Posted in Asides on May 28, 2008| 2 Comments »
If any of you have been jonesin’ for a 5 minute video of our whole El Salvadoran team (sans Leon, who thought it was too much drama) trying to retrieve my glasses back from that crazed-monkey, then you’ve come to the right blog.
If you listen closely you can hear me faintly exclaim: “I’m never going to get them back…”
And if you watch closely you can see the monkey nearly kill Jamie at least three times.
Posted in Asides on May 27, 2008| 5 Comments »
Both Jim and I needed to do some grocery shopping, so yesterday we dropped by the Amish Grocery store in Oelwein, IA. I’ve only been there once before – back in December ’05. It seemed like the right time to head back.
Sure, it’s 4 hours away and in the middle of nowhere.
And sure, Ally doesn’t even live there anymore.
And sure, the rising gas prices have made this almost not worth it.
But whatever. You don’t own me. And I have no regrets.
The Amish aren’t too big on Memorial Day celebrations so we weren’t concerned about it being closed or anything. Good thing we were right, right? What if it had been closed?? Yikes! That would’ve been such a waste of time!
We filled our baskets to the brim with expired candy and crushed boxes of oatmeal (as well as other such foodstuffs: organic peanut butter, whole wheat pasta, sports drinks, cereal, etc.) I got what seemed like hundreds of dollars worth of food for 12 dollars and ten cents. Jim threw down a bit more since he was making some pretty fancy purchases (freshly baked bread): his bill came to 13 dollars even.
Afterwards we kicked back on the store’s porch, petting the local, Amish kitten: who was as filthy as the day is long.
Then we peeked inside the dumpster where we saw a mountain of fun sized Crunch Bars. A mountain! There were at least 10 thousand Crunch Bars in there, you guys. Seeing the sight was enough for us though. We felt no need to steal melted candy.
Until next year, Oelwein, IA!
Huzzah!
Posted in Asides on May 22, 2008| 4 Comments »
The “American Idols Live!” show is coming to Minneapolis on August 31st. Tickets will be between 37.50 and 66.50.
I could be convinced to go. Anyone with me??
Posted in Asides on May 21, 2008| 5 Comments »
Last night we had our final Leaders meeting at Buca Di Beppo.
When asked what beverage I would like for the evening, I wasted no time in ordering my favorite of all the drinks: The Kiddie Cocktail.
I’m convinced that I will still be ordering that when I’m 86 years old. And if anybody tries to stop me, they’re going to get scratched in the face. In the face! You hear?
What I find amusing is pretending that it’s spelled “Kitty Cocktail” instead of “Kiddie Cocktail.” Am I right? Dozens of adorable pictures come to mind! For instance, at this very moment I have a visual image of a little kitten hanging out inside a cocktail glass! Isn’t that great?? The more sick-minded of you (read: Ted, Peter, or Ben) might instead get an image of a cocktail made of kitten blood. Instead of cherries, there might be little kitten paws…or something equally distressing.
That image makes me sad.
But then I think about maybe a kitten drinking a cocktail. Like a human!
I’m happy again!
Posted in Asides on May 19, 2008| 2 Comments »
Only fear the Lord and serve Him faithfully with all your heart. For consider what great things He has done for you.– 1 Samuel 12:24
Yesterday we had our last “Mo’ Mammon, Mo’ Problems” meeting. We finished off the year with a baptism (yay Amanda – I am bursting with love for her!!), a game of kickball (the Mo’ Mammon team beat the Mo’ Problems team 18 to 5), a BBQ (with like 14 leftover hotdogs and the best 7-layer dip I’ve ever tasted), icebreakers galore, and a discussion on joy.
This last year has been ridiculously good. God has been ridiculously good. At least one major, growing, life circumstance happened to just about every member of our group at some point during the year, and I was almost brought to tears last night as everyone shared their favorite memories and where God has brought them through it all.
I’m ready to keep serving with and getting closer to our group members over the next however-many-more years and I’m excited to see what God keeps doing in each of their lives.
I got nothing but thankfulness and awe right now.
Some People Call Me Maurice 