A quiet weekend here in San Diego for us. Yesterday was a big day for YS as we launched this year’s NYWC website. With just 145 days until the first convention… it’s fun to see things coming together! We also kicked off a little fundraiser via the YS Blog yesterday. I’m stoked to see the response so far. I have yet another project going live Sunday, I’ll share more about that on Monday.
Last night, Kristen and I finally watched Slumdog Millionaire. What a powerful movie. I can’t imagine how hard it was to shoot that thing.
This morning Kristen is off jogging while I’m home with the family. Later Paul and I will be taking the dog to the beach and from there, who knows? Here are the next 10 tunes I’m listening to. As always, totally random and my ratings included.
#1 Portadown Station by Sandra McCracken *****
#2 Believe by The Bravery ****
#3 Realize by Colbie Cailat ****
#4 Supersonic by Family Force 5 ****
#5 There’s Only One by Caedmon’s Call ****
#6 Falling by the Wayside by People in Planes ****
#7 Yours is the Kingdom by Hillsong ***
#8 Belonging by Kendall Payne *****
#9 I’m Sticking With You by The Velvet Underground ****
#10 Free Fallin’ by John Mayer
It’s been a good week. OK, better than average. It’s been a really nice week. A friend was nice enough to watch our kids on Monday and Wednesday. (Last week of their 3 week Spring Break) She took them to the pool, had some wicked great activities, and on Wednesday they went to see Disney’s Earth movie. Tuesday, Kristen stayed home with them and took them to the Kroc Center pool. Thursday was my day, I took the kids to Sea World… fulfilling one of my lifelong desires to see Shamu. I suppose the kids had a good time too. Yesterday, the kids tagged along with me in the office for a few hours and then we drove up to Oceanside to hang with dear friends from Romeo, Fran and Andrea.
On top of that, we got our State and Federal tax returns. That was a major fast-forward towards our financial goals for 2009.
Now its the weekend. Kristen is already off to her weekly romp up Cowles Mountain. Later this morning I’ll take the dog to the beach so he can play in the water. In the meantime, I’m chilling and listening to some music. Here are the next 10 songs on my playlist. As always, selected at random and my ratings included.
#1 Only Want to Be With You by Hootie & The Blowfish ***** [classic!]
#2 Up the Spout by Mateo Messina *****
#3 O, For a Thousand Tonges to Sing by David Crowder Band ****
#4 Not To Us/Here is Our King by Todd Fields **
#5 Afterall by Jason Harwell ****
#6 Crazy Beautiful by Chasen *****
#7 Sweet Home Alabama by Lynyrd Skynyrd *****
#8 Undignified by David Crowder Band ****
#9 Absolute by The Fray ****
#10 Earthquake by Family Force 5 *****
Sometimes good weekends come unexpectedly. This past weekend was one of them.
Coming into the weekend was cool because I am finally feeling good about my Monday-Friday workload. The first few weeks after YS’s re-organization I just had a hard time relaxing. There was so much to do! (Or so it felt) A lot of that has settled into routine so I can really, truly, chill on weekends.
Friday afternoon I took advantage of a whole in my schedule and took Kristen on a little mid-afternoon date. We went to a little beach bar for some pub grub and took a walk on the beach. It was the perfect way to kick things off even though we had to cut it short so I could get back to work and Kristen could get the kids from school.
Saturday morning Kristen got up at the buttcrack of dawn and climbed Cowles Mountain. This is an important part of her weekend routine. When she came back Paul and I took the dog to Ocean Beach for a little chase the ball and Stoney sniff butt time. Dog pack rules are fascinating to me, but that’s for another post. After we had been at the beach for a while I got a call from Mandy, who is new to YS and lives in the Ocean Beach neighborhood. She and her husband, Jon, came over for a while and we caught up while Paul built the Great Wall of China. An amazing feat.
After the beach trip we came home and I fell asleep watching golf on TV. About an hour and a half later Paul jumped on me and said, “Let’s go to the beach!” Since it was a perfect weather day I couldn’t resist that. Really, we went to the beach and frolicked in the sand to honor our friends who were shovelling snow, sandbagging, or otherwise being tortured by an early Spring blast of cold weather. We splashed around Coronado beach for a few hours. The kids played in the sand while Kristen and I waded up to our ankles in the cold water looking for sand dollars. We came home, got some carry out from a taco shop, and everyone crashed before 9 PM.
Sunday continued the fun. We did our normal donut routine in the morning, headed to church, and came home for lunch. After lunch we went to the Rolando Village street fair and got a better feel for our neighborhood. When the kids had eaten too much cotton candy and mom/dad had seen all the crafts, we headed home.
From there, I took off to meet-up with Dave from work. Dave had arranged for us to do a podcast shoot with the guys from Family Force 5 before their San Diego show at the House of Blues. That was a blast, I got some cool footage of the band. What they had to say was a little bit goofy, but a lot important to youth workers. Later, we headed over to the show. I’m used to Christian shows… so this one was a bit wilder than I expected. About 1000 screaming and sweaty high school kids, mostly girls, filled the club for the 5 act show. We got there for the 2nd act, The Maine. They were good… clearly I’m old since I have no clue who they are. But they had a fun sound. It always cracks me up that high school kids can’t remember to do their homework but know every word to every song. If it weren’t for the annoying habit of them walking up to a mic and just saying random cuss words between songs… I probably would have liked them more. “S**t yeah. How are you mother F**kers, tonight?” Again, showing my age.
After a little swap out of equipment, Family Force 5 took the stage. If you’ve never seen them, they have an incredible energy. I was given a photo badge so I could take some shots for the bands DCLA appearance. As I snapped pictures stageside I could literally “feel the heat” from the crowd who was mashed up against the barriers. I’ve seen them perform before in Christian venues… same songs, same intensity, ten times the energy. Dancing, bouncing, screaming the words. Makes a geek like me wish I had chosen to be a rock star. This band will light up the stage in DC this July.
After their set, Dave and I headed home. We’re old people… two acts and we’re done! I caught up on some sports news… congrats to Tiger Woods on his comeback victory after knee surgery. Super congrats to Tom Izzo and Michigan State. If ever a state needed something to cheer for, it’s this weekend in Detroit.
Great weekend. Lots of good stuff cooking for this weekend as well.
I think cabin fever has settled into the McLane household. We are all stir crazy and we are all waiting for the weather to turn just a big so we can go do something. Anything will do.
I think we’re headed to a farmer’s market or some sort of outdoor deal today. Fresh air will do us all some good.
In the meantime, as always, I find a moment of solace with some early morning tunes. Here are the next 10 tunes rattling my ear drums this first Saturday in January. As always, completely random and ratings included.
#1 Replace Me by Family Force 5 ***
#2 Ancient History by Hawk Nelson ***
#3 Old Love by Eric Clapton ***
#4 You Give Me Something by James Morrison ****
#5 Brighter Days by Leeland ****
#6 Spaceman by The Killers ****
#7 All Because of Jesus by Steve Fee ***
#8 Tell Me Something Good by P!nk **** (Happy Feet Soundtrack)
#9 What a Wonderful World by Louis Armstrong ****
#10 Never Never by Brick & Lace ***
