SCC!

The Blue Earth Area Buccaneer baseball team is officially ranked first in the SCC! We beat New Ulm tonight 6-4 (it was a huge win at Johnson Park) to take the lead in the conference. Very exciting!

I don't have much else to say, but I wanted to quote Bob's post about TEC because the last line made me very happy. It read, "What hope it gives me to know that the next generation has kids like these." When you think about it, there are so many incredible youth at TEC who will continue to serve and praise God throughout their lives. It's very hard to fathom how much the 3,000 who have gone through TEC so far have impacted the people around them. And so to Bob I say "Amen!"

On a quick side note, I saw a kid at the college fair today who looked just like Sean Penn as Jeff Spicoli from "Fast Times At Ridgemont High." It was priceless....

TEC 67

The TEC weekend is over, and I spent my first day sitting at home. I slept a lot. I can't believe how amazing the weekend was. I've never been on a team (and probably never will again) that bonded like our Wheat Team did. On that note, here are my highlights, first from the weekend, then from Wheat.

10. Wheat bag -- I found some of the most random things in there. Between Barney and a history book, I'm not sure what the strangest thing was. I know the Wheat from Mariah was probably the most happifying though. My favorite Wheat that I gave was to Bob. Hopefully she'll put that dried applesauce to good use.
9. Talks -- I have to say I loved each and every talk that was given. They all tied together really well, and I think that helped the candidates make connections.
8. Team commissioning -- This has always been one of my favorite parts of the weekend, but giving the commissioning instead of receiving it was even better than I thought it would be.
7. The atmosphere -- I have to thank God for the lack of stress during the weekend. It was so laid-back that it was more of a weekend hanging out with friends than working. The comfort made the weekend
6. Talent show -- It was priceless. 'Nuf said.
5. Prayers -- So many prayers were answered! A lot of the team was sick or injured, some Candidates were having trouble opening up, and things from the outside world were trying to make their way in. Thanks to prayers, the team was able to serve through any sickness, the Candidates felt more comfortable with their tables, and everyone was focused on the weekend.
4. Conference Room Leadership -- Adam and Amanda are amazing! They did an awesome job, and Adam finally got through the weekend verse at Closing.
3. Burning of the Sins -- I've really been struggling with the things I wrote down for my personal inventory. When we were outside to burn the sins, I asked God not to let me put mine in the fire until he felt I was ready to be forgiven and ready to fix things. It hurt so bad to realize I couldn't move. It takes a lot for me to get emotional, but I was definitely in tears.
2. The Candidates -- I knew it would be a good group when I saw them at lunch on Friday. From where I was sitting, I couldn't see any who weren't joining in on the song. Usually there's a couple you have to force to stand up. Plus, seeing more share at Closing than downstairs was incredible!
1. God -- What can I say? He's amazing! I can't even fathom (one of my favorite words of the weekend) how well this weekend went. Praise God for being so blatant through His love and grace during the weekend.


Now, for the Wheat highlights.

10. The "Wheat Cave" -- Our crazy little room was renamed for the weekend. Anyone who came in with shoes or eating food was demoted to the Support Team. Everyone at Closing gave us funny looks when we yelled for the Wheaties to go to the Wheat Cave.
9. Being on Wheat and giving a talk -- It was just awesome to have these fellow prayer warriors, who I had been getting to know and bonding with so well, do the pray-up and pray-down for my talk. It's very different and much more powerful than being on a different team.
8. Music in the Wheat Cave -- We played so many random songs. There was Disney music during affirmations, "Devil Went Down to Georgia" (oops....bad word....), random sign language to some songs, and Nate's priceless lip-syncing to the o's in "Prince of Peace." Plus dancing to "Love Addict" was crazy awesome.
7. Stations of the Cross -- I've now been on all three sides of Stations, and I have to say this was one of the best. Being able to see all of the stations combined with seeing the words instead of hearing them made it easier to understand and experience.
6. The Champion -- It was nice to practice so many times before Saturday, and it all worked out wonderfully. I apologize for my random pointing in the video, but Ben was looking through the door and I was trying to get rid of him.
5. Final prayer -- When our team had our last prayer together on Sunday, there were lots of tears. For some reason, it still doesn't feel like our weekend was finalized. It's probably just because we came so close together and it's like I'm not with family anymore.
4. Saturday -- The whole team agreed Saturday morning that it was a good day, but Saturday night brought about a few tough things to handle. God prevailed over Satan's attempts to bring down our team, and we came even closer during our prayer.
3. Wheat Leadership -- Nate and Alyssia were so great to have as leadership. I can't find any words to describe how awesome they were. I do thank God for allowing Nate to lead the Wheat Team again; I might not have ever worked a team with him otherwise.
2. Wheat Adults -- I finally got to work with Janet, Angie and Gary! Individually, I love all three of them. Together, there are no words to describe how amazing they are.
1. God -- He was such a factor for our team, as He is with everything. He brought our team so close together, and I will definitely not forget them. Sadly, few of us will be able to work together again, but at least we had this amazing weekend to spend together.


Quotes of the weekend:
- "Hey, you stop!" -- Lecy to the 'gang members'
- "Wheaties to the Wheat Cave!" -- Wheat at Closing
- "What do I thonk..." -- Alyssia
- "It's syphonated." -- Emily
- Nate: "I'm naked."
Bob: "That hasn't stopped me before."
- "It's Schimek! Schimek! Not Shmishlinglebitle..." -- Nathan
- Nate: "You're getting fat man boobs on you."
Lecy: "I'm excited!"
- "And he sleeps naked." -- Kyle

There are probably more....but I forgot them....

Take me out to the ballgame

Monday

We played NRHEG (yes, it's one word) in New Richland, and Mariah, of course, started trash talking. Lo and behold, the 10-run rule took NRHEG (yes, it's one word) out of the picture. We beat them 17-6 in 5 innings. Our starting pitcher was an underclassman who throws unbelievably fast, they pitched 4 or 5 different pitchers, Dusty homered off of one of their pitchers, and I did baserunning for our catcher. Our record improved to 1-1.

Tuesday
We played St. Peter at home. Last year, the varsity went 0-2 against St. Peter during the season. This game, being our home opener, couldn't be lost. We scrounged up 2 hits (one of them could've been considered a reach on error) and won 2-1 with an RBI double by Trent in the bottom of the 7th. Our coach called us mediocre. It was funny. We're officially 2-1, but we play St. James on Thursday and then Maple River and Blooming Prarie on Saturday. I'll definitely be missing all of those games.

I'm bored. Goodnight.

And of course, here's your Cyanide and Happiness of the night:

Saturday....

Today wasn't too productive of a day for me. I started out by getting up early and driving to school (yes, school). Today was the day of the ACT. It wasn't that bad, but I just didn't feel like taking it that early. I took three of the four practices tests in the book I was given when I registered (I skipped the reading practice) and ended up with composites of 31 in English, 29 in Math, and 34 in Science.

Quick rant: The section on Science should NOT be called Science. It should be called something like "Data Interpretation." All it consists of is reading graphs, charts, and other experimental data and figuring out what it means. I think there might've been two questions where you actually had to know something about science (i.e. C6H12O6 = sugar).

If my actual composite scores are anything like my practice ones, I'll be more than content. I'm not so sure how my writing went. I was kind of rushed, and I didn't feel too comfortable with what I wrote.

After the ACT, I went to help the little kids (3rd and 4th graders, I believe) learn to play baseball. They're pretty entertaining, but it wasn't very eventful.

My mom started painting the bathroom today, and she plans on finishing it tomorrow. I'm hoping we're able to use the shower by Saturday.

I realized I have 3 1/4 days of school this week.
Monday -- Full day//game in New Richland 5:00

Tuesday -- MCA math test in the morning (2 classes)

Wednesday -- Teach elementary for Spanish (3 classes)

Thursday -- Full day//TEC after school//missing game vs. St. James 5:00

Friday -- TEC

Speaking of science, here's a scientific comic for you (one of my favorites so far):

I have two words for you all....

As the title says, I truly do have two words for you all....

GO TWINS!

What a start to the season! The Twins swept the series against the Orioles tonight. I must say, I was very happy with Ramon Ortiz. He threw 98 pitches for 4 strikeouts and a walk in 7 innings.
First applause of the night: Ramon Ortiz

I'd also like to take a look at the Twins offense thus far. In the opener, it was the long ball that led to a win, but in both of the other games the Piranhas struck hard with scrappy hits and good base running (especially in game 2).
Cuddyer went 3 for 3 tonight before he was taken out to get stitches. What a stud.
Second applause of the night: Michael Cuddyer

My week was officially ruined when our opener was postponed. We now play USC on May 11. We're supposed to play Blaine on Saturday, but that isn't looking too promising either. Lo and behold, my week was turned around tonight. I normall don't answer phone calls from "Unknown" numbers, but tonight I did. Oddly enough, it was Mariah calling from Costa Rica. We had a nice little chat (although I was caught up in watching the game and didn't say as much as I should've). It sounded like she was having a good time.
Third and most appreciative applause of the night: Mariah

Our upstairs bathroom is being remodeled. I hope to have random pictures of when it is gutted (which it officially was today) and when it's finished. Sadly, I didn't get a before picture to awe you all with. I guess you'll just have to settle for this comic (and Janet, I believe Beth should see the 4th panel of this one)....

Newsflash

I decided to copy the format of Shayla's most recent post (even though it was from February 27) and give you all some good news/bad news. There isn't much news at all, but oh well....

Good news: This weekend was pretty grand. I spent a good evening with Mariah on Saturday since she left on Sunday for Costa Rica. For our Palm Sunday service, I played Jesus. We went through the Procession, Last Supper, and Crucifixion. Word has it some people were teary-eyed when they left, and that never happens in our church. I also realized this weekend that my last post about four-day weeks was wrong. I have 4 consecutive ones because of TEC.

Bad news: The weekend is over, and I have 4 days of school to deal with this week. Then 4 next week. Then 4 the week after that. Plus, next Saturday is the ACT, which I'm not looking forward to. Plus plus, both of my best friends were gone (California and Costa Rica) at the same time. I didn't really have anyone to talk to until Nate came back (thankfully he was online tonight).

Good news: We got our field ready today since our first game is tomorrow. The weather sucked for field work, but at least there isn't water and such all over anymore.

Bad news: The weather doesn't look promising for tomorrow. We might not even have our game.

Good news: The Twins won their home opener tonight! Mauer got a hit on his first at-bat, and Morneau and Hunter hit back-t0-back homeruns on consecutive pitches on their first at-bats. The offense looked pretty good tonight, with the exception of White.

Bad news: For the Orioles. They start their season with 3 games against the Twins, who won 96 games last season, and then (after a day off) 3 against the Yankees, who won 97 games this season. After that, they play 3 against Detroit, a dominant force in the AL Central last season (although they lost their opener to Toronto). I'm not saying this is bad news for me, seeing as I'm not an Orioles fan. I'm just saying they didn't catch much luck to start the season.

Good news: I'm eating cereal.

Bad news: More wisdom teeth are coming in for me, and it's causing me to bite the inside of my cheek a lot.

Good news: I'm about to call Nate so we can call Ben for his birthday! I'm waiting until we call to find some bad news.

Bad news: Nate didn't answer when I called....this could be devastating to the company....our reputation could be ruined. We CAN'T miss calling our #1 client on his birthday.

Worse news: I tired calling again and still no answer....

Horrible news: Nothing from Nate. I might have to make this call alone. It just won't be the same....

OK news: I decided to text because I'm not feeling altogether talkative tonight.

Good news: Death thanked me for the text. He still needs to blog more often. I know for a fact the old man has things to blog about (i.e. Twins game).

Other news: I have no other news. Here's my comic for today....