ball

This feels like bragging, but I can't help but tell you how thrilled I am to be able to spend time with my elders under the guise of fixing computers. Pastor Gary was sent to me when he finally caved in and fired up his internet subscription again and needed to get it hooked up. A printer printer problem also crept in there. The good news is that the internet is flowing.The better news is that I got to have a great conversation. Anyone off the street would just see Gary as the sweetest old goofball you've ever known. Gary was also a Command Sergeant Major in the Army during Dessert Storm. Because this is the highest rank an enlisted soldier can hold, a main role was reporting directly to generals regarding their enlisted men. Gary's respect and knowledge of General Schwarzkopf came from many larger meetings spent with the man. We got to spend alot more time talking about what he's doing now. I didn't know he still has his pastor license (or whatever you call it) and spends lots of time in hospital visits. I also got to update him all the new relationships and engagements and some stories of my own. But what was the coolest to me was that it took him three years to be able to talk about his four days as a POW in Dessert Storm which caused doctors to label him a paraplegic (which he's not now), but through God's grace and an amazing wife he looks back on life with wonder and joy at God's provision and is able to share even about the hard time he gave his captors.

What's with the busyness?

Except for the gym, nothing is going on tonight! You hear me???? Nothing! Christmas break has proved to be just as crazy as any other time, which is great and terrible at the same time.

David is heading home from his short time in Peoria. During my lunch break on Monday, David, Alyssa's two cousins and I broke out the smart phones while Alyssa looked on with sad face. Poor Alyssa.


While quizzing Holly for EE (Yes we're late and yes she got 100%) randomness struck as Mr. Marcus happened to be geekin' it up at Kades! Finding out that I'm not the ONLY one who can strongly dislike (a.k.a hate) Apple, and yet own an iPhone. So his is an iTouch...close enough. Marc is a member of the United States Coast Guard and a darn good one. Alot of things have changed since Jr. High.

Lastly, the Manthey's took me on a tour of the EP Festival Of Lights. Good times. I skipped a year so there were a few new floats (not these).

Awesome news though. The X-Wing and Tie Fighter are actually shooting at each other now!!!!

Awesomer news...Josh just unpacked his brand new iPhone. It's true, I screamed like a little girl when I saw it.

And now back to work and the stupid snow that started alot earlier than it was supposed to. Now I know why everyone was so mad at the weather man when I was younger.

Merry Christmas Suckerrrrrrs!

I just got off the phone with my boss who has been informed that he cannot have his truck or shovel back when he returns to snowy Peoria. They are just too much fun. It was originally a bummer when I realized that I had to keep the School's entrances clear during this 36 hour snow. But every time I finished up over there, I wanted to plow another driveway, and have fun driving to it with people spinning off beside me. Of course, not before doing donuts in the parking lot with the 4-wheel drive off. The shovel he has is shaped like a mini plow and takes care of narrow-ish areas like a machine. Good Times.
I don't remember what Wes was doing at lunch, but while Becky was thoroughly entertained, Josh was not.

Accountable

Except for the workout, I've thoroughly enjoyed just lazing around on my first day of a long weekend. But I need to be held accountable with all this free time.There's alot of things that need to get done around here. Not so much cleaning as finishing projects and organizing some things. This plaster job has got to get painted. The paint has been recently purchased and just needs to get thrown on. To the right, the walls surrounding Mr. Penguin need to be taken all the way down and the stairs moved around. it doesn't need to be pretty yet, just taken to the next step.
My garage and basement need to be rid of the junk going to the scrap yard. And finally, the clutter at my desk needs to be sifted through. I trust that if you come over to my house sometime, you'll be willing to ask why this didn't get done over the holidays, if it still looks like the pictures.

That's depressing and exciting all at the same time. But to make sure your spirits stay lifted, enjoy this quick vid from the Wes channel.

Remainders

My favorite tech blog, Gizmodo, puts up a post every week called "Remainders, things we didn't post on". I'm copying in order to use up pictures before they disappear forever.

Before the ski trip was the Bible Study Christmas party. Ever since we started studying at the Moon's, we've had double the Christmas parties. Definitely a good thing. It's tradition exchange again, but one of the most memorable was a little more white elephantish (thanks Chandy...I mean Chandrew). This homer doll was originally won by Alyssa here, but later stolen and gone skiin'.


Pride...I'm full of it. One thing I'm proud of is finally being able to back the Dream Center's U-Hall truck into it's spot without my boss' help. You'd understand if you saw the tight lot it had to be backed through. It's not a straight shot alright!


Harry's new kid, Kolben, doesn't like eating phones as much as Treyven does, but he's just as cute.

Blades Of Glory

It's time to crank out the ski post. Ben had the great idea to get a mini ski trip together as we plan the big one to Colorado in April. So Ryan headed up transportation and lodging and we spent the day at Chestnut in Galena.

Ben (middle) and Holly were our snowboarders.

While Wes, Ryan and I rode the blades. Mini skis that are much more maneuverable and do not require poles. Also easier to carry.

Everyone knows that skiing in Galena Illinois isn't a big deal. You're not really on a mountain, there aren't very many runs, and what they do have isn't very creative or scenic. But it's where I learned to ski, and there are some perks, besides the great river view.

Ryan found enough good skiing to be tuckered out by lunch time.


Holly is a good skier, but it was her first time on a board. And you can't go skiing with a first-timer without getting a good lift fall. Don't for get, you can make the videos full screen with the button at the bottom right.

Ryan's been skiing for a long time, and he learned the hard way. But for some reason, he had trouble getting back on the bunny slopes.

One of the perks that I mentioned is the fact that they do make room for plenty of jumps at Chestnut. And another perk is that it doesn't take long at all to get back on a lift and hit the jump again! So the majority of our time was spent doing just that. Ryan was by far the most adventurous of the group. Check out his disappearing act on this one.

He was the best jumper though, you have to admit. I think his success comes from the flailing arms.

Eeeeeveryone had a taste of some air...and the snow.

Ben tried out more than we did. He took some good spills on the trick rails. But the best fall (on video) was the one that gave him a bloody nose and a lesson we overheard from ski patrol about how to stop the bleading.