Ben and Jenelle DOT COM

GROUNDHOG DAY! Well, it WAS Groundhog Day two days ago. Jenelle and I snuggled up and watched the Groundhog Day Special Edition DVD once again. Did you know that the movie was filmed in Woodstock, Illinois, which is less than two hours away from where we live? Every year, they have their own Groundhog Day celebration, complete with a walking tour of filming sites. We might make the trip next year — we considered going this year, but our weeks were both crazy-go-nuts.

In other news — after almost six months of typo-free powerpoint slides during Wednesday night services at Our Savior’s, I made a small mistake at the service this week. The song was “Precious Lord, Take My Hand” (#731 in your blue book). The correct line was, “I am tired, I am weak, I am worn”, and I accidentally put “I am tired, I am weak, I am worm“. Oops.

I’m currently sitting in a room at a training center in Downers Grove, Illinois, learning all about SAP Smart Forms. Normally, classes like this aren’t very exciting, but we have a very good instructor. And class is about to resume…

Two birthdays on Tuesday the 25th:

Happy Birthday, Katie!

Happy Birthday, Brian! (Jenelle’s other brother)

I’m thrilled that the weekend is here. It’s not that I don’t enjoy my job and everything else that I do during the week, but there’s a reason that God rested for a day. This week was a bit draining for both Jenelle and me. So, after work, we had a nice relaxing dinner at the Chancery this evening. And now we’re just vegging out for a while.

I’m not sure what else to write. Well, I’m thankful that I’m not bored.

We left work around 6:30 yesterday. Jenelle managed to reach a record 4.75 miles on the EFX machine (yay sweetie!) while I was busy fixing up an “urgent” computer program issue. Yes, Mom, they had me fix it because I’m the best SCJ employee. 🙂

Anyway, the snow was just beginning to fall, and the roads weren’t too bad yet, so we went to Home Depot and bought some paint that will be used for a youth room at the church in Winnetka where Jenelle is an AWANA leader. It’s a pretty light blue color — tropical something.

As 7 o’clock rolled around, we were getting pretty hungry. The roads were starting to get a little ugly, but we decided to drive over to Applebee’s (just around the corner from Home Depot). We figured that no one else would be out in this weather. Oops. The wait was 35 minutes. So, we did what any starving couple would do. We placed a “Carside Carryout” order, got our food in 15 minutes, and were home before the roads got REALLY bad.

After a candlelight dinner (in lovely plastic carryout containers), we watched a bunch of stuff that had been saved on our DVR this week, including Everybody Loves Raymond, Two and a Half Men, Joey, CSI, and ER.

Looking outside now — yikes. It’ll take some effort just to get one of our cars out of the complex, and the snow’s still coming down pretty heavily. Here’s something I don’t get — at the car dealership nearby (the old one just north of us), there are about 10 people cleaning off all of the cars and another two people driving plows. Why on earth are they engaging in this activity IN THE MIDDLE of a snowstorm? Do they think I’m going to come over there right now and check out the latest models? “Oh, yeah, I like that one, but it’s covered in snow, so, forget it.” At least wait until the Winter Storm Warning is over.

I feel like I’ve missed a birthday or two — let’s take a look at ye olde birthday reminder service — ah, I see — I’m in the clear for now, but next week has FOUR birthdays in it. Exciting.

Jenelle and I both visited the SCJ fitness center this evening. I was suprised at how busy it was there — nearly every treadmill and cardio machine was occupied from the time we arrived until the time we left. Of course, I shouldn’t be surprised. Monday tends to be the busiest day of the week — people who work out three times a week usually do it on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, and people who work out twice a week usually do it on Monday and Thursday. There’s also a sense of commitment when you work out on a Monday. The idea is that Monday is the toughest day to do anything productive (the whole weekend recovery thing), so if you have a sense of accomplishment on Monday, there’s no limit to what you can do. Add the Monday effect to the January effect (people trying to make good on New Year’s resolutions), and you end up with a lot of sweaty people.

For anyone out there that is trying to lose weight — perhaps there is some value in cutting carbs or some other specific kind of food, but in my experience, all you have to do is eat a little less and exercise a little more. Decrease your caloric intake and increase your caloric output just a tiny bit. Keep doing it, and one day you’ll wake up fifty pounds less than when you woke up the year before. Okay, maybe I’m exaggerating a little, but you get the idea.

Jenelle here…

It’s 4 degrees out – and it feels like 7 below. It might drop below 0 tonight too. Time to turn on the gas fireplace and sip some hot cocoa.

I miss the rain.