15,000

While playing Resident Evil 5, I managed to get my XBox Live Gamerscore over 15,000. Despite my early struggles with the game, a look at an on-line walk through helped me realize where I was making my mistakes early in the game. As of now, I am halfway through the game. I would at least like to get through one play through of the game before I return it on Tuesday evening.

There is really no specific benefit to getting 15,000. If anything, it just feels good to be playing video games again. Lately, I have been so busy with work and other obligations that I have not had much time to play anything. Christa and I haven't played Rock Band in weeks. That should change after June 5, when she is done with student teaching and I am done with the 17-week semester's obligations.

Here's to 15,000...a geek milestone.

Friday Random Thoughts

• I guess you can say that we have officially begun packing. I am in the process of going through my books. Yikes! There are a lot of I am taking up to Half Price Books because I don't need them anymore, but I still have quite a few. If anyone has any boxes they are willing to let us use, let us know! :)
• I will be having a busy Sunday. In the morning, I will be leading the New Membership Liturgy as well as other components of the church service in the absence of our pastor. That afternoon, I will be leading my third Vesper Service at the Evergreen Retirement Community. That night, we have a baby shower for two residence families.
• Christa is working a full weekend at Settler's Mill Mini-Golf. It is over by the Outlet Mall. You should check it out.
• I rented Resident Evil 5. Why I rented a first person shooter game, I'll never know. I suck. :(
  

Golfing and Disciple Bible Study

Golfing
My little brother texted me to ask if we could go golfing this week. Having only golfed once in my life at a Par 3 course, I cautiously said yes. I was worried that I would embarrass myself with my complete lack of skill. My little brother, Isaac, and I golfed with his friend Griffin and his father Jim (good name).

Thankfully, Jim selected my clubs for me. I mostly used a six iron, with a few woods sprinkled in there. Some holes went well, and others did not. I was proud that I got two double bogeys and a bogey on the last hole of the evening. This hole included my best shots of the night: I nice drive, a couple decent chips shots and a good two putt.

I am left wondering if I would want to golf again. As I did not completely embarrass myself in the outing, it might be something I would try again. It would be something to help me work on my concentration and my temper.

Disciple Bible Study
Today was the final meeting for our Disciple Bible Study. Over the last year we met on 34 different occasions, usually on Wednesday mornings, to work our way through a survey of the Bible.

It was a wonderful opportunity for fellowship, discipleship and discussion. I will miss it greatly. We ended with a covenant service with Communion which was moving and will hopefully move my forward in my own discipleship.

Twitter Postings

I made a pledge to post something almost every day. The last few days have not had much of significance, so I have been making Twitter posts that appear in the upper right hand portion of the blog. If you don't see a blog post for awhile, I assure you will see daily updates in the corner. I do what I can to keep the material fresh :).

The Weekend of Movies

Christa and I have been really busy for the last few months. The summer of blockbuster movies has not accommodated our schedule. Thus, we are a little behind. Hearing mixed reviews at best for Wolverine, we are going to wait and catch that one on video...it is already in the Netflix queue :).

This weekend, the plan is to see both Star Trek & Angels and Demons. We hope to see one Saturday and one Sunday. I'll let you know my thoughts once we've seen them.

Tonight we will be watching Capote on DVD.

One of these weekends, I will be on my way to Mequon to see Terminator Salvation. My dad would be interested in going, but Christa is not.

FC Oshkosh

So, I have to admit that I am not the biggest fan of soccer. I was, however, excited to hear about a soccer team that has formed in the city of Oshkosh. They are FC Oshkosh. The team sports many folks from the Department of Residence Life. I think I may give soccer a try and at least be a spectator.

If you are in the area, I suggest you check out their schedule and look for some upcoming games. Many of the games are played in the Fox Valley Area. It is also cheap to be a sponsor and you get what I hear is a pretty sweet T-shirt. :)

We're Empty!

At 9:30 this morning, I took out the last resident of Webster Hall from the Roster program. The building is empty! The custodial crews have already begun the process of doing some major repairs to the building. The quite has been good for work, but it's going to take some time to adjust to the lack of interruptions.

Sunday Random Thoughts

As I sit in my office completing paperwork for Express Checkout, I thought I would accumulate some random thoughts for Sunday:

• The Brewers are nine games over .500 and have the second best record in the National League. If the pitching can keep this up and stay healthy, they are going to be tough to beat. The offense is really clicking right now. Patience at the plate is paying off.
• My little brother, Isaac, was confirmed this morning. I honored to be asked to be one of his sponsors. His statement of faith was very well-written and he spoke about possibly being a minister. That is so cool!
• Bedtime Stories is a really fun movie. If you have yet to see it and want to something that isn't too deep, but is quite entertaining, I'd recommend checking it out.
• By 8:00 PM Monday, Webster Hall will be empty. Huzzah!
  

Graduation Day Tomorrow

Christa graduates tomorrow from the University of Wisconsin Oshkosh! She will be graduating with an education degree for biology and English. She will be participating in the afternoon ceremony at 2:00 PM in the Kolf Gym.

Christa will be completing seven years of college. She has weathered a few major changes as well as some bonus administrative hoops, and she has made her way to the finish line. It will be great to have the family up tomorrow to celebrate. After the ceremony, we will be heading to Player's for dinner.

Of course, even though she "graduates," she still has to go back for three more weeks of student teaching. On June 5, she will officially be done with all components of her undergraduate degree and her certification.

Tomorrow's Exodus

I sit in the Webster RHD Office awaiting little yellow envelopes. These little yellow envelopes mean that residents have completed the Express Checkout process and have left the building for the year. Each envelop brings us closer to the moment when Webster Hall will be empty on Monday, May 18, 2009. It is fun to see the excitement in students who are done for the year. I share their excitement. I, too, am looking forward to being done with the year.

Tomorrow will represent the true mass exodus as at least 100 people will be moving out tomorrow!

This year's checkout is not much different than any other year. What different is that there are not additional tasks that take over when EOY stuff is over. This time last year, I was beginning to think about summer programs and even about next year. Now, when things are done, they are done! :)

Hopefully this will bring a sense of closure.

Softball Game #2 Report

This was a tough loss for Strikeforce United. We took a 7-4 lead into the seventh and final inning. Our hitting fell along the same lines as our previous game. We were able to string some hits together and produce some runs. Our fielding greatly improved and it allowed us to stay in the game. Sadly, in the seventh inning we gave up five runs and lost the lead.

The drama built in the bottom of the seventh inning as the bases were loaded with two outs. Our batter hit a ball that should have gone foul, but was played while it was still fair. Three opponents converged to "play" the ball, thus blocking the way of the runner. He was tagged out and interference was not called. It was a tough play to call, but it ended the game and we came up short.

Monday's game was a great learning experience for me. One of my teammates offered me some great advice about both fielding and hitting. As a result, I did better in both areas. I had two walks and scored a run in the effort. I am curious to see in this transfers over to the next game I play in.

No Perfect People Allowed...

I have starting reading the book No Perfect People Allowed by John Burke. As I get further through the book, I am sure I will have more to say about it. Right now, I'd like to reflect on a statement he makes relatively early in the book. As a campus minister, he was having a conversation with a college student. The student eventually tells the minister that he doesn't want to like him.

Upon reflection, Burke offers this thought: "I've since discovered that the average person has a strong perception of what Christians are against, but little of what Christians are for." (p. 30)

There is something to what he is saying. When you think about Christianity in the headlines and in circles, it is usually in judgment. The stances taken on controversial issues can overshadow what makes Christians who they are.

Jesus wanted us to focus on love, love for one another and love for God. He wanted us to be in relationship with God and with others. With this in mind, how we live out lives speaks for itself. But, people don't perceive us as people of love and relationship. Somehow, we need to work on changing this.

Tales of the Black Freighter

Having seen and having loved The Watchmen, Christa and I though we would rent Tales of the Black Freighter. This short movie combines the comic within a comic that was left out of the Watchmen movie. It chronicles a marine whose ship was destroyed by a pirate ship, who slowly turns mad in his attempt to get back home and warn his family about the coming pirate ship. It is bizarre, but well-written. What surprised me was how short it was (20 minutes). The Netflix DVD jacket said it was one hour, 40 minutes.

It was the combined features of the DVD that totaled to the run time. Forty minutes of it was a documentary set in 1985 in which the host looks back on his 1975 interview with Hollis Mason. This documentary is incredible, doing a good job of weaving in the chapter intros that weren't used much during the theatrical movie. They also use commercials from the comic as well as commercials relevant to the era. If anything, I would rent this DVD to see the documentary. That alone was worth it.

Ministry Position Update!

I am excited to finally be able to provide an update in my ministry call! Beginning on July 1, 2009, I will be the pastor for the Oakfield United Methodist Church and the Tabor (Eden) United Methodist Church in Wisconsin. Christa and I had the opportunity to meet with the Staff/Parish Relations Committee on Wednesday, May 6, 2009 for an Introductory Meeting with members of each church. Christa and I both believe this will be a great opportunity!

The next few months will be quite busy for both of us. Christa will be completing her student teaching in early June. My last day as a Residence Hall Director at UW Oshkosh will be June 19. From there, Christa and I will be feverishly packing up the apartment so we can make the move to our new home. My first Sunday in the pulpit will be July 12.

Stayed tuned in the next few days for additional updates.

Remote Post: Mequon, WI

I come to you from Mequon, WI sitting at the dining room table using my Dad's very nice lap top computer :).

The weather has not exactly been too friendly. It started raining last night and it has been pretty dreary here. Christa and I got into town last night and had dinner with her parents, and her two brothers and their significant others. We ate at small little restaurant that had an incredible fish fry.

I had the opportunity to go to Lenny's Pizza for lunch. Tonight, Christa and I will be taking out my parents to dinner. Then, we will be heading to a Jazz Concert at the Milwaukee PAC.

It's going to be a late night and a busy Sunday. But, look for some exciting news tomorrow!

Car Bizarre...ness

Last Saturday, Christa's dad came up to help us replace a battery in her car. While we were waiting, our Hyundai's car alarm went off. We checked our keys to see if we had inadvertently hit the panic button. Nope. So, we stopped the alarm and assumed it was a freak thing. Fifteen minutes later it happened again, something was definitely wrong. We did some troubleshooting, but couldn't figure it out. It didn't do off the rest of the day, or night...thank goodness.

The next day we experienced the same thing. I went off twice between the hours of noon and 2:00 PM. On Monday, at work, it did the same thing to Christa while we was teaching. Nothing happened Tuesday, but it happened again on Wednesday. We needed to take the car in.

Our car was not possessed, as we thought! It turns out that the circuitry in the bumper of the car was screwed. They replaced it, and for now, we have been issue free. Luckily it was all covered under the warranty, so we didn't have to pay anything.

A Gaming Break

For the first time in...well, weeks...I think I might have a few days to bust out the XBox 360 and play a few games. In fact, I may rent a game tonight and get a few hours in. That's if I don't crash early. May Godfather 2?

Needless to say, this week has been crazy for both Christa and I. We have been driving all over the place and haven't had much time to rest. We are both looking forward to a weekend where we can go home and visits the moms for Mother's Day.

The Favre Saga

Like many Packers fans, I can remember sitting in front of the television the afternoon that Brett Favre held a news conference in which he tearfully said that he was retiring from the NFL. I, too, shed a few tears for a man that gave so much to the game and so much to the Packers.

When Favre contemplated the comeback and the Packers were ready to move on, I could understand the move that the Packers made. They were a young team and they needed to make the transition. I was frustrated that Favre decided to come back, but at least he went to the Jets. He didn't do so hot and we all assumed that we would finally be done.

*sigh*

The Favre saga continues. There are a few stories out there talking about how Favre is now considering coming back for another season. He has now, a second time. talked about retiring and has come back. This time is possibly coming back to the Vikings.

It's a good scenario for Favre. Excellent defense. Superb running back. All they need is a consistent QB. But, is Favre consistent?

First Softball Game

We came up on the short end of this game. We lost 23-11. In comparison to last year, we at least managed to put some runs together. We are still plagued with way too many errors. Throws don't get to where they are supposed to, catches are dropped and we get too aggressive. If that doesn't improve, we'll be at the losing end a lot. As one person at the end of the game said, "If you take unearned runs away, this was a 1-0 game."

My final line was 1-3 with a walk and two RBIs. I totally botched the one ball that was popped to me, but did some decent fielding of the grounders that came my way. Given that it was the first game of the summer, I didn't practice throwing until 6:30 that night and I hadn't swung a bat since, it wasn't so bad (that was a long sentence...and probably is grammatically incorrect).

Stay tuned for weekly updates as the season unfolds on Mondays.

Softball Begins

With last week's rain out, tonight is the first softball game of the season for BW3's Strikeforce. I am not sure how things will go this season. Above everything else, I appreciate the opportunity to get outdoors and run around in some nice weather; it's exercise. With each passing year, I get to know the folks on the team a little bit better, but most of the team members are people I don't really know or don't really hang out with at all. So it's not a social time for me.

I would also add that I am not much of a softball player. I never played organized baseball or softball, and up until a few years ago, I hadn't thrown a softball since high school. There has been a real learning curve. I throw somewhat better, but I have no patience at the plate and need to continue to improve in that area. I also know very little about strategy and often screw that up.

This year, we are in a league with five other teams. I am curious as to how good they are. Last year, we were competitive in a few games, but we often ended up losing. Perhaps this year's prospects will be better.

I thought I'd give it one more try. Look for an update tomorrow on how the game went.

Remote Post: Kolf Sports Center II

Hello everyone!

I am writing to you from the Kolf Sports Center at the UW Oshkosh. It is the 3rd Annual Relay for Life Event. Each year, I feel older and older and I'm not sure how long Christa and I will last here. We are both pretty tired, but are trying to get some work done to stay motivated. It is fun to see all the energy and fun being had by college students.

Right before Relay was the USRH/Residence Life Banquet. Attending it was bittersweet. I appreciated the going away speech that Jacque said. I am going to try to get a copy of it. It is wierd to begin to see the end of my time as an RHD. I am ready to move on, but I realize that it will not be easy.

Time to get back to the festivities!

Sleep...

I only slept four hours last night. It was a combination of being on duty last night as well as dealing with noise from some of the folks that live above us.

I was actually quite productive given how tired I am, but I feel as though there was a haze the entire day. I feel lethargic and really just want to sleep.

Christa and I will hopefully get to watch Traitor tonight. If energy holds out, we will also watch this week's episode of Deadliest Catch. The EOY dance is being held in the Albee Upper Gym tonight. I hope to at least make an appearance there

I will need the sleep...it's going to be a busy weekend.