fanatics

I had the incredible priviledge of attending the ACC Tourney night games Friday and discovered how fan-to-fan resentment grows.  Yes, some of it is during the game when one's team bests another and so the fans reciprocate.  But the real, deep-seeded resentment grows AFTER the game on the way from your seat (4 rows from the very top for us) to the car out in the Goofy-5 lot (Disney anyone?).  This becomes the walk of shame for many.  Most instigating are the annoying chants from fans whose alcohol is just kicking in again or is wearing off in a withdrawal-infested haze.  To you fans who think you need to shout ridiculous things in tight quarters in the name of celebration, you are offensive to me, the opposing fan...and I would say now, even to your team's reputation.  I guess that's the point though...why yell if it's not offensive?!  Yep, your team was the better mediocre team tonight.  Go Team.

ya big baby

Hey folks, here are some pics of our growing baby from January 28th (I know, 4 weeks late, sorry).

Here they are!
This one is profile (from the side), legs to the left and head on the right...

This one is the moneymaker, use your imagination...

And finally, here's a 3-d sonar image...

Just think, that was 4 weeks ago!  He's a big baby now.

Wintry Olympiad

If I competed in the Olympics, I would compete in:
Snowboard Cross
Speed Skating
Luge
Biathalon

How about you?  What would you compete in?

Snow

Why is it that when we get a good snow, the braintrust decides it would be a good idea to "plow" the roads?  This only makes things worse!  We got about 7" or 8" of snow on Friday night and I went out Saturday morning to get Tums for my pregnant wife.  The roads were fluffy and beautiful and most of all: not slick.  Then the plows came out and ruined everything.  This morning was a mess.  I say leave it alone.

BTW, the brilliant city of Greensboro decided that $30K worth of snow removal should all be dedicated to the downtown area to prepare for the opening of the International Civil Rights Center instead of throughout the city.  They hauled all of the snow out and dumped it, who knows where...probably into a polluted stream.  The whole city shuts down (just watch the "closings" on the news) but I guess this was money well spent.  Maybe snow's too white?

...or was that racist.

Special Needs

Tuesday I got to go to Victory Junction Gang Camp in Randleman, NC...this is Kyle Petty's camp dedicated to giving kids with special needs an exciting camp experience.  I'm part of a project that is donating a lot of goods & services to their organization, so they hosted us and we held one of our group meetings there.  They were gracious enough to give us a tour of the property and even feed us!  You can see more about their mission/facility/etc HERE.  On the tour they showed us one of their typical promotional videos which shows all of these kids having the absolute time of their lives, despite whatever physical or emotional baggage would typically hold them back.  I actually started to tear up towards the end.  Let me back up a little...

When I worked at Rockbridge (YL camp in VA), I had the opportunity to help pioneer some of the challenge course access systems for kids with special needs (ie: how do you get a child with physically debilitations through a ropes course so he/she can experience the same thing as the rest of her cabin mates).  My partner in this effort was a local leader from Maryland named Suzanne, who, through this experience and others like it, would turn out to become a long-time dear friend.  Suzanne worked with a YL ministry called The Capernaum Project, which focused on sharing the Gospel with kids with special needs.  My contribution to the task was the physical logistics...working knowledge of carabiners, cables, ropes, etc.  We tried several different methods that ranged from basic brute force to sophisticated rigging with pullies and wrap around seats, fumbling through the process as we went.  The physical part, no matter the technique, turned out more often than not to be incredibly draining and required a coordinated team of people.  The emotional part was always rewarding, no matter the sweat, no matter the tears, no matter the cost.

Even above all of this, though, Suzanne shared something with me early on that has stuck with me beyond all else:  It's not "Special Needs Kids," they are KIDS with special needs.  We always want to label things so they fit nicely into our little categories we file away...and we do that with people, too.  The last thing these kids need is a label...they are Kids, just plain kids (who just happen to have special needs and need a different kind of love and attention).  I still remember our first sweet Sarah who was wheelchair bound and had VERY limited mobility and VERY limited communication.  It was awkward at first, trying to figure out the right system, who should be where, how do we do this?  But one step at a time, we did it.  The next one was easier, and the next easier than that.  Each time, the reward was much greater than the cost.

So I sat in that dark theater, entranced by the video which showed giant smile after ecstatic giggle, thinking back to when these seeds of compassion were planted in me years ago.  I couldn't help but get a little choked up.  We later had lunch and were even able to spend some casual time with Patty & Kyle Petty (yep, Patty Petty).  He's a huge NASCAR star, yet is the so unassuming and approachable.  You can tell that it's not about boosting an ego or "look how great I am"...but it's about KIDS.

I think we're the needy ones.

why the vikings could go all the way...

now this is just plain awesome.  GO HERE TO SEE WHY THE VIKINGS COULD GO ALL THE WAY.  it is only 2 minutes long...totally worth it.

stacey and i decided that the NFC Championship would pretty much be our SuperBowl since we don't really care about Indy or the J.E.T.S. (well, stacey unfortunately likes Peyton Manning but I think he's a toolbag).

I hereby vote for a round-robin playoff system.

Go Vikes?

chuck!

i'm so glad Chuck is back.  it's such a simple pleasure for us...every episode is digestable but leaves you wanting just a teeny bit more.