A Long Week (but worth it)

This past week, our church hosted Vacation Bible School. We're a church with an average of about 60, so this is a rather large undertaking and basically required everyone to get involved. For the most part, everyone was involved one way or another.

Throughout the week, we had 30 kids, the best part being that 15 of those were unchurched kids from the community. The Bible school itself was a rather traditional program, thrown together by a lot of people not entirely experienced in this area. Each night we had separate sessions for crafts, music, games and Bible stories. The kids had a blast. We ended on Thursday night with a carnival in our parking lot, in which all the parents were also invited. This gave all of us and our pastor a great opportunity to connect with the parents. We even had some people just stop by to see what all was happening (the live pony rides may have had something to do with it).

It was a tiring week, and we are all glad it's done. But we made some great connections in the community. Will we see any of these kids again until next summer? Maybe, maybe not. But once that seed is planted, you never know.

When Hillary Came to South Bend (the rest of the story)

Back in April, during her "Last Gasp Tour" for the presidency, I went to see Hillary Clinton when she came to town. I was able to get up real close and at the end, get her autograph as she was making her way out. There was more to how I was able to get real close, and as Paul Harvey would have said, " . . .and now, the rest of the story."

While I stood in line for Hillary, some of her campaign workers were making their way down the line and asking for volunteers to step out of line and have a chance for a "red ticket." This red ticket would get you on the field and closer to Hillary, instead of just being in the stands (but no, it wouldn't get me in to see Willie Wonka).

But to get a red ticket, you had to stand there with a small group of Hillary supporters and yell out "HILLARY" while the other group yelled out "CLINTON" and back and forth. After watching a group of people do this, I'm thinking, no way, not gonna happen. So, the volunteers continued their way down the line.

Meanwhile, I kept waiting for the gates to open. A bit later, the campaign volunteers came back again asking for more people wanting a chance to get on the field. So this time, I'm thinking, what the heck, when will I ever get this chance again? So, I walk over with a group to get my coveted red ticket.

Here then, is the scenario: Rick Dennie, lifelong Republican, is standing with a group of Democrats yelling out the name of one of the more despised people to ever cross paths with the GOP. Just so I could get a closer look at this person with a last name that drives conservatives crazy.

It's just about now that mom and dad are probably rewriting their will.

College World Series

I hadn't exactly been paying attention to this event, but headlines today caught my eye. The finals are between two bulldogs. Those from the University of Georgia and those from Fresno State University. The Fresno State team has been unranked all year long and beat the #2 team in the nation, North Carolina. The pitcher that sealed the win to get into the series was a transfer student from the College of the Sequoias, located in Visalia, California. When I'm reading this stuff, it's like, hey, I know where that's at!

I may have to check in on these bulldogs and see how they do.

Father's Day

Yesterday was my last Father's Day as a father of 2. Will be adding #3 in the fall. Didn't really do anything all that special. We came home from church and I grilled some sausages and dogs, then just hung out and played with the kids and (real) dogs. For dinner, we pulled out all the stops and had a Tombstone pizza.

Actually, my Father's Day treat came the night before. I said I didn't want to go out and eat on Sunday, but wanted to just spend time with my family doing something else. So, we went to the Tri-Way Drive-in, located in Plymouth, and saw "Kung Fu Panda." For a kids movie, it was actually pretty good. It featured the voices of Jack Black, Dustin Hoffman, Angelina Jolie, and several others. I liked it and the kids certainly did. The place was packed on a Saturday night. There are three screens, although the one playing "You Don't Miss with the Zohan" was pretty sparse. We'll probably have to return to see the new Pixar movie, "Wall E" in a few weeks. The ABBA movie, "Mamma Mia" opens soon. But I'll probably have to go visit Curt to see that, because I don't think anyone else is much of an ABBA fan in my family.

I watched quite a bit of the Lakers-Celtics and was about to go to bed when the Lakers built a pretty good lead with just a few minutes to go. I had switched channels and just before heading to bed turned back, and the Celtics were suddenly just down by 2. The Lakers, after such a collossal choke in the previous game, should have learned how to close out a game. They were lucky to win this one. I would assume the Celtics will finish them off in Boston, but the Lakers could catch fire and stretch it to a game 7, but I just don't see them winning two in Boston.

I'll Miss Russert

This election cycle will definitely be missing something with the sudden death of Tim Russert. He was one of my favorite commentators and who can ever forget his now famous dry erase board with "Florida, Florida, Florida" during the 2000 election. I always looked forward to hearing his analysis. He'll be a hard one to replace.

On Top of the (South Bend) Table Tennis World

Last night, for the first time in my 3 years of playing at the South Bend Table Tennis Club, I finally got to play at the #1 table. I had won the #2 table the previous week, so I had earned the right to move up. There are some really good players at the club, and I had no illusions about actually winning a match against any of them, and I didn't.

However, I did win one game off each of them, which was what I set out to do, although I didn't know if it would happen with them. I just wanted to hang tough with them ("Yo, Adrian, if I can just go the distance . . .").

My USATT rating is 1310, and I won games against those with a rating of 1544, 1627, 1881, 2048, and 2230. The player with the 2230 rating is Dan Seemiller, Jr., the son of the 10-time US national champion. His dad kinda gave him a hard time, "Rick won a game off of YOU?!" It is fun playing against such top-notch players and also fun seeing their reaction when a hack such as myself steals a game from them. In the deciding game, Dan Seemiller, Jr. won quite decisively in a game that was his way of saying, "that last game was a mirage."

Next week, I'll be back down to a lower table and will have to fight my way back up. But it was nice on this one night to be playing against the big guns.

Notes from the Sports World

Stanley Cup - I watched the last two minutes of the finals last night. Detroit won it against the Penguins from Pittsburgh. Okay, I was waiting for the news to come on, that's why I was watching hockey on t.v. Hockey is only enjoyable when seen live, when you can really hear the guys getting crunched against the glass.

Lakers v. Celtics - Certainly brings back memories of the Bird v. Johnson match-ups in the 80's. I remember watching those finals and they were definitely exciting. I'm not sure if this one will live up to the hype. I have a feeling the Lakers could take Boston out in 4. If Kobe gets hot, it's all over, and I'm not sure if Boston will be able to contain him or not.

Belmont Stakes - I only watch horse racing this time of year, in particular when a Triple Crown is at stake. Big Brown is going for it this year. Based on his performance in the Preakness, he should easily win. But then again, so should have several other horses over the years, who easily won the first two races, which is why there hasn't been a Triple Crown winner since 1978. That year was Affirmed v. Alydar, which I followed very closely. Affirmed won the Belmont Stakes literally by a nose. I was a big Alydar fan, so I was disappointed. Actually, I was very disappointed because I didn't see the race live. For some the reason, the local CBS affiliate in California didn't run the race.

Baseball - Cub fans around here are excited once again. They are in first place. So are the White Sox, but they aren't the loyal diehards that Cub fans are. Could this be their year? This will be the 100th anniversary of the last time they won a World Series, so what better time than to break through. I'm sure somewhere Steve Bartman is hoping for redemption. If they do get to the World Series, it would be justice served to have him throw out the first pitch.

Little Sis on the Way

Yesterday, on our anniversary no less, Dorene had an ultrasound to find out the gender of our new baby. Turns out we'll be having a girl. Which is actually what we were both hoping for, although it didn't really matter. Anna called me at work to tell me the news, a far cry from when she totally freaked out when first hearing we were having a baby. She's getting more and more excited about it, just won't necessarily admit it. Cameron has already stated he'll do absolutely anything for the new baby, and he probably will. He'll be a good big brother.

So, now we'll see if we the parents finally begin realizing that, hey, we have a kid on the way. Still hasn't completely sunk in. We haven't run out and bought much of anything, save for a playpen at a garage sale. We're kinda waiting this one out to see what all we need because several people in our church have already given us things, and this kid doesn't need to have 3 outfits a day like we had for Anna when she was born.

Back to our anniversary, yesterday was 13 years, and each one of those years just keeps getting better. We celebrated by going to the new Texas Roadhouse that opened up recently (good stuff). Our pastor watched our kids for us so we could have the night to ourselves. I did get an anniversary present. Anna bought me a box of "Dots" which is one of my favorite candy.