optus_tennis_site_edited

This is the video making news right now... it looks like someone is spray-painting Still Free on Air Force One. It turns out that the maker rented a 747, painted it to look like Air Force One and made the video. Obviously, they have some serious cash...

StillFree.com

We've been wanting to move the trailer East of our house for a long time, so about a week ago, I decided it was time to do it. Trying to be good, I spent time to put the wheels back on, unhook all utilities, put the hitch back on to the front, etc.

Today was to be moving day! I put the wheels on, which took a lot longer then I expected. 2 wheels were flat and one I couldn't get on, so I decided to try to move it with 3 of 6 wheels in place.

Everything went well until I hit a dirt hill (maybe 3 feet high) out behind the trailer. One side touched the ground and the other is buried in the dirt, so I can't move the trailer forwards or backwards! It is stuck!!

This was one of those projects were you visualize how it is supposed to go, and then you get amazed when nothing goes as planned!!

Oh well... I'll have to jack up the side on the dirt and put on another wheel and hope that is enough to unstick it...

If that doesn't work, I'm not sure what I am going to do!!!

Tonight was our first night as small group leader for the Beginnings class at Vineyard. Childcare is going to be tricky as class goes from 6 - 9, which is really too late for the kids (bed-time is 8:30, not 9:30). Tonight wasn't too bad in that regard since no school tomorrow.

I really enjoyed the group. The first night is spent getting to know one another and everyone seems really great! I am looking forward to the coming weeks, although I may have to go it alone a few times when Holly needs to take the kids somewhere.

The weather is getting really nice!! Spring is finally here!!

For years, I've heard about wild turkeys in Urbana, but I never quite believed it. Even last week, the radio reported that the intersection of Windsor and Philo Rds was closed due to police officers trying to capture several wild turkeys...

One thing that added to my skeptisism is this.. how hard could it be to catch them?

Well, Sunday morning, on the way to church, I looked over towards the U of I president's house on Lincoln and there they were. 4 HUGE turkeys...

At first I thought they were dogs, but as we got closer, it was obvious what they were. I'd bet that these things were about 4' high...I had no idea that they could get that large.

Then, Monday morning, driving to Decatur, Holly and I saw another one along the side of route 72. 5 turkeys spotted in just 2 days after years of never seeing one!!!

How strange!!

On a side note, Tamera from the Vineyard called us today asking if we could help out with Beginnings, a 6 week course for people interested in joining the church. Very cool!

I am still very sore from Volleyball!! Walking up the stairs is painful!

This weekend was the Vineyard Volleyball tournament. It started at 6 PM on Friday, but our first game was 9 PM (which we lost, but double elimination). Since we lost, our next game was 8 AM Sat morning... agghhhh that came early, but we kept winning and made it to the finals (which was played about 2 PM, so 6 hours of more or less solid playing on Sat). We won the first game in the final, but since the other team hadn't lost yet, we had to beat them twice. Since everyone was so tired and it was getting late, we decided to play one final set. We were way down (15-5) but came back and almost won! We ended up loosing 22/20 (win by two) on a silly play.

It was a a great day of volleyball, but tiring!! I was planning on going to a co-worker's church play (kinda like Celebrate Life that Holly and I were in during HS), but I am just too tired...

They have it again next weekend, so we will try to find a sitter and go to it then.

I forgot to mention a couple of days ago that our frogs (well one frog) is already singing out by the pond! Spring is finally here!!

We purchase the Lion, Witch, and the Wardrobe movie earlier in the week, but Holly and I finally had time to watch it last night. I was impressed. I wouldn't say it was a 'fantastic' movie, but it was well done. Doesn't seem as emotional as I remember it from the the one from my childhood.. and what's up with Peter riding a Unicorn? I thought only a female virgin could ride Unicorns. :) Oh well...

The grass is finally turning green!! It is supposed to get up to the mid 70s today, with a chance of rain. At this rate, I may need to mow the grass soon.

Work was good yesterday, we got a small project finished (always nice to resolve those project tickets) and another one is just about done.

I still struggle with my role sometimes, knowing exactly what I should be doing. My title "Business Process Manager" is kinda goofy, but it sounds like I should be involved in a lot of projects (and no one is telling me that I shouldn't), but I also am concerned about taking things over and getting over-burndened. But, it is a good struggle!

Bridget's Girl Scout troup went to Starkle Planetarium last night, her 5th time and I've never been there. :) She had a great time and came home with a spring skymap. So one of these evenings when it is clear, we'll have to go out and see what we can find.

Today was absolutely gorgeous!! I wish I didn't have to work, but I did manage to come home an hour early (after working through lunch). We tied Lefty out to a tree to graze and the kids lead the dogs around on leashes. It was even warm enough to not only grill out, but to also eat outside on the picnic table (OK, by this time, it was getting a bit chilly). So yeah!!

I had applied for a part-time job as a IT Manager for my church (Vineyard), and I found out last night that I didn't get the job. :( Another person applied who really knew windows server 2003 inside and out, and I am higher level then that. I am bummed as not only could I have used the extra money, but I thought it would be a great way to get more involved at church and also learn more about IT stuff. On top of that, it would look great on my resume.

Who knows, maybe some day, they'll realize they need someone to drive the focus of IT and not just focus on the depths of server technology (at Wolfram, the windows admin are the entry level positions). I'm not bitter at all mind you, I totally understand where they are comming from and their current need, just disappointed that I didn't get it. :)

I got taxes all done last night. HomeZula.com actually caused us to get back a much higher tax refund, because I have lost so much money. I get a lot of people visiting the sites (nearly 1,000 hits a weekend), but still very few people add their listings to the site. (Maybe I add them too quickly, so people don't bother when they see their house is already there).

I want to get yard signs going soon, just got to find the time/energy to get it done.

Lefty needs his hooves trimmed in the worse way. The ferrier always tells me that he'll call in 6 weeks (about the time between trimmings) but he never does, so I tend to forget about it. I need to start adding it to my calendar.

I gave some training at work today which went great. I am getting all the database/web tickets organized... maybe soon I'll start getting more involved in the web group projects.

Man,
I've been sooo bad about updating my blog this year. The problem is that I got behind and then overwhelmed about trying to catch up with everything. So, rather then trying to get caught up, I am just going to start posting again!

Sunday, we had a huge storm come through town. We were lucky in that we didn't have any real damage (our lawn windmill blew over), but it was about as windy as I can remember. I was outside watching the storm come in and I heard Tolono's sirens go off, then Savoy, then Champaign.

At that point, it wasn't raining. A few lightening strikes later, I was inside watching and all of a sudden the wind really picked up, so we ran to the basement, the whole house was shaking. Our power flickered for about 3 seconds and then came back on. But Donald, Karen, Mom, and Gayne were all without power until the next morning.

Anyway, that was our excitement for the weekend. Otherwise, it was nice. We took Lefty for a walk around the prairie.. the grasses are all turning green.

In Church, we sang in Choir Sat night and Sun morning, which was a lot of fun.