From the Desk 6/22/2008

This morning I woke up at 7:00 (when I planned this time) and picked up the paper at Amy and Jon's to check the ads. Rumor had it that if the Target ad listed Nintendo Wii's as available that the stores would have a limited quantity to sell on Sunday morning. I checked and they were shown in the flyer so I got ready and left to try and secure a Nintendo Wii for myself to occupy my time while I am done with wedding videos. I arrived at the Target at Downtown West at 8:10am and bought one of the three remaining systems (they had 12 at 8:00 when they opened). I then ran to Walmart to buy replacement bulbs for my car headlights. After stopping off at Sonic for some breakfast, I arrived at CBCB to help run the sound booth for the services that morning. I was soon joined in the booth by dad, Charlie and Stephanie. We made a mostly error free recording/broadcast of the first service which was amazing as I was still about to fall asleep despite my extended rest from last night.

After the second service was over, we all went to Calhoun's at Bearden Hill to eat some lunch. It was nice to eat a Sunday lunch with my family. I do miss that each weekend, but I'm sure that I will be welcome to join them whenever I am in town. Dad and I changed out the headlights on my car, which came in handy later, and I met up with Hickey at his parent's house. We made a run to Walmart and then ended up at the mall after stopping for some slushes at Sonic during their "Happy Hour". We wandered around the mall in search of swim trunks for Hickey, but he couldn't find any he liked. I just enjoyed hanging out and walking around (as otherwise I would have been asleep). I dropped by my parent's house to change back into my church clothes that mom had so graciously washed for me to wear to Dr. Wendell Boertje's 25th Anniversary service at 6:30.

I had already made contact with Chris Bailey and made arrangements to join the orchestra to play the opening song in the celebration service. It was good to see my orchestra family again and my playing wasn't as bad as I had thought considering I hadn't played my trumpet in over 6 months. I left as soon as we finished playing in an attempt to get home before dark. It didn't work. I ended up meeting with Paulette Chandler and family to discuss the details of Amy's wedding that I was filming in October. We wrapped up our chat and contract signing as the clouds rolling in appeared to be about to burst with rain. I hopped on the interstate and before I even reached the split to I-75, traffic slowed to an astounding 35 mph as no one could see from the combination of heavy rains and blinding sunlight. I finally arrived at the slip to I-75 and found that when I drove just a bit further, the ground wasn't even damp from rain. I'm glad it stopped though, because I was already delayed from my desired departure time and was trying to make up for it by not running into any traffic. That worked until Sweetwater where the weekend paving project was still ongoing and traffic was cut down to using only part of one lane and the shoulder (see my picture if you think I'm joking). I finally got back to a normal speed and finally arrived home at 10:00pm.

After I unloaded my car and changed clothes, I met Christina at Steak n' Shake for a milkshake and to hear about her weekend. It had been almost 2 years since I just went someplace for a milkshake, and I will have to not let another 2 years pass before doing it again. It was good to see Christina and we made plans for hiking later in the week and I think she is going to join Mike and I on our 10 mile hike on Saturday morning. I said goodbye to her and then went to my apartment where I promptly crashed until the next morning.

Meditation for the day: 1 Corinthians 13:6-8 "Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away.