It's been a few days since I've had a minute to post anything. Sorry about that. It's been pretty crazy around our house (I know, what's new).

First, of course, is that it looks like we got lucky with Rita. "Lucky" is, of course, a relative term. The people who own homes that are nothing but naked slabs probably don't feel too lucky. But the last minute hook probably saved the refining industry and some of the most built-up areas of the coast. The role that the marshlands played in all this also needs to be studied and understood by the pave-it-over-and-build-condos-on-it crowd. And just because Rita wasn't as bad as it could have been or wasn't as bad as Katrina doesn't mean we can just forget about those that were effected.

As previously reported, as of Thursday, we are no longer Verizon customers. Something that Debbie or I did or said must have seriously jerked some chains, because when Debbie left for work this morning, there were three Verizon vehicles out on our road. I hope they got the message that we are no longer a customer. I'd really hate for them to waste a bunch of money burying all new cable to our house for nothing. Really. Honest. I'd feel real bad for maybe two seconds.

In any case, we are set up with cell phones. If you are trying to call us on our old number, you will not get through. We are contacting people as fast as we can with our new numbers. If we haven't gotten to you yet, be patient; we will.

Thursday night was also Tip Night at G's, the local pizza joint. My soccer team waited tables for four hours and made over $340 dollars for the local AYSO organization. Good job, ladies!

Friday, I had scheduled a soccer practice because we were all serving food when we normally practice. Very few could make it, but those of us that did had fun. Several of us sat around after practice and talked. That's the part about youth ministry I miss the most. I wish I had more time to spend with everyone on the team outside of practices and games.

Saturday was, of course, soccer games in Gladwin. Our first game didn't go too well. We just couldn't seem to get it together and lost 4-0. The second game we played much better, but still lost 3-1. The offense is really starting to gel. We might have it together in time for the last game of the season....

Debbie was at a retreat Thursday, Friday, and Saturday. She stopped by the house while Nestina and I were at the soccer game, then headed downstate to her mom's place. I drove down Sunday to meet her there for a benefit dinner. One of her high school classmates has cancer and as you would expect has really racked up the bills. There was a very good turnout and between those paying for the meal, the silent auction, the live auction, and the 50/50 raffles, the family should have gotten a big boost.

We got home last night after 11pm and finally fell into bed around 1am. I'm really hammering down the caffeine today, and it isn't working. There is soccer practice after work, but other than that, I have a night off.

That's all I have time for right now. There is a bunch of stuff I need to link to, but that will have to wait for later.