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November 3, 2005
Boring vs. Interesting: Days 4-9
Well, I'm not sure anyone really cares (besides my Mom ... hi Mom!) but here is a run down on days 4 through 9 in my series to figure out if my life is boring or interesting. So far, I am at 3 "interesting" days and 0 "boring" days. And for those of you keeping up with this, I rank days as "interesting" pretty much as long as I didn't spend a large part of that day sitting on my butt watching TV. So, on with the rankings:
Day 4: Rachel's birthday
So, on Friday night my wife and I went out with Cheesehead Craig and his wife Rachel for Rachel's birthday. We went to Sidney's where I had a most delicious plate of Beef Stroganoff, and then we went to a movie. Both my wife and I had a wonderful time as Craig and Rachel are both our neighbors and best friends here in the Twin Cities.
When I was in college one of my roommate's professors had a close family member tragically die. My roommate, Curt in Grand Forks, remarked to me something his professor said to the class, something to the effect, "Nothing else matters in this life besides your family and friends. Remember that." Curt can probably fill in the details, but I was touched by this sentiment, as simple as it is. I am very thankful for Craig and Rachel, and I thank God they are such good friends. Thanks for the fun time guys and happy birthday Rachel!
My rank: Interesting!
Interesting days: 4
Boring days: 0
So, on Saturday I heard my dad was putting mortar in the joints of the new brick facing he had put up on his house. Beautiful job, really. It is very impressive. Anyway, a couple of years ago my dad helped me re-mortar my leaking chimney, so I felt compelled to help him with this task. So, during the pathetic Gophers game I helped him mortar his new stone facing.
He asked me what I would rank this on my Boring vs. Interesting tally, and I said, "Well, any day you spend a long time with your parents ... well it has got to be boring. Sorry." And really, putting mortar into joints is not exactly exciting.
Although my dad did introduce me to a great new saying. During a lull, I stepped back and I said, "You know this really looks good when you stand at a distance and not look at it close up."
My dad answered, "Yep, it looks good from a galloping horse."
I love that saying! I will now use it whenever it is appropriate.
Interesting days: 4
Boring days: 1
Sunday started out with me going to church. Every other Sunday I run the sound system for our weekly Sunday School class called "Disciple Zone." It is actually quite the production. So, I get to church at 8:00, set up all the microphones and wireless microphones, make sure the lighting works, and get the music and power point(s) ready. Then the fun starts at 9:00. As you might guess, this isn't your typical Sunday School class and the kids love it.
Then I got home and watched the Vikings game. Ugh. Daunte's injury was nasty. The Vikings play was nasty. Smoot got torched, and Brad Johnson looked feeble. How can this be? You know, I could have handled mediocrity. I've handled it for a few years now. But with their off season acquisitions I expected better. I expected them to be better than "awful." Did anyone think they would be this bad? Anyone? It is just too upsetting.
Then, Sunday night we went over to my wife's parents' house to watch a slide show of their trip to Europe. Yep, any time you get stuck at your in-laws house and your visit involves a slide show of any kind ... well you've entered into the "boring" zone. Now, I must say I was not bored. I actually found the slide show to be interesting and my wife's dad is hilarious when he starts telling stories, but in the grand scheme of things this activity would be considered boring. So:
Interesting days: 4
Boring days: 2
Day 7: Halloween at the Creek
On Monday I took the day off to help my wife prepare for the "Halloween at the Creek" festivities. HAC is put on by the city of Plymouth and local area churches as a family friendly Halloween activity. My wife was a HUGE part of the planning for this event. She coordinated all the volunteers, put together all of the entertainment, and generally was the go-to person for any and all things having to to with this event. I was incredibly proud of her.
Over 600 people showed up. And they had a lot of different things to do. There was a clown/magician, there was an animal show, there was a puppet show, there were tons of games/stations where the kids could win a prize, there was pizza, and candy ... oh my goodness was there ever candy. For most of the evening I stayed in the "Dome" area and ran whatever game stations needed running. In particular, I ran the Pop Bottle Ring Toss, the Bungee Basketball Battle, the Basketball Shooting station, and the Hockey Goal Challenge. I really had a good time. Tons of kids and tons of smiles.
Again, though, I gotta say how proud I am of my wife. To pull off this kind of event took a lot of her time and a whole lot of planning. And it went smoothly. People had a blast and it was all due in large part to her efforts. Needless to say, I was very, very impressed.
And of course, this was an "interesting" day.
Interesting days: 5
Boring days: 2
Nothing really to report for this day. I took another day off to help my wife recuperate from the big Halloween event and I cleaned the house all day. No big whoop.
Interesting days: 5
Boring days: 3
So, last night my family and I again went to our church's Wednesday night production called Mission 6~7. It is a fun, very family friendly service that includes loud music, a little skit (or two), and a great opportunity to laugh and play with my kids. We have a really good time.
Interesting days: 6
Boring days: 3
Posted by snackeru at November 3, 2005 7:58 AM | Boring vs. Interesting
Comments
I wouldn't miss it! And in the grand scheme of interesting or boring, you are one very interesting person! (and your dad thinks so too)And, of course, that is completely unbiased.
love mom
Posted by: Anonymous at November 3, 2005 9:28 AM
Watching slides of your in-laws trip to Europe, with your father in law doing the narration, does not qualify as boring. I bet it was a lot of fun. Watching slides of family reunions with my grandparents, however, qualifies as boring...
I also have no rememberance of any professor telling me that "Nothing else matters in this life besides your family and friends. Remember that." Sometimes I think you remember events in my life better than I do!
Curt in Grand Forks
Posted by: Curt Hanson at November 3, 2005 9:46 AM
Thanks for the warm fuzzy Shane. I am very happy that you and Molly are in our lives and that Molly did not file that restraining order against my wife for stalking her all those years ago.
PS. We need to get the last 3 events of the Backyard Border Battle going, the public is clamoring for more!
Posted by: Cheesehead Craig at November 3, 2005 9:56 AM
It's your tally, but I actually think you ranked Sunday wrong. You said that it was interesting to you, but ranked it as boring because "in the grand scheme of things this activity would be considered boring". By who? Who cares what other people would think of it? It's your life. If you thought it was interesting, then it was. Period.
Posted by: Jeff at November 3, 2005 12:48 PM
That is the best picture of me I have ever seen. Many thanks for publishing it on the WWW. Make everyone who knows me link to it somehow, can you?
I would pay money (not much, but at least $1.45) to see the Ryan slideshow of Europe!! What do I have to do to get into that circle? I literally begged Molly to let me come to the show. I have to learn how to impersonate you better so I can slip in and take your place at Ryan events when you want me to.
Posted by: Cheesehead's Wife at November 3, 2005 3:15 PM
You want to impersonate Shane? It's relatively easy:
1. Complain that the governor and legislature are incompetent about the stadium issue.
2. Every time the Vikings or Gophers are mentioned, just throw your hands up in the air and say "I'm through with those losers!"
3. Just turn to his father-in-law and call him a doo-doo head.
Posted by: Cheesehead Craig at November 3, 2005 4:22 PM
OK! I'll change the tally to include a slide show with my father-in-law as "interesting." You have convinced me. Because, I actually did have a good time. My father-in-law had all of us rolling on the floor in laughter over one of his pictures. It featured a statue at the modern art museum in Vienna of a naked man on a horse with a huge erection. Hearing my father-in-law describe this picture was an absolute scream.
And Curt, I can't believe I remember something that you don't!
Rachel, I'm glad you liked the picture! It is a very nice picture. I absolutely agree. I will drive as much Internet traffic to it that I can.
Craig, I think you have me almost to a tee. Except that I never say, "I'm through with these losers!" I usually say, "Why do I even watch these losers?!?!" There is a subtle difference there.
Posted by: Shane at November 3, 2005 8:09 PM
