More on Last Weekend and More

I guess it's about time for another post and some pictures (more from last weekend).

Last weekend, in addition to the funny funness that went on at the comedy fest, I went to a youth event that the BCM put on at our church. There weren't a whole lot of youths who came, but I think the Increase 2007 was pretty good nonetheless. Here be some pictures:

Here's the BCM band leading some worship thru music.

Jon Davis was the speaker. He quoted Chase by saying that Christianity isn't all about hi 5's and puppy dogs.

Jon's baby Bekah looking all too cute!

Bekah again. She was watching Chase toss a Frisbee with Neil.

Ah, the thumb war... There were brackets and everything... I don't remember who won.

There was a dizzy bat relay where the kids had to spin around and then come shoot a ball into a basketball hoop. This kid made it on the first try, but his team was still the last to finish. Too bad.

And of course, dodge ball.

So now you should be fully updated on last weekend...

Now for this week...

Part of the youth event was a Guitar Hero competition (yes, I know that's last weekend, but I'm getting to this week). Well, we'd borrowed our friends' PS2 and Guitar Hero game and guitar controllers, and needless to say, Chase and I have been playing all week. There was more than one day this week where we played on our lunch break. It's a pretty fun game. I've moved from the easy setting to medium, and Chase has moved from medium to hard. Yeah, that's pretty much how we've spent our week... playing Guitar Hero.

Today we went to see a friend's senior photography exhibit. We liked it. She restored some old family slides and then took photos of herself standing in the places where the slide pictures had been taken. Some of the other exhibits weren't so cool, though. Each photographer wrote a short explanation of their collection. One apparently thinks that men are oppressing/repressing women because we have to wear clothes to keep the men from having impure thoughts. Aside from having a wiggity wack agenda, her photos were pretty unflattering to these repressed women. Needless to say, we didn't look at that exhibit too long.

After the photography show, we made an impromptu visit to the Irish Festival going on in the park. I wish I would have had my camera because the medieval combat society was there.

Now for some exciting news: we're buying a grill! That's the plan, anyway. Chase has one tentatively picked out and is going to Lowe's tomorrow to pick it up and cook for some friends tomorrow night for our Poland Team meeting. This means I need to stop blogging and start cleaning up!

A Mouth Odyssey

SO ill 2007, the first annual improv comedy fest in Southern Illinois (hence SO ill), was a pretty fun time. Some friends of ours are members of a comedy troupe known as Community flosS and also have their own comedy duo known as Date Night with Mike and Eric. Yeah, their names are Mike & Eric. I went with my friends Josh & Emily on Friday night while Chase prepared for a BCM youth bash thing for the next day. I also saw my friend Hema there. I didn't have my camera with me that night, but I brought it Saturday when I went for round 2 with my friend Ashley.

Friday was much like the show Whose Line Is it Anyway? with improv games. Then Mike & Eric performed some "longform" comedy.

You can see Saturday for yourself:

Here's Eric introducing first act. They were from St. Louis and they must have thought that dropping the F-bomb = funny. It doesn't in my book, so no picture for them!

These are two guys from Nashville performing what they called Mouth Odyssey. It's a mixture of poetry, interpretive movement, and hilarity.

Spicy Clamado giving good, bad & worse advice.

Me with Ashley during intermission.

Eric doing some fake telepathy for his & Tamira's 5th grade science project (Community flosS).

Mike & a Community flosS guy whose name I don't know pretending to be surgeons to get chicks. Are they fooling Eric the real surgeon?

There was another act that was pretty funny, but I've already got enough pictures up. Mike & Eric's comedy shows = much fun that is funny!

Another Perk and the Weekend

Let me tell you just how much I love working at church... a lot. I've just discovered another perk: napping in my own bed on my lunch break. How great it is to live less than five minutes from where I work!

So you can probably tell that I'm in a great mood.

This weekend I went to a collegiate women's conference with some of the young ladies from the BCM. We had some good conversations and I got to see two good friends of mine who I hadn't seen in a while. Andrea led worship at the conference and Lindsey brought her 6 month old baby over for a while around lunchtime. Part of the conference was a bit o' spa time and candle making.

Here are some pictures from this weekend:

Andrea leading worship

Lindsey and Manning


Andrea checking out my ESV Bible


Me with paraffin wax on my hands from spa time. It looked creepy.


The paraffin wax after it was taken off my hands. Andrea and I were being weirdos and took some pictures of it.

Hooray!

Good news: I figured out how to work the folding machine here in the office and no longer have to fold 200 bulletins by hand!

Charlie the Unicorn

Prepare yourself for much laughter on your way to Candy Mountain...

Wasp Gang

Let me just start out by saying that I am afraid of wasps. Wait, no, not afraid- terrified. A wasp coming anywhere near me induces a great amount of anxiety. Now that you have this bit of information, let me go on to say that a gang of wasps has chosen our trailer as their hang out. Yes, I know that the correct grammatical term for a group of wasps is a swarm, but I say “gang” for a reason…

So, I came home for my lunch break and left my windows down in the car (important later). As I was stepping up to the front door, I noticed a wasp between our screen/glass door and the other door. I thought, If I open the screen door, it’s going to swing back and bump me, make the wasp mad, and the wasp will sting me.

Me- 0: Wasp Gang: 1

So I stood there for a minute trying to decide what to do. I opened the door and tried to get the wasp to fly away. It wouldn’t. The thing just clung on. I tried tapping on the screen a little- no effect, blowing on the wasp- no effect. Then I realized that the wasp was actually caught between the glass and the screen! Ha-ha! I’d be able to get inside without being stung! I did.

Me- 1: Wasp Gang- 1

I got inside and shut the main door incase Waspie was able to escape. I sure didn’t want this guy inside with me! I ate some lunch, got some stuff together, wrapped a birthday present to mail to Keli, and had to go back out. But wait, I thought, the wasp might be between the doors now and either sting me or fly inside to sting me later! Luckily, the screen door didn’t shut all the way and Waspie was able to escape and fly away. Yippee!

Me- 2: Wasp Gang- 1

I went outside, locked the door, unlocked the door, went back inside, grabbed my phone went back outside, and locked the door again. Then I saw it; a wasp was flying around the driver-side door. Noooooooooo! I had to devise a plan.

Me-2: Wasp Gang- 2

I put my stuff in the passenger-side and walked around to the driver-side. I studied the wasp’s flying pattern. Then I ducked and weaved, jumped into the car, started the ignition and rolled up all the windows. Ha-ha, Waspo, you can’t get me!

Me-3: Wasp Gang-2

As soon as I rolled up the window, Waspo clung on. I tried rolling it up and down ever so slightly to get him to fly off. Eventually he did.

Me-4: Wasp Gang-2

That’s when I checked my rearview window and saw… There was a wasp inside the car! Curses!

Me-4: Wasp Gang- 3

Of course I started flipping out. I slammed on the breaks (still in the trailer park with no one behind me, mind you). I could hear the little guy buzzing and slamming up against the rear window, so I rolled all the windows down and kept checking the rearview mirror. Finally, I saw him fly out. Phew, safe again.

Me-5: Wasp Gang- 3

So then I was driving along on my way to the Post Office, when all of a sudden, just like out of a movie, I checked my rearview mirror just before turning onto the road leading to the Post Office and I saw this wasp fly straight up and hover where he was exactly in the center of my mirror. Of course I squealed like a little girl. I could hear his wings flapping right behind me as he was flying around my head!

Me- 5: Wasp Gang- 5 (This wasp gets a bonus for waiting until just the right moment to get maximum fear out of me, plus he reminds me the boss in a video game.)

I quickly rolled down all the windows, but this guy wasn’t going anywhere! I got to the Post Office as fast as I could, grabbed my stuff and got away from the car as fast as I could hoping that he’d fly out while I was inside.

Me-5: Wasp Gang- 6

After mailing Keli’s present and buying stamps, I went back to the car. I saw no sign of the wasp and got back in the car.

Me-6: Wasp Gang- 6

I made it back to work with no sign of the Boss Wasp. I thought I’d leave the windows down just incase, though. When I was getting out of the car, I heard it- the sound of Boss Wasp’s wings flapping against glass. I bolted out of there.

Me-5: Wasp Gang- 7 (I lost my point from the last round.)

There you have it. A gang of wasps is terrorizing me! Now feel free to laugh at my expense.