It’s been a long serious while.  Not that this list won’t have serious entries within, it will.  It’s just time for an overall list.

1.  I drove behind a car (on a salted and plowed neighborhood street) going less than 5mph.

2.  That same car had a dent on it’s back bumper…dooooo tell.

3.  I didn’t really get frustrated, we all have stories you know.

4.  The new crime drama Backstrom (Dwight from the Office) was so horrifically forced we watched less than 10 minutes.  I almost threw up.

5.  Watching reruns of season 2 of Cougartown has made me remember how amazingly well written this show was.

6.  This season is still good but oh my goodness was it hilarious and moving (yes…moving) back in the day.

7.  It will forever be the worst titled show ever.

8.  Joe and Bella love love love popcorn shrimp.  Rachel is very chagrined by this.

9.  The laptop that I’m using, Dell Inspiron 2007, is still top notch and possibly one of the greatest things (quality and function wise) that I have ever purchased.

10.  I really want to spend a lot of the summer teaching Joe and Bella how to golf.  I hope that they fall in love with the game.

11.  I am more and more passionate about teaching people how emotional needs play an unbelievably huge role in their relationships, ministry, and life.

12.  I very well be making my first batch of sausage within the week.  I asked for and received a meat grinder for Christmas…should be interesting…at best.

13.  During my sermon yesterday I noticed on the backs of some pews that some of the Murphy’s Oil Soap (from a very successful work day) seems to have absorbed at different amounts at different points on a few pews.  That, my friends, is being focused on the message and the Holy Spirit.

14.  I am really excited about how things at Faith Community are going.  I am more and more committed to growing through loving and teaching to love than ever before.

15.  Always focusing more on the “furthest out visitor” (ring a bell YoungLife folks?) rather than stereotypical church expectations, is a vital part of that.

16.  I always ask, “Does the guy 3 doors up from us care about this?” when thinking about/worried about certain decisions/burdens at church.  I then continue, “…or does he just want to know if someone/anything out there really cares about him?”

17.  Is #16 idealistic and perhaps foolish?  Maybe.

18.  I find the treatment of “deflategate” to be very similar to how Benghazi, the IRS scandal, and Fast and Furious (the gun smuggling investigation gone awry, not the movie) were handled.  String it along until the heat dies down and then it’s forgotten.

19.  Jesus was so much more powerful and hard core/counter culture than He is ever portrayed.

20.  I keep meaning to write a letter to Kennywood to encourage them to encourage their staff to realize how much Kennywood meant to a little boy dying of cancer.  I want them (the staff) to know that no matter how humdrum and annoying a day can be that one little kid may be there who is creating memories that will be gone over in a bathtub, hours before his death.  They need to know that his father genuinely wants them to know that.

21.  It is snowing but then it’s going to be very cold.  Wait, that’s bad too.

22.  I love the sparkle in Rachel’s eyes when she talks about renovating rooms/furniture etc.

23.  I love teaching Joe and Bella about how to be funny.

24.  Joe is now known as “The Senseless Hype Man.”  It started one day when Rachel said, in passing, “I’m going downstairs to do some laundry.”  In a very loud but muted shouting voice with his hands above his head Joe said, “She gonna dooo laundryyyyyyyyyy!!!”  Thus, the senseless hype man, had arrived.

25.  Later that same day he spilled an entire large cup of orange juice in and all over the kitchen (counter top, front of cupboards, ALL over the floor).  I said, “Welcome back Baby Giraffe.”  We both laughed and sighed.

26.  Yes, I later reassured him that he was still the “Senseless Hype Man.”

27.  I’ve resumed my exercises for my “severe degenerative arthritis impinged” shoulders.  It still hurts when I do them.  Then again, I am using 2.5lb dumbells so it can be hard work being so hard core.

28.  I still love MMA and the UFC.  Anthony Rumble Johnson took care of business the other night against Alexander Gustafsson.  I felt bad for Gustafsson (though I do like Rumble) it had to have been horrible to lose the fight before your rematch for the title…in front of 30,000 in your home town.  Oh yeah, getting punched in the face repeatedly for about a minute can’t be fun either.

29.  Bella made Rachel breakfast in bed today.  Yep, the old standard “sauteed salad.”  No better way to wake up than cooked celery/carrots/tomatoes AND lettuce.  Yum.

30.  For you book lover/supporters, that dream/project is very alive…just dragging a bit.  I have been in contact with the dude who’s helping me and he’s still on board.  It/they, will get done.  Probably in God’s timing (which, along with my busyness) may explain the delay.

That’s all for now.  A more regular post should…should be coming out later this week.

Thanks for the love and support.