Bad day huh?

Who knew something as cute as a baby seagull could cost your life (or at least clean clothes and some scrapes and cuts)?

So, it's been kind of a rough few weeks for me - work has ramped up since we are now in production. That's exciting to be at this point (the end is coming - and no, I'm not standing on the corner wearing one of those signs), but we are crazy busy.

I also had the wonderful opportunity to go camping this weekend - which was a ton of fun, but kept me from getting home to see my family. I think part of my grumpiness this week is due to the fact that I really miss J and Tay (and I guess Nadia also). Go figure.

Monday morning rolls around and some stuff hit the fan first thing - we hit the ground running. Usually on Monday, we get to ease into the day since most people are driving in from Michigan. Since I was one of the few that was here bright and early (since I was back in Chicago on Sunday night due to my camping excursion), I was one of the few people here to run around and get stuff done.

At one point, I had to go outside and move a bunch of our vehicles around. As I ran out the side door, I looked down and saw a baby gull (very similar to the picture above). What I didn't realize is that mom, dad, and some other friend of the family were on the roof waiting to defend their baby at all costs. As soon as I got outside, they started screaming at me, dive bombing me, and using me as target practice for poop bombs. Totally didn't see that one coming.

So, that's a good example of how my weeks have been. Innocently walk outside and into a trap set by some crafty gulls. Nice huh?

Good news is that they never connected on any of their bombs. If they had, I probably would have simply went home.

Jinx

Who knew blogger has a countdown gadget???

At the risk of jinxing my return, I have added a countdown to my blog. I was told (tentatively) that I will be moving out of here at the end of July. It's nice to see the light at the end of the tunnel - I'm just waiting to see if it's the bright, warm sunshine, or a train. I'm holding my breath...as should we all...

On a side note, this picture has nothing to do with the post (other than having a countdown clock), but since we all know I'm a legend, I thought it was fitting to include anyway.

It's been over 7 months since I came down here - seems like forever, but time has moved pretty quickly. This week at work we are starting production on the 2010 Taurus (the project I've been working on). It's crazy to think we are already at the point where our vehicle is all we are producing - one of my favorite times in the project (maybe since it signals the end is near and I can leave). It's been a bumpy ride and a lot of hard work, but we are getting close to getting this completed...now we just need to win car of the year and our work will be done...

Lou Mitchell's and Harry Carrey's

Who knew eating food could be so much fun?

So on one of our weekends in Chicago, I took J and Tay to Lou Mitchell's (a place introduced to me by Abram - he rocks). Lou's is one of the famous breakfast places in Chicago - it was even on Top Chef Chicago as one of the challenges. The chef's had to sling breakfast quickly for a certain amount of time (Season 4, Episode 11).

I had a previous post about Lou's as well in which I explained that when you order at Lou's, you get a TON of food. Having that knowledge for round 2, we were able to order accordingly, have a great time, and not go home totally bloated. Always fun to get to see some of the famous side of the city.

Tay's small order of pancakes.

My omelette...

J and Tay outside standing in front of the famous sign.

During Christmas, J's mom and Len came to Chicago to visit. While they were here, we went to dinner at Harry Carrey's (another pretty amazing and famous restaurant). Here is a picture of Tay and Papa standing next to the statue of Harry in the lobby of the restaurant (not a great picture, I took it with my phone). Anyway, thought I'd throw it up anyway.

Remember Ballet?

Who knew you could be really good at something and give it up anyway?

I was looking through some pictures and found this one of Taylor in her ballet costume. This was at the ballet studio during the 'dress rehersal.' At the time, we thought this was the beginning of something that was going to last for a long time - it was our first performance with the studio and was a pretty big deal. Taylor was placed in the front row for the performance (some of the other parents with kids that had been there for many years were a little miffed that Tay was in the front for her first performance ever). She was really good at ballet, but it was always something she did, but didn't really love.

After that first session at the studio for about 6 months, we stumbled into something called Ypsilanti Youth Theatre...and I think we all know what happened from there. It was still fun to see the picture and remember - she was really good at ballet and it was a lot of fun watching her learn and grow during that time.

Trip to Chicago

Who knew trips to Chicago could be fun?

I was going through some old photos last night and found some of a trip to Chicago we had. We were playing UNO and having a great time. Seeing these reminded me of how much fun we had when they were down visiting...

This is how I feel most days...

Gotta love UNO...

This is what I look like after winning so many games of UNO it just isn't fair...

New Favorite Commercial

Who knew Biz Markie still had it?

So I saw this commercial the other night while watching the NBA Playoffs (yes, I'm sure J is glad I'm not there so she doesn't have to watch them with me). I was kind of trying to figure out where they were going with it, but love the song so was singing along. Then at the end when they all joined in, I was sold! I may as well have been in the car singing along with them at that point. Good thing I was the only one having to hear me singing in my apartment.

puck

Who knew pictures can actually remind you of things???

So here are some pictures we were sent from one of the other parents at the play. These are great and really reminded me of how well Taylor did...holy smokes...

If you saw the play, I'm sure you'll remember each of these scenes...she delivered them so well, it's hard to forget (I know, proud dad, what can I say).

silence

Who knew silence could be borderline impossible?

Have you guys heard the song "Sober" by Pink?

There is a line in that song that says:

"I don't want to be the girl that has to fill the silence,

The quiet scares me because it screams the truth."

It's amazing how much truth is running through my head during the silent periods. Maybe that's why I shy away from prayer, or God time when I'm in the dumps - cause that's when the hard truths come out the loudest. I often wondered why it was always hard to sit in silence…to just clear my head. I think it's hard to clear my head because that's the only time I give the 'smart' side a chance to speak up - and it yells every chance it gets to let me know what's up.

I guess one answer is to make sure there aren't quiet times…I'm really good at that. The better solution is to have more quiet times, to allow the truth to come out and empty out of my head. I guess that's really the only time I can be truly silent - when I've already faced all the truth running around up there and have allowed it to come out. Not a fun thing, but better in the end perhaps.

Anyway, not sure where that came from, just in the mood to type nonsense today I guess...

Of course there is also the Billy Joel song that may apply to me more…

"You may be right, I may be crazy."

And so it goes...

Web surfing...

Who knew I could have time to surf the web???

I found a few pictures I thought were worthy of keeping...since this is my repository, thought I'd throw them up here...

Rob sporting the look at an MTV awards show...talk about stylish...

This picture captures all my football favs - the Vikings, Michigan, and Tom Brady (or the Patriots)...crazy they are all in one picture...thought it was pretty cool...

Environmental what?

Who knew we could actually care about the earth - and be christians at the same time???

A few weeks ago, we had Carl Safina (president of the Blue Ocean Institute - and extremely well known) speak at our church for both services on Sunday. As Pastor Ken said, it was the first time we've ever had an atheist speak from the pulpit. Carl was great and actually received a standing ovation at the end of the 11am service. It was a great week and we truly were grateful he came to speak to us.

Carl and Ken met a few years ago and have developed a unique, and quite amazing friendship over the past few years. Here are the links to some of the articles and pictures from the event - as well as blog posts from Carl and Ken. They are worth the read and show we are making progress at bridging a divide that has been there for a long time. Vineyard and the Blue Ocean Institute have actually formed a collaborative (Friendship Collaborative) - which is also extremely amazing.

Good press about the church (especially the one I attend) is always great!

Article on Mi-Live.com - http://blog.mlive.com/judy_mcgovern/2009/03/file_it_under_only_in_ann_arbo.html

Pictures (from Kirk D.) - http://gallery.me.com/kirkhabitat#100382

Ken's Blog - http://kenwilsononline.com/

Carl's Blog - http://carlsafina.wordpress.com/2009/03/29/488/