a request for subway

A polite request to anyone who works for Subway or who happens to have managerial sway.

Thank you.

mmm.... Gino's East

Yesterday I got to consume my favorite pizza in the whole world.

Look at that slice of heaven - corn bread style crust, melted cheese on the bottom, a layer (yes, a LAYER) of sausage, then tomato sauce and diced tomatoes to top it off.

And before you tell me yours is better, I should remind you that this is the only Chicago pizza to make the list of the world's top pizzas. That's the WORLD, bub. :)

A buddy of mine drove through Chicago and bought it for us, since they sell them half-baked frozen. It's better in the restaurant, but I'm not complaining.

28 things about Tony Myles

Why is this list 28 things instead of 25? Because I'm a counter-intuitive guy and that's how I roll. (Sometimes it's a weakness that drives people who aren't that way crazy, but it's also a strength I bring to the table)

1. Some time ago I started doing celebrity and character voices. I've lost count of how many that's created, but every once I overload and start doing them in the car. And I start laughing at myself. And then I figure, "I need to share this with someone," so occasionally I'll call up a video store and ask if they have a certain actor's movies in stock while I use that actor's voice to do it. I often hear a pause on the other end that's often quite entertaining, at least for me.
   
   
2. Cooking gourmet food is something I enjoy and do fairly well... I wish I had more time to do it. It not only tastes great, but it helps me do something "instantly" (whereas working with people takes a whole lot of time).
   
   
3. I wait to say "bless you" until I'm sure you're done with your sneezing. And I'm not always sure why I'm saying "bless you" since that whole thing started out of a superstition that I don't subscribe to... and yet I bless people nonetheless. Maybe I need a Popemobile.
   
   
4. I used to be a picky eater, but now I will eat most anything... not because I like it, but because I went on a mission trip where I had to eat food I normally wouldn't. It made me expand my range, and so I try to eat more thankfully.
   
   But I will send back anything that has mayonnaise on it... that stuff is gross.
   
   
5. It's almost impossible for me to see a TV preview or a movie trailer and not figure out the whole plot. And not just because they give so much away, but because my mind figures stuff out even when I don't want it to. Like that movie The sixth Sense - I knew Bruce Willis was dead when I saw the preview trailer in the theater. Seriously, you didn't see that coming?
   
   
6. For about 99% of our marriage, my bride and I have prayed together at night before we go to bed. Only a few times that I've been away on trips have we missed that, and even then we pray for each other. Having said that, though...
   
   
7. Spending time with God in any conventional way is difficult for me. I have never had a consistent "quiet time" every day in as much as I have a flirtatious relationship with the Bible... the passion is very much alive and I am all over it, but it's hard for me to be mechanical about it. And the same is true of my prayer life, too... I have more regularity with that (like with praying my wife or be thankful before meals), but I find keeping an open conversation with God all day long works best for me versus locking myself into certain times. However...
   
   
8. I grow best spiritually when I bust out of my unconventional routine with someone conventional. Go figure.
   
   
9. I laugh out loud when I watch Seinfeld, although there are a few episodes I don't prefer because of content. My favorites are the one with Bookman, the one with Elaine's father, and the one with Keith Hernandez.
   
   
10. My favorite candy is the "bullseye" (soft caramel that surrounds milky white sugar in the center), followed by "Nibs" (bites of Twizzlers) and Sour Patch Kids.
    
    
11. TV was my teacher growing up, whether it was parenting skills from Cosby or the dad on Family Ties to how to take a really good jump on my bike off a hill (thanks, Dukes of Hazzard)!
    
    
12. My feet are almost flat... which means I have a hard time running and almost every pair of my shoes eventually end up with a funky slant in them.
    
    
13. I was calling her "The Oprah" long before Rush Limbaugh ever heard of her (back when she had a no-name local show in Chicago). Why have I called her "The Oprah?" Because her influence over America's female population is scary. I think if she said that she was getting spiritual truths out of the DMV driver's guide, they'd start flying off the shelves.
    
    
14. For many years, I've ended almost every email I send out with the tag "Together," because I really believe that we lost something as a culture when we started thinking we can do life on our own. (And to fess up, I first became intrigued by the tag from Tony Schwartz, but the motive is mine and that's why I do it)
    
    
15. On my 16th birthday, my dad handed me the phone and Pat Moritia (aka "Mr Miyagi" from the Karate Kid) wished me a happy birthday and told me some jokes.
    
    
16. There are many curse words I don't use anymore because they are sort of unproductive and unnecessary when many other words can be used instead. Sometimes I want to curse, though, and will often think of a clever way to work it into a TXT message or email, but then I go back and delete it. You may not agree with that approach - you may tell me I shouldn't care what people think, but it matters to me because what I'm doing with my life is more important than "not caring what people think." On some level I guess I don't care what people think - I'm putting real stuff and challenges out there everyday regardless of the response; but on the other side of the fence there is no need to be reckless with my language just to sound like "one of the guys." And yet, I have to confess there are two slang/curse words I miss using out loud - "bastard" and "boner." (Yeah, I wrote it. I didn't delete it. See how saving those words until the end of this paragraph showed my point?)
    
    
17. I'm an introvert who learned how to be an extrovert. Most of the things other people think are easy for me are things I do by choice.
    
    
18. God used the movie "The Matrix" to speak into my life. I know how that sounds, because everybody who saw that movie had all sorts of spiritual analogies. That's not what I mean... I mean if I hadn't watched that movie again a few years ago (this being about 5 years after I originally saw it), I wouldn't be a senior pastor today. There's quite a story about that I'll tell you over a smoothie someday.
    
    
19. Oh yeah, why Smoothies? Because they rock, and I would drink one everyday if I could.
    
    
20. I've never had a cup of coffee. Never. Not ever. A swig or two have been in my mouth over the years, and I spit it out. But my main beef with coffee is the caffeine - so many people laugh off how addicted they are to caffeine instead of ever thinking to correct it. Trust me - you can do it. You really can live life without caffeine.
    
    
21. My favorite places to eat are BD's Mongolian Grill, Outback Steakhouse, and Pietro's Italian Grill... and I can't afford any of them.
    
    
22. 90-95% of the messages I preach come from forcing myself each time to see something I haven't seen before in God, life, and people so I can share that with others. That's not easy, and it bothers me when I see other pastors not doing that or stealing their messages from other places and people. Sure, there's 5%-10% that I've repeated, whether it's a message I've preached before (which is rare - even when I use a title from a series I've done before I feel like I'm cheating if I teach the same message), or something I really was inspired by from a favorite teacher of mine and want to share.
    
    But 100% of the messages I share are rooted in the Bible, whether they are fresh out of my life or something I've re-wrestled with for the people I hope to present it to.
    
    I'm sharing that not to brag or sound like I'm "all that and a bag of chips," but because this is why I take it hard when someone tells me a message didn't do it for them... or that it's not "deep" enough... or that I need to be more like _______. Seriously? Good grief. If it comes from the Bible and the Bible is presented, then maybe the "miss" isn't always in the offering... maybe it's in the receiving.
    
    Yeah, I could be a better teacher. I work on that all the time. But it's not about being a teacher who gets applause... it's about being an invisible waiter so that at the end of a message I haven't charmed someone with a clever sales pitch but have forced them to wrestle with God - so that all week long they aren't thinking about me but talking with Him. That's why every message I share is a challenge for me to step it up from the last time... because lives are on the line and I can't get in the way of it.
    
    
23. Spending time with my family fills me up. Even when I'm in the middle of a chaotic moment with the kids or a hard conversation with my wife, I wouldn't want to be any other place in the whole world.
    
    
24. Spending time on Facebook is a way that I blow off some mental steam while connecting with my church, friends, and family. I also enjoy an occasional game of Spider Solitaire, though, when I need to just process a thought and need to relax the deep part of my brain for a moment.
    
    
25. I'm a sci-fi and heroes fan. But not the weird stuff that's filmed in New Zealand... the stuff that makes you see the world you live in with better eyes. From the Twilight Zone and Lost to Smallville and Heroes - shows and movies that give you permission to suspend how you normally understand life so that you can better understand it when you return to it.
    
    
26. The most important voices in my life are in this order - God, my wife, my boys, and close-close-close-close-friends. I will listen to other voices, always considering their potential thought, but I've learned through hard experience that most of the time you need to be like Teflon and not let anything stick that God wants you to let slide off.
    
    Some days it's hard to do that. Today is one of those days.
    
    
    
27. I wish I had the chance to "speak" more than I do. Granted, I've had some great opportunities on a national and local level that have been simply amazing. And I write professionally, which gives me that voice as well. But I always feel like I'm prostituting myself when I ask for the chance to speak somewhere... so often I don't. And I feel like a lot of life lessons and ministry principles I can offer get bottled up and put on the shelf.
    
    That's one reason I'm launching a new blog (in addition to this one) in about a week. It will let me dump out "those thoughts" in a productive way.
    
    But hey - if you want me to come speak sometime, I'm game.
    
    
28. Jesus Christ changed my life... not because "that worked for me" but because Jesus Christ changed my life. Seriously, that is something so powerful that I can't even begin to find words for it.
    
    And He can change your life, too, if you stop playing games.
    
    So stop playing games.

a day in the life of me: birthday reflections

It was yet another amazing birthday just hanging with my family and then some good friends who surprised me at the end. I woke up to breakfast in bed, presents from my boys, and then got to go back to sleep. Then we headed out to Mongolian BBQ, window-shopped at a retro toy store, came back and played some Gamecube, and ate a turkey dinner. I got some gifts from my wife and mom in there, too, capped off with a trip to Smoothie King.

Something that I learned on my birthday this year?

It's fun to eat a lunch of a variety of bowl assortments at Mongolian BBQ.

But... when combined with a turkey dinner...

and a trip to Smoothie King...

your stomach may not be your best friend.

questioning the industry of food

So last week the "Neverending pasta bowl" ended its run at Olive Garden.

Please tell me you find that as ironic as I do.

For the record, the new Spinach Alfredo never did get much of a run because of the e coli scare, even though that's the reason I went in the first place. However, I did enjoy the new Sundried Tomato Parmesan and recommend you eat as much of it as possible... especially with those addictive crack-laced rolls they call breadsticks.

This got me to thinking about the a lot of the inconsistencies and absurdities in the food industry. For instance...

• What's the deal with restaurant coupons telling you that they are worth 1/20 of one cent? I respect the ones that tell you outright "No cash value," but then there are weirdos who decide to test the public at large with the temptation for a penny. Here's how I picture the scene:
  
  

  Teenager working at Chuck E Cheese because he needs money to buy an IPOD: "Can I help you sir?"
  
  Crazy coupon man flinging a stack of coupons at him: "Give me my penny, boy."
  
  TWACECBHNMTBAI: "Um... sir, I don't understand."
  
  CCMFASOCAH: "I'm on to you, boy... gimme my penny before I get mad and lay a smackdown of arcade game tickets on you. I'm one round of Skee Ball away of enough tickets to buy the place."

• Then there's the Old Country Buffet. Why does everything I've ever eaten there taste like I could have had it better somewhere else?And for that matter, why won't the guy who cuts up the roast give me more than a slice so thin I'd have to get six of them in order to chew one time?
  
  
• "Catsup" or "Ketchup?" How can we still not know what to call this flavorful goop?
  
  
• Why does the Doritos company keep changing their bag color and presentation for their main product? I keep wondering if they've release something new or not and get disappointed everytime.
  
  
• Should I eat at an establishment that can sum up a current movie through the toys in their kid's meals?
  
  
• How is it that we can handle talking into a cell phone through our cheeks but we still insist on yelling at the little drive thru box? It’s modern technology yet we think the guy on his headset will hear us better if we sound like Chewbacca.
  
  
• If you take a small bag you put one tablespoon of sugar, one half cup of half and half, one quarter teaspoon of vanilla; then in a large ziplock put a half cup of rock salt and lots of ice. You put the small bag into the big bag, seal it, and shak eit for 5-10 minutes. Then the little bag turns to ice cream.
  
  
• How the heck does that happen and what ancient barbarian messed around with those ingredient to come up with it? And for that matter, who looked at a cow in the first place and thought, "I'll bet that stuff that comes of their udders is drinkable" - and then he drank it? Was this a bet or something far more disturbing involving an anti-cow league?

I have no point to make. Only questions.

And more questions.

weekend fun: 35

"Cake's a powerful food. Cake can actually bring people together.

'You know it's Bill's birthday'
'Yeah, I hate that guy.'
'There's cake in the conference room.'
(pause) 'Well I should say hello.'

Let's be honest, when that birthday song kicks in all you're thinking about is 'I'm getting some free cake.' " - comedian Jim Gaffigan

My wife and boys rocked my day today with all kinds of special touches, not to mention homemade lasagna and Dairy Queen ice cream cake.

So in light of today being my birthday...

Things A 35-Year Old Guy Should Never Do.

1. Use shoes or a wallet that are fastened with Velcro.
2. Wear a sweaty tank top as you head out to see your pals Sal and Manny.
3. Attempt to understand the relationship you share with your dog.
4. Hang art with scotch tape.
5. Watch live episodes of The View or The Oprah (but watching repeat episodes late at night in order to make fun of them is okay).
6. Ask a policeman, "Got any donuts you can bring back after you write that ticket?"
7. Tap on the glass of aquairums in stores.
8. Shout out an affirmative response to "Are you ready to rock?"
9. Jokingly flash gang signs while posing for wedding photos.
10. Air drum with chopsticks while waiting for food at Mongolian BBQ (because the other day I saw this guy doing it and he drove me crazy).
11. Wear CHIPs sunglasses indoors while you flash the "cool guy guns" across the room at with your buddy who is air drumming with chopsticks at the Mongolian BBQ (because the other day I saw this guy doing it and he drove me crazy).
12. Aloofly try to bring back outdated clothing because you don't know what's cool anymore.
13. Listen to Howard Stern.
14. Dispute someone else's call of "shotgun."
15. "Tip" the delivery boy with a note that says, "Don't take any wooden nickles."
16. Display a novelty bumper sticker involving a bootleg version of Calvin from Calvin and Hobbes doing something naughty.
17. Read Mad Magazine in the magazine aisle of Walgreens.
18. Make prank calls to bowling alleys or chicken establishments involving strategically dirty questions regarding their products.
19. But tickets for anything that starts with "Ice" and ends in "Capade."
20. Watch Leno over Letterman.
21. Begin chanting "WOOF! WOOF! WOOF!" after you belch.
22. Appear in an infomercial by giving a "word on the street" endorsement of any product held in the hands of the former 70's TV star or athlete hosting the "show."
23. Wear superhero t-shirts out in public unless you're absolutely secure in your identity first.
24. Repeat every line of "Ferris Bueller's Day Off," "The Princess Bride," or "Monty Python's The Holy Grail" if they are every played at a house party you happen to be at.
25. In fact, let's just say repeating movie lines of any movie you've seen is bad in general.
26. And that also includes repeating movie lines of something you're currently watching and are laughing at but feel the compulsive need to repeat the line you just heard while you're laughing (as though everyone around you can't put together which line you're laughing at as you distract them from watching the movie).
27. Pretend that you actually care about anything the weatherman says before he finally gets to the five-day forecast with the cute little pictures of suns, clouds, and lightning bolts.
28. Wear a baseball hat to the side (but backward-action is still cool).
29. Make a woman watch any episode of the Three Stooges with you.
30. Attempt to begin a new friendship with the phrase/question, "Hubba Bubba?"
31. Expect that one day your goal of owning either KITT or the General Lee will actually happen.
32. Do the Robot.
33. Go grocery shopping in your pajamas.
34. Be undecided on who "your teams" are.
35. Forget how your life is blessed no matter how quirky it is or you are because of it.

Thanks to Katie, Joshua, and Daniel for making today more than special.

Thanks to my mom and dad for biological birth and loving parenting as best as you knew how.

Thanks to all of my friends and readers like you who add color and textures to how I see things.

Thanks to my Savior Jesus Christ for putting Life into my life.

A Happy Birthday, indeed.

chow down

Last night we splurged a bit and ate with some good friends at B.D.'s Mongolian BBQ. If you've not had the experience before I highly encourage you to try it... it's all about taking out some raw food and sauces, giving it all to some crazy dudes who cook it up for you, and sitting down to eat some tasty do-it-yourself stir fry (with unlimited helpings and combinations).

Good food.

Our youngest little guy - 2 years old - has feeling a bit under the weather. Consequently, he didn't each much yesterday... until just before bed. Suddenly he got real hungry and started eating a pretty decent meal right before laying down. Given the fact that he needed the energy, we let him snack on a few healthy things. Amazing how little bodies work in that way.

Good food.

Can you remember the last time you forgot to eat? You may have to tax your brain a bit, but when were you so engrossed in something that you completely didn't think about food at all? Perhaps it was a paper in school that you wanted to desperately finish... or maybe you were in the presence of someone special who had every ounce of your attention. In any case, when was the last time you neglected to eat a meal? And what was the reason?

It's odd how things cause us to forget or minimize such "necessities." Whether it's busyness or illness, we can often neglect what is essential (like keeping our bodies healthy) in lieu of whatever seems more pressing. Many times when people are grieving the loss of another the last thing they think about is food... and consequently it makes it all that much harder.

If we were asked by someone what our number one priority is in life many of us would quickly spout off the answer “God.” And I truly believe that is the case as far as our hearts and minds are concerned... that deep down we yearn for that to truly be the case.

In spite of this, though, it would seem that our souls end up empty though because we fall short of connecting desire with reality. We skip our "feeding times" with Jesus, hoping somehow through quick scraps we'll get the nutrition we need for healthy living. We munch on Him here or there, unconsiously hoping our Sunday church feeding will give us all the nutrients we need throughout the week (even though physically we'd never live that way).

And we end up with lives of spiritual malnutrition because of it.

There is the other side, though - the side where we do nothing but eat and eat and eat and eat spiritual food... but have zero activity with it. Every week we hit the church services, small groups, Bible studies, worship music, conference tapes, podcats, blogs, and everything else... only we haven't exercised one spiritual muscle.

We call the word of God truth… how much time do you spend in it? We need to stay healthy spiritually by feasting on His presence all day long AND exercising out that which we've taken in. So whether it's a do-it-yourself small group or the desperation of the illnesses of life that force you to eat...

take time to savor the Savior (with unlimited helpings and combinations).

Here's a good place to start: Psalm 1

speaking of food

One thing a trip to Chicago always allows is a chance to enjoy some of my favorite foods. You just can't find good Italian Beef in Michigan, not to mention the world's greatest pizza (and I will arm wrestle you over it) - Gino's East Deep Dish Sausage Patty.

This started me thinking about all the good food I've sampled in the past month. And so I'd like to make a few shout outs and salutes while I can.

• Ginger Imhoff's taco/fajitas... I salute you. When a bunch of us went over to your house for a creative team meeting, you fed us this incredible food on Friday night. It was so good that we ate it again for lunch on Saturday (even though you would have cooked us something else). They weren't spicy, nor were they flavorless. And you had both chicken and beef (which I personally enjoy combining) and fresh guacamole (which I personally enjoy dolloping).
  
  
• Sharon Weerstra's 16 bean soup... I salute you. I've had some good "Bean and Bacon" soup in a can before, but this was some incredible homemade soup. In fact, at "16 beans" you could eat it with a fork, but I liked a spoon. There was homemade ham and smoked sausage tossed in for fun... and what fun it was.
  
  
• Meijer gas station fruit salad... I salute you. Even though you were prepackaged and marked 50% off, I took a risk and bought you when I needed something healthy to eat. You didn't let me down, and even managed to be ripe without being spoiled. I wouldn't have minded one piece of pineapple in the mix, but you deserve a shout out nonetheless.
  
  
• Popcorn I ate with white cheddar topping at Celebration Cinema... I salute you. What a topping you were - even when I wasn't sure I was hungry for popcorn. My wife and I shared the bag, or else I would have eaten the whole thing. So sadly ours is a relationship that never quite has been resolved.
  
  
• Apple slices I smuggled into the same movie theater... I salute you. I could have eaten an overpriced box of Sour Patch Kids, but I knew that you would provide a sweet crunch that would warm my whole body. I never saw the sign that said I couldn't bring you in, so let's just assume that it was okay - even if I did have to put you in that plastic baggie and hide you inside my inner coat pocket for awhile.
  
  
• Applebees garlic mashed potatoes... I salute you. You accompanied my favorite meal there - the Chicken Fajita roll-up (which is my favorite only because it takes too long to make it at home so why not let them sweat it out?). I just didn't feel like eating fries as I usually do with that dish, so I asked for you instead. But let's be honest - while you were savory, you tasted even better than normal because Scott paid the bill.
  
  
• Burger King solo onion ring... I salute you. When I couldn't decide between a box of rings or a box of fries, I chose the potato over the onion. Yet you managed to jump into the box anyway - one solo onion ring - greeting me at the bottom of an otherwise linear meal. It was like that one day when I ordered a six piece nugget meal and got seven... only it was better.
  
  
• My wife Katie's lasagna... I salute you. Granted, I didn't eat any in the last month, and yet I dreamed of you on more than one occasion. Perhaps one day we will be united again and I will find myself smiling on the inside and the outside as only you can inspire.

Um... yeah. So did you eat anything cool this month?

talking turkey 2 - electric boogaloo

So...

I arrived with my family in Chicago and was looking forward to the bird all morning. The aroma was so amazing I felt like I wanted to dive into the oven. In fact, my family loves me so much that they got one of the biggest turkeys they could find.

Only... it was TOO big, though. Even though my mom got up super early to get it going the oven had other ideas about cooking it completely.

So we ate all the side dishes at noon... read my last post and see if God doesn't have a sense of humor.

The turkey tasted good at 3pm. Nothing like an all-day meal, eh?

The next day I got to enjoy some more turkey with my dad, not to mention some lasagna.

I'm thankful for my family... and for the ability to laugh at life together.

never-ending irony

I was watching TV and saw a commercial for the never-ending pasta bowl at Olive Garden that they are running for a limited time.

"Never-ending."

For a "limited time."

Hmm...

Oh, and for the record - I have Italian roots and I've never "taken my Grandpa Luigi to the Olive Garden when he visits me from Italy."

birthday epilogue

So here's the birthday recap:

The gifts and the food:

• Breakfast: Katie and the boys woke me up with a "happy birthday" serenade, capped off with a homemade version of my favorite breakfast - a Burger King style crossainwich with round tater tots. I dig it when I wake up with the King... and the family He's blessed me with.
• Big card: I like homemade stuff that involves extra care. My family spent some time to make a specialized, oversized homemade card with the boys' handprints all over it. A huge "HAPPY BIRTHDAY DADDY" was at the center, with expressions of love all throughout. *Gersh.*
• Wrestling ring: Well... this is an interesting story to explain. I'll get into the details some other time, but let's just say it's an inside joke. The intent was for the boys and I to have something to play with together, but the problem was that it didn't come with wrestlers. So we ended up returning it and getting...
• A Toy Story set: Sure, it was more for the boys than for me, but the joy on their faces was worth it. We've been looking for "Stinky Pete" for a long time and finally found a cheap way to get him (eBay shipping always didn't make it worth bidding on him). I think, though, that this purchase makes 703 "Buzz Lightyear" figures we now own.
• Chinese Buffet: We had lunch at one of the biggest and well cared for Chinese buffets in town. (Which, as a side note, have you noticed how most Chinese food is found in the form of buffets these days? Did the staff get tired of hearing us try to pronounce the name of the food over the phone or was the thought that if we could see it we would probably eat it? Anyway... I don't mind the concept, but I definitely miss trying to say "Moo Goo Gai Pan" with a straight face). They played the "Happy Birthday" song in English and Chinese, then came over with a plate of fruit circled around a mini lemon pie (like an inch in circumference) with a candle in it. Next to it was some fruit I never had before, but I ate it anyway. Not bad.
• Gift card: One of my best friends dropped by with a gift card for a local Christian bookstore. I knew what I wanted to get right away - the new David Crowder CD. Track 18 rocks... very cool (we actually cranked it up loud today and danced around as a family). The CD has some intentional silences... this weirded me out at first, but then I began to appreciate them.
• Pietro's: Pietro's has quite possibly my favorite Italian food, especially the Fettuccine Alfredo. Since it was my birthday, my entree was free. We added a salad to it for $1.99, which Katie ate with a bowl of soup. I think our tab was like $5 or something. Savory, free grub.
• Princess Bride Movie: Again, an inside story here since I already own The Princess Bride on VHS. But since the conspiracy of DVD's came out (honestly, do I need 20 extra hours of "Dude, Where's My Car?") video tapes have become the new 8-Track in society. But we've become converts and so I now own the DVD with all the added extras. This is perhaps my favorite movie of all time, and Katie and I have some fond memories of watching it together during our "courtin' days." (For some fun, take the personality quiz.)
• Princess Bride Picture: A couple of days ago I mentioned to Katie how I saw this cool picture in this month's Discipleship Journal. John Ortberg wrote a cool story about the Princess Bride called "As You Wish" and so the magazine commissioned someone to come up with an artistic version of a scene from the live movie. Katie paid attention and bought the magazine, then framed the picture. This will go on my office desk... that is, when/if I get an office again.
• Ice cream cake: I don't like cake. That is, regular cake. But ice cream cake? Oh, man... step aside, please. I'd like four servings. Dairy Queen makes the best... just the right mix of ice cream and cookie crumbs. Dang... just for describing this I now have to go eat another piece.
• Movie: Katie and I saw Flightplan... not bad, not bad at all. And I got a coupon via email that gave us a large popcorn and large drink (you know, the size that comes with its own lifeguard?). Since we went to the Thursday night late show (Katie's parents watched the kids while they slept - one benefit to living with the in-laws), we were the only ones in the whole theater. Kind of cool... but when we left the whole place was empty. We didn't see one movie theater employee, which made us wonder if we had been forgotten about. Although we could have walked off with heaps of badly buttered popcorn and overpriced candy, we opted to just quietly slip out.

The family:

• My wife: I know many guys dream of the perfect woman to marry, but unfortunately for them it just won't happen. I know this because she's off the market... I married her. When I say perfect, I don't mean that she's flawless. I mean that all of her flaws (if I could even call them that) are perfect in just the right places. And the upside? She actually loves me... everyday she proves it. Even on a shoestring budget she gave me a bang up birthday. I know my God is good... and I learn more about Him everyday through the tenderness and endurance of my bride. Loving her has helped me glimpse how Christ loves the Church.
• My oldest boy: A highlight of my day was seeing my oldest son's face during the singing of "Happy Birthday." He's four and a half now, and this was the first birthday he got to be in on the secrets. Often he'd say, "Daddy... um, there's something that you're going to like! Something special!" And he'd almost spill it, but then he'd catch himself and go whisper over to my wife. Very cool.
• My youngest boy: This little guy soaked in the day. I can tell he's processing things more, being almost two years old. He really enjoyed the cake... which we unfortunately fed him before bed. The little guy was bouncing around quite a bit, but he eventually nodded off to sleep.

Deep Thoughts:

• I don't mind being older. Some of my friends freaked when they turned 30, and I didn't mind it. As a few years have gone by, I still haven't minded. Now that I'm 34, I'm still loving my Jesus, my wife, my kids, and the Church.
• Last year when I turned 33, I told my friend Rob, "Dude... I'm Jesus' age when He died. I wonder if this will be my 'crucifixion' year." A few days later some things changed in my job, and the fatigue of following Jesus since then has often made me wonder about that statement. I wonder... might this year be my "resurrection" year?
• "Even youths grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall; but those who hope in the LORD will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint." (Isaiah 40:30-31)