Back to work

My vacation is over. I'm back to work. Or actually, I was "back to work" yesterday as people were calling me right after I got home and I was silly enough to answer the phone. But it wasn't really that bad.

I had a great time on my vacation. The key event, my folks' 50th anniversary, went great. My brother, Chris, gets all the credit for doing all the work, and some people at my mom & dad's church (Grace UCC, Lancaster OH) helped out a lot! If there HAD to be a problem, it was that as the pictures were taken of my parents and siblings and me (together in one place since 1998), it had started raining a bit outside, so the picture has the "lovely" backdrop of a stack of chairs.
But hey, if that's the worst, then we can live with it.

Also, I was able to go to German Village in Columbus OH to pick up some Bahama Mamas at Schmidt's. Now, before you think of an alcoholic drink of the same name, you're no where close, unless you consider what the after-affects could be.
A Bahama Mama is a type of spicy sausage. One is usually enough to eat, two and you need to have the antacid ready, anything more than that and you're probably nuts.
The funny thing is that years ago, I really didn't like them that much... too spicy for me. Now, in my old age and sometimes eating Tums like candy, I'm buying a bulk of these huge, great sausages!

One thing I didn't get to was one of the local pizza shops. There is something about a pizza in Ohio that is different than I can get elsewhere.
Yes, maybe it's the memories, but until you've had one from somewhere there, it's hard to describe.

But one thing I was able to get was supper at the Machine Shed Restaurant in Des Moines on my way home. This place was my favorite when I lived in the Quad Cities area of eastern Iowa, and it has a couple more locations around the Midwest. It's one of those places that "if you walk away hungry, it's your own fault".

But now I'm home, catching up on a couple of things, getting ready for Palm Sunday, Holy Week, and Easter, and prepping for the Nebraska Legislative Chaplain next week.
Maybe I'm ready for another vacation???

If you want drama, take up acting

A few weeks ago, I was watching a great movie as part of a training that I was attending. During part of the movie, there was some cussing in the story line. When that part came up, I heard someone say "this is why I can't go to movies anymore. It's just too horrible"
Look around - it's life. Ever hear the joke of "what does a preacher say when he slams his thumb with a hammer?" I'll tell it to you sometime.

A couple of weeks ago, my brother wrote about "drama", or how people need to stop the drama. In his post, he also talked about how easily other people will get caught up in it. He then told me later on about how he put a "no drama" sign in his work area, to which he received a compliment from one of his department heads.
Later, a supervisor took down the "no drama" sign, stating that "it created too much drama"
(excuse me while I try to get my head to stop spinning)

While I was eating supper last night at a nearby diner, there was a family who had a little girl who, as one comedian would put it, "wasn't getting enough attention". The parent was doing what he/she could  to control the kid, but no matter what they tried, the kid would get the upper hand. I could tell that the parent was within seconds of taking the kid outside for a "coming to Jesus moment", but all things ended out well.
Meanwhile, at the table next to mine, there was a couple sitting there, complaining to one another about every little thing, such as "it took too long to get their drinks to them" (it was MAYBE 2 minutes), they "didn't get their complete order" (duh, the waitress TOLD you that they messed up part of your order, so you got what they had ready, and they were finishing what you wanted, AND THEN SOME to make up for the problem), because the kid was crying, "there should be a restaurant that serves to only adults" (yeah, it called a Bar or Tavern).

What made things even worse was that I wasn't trying to eavesdrop... this couple had no issues with whining and complaining. Even when ordering their dinner, they couldn't understand why the cook or waitress couldn't take part of the lady's order and put it on the man's plate, and then take part of the man's dinner and put it on the lady's plate.
Maybe they should have a "here's your sign" spot to pick up your sign so the wait staff will know that you're going to be a "special" customer.

Granted, I've been at places where the food isn't quite right, or the wrong order is brought out to me, but I've also found that when I am polite to the wait staff, then polite is what I get. If not, there are other avenues to go along if you're really that displeased.

But maybe this couple's favorite waitress wasn't working that day. Maybe the unusual high temps were affecting their brain. Maybe they were "perfect children" and never never ever got out of line in public.
Maybe they need a waitress or waiter to accidentally drop cold water in their lap.

When people want to start drama for whatever reason, it doesn't make them look pretty. The drama doesn't make the person any better. The drama doesn't get your point across.
The drama makes them look like a horse's butt.

Everyone has their own way of living their life, and if they want to be an a$$ about it, so be it. But instead of using your "perfect life" to make things harder, why not remember your imperfect life (Romans 3:23) and give some understanding, caring, or assistance to people. If they want it, great. If not, then God bless them and may they move along.

Now, if you think that none of this applies to you, then you're sadly mistaken. We've all, somehow or someway, done the drama thing, or got caught up in it.
If you think that this is about you, then maybe you need to examine your life and try to figure out why you think it's about you.

So if your house isn't perfect, then be thankful you have a roof over your head. Remember, you picked the place.
If your car isn't what you want, then try walking everywhere. Let me know how that car suits you then.

If you are having a bad day, then go have a bad day, and understand that I will not have a bad day because of it. Likewise, if I'm having a bad day, then I'm having a bad day, just as you would. So let me stew and grumble and don't whine about it. It could be quite embarrassing to you...

Here's an example to contemplate ... I once went into a fast-food place to order some lunch. The gal taking my order did an ok job (she got my food to me, she took my money and gave me my change, etc), except there was no "service with a smile". When the transaction was complete, she asked me if there would be anything else, and I jokingly replied (with a smile as well) "yes, have a nice day".
To that, I can still feel the foot in my mouth when she apologized, because the staff had just found out that a coworker was killed in an accident.
Ouch. No, I AM SORRY.  A big flub that still haunts me to this day.

If you want drama, take up acting.

I'm on vacation!

Some time ago, I learned that you have to be prepared for any circumstance, even if it seems minor. Maybe that's why I'm as "Type A" as I am.

While driving on vacation for my parents' 50th anniversary, I noticed a sound that hinted me to "I need new brake pads". And lucky me, I'm staying at a hotel that has a good repair shop within short walking distance. So this can't be so bad, can it?

Yeah, it can.

A simple inspection found a problem with one of my brakes. A simple stuck slider (or something like that) caused a pad to wear out, as well as wearing down my rotor to the point of needing to be replaced. Well swell!

But thank goodness I have the money set aside. Oh wait, I FORGOT to bring it all with me!

So thank goodness that I could contact Paulette who was able to swap some of her money into a joint account that we have, and then I'll be able to pay her back when I return and do all of the "money ins and outs" after vacation.

Fortunately, all of this happened now, as opposed to me driving down the road, the brake rotor heating up excessively and cracking, which could cause the wheel to lock up. I seen it happen years ago, and from what I know (which isn't always a lot), it's a rare occurrence, but if anything could go wrong, it would - "Murphy's Law" is bound to kick in, and it did now.
But if the worst-case scenario happened, it would be really bad.

But, the repair shop just called me, and they already have my truck done.

Now I get to go pay the bill. Ugh.

But, if things got worse while I was driving, it would cost a lot more, and with my luck, it usually never happens when I am close to anywhere.

So I'm just going to keep repeating "I'm on vacation!"

Because nothing is going to stand in the way of the great celebration of 50 years for my folks!

Trying to remember...

As I'm driving across the Midwest on vacation for my parents' 50th anniversary, I started to think about the different people I may encounter this weekend and the time before and after while I'm on vacation.

It was interesting that one thing that came to mind was also a highlight story (or whatever those things are called) on the Yahoo Homepage. The ability to remember and/or recognize faces.
I'm not as bad as some in the story was... one man doesn't even recognize his own face when he walks by a mirror. I just don't always remember people like my brother or sister can. Granted, because I live 950 miles away from them, they may have the interaction with certain people or something in their lives (nearer than I am) where we grew up might trigger a memory, but I envy their memories of "who is who" in many cases. It has proved to be helpful, such as when my maternal grandfather passed away. My sister could name a lot of people at the funeral because she interacted with them a lot when we were little, so it helped when someone would walk up and do the inevitable "I remember you when you were only this tall" comment - I would go ask my sister who some of these people were.

And again, I have to give the disclaimer that I was thinking of this before I read my brother's blog, yet it ties in closely to what I was thinking. I think when I mentioned these "odd" times to him recently, I said that it was a "God thing"... that, or "great minds think alike"?
I don't want to dwell on the things of the past, yet many of the people who would be at mom and dad's anniversary celebration will be from the past... mostly mom and dad's, and maybe I or my siblings have interacted with some of these people. But I have to admit that as nervous as I get when one of my church members walk up to me in town or in church and I can't remember names, this weekend will be a nervous time for me.

I recently posted a blog that I was going to start telling you some of my stories - what makes me who I am. So here is an installment of that...
I have some fears. Not phobias by  any means, but things that are just enough to make me uncomfortable sometimes.

One of them is public speaking. Even though I aced oral communication (speech) in college and was offered a teaching assistant position for a semester or two afterwards, and in today's world where I preach twice on Sundays and at special occasions or situations, I'm not an "off the cuff" person like some people I know.
This does make for humorous conversations with friends and even some parishioners... People in my churches will tell me how something in a Sermon got them really thinking, or that part of the Litany that I pick from a variety of sources, or write by pulling things from the Scripture and/or Sermon, has meant something special. I've emailed copies of my Sermons to some friends sometimes, and gotten great feedback. But to stand in front of everyone and preach it can be hard for me. Although, I'm finding a niche to come out of my shell - but then I worry about how the people will take it (in one instance, it could be the "Pulpit-beating Bible-raising Preacher". In another it could be quiet meditation thoughts).

Another uncomfortable thing is when people will talk about something and I don't remember the instance or situation. It's like not remembering names... I struggle and struggle, but sometimes I can't remember. The part that really stinks is when, days or weeks after the conversation, I THEN remember the time mentioned in conversation.
What makes this fear really odd is that of the things I do remember, I will sometimes remember the very small details, like what someone was wearing, which direction we were facing, or what we were eating.
I admit it - I'm weird.

One thing I've learned is to admit my faults and move on. So, there is chapter is the "Who's Kevin? book... A book that is about who I am NOW, because of who I used to be, and how I learned from the past and, with God's help, how I will continue to use it to make me who I am now.

It is called a seatbelt.

In the past month, I've heard of or seen the results of so many car/truck accidents in which someone wasn't wearing a seatbelt. In just about ever case, someone was ejected from the vehicle. In two of the cases, the accident resulted in a fatality.

What happened to stressing the importance of buckling up? What happened to all of those tv ads about fastening your seatbelt before going somewhere, such as this from years back....

Granted, times have changed, but the affect don't.

If you're not wearing a seatbelt,

the chances of surviving even a slow-speed crash drops dramatically.

I once towed a car out of a field that was in a slow-speed crash. The driver was killed because as her car went into the plowed field, the impact of her body bouncing around inside her car caused enough serious internal injuries to cause her death.

(And as a note of clarification, the only damage to the car was a rear quarter-panel.

I was able to open the door, climb in and out of the car, and it was even driven off the lot after her insurance took the case.)

And yes, maybe your seatbelt will hurt you. I can speak from experience. Check out this picture...

This is a picture of my neck from when my Ford Explorer rolled down a hill after being hit by a semi-truck in a weather-related accident (I lost control on the ice).

My SUV rolled side-over-side at least 3 times, I think. I was more concerned with hoping that the truck would stop rolling. But the only real injury I had was something like a "deep rope burn" style cut from the shoulder strap. But considering I was pulling things out from under the seat and under the dashboard that WAS in the far-back of the truck, I'd call this really lucky!

But then there is the "it will wrinkle my clothes" excuse.

Then check out this video which is something like the commercials from way-back-when...

Seatbelt PSA, "I don't want to wrinkle my shirt"

Some people have said that things have changed in how we teach responsibility to our youth.

Others say that it's because of the habits of driving farm vehicles around the fields.

Some say that it's because the law isn't enforced like it should.

I say let's stop the finger-pointing, lead by example,

and bring back the lessons in whatever way we can.

It could be your own life you save.

Happiness, smiles, and 50 years

Today was one of those days that I don't particularly like. Over 12 hours of wearing a suit after not sleeping so well...
But once I got home, out of the suit I came, right into my lounging clothes. Then I signed onto Facebook and read a Blog from comedian Craig Shoemaker that talked about how laughter is healthy, and even referencing many countries with longer lifespans due in part to their lifestyles of laughter, relaxing, and enjoying the good life.

Now, will I take this more into a serious practice? Sheesh, I hope so. Some of the stresses of being a Pastor can drive a Preacher to an early grave.
Don't misunderstand me - I enjoy what I do, working for God, being there for people in births, deaths, marriages, and such. But there are those moments like today when a Lay Speaker from another denomination comes to talk to me to see how I can help with someone's wedding in a few months, and after explaining what I can do, she then says "so do they just need to call you the day before?" WHAT?? ARE YOU KIDDING???
I can now honestly say that I gave a firm "no" to doing the work that I do THE RIGHT WAY. So, maybe I'll have a wedding to do this summer, or maybe not. But whatever happens, I can honestly say that I stuck to my principles and the doctrine of the Church.

Then just a bit ago, I was thinking of all that I have to get done before I go on vacation next week (speaking of stress!!!!), and I decided to see if my brother posted a Blog. Sure enough, he did, writing about my parents' upcoming anniversary. With it, he attached a video that showed a segment from the CBS Sunday Morning Show that talked about how the past 50 years have impacted our lives.
On the 24th, my parents' will be celebrating 50 years of marriage. If that don't bring happiness and smiles, then I don't know what would.

So as I wrap things up and get some sleep, find the laughter in things - there is always something to find funny... just watch and pay attention, even if it means laughing at yourself. Find the joy in things - like have you ever REALLY just stopped and look at the stars? Try counting them (but I would suggest lying down to do that, otherwise you'll have a really sore neck". Call an old friend from years back - see who remembers what, and how much things have or haven't changed.

Be happy.
OH - and by the way, here's a copy of the video that I spoke of... it's really interesting.
50 years... Wow!!

To change into sweatpants...

One of my Facebook friends has posts that talk about the little things in life that make us happy. Today's was to change into sweatpants.
Granted, I took my day off today, but after driving down to Pierce to pick up Dingo and then to meet with someone in Norfolk, I was so happy to come home and change into my "lazy clothes" - simple sweatpants and a Jeff Dunham t-shirt. The relaxing part might have been helped along by the fact that it was in the low 70s here, and so I had opened up the house before I left and turned on a couple of fans. To finish it off, I sat back and watched the movie Moneyball staring Brad Pitt. (I had seen a short snippet of it at a meeting recently, and got hooked - and it was well worth it).

The little things in life... relaxing in my chair, or playing with my dog outside, or watching a good movie, or the fresh air breezing through the house. It's those things that make the stresses of life go away, or at least 'step aside' for a while.

Ahhhh.

I wanna talk about me...

For your viewing pleasure, I'm going to start my blog with this...
Click HERE to watch video, but don't forget to come and finish reading =)

I really like this video for a simple reason... I sometimes get really tired listening to things. I need time to vent as well.
I was once told that when I give something like examples in my writings or Sermon Illustrations, I'm always talking about ME, and not someone else. To that, I say "do you SERIOUSLY want me to talk about something else, such as YOU?"
When I took my preaching class, I gave an example of when my son and I had made some Cornish Hens, and then I had to go out on a call partway through dinner, and my son was "nice enough" to clean up while I was gone. The problem was that I wasn't done with my dinner, and so half of my Hen went to the trash.
Gee - thanks son! (Grrr!)

But the point in all of that was it was talking about communication... My son did just what I asked before I took off out the door - he cleaned things up. He just didn't realize that I wasn't finished yet.

Now, I can either tell you THAT story, or I can simply say that when I left on an emergency, my son threw my supper in the trash, and finish it with something like "that rotten kid!"

But if someone can't say what they mean without adding the drama, attitude, and evilness to it, then maybe they need to learn to just shut up. And on the flip side of the coin, when people hear things, maybe they need to get facts, accurate inputs, or see if they even need to be putting their nose in it at all.

An excellent example would be when I (yes, I, me, myself - you weren't there) was taking some classes in 2010, and some things happened in another United Methodist Conference. All sorts of people had so many stories that it would make one's head spin. But as the issue would come up in class, the facts would come out, and the people who wanted to make this issue into too much drama had to find out the hard way that they either never had all the facts, or they "didn't have a dog in the fight".

So I guess the thing to remember as I start my blogs about ME is that it's MY life and I'll live it as I need to, because in the end, I can only worry about me, myself, and I.
So if you THINK you know what's going on in my life otherwise, you don't know crap.

Things you didn't know...

I haven't been writing in my Blog as much as I would want to, but sometimes things get to hectic, or I have papers to write or schedules to do, or sometimes it's just too late and I have to get some sleep.

But the other day I thought about writing more of my past as well as what is happening now or in the future. It would be a "Things you didn't know" chapter of my Blogs.
Granted, maybe some of you DID know something about what I will be writing on a particular day, but if it's important to you to point that out - yeah, ok.
But here's one of those "full disclosure" times when I can reflect as well as chat about what's going on, because I am who I am because of every day of my past.

So watch for more... it might be interesting (or it might bore you to sleep - it's all in how you view the world).

And as a final note, the "past" can be a decade ago, or a year ago... so if you're reading this and wondering "aw nuts, I hope he doesn't talk about (whatever)", I probably won't mention names... probably. =)