Oodles and oodles of strawberries

Check out those strawberries! Yeah, we picked all those strawberries today. And this wasn't the first time we've been to the strawberry patch this year. Tonight was my first and Abby's third time.

We figured out that we've picked approximately 60 lbs of strawberries so far. Who needs 60 lbs of strawberries? Apparently we do. I hope 60 lbs is enough to satisfy Abby's jam-making and baking urges. She's a machine; pumping out the baked goods faster than I can eat them. I'm going to have to join a fourth soccer team just to work off all those baked goods.

Strawberry season is probably her favorite time of year. I practically have to drag her out of the field, otherwise she'd probably pick the whole field.

Any suggestions for baked goods that include strawberries?

Chuck Norris Fact - Chuck Norris loves the Lord!

This morning, while I was at church in Tacoma with Abby and her family, I saw on the pew in front of me this fantastic 70's picture of Chuck Norris doing a flying ju-do-kick. I quickly pointed it out to Abby. I thought it was hilarious. She kind of shrugged it off. Probably because we were in the middle of worship. Unphased by Abby's response, I read a little deeper into the cover of the magazine and found the name of the magazine - Today's Pentecostal Evangel. I found it highly strange that Chuck was on the cover. As soon we got home to Bellingham, I looked up the magazine on the internet. I had to know what Chuck was doing on the cover of a believer's magazine. There's a really interesting article in the magazine about Chuck's walk with the Lord. Here's a clip from the article:
QUESTION: What does Chuck think about pop cultures' "Chuck Norris Facts"?
NORRIS: When this started a few years ago, I got some of these facts e-mailed to me. I read some of them and laughed. They were pretty funny. I thought this would only last a few weeks, but it caught on with the college crowd, then the high schoolers, the middle school kids, all over the world, and finally with the military. I saw “Chuck Norris Facts” all over Iraq. They were in the barracks, outdoor toilets and my name was even on the barrels of fighter tanks. I consider it a great compliment to be reconnecting with the young people not only in America, but all over the world.

Maybe you're still wondering what Chuck Norris facts are? This is an example of a Chuck Norris fact: Chuck Norris can sneeze with his eyes open. Or, Chuck Norris counted to infinity, twice.

I think my favorite Chuck Norris fact is - Chuck Norris loves the Lord. Besides the fact that Chuck loves the lord, what's your favorite Chuck Norris fact?

Saying goodbye with a BBQ

It's a sad fact of life that sooner or later friends move away. And it seems to happen to us every year; more friends move away. It's no fun saying goodbye to good friends.

On Tuesday night we had a going-away BBQ for Kevin and Kara Pentz. They're moving back home to Silverdale at the end of July. (Why in the world anyone would want to live there is beyond me, but they do.) It was a fun party. The sun graced us with its presence and 16 of us enjoyed cooking food around the BBQ and hanging out.

It was a God-thing how we met the Pentzs, and a truly random story. One of the girls on our Superfeet soccer team, who also works at Superfeet, was selling her car. The Pentzs looked into buying it. They ended up talking about soccer and she invited them to play on our team. As "coach" for the team, I couldn't believe that she had just invited a couple to play on the team without knowing if they were any good. We were already struggling to win games. We didn't need more players who may or may not know how to play. Well, much to our surprise, they both knew how to play soccer, and very well I might add. Kevin became one of our leading goal scorers and Kara was a force to be reckoned with on the field. We also learned that they were Christians and that Kevin was the youth pastor for a local church. We started hanging out outside soccer games and have had a great time getting to know them.

We're really going to miss them when they're gone. I'm especially going to miss watching Kevin run. He's one of the fastest runners I've ever seen. You know he has shifted into his highest gear when his head starts bobbing.

We are fortunate to have met the Pentzs and hope to continue our friendship with them even after they've moved.

P.S. Did I mention that another couple, Kevin and Becky Hussey, who also play on our soccer team, are moving away too? Yeah, they're leaving at the end of August for Keizer, Oregon. Boooo. That's another blog story for a later date.

Momma called the doctor and the doctor said...

no more monkeys jumping on the bed.

The title of this blog has relatively no relationship to the blog except for the doctor part. And even then, that's not all that related. Really, I just wanted to write that title because I thought it was kind of catchy.

My friend Kevin Hussey, who is a Physical Therapy Assistant (with a bunch of extra letters after his name), looked at my ankle last night. The good news is that he said I don't have an ankle sprain. He called it a soft tissue injury. I don't know what that means, but I like it. That would be why I thought this was the best-feeling ankle sprain I've ever had. He then proceeded to stick his thumb into the swelling around my ankle. When he pulled his thumb away, there was a thumb impression in the swelling. He thought it was hilarious. I thought it was sick. He said it would go away. And, thirty seconds to a minute later it finally did. Apparently it's called pitting.

We had a nice duck dinner with wine at the Husseys. Overall it was a fun evening.

I thought you might be excited to know that my ankle is going to be okay.

Soccer, soccer and more soccer

What a weekend. Abby and I played in a co-ed work (WSDOT) soccer tournament on Saturday and Sunday. Boy, are we tired and sore today. It’s funny to see Abby hobbling around the house. Usually I’m the one doing the hobbling. Now we’re both doing it.

We had four games on Saturday, three of which we won, and one on Sunday. We made it to the semifinals, only to lose in a shootout. That’s okay though. I don’t know if we could have played one more game on Sunday. Due to attrition our team was out of subs and we were dog-tired. We ended up taking either third or fourth place. That’s pretty good considering several of the players on our team had never played before. I think there were 8 teams in the tournament.

I’d like to think I’m in halfway decent shape, considering I play on three soccer teams right now. I was pretty tired by the end of Sunday’s game. I sprained my ankle in the first half of the first game on Saturday and continued to play on it all weekend. I’m paying for it today. It’s bruised and swollen on both sides.

It’s days like today that I’m thankful that I have a desk job. I was able to go to work and rest my ankle. I bet Abby and the rest of my coworkers were thankful for the same thing. We exchanged war-wound stories at work today and had some pretty good laughs. It was especially funny to watch our keeper go up the stairs one step at a time because he was so sore. Then, when he laughed he’d grab his ribs because it hurt to laugh. Ah, good times. It's no fun getting old.

My coworker, Dave, said on Friday that he would buy me lunch today if I didn’t get hurt over the weekend. I was determined to show up today acting like nothing was wrong. He caught on when I started icing my ankle. He then wanted to know where I was going to take him for lunch. Fortunately, I came prepared. I had brought him some homemade seafood pasta. I sure lost out on that deal.

Here’s to hoping the soreness goes away soon.

Jump ropin' to Michael Jackson

I don't know how it started, but I know how it ended. Ten of us were in Packwood at Matt Metsker's parents' cabin for the weekend. We were enjoying breakfast when... Taylor told Tim that if he ate a mushroom he'd do the Jump Rope dance. THE JUMP ROPE DANCE! Now I don't know what got into Taylor, whether it was a lack of sleep or cabin fever, but I think that was the last thing any of us expected to hear. The whole room perked up instantly. We stopped in mid-bite and conversation and turned around just in time to see Tim chomp the top off a raw mushroom. I couldn't believe it, not only had Tim just ate something he despised, but I was going to get to see "the dance". Taylor grudgingly took center stage in the living room, owned up to his bet and busted a move to Michael Jackson.

I'll be the first to say that this wasn't Taylor's best effort, but its good enough. I was just glad to get it on video. I don't know if he'll ever do it again for us. It's probably been a year or more since he did it last. We're constantly begging him to do it. It's THAT funny. Its legend grows with age.

Like I said earlier, I don't know how it started, but this is how it ended.

Taylor invented the Jump Rope some years ago.

You're the only Ten-I-see

Guess what? I'm going to Nashville! Yup, the "You're the only Ten-I-see" state. The music capital of the country. I think most of you will be relieved to know that I'm going for work and not for music.

Last week, when a boring meeting I was in was coming to an end, my work cell phone rang. So, I answered it. No, it wasn't Ed McMahan. To my surprise it was my boss' boss, Lloyd Brown, the communication director for the entire state. I think I can count on one hand how many times someone from headquarters management has called me directly in the five years I've had my job. My first thought was, "oh no, what/where is the problem?" But, he was calling to invite me to go to Nashville for the annual National Transportation Public Affairs Workshop - a true privilege.

He explained that he was asking me to go because I was nominated for Communicator of the Year, an internal award. I didn't win, but since the winner wasn't able to go, he wanted to know if I would go in her place. Without my knowing it, fellow coworkers had nominated me for the award. It's nice to know that I have coworkers who like working with me and appreciate what I do. Talk about a huge compliment.

I accepted and now I'm going to Nashville August 2-6 with two other coworkers. Hello 87-degree-average weather. I'll be rubbing elbows with communication executives/professionals from around the country. I'm really looking forward to it. Plus, I've never been outside the airport in Nashville. I can't wait to see the music capital of the country.

Don't worry, I don't think I will even test the karaoke waters while I'm there. I think the last time someone complemented me for my singing was in 5th grade when I was the lead for one song in a school musical. I lipsynced through the whole thing.

The funny thing about this trip is that Abby is going to Nashville in March 2009 for a work conference as well. I'll probably take a few days off in 2009 and fly out and enjoy Nashville with her. I'll let her do the Karaoke.