It's Friday night and the promised rain is puncturing the dry air over us, finally.
I had a productive, relaxing week. Basement and garage have been tamed into a semblance of order. More importantly, I was able to get out and enjoy the near-perfect weather. Wednesday found me biking the trail at Jefferson Barracks Park. Along the way, I actually sat down under a tree and read a book, how quaint!
On Thursday I biked a trail in a recently-opened floodplain section of Cliff Cave Park. Many species of wildflowers were in bloom - I'll have to return with my camera. I stopped at the River Des Peres Trail afterwards. Beautification efforts along RDP Avenue have resulted in 3 pedestrian bridges being built to cross over the RDP into the Christy Greenway bike trail. I explored the greenway and then returned to hit the entire RDP bike trail, round-trip. I'd never done it front to back and it was a nice ride.
Today I drove out to the new Hamburg Trail near Weldon Spring, MO. It ends at a section of the Katy Trail that I rode last fall and I remembered seeing a sign for it at that time. The Hamburg Trail rides through forest glades with historical markers posted along the route. My legs got really tired near the end of the ride, so I knew it was time to let them rest awhile.
Now the rains will soon come and force me indoors for the weekend. I need to get out and look for new bed linens, anyway. I'll soon be re-doing my bedroom and my brother's old room with refinished wood floors and new paint. For some reason, I haven't seen many manly, non-frumpy, non-flowery bedding ensembles.
My Tunes updates tonight after this publishes.
Friday, April 28, 2006
Monday, April 24, 2006
Vacation, finally...
I'm on hiatus from work this week, first vacation of the year! I'm not headed to any destination more exotic than the greater St. Louis area, though. This week is just unplugging from the usual routine and tackling all those little things that haven't gotten done yet. Things such as lawn fertilization, garage-cleaning, cobweb eradication, etc... There are also some bike trails (and possibly some hiking trails) that have my name on them as well. I will also be able to join some some of my man-friends at Bandana's for dinner tomorrow night.
How do I know I timed this vacation just right? A minor crisis hit at work on Friday night right at 5:00 and a major crisis hit at work on Saturday morning. A computer unplugged at the wrong time and a network cable plugged into the wrong place make for tense times. Sometimes you just know it's time to get away.
Speaking of bike trails, I got out on Grant's Trail for the first time this year on Saturday evening (oh the joys of daylight savings time!). I'd gotten my bike ready to roll last Wednesday night at Sunset Cyclery and it was good to get back at it.
I experienced Blueberry Hill for the *ahem* first time last Thursday night. I know, I'm ashamed I've lived here 6 years and had not experienced it yet. It's a cool place to hang out if you're with a group of your friends. It was karaoke night in the basement Elvis Room, but I was still in my work clothes so I wasn't exactly dressed for that sort of crowd, so I declined multiple invitations to belt out a tune or two.
My church has gotten a new thing going called The Gathering - young professionals (age 19-35) meeting every other Sunday night for bible study and hang-out time. They wanted to attract singles and marrieds but it's been all singles so far. I've started going and it's been pretty cool so far. We started a Louie Giglio video series on dating, love, and life last night.
How do I know I timed this vacation just right? A minor crisis hit at work on Friday night right at 5:00 and a major crisis hit at work on Saturday morning. A computer unplugged at the wrong time and a network cable plugged into the wrong place make for tense times. Sometimes you just know it's time to get away.
Speaking of bike trails, I got out on Grant's Trail for the first time this year on Saturday evening (oh the joys of daylight savings time!). I'd gotten my bike ready to roll last Wednesday night at Sunset Cyclery and it was good to get back at it.
I experienced Blueberry Hill for the *ahem* first time last Thursday night. I know, I'm ashamed I've lived here 6 years and had not experienced it yet. It's a cool place to hang out if you're with a group of your friends. It was karaoke night in the basement Elvis Room, but I was still in my work clothes so I wasn't exactly dressed for that sort of crowd, so I declined multiple invitations to belt out a tune or two.
My church has gotten a new thing going called The Gathering - young professionals (age 19-35) meeting every other Sunday night for bible study and hang-out time. They wanted to attract singles and marrieds but it's been all singles so far. I've started going and it's been pretty cool so far. We started a Louie Giglio video series on dating, love, and life last night.
Sunday, April 16, 2006
He Is Risen!...
He is risen, indeed.
Had a splendid Easter Sunday today. Great services at church and a great dinner at home with the folks and bro/sis-in-law. As my birthday is tomorrow, the dinner featured several of my favorite dishes (coincidentally, not intentionally). Dessert was my 'special' birthday cake - a delicious confection called Strawberry Dream Cake. The "dream" part of the name must come from its dreamy taste, or the feeling that you are dreaming when you behold its magnificence--I'm not sure. It's a simple recipe, an angel food cake stuffed with mashed strawberries and smothered in whipping cream (not COOL WHIP!). It's a culinary tradition first started by my beloved deceased grandmother and faithfully carried on by my beloved mother. It's a delight beyond belief for a strawberry lover like me.
I was listening to a Chuck Swindoll Easter message on the radio coming home and he pointed out something I'd totally missed until now. Mark 16:7 says that the women at the tomb were told to 'go tell [Jesus'] disciples and Peter,....' By the time of the Resurrection, Peter had defected! So utterly destroyed by the guilt of his denial of Jesus that he resigned his discipleship. Of course, as the story goes, Jesus restored Peter and he became a great leader of the early church. A man who, when the chips were down, denied any knowledge of Christ (even to the point of cursing at the third one who asked him) had hope because of the Resurrection. If you're reading this and you've been there or are there now, that same hope is yours today.
Albert Pujols picked up his team and carried them on his shoulders today. The Cardinals are scuffling, as the writers say, out of the gate this year. A shaky bullpen, and the new right fielder (who hasn't endeared himself to anyone as yet) conspired to put them at a 7-6 disadvantage late in the game. A brilliantly unorthodox strategy of sending up a pitcher to pinch-hit (albeit one who hits well) was successful and AP sent the faithful at the Church of Busch home happy with his THIRD home run of the day. THREE HOME RUNS. A devout Christian was the Cardinals' saving grace on Easter Sunday. How nice is that?
Had a splendid Easter Sunday today. Great services at church and a great dinner at home with the folks and bro/sis-in-law. As my birthday is tomorrow, the dinner featured several of my favorite dishes (coincidentally, not intentionally). Dessert was my 'special' birthday cake - a delicious confection called Strawberry Dream Cake. The "dream" part of the name must come from its dreamy taste, or the feeling that you are dreaming when you behold its magnificence--I'm not sure. It's a simple recipe, an angel food cake stuffed with mashed strawberries and smothered in whipping cream (not COOL WHIP!). It's a culinary tradition first started by my beloved deceased grandmother and faithfully carried on by my beloved mother. It's a delight beyond belief for a strawberry lover like me.
I was listening to a Chuck Swindoll Easter message on the radio coming home and he pointed out something I'd totally missed until now. Mark 16:7 says that the women at the tomb were told to 'go tell [Jesus'] disciples and Peter,....' By the time of the Resurrection, Peter had defected! So utterly destroyed by the guilt of his denial of Jesus that he resigned his discipleship. Of course, as the story goes, Jesus restored Peter and he became a great leader of the early church. A man who, when the chips were down, denied any knowledge of Christ (even to the point of cursing at the third one who asked him) had hope because of the Resurrection. If you're reading this and you've been there or are there now, that same hope is yours today.
Albert Pujols picked up his team and carried them on his shoulders today. The Cardinals are scuffling, as the writers say, out of the gate this year. A shaky bullpen, and the new right fielder (who hasn't endeared himself to anyone as yet) conspired to put them at a 7-6 disadvantage late in the game. A brilliantly unorthodox strategy of sending up a pitcher to pinch-hit (albeit one who hits well) was successful and AP sent the faithful at the Church of Busch home happy with his THIRD home run of the day. THREE HOME RUNS. A devout Christian was the Cardinals' saving grace on Easter Sunday. How nice is that?
Tuesday, April 04, 2006
I've Been Reviewed!...
A few months ago I submitted this blog to The Weblog Review for, well, a review. I didn't pay to get it reviewed quickly, so they put it in their 'people who didn't pay to get a review so we'll get around to reviewing it someday' file, which was OK with this blogger.
So what do they think?
It's down toward the bottom of the page - if it's gone by the time you read this, do a search on my blog title and it will magically appear.
I guess I should explicitly state 'I'm Not A Serious Blogger' somewhere in the sidebar. I think the reviewer expected a harder-core blog than mine is. I don't promote any points of view or any certain cause nor do I have any axes to grind. I just write about stuff that happens to me and, well, occasionally I politicize and point-of-view it. The reviewer was constructive in her criticism, however, and I certainly appreciate another set of eyes looking at it.
So what do they think?
It's down toward the bottom of the page - if it's gone by the time you read this, do a search on my blog title and it will magically appear.
I guess I should explicitly state 'I'm Not A Serious Blogger' somewhere in the sidebar. I think the reviewer expected a harder-core blog than mine is. I don't promote any points of view or any certain cause nor do I have any axes to grind. I just write about stuff that happens to me and, well, occasionally I politicize and point-of-view it. The reviewer was constructive in her criticism, however, and I certainly appreciate another set of eyes looking at it.
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