A Runner

I realized something this past week. For 30 years, I have considered myself a soccer player who happens to run. Soccer was the first sport I played, and I loved it right away.  But I always wanted to run - I can remember going past the middle school track and wanting desperately to run on that track (even though it was an old cinder track). I eventually set records on that track, but I was still a soccer player who happened to run long distance.  I was county champion in cross country, and city champion in several events through middle school, and I received a varsity letter as a freshman cross-country runner.

Still I was a soccer player who happened to also run.  That's why I would do both in the same season. In fact, as a high school sophomore, I chose (club) soccer over (varsity) cross country. I was definitely a soccer player who happened to run.

This past week, however, I realized that this is no longer true. Now I consider myself a runner who happens to love to play soccer. I still play soccer and I play my hardest.  I love getting together with the team.  I love a great pass. I love scoring goals.  But I am clearly a runner who also plays soccer. 

A defining moment in this realization has been my Saturdays.  Before, I would certainly not run on a Saturday in anticipation of my soccer game.  I would want to keep myself fresh for the game.  But over the past couple of months, I've been finding myself out for runs, even longer runs (8-9 miles) on Saturdays, game and all.  I'm not exactly even training for any races or anything - just running to run.

I now define myself as a runner who happens to love soccer.

What Next?

I am a competitive person. As far back as I can remember, I have always been competitive. I remember a time when I was playing U12 soccer and I was miserable. I felt like the coach was always picking on me. It always seemed like when we would get to play a scrimmage game, he would always play, too, and he would put himself on the other team, and then he would man-mark me. I was getting kicked and banged up by the coach, and I wanted to quit.

My parents wouldn't let me quit, but they listened to my concerns and talked to the coach. Turns out he thought I had potential but "needed toughening up." I thought I was tough enough, and I decided to show him in our next practice. When it came time to scrimmage, sure enough, he lined up across from me. When the ball came, I missed the ball (later I would find that this was called a "professional foul" and kicked him in the ankle. He went down, and he never played against me again. Several years later he was refereeing one of my games and he pulled down his sock to show me that he still had a scar from where I'd kicked him. I guess I was tough enough!

As we went on and as my skills got better, I would routinely play against better players, and I loved it. I loved running drills in practice, and I would work as hard as I could. Track practice was the same; when I was supposed to run a 400m interval in 75 seconds, I would run it in 70. Sometimes my teammates didn't like to practice against me because I had one speed: all out.

I really liked having a coach push me to work harder.

But after playing high school soccer, and after playing club soccer in college, the days of having a coach were over. I still play as hard as I can, but I don't have someone else pushing me. At least I get to play. I wonder about someone who has played football at a high level - where do they go next? At least a runner can run local races. A basketball player can play Y-ball. A soccer player can play in an open league or an age-group league (when I was a teenager, I swore I'd never play in one of those old man leagues like an over 30 team). But what about a football player?

I wonder, what's next?

Like I said, I am competitive. I have been running races a lot more over the past several years. One of my life-long goals was running a marathon, and once I did that, I wondered what my next challenge would be. It was running a second marathon (the way I saw it, anyone could run one, but it took more to run a second one). But then I wondered what would be my next challenge.

I began running more 5K races - for a couple of reasons. One was that I like seeing some of the same people at every race and making new friends. But, of course, I love the competition! For a while, I focused most on my finish in my age group, but lately it's been about my time. I set a goal this summer of beating 20 minutes (42 seconds better than my then-PR), and I accomplished that goal with a time of 19:35. What next?

One of the things I see a lot with some people is that once they accomplish a particular goal, they live off that accomplishment. For example, if the goal was to run a marathon, then they do it, then for the next 5 years they eat like they just ran it! "yeah, man, I ran a marathon. Now pass the pork rinds!"

Or in life in general: maybe they did something high level, but now they say, "I did that once, so now I just sit around." To that person, I say, "What next?"

A Cool Description

First a little background: I am playing soccer in an over 30 league nearby. This Sunday, a guy from church asked me if I'd play on his team, not knowing that I'm already on another team. As is the custom for the Adult Sunday Soccer league (I'm not making it up; that's really what it's called), I stuck around after my game and played with the guy from church.

As it happened, I scored his team's lone goal.

After the game, he asked if I wanted to go out for a beer with the guys. Now, if you know me very well, you probably know that I don't like beer, but I do like hanging out with the guys. So I went along and just got a glass of water (the waitress came up, trying to make a joke and asked if I'd like something to drink: maybe a glass of water... then was a little flustered when I did want water).

The guys gave me a little bit of a hard time about drinking water, but no big deal. Anyway, a little later, another couple from church came in (they're in a cell group with my friend), and one of the guys said, "Ah, that's why he didn't have a beer - he didn't want people from church seeing him drinking!"

To that my friend responded quickly: "No, this isn't that kind of church. At our church, people don't judge each other like that."

That was about the coolest way I've heard a church described.

Blogging From the NPC: Day 2, Post 2

The afternoon included a trip to the ocean for a run with the Runner's Club. It was fantastic. The view was beautiful, and the company was great. We ran out into the wind at an 8:30/mile pace, but when we turned around, we jacked it up to 7:30s. It was awesome. I don't usually get to to a harder workout with anyone else. Come to think of it, I don't usually get to run with anyone else at all!

I got back in time for the second half of USA-Mexico's soccer game... in Columbus, Ohio. Yes, I had to watch the game on TV. But I was extremely happy (and completely unsurprised) at the 2-0 result. I had predicted it, but that's nothing because we always seem to beat them 2-0 when we play on US soil.

In the evening, Tommy Walker led worship, and he was on fire. I seriously almost shot my voice singing "Hallelujah" to God at the top of my lungs. Something I really enjoy about being here is something I enjoy about worship at Millersport UMC; I can sing at the top of my voice, raise my hands, clap, and worship in whatever posture seems right. But Tommy Walker is a fantastic worship leader. He's got a ton of charisma, but it never seemed like it was about him at all.

Then we were treated to Rob Bell interviewing Shane Hipps, a genius who has a lot to say about the media we use to share the Gospel. His view, from an extremely high-powered advertiser's standpoint, is that the medium is the message. He got me intrigued enough to buy his book. I am interested in what he has to say about it. The one reason I don't know if I can go all out with him on this is because the message isn't merely words, our message is a Living Word...

The keynote speaker for this evening was Will Willimon. I was excited to see him and hear him speak, because I have seen him before, and he delivered a challenging, biblical message. Not to mention that he's a UMC bishop who usually has something insightful to say (and is thus a reminder to others that the UMC isn't so bad). To say that this evening's presentation was disappointing would be an extreme understatement. Not only did he disappoint, but he made me angry. Not the "This guy has different views than I do" kind of angry, but the "don't talk about my mama" kind of angry.

You see, his entire presentation was pretty much stand-up comedy blasting "the laity." And the way he said "laity" made it sound like laity was something you might find stuck to the bottom of your shoe following a nice stroll through a dog park. He just blasted away at them, going so far as to say, "Church isn't where the faithful disciples gather; it's where Jesus is crucified between thieves." He related story after story about horrible lay people. He ended up with a picture of Jesus and the thief on the cross... being the first "lay person" in heaven, and guess what: when we get to heaven, we'll have to put up with those same horrible lay people.

And then he walked off the stage.

I was so mad, because the lay people he was blasting are people who pray for me (and my family) daily. They are people who are passionate about Jesus. They are people who have welcomed me and my family to a new town and have embraced us as their friends. They are people who Jesus died for. They are the Church, the Bride of Jesus Christ, and he loves the laity. Sure, they are sinners, and certainly there are bad churches and bad situations and some of the "sheep" certainly have teeth, but in the morning session, we just got finished forgiving these very people!

At the end of the session, Ken Medema brought his unique brand of improv music. The guy is a freaking genius. He synthesizes the entire content of the session (including comedians, artists, special music, interviews, worship, and the main message) into one song, and his use of dynamics, different sounds, different styles of music is moving and soul touching.

My Best XI

I always love seeing who makes an all star team, and I dutifully vote for who I think are the top players. Naturally, my votes lean toward the Columbus Crew (this year for very good reason). However, I have some favorite players who don't play for the Crew - these are my Best XI of non-Crew players. Note that they aren't necessarily the best players, only my favorites.

Keeper:

• Nick Rimando (Real Salt Lake): He typifies the motto: make the easy saves look hard and make the hard saves look impossible. Yes, I know there are better 'keepers out there (Jon Busch comes to mind), but who's more high flying than Rimando?

Defenders:

• Jim Curtin (Chivas USA): I can remember his first game as a Chicago Fire player. I believe he scored an own-goal AND got red-carded. You can't get much better than that.


• Craig Waibel (Houston): He even looks scary.


• Chris Klein (LA): I don't think he's really a defender, but I've always liked the way he gets up the sideline.


• Marvell Wynne (Toronto): This guy can fly. He's gaining some ball skills, too. When his skills catch up with his speed... watch out!

Midfielders:

• Dave van den Bergh (New York): His work rate was second to none, and as he went, so went the Red Bulls. He contantly serves dangerous balls into the area.


• Steve Ralston (New England): He's the best midfielder playing. New England lost everything at the end of the season because of Ralston's broken leg. Not that I wanted them to win... but I really like the way he plays.


• Dema Kovalenko (Real Salt Lake): Who wants to mess with him? He even looks like a bulldog, and he's probably the scrappiest player in MLS right now. Plus he's an Indiana U graduate, which always gains a player points with me.


• Ronnie O'Brien (San Jose): Best crosser ever.

Forwards:

• Chris Rolfe (Chicago): He was on a tear by the end of the season, and he played his college ball down the road in Dayton.


• Juan Pablo Angel (New York): Pure scorer. That's all there is to it. He finds a way to score goals, no matter what. I'd love to have him as my forward; just get the ball to him near the goal, and he'll put it in.

Honorable Mention:

• Cuauhtemoc Blanco (Chicago): How can you not dislike him? He's ugly, he dives and flops, he plays on the Mexican National Team AND the Chicago Fire... still there's something about the cheeky moves he pulls...

Congratulations Columbus Crew!

What a season! Coach of the year. Defender of the year. League MVP. Regular season champions (Supporters Shield). and now MLS Cup champions!

I (very grudgingly) liked some of the New York Red Bull players: Dane Richards amazed me through the playoffs with his blazing speed (and pretty much single-handedly dethroned last year's champions, the Houston Dynamo). It was good seeing John Wolyniec getting a chance again. Juan Pablo Angel is a scorer and always finds a way to get the ball in the net. Danny Cepero was the feel-good story of the year (unless you are Andy Greunebaum) And Dave van den Burgh was my favorite Red Bull player (and has become my favorite non-Crew player in MLS) as his pace always gives him space to cross dangerous balls into the area.

That said, I was in no way whatsoever cheering for New York. In fact, I wanted the Crew to win 5-0.

Somehow I managed to have the wrong starting time for the game, so I checked the MLS website, which had a count-down on the top of it... which was wrong, too. So I missed the entire first half. I was able to watch the rest, including the final 3 goals.

I was pulling for Ezra Hendrickson to be subbed into the game at the end, as I played with him in Kokomo (one of the hardest slide-tackles I ever suffered was at the hands of my own teammate when I was chasing EZ down the field and my teammate attempted to slide tackle him and EZ jumped over him, leaving me as the only victim).

As it was, I'm happy that the Columbus Crew finally prevailed!

Columbus Crew Game

On Saturday, a group from our church attended the Columbus Crew's game against the hated New England Revolution. It was a battle of #1 and #2 in MLS, sure to be a great game...

Both teams were missing key players: Columbus was missing Hey!Duck and Moreno, while the Revs were missing Steve Ralston (truth be known, he's one of my favorite MLS players even though he plays for the enemy).

As it turned out, the Revs' loss was far bigger than the Crew's - that and the fact that the Revs have been playing twice a week for the past month, flying all over the place just to play another game against another opponent.

As it was, the opening whistle was as close as the Revs got. The 4-0 result wasn't even indicative of what an utter whitewash the game was.

The real story of the game was the facial hair sported by some of the jokers in the audience.

Who comes up with these people?

When It All Means Something

Today (as usual for Sunday afternoons) I played soccer. One of the guys came by in street clothes. A couple of us started to jab him: where's your gear? You're too young to retire! But he wasn't up for his usual game.

Turns out his wife just died, but he wanted to come out and tell us when the memorial service would be and also to say "Bye" to me, as this was my last Sunday to play before moving.

As we all gathered around to hear the sad news, I felt like we needed to support him, not just with kind words, but with prayer, so I asked him if it would be OK for us to pray for him. He agreed, so we gathered around, put (sweaty) arms around each other, and prayed for our friend.

When I played high school soccer and club soccer in college and even on various indoor and outdoor teams, there were always games that "meant something" - meaning that this game was somehow more important than others. Perhaps we were playing against our big rival, or a team had beaten us badly last year and we had something to prove. Or maybe it was a big game, like a championship. Those games "meant something."

These games I've been playing are for fun. Nobody remembers who wins, or even who scores the last goal (except that I did today - mostly because it was determined that once I scored again, that would be the final goal). But today I was reminded that these games mean something. They mean friendship and brotherhood, and they mean having a group of guys who care enough to pray with you through a tough time.

Soccer Boy

Today when I went to play soccer, Jonathan got dressed in all his soccer gear to come with me. When the adults took our water break, Jonathan and I played. He loved it. OK, we both loved it. And isn't he cute in his uniform (complete with cleats and shin guards)?

Upside Down

Yesterday I participated in two different sporting events. I went bowling and I played indoor soccer. Normally I am a bad bowler and a good soccer player. Yesterday in bowling I had two of my best games ever (I can only remember having a better score one time). Then, in soccer (after playing a good first half out in the field), I played in the goal.

I thought I was a good goalkeeper, but I got shellacked. (we were already up by a lot when I went in, meaning that the other team was allowed an extra player, but that didn't excuse our lack of defense. Or the couple of really poor goals I allowed).

A Soccer Post

You might have noticed a dearth of soccer-related posts recently, but I am hereby bringing remedy. Though our Sunday pick-up soccer ended some time last month (after dwinding for a while, we actually had enough for a decent small-field game for our last outing), one of the guys put together an indoor team to play in the Friday Night league at Neuko in Elida.

I hope you had me on your fantasy team last night - in a 9-5 win, I scored once and had assists on 4 additional points (one being a 2-point goal). One of the assists was a thing of beauty in a 2v3 break (can you call it a break when we were down?) where my teammate made a crossing run and I threaded the needle to him. Then about a minute later, he returned the favor by giving me a sitter in front of the goal.

It was a whole lot of fun...

The Rest of My Birthday

The coolest thing happened on my birthday. Well, it was cool for me, anyway. The reserve soccer team was supposed to have a game my birthday evening, but the opponent didn't show up. Now, if you know me, you know that coaching soccer (though I like it) is a cheap substitute for playing soccer. Though I'd rather coach than watch, I'd rather play than coach 10 times out of 10.

Anyway, after having a little conference, we coaches decided that since the kids were already dressed and warmed up, and since they have fewer games than the varsity team has, they should get to play. So we set up a scrimmage: reserve starters against everyone else (including non-starters, coaches, and a couple of varsity players who showed up).

After sorting out where everyone usually plays (or wanted to play), I took left midfield (I'd rather play central, but there were already several people wanting that spot). What made that position difficult was that our left fullback was man-marking one of their players, and that player drifted all over the field. So it boiled down to me playing touch-line to touch-line.

What made that position especially fun was that it was right in front of the bleachers, and there were quite a few parents and friends who stuck around to watch the scrimmage (not that I really even noticed them once we started - but they had a great time. They seemed to especially like when Coach was way outnumbered in back and was calling out, "HELP!").

I made some nice passes, and though my shots on goal were off the mark (one outside, the others saved by the keeper), it was a lot of fun - that was a great birthday present for me!

Favorite Sports Memory


Someone asked the following facebook question: "What is your favorite sports memory?"


Mine would have to be the PAL soccer championship game when I was 14 years old. We were set to play against the Panthers, the only team who had beaten us all year. They had beaten us 4-2, after we had two goals called back (one I have conceded since then; the other I still can't accept). We were supposed to play them again on a Wednesday night (when I had church commitments), but that game was (thankfully) rained out.


In that championship game, the Panthers went up 3-0 very quickly (in the first 15 minutes). Right before halftime, I pulled one back on a PK, probably the worst PK I ever took (the only one I ever missed in a game was called back because the keeper moved early). Anyway, this one rolled under the (falling) keeper's right arm.

At halftime, I delivered a stirring speech, and we took the field. The wind, which had aided the Panthers for the first half, stopped, and it began raining. We took the game to them in the second half, scoring twice. After 90 minutes, we were locked at 3-3.

We went to overtime. Nobody scored for 15 minutes. We played an additional 15. No score. We went to Golden Goal (then it was called sudden death). No score for another 7 1/2 minutes. Then we got a free kick, way out by our team bench, probably 35 yards from goal. I can remember clearly telling Nathan C to wait until I got into the area so he could send a looping ball across to my head. He didn't wait at all and launched a shot over the keeper into the net.

Our team and coaches came sprinting, jumping, cheering, while the Panthers looked on in shock. Bob Carey, our coach and my best friend's dad (who died this past May), came running out, bellowing, and grabbed me and Nathan in a bear hug. I can still remember the joy on his face.

So that was my favorite sports memory. What's yours?

What a Difference a Year Makes

I have been helping out with the local high school soccer team for just over two years now. Two years ago, when I first came, I volunteered along with a friend, mostly being frustrated in the lack of discipline on the team. Then when it came time to play games, I generally didn't want to be there. The team looked so bad that I was frankly embarrassed to be on the sidelines.

After that season, I had several parents ask me if I might be interested in coaching. It reminded me of after my first year as assistant coach at LCA - I would have been interested if a couple of things were different. Then, being in seminary, I didn't know where I'd be after four years, and I would rather have the team coached by someone who could build a program. While that was the big reason for me to not coach at LCA, the big reason here was this: I just don't have the time. Being a full-time pastor, husband, the father of (then one, now two) little boys, I had to decline.

So they hired Gregg Luthman... I'd heard all sorts of negative rumors and gossip about him (mostly, it seems, from someone else who applied but did not get hired), but he has debunked every rumor by being a consistently good coach. Last year I helped out as a volunteer when I could (though we had a newborn, which made things tough). It was a pretty tough season as the kids began to learn a system of play...

Sometime before this season, Gregg asked me if I would consider being his assistant coach. I still didn't really have the time to do so, so he asked if I knew anyone who might be able to do so. He was looking for someone who knows the game and hopefully would also be young enough to keep up with the kids and to be someone they would look up to (he and I are, after all, ancient, when it comes to teenagers).

I almost immediately thought of Trent, the youth pastor at the UCC here in town. He just graduated from college and has starting full-time at the UCC, and he played soccer here (and is still in good shape). What youth pastor wouldn't want a chance to interact with a group of kids like this on a daily basis (and earn a little extra money to boot)? As I had guessed, Trent jumped at the chance.

Then Gregg asked me if I might consider becoming the Varsity Assistant coach. It is a new position he was trying to get accepted, and I could work around my schedule. Tara and I worked that out and decided that I will go to practice 2-3 times per week and home games (no away trips). That worked with them, so I am the Varsity Assistant soccer coach. I even got a really sharp coach shirt to wear on the sidelines.

Today was our first game. Last year we won this game 2-0. Today we were up 2-0 within the first 7 minutes. We scored the first goal in the first minute, and were up 6-0 at half. What a difference a year makes! The team looked good. They looked like a team. They passed well. They supported well. They trusted one another. They made interesting passes. They made the game look good. And this in driving rain on a soaked field.

I had to leave after half-time (because the game had been pushed back 1/2 hour because of lightning before the game), but when the second half started, the Rangers were playing a "different" game - instead of scoring on net, they were tabulating their own "scores"... by carrying the ball into the 6 yard box. They weren't allowed to shoot on goal except on a free kick or corner kick.

It was great seeing the Rangers play good soccer!

What's Happening?

I haven't been on blogger for a while, so I thought I'd do a quick list (Bryan's Office-style) of what's been happening.

1. At church, I was fortunate enough to have a projector available for two weeks (until I had to return it to Minster High School), and I loved it. I loved having the song lyrics up on the screen. I loved being able to project the main points of the sermon. In making room for the projector on the stage, I moved aside the large pulpit. Though I don't yet have my lavaliere microphone and I can't move around too much, it's amazing how much freer I feel to be out from behind it. I even had someone comment that my preaching has become better for moving the pulpit.

2. Last Saturday I played in a 3-v-3 soccer tournament (this is my third year of participation, each with different teammates). My teammates this year were all just-graduated players from the team that I volunteer coached with the past two years (for whom I'm now the official assistant varsity coach). We started out slowly (playing against the same team that killed my team the first year) - we got beat by quite a lot...

In the second game, we were much more evenly matched. We managed to fend them off for a 8-7 victory... with me scoring 7 of our 8 goals. I scored on a really nice volley from almost halfway, and I scored twice on "nutmeg" goals (through the legs).

The final game was against a team that called itself "Old and Fat." Some of my friends and I agreed; if you have to advertise, you probably aren't. This game wasn't very close either.

Our final tally: 1-2. We had a good time, and that's what counts. After the games, I went home and relaxed in our family pool.

3. I took a short trip to visit my family this week, and it was filled with excitement. It was good to see "Uncle David" as he was back in the states for a conference. He gave good gifts to everyone (including a cricket set for each set of boys). We had a good time riding bikes together, even though he blew a tire and (of course) the cell phone battery was dead.

4. At the "Chykkyn Rantch" (as we call the family compound), the temperature was extremely hot. There's nothing like a cool, relaxing dip in the pool, right? So what if the pool temperature is 97 degrees, though?

5. Now nobody can dispute the identity of the heavyweight champion of the world.

6. When I got back from Kentucky, it was in time for a huge storm. We lost yet another of our trees (the big pine in the back is now splintered). The wind was strong enough to blow our grill and Jonathan's kitchen set some 10 feet where they came to rest (upside down) against the garage. I wonder how far they'd have gone if the garage wasn't where it is... There was sleet, hard rain, and severe wind. And, best of all, Homer and his wife were apparently interviewed by a near-local television station to talk about the weather. Nice.

7. The storm stopped just in time for the annual New Knoxville alumni soccer game. I came to play with the alums - they needed all the help they could get! Not only was it hot and humid, and not only were they playing against a more-than-full team, but they were seriously out of shape. Many hadn't played since last year's alumni game (which was a 9-0 whitewashing of the high schoolers). The game started out fast with the alums scoring several, but that was against the JV. The varsity team held their own, even scoring several goals. I don't know what the final score was, but it was really close.

Good job, Rangers! They looked really good. As for the alumni, we had size and experience on our side, but the way the Rangers are progressing, this won't be enough in a few years. Especially if the alums continue to "forget" how to play positions (especially midfield)

Soccer Stars

After a several week lay-off, I was back on the soccer field yesterday for our weekly Sunday pick-up game. I could feel the lay-off (and the fact that I don't quite yet have my legs back under me after the marathon); this was most evident as I made quite a few passes directly to defenders and had a couple of horrendous attempts on goal (at one point, I outraced the defenders to go one-on-one with a (bad) keeper, only to hit the ball over the top - and even though the ball was bouncing, it was baaadd. In another attempt, I mis-hit a shot so badly that it was probably about 20 yards from goal. Ouch). I did hit a pretty nice corner kick, though, and had another good pass for an assist. Oh, yeah, and I scored the "game winner" (as in "next goal wins").


But the real reason for this post was to display the picture of Jonathan in my first soccer jersey. What I can't imagine was that I was wearing this shirt when I was 9, and here Jonathan is, barely 3, wearing it. I guess those years in the attic made it shrink. Or something.

Sunday Soccer in St. Marys is back!

Gary, this is for you.

Future Star

Things don't look good for French National team star and Arsenal striker Thierry Henry lately due to injuries. Though Henry vows to end his career at Arsenal, he's not looking at any chances of playing any time soon.

Therefore, it's a good idea to have a future star waiting in the wings. Which is why I am offering the Gunners this chance to sign a real future star. He'd love to play for them (he especially loves to kick the ball through my legs and exclaim, "Nutmeg!"), and I'm sure that we could manage to get him a work permit (after all, his uncle is a British citizen), and the transfer fee can't be that great.

Sure, he's only two, but he'll be three in May, and before you know it, he'll be lacing up the boots for his first professional game. We're just waiting to see who he ends up playing for.

A Dining Experience

I have been a volunteer soccer coach here in town for the past two years now. This year the athletic banquet was unfortunately scheduled on the same night as our church's Family Night (in which I had a part in one of the skits). My grumble about the athletic banquet being scheduled on a Sunday night aside, I was unhappy that I wasn't even told when it was - the kids told me on Sunday afternoon when I was coaching their indoor team.

Anyway, the next week, one of the parents gave me an envelope. It contained gift certificates to the "Lamp Lighter Inn" - so last week we decided to go. We drove up and down the street where this restaurant was supposed to be... nothing close. Finally (once we were famished) we went somewhere else (that wasn't quite in our budget).

After some detective work, we found out that the Lamp Lighter Inn had (within the past couple of years) changed ownership... and names! It is now Groundhog's Sports Bar. So since the Ohio no smoking in restaurants law took effect December 1, we decided it was worth trying (after all, it was free!).

$15 of gift certificates, a plate of awesome mini corndogs & french fries (for the Boy) and an appetizer sampler platter (for the parents) later, we'd had a great dining experience. And since we eat freakishly early, there were hardly any other patrons there, meaning it didn't matter if the Boy ran around a bit.

Whatever their name is, they've got new customers.

Not-so-Deep Thoughts from the Weekend

First of all, props to the two pre-teen girls whose mom agreed that the family would light the Advent Candle Sunday. When mom couldn't come because she was sick, the girls did it anyway. Even though they weren't aware that they had been volunteered until I talked to them (I did give them an "out" in case they didn't want to do it).

Next, I love a good indoor soccer game. I've been coaching a team this session, and we've been having a lot of fun. It's great seeing the kids having such a good time. But this week, after the game, I was sticking around to talk (and to invite our kids to come to church for Christmas Eve if they're not already affiliated with another church - really, this is all about one kid for me), when we found that the game following ours had ended in a forfeit. Meaning that the team that showed up had nobody to play. So being the gracious fellow I am, I volunteered to play so that this team could get to play their "game." It was nothing short of a slaughter. Even when, for the whole second half, we played with 4 players (3 field, 1 keeper) to their 7. We tried to make sure that we passed a whole lot, that we did every fancy move possible, and that every goal came on a fantastic assist. And we sprinted back on defense. It was so fun.

Finally, with all of the "hustle and bustle" of this season, who else is being able to take time and catch up on scrapbooking? Yes, that's what we've been doing. We're still working on our Grand Canyon trip (check the blog archives for May 2006 - you'll have to scroll down a little to get to the CG trip). Oh, we've already got the gifts wrapped and everything. I love it!