I bought a car. Turned out to be an alien robot. Who knew?

ahhh the late night blog...

so i'm a little more that halfway through the summer and things have been going pretty crazy around here. our events have been going really well up till this week when we hit a minor snag, but for the most part this summer has been pretty much more than i had imagined. we've got pretty good attendance from the kiddos, a good sense of energy around the youth ministry, and most importantly we've really been able to put a lot of spiritual growth into our events. all in all, things around here are going good. like any good summer, i know i'm going to be ready for the fall when things slow down slightly and i can take a break for a while. i think this year i'm going to head to houston and retreat away to my grandparents house for a few days of baseball, scrabble and westerns. oh yeah, and some home cooking too. i know houston isn't the likely vacation spot, but the thought of the quietness of granny and pollock's house is really appealing right now.

intern.
this summer the credit for how well things are going have to go to my intern. she's been a huge help around the ministry and there's no way we're pulling off the events we have around here w/o her help. so major props to my intern, who is probably having dreams of making phone calls right now.

sports.
it's been a tough baseball season for me. the astros are a game away from the worst record in the nl, the yankees are a flop so far, and every time i turn on baseball tonight i have to put up with the barry bonds saga. ugh. at least my fantasy team is doing well. oh yeah, and i was pretty peeved when i take my lunchtime look at espn.com and the story of craig biggio's retirement was buried behind bonds, vick and the nba ref that bet on his games. ugh again.

crash and burn.
"would you like to go out sometime?" "um... i'll have to think about it."

what would you do...
for a while now i've griped about how they need to get the wonder years out on dvd. my boy joeyfatone explained to me that they were taking forever because they had secure all the rights for the music featured in each episode, which makes sense. so i was pretty dismayed about that but i came home and searched the ol' cable schedule and found a local station that throws a couple episodes of the wonder years on the air every night. so i hooked up the dvr and now i have the next best thing. anyways, it's a blast watching the wonder years again. i feel like i've reconnected with some of the best characters that television has provided us in a while. anyways, i'm stoked about tv again.

lohan. (Cc:britney spears, paris hilton)
i honestly feel sorry for her at this point. it's pretty bad when you are so far down that people are glad you're going to jail so that you can get some help. a lot of mean, easy jokes come to mind, but i truly pray she can turn things around and become a positive role model. if she wanted to something to get attention, that would certainly catch everyone by suprise.

percentage.
the ol body fat percentage went down another notch, which is pretty amazing seeing as how i haven't been to the gym in a week or so. chalk that up to a week at youthwave and a week of vbs, not apathy.

the run.
speaking of working out, i just realized i never really gave an update on how i did in my first 5k run. i did all right, but not as well as i know that i can someday. i ran about halfway before i stopped to walk for a while, and i spent the second half splitting time running/walking. at the very least i beat this old man who i had been racing the whole time, wether he knew it or not. all in all, it was a fun day. huntington beach really knows how to throw a 4th of july party, and we ended up having a great afternoon. and when all is said and done, i think i'm going to continue running and training until i can complete a 5k run. we'll see.

quote of the week:
"looks like we've turned you into a republican" - an older guy at church commenting on me wearing a suit and tie (to a memorial service).

quote of last week:
"why are you going to apologize? you didn't kill him." - a six year old to his grandparents after they said they were going to express their sorrow to a recent widow at church.

quote from a couple of weeks ago:
"i have to admit, most of those hugs were for Jesus, but some were for me." - one of my kiddos after we went to santa monica pier and handed out free hugs to show God's love during youthwave.

febreeze.
i've honestly been so busy that i haven't had time to do laundry. i actually sprayed my shorts with febreeze today and hoped no one would notice. they didn't.

music.
every summer i have my go to albums that seem to arise as the soundtrack for the season. this year is no different. so here's my...
TOP TEN ALBUMS OF THE SUMMER OF 07 (SO FAR)
family 3 - the family 3 benefit album
mxpx - secret weapon
this is solid stat vol. 6
strung out - blackhawks over los angeles
relient k - five score and seven years ago
the best of ladysmith black mambazo
116 clique - the compilation
switchfoot -oh gravity
tim armstrong - a poet's life
chris murray - slackness

oh yeah,
i forgot to mention how much i'm nerding out this summer over transformers. i've seen the movie a few times and i'm looking around for one of the blackout action figures (the helicopter in the movie was the one my dad used to fly). and as i mentioned to the kiddos a few weeks ago, it should be noted that the transformers were and integral part of my walk with God back in the elementary days. when i was five years old i prayed for an optimus prime action figure and i got one for my sixth birthday a few months later. it was the first time i prayed on my own and me and God have been tight ever since. also, when i was six and i heard there was a transformers movie coming out, this is what i had in mind, not a two hour cartoon. so you could say i've been waiting for twenty years for this movie to come out. so there, i'm a nerd. just wait until they make a g.i. joe movie!

well...
there's plenty of other stuff on my mind as of right now, but it's getting late and i've got a long day with the kiddos tomorrow at magic mountain. if you're interested, ask me about my idea for a top ten list for september, my renewed sense of energy, and/or who's been on my mind.

one love, one heart.