Ben and Jenelle DOT COM

I should have said this yesterday: Happy Birthday, Uncle Randy!

The past few days weren’t all that exciting, but I have been getting some important things done (updating the church web site, for example). I wish I had another story like the Muto’s Pizza incident to share. However, I will share a few small bits from the past week or so:

I hope all you Wisconsinites had a chance to get out and enjoy the weather on Monday. I managed to play three sets of tennis. The strangest thing was that we broke a sweat clearing leaves off the court. It’s not supposed to be warm when you do that.

I discovered last week that Floral Art is no longer in business. It was the place that I frequented whenever I wanted to buy some flowers for Jenelle. I managed to find another place, but I don’t know if any place will ever be able to match their convenience and quality.

The Dairy Queen on highway 20 is having a half-price sale on Sunday. Jenelle and I plan to stock up on Buster Bars. Yum.

I rented the movie TRON over the weekend. It didn’t do all that well at the box office, but I must say that the digital effects are pretty good for 1982. Did you know that the Academy did not give them a Oscar nomination for special effects because they felt the producers cheated by using a computer? My, how times have changed. The movie reminded me of the work done by the company that my brother works for, Hornet Animation. Obviously, Hornet’s work is much more advanced.

My mother asked me to put together a Christmas list. Just so you know — I’m working on it. 🙂

I should have written this two days ago: Happy Birthday, Laura!

Today was another busy day, but I think I should write about the weekend before I forget!

Every second with my family was absolutely priceless. On Saturday, we got to spend a lot of time with Andrew, Holly, and Ella. You might be surprised to learn that I held her for quite a while. She was sleeping for most of the time, but that doesn’t mean it was easy. 🙂

It’s amazing to see the glow in Andrew and Holly’s eyes as they take care of her. We were also blessed to see Ella roll over by herself for the first time! We didn’t get it on film, so Andrew got the camcorder in hopes that she would repeat the feat. All she did was spit up. Oh well, better luck next time, I guess.

Grandpa Tom and Grandma Pat were nice enough to babysit so that Andrew, Holly, Jenelle, and I could go out to eat and see a movie that evening. Though we didn’t do anything really exciting, I wish that I had more opportunities like this to interact with my brother and sister-in-law. I didn’t notice it growing up, but Andrew taught me quite a bit about this great big world we live in, and I bet I could learn a lot more if I had the time (and we weren’t so far apart). In any case, I did my best to treasure the time we did have to share, and I can’t wait until they come to visit in December.

On Sunday, the wedding ceremony was certainly the quickest one I have ever attended. However, that did not cut down on the amount of joy in the room. Yolanda was overflowing with cheer and excitement with every step she took toward Ed. The vows were somewhat relaxed, but the solemnity of the event remained.

The reception was also very nice, though I think the DJ was a little bit over-the-top. He was encouraging everyone to play games and do different dances and things like that. I guess there’s nothing wrong with that — until you can’t sit down without him bugging you. Heh. On the plus side, he made sure everything ran smoothly with the toasts, the cake, the first dance, and the other important parts.

So, another big congrats to Ed & Yolanda as they begin to experience the truly wonderful blessing that is marriage!

Let’s see what I can do to sum up this week:

Monday: Played tennis after work. Won three sets. Got a great workout.

Tuesday: Drove to Evanston for the Delta Chi Alumni Board of Trustees meeting. I’m the secretary. It sounds more exciting than it actually is.

Wednesday: The evening church service went very well. Our new drummer, Matt, is so musically talented that he can tell when my guitar is out of tune better than I can.

Thursday: Church executive team meeting. We finished up the 2004 Spending Guide proposal. It’s a tough process, but we all feel much better now that the first step is done.

Friday: Getting ready for another exciting weekend!

I’ll have some much more interesting things to write about on Monday. Trust me. 🙂

First of all, it’s time to catch up on a few birthdays. Everyone deserves to see their name appear it red when it’s their birthday.

Four days ago: Happy Birthday, Hunter!

Two days ago, my nephew, Lucas, had his second birthday. He’s the son of Jenelle’s brother, Jeff, and his wife, Josie. Happy Birthday, Lucas!

Okay, I feel better about that. The next thing I need to do is share some more details from the walks last weekend.

The UCP walk (also known as “Joe’s Run, Walk, and Roll”) was a blast. Jenelle and I both got t-shirts just for particpating. This was the fourth walk for which we signed up. After I heard about it on the radio, I had to quickly change every reference in the THREE walks site to the FOUR walks site.

Shortly after registering, I located Danny and D from 105.3 The Fish. After gathering up the confidence to approach them, I greeted them and introduced them to Jenelle. I got a great picture (right here) and shared some basic information. I don’t think this was a big deal to Jenelle, but I was loving every moment because I felt like I was talking to celebrities.

In any case, I learned that Danny and D would be “strolling” at the back of the pack, and we were welcome to join them, which we did. I first thought that there would be a lot people doing this, but there weren’t all that many. This gave us the chance to learn a lot more about them and tell them all about us. I told them all about my efforts in the church worship band, the joys of our marriage, and plenty of other things along the 5k route. We finished the walk in just over an hour. In an amazing coincidence, Danny crossed the finish line at 1:05:30. Wow.

Jenelle and I stayed a little while for the after-party in the Hart Park building. We didn’t win anything in the raffle, but we still had fun. We thanked Danny and D for the fellowship throughout the day, and D mentioned that he’d give a “shout out” to us on Monday morning. I didn’t actually hear it, but I didn’t need to. It was a wonderful experience to meet two brothers who both let their light shine before men (Matthew 5:16).

Next post: A recap of the AIDS Walk.

I am thankful for all of the great times we’ve had this weekend. Both of the walks were lots of fun, especially Saturday’s walk for United Cerebral Palsy (more on that in a later entry). Check out photos from each walk here. Jenelle and I also got to skate with the church youth at Skatetown, and then we gathered with congregation members, young and old, in the church cellar for a pizza party.

But wait, there’s still more. We went to Eric and Gina’s house on Saturday (in between the UCP Walk and the roller skating party) for Hunter’s birthday party. I don’t have pictures of that online yet, but they’ll be up later this week. I have a great one of Todd showing Hunter how to ride a big wheel, which you have to see to believe. 🙂

If I wasn’t totally exhausted, I would write more tonight. I’ll certainly be taking the time in the near future to share lots of stories from this busy but super-exciting weekend. I’ll take a weekend like this over a weekend of doing nothing 100 times out of 100.