Earlier this year, a storm took down part of a huge tree in our backyard. My first plan was to carry my chainsaw to the top of my 20 foot extension ladder and cut the top of the tree off that way.
However, when it became obvious that the tree was too weak to support the ladder and me (not to mention that it seemed very likely that the tree would not be the only thing missing a limb or two when it was all said and done)... I called in the pro - "Adam the Tree Slayer". He brought over a pole saw that could reach the top of the tree. Below is visual evidence of his handiwork. Now, you may notice that there are a bunch of tree branches laying in my backyard. That is about 1/2 of what the pile turned out to be. Once we got Adam started, he did not want to quit! For some reason, though, Adam left before we got them all cut up and loaded in my truck - but that is ok! I saw the look in his eyes when he had the chainsaw in his hands... I was not going to say anything rude to him! :)
It is nice to have friends. It is even nicer to have friends with whom you can make great big messes (with chainsaws, no less). Thanks Adam!
Earlier this year I got to go to Charlotte to a NASCAR stock car race - then later in the year I got to drive a car in the Estevan "Faster Pastor" race - and now this..... A buddy of mine wrote me the other day and said that he was giving me an Olds Cutlass that he wants me to turn into a stock car. Can you believe that? It was like Christmas - only better. :) So now the work begins - kicking out windows, ripping out the interior, painting, etc.
So - anyone want to sponsor my new ride for the low, low price of $8653894673487683476???? (or I will take an loose change that you want to give me too!) :)
I am not sure how long it will take to get this baby out on the track (I need to build a garage first so that I have a place to work on it) but it is a huge step closer! Woo Hoo!!!!
I got to go to an "Athletes in Action" supper last night. The guest speakers were Rider quarterback Kerry Joseph and running back Wes Cates. There were about 300 people in attendance and maybe 40 tables or so set out.
When the supper started, the MC said, "Now, the players are not going to sit at the head table. We are going to send them out to sit with you guys" - so my buddy Bobby jumps up, runs over to Wes Cates and says, "You have to sit at our table!" Wes looks at him and says, "Well, I am not sure but I think that they have a place reserved for us". Bobby looks at him and says, "Yep - you have a place.... at our table!" So we got to eat with Wes.
Over the course of supper, I asked him 3486593869836986908 questions. When I found out that he played quarterback in high school for a year I offered to draw up a "Half back option pass" play that he could take back and show to head coach Kent Austin.
Now if you had been playing football since you were 7 years old, were now playing pro and you found yourself at some supper in some hick town and a scrawny white guy who has never really played football in his life offered to draw up a play for you - what you do?
Wes laughed at me!!!! :)
But you watch... I think he really liked this idea! He is going to suggest it - and they are going to try it - and it is going to work and turn their entire season around - and they are going to win the Cup....... and you are going to know who to thank! :)
On a related note: I saw Katie's teacher (who is about my size) at this supper, so I went up to him and said, "I will give you $5 if you go up and sucker punch Kerry right in the face. What is he going to do? He can't punch you back in front of 300 people" - but he did not take me up on it! Can you believe it? Everyone in the province would have known his name right now had he done it - and he would have been $5 richer too! :)
But it was a good night and I was super impressed by these two guys (and D-line coach Ron Estay) - they were great! Gave up 6 hours of their day to come here and talk to us about God and about putting spiritual things first. Pretty cool - even if they never use my play! :)
Oddly enough, sometimes beautiful places and fun adventures are just sort of stumbled upon. Today, Sari, the kids and I took my canoe down to the Souris river just to see what we could see. As it turned out, we saw a lot! Three and half hours later - after exploring 3 different parts of the river - and after seeing frogs, fish, a couple of muskrats, a Blue heron, a couple of hawks and who knows how many turtles - we arrived back at our starting point. Who knew that the river was so nice? Who knew stuff like this exists in Estevan? Warm day, calm water, lots to see and fun together - what could be better? :)
This has been quite a summer for me. First, in May I got to go to my first NASCAR race (have any of you seen those pictures or heard those stories?) and then this last Friday night I got to drive in a stock car race.
Our local speedway held what they called "Faster Pastor" - a race where they take ministers from all over town, stick us in race cars and send us out to race against each other. It was great!!! Ever since I was a little kid going to the stock car track in Moose Jaw, I have wanted to drive one of these things in a real race.
I got to drive Trevor Gowan's "Pure Stock" car #81. One of my first impressions of the car was how isolated you feel. There was no rearview mirror. You cannot see beside you. It sort of feels like you are out there all alone - until people start passing you. It is loud and really rough and bumpy... tons of fun!!! :)
The plan was that at the end of the night of real racing, they would load us into whatever cars were still running and let us go. We were going to run 5 laps and then stop while they inverted the field (put the 1st guy in 8th the 8th place guy in 1st) - then run 5 more laps. I started on the pole (1st place) and led the first 3/4 of a lap (the video is posted below). Just when I was thinking "This is too easy", two guys went around the top of me. I think I ended the first segment in 3rd or 4th. I lined up in 6th (3rd place inverted to 6th) for the second segment and finished in 4th (I think - there were cars spinning and stuff so I will have to watch the video later to know for sure).
The funny thing is that I had a bunch of people saying, "I am sorry that you did not win" as if I would be really disappointed - but I was not disappointed at all. When I got in Trevor's car he said, "You will have to drive it really hard just to keep up to the other guys" (because all the other cars were from a higher class than mine), so I figured that coming in 4th was pretty good. Besides, it was so much fun, I would come in last a hundred times just to do it again! I was so excited that I could not go to sleep when I got home - I was awake until 4 am (literally). :)
So I may have to find a way to do this again. My brother, Kurt, and I are talking about building a car for next year. And if that does not work out - "Faster Pastor" is going to be an annual event - so I am already looking forward to next year! :)
Below...... Me coming onto the track
Getting lined up for the second segment.......
Cute racing chicks getting ready to cheer for their favorite driver...
At least that is what I normally say - VBS is tiring, draining, yelly kiddy (you know) - but I LOVED VBS this year!!! From top to bottom - it was a great experience.
We started Monday morning with 75 kids - that is usually our highest total for the week - and numbers-wise it just kept growing until we had 100 kids on Thursday and 114 registered overall. It was cool to see kids inviting their friends, people bringing their neighbour's kids, etc. It was just great to have new faces there every morning.
We also had a great group of workers. I would say that there were 30 + involved every morning and that does not include those who participated before (with setup) or after (tear down). Not only did we have lots of volunteers, but we had volunteers with great attitudes - really focused on the kids, on the lessons and on just being helpful. By the end of the week, we even had parents staying to help out with crafts, snacks, etc. That was cool!
On Friday night we invited everyone to a big Hayride/wiener roast - it was a fun ending to the week and good time to visit with the kids and the parents too.
Great kids. Great workers. Great lessons. It was just a great week.
I used to think that Vacation Bible schools were a thing of the past and that no one was interesting in helping with them or in bringing their kids to them anymore. Fortunately, I was wrong! :)
What has been keeping us from blogging well it could be the beach or a thousand other fun things we are finding to do this wonderful summer. Hope yours is going well too.. :)P
For some reason blogger isn't letting me load up pictures but I will when it lets me....maybe it is on a coffee break. Well after much pressure from I will not say who I am writing about my recent trip home. I enjoyed being in the great outdoors and breathing clean air...sorry folks from my town...:) Dad is recovering nicely we think and his levels are lower than they need to be for now so he is still being monitored. At least chemo did it's thing. Mom was good too and a bit busy. She is looking after dad and Joel who was also sick at the time which made it harder for dad. It was great to see Rae again and meet her man Christien. We had lots of free time to just hang out together and that was a real treat. We had a beauty of a day on Sat before we had to leave and so we spent it at Clear Lake. An awesome spot for a get away if you need to. All in all a fun time and good to reconnect with everyone who was there. Okay by the time I was done writing blogger came back off coffee break and wa la!
I now have 2 reasons to consider myself a "real biker".
First, last week I left the safe confines of the city and did my first road trip (until now, I was convinced that my 500 cc bike was too light to be very safe or comfortable on the highway). It was great! Lots of fun! I am looking forward to more highway rides.
More importantly, the second reason, I had a run in with "the law" today! I was leaving the church building when I saw Skip Hill coming down the road. He was pointing like he wanted me to turn around, so I quickly shot down the back alley, through the parking lot and met Skip at the front of the building. Turned out that he needed a key to get in. That is when we saw them - "The Fuzz"!
A cop car sitting in the driveway behind my motorcycle. Skip asked, "What did you do?" and I said, "I don't know. Maybe I did not signal when I turned into the alley". So I went up to them, said "hi" and they asked if that was my bike. I told them that it was and they asked "Do you have a license?" I produced license and registration and they said, "We saw you veer off the road and down the alley when you saw us coming, so we thought that you must be driving an unlicensed bike". Skip and I laughed, told them the real story and they said "Have a nice day".
So there you go - it is true.....
"The Man" is always hassling the innocent, good, nice, "never causing any trouble" biker dudes! :)
On the good side - my "brush with the law" should give me some much needed "street cred" with the Harley boys down the block!!! Now I can put off getting that tattoo for while! :)
We had tornado warnings here today as well as a "sighting" out by Torquay - just west of here. So in the grand Pippus tradition of doing things that are just slightly stupid - I threw the kids and Sari in the truck to go and see the storm (one of the three was not as excited about this turn of events as the others - I will leave you to fill in that blank with your own imagination though) :)
I mean - come on - how many times do you get to see a twister in real life??????
Not to worry though - we stayed a long, long way back and in the end..... nothing! No funnel clouds. No flying cows. Hardly a drop of rain. Lots of dark clouds and some good lightening and thunder - but that was it.
Stupid Environment Canada Weather Warnings!! All the interesting weather misses us! :(
(Of course those last two lines are written "tongue in cheek" - I am not actually wishing to be in a tornado, taking them lightly, or trying to call down a curse upon myself - just for the record!)
For those of you who have been slugging your way through my last 3 postings about Lenny's and my trip to Charlotte and thinking to yourself, "Wow! Am I glad I wasn't there" [That group could include anyone who is either... 1) a "non-racing fan" or 2) those who can imagine what our rental car smelled like after 8 days in 93 degree heat - Whew!!! :) Either way!].... I just wanted to prove to you that Lenny and I are men of broad experience. We not only went to race shops and races at the paved track - we also went to races at the dirt track!!!!!
(Ok - so what did you expect? A posting about how we went and got our nails done at the spa? Actually, Lenny wanted to, but he decided that their red nail polish did not match his skin tone, so he walked right out of there!!) ;)
On Friday night, the top dirt racers in the country - the "World of Outlaws" Sprint cars - were at the dirt track in Charlotte. The track is 4/10 of a mile (Isn't that actually 2/5 - why don't they say that? I don't know) and is basically the same size as the one in Estevan. The cars in Estevan average 80 - 90 mph around our track - these guys were averaging 120 mph+. The Estevan track draws 1 400 people on a good night - these guys had 14 000.
Two pictures - looking each direction from our seats (just to show the numbers of people) and then two videos to show you the cars on the track - three of them flip near the end of the first video - but I missed most of it. The last picture is self-explanatory.
"So why Charlotte, North Carolina?", you might ask.
The answer is simple - race shops! Almost every team is located in the greater Charlotte area.
"So what?", you might ask.
Well - these things are not your average garages. Have a look....
This is Hendrick Motorsports - the shop that builds cars for Jeff Gordon, Jimmy Johnson, Casey Mears (who won the race we went to) and Kyle Busch. This is the outside of the shop - it is 600 000 sq feet (think 6 times the size of your local Wal-Mart).... by the way - note the "pond" out front - and "yes" it does stretch from where "Lenny" is standing to that other part way down there - and that is one of 5 buildings. They also had a museum. Here is a row of Daytona 500 winning cars - in the exact same shape they left victory lane in (notice that they are covered in Coke - confetti - rubber - etc) One of the most impressive viewing areas was at Penske racing - the home of Ryan Newman and Kurt Busch's cars. They had a walkway that went from one end of the shop to the other so that you could watch the guys working. Here is the view at Richard Childress Racing..... Most of the shops had viewing windows or catwalks, but the best place was a place that we almost did not go to - a smaller team named "Bill Davis Racing" located approximately 70 miles from Charlotte. They had no tour - but they allowed us to walk around in the shop anywhere we wanted to go - as long as we stayed in between the black lines on the floor. That was cool because the mechanics just kept working away and you got to be right in it, seeing what they were doing etc .... Then we went to their Truck shop across the street and the rules there were - none! Just walk around like you own the place. Look at anything you want. Just watch out for the guys who are working while you wander. Here is a picture of Johnny Benson's truck being worked on.... And, of course, Joe Gibbs racing - home of Tony Stewart....
Most of the shops have tours, museums, trophy rooms and gift shops. They are very impressive and it was fun to see how things are done. One car is worth more than $120 000 and it takes more that $20 million to sponsor one car for a season - now you can see part of why that is.
In four days we visited more than 25 shops and put over 700 miles on our rental car - And that is why you go to Charlotte! :)
Most of you know that for the last 10 days Lenny (aka my brother Kurt) and I have been on an adventure.... we flew to Charlotte, North Carolina, rented a car, drove more than 700 miles all over the Charlotte area in basically 4 days, looked at and toured more than twenty-five race shops, took in a "World of Outlaws" Sprint car race with 14 000 people at the dirt track in Charlotte, watched NASCAR Nextel Cup practice and qualifying, went to the Busch series race, walked through miles and miles of vendors trailers and tents that sold anything and everything NASCAR, took in the longest night of racing on the NASCAR schedule - the "Coca-Cola 600" with 160 000 of our closest friends (though the 5 1/2 hour race seemed to be over in 10 minutes), and just generally had a great time. (How do you like that for an opening sentence?) :)
I have lots of stories to tell like how we spent most of our first full day lost because we were trying to navigate an area that has several million people using a map that had literally 5 roads marked on it (Lenny refused to spend the $7 to buy a map the night before - so after a day of looking for race shops and being lost - he relented and we bought a map!) :)
Or about how we could not understand 93% of the people 97% of the time (it was fun imitating their accent - for example - did you know that "Charlotte" is pronounced "SHA-lat" - well now you do!) The best was when we went to a sub place where the owner was an East Indian man - he spoke fairly good English but with an accent of course - it was entertaining to watch the "Good old Boy" in front of us trying to communicate with him - they were both speaking English but nothing was going through! :) (Interestingly enough, within 3.76 seconds of me saying "hi" to the lady next to me at the Busch race on Saturday, she asked "Where y'all from anyhow?" - so maybe they weren't the only ones with accents!)
Or how about Tony Stewart was "the show" for the whole race - even if he did not win (more on that another day)
Or just about how much fun I had with Lenny! It was great! I really enjoyed hanging out with my brother - doing something fun and memorable together. We laughed lots - talked lots - took tons of pictures and have tons of memories. So over the next few days, I will share some of them with you.
But for now - below are some pictures - mostly from the first day we were at the track (Thursday). In order they are: The front straightaway at Lowes Motor Speedway, Cup cars lined up to go out on the track for practice, Jeff Gordon's #24 Dupont Chevy and (of course) Tony Stewart's #20 Home Depot Chevy.
Below that is a short video I took just to give you an idea of the speed that these cars are traveling. This is taken from up by the catch fence as the cars go into corner 1. They are slowing down and some have turned off their engines because it was a practice session (When they were going flat out, they would hit close to 200 mph where I was standing - they averaged 185 or so around the entire track - the ones with their engines off they are coasting by at approx. 170 mph). Notice how quickly they go by.
The word that kept coming to mind as I first watched these cars was "violent" - they are so loud that you had to plug your ears when you were down at the catch fence - they rumble your chest - they look as though they have no hope of turning and are going to go right into the end wall - they are big, scary, loud - and more fun than I have had in a long time! :) So - over the next few days I will try to give you a taste of that.
One last thing - I have to say "thanks" to Sara and Tracy who not only let us go on this trip, but encouraged it all the way (I think that they have big insurance policies on us that they were hoping to cash in!) Not many wives would let their husbands - especially a couple of boneheads that have the track record of doing stupid things together that Lenny and I have - go off and have fun while they held down the fort - but ours did. They are why going was fun - but coming home was better!
Well those of you who know us know that Tim is living his dreams and is off to the races this week. Don't worry the car you see here in no way involves Tim. Sorry maybe I should have said that sooner. He made it through all the hoops to get there and had lots to report as of last night. He will, I am sure fill the blog with many stories and such when he returns. I hate to say it out loud but it is just a little too quiet without him around. Hoping he is having the time of his life.
[Editor's note: I know that some of you read this blog for its seriousness, reverence and intellectualism (well ok - lets just pretend that some do anyway) - if that is the case - boy are you going to be disappointed with this posting! I apologize in advance!]
I had a life changing experience yesterday. I ...... faith-healed my water cooler!
Yep - I know! Sounds stupid, doesn't it? But consider the source and hang with me for a moment.
It all started when I was just a gleam in my mother's eye... but we don't have to go back that far, so.....
Last week our water cooler died, so I did the only logical thing that any sane, Canadian male would do - I pouted! After that, I did the second thing that any sane, Canadian male would do - I tore it apart. I took out the circuit board - checked the transistors with my multi-tester - wiggled things around - I even did the "tried and true" fix of yelling at it and hitting things (my dad taught me that one!) - the result: Nothing! Dead as a doorknob! So for the last week we have been drinking room temperature water as the water jug drained down.
Last night, we had some friends coming for supper and we began to debate what to do with the water cooler. We had not bought a new one yet (One of us - I won't say which one - is quite cheap!!!), so we decided that the time had come to toss it outside in the trash - and then it happened!!
I know that I should be more serious and less stupid most of the time - but this time I could not help myself - so I said to Sari, "Before we take it out - I want to try to faith-heal it". She gave me one of those looks (I am surprised that she has not tired of that look yet - because I am starting to) and in my very best southern drawl, fake preacher voice, I laid my hands it and said......
"Oh Lord! You know how much we loved this water cooler.... and if you could just see it in your heart to bring it back to life - we would be forever grateful! Heal this water cooler!!"
I plugged it in - turned it on - and we have been drinking ice cold water ever since! :) (I realize that it is not exactly a "Water into wine" sort of miracle - but it was impressive to say the least!)
So I am considering a new line of work - I may open a "Small appliance Faith healing repair shop" - you know - start with blenders, maybe a hairdryer or two - maybe I can work my way up to waffle irons!!! :)
Its either that or just charge people for looking at my "miracle cooler".....
You each now owe me $5!!! (At this rate, I will collect enough to replace this one when it dies again). :)
We got news today from Ma and Pa Muller that Dad is due for just one more round of chemo. The doctor was very pleased with his levels in his blood work and so they are saying this next round should be the last. I know many people are now touched by cancer in some way and so many will know how demoralizing it can be to have any form of the disease. I know dad was ready to retire and see the world out ahead of him, filled with so many dreams waiting for him to have the time to fulfill them. So I am asking for your prayers for dad as we continue to live in the shadow of cancer and knowing that the plans we have for us are not always what God has planned. If you are waiting for retirement to chase your dreams perhaps you shouldn't wait and if you are waiting for someone to be good to you, there really is no time like now,to be good to them. If for no other reason this past year has changed how I (we) see people and life and the urgency of loving now. I hope you will save some room in your prayers for my dad.
No "Air Hog" is not a new nickname for their Dad (though some who have heard me preach may think it is not far off) - "Air hog" is the name of the new, cool toy that the kids have.
When I was a kid, I liked any toy that flew: gliders, parachute men that you threw in the air, model rockets - didn't matter as long as it could fly - so when we were in Minot a few weeks ago and I saw this thing, I just knew that I..... I mean "the girls" just had to have it.
As you can see below - it consists of a rocket with two little airplanes attached to it..... You use a slingshot to shoot the rockets and the airplanes into the air - "more than 5 stories up" the box said (and I would think that was close) - like so..... The result is this....... When the rocket gets to its "5 story tall flight" - it releases the little airplanes that then float and cruise around landing a couple of hundred feet in either direction (here is one of the kids after picking a plane up - as seen from the launch site).......
So the best parts of this.... 1. It was $10 2. No batteries required 3. The kids thought it was great fun running after the airplanes 4. (Related to #3) I did not have to run after the airplanes 5. The kids were dog tired after 2 1/2 hours of running after airplanes 6. I get credit for being a "fun dad" - and I probably enjoyed it more than they did!
Well due to overwhelming pressure from the man who has been monopolizing our family blog for goodness knows what, I decided to let those who wonder "what are the rest of you doing?" have something to read about. We recently went on a road trip to Minot, ND. It was super fun and it was our first journey with the D's. We shopped and swam and looked at cars and motorbikes and ate out. I am sure that Tim will never be the same because I don't think he has ever survived a longer shopping trip. The rest of us loved it and so did Tim when the center of the mall fill with stock cars to drool over on the second day there. Anyway the few days were as relaxed as we have been on holiday for a while and we all really needed the break from reality. Yes I am saying being with the D's is spaced out time. Well back to Tim's ramblings for a while. I will be back to rescue you from him when I have a minute. :)
