Tigers vs. Twins

It was the best of times. It WAS the worst of times.

It was the best of times because Jake and I spent the day at the Metrodome. We had great seats, 10 rows up behind home plate. We had our jerseys on and we were eating dome dogs and brats, eating chips and popcorn and cracker jacks... as well as guzzling pop. We were watching the Detroit Tiger's beating up on the Minnesota Twins... like this throw from center field to tag Castillo out at home plate:


After the 7th inning stretch, the Tigers were leading 3-0 and I remember thinking, "Two more innings and it's over." Life was good at that moment. ...that is until the bottom of the eighth. At this point, it became the worst of times. The Twins rallied and next thing you know it was 6 to 3 and the stadium was going wild including, Jake, Uncle Eric and my nephew Blake. All I could do was laugh and shake my head. I will say, that if there was a game that I am glad the Twins won, it would be this one. Jake has been deciding whether he was going to be a Twins fan or a Detroit Tigers fan... and this week, he decided (after much wavering back and forth) on the Twins. So we bought him a jersey. For his sake, and my pocket book, I am glad that the Twins won because this will solidify his loyalty to the Twins and I won't have to purchase another jersey. But anytime your team loses... it is a tough pill to swallow. So my day was bitter sweet.... Spending time with Jake enjoying the afternoon... making memories... but my team lost.

Oh well... Detroit won the Series 2-1 and is still currently the best team in baseball... so all hope is not lost.

Good Times.

"The Tournament of Champions."

I have finally recovered from Sunday's "Tournament of Champions." "The Tournament of Champions" you ask? Yep, "The Tournament of Champions." For the last 3 years, my friend Matt, who is the Head Football coach of one of the local high school teams, has but together "The Tournament of Champions" which consists good friends competing in several sports and games. Normally, there are two teams of 5 or 6 (depending on the year) and we compete in different sports to see who will be the champions for the year.

Last year, our team won 2 sports (Basketball and Dodgeball) and their team won 2 sports (Floor Hockey and Volleyball). This year was a different story though... We won the relay (400 x 100 x 100 x 200 x 400)... I started with a world record setting pace and was able to put nearly 50 to 75 yards between my opponent and myself. There was no chance of them catching up. We won both games of football (40 -12 and then 26 - 12). We won the Tug-o-war. We won the one pitch whiffle ball game 13 -7 and then we won the Volleyball match 2 games to 1. While it was good Christian competition, egos were crushed on the other side.

On one hand I felt bad for the losing team... But on the other hand I thought, "Oh well, someone's got to lose... Better luck next year. Ha!" I told Sydney that evening, "Tonight, you are sleeping with a Champion. Bring on the celebratory pizza!" She just laughed.

*Side story* Before the competition started, Sydney whispered, "If you win, there will be some celebratory pizza for you" (said with a twinkle in her eye.) I said, "And if I lose, will there be consolation pizza?" She said, "Nope. You have to win." My response was, "Oh. I better win then." So needless to say, I had a little motivation behind my record breaking pace in the 400. ;)

The next few days I was sore from all of the "juking and jiving" in football. I have finally recovered and can now truly enjoy our victory. Never in the history of "The Tournament of Champions" has one team swept every single event. It may be a long time before this feat is once again duplicated.

It was a great day, a great victory and great pizza.

Congratulations are in order...

As of yesterday, it has been 9 years since Sydney became mine, choosing to forsake all others.

It's been the best 9 years of my life. I love her approximately 9 times more than I loved her back then. It is such a great feeling when you look back and you know, without question, that you made the right choice.

Sydney is the best and I am a blessed man.

(On a side note, I had a nightmare that Sydney told me she was pregnant AGAIN! ... it was one of those dreams where you wake up in a panic and then realize it was just a dream. Talk about relief! Whew. I love kids and I love our family... but 4 kids are plenty.)

"Eatin' Pizza"

So my posts have been lacking a certain amount of wit or humor to them lately... Yesterday, I began to think about this and how my humor quotient goes in cycles... I am funny for about 2 weeks straight and then I go into a drought and then it picks up again... Anyway, as I was driving home last night, I began to think about the Seinfeld episode where George decides to abstain from Sex (yes capital "S" ... guys always think of Sex with a capital letter) and he discovers that the longer he abstains, the smarter he gets... and he becomes some research scientist involved with all these experiments ...and then at the end, he gives into his Sex drive just as he has to give this big speech... and he is a complete idiot.

*Side Story* Sydney and I celebrated her "Golden Birthday" when she was 25 and we had our friends Mark and Erin take Jake and Micker Mackers for the night... So we stayed in an AmericInn in the jacuzzi suite... well that evening they called because they had a question about one of the kids and Mark asked, "What cha' doing?" My response was, "Eatin' Pizza." To which his response was, "Ooh, So that's what you call it..." Ever since then, Sydney and I have referred to Sex as "Eatin' Pizza."

Back to my thoughts as I was driving home:

So I was thinking last night that I am kind of like George Castanza and that there might be a correlation between the amount of "pizza we eat" and how funny I am. That somehow, my humor quotient increases exponetially as the amount of pizza consumed decreases. For example, we didn't eat any pizza last night... have you noticed that I am funnier today? Most of you know that both Sydney and I have been working out... and as we have dropped in weight, we have had a craving for more pizza. As the pizza intake has increased, my humor quotient has decreased.... a lot. (What can I say? We have consumed A LOT of pizza lately... and we aren't just talking those $1.00 Totino's Pizza's they sell at Walmart, but the Pizza Supreme with the Stuffed Crust pizza from Pizza Hut...)

So, there you have it... my posts havent been very funny because we have been "eatin' a lot of pizza" lately.

Can I just add that the pizza has been extremely delicious? ... or is that too much information?

Still here...

Sorry about the lack of posts... it has been a combination of several things... one being that work is really busy and the other is the fact that I can't think of what to post. I have a short week this week... Our church is sponsoring a Neil Anderson conference on Wednesday Night, Thursday, Friday and Saturday. I guess Neil is supposed to be very well reknowned in some Christian circles, although I must admit that I have never heard of him. But then, I live under a rock... so that doesn't surprise me. I am running the sound board on Thursday, Friday and Saturday. I have a special prayer request for my friends from Nepal. They will be attending the Friday night session so please pray that they would be able to hear the God's Truth. I am excited that they are coming... I have been praying for them since I visited them in Nepal.

Then on Monday, I am taking our Youth Group to Valley Fair... which is an amusement park like 6 Flags. On Monday, this will be me... riding the "Wild Thing." And I will be riding the Power Tower and eating funnel cakes and Dip 'n Dots and Mini Doughnuts and riding the Rip Tide and whatever other new rides they have and going to the Pepsi Imax Theater... even though I don't like Pepsi. So it shall be exciting. Good times ahead! Anyway... that's what's goin' down right now.

Quick Pic

I was going to post a few more pictures but I forgot the disk is at home... in the mean time, here is a quick pic of Sydney and I. She is my best friend and I love her a lot. Can you see it in my eyes?

So I suppose I should post....

It's been crazy at work... but I figured I made y'all wait long enough... Vacation was great. I have come to the realization that I could spend the rest of my life on vacation and be perfectly fine with it. Kids had a great time... to many stories to list. So rather than telling you them all, I will post pictures. Pictures say a 1000 words, so why should I. I will add a little commentary as needed:

Jake and Dad in our "fear no fish" hats... Jake learned to take his fish off the hook... so he "fears no fish" ... or at least he "fears no sunfish" anyway.

Here is Micker Mackers. I am biased, but she is SUCH a cutie.

Bug and Mick amidst the bubbles.

Dad and the great Benjino!

Jake Kneeboarding for the first time. What a stud.

Micker Macker's first time tubing. Good times!

Jake's got my back.

Anyway, had a few more pictures but blogger is retarted. So, I will load them later... including one of my "Sexy wife" Sydney and myself together... needless to say, "I am in Love." ...so stay tuned.

Back.

MiM is back open for business... you may now commence at getting your daily fix of Ben, Sydney and the crew. I realize that not having MiM available for about 11 days is like going into detox after being hooked on crack cocaine... but you made it. (Okay, maybe it's like going without coffee for 11 days... we aren't quite as addicting as crack cocaine.) Anyway, we are back... and I have numerous stories to tell... but I have to get caught up with work before I can spend frivolous hours typing away on my blog. But the point is... you no longer have to miss us... 'cause "we're baaaack." Scarey, I know.

Talk amongst yourselves.