Well, it's Sunday night, and I'm back in the coffehouse, chillin and enjoying a nice Italian soda. My friend Jason has begged me to try one, and last week, I tried one with cherry, and quite honestly, it was a lot like cough syrup. So tonight, I tried blackberry with some vanilla, and yeah, it's better.
Just came back last night from St. Louis after taking some jr. high guys up there for a big jr. high conference. All the girls from the group were at a big school dance and some were in a big gymnastics meet this weekend too. It's pretty funny watching these guys, because they are the real athletic and totally sarcastic "I'm too cool to be here" sort of guys, but in reality, they actually had a lot of fun. I really appreciate what CIY does to partner with student ministers and helping make an impact on teenagers. It can be a super hard job sometimes, and yesterday, it was quite refreshing to be with people who show that they care and are partners in the same endeavor. Last year, the big insight I learned and adopted from my teenagers on this trip was the phrase "your mom" inserted prior or after each thing someone says. Yes, it was way funny. This year, they were real big on this phrase called "cooking." Instead of giving someone the bird, you cook them... basically, it's clinching your hands into an upward fist (yeah, it's real dorky but it's jr. high) and then you say, "dude, I just cooked you." That's all I heard all weekend long... that and, "dude, you deserve some major cookage."
The big news today is SIU winning the MVC tournament on national t.v. and getting an automatic bid to the big dance later this month. It was way cool and this whole town is totally excited... this will make their 5th straight season to the NCAA tournament. That's pretty big news for a school in a conference that's not one of the 6 bigger/powerful conferences. Oh, and what happened to OU today against texas? Man, I HATE it when that happens... those longhorns make me want to puke.
If you ever get a chance to stay in an Embassy Suites, I highly recommend it. That's where we stayed this weekend for this conference... a really nice one in St. Charles, MO. It was very spiffy.
This week is the countdown to Miami... we leave on Friday evening, drive all night and head to the beach on Saturday afternoon. I have this body board that I bought last spring break down in Cocoa Beach, and I'm way excited to break it in. The water may be a little on the chilly side, but hopefully it will be bearable. I'll be there on a quick spring break vacation with my wacky friends Brooks, Jody, Luke, and Laura. We did this last year, and so we're eager to go again.
Let me give a few shout outs for some highlights from this past weekend:
- Emily and Ryan and their wedding down in the DR - congratulations you two!
- Mark Moore and CIY and their partnership with student ministers
- SIU winning the MVC tournament - Falker, you deserve the MVP
- The teachers and volunteers within my ministry - it's imperative for a funtioning ministry to teenagers
- My friend Jason who owns Common Grounds - man dude, you know how to make for a cool place to chill
- Thai Taste - the best restaurant in town that puts up with Jeff, Jason, Greg, and myself every Tuesday at noon. I could live there... the food is soooo tasty. I highly recommend the Pad Kad Krao, spice level 6
- Justin Cook - for finding me in the middle of the crowd this weekend and giving me some humorous insights to our annointing by CIY - and also for stumbling upon my blog in the past few weeks.
Have a great week everyone....
Wes' weekend update:
