Daily Shout-Out: Today's winner is Grant Olson for coming back to Breese to do a presentation in our hall about the PAL program and the STAR report. It was informative. I also want to thank residents who came to the Salvation Army yesterday to help bag food. They really appreciated the help.

Other News:

• Yes! I have completed Guitar Hero on the Medium level. I have tried taking it up the Hard level, and it has been quite a challenge so far. This game provides a lot of fun for $70. I think I am getting close to getting my money's worth.
• Preparations for the OshCon game go well. I managed to find materials from the last time I ran the game. That should cut down on time emmensely.
• I have heard there is interest in the hall about learning to play AD&D...scary. I may just accomodate that.
• My little brother Adam and I have been able to start meeting on a regular basis. We are seeing Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift next Monday as well as have the Family Special at McDonalds. Woot!
  

Days Until the Wedding: 232

Leadership Camp

Tomorrow, I leave for Leadership Camp. Leadership Camp takes place in Camp Onaway in Waupaca, WI. I am looking forward to presenting my program, Leadership: Geek, Dork or Nerd; I am also looking forward to working with my hall leaders, meeting other folks and most importantly enjoying the island. There is a feeling and calmness and tranquility that comes with being on this island.

It gives me many hours of personal time to throw on my I-Pod and reflect on life and important events. Needless to say, there are many important events both short and long term that require my attention.

It is indeed a draining weekend, but also a very enjoyable one.

Daily Shout-Out: Today this goes to Di Schramke who came in yesterday to interview me about director positions for one of her classes. In taking the time to talk about my job and how I got to be here, I got a nice boost of energy which is helpful given that there is a lot of drama-generating events around draining my enthusiasm.

An honorable mention also goes to Thomas Wolf who has always offers wonderful perspective and great wisdom to me.

Other News:

• Well, I made it into the Advance-Titan this week. I have gotten my name mentioned before, but this time they quoted me quite a bit: http://advancetitan.com/story.asp?issue=11308&story=5335.
• I have almost completed the "medium" level on Guitar Hero. It is really tough near the end. I can only imagine how hard the next two levels will be. As you can tell, this game is quite addicting.
• We have started our work with the Salvation Army today and will continue with it next week. It feels good to have Breese Hall back in the swing of doing Community Service.
  

Days Until the Wedding: 233

Then and Now

I made my way out of my apartment this morning to go on a walk. As I passed by the Union and was making my way down the main drag of campus, I saw a man in a trenchcoat with an umbrella handing things out to people. I realized it was the time of year when the Gideons hand out their small bibles containing the New Testament, Psalms and Proverbs.

My first reaction was, "Thank goodness it's not the crazy guy that sits on the library steps and tells everyone they're going to hell." These guys are much nicer and they aren't pushy.

Having been an RHD here 4 years and a student 5 years, I have gotten used to them being a part of the year. However, I notice a real difference in my attitude toward their presence on campus. As a student, I always felt like they were enfringing on my space and I wish they would leave their "religion" off the campus. Now, I don't mind it so much. In fact, I appreciated it...it will be nice to keep in my brief case. It's more transportable than a full bible ;).

There are lots of reasons for the change. In undergraduate, I was very anti-religion and was still mad at God for what at the time I thought were some unfair circumstances he put me through. Now, I have come back to God and realized there is a purpose to all things, good and bad. I think time and graduation has caused me to realize that college serves the purpose of exposing people to all sorts of information, things they like and don't like...things they may realize or not realize. Plus, they were so nice. They didn't force anything on anyone.

If you have an opinion on the Gideons giving these out on campus, please post it here. Thanks!

Daily Shout-Out: Goes to Hal for sending me a great article about the continuation of the Madden curse. Shaun Alexander broke his left foot, keeping a streak of 8 years going. That is really eery.

Other News:

• I continue to play Guitar Hero. It rocks. I am realizing how poor I have been in the past in participating in good leisure activities. Peter has an excellent post about this...make sure to check out his blog.
• As much as I like the brat cart, it is also nice to be eating lunches in Blackhawk and hanging out with RHD colleagues. I forgot how important that can be in a hectic day.
  

Days Until the Wedding: 234 (I think I got this right...if I'm off it will correct itself in time.

Guitar Hero!!!

So, you may be asking if Guitar Hero is a fun game. What does this picture tell you?

I have played through the career mode for a few hours and have found it to be a great game. I now realize that it is definitely more fun to play with other people in the room.

I am excited to unlock different stuff. I am most intrigued with the opportunity to unlock the Grim Reaper. It's gonna take me a little while, but I know I can do it.

Anyone on campus, feel free to stop by and play Guitar Hero with me if I am around.

Guitar Hero

After weeks of contemplating, I finally gave in and brought Guitar Hero. I had the opportunity to try it out this morning and it is as I remember it in any game store...it rocks! I will be able to get some solid game time after work today before my staff meeting at 7:00 p.m. That will be nice.

Daily Shout-Out: Goes to the worker at Game Stop that said despite the cost of Guitar Hero, I would come to accept and applaud the purchase :).

Other News:

• Changes to the main page continue.
• Things in church continue to become more stable. The new pastor seems to be transitioning in well. Hopefully the job of the SPRC chair becomes less work.
• The buzz about the NBC Village continues to grow, some postitive, some negative. It should be interesting.
  

Welcome Bertha to the Office Family!

Ladies and gentlemen, we officially have a new member of the Breese Hall office staff. Bertha was named this morning after receiving 13 quality names to consider. Kudos to Mark Medinger, 1st floor Breese CA for submitting the winning name. Look for Bertha to have a Facebook profile in the near future. Feel free to direct all correspondence with Bertha through Facebook.

Wedding Update #1(one of many)

Tonight asked if we could go over wedding stuff and I will be the first to admit that I wasn't too excited about it. Please understand, I am very, very excited to get married to Christa. In fact, I wish it was this month. What I struggle with is all the planning and money that goes into this large extravaganza, when that money and planning could be used for something or someone in more need. It seems to be such a flaunting of excess. Christa and I are both pretty simple and probably could go with something very simple. But, that will not be the case.

Last night, it clicked and we had a pretty productive session. We got a lot of ideas out on paper and we both have a task list (although hers is much larger). One other thing that we are both struggling with is all the attention that we will be getting for this 2-3 day period. We are both introverts and do not really like the spotlight, so this should be interesting...

Daily Shout-Out: The Green Bay Packers, for actually winning. Don't get your hopes up, but a win is a win. Can they beat Philly?

Other News:

• In addition to a change in template, I am also in the process of changing the information on the side bar. It's nothing major, but you will see some tweeks.
• The NBC Village Planning Committee meets on Friday. I am excited to see work starting to get done on this. I think the students will also be happy to know how transparent we would like this process to be.

A Packer Victory

Well, well...the Packers actually won. Sadly, the Packers really tried to lose there in the end. Ahman Green coughed up the ball for the second time (a third time could be argued). It is nice to Favre in a groove right now. If they can get some shred of a running game going, the offense could really be something against some good teams. The defense continues to not look good overall, but continues to also make some really good plays throughout a game.

Let's face it. The Lions are not that good. I would say the Packers beat a team they should be beat. But, the Packers aren't that good either. So, at least they're 1-2. What's their reward? A Monday Night game against the Philadelphia Eagles. Ouch.

Daily Shout-Out: Goes to the Residence Life Dragonboat team for getting 4th place at the competition on Saturday. This was out of 30+ teams, so that says something.

Other News:

• In case you didn't know, there is a lot of crap going on this week. I need to get ready for Leadership Camp, I need to orient an interim pastor to our church and send out a great many judicial letters. Oh, and I need to get my game ready for OshCon in two weeks.
• I have been getting better about putting items in my Palm Pilot so that they become routine. I have been better at keeping up with laundry as well as watering my plants on a regular basis.
• We had some pretty successful weekend programs this weekend. I implore residents to stick around and check out what we have to offer.
  

For What It's Worth...

...if you are interested in making a political statement, you may want to check this out:

http://citgoboycott.wordpress.com/

Apparently one of the upper-ups in Citgo is a supporter of Hugo Chavez.

The 200th Post

Today marks my 200th post to the blog. A big deal for someone who has created blogs before only to have them fizzle after a few entries. It has been a therapeudic tool so far and I look forward to continuing the entried.

Daily Shout-Out: This goes out to the two ladies that operate the brat cart in the NBC Quad area. This is the last day they are serving and I will sorely miss their services.

Other News:

• Like the brat cart? I suggest you let Sodexho know this. Write them a letter. Perhaps they can create an equivalent in a more temperature friendly environment.
• The weather today is rainy; this could prove interesting for the Dragon Boat races tomorrow.
• Christa suggested that we go to Appleton tonight and play at Funset Boulevard. I think that is an excellent suggestion. I think I am buying Guitar Hero! Muahahaha!
  

Two Years

Christa and I are celebrating our two year anniversary. So, I suppose it's story time.

In August, Christa and I were both at Camp Onaway in Waupaca, WI as part of training for Residence Life; she was still a CA at the time. The weather at camp two years ago was lousy, it rained a lot especially on Thursday night. At one point during the course of the evening Christa and I were both underneath the underhang of the mess hall and I was behind her. We were both there for a few minutes and neither one of us said a word, yet someone we both have since said that there was some kind of motivation in each of us to say something, but we didn't.

Side Note: Up until this point, Christa and I had only interacted a few times. She would sometimes come by my office my first year as an RHD and would call me Mr. Droste. One time she stopped by table when Peter, Ryan and I were at Player's. My main reaction was, "Wow...she's cute."

For the next few weeks, I keep thinking about Christa and wondering how she feels about me. Reverting back to the middle school era, I decide to have someone else do my reconnaisance for me. I have Ryan Bronkema talk to his girlfriend at the time who was also on staff with Christa to see how she felt. It was determined that the feeling was definitely mutual. Huzzah! Well, now I actually have to call.

Christa saved me from that burden by calling me in my apartment when I happed to be talking to someone at the desk. While talking to the desk worker, I said, "Whoever this person is, they just keep talking...I suppose I'd better just go answer." In the time that I unlocked my door and got to the phone she was still leaving a message. Christa and I decided we would just go on a walk.

Christa and I walked for a long time. We walked for at least 90 minutes and we talked about two subjects very important to us: Star Wars & music. I suppose it was meant to be. It has been a great two years and I look forward to a lifetime of being with Christa. June 16, 2007!

Shout-Out: Goes to Peter Brooks, who yesterday engaged me in an excellent conversation about our jobs and its highs and lows.

Other News:

• The wings at Player's have been noticably hotter as of late.
• The Chinese buffet in the Union yesterday, very disappointing.
• Speaking of food disappointment, the brat cart will no longer be open after this week. Sad.
• We have an interim pastor assigned to our church until the end of the year. I will get to meet him Saturday night.
  

Running...Again

Loyal readers will know I have made this pledge before, but I have started running again. I really hope I can keep up with my pledge this time. I used a gift certificate to Kohl's to but a new pair of running shoes (a really nice pair I might add).

I have consistently been walking every morning and am now in the habit of getting up at 7:30 a.m. So, I thought I would sprinkle in some running 3 days a week and slowly build that up over time. I should be able to stick with it for a longer period of time.

Daily Shout-Out: Today is goes to the ING Insurance Company for letting me consolidate a retirement account I received while working in Massachusetts. It was worth $200. Woot!

Other News:

• I am troubled by how my department can sometimes make pretty simple tasks turn into rather large and administrative tasks. Just one of the perks of the job, I guess.
• Three submissions for the "name our plant" contest. They are all good nominations, but there could be more!
• I had breakfast with Margaret yesterday and I was actually awake and ready to go. That never happens.
  

The Archery Shop

I had the opportunity to hang out with my little brother Adam yesterday, and as per usual I had no idea what we would do. Adam brought up the suggestion of going to Appleton so that he could check out an archery store. He has recently gotten into hunting hanging out with Bruce, his mother's significant other (and now fiance :) ). Now, he wants to get a bow for hunting.

So, we went to the store and I was amazed. I really did not have a notion of what an archery store would look like, but this place was like a small civilization. It had the following things:

• Deep frier along with other fried food options
• Video gambling machine
• pool table
• dart board
• two different shooting ranges
• soda machine
• various televisions
  

I have this imagine of someone coming into the store when it opens and not leaving until it closes. Seriously, what motivation do you have to leave? I assume this place provides a great sanctuary to hunters that need to get away for whatever reason. It reminds me of a sanctuary.

I'm not sure why I find that so intriguing. I suppose it has something to do with the idea that when you have a hobby that you care about, you have a place to go so that you might be able to emmerse yourself in it, in the company of like-minded folk.

Daily Shout-Out: I will give today's daily shout out to Christa, who is doing a rockin' good job with all of the wedding plans. I think we are definitely making some progress.

Other News:

• Second OGS meeting tonight. We'll see how it goes this time.
• Bathroom door locking meetings are this week. Students rejoice.
• Sorry for so many posts yesterday, lots going on.
  

Family Night

So, the two McDonalds in Oshkosh (Koeller & Jackson) offer a special deal on Monday nights. You can get a 20-Piece Chicken McNugget Super Value meal for wicked cheap 3-4 bucks. It's a great option as a college student or as someone who may not necessarily to need worry for the moment about their health, but "family night"? How does this in any way provide a nourishing meal for a family?

I suppose that begs the larger question about how McDonals provided a nourishing meal at any time. I love the commercials for McDonalds where they show a mother and daughter eating "healthy" together at McDonalds. Riiiights...nothing healthy in what they're offerring there. I've read their salads are still full of fat and the yogurt parfait isn't exactly all that good for you either.

What nutritional value does the typical meal at McDonalds have? Very little...but yet, somehow I am drawn back every Monday.

Name Our Plant

Amy and I have a new resident in our office. We have a plant, but the plant does not have a name. I do not know the kind of plant (some of you have asked), but we're going to say she is a female plant. I want to have a name for the plant so we are going to have a contest.

If you have a good name for this plant (keep it appropriate...please), feel free to send me an E-mail with your idea. Just let me know where you live in the E-mail. Do not post name suggestions on the blog. I will have a prize if the winning name is someone from Breese Hall, but that does not disqualify outside suggestions. Amy and I will will pick the best submission of all the submissions that we get.

If you are curious, there is a picture off to the right along with this entry. Let your imagination run wild...but not too wild. Submissions will be closed by 11:59pm on Sunday, September 24, 2006. The E-mail address is: droste@uwosh.edu. We hope to hear from you soon.

Campaign Seeds

Over the last few weeks, I have not felt the need to begin a new fiction or non-fiction book. Instead, I have been reading through a great many of my AD&D 1st Edition books and modules. I am scouring them for campaign ideas so that I might actually make this 1st edition AD&D adventure take flight. I think I have the people to do it and I think I have the material to do it, but it needs to fit in my priorities as well. I think it does.

So, it has been fun to think about what I want to do. I eagerly prepare for my OshCon adventure in October. Hopefully that leads somewhere as well. If you are at all interested in learning mroe about AD&D or role-playing games, please let me know.

You may also notice the new format of the blog. I know, I know...it keeps changing. It will stop when I find a combination that I like. The old one did not have enough color for me.

Daily Shout-Out: The Green Bay Packers. Thank you for being such a bad team this year, that I find other football games more interesting. It has made me a more solid fan of football and I enjoy watching all NFL games now.

Other News:

• I have been informed that in previous blogs I did not necessarily talk about the status of the pastor who is involved with all this controversy. He has retired from the ministry and is no longer the pastor of our church.
• I had a great conversation on Friday with someone who is into blogging much more than me. He gave me some great tips and I hope I have the chance to use them. If I can generate enough material, I am considering creating a political log as well.
  

Priorities

Christa and I went to the Pride of the Valley Barbershop Chorus concert last night. It was a really good concert. It was cool to hear them sing songs that I had sung with them for a few weeks. In a way, I wished I could have been up on stage with them. On the ride home, though, I had an interesting epiphany regarding priorities.

I made a list of things that are important to me or that I would like to play a role in my life:

• my faith (personal)
• my wedding
  
• my job
• my friends and family
  
• my church (and its commitments)
• my hobbies (gaming in its many forms)
• my health (exercising)
• Pride of the Valley...

As you look at the list, there are a lot of things going on and a lot of time involved. When you take on a new commitment, a time commitment is involved. My schedule is already pretty packed and I also want to make sure I have time left over for myself to relax, etc. So, over the last few months, I have really been weighing my options and figuring out whether or not I can take on this new commitment. We shall see.

Daily Shout-Out: Alex Kuen for reintroducing me to barbershop and helping me to find a new outlet (on some future level) to be a musician. Even if I am not a member of the chorus, I may still come and sing when the time permits :).

Other News:

• The Packers lost, and this loss hurts more...because they were actually in the game. The offense definitely looked better, but they weren't consistent. The defense made some big plays early, but couldn't keep it up long term. So, the long season continues.

Packers vs. Saints

What can I say? You hate to pick against the Packers every week, simply because I can't remember the last time a team went 0-16 (although I think the Buccaneers might have done it one year). So, you figure the Packers are going to at least pick up a game here and there.

I don't think this is the week. This team is young, the coaches are young and they did not look together at all on Sunday. There were moments as I was watching Mike McCarthy that it looked like he honestly had no idea what he was doing. The team looked the same way. I think Reggie Bush is going to run all over our defense, but our offense will pick it up. I think it will be shoot out, but Packers will end up behind in the end. Saints: 24, Packers: 20.

Daily Shout-Out: Not ready by time of publication.

Other Notes:

• I just got back from seeing "Gridiron Gang". Good movie, not great, but definitely a good film. It has a good message, a good amount of action and some great lines. There was even one scene where it must have been dusty in the room. ;) I would recommend seeing it at a time when most other movies aren't so good. Grade: B

Resolution: The Next Step

Nothing like a 2 hour and 3o minute church meeting to cap your Thursday. We had an SPRC Meeting along with a Church Council meeting last night. I was worried that we would continue to dwell on dead issues, but that was not the case. We were able to move on and start the healing process. The SPRC Committee meetin afterward began to tie up some loose ends and I think the healing process can begin.

Since I have completed my Master's Degree, I can tell that I have become less of an emotional person. My two years in graduate school brough out a lot of the "feeling" component in the Myers Briggs Inventory. I often led with my heart and let it guide my decisions. I think my core value system has me leading with my head more...and that has perdominated my actions with the churhc drama. It some ways it may make me appear to be heartless or see disengaged from the proceedings, but in many ways it has been a blessing. As chair of a committee deeply rooted in this process, it has helped me to remain neutral in what can be an emotionally charged affair.

In my conversations with Harry over the last few years, we have talked about the ministry and he talks about how much of it involved working from your heart. But working from the heart has also gotten him into some trouble. So, maybe I can be the minister that leads with his head and still does a good job :).

Daily Shout Out: This goes out to Janet Karst, the admin. assistant in Scott Hall who celebrated her 60th birthday yesterday!

Other News:

• My event was accepted for OshCon 2006. I will nice to begin role-playing again. I hope people will do the adventure and like it enough to continue.
• Tonight is the LBGTQ pot luck dinner. This is the first one I have gone to; it should be a good time.
• I am seeing "Gridiron Gang" this weekend. Jen and I hopeful that it will be a good movie.
• The Pride of the Valley Chorus performs tomorrow night and Christa and I will be there. We are both very excited.
• This Sunday begins NACURH meetings...my goodness this is going to be a busy weekend.
• Stay tuned for a Packer preview tomorrow.
  

First OGS Meeting

On Tuesday, I took a chance and went to my first Oshkosh Gaming Society (OGS) meeting. It was an interesting experience to say the least. I met some interesting characters, a group of people that I miss by not going to the annual Gen Con Convention. I had the opportunity to play a game called Bitin' Off Hedz. I am hoping that I can sneak into a role-playing game some time in the future, but that might prove to be difficult.

Daily Shout-Out: Today's shout out goes to Deadre Holmes, the counseling center liaison for Breese Hall. She and I had a great meeting together and she seems to really take an interest in learning about the residence hall environment. She is just starting her tenure at UWO.

Other News:

• Peter Brooks had his first career start last night as a Dallas Cowboy on my Madden 2006 game. Although statistically not the best, he did manage to lead the Cowboys to victory. He threw a TD, but also had one INT. Sadly, his receivers did him no favors by having six drops during the game, one of which would have been a second TD pass. My goal is to play one game a night, or something close to that.
  
• It was nice to start doing the church choirs again. I was worried about the atmosphere at the meetings simply because of recent happenings. I am happy to report that the rehearsals were fun and church more normal than it has in a long time.
• I had coffee with two people that I have talked to in some time. It morphed into lunch and the three of us talked for an hour and a half. It is something that we will attempt to do each week and I think it provided an outlet for me to break out of always eating lunch with Residence Life folks (not that they are at all bad). :)
  

The "Remember the Titans" Effect

If you watch TBS or TNT at all, you may notice that they play this movie a greta deal; often, I get sucked into watching the movie, because it's a pretty good movie and it's got some great scenes in it. The head coach of the football team, played by Denzel Washington, is really, really hard on his players, but as the movie goes on you see them consistently trying to play hard because of the groundwork he laid for them.

There is one scene where the team is in the middle of a grueling practice and the coach is yelling things out like, "Will...you...ever...quit?" And they respond, "No, sir."

These moments are always interesting to me because I have never had an experience like that with a coach, supervisor or whoever. I suppose now we live in a time where if a coach did things like that to his players, he would probably be suspended or fired for cruelty. However, I always think that my level of performance or my desire to compete would be raised being part of a team with that type of dedication.

I'm not sure if I'll ever get that experience, but perhaps I will.

Daily Shout-Out: Today it goes to the Breese Hall Government for having such a kick-ass meeting last night. Good attendance, good enthusiasm and good pizza. Everything was covered. They are a good group!

Other Notes:

• The Packers are last in the ESPN NFL Football Power Rankings...ouch.
• Christa and I have righted the wedding concerns. I think it is now full speed ahead.
• I have re-juvenated my Madden 20o6 Superstar Franchise. Peter Brooks will now continue to his tenure as the rookie started for the Dallas Cowboys.
  

Sweet, Sweet Routine

The feeling has been there for awhile, but this week has sealed it. With staff meetings, hall government, staff one on ones and conduct meetings, it feels as though my job has kicked into full gear. Interestingly, it is this routine that brings security. It actually feels normal. I suppose part of this is because it's my schedule for about 75% of the year, but mostly as a creature of habit, I like it when things don't change so much.

I feel like my energy level is up and my productivity is high as well. Sweet, sweet routine.

Daily Shout-Out: This goes out to Ashley Beach for asking me what happened to my cross necklace. Thanks to her, I went and got it fixed so I can start wearing it again. I do feel more whole now.

Other News:

• There was a lot of frickin' football between Saturday and Monday. I can really get used to this. ESPN needs to think about having additional Monday Night Football double headers. You can't lose.
• Christa and I are running into some snags with this wedding planning. It has been trying for both of us, but especially for her.
• I am going to try to go to an OGS meeting tonight. We'll see if it translates into any actual gaming. :)
  

Where Were You?

I don't anyone can deny that the acts of September 11, 2001 qualify as the "JFK Assassination" of my generation. Even five years after the fact, I still think about that day a significant amount. I will always remember what happened for me that day as well.

I was on my way to class that morning and among the group of students that I walked with to class, we heard that some planes were hijacked, but nothing had been destroyed at the moment. By the time I made it to class, our professor informed us that one of the World Trade Center Towers had been crashed into and that it was on the verge of collapse. After hearing this, I told the professor, "I have to see what's going on." I left to watch what was going on and was glued to my TV for most of the rest of the day.

Other memories:

• I remember of my classmates telling me that they expected something like this to happen.
• I remember crying more that day than I had in a long time.
• I remember calling my dad and not being sure what to say on the phone.
• I remember WIU having an impromptu student forum for people to gather. It was held in our ballroom and the room was packed.

Other News:

Yeesh, did the Packers lay an egg yesterday or what? Strangely, Ahman Green ran for over 100 yards and Donald Driver has a pretty good game. You also have to give the Packer defense some credit. They were on the field most of the game and they did what they could to stop the Bears. The score could have been a lot worse. Maybe by 6-10 prediction is being a little too nice. Thanks for Travis and Joe for leaving comments...it is going to be a long year for Packer fans.

Strange moment this morning. On my walk I felt the need to listen to hip/hop music on my walk. It just felt good...I downloaded "Remember the Name" by Fort Minor and it just got things started.

The 2006 Packers

Of all the years that I have followed the Packers seriously (maybe 1995), this is probably the year that I know the least about them. I am simply not as excited for the Packer's season this year. Why? Well, let's generate a quick list:

• They stunk last year and they didn't make many changes that make me think they will stink less.
• Brett Favre doesn't have many people to throw the ball to.
• The defense is young, inexperienced and does not have much depth.
• Overall, the team is young and will need time (a few years) to mature and be competitive.
• The coaching staff is almost entirely new and quite unproven.
• I couldn't tell you too many starters as well (although that will change as the year goes on).

Today, the Packers start against the Bears. I think the Packers could actually win this game. The Bears have a tremendous defense, but no offense. If the Packers can minimize mistakes, they may be able to stay in the game late...perhaps that's when Favre can work some of his old magic.

As for the year, I would say the Packers will finish 6-10 at best. I hope I'm wrong. As my dad said yesterday, you have to keep your expectations low this year. Hopefully, you'll come away surprised. More after the game.

First Week Is Over

Well, today is Friday, and that means the end for the first week of school. This will be a wonderful weekend because I can finally relax and not feel like I should be doing some kind of work to prepare for training.

I will be having dinner tonight with Harry, the pastor of our church who recently retired. It will be nice to chat with him now that all of this controversy is over.

My prayers are with Peter who will be in intensive care for a few days after surgery. No fears...the surgery was planned, but I know he will be in pain for awhile and I hope he recovers as quickly as possible.

Another Plane Ride?

Well, I booked some airplane tickets through Northwest Airlines so that I can travel to the Exploration 2006 Conference in November. I am still a little shaky about flying given the experience that I had flying back from Texas. I am sure things couldn't get much worse than they did then, so there ya go!

I suppose purchasing this ticket signifies that despite some rough times in my church I am still willing to give this ministry thing a shot.

In Other News...

I am pretty creeped out by this new Facebook format. I think it gives me a little more information than I would like about my friends and residents.

This week has been a productive week for me. I have taken a few nights "off" and have gotten things back in order in my life. I have way mroe energy than I have had in awhile.

I am looking forward to seeing my parents this weekend. I'm not sure where we'll be or what we'll do, but it will be fun.

I am getting pretty geeked up about gaming again...scary.

First Day of Classes

Last night, Christa and I talked a little bit about the fact that she starts classes tomorrow. In somes ways, I think I was downplaying the emotions involved in the first day of classes. I say this becuase it has now been four years since I have had a class. It makes me think back to some of my more vivid memories of the first day of classes.

General Psychology
I will always remember this class because it was my first class as an undergraduate students back in the year 1995. It was 10:20-11:20 on Monday, Wednesday and Friday in Clow 102. It was funny becuase the first day the lecture pit was full and with each passing class there were less and less folks. I, of course, went to every class and witnessed this lovely event. My professor was Baron Perlman, a great professor, who has earned various teaching awards. It was great that he was teaching a first-year level class. It set the bar high for my future experience.

Music Theory
My sophomore year of college began my career as a music students. This class met Monday-Friday from 10:20-11:20. I had two professors, Dr. Chaudoir and Dr. Wise. They were both phenomenal professors, but were both also very demanding. For the first day of class, we had around 60 students in the class. I was stoked because I had taken piano lessons for eight years and I assumed that I would know more about theory than the average student. When they through my entire knowledge of theory in the first week I know there was going to be problems. Within a few short weeks, the class was down to 25 students. But a core of us stuck in out, despite many late nights and early mornings.

Speech
My only comment about this first class was that my speech teacher had a lisp. That doesn't seem quite right.

"Resolution"

For those of you that have been keeping track, the last few months have been very chaotic for the church I belong to. As the dust settles from many meetings, many complaints and much anger and frustration, our pastor has chosen to retire from the ministry.

For the time being, we will have interim pastors until June 2007, at which point we will be assigned a new pastor. This has been a difficult time for everyone involved and it has made an otherwise crazy training/opening month even more chaotic.

While it by no means has ended, it has definitely become a much more manageable situation and one we can hopefully rebuild from. I appreciate everyone's support.

Role-Playing Games

So, OshCon is this weekend. We'll see how it is. It has been a long time since I have done any kind of gaming. Ever since GenCon moved to Indianapolis I have been really out of practice. Most of us that made up the gaming group we had in college/high school are all married, have children or have become busy people in the working world. It is hard to get together.

Interestingly enough, Peter mentioned to all of the hall leaders and hall staff that I played Advanced Dungeons and Dragons. He did this as part of an introduction for a program that I was presenting. At first, I was a little embarassed. But, since then, I have had at least five different people come up to me with interest in learning how to play.

It would be great to get back into gaming again. If you are interested, please let me know.

First-Year Student Move-In Day

At 9:00 a.m. today, Breese Hall opens its doors to new first-year students. This is the fourth time that I have been involved with student move-in on an RHD level. This year I feel pretty confident and prepared for the first-years to move in. I think all the paperwork is in order and I have a great lunch spread prepared for my hall leaders, staff and greeters.

With each year, I look at the move-in days, I am less stressed about it and I simply enjoy the chaos. If you think about it, you are moving around 3000 students in the residence halls in two days in tight quarters. The fact that they all make it in the building is a big enough accomplishment regardless of how clean the move-in goes.

Also with each year, I feel a decreased amount of competition between each of the halls. No matter what I might wish for, Breese Hall always seems to continue doing good programs and building a good community. I might as well realize that the staff and hall leaders have a handle on this and I should just continue to let them do their great work. It makes my job easy!

Students Start Moving In

The students are coming, the students are coming! It begins...