Oh oh. . . a reader?!

It finally happened, a friend found my blog. . . and naturally, its been four months since I last posted. So I guess I am not just writing to myself. . . time to get serious.

Things I have "discovered" in the last few weeks:

a. I am officially a MAC owner. . and proud of it. I have not had this much fun using a computer since 1985. . .I was only 5 years old. . . not. Did I mention I also got an iPod? What a blast.

b. Facebook. . Really!. . . its like myspace for adults. . . of course, having my leadership classmates to connect with there helps alot. Still I am finding friends and family there as well. Neat!

c. Twitter. . . really???? . . . very interesting. . . I like it but I don't blog enough. . . never the less, I'm trying it.

So, the computer and the web is still growing and developing. Those who said there was nothing new on the web, well, you would be plain wrong. BUT it could be I am missing alot as well.

So tell me, what have you found on the web that's fun?

Snow Graffiti

How amazing is this? My friends in Denmark sent me this greeting last winter. I call it Snow Graffiti! Incredible how an email from thousands of miles away can warm you up on a cold day! Thanks Henrik, Nina and Malena. . . you made my day!

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Speaking of cold days, we are in a cold week. Highs in the mid 30's and lows in the teens!! For me, this is cold but I am glad for a bit of snow. Pictures of that later.

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I promised an update this weekend but I slipped a little. Suffice to say that I had a great weekend at church and then with friends at "Evita" and ZoZo's in Reno,NV. I had so much fun, I didn't update the blog at all. . . notably, I didn't work either. How did that happen?

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Now I really need to go to bed but I want you to see my Pastors' blogs about the show last Friday night. First, the stage, http://stevewilson.typepad.com/resourcing/2007/12/imagine-christm.html - it was awesome to be a small part helping out on it. I worked with a great group of folks - REALLY great folks.

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And then what happened on Friday night at the performance: http://pastorpreneur.typepad.com/pastorpreneur/2007/12/imagine-christm.html.

good night!

Too many things to say . . .

Yep, I know you're not surprised about that. I have alot to say tonight - 1/2 tonight and the rest this weekend.

Tonight I am grateful for a few things. Are you grateful for things everyday, all year long?? or is it just during the holidays?? I try really hard to be grateful for all of the blessings in my life everyday. Today, I am so grateful that it spills over here.

Grateful for friends. . . man, do I ever have great friends. Have you ever noticed that when you haven't talked to a real friend for some time, that when you finally do, it seems as though no time has passed??

I have a group of guys that I only see once a year for a camping trip, and when we get together you wouldn't believe we only see each other once a year.

I have a couple of friends in Denmark and I get excited every time I get an email from them . . . . and they have great kids too. . . who want to try out their English skills. . . so maybe we will get to help them. NOTE TO M - remember, your English is ALOT better than my Danish - don't worry about making mistakes!

I have close friends in Fresno/Clovis and AZ that are supporting me right this minute. They have watched me make this move to Nevada and prayed for me and listened to me gripe when it isn't fun.

And I am glad to say that my family are some of my best friends too.

So, tonight I am grateful for friends. What are you grateful for? Here is a short list of other things I am grateful for, maybe it will help you get started. . . Jesus, my family, my church, my pastors, my job, my home, music (nope, not gonna start singing), and Starbuck's (sorry, but you knew it was in there somewhere!!). I could go on and on, but now it's your turn, what are you grateful for??

Yes, there is a hidden message in the picture above but only one family in Denmark knows who it is for. . . .

Nothing to say. . .

I know, you're shocked. Really, I'm tired and tonight I have nothing to say. Lots happened today and I have alot to be grateful for, but not too much noteworthy (ok, not true, just not ready to make note of it).

So, I'll say this. Most of you know I am on a diet. As best I can tell, I have lost 32 lbs. so far in about 60 days. I am happy with that. More to get rid of. I am using the on-line version of www.weightwatchers.com - and clearly its working. Thanks to everyone for your support - I really appreciate it.

Now, can I go to bed? Thanks!
m

A week passed. . . ugh.

A whole week passed since my last post, ouch. . . . well, I HAVE been on vacation (as if that was a good excuse.)

I had alot of fun and got to see alot of my old friends while I was back. OK, the few that I didn't get to connect with, you know who you are, we have another chance in December. Can't wait. Did I mention I have alot of great friends? - oh, you say you knew that - oh, well, you're right because if you are reading this you clearly are one of them.

I have a great family too! And it was awesome to spend time with all of them. Thanks Dad and Mom for letting me hang out and putting up with me for a week. Thanks Julie for being a great sister and going out of your way to see me a couple of times. It was an amazing time and my Grandmother and Aunt hosted an amazing Thanksgiving feast - a am truly Thankful!

Back in Gardnerville and working on an incredible church set for Christmas. I cannot believe how many people it takes to put together a production and how many details have to be handled. I have been humbled to be a part of such a great team.
These are great people and they work hard, day and night, serving the Lord. One of the coolest things about CVC is how much JOY is around the place!

Vacation Day One. . . and Taco Bell. . .

What a great day. Slept in, met a great friend for lunch and a walk and then spent time with my Grandmother and Aunt - I am a lucky guy. After that, dinner with my parents and a low key evening. Not alot of excitement for you, but it was a nice day for me.

For those who don't know, I started a diet 8 or 9 weeks ago. The diet I started is Weight Watchers On-line - I like it because I don't have to go to meetings, and I can keep track of what I eat on-line. The Weight Watchers diet is amazing, it really seems like a lifestyle change that can be made for a lifetime. Anyway, one of the things is you can eat anything. . . pretty much. . . you just have to count the points.

Tonight, I got to thinking, I wonder if there is anything I can eat at Taco Bell? I gave up a 3 - 4 (ok maybe 5 - 6) time per week habit when I started this diet. I am not saying that I can't live without my Taco Bell fix, it was just an innocent thought. To be clear, I really like Taco Bell and I know there are ways to eat things on the menu that are "healthy", it's just not as good as the full "unhealthy" stuff. But, this is what I found. . . any two items that I would normally have eaten for lunch had almost 30 grams of fat and *** 3,000 **** mg. of SODIUM. THINK ABOUT THAT - I gave up 3,000 mg. of sodium X 5 or 6 days a week X 9 weeks ago. THAT is alot of salt. . .

My blood pressure seems to be a little low and I have gotten dizzy a couple times in the last few weeks. . . losing weight and starting to work out is why I thought this happened. . . could it be 135,000 mg. less of sodium in the last 9 weeks. . . yes yes. . . I am going to the doctor to have my blood sugar AND blood pressure checked.

"Home" again. . .

Driving home (back to Fresno) was a blast. Normally, I am on the cell phone whenever I am doing this drive. This time, I had a thirty minute praise and worship CD from my church which I pretty much listened to over and over. What an awesome way to cruise along, praising the Lord. Did I mention how incredibly talented the worship team vocalists and band are? They are a great blessing. Anyway, the drive was beautiful in many ways. BTW, missed my church home this weekend!

Wow, nice to be back in Fresno. Dinner with my sister last night and then to my parent's place. We went to church this morning and then had a great lunch (thanks Dad). After that, watching Nascar and Jimmy Johnson win the championship. Very cool and very relaxed.

Went to Cheesecake Factory tonight with a couple of friends. Go ahead, find something to eat there on a diet. :-) Well, I think I did ok. My latest realization, when I set down to eat, I can choose the food I should eat OR I can choose to eat what I shouldn't. . . either way, when I am done, I will be full (or at least not hungry) and satisfied. So, why would I eat things that aren't good for me?? Pretty powerful. . . how is it that it took me 45 years to figure that out. And, would someone remind me of this if I forget it. Vacation is in full swing. . more later.

Catching up. . .

Hmmm. Well, a few days pass again.

High points from the last few days.
Tuesday night - Cabela's Grand Opening. If you don't know what it is, well, I understand. If you don't know what I was doing there, I understand. It's like this, I was invited by some great friends and it was an incredible experience. My retail roots were on overdrive, these people are GREAT at what they do - so my hat is off to Cabela's Reno. I enjoyed the experience (even waiting in line to pay for an hour), and I enjoyed my friends, they are tremendous people (you know who you are)!

Thursday night - Dinner and computer lessons with a friend. Awesome Dinner. . . great company. Did you know that iTunes software has come a long way in the last year or so? I (yes, even I) was impressed with the ease of use and functionality. Wait, isn't that an Apple product, yep, can't wait to get me one of them there iPods. No really!

Friday. . . last day at work for 10 days. Rest, relaxation, friends and family. Can't wait.

What am I doing up this late?

I need to seriously work on sleeping. . . I stay up late and then get up late and rush to work. . . this isn't really working for me.

Anyway, a quick post, I walked again tonight but thankfully earlier than last night. Tonight I went out about 6:30 or so I think. I was 25 minutes into the walk when a Dodge Durango slowed down at the end of the cul-de-sac I was in. I considered my neighborhood VERY safe, however, I still wondered what was about to develop.

A women hung her head out and said "Be careful, I just saw a bear going this direction" and she pointed right where I was headed to. Needless to say I went the other way. Being at 4700 ft and in a valley, and in a drought, bears have been showing up all over town. . . so I believed her.

I finished my 40 minute walk and was glad to NOT have met the bear.

Victory. . . and a promise kept.

Have you ever found that it is easy to keep promises to other people, but sometimes not so easy to keep promises to yourself?? Well, it has been a problem for me, probably only me, some kind of character flaw? Anyway, about 6 weeks ago I promised myself that I would walk at least 30 minutes a day three times a week. Simple, yes, easy, not always.

For a reason I will leave out here, my "promise" week starts on Monday and ends on Sunday. This week I had trouble from the start but had two days down by Thursday evening. Now its SUNDAY and I KNEW I had to do the last walk. Well, below you can see I had a great day and I didn't get home until after 7 and it felt like 10 p.m. (I know, it wasn't).

Anyway, I was sitting on the couch and REALLY grappling with this. I was trying to rationalize skipping it, forgive myself in advance, promise to make it up next week. . . and then I remembered that I had PROMISED myself that I would do this. FINALLY, at 10:45 p.m I did it - I got up - put on several layers of clothes (hey, its 40 degrees out there!)and walked the neighborhood for 40 minutes.

For me. . . this is SO HUGE. Major personal let down averted! Thank you Lord!

In a flash, three days pass

OK, so I thought I would write something everyday, but now it's late Sunday and Friday/Saturday disappeared.

So, Friday, looked like this, rain, clouds, cold, awesome.
Saturday, working with a group of great folks on a Christmas stage set, then going to an awesome church service. . . special thanks to a great band and worship team, they rocked and we all worshipped. Then Pastor John spoke with power on disputable matters. . . well, it was on Life Transformation and specifically, managing disagreements. BUT I have never heard a better, more authentic teaching on disputable matters. It will be on this page in a day or so, but don't miss Life Transformers 1 - 4, they are all great. Carson Valley Christian podcasts

Sunday...Movin'Out with my friends and an incredible restaurant for dinner, The Wild River Grille (downtown right on the river!). No, no, no, I am not "movin'out" - it was the Broadway play, second time for me, first for my friends and we all loved it. The band, the dancers, the songs, the story. . . all great. Then a wonderful dinner. . . did I mention it takes great friends to have this much fun???

It's a new day - two

Well, here we are, second attempt, day two. I decided to try my hand at uploading a picture. Seems that they have made this alot easier (even I could do it.)

This is a picture I took early evening in the very late summer, the last alfalfa coming off the fields. If you look in this picture you can see the highway cut in the side of the hill. That is Kingbury Grade and just over the hill is Lake Tahoe.

One thing that I am always reminded of since I moved here is the beauty of God's creation. The Sierras, Lake Tahoe, or the desert, the scenery is amazing around here.

Links worth linking to. . .

http://www.cvcwired.com/ - the incredible church I have joined in Minden,NV

Annoyed with myself

Well, it's true. I haven't posted in over a year. THAT's why I am annoyed with myself. Anyway, I will try to be better at this. There are a ton of things to report on / write about. So tonight is a new beginning. Once a day, hmmm, ok, I will try. Oh, I heard you, shorter posts too. (ok, but try to add a comment on your own then!)

Most all of you know that 6 weeks to the day (or was it 7 weeks), my luggage returned to the Reno airport it originally left from. . . everything was in tact and it appearred to be completely untouched. My laptop, keys, watch, everything was there. But that was a year ago, more current things tomorrow.

Adventures in . . . baggage, part II

What a surprise, no luggage today. If you click on the link above (in the title) then you should know that BA stands for British Airways and BAA was originally British Aiports Authority but now they own or manage airports all over the world so it is just BAA.

Anyway, I called BA and they had no trace on it that was up to date. . . they weren't sure it even left Amsterdam though they did have three flight numbers that showed it should land in Reno today at 10:15 a.m. They also confirmed that there was enough time for it to clear customs in Chicago if it made it there. The nice agent at BA also asked if I heard what happened in Heathrow today. . . seems the baggage system broke down . . . sure, my bag is there. . . it must weigh to much for the system. The poor folks working in baggage for BA at Heathrow, they just can't get a break.

American was ok today as well. They checked the list of bags that were in Reno and could tell me that my name was not on any of them (of course, I never could get in touch with anyone at the Reno airport, it is apparently not allowed).

So, here I go again. Leaving town for another week without my real luggage. Anyway, believe it or not, I am not really upset about it. . . It is what it is. . .but of course I hope I get it back.

Adventures in . . . baggage

12 days after my Heathrow experience it was reported that my bag had arrived! . . . in Amsterdam. . . did I mention my trip was only 7 days and that I was home in Nevada?

Well, it seems that 3 weeks to the day after leaving the Reno airport, my bag is scheduled to once again return according the the British Airways website and the helpful staff at the 800 number! People and bags can always get bumped from a flight, but I can cautiously optimistic.

So, you think I have been angry about it? Not really, sure frustrated because I didn't have the bag but what is an airline supposed to do when 20,000 bags show up in one airport through no fault of their own??? They didn't know a thing about the "terrorists" until the same Thursday we all got to know, and that day turned into a nightmare for them that lasted at least 10 days. So, no, not angry, in fact, British Airways has been great.

The day I was in the airport was Day 4 of the current situation. I can tell you that EVERY British Airways employee that I encountered was friendly and helpful. In fact, if you stood in one place and looked the least bit lost, someone immediately asked how they could help you!?! 4 days into a crisis with a US company and you would probably get your head bit off for not knowing where you were supposed to be. Anyway, whether that is true or not, my hat is off to the folks at British Airways - you did a great job in Heathrow and don't let anyone say different.
Bravo!

So, going to Europe, give British Airways a try. http://ba.com