Our Yearly Anniversary Trip

• I have a job! It's only a seasonal position, but it's for a great company. At this point, a job that lasted two weeks would be a huge boost to my self esteem.
• I miss having coworkers and a daily, employed routine.
• Three years ago, my wife and I started a tradition for our anniversary. We head north, try to hit a few places that are photographic, we try to hike, and we find a place to stay for the night. Three years ago, October was still considered part of Autumn with cooler weather.
• Most tourist locations considered October to be the beginning of "the off season." Rooms were cheap and plentifully available. Hiking trails were almost abandoned, free from interuption.
• For the past two years in a row the tempuratures for the first weekend in October have been in the seventies and eighties. Finding a hotel room has proven to be near impossible without reservations. Hiking trails are clogged with people and not the kind that seem to appreciate the setting they are clogging.
• I need my yearly dose of nature and Autumn beauty. The trees appeared to be on fire everywhere we went. This yearly visit resets my eyes, helps me appreciate things I often overlook.
• This past weekend, we were on a beautiful trail in the Sleeping Bear Dunes area of northern Michigan. More than a few things got on my nerves. I should point out, this wasn't a dog-walk specific trail. Dogs were allowed, but it wasn't like it was a designated dog run.
• There were nearly as many dogs on the trail as people.
• Animal people often act as if everyone should be happy to meet and greet their pets.
• Even the people that didn't have dogs were talking about pets… loudly. Most of the natural inhabitants of the hiking areas I was trying to enjoy tend to run away when they hear loud conversations about animal waste management.
• When we arrived at Empire Bluff, we were greeted by an awe inspiring view of the dune filled coast of Lake Michigan. There was a great, beautiful contrast between the fall leaves and the deep blue of the lake. You can see for miles: little towns dotting here and there, endless Fall colors…
• I found it kind of crazy that some of the visitors seemed totally oblivious to all of it. The trail ends in a loop that allows you to quickly exit the scenic area if you choose. Many people would literally stomp around the loop and exit without pausing at all.
• Wow. They missed it.
• At the Dunes Visitor Center, cougars are listed as extinct in Michigan and have been "for decades." When you get to the hiking trails, there are notices telling you that encountering cougars is a possibility, but to avoid trying to interact with them at all costs.
• I thought I understood what the word extinct meant.
• We ended up finding a room about 150 miles farther south than we intended. The Days Inn had a mural on the wall that showed elfish looking leprechans stealing money from some sort of palace.
• ??????
• Nothing makes my hotel staying experience better like theiving elf murals.
• On our way home, we headed for the west side of the state. We ended up in Ludington. What a strange little town. There were a few large hotels right on Lake Michigan. I'm guessing that tourism is a huge factor for the town.
• Their art community was very obviously a huge influence too. We passed many little galleries filled with young people on a Sunday morning.
• Then there were the churches. We parked in their downtown area. All the buildings were very old, but most of them were full and have obviously been updated.
• We were hungry, looking for a place to have lunch. Heidi noticed a group of older, well dressed folks standing outside of what appeared to be a business. It ended up being a Church of Christ. As we walked by, I noticed that pews packed the small space.
• Directly across the street, in a remodeled movie theater, was another church. The people standing outside and sitting inside were much younger. They were all wearing black and grey sweaters - still dressy, but more beatnicky. Instead of pews, they were sitting on chairs in a communal like circle around what appeared to be the pastor. It looked more like a coffee shop. The marquee listed their three service times instead of movies.
• My wife and I love to sample micro-brewed beer, so we tried to visit two breweries while we were up north. They were both a bust.
• The first one was in Traverse City, and they had an hour and a half wait.
• The second was in Ludington, and lunch for the two of us would have ran more than thirty dollars. Craft beer and twenty dollar plates of lobster pasta make for a strange business profile in my opinion, but to each their own. It kind of feels like a mix of football and neck ties.
• The Fleet Foxes make for a great soundtrack to an Autumn roadtrip in Michigan.

Joan Jett, Hank III, Glasses, Randomness

• The political ads are killing me. I have to change the channel. They just seem much more extreme this year, like they're not holding back the crazier ideas.
• Our church is covering a book entitled, Emotionally Healthy Spirituality. We're not typically a church-wide, book-covering type of place, but right now our sermons and small groups are all centered around these ideas.
• One of the major themes involves learning to identify that part of you that usually has you concerned with what other people think. It's part of what the author calls a "false self." It's that part of you that gets anxious before interacting with certain people, wanting to have all the right answers and behaviors in order to impress. It's that part of you that doesn't really allow you to just relax and be yourself. I'm simplifying of course, but ever since getting into this idea, I've had that Joan Jett lyric playing in my head. "I don't give a damn 'bout my repu-ta-tion!" I can't seem to shake it. I really don't want to have to dig out Joan Jett CDs.
• She still puts on a great show however. Her new stuff isn't half bad.
• No. I'm not perpetually stuck in the 80's. I just went through a short phase a few years ago.
• Okay. I love my Cars greatest hits CD too and Jim Croce and The Cure…
• It is fun to attend Jett's shows and listen to the drunk, homophobic, old guys complain because they believe she's gay, suggesting she take a ride on their love train to "turn her around," and in the next breath, praise her for rockin' out. What would a concert be without drunk old guys?
• I recently went to see Hank III (Hank the third - Hank Williams Senior's grandson, Hank Williams Junior's son). My cousin, Jasen treated me to a ticket. Hank III has a diverse collection of albums. He started with an old country sound mixed with more modern, gritty themes, which I'm fond of. He has some albums that would more closely resemble modern hillbilly country - think rude and somewhat stereotypical. He also does country infused heavy metal.
• It was strange to see a mosh pit moving to the sound of fiddles. It was strange, but still appropriate.
• The crowd was just as diverse. Some people hated the older sounding stuff. They jeered at the instrumentals. I'm not really a fan of his metal sets, and some of the hillbilly stuff is just a bit too rude for me lately. It was great to see him live. He looks and sounds a lot like his grandfather.
• As an old concert veteran, I can tell you, when you see the guy wearing a confederate flag as a cape: That's the guy to avoid. Having witnessed it over and over again, the guy wearing a flag as a cape is most likely to continue his need for bold statements by punching innocent standersby in the face for little or no reason.
• The Machine Shop is a gem in this area.
• It's been a bad year for Halloween horror movies. I usually get myself into the spooky spirit by watching my old favorites. I decided instead to catch up on a few I'd missed. That's been a mistake. Apparently I missed them for good reason.
• I highly recommend the following modern gems: Splinter, Trick 'R Treat, The Mist, and The Crazies remake. Old favorites include: the original Halloween, Return of the Living Dead, Martin, Night of the Living Dead, and The Monster Squad.
• Did I mention that the political ads have been scary? One guy very openly stated that he wanted to get rid of the income tax. Sounds fine on the surface. Hey, less taxes, but isn't the income tax one of the few remaining mechanisms in place to somewhat level the field between rich and poor? If you earn more, you therefore contribute more toward running the country. Those who earn less keep more to survive on.
• He wants to replace income tax with a much higher tax on goods and services. They say this will initially cause most products to be priced so high that lower income families will struggle intensely, but "eventually the market will adjust itself" so $8 for a gallon of milk will just be common place.
• Owen's vocabulary is increasing by leaps and bounds. I think it's the glasses. He's also spelling words regularly.
• His glasses have had me down for a while. There, on his face, is a metaphorical reminder of all the bullying and torment I went through starting at his age. I'm just praying he escapes it, but more and more, he reminds me of myself.
• I chaperoned his first field trip a few weeks back. I was responsible for one other child. She just happened to be the girl he had mentioned having a little crush on. He was so shy. I had to coax him into talking to me that day. He seemed to be a bit of a loaner around the other kids too. I've got to think of a way to get him out of these habits.
• Gage has glasses too, but he doesn't need to wear his as often.
• Everyone is having babies again. I hope my wife doesn't get any ideas.

Early Random Weekend - It's like you're reading ahead

• We spent some time with my cousin, Jasen Friday night out at that huge Davison park with all the wood and castle-like shapes. I think it's called Ambercrombie Park or something. Anyway… it only has one entrance and exit for the largest play area. So, if you stake out that area, your kids can't escape without you knowing. The only bad thing that could happen to them would involve someone grabbing them away over the fence or the whole falling down thing.
• I kid.
• I'm going to be a bit judgmental here: Heidi works in Linden, and we enjoy the Summer Happening event they hold every year mainly because she walks in the parade. The kids dig it. They get tons of free candy. Linden has a bunch of churches crammed into that little town, and they all come out in force for the festivities. Some of them do a great job reaching out. Free water on a hot day - great idea! Free tiny copy of the New Testament that most people already have eighteen copies of hidden away in a drawer because they're too afraid to recycle a copy of the Bible - not so much.
• The one that really seemed strange to me this year was the church that had a horse-drawn covered wagon and all of its young ladies dressed in obvious quaker costumes (one of the girls was losing her costume a bit) while handing out flyers for their next series on leaving Egypt. I could understand if the series they were promoting had something to do with Little House on the Prairie times. That would make sense to me, but I don't think that's what was going on. I think they were trying to show that they promote values from a certain bygone era.
• You know. I love me some Little House on the Prairie. There's nothing like those bygone times when it was okay for men twice their age to approach your pre-teen daughters with offers of marriage. You could then whoop the dude once for good measure before finally realizing how beneficial it would be to marry her off. Hey, one less mouth to feed. (I do actually love that show)
• I personally just don't know of too many people that are looking for a church to help them make their lives more out of touch with reality. I know people want to instill better values than our world currently seems to promote, but I don't think going to the other end of the spectrum is what most people have in mind. Too many of us have seen the movie, Footloose, and we don't want to give Kevin Bacon any more dancing opportunities.
• Maybe I was breathing too much car exhaust. Maybe it was just a gimmick to accommodate the covered wagon.
• The couponing continues. It wasn't as impressive this week, but we didn't have as many coupons saved up. Our bill went from $90 down to $30. It's still better for our budget.
• We went out with a few new friends this weekend. I think I did okay reminding myself that these were not my usual friends. I don't know all of their interests yet. I successfully avoided launching into some of the more typical subjects that I discuss with my other friends. It was a good time, good people.
• You know how some people are alcoholics? I crave Manicotti from Italia Gardens that way. I think I have a problem. It calls to me…
• Genesee County readers, did you know that Showcase West is no longer owned by Showcase? It's now Rave West or some crazy thing. I suspect they still have armed security at night. They have combos and some refills available, but they're a little tight lipped about the pricing on such things until you actually order them. Very suspicious in my opinion. They do have good matinee pricing though.
• Our church had its first service in its permanent home Sunday. We even had cake. Wildwind's new home is 6020 Corunna Road in Flint Township. If you're looking for a transformative place, a place ripe with community, you should join us on Sunday mornings at 10:00 a.m. You can sit by me, if you actually know what I even look like. It's conveniently located near Fazoli's if that makes the deal even sweeter. Fazoli's has awesome bread sticks. wildwindchurch.com
• Fazoli's doesn't have manicotti. Mmmmm… Manicotti.

Mid-Week Randomness

• Before we started couponing, I bought a Colgate Total Professional toothbrush. It was actually relatively inexpensive. No matter how many free toothbrushes we get, I'm still spending the three dollars to get another one of these. Best toothbrush I've ever had, and I'm not really into toothbrushes, so the fact that I"m gloating about one should mean something extra.
• It's hard not to type teethbrushes for the plural of toothbrush.
• We spent $31 this week on around $200 worth of stuff thanks to coupons. We have enough ice cream to last the entire summer. Not that I needed any ice cream.
• They found cougars in upper Michigan this week. Or, more accurately, they finally found enough proof to satisfy skeptics. If you've ever hiked the wilder parts of Michigan, it's not hard to believe that things like cougars are hiding there. Our state is very undeveloped in a lot of ways, and I hope and pray it stays that way. On the other hand, I was afraid enough of wolves and bears while hiking. I really didn't need cougars on the list too.
• We had this big plan to take Gage to his first movie this week. He loves the Toy Story movies. The plans were dashed when we found out they're not showing Toy Story 3 in 2-D anywhere but the drive-in. He wouldn't wear the 3-D glasses, and he'd likely be asleep before the drive-in got rolling.
• Sometimes my best opportunity for spending time with my little brothers is picking them up at 11 p.m. from local concert halls and driving them home. Sometimes you have to seize those opportunities.
• I wore my kids out last Friday. We started with a trip to the beach with my dad and brother, Bob. The boys played and swam. Gage zonked on the car ride home. We finished the day off at a great cook out at the Peavyhousehold. The boys played outside with their youngest until after dark. Inside, they continued to play as the girls played dress up. My boys were still interacting, but they had these confused looks on their faces. I think it was the dresses. Needless to say, they both were out like lights at when we finally put them to bed.
• The strangest trend I noticed at the beach last week: Everyone was avoiding the shaded areas of the picnic area. When I was a kid, you had to get up at the crack of dawn to land a spot under one of the few shade trees. When we arrived Friday, there were multiple shaded areas available. Everyone was in the sun. Did someone decide that sunlight doesn't cause skin cancer?
• Strangest trend I noticed at the Peavyhousehold gathering: Gage's unwillingness to speak to people paired with his piping right up when speaking to their dogs.
• We tried to go to a petting zoo hosted by Lapeer's Farmer's Market. I guess it was seriously down sized at the last minute when they found out the animals weren't properly vaccinated or some strange thing. The boys got to see a goose and two chickens. With Lapeer and farming being somewhat synonymous you'd think their market would have been fantastic, but it was nothing compared to Flint's. It was overpriced and under stocked.
• Father's Day is always so bland for me. Mother's Day is all happy, lovey, and eventful. What happens to us dads? Are we just too cool or modest to enjoy it a bit? I'm always more concerned with making sure my dad and father figures have a good day I think. It's like there's something integral to being a father that prevents us from making too much out of our "special day."
• I highly recommend Shutter Island. Be prepared to watch it twice. The second time just to review all the obvious clues that you easily missed the first time.
• Our church, Wildwind Community Church, is moving. We'll no longer be paying anyone rent. We'll have mortgage payments instead. Starting this Sunday at 10 a.m. we'll be meeting at 6020 Corunna Road in Flint. If you're looking for a transformative place to worship and grow, come join us.

Random Randomness from the weekend: March 15th

• When we were first married, my wife and I would lose things… a lot. I'm mainly talking about paper work, important documents. We just weren't organized. We'd misplace something (a tax form, a bill, a rebate check) at least once a month or more. We've gotten a lot better. We're down to about once a year, and it has much more to do with how hectic life can get than poor organization at this point.
• We misplaced this year's tax return. The federal and state forms were e-filed, so no biggie. We wanted to check something yesterday, and neither of us could remember what had happened to the packet. It wasn't in the "Taxes" folder in our filing cabinet. I hadn't sent in the city return yet. We panicked a bit. Searched for about an hour.
• We found them, and the truth started to take shape. I remember, two weeks ago, bringing the packet home and leaving it out so Heidi could see it. Shortly after she got home, we decided to leave the house for some reason, and we were in a hurry. Not wanting to leave the packet out in plain sight (burglar paranoia), I scooped up the packet and put it with a stack of unimportant mail in a more out of the way location. I could have taken the extra thirty seconds and put it in the "Taxes" folder, but that would have been out of character for me.
• Kind of a leftover from last week: Put the kids to bed as usual one night. An hour or so later we hear Gage kind of whimpering, whining. After a few minutes of this off and on, we both decide to investigate. Upon entering, we find him not in his bed, not in his brother's bed, so we try to find him based on the occasional noise he's making. I determine that he's somewhere in the closest corner of the dark room. We find him sitting in the cloth clothes hamper. The only sane explanation being that he climbed on top of the toy box and down into the hamper thinking that he was getting into his brother's bed. We still can't figure out how he didn't knock the entire thing over.
• Parties are fun. I don't care what you say.
• Dancing is not my thing. There may be lessons in my near future. My wife got way too much enjoyment out of that three minute time span for me to ignore it.
• Laura should be our church's cow bell player. Every church needs a cow bell.
• Law Abiding Citizen was a great idea for a movie, but it tanked toward the end. The director tries to flip things on you in the middle, make your sympathies pass from one side to the other. The problem is, you start the movie feeling strong feelings against that side of the conflict, and that faction of people never really have a transforming moment in the film. It's implied that they should or could, but it never seemed to actually happen. No matter how I feel about the original protagonist in the film and how shocking he gets, I never feel sympathy for the person he's trying to change. Can you tell I'm trying not to say too much?
• Sometimes when I'm in the grocery store, I start to think about all the things I'm picking up and the reasons behind them. Yesterday it made me realize how much I really care about my wife and kids, how every little decision is about trying to make life better or healthy for them. Yeah. I over think the grocery store.
• I really wish Mulder and Scully were still stopping evil on a weekly basis on my television screen. Watching full seasons of the X-Files for the first time. That show wasn't as sci-fi centric as I thought it was.
• I've been listening to Hank III (Hank Williams the 3rd), mainly his older stuff. I like the old country feel with the modern, gritty themes. Reminds me of Johnny Cash. I'm not really into his newer, heavy metal, country fusion stuff. I like heavy metal. I like some country, but I need them to keep a distance from one another.
• I love it when Meijer puts strange seafood on sale. By strange I mean new to me. I picked up muscles for the first time a few weeks ago. It's fun to try new things, expand the horizons a bit.
• My wife has me reading vampire fiction.
• No. Not the Twilight novels.
• I'm an Anne Rice fan from way back, so the whole glittering vampires thing is going to take me a while to get used to.
• On another note: I highly recommend Anne Rice's Jesus novels. Her knack for historical mood setting is unmatched.