Mindless Juices

So, this weekend, my wife left me for a retreat called the Red Tent retreat. The Red Tent ministry is the name of a women's ministry at our church. So, while she was at the beach, I had my friend Mike over for some gaming. We mostly played HALO and NFS: Most Wanted. Now, for those of you don't know, NFS:MW is one of the greatest driving games ever made. EA made a great game when they made NFS: Underground and Underground 2. However, they went above and eyond when they combined the Underground style games with NFS:Hot Pursuit. Did that seem like a different language? Well, here's the deal: the new Need for Speed game has you making rides like Fast and Furious, but also getting chased by the cops. So, there you are with your sweet Porche Cayman, sprinting down the highway at 150 mph, holding off your fellow street racers with a little burst of NOS and, suddenly, "joining" the race on an on-ramp on the highway is the five-O. That's right, so now, not only do you need to win the race, you need to do it with the cops on your butt, setting up roadblocks, spike strips, sending out helicopters, etc. Drag racing, sprints, circuits, timed runs, and speed trap races PLUS narrow escapes by blowing up gas stations, knocking over water towers and giant donuts, driving on the golf courses, boardwalks and parks, and ducking underneath tractor trailers. Also, in more important news, I finally won a poker game!!! Yes, after almost a year and a half of playing poker, I won a game. We actually played twice. The first round was quick blind increases and the game moved quickly. I ended up in second place and won my buy-in back. The second round was a little more intense. The blinds grew at a slower pace, so the game was slower. I actually busted out twice for a total of three buy-ins. But, I guess third time is a charm. After my third buy-in (meaning I had the smallest stack), I managed to win a few pots. It may have actually worked to my advantage as the other players stacks gave them more confidence than they probably should have had. Anyway, I ended up winning with a J/6 beating a Q/9 as I picked up the 6 on 4th street. I won a whopping $15, but, after my three buy-ins, I only made $7.50. It will take a few more wins before I'm ready to spend any money on the internet.

So, most of you already know that I am married to an amazing, beautiful woman who I don't deserve. Still, she's mine and you can't have her. No, really, my point here is just to tell you a little about her. Here are some fun facts: 1.) I've known her 1 month less than she's been alive. 2.) She has a tremendous heart. 3.) She will be an amazing mother someday. 4.) She often wakes up early to make me lunch. 5.) She is VERY pretty. For now, let's focus in on #3. You see, we've been on a journey, of which many of you are aware (many thanks to an unexpected announcement from Benji at an appreciateion dinner). This journey is one of adopting a child from South Korea. It is our hope that we might have a child join our family before the end of this year. Recently, the news has left the realm of quasi-private to "OK for public consumption." So, I am happy to blog about it (finally!). There have been many moments along the way that I feel are truly blog worthy, but I can't remember them now and I'm sure I couldn't tell the stories nearly as well today as I could have told them months ago. However, here's what I know now: This whole adoption thing, like the miracle of birth, is a God thing. While it seems a little more obvious for traditional families, I believe God has already made a baby for us (or is going to soon) and that baby is in His will to be a part of our family. And, yes, we're going to have all the many wonderful and horrible times that every family has as they do life together. Also, I know that God can make money grow on trees... or more specifically, God can provide without you really understanding how He does it.

Well, not really, but I moved my office back to my original spot. You see, I started in an office sharing it with another supervisor. Then, I worked on a special project where my duties were taken over by someone as I worked on the special project. When I returned, that someone took over my area and I took over another area. I could have had my office back, but it seemed like more work than it was worth. So, I took the cubicle outside my old office. A cube means no door which is annoying. It's also much louder. Recently, that someone moved onto another career with a different company. I took the opportunity to move back into my old office and here I am now. I still have files and some other things to move, but I need to get the keys to the filing cabinets in my old-new office. Meanwhile, I put down the Pergo flooring. I hope to snap some pictures and get them on the blog soon. I never remember to take pictures. The process was difficult, but overall satisfying. Home improvement projects suck while you're doing them. You wonder, "Why didn't I pay someone to do this?" But once they're done, you have to be pleased, assuming they turned out OK.

I'll be saying that a lot tonight. Why? Because I'll finally get to play some poker. Josh is having a poker night and I cannot wait to try some of my freshly acquired techniques and see if they can't take me all the way. Now, I'm due a win. Seriously, I've played quite a few $5 buy-in poker games over the past year. It's time for me to win one and make my money back. I'll be bringing my best friend to the game. He's been VERY busy with school and work and, well, I havne't exactly been very free myself. We've managed to hang out a couple times over the past couple of weeks as his classes have tapered off, but I'm looking forward to introducing him to more of my other friends and having a good time drinking and playing poker. Wish me luck!

'Canes won! We're moving on to the second round with a couple days to rest up. The "Habs" captain, Koivu, went out in Game 3 with an eye injury after an accidental high stick from Justin Williams. Montreal will probably forever hate Justin, but he called Koivu in the hospital and apologized. The replay shows a completely unintentional high stick. We'll be playing the Devils in the second round. My little sister roots for the Devils, so, hopefully, I can find some time to give her a call during the series. This past weekend was the Big Event at newhope. I put in a lot of hours, but it turned out well. Angela covered it well in her blog. I'm looking forward to hearing how all the hard work we've all put in over the past month has helped move the hearts of people and helped us drive our stake in the ground near Southpoint. One note: Todd, our sound guy that helped us setup, is, apparently, a freaking genius. Skipped some grades, graduated college early, masters degrees, etc. and he's been in the theatre A/V game since he was a kid. Upon being asked if it sounded good and he could make any recommendations, *HE* said (about Angela), "She's a rock star. Let her do her thing!" At the time, I had no idea how huge of a compliment that was for Angela, but now I know about Todd's talent, experience, and knowledge... if he couldn't make any suggestions, we've got ourselves a top notch sound person at newhope. While Angela says, "Steve taught me everything I know" that's hardly true. She's taught herself about compressors along with the rest of us and no one can teach how to listen. She's got a hell of an ear and she's good. Very good. If you're not sure about newhope, but you're an audiophile, come any given Sunday when Angela is running sound and you'll be impressed. I guarantee it. On a similar note, I received what I will take as a compliment from another Creative Vision genius. At Jessica and Kelly's wedding on Saturday, Andrew, bass player for WAM and aforementioned CV integration genius, turned to his wife, Sarah, and said, "Is Steve running sound?" Sarah turned around to look and saw me, indeed, running sound. Upon confirmation, Andrew told Sarah that he thought so, I have a distinctive style/sound. I'm assuming it's a good style/sound and I will let my A/V ego grow... just slightly. On another similar note, Jessica and Kelly's wedding was absolutely perfect. Now, I've been to/ run sound and/or lights at/ helped out at a lot of weddings. I can honestly say I have a great amount of experience with weddings. I can tell you that most don't run smoothly. Many have minor to major emergencies. Others have poor planning. Still others have issues well beyond the control of anyone other than God. Almost ALL of them have started late. Jessica and Kelly, on the other hand, had a completely perfect weddings. Jessica timed everything, covered everything, asked all the right questions with time to change anything, pre-lit the candles. Her wedding coordinator, Emily, synchronized watches with me and this is where it became perfect. The wedding ran completely smooth as other weddings I have been a part of that were well planned and organized... but this wedding STARTED ON TIME, TOO!!! Listen, it's a big accomplishment to pull of a perfect wedding. The reception was at the University Club, the top of the only many storied building in Durham. Kelly has a razor wit. He was celebrating well (meaning he was drinking, but I don't think he was drunk). I really like them and I feel like we became almost instant friends. Which is not normal, but happy. It should be noted, apparently, Jessica does not have a track record of instant friends. According to the toasts given at the reception, people have to grow on Jessica and the crowd even agreed. So, I feel very honored to have been so quickly brought into their circle of friends, even if it's only on the outside edge.

Did anyone else notice how cute my wife was yesterday? Personally, I think she was cuter than Kristen Bell. Why? Because Sabrina looks just as cute, but without Hollywood make-up and hair. You see, what you people don't know is my wife wakes up beautiful. That's just one of the reasons I married her. THEN, she puts on her cute for you all. Needless to say, I like the headband. I think it should make a comeback. So, please, feel free to comment on how I don't deserve her.