Alright, I'm back.  We've been sans-internet for a little more than a week here at the house.  Our beautiful child (i.e. puppy) happened to destroy our last internet device.  Lovely!  So, anyways, we're back in action and running with the fastest internet you can get living in the middle of nowhere-- satellite internet.  But, anyways, enough of that...  I will invite you back around here with this.

 
(ht: Ken)

It's the final countdown...

So, I broke out my camera the other day to document my new nasty face beard I've been working on.  I joked about wanting a beard on here not too long ago and decided...  why not?!  Anyways, here's a shot.  For the record, I don't really grow facial hair well or quickly.  But, we're going to give it a shot.  At least until my wife approaches me in the middle of the night with a razor blade to shave it off... yeah, she likes it that much...

 So, what's your crazy face look like?

So what do you want for Christmas?  I know, I know, it's way to early to be thinking about it, isn't it?  I mean, you DO have a little over 49 days and 9 hours until IT happens.

I'll tell you what I want.  I want a beard like this guy to the right.  I've never had a beard.  My face is still pre-pubertic meaning that  I have patches of skin between my nasty reddish facial hair that does grow.  But you know what?  I'm gonna give it a go.  I'm growing a beard.... a nasty, scraggly, wife-hated beard.

But, back to Christmas and you, what are you hoping Santa brings?  A new tech gadget for you guys?  A shiny, new Taylor Guitar for you musicians?  A car that gets 100 miles/gallon?  A Hello Kitty backpack for the kids?  How about something simple for you couples?  Say an evening away with your loved one?  Or, for those of us who are in the middle of moving or looking for a new home, how about Santa brings a fix to this housing crisis?

So what it is?  Live a little...  

I can't deny the fact that I am glad this election race is over.  It has been a brutal, divisive,  and nasty race.  I've had my spirit crushed, argued with friends and nearly lost my job (kidding....kind of) due to this election.

I voted on my convictions and what I felt led to do between myself, God and that voting machine.  It breaks my heart today, after a great night with friends last night watching the election coverage, as I read responses on Facebook, blogs and Twitter about how the United States is going to hell in a hand basket.  The saddest part is that most of these responses come from Christian friends and collegues who feel led to "speak out"... although it seems they are speaking from emotions and ignorance, which is sad.

I read today on a pastor friend's blog that he had a friend of his come into the church today to announce that he was leaving the church because my friend had voted for Obama and couldn't attend a church where the pastor voted for Obama.  This breaks my heart...

I'm glad the election is over.  Now, can we stop this nonesense and come together?  Can we come together to pray for our next President?  Please?

One of the best posts I have read today comes from Brad Ruggles.  Please go and read it.  It'll mean more to you than this post...

How can we come together?

I had hoped to put up my pre-release review of Mark Batterson's new book, Wild Goose Chase. But, I just got home from another long day and didn't get a chance to finish it up this evening. Hopefully I will have the chance to finish it up and write up the review in the next day or so. So far it has been a great read. Really encourages me to rejoin the pursue of following God...rather than just working for God. Check out the links if you get the chance for now... my review will be up shortly.

Also, Sara, my wife, informed that last night's blog post was a bit tough to understand and follow due to my laziness in spelling and word choice. If I offended anyone with my poor internet penmanship, I appologize....

It's seldom that I get "nothing" time anymore. Working late, researching late, getting to bed late, and waking up too early.

Sara and I started to watch The Departed tonight. She fell asleep on the couch, I priced chairs for our KidStuf parents online, and here I sit, still watching, still surfing the internet, still wasting what little time I have.

So little time...so little spare time... yet, I waste it. Any pointers?

 My senior pastor told me to take my vitamins this afternoon as Sara is finally coming home from Jamaica. She's been there for 10 days. The house is clean...laudnry done...and bed is made. My kid brother helped me get the place in order (between Mario Kart Wii games).

T-minus 4 hrs. and counting!

I'm not turned off at all towards going bald and I guess my mom was right about me wearing my baseball cap all the time. The state of the top of my head occurred to me most recently after playing an afternoon of cornhole and volleyball out in the hot sun. Yes, it's true... For the first time in my life I got sunburnt on THE TOP of my head. Yesterday and today my skin is peeling up top there...next to my widow's peak.

Today, I went an got my usual hair cut. A new gal was working and we began making small talk. She noticed my peeling head skin and I commented on how she may as well just shave it all off... You know, Greg Qualls' style. Then, I popped the question. I asked her how old she thought I looked given my receding hairline. And, drum roll please, she said I looked "I dunno... 35 or 40." 35 or 40? 35 or 40! Dang girl... I'm not even twenty-five!

So, here's to losing hair, looking older and wearing ball caps... What about you? Have you still got hair?

So, the internet around here has been broke. Is it working on your neck of the woods? Living in the middle of no where really limits the options for high speed internet. Heck, I had it so bad that I actually went my mom's house to use her dial-up when our wireless dsl service started freaking out. I would have signed up for dial-up almost a week ago, but Sara and I use cell phones rather than a home phone. Hard to have dial-up via a cell phone.

Now I'm back in business. After calling different ISP's for more than a week I finally made a call to our business rep at Centennial Wireless and got a USB air card. You know, one of those that allows for internet anywhere. It's definitely not DSL...but it's definitely better than nothing.

Meanwhile, I've been watching Rugby. I don't know what it is about the sport, but I love it. I played a bit with the Men's Rugby Club in Fort Wayne when I was in college. We played in Indy, Cincinnati, and Grand Rapids, Michigan. It was a ton of fun. I have no formal training in the sport but I seriously think I like it more than American Football and, since my internet has been crapping out lately, I've been watching reruns on Setanta Sports (channel 406 on Dish Network).

I was watching a match yesterday and I realized one thing I missed having not been following the sport as closely as I once was... The Haka.

The Haka is performed by New Zealand before every international match. And, well, it scares me. But you can't deny the passion these men have for the game...and the definitely are MEN. I just watched a guy take some cleats to the forehead only to be taped up and playing within two minutes... gameplay never stopped!

So, do you like rugby? Or any other "strange" sports? How about this. What would you do without internet for two weeks?

Anyways, I was sitting at my Mom's house this past holiday and talking about the gas prices. And just for the record, I have no reason to complain. I live 0.67 miles from the church I work at. But, with this summer being the remodeling project that it is, I often find myself driving back and forth to get something from home (i.e. tools, something my scattered brain forgot, or letting our puppy out). After a week of things I find that I have driven about 30 miles to-and-from work...again (no reason to complain).

On top of that, the nearest "town" is about 3 miles away. It has a convenience store and my mother's home. Aside from that, there is nothing there. But, the convenience store carries hardware supplies such as screws, tools, step ladders, soda, chips, cigarettes and milk. You know, all the things needed for a summer of remodeling! Trips back and forth each week to Gilead total about 24 miles...still, no reason to complain. But, on any given week I may drive about 54 miles here and there within a 3 mile radius of my house. And, well, that seems like a lot of driving for me to only be 3 miles from home at any given time.

Enter me and my Big Wheel... 

This is my first dirt bike, a 1986 Yamaha Big Wheel 80. I got it when I was about 8, I believe. I rode it hard for a few years and then moved up to an on/off road bike when I was around 13 years old. It was a ton of fun. It has ATV tires (big, knobby tires for off-roading) and Yamaha only made them for about 4 years before stopping production.

On the 4th of July my little brother, Bryce, and I decided to go dig it out of the pole barn at my dad's house. We cleaned the carburetor, air filter and exhaust as best we could. Now, it runs like a champ...doing 43 miles/hour with my fat gut on it! It's my new, old toy. I've driven it here and there, in doughnuts and as fast as it will go downhill, and in the fields and in the yard. It's amazing how much fun comes back when you get me on a dirt bike.

Oh, and I get 65 miles to the gallon. Beat that!