Friday, August 25, 2006

how do you say 100 in japanese?

Tuesday, August 22, 2006

well, this past week has been extremely busy. vbs came and went. youth group and union gospel. this week will be a bit calmer. youth group tomorrow night is the only thing during the week. we have the fair starting on wednesday though. the fair seems to be the final days of summer (to me at least).

i don't really get stoked on the fair. a bunch of 4-h groups with their horses, pigs and other animals doesn't really strike excitement into my soul. wandering around the different booths of water softners, carpet cleaners, spa sellers, and other "hobbies" doesn't really do it for me either. what i do like are the photography contests. i've been thinking and toying with the idea of submitting one, or a few. maybe a black and white and a full color.

i also look forward to the elephant ears and huckleberry ice cream though. and of course, the demolition derby. we haven't had a good one for a couple of years or so, but hopefully, we will get lucky enough this time. . .

Friday, August 18, 2006

well, another year of vbs has come and gone. it was a great run, but a tiring one at that. this week has been hectic and next week is a bit calmer. the week after is the last hurrah for the summer. camp. a week of fun and excitement. so i get to have a somewhat relaxing week before a crammed full week of havoc. the calm before the storm you might say.

and after camp, cca and ccbcnw begin. summ
er while be over, school will be in and fall is on it's way. once that is in full swing, rin and i will be heading off for india (sweeeeeeeeeeet!). then snow will be here, christmas and then 2007. jeez...i'm tired.

so, in honor of summer, here's a calvin and hobbes that puts well this season:

Wednesday, August 16, 2006

last night was our third trip into the union gospel mission. we had a group of 14 that went from the youth group. we got there a bit early, so we gathered on the lawn by the bridge and just relaxed and talked.

when it was time to begin, we got washed up and got to our posts. i stayed inside the kitchen with ewok and quaale whilst rin went into the dining area with the rest of 'em and served there. bread, turkey, potatoes, gravy and cauliflower were on the menu; with salads, deserts and drinks available as well.

it always makes me chuckle when the homeless come in and tell us that they are watching what they eat, or they are on a diet, or however they want to put it. they can't have this or that. no starches or sugars. just protein.

so, we served the first wave of people. we gave them a hot plate of food and a warm smile. "hello, how are you?" "how's your day goin'?" "everything going ok?" the majority of people smiled back at us and thanked us for the food. the second group of people came in and seemed like the line kept going and going and going. but, it did come to an end and we started cleaning up. it was time to serve up the group that came, so i left my gloves and apron on and put more food together.

as they went to sit down, i walked over with rin to the table and a man was sitting there. i struck up a conversation with him and found out that he came over from seattle but feel on hard times. his truck got broken into and half of his tools were taken. his ID was also stolen. $4,ooo was drained out of his bank account. his wife was broke down somewhere (he has no idea where, and she thinks he is out of the area for the next three weeks). i think he just was glad that someone cared enough just to sit and talk/listen to him. he is living at the mission until he can get back on his feet. he excused himself and i found myself helping with the rest of the cleanup in the dining room.

Tuesday, August 15, 2006

the children have descended upon us. vbs 2006 is in full swing. day one is over and day two continues tomorrow. i have blisters on my feet from running on the asphalt, pushing the kiddies on big wheels at the beginning of the relay race. great times. hopefully, my feet won't give me any problems at the union gospel mission.

tonight, we head back to serve food to the homeless people in spokane. everytime we go, it opens my eyes to the harsh reality of life. if me being there can help, then it is worth the time and effort. plus, it goes to show those high schoolers about the real world.

Thursday, August 10, 2006

i'm guaranteed to win $77,000. do you know how i know? an email told me so. i am rolling in the dough now. yeah, it isn't 1 million dollars...but it will help out with paying off the vehicle and the house. what's more? people are already asking for money. jeez, wouldn't you know it. they are coming out of the woodwork.

"can i borrow $300?"
"remember that $100 you owe me?"

all i have to do is reply to the email and answer a few questions like: what is my bank account number? what is my social security number? hey, they are only numbers, right? what's the worst that can happen after i give those out. . . ?


Tuesday, August 08, 2006

this last week was a very busy one. ok, ok...to be fair, it was thursday and friday. we had our eighth HOPE crusade at the fairgrounds. thursday was an all day set up. the stage had to be put together. this year, the stage only took half the time. it was a new config to the old style. less legs and braces without c-clamps. the risers were a bit heavier. instead of two guys carrying them, it took four.

friday was the day of setting up lights and sound equipment. many hands made light work. as the day grew longer, the event came quicker. soon, the bleachers would be full of people. i had to get home and get cleaned up.


after dropping the kiddies off, rin and i headed back to the grounds. i was on imagery detail while rin wound up helping at the lindale
table. we ate at the concession stand...rin had a cheeseburger whilst i had a jalapeno corndog (can't get enough of 'em).

as 7 o'clock rolled around, many people showed up. i don't know the exact count. lindale played first. then the praise band. after that, pastor figgs gave the message. many came forward to accept Christ as their savior while others rededicated their lives. it was an awesome night. . .

Tuesday, August 01, 2006

over this past weekend, we headed over to the seattle area to pack up rin's sister and kids. she is moving to florida. she's meeting her husband there tonight.

we left on saturday, early morning and got to her house around noon. we had to move the majority of her stuff (whatever she didn't throw away or sell in her garage sale) in two 7x7x6 modulars. after that was complete, we got checked into our hotel rooms and just relaxed.

sunday morning, we got up, ate breakfast and headed towards downtown seattle. our first stop was the pike street market. i've been to seattle many times, but only twice with rin and this was the first time for the market. i've seen it from a far off, but never dove into it. we parked (which was a pain) and walked down to the elevator. as we got off at the sixth floor, the foul stench of rotting fish and the pleasant aroma of flowers mixed together like a ying and yang of scents.

the fish throwers stood around, waiting for someone to make an order. only 5 pounds of mussels and 6 king crabs were thrown, so off to the next stop. rin's sister wanted to buy a picture for her new place in florida, so she went looking for that. we visited about 5 different photographers, which all had sweet images, matted and framed. one picture i throughly enjoyed was one of the seattle skyline with lightning close to the space needle. rin's sister told me that i need to get into that type of photography. "yesh, yesh, i know."

she found her picture and we continued on, looking and smelling. watching people and watching out for people. afterwards, we went to a place called gameworks. we spent a few hours there too, playing video games and having a good time. at about 5 o'clock, we went to dinner to beat the rush. old spaghetti factory was our restaurant of choice. then, back to the hotel for swimming and relaxing.

last night, we came back. it was fun, but it is always nice to me home. . .


high score: 152,275

no pooping