This month the Joneses have discovered Safari's Wildlife Sanctuary. On the first, Mikey and Michael went with Pack 137 for a service project, cleaning out an old wolf habitat to get it ready for new animals:
Both times we had a blast! Safari's is a place where they rescue exotic animals that are in danger of being euthanized, discarded, whatever. As you can see from the pictures, you get to get VERY close to the animals!
Some of our friends know this already and some don't, but I want to make sure everyone gets word so people don't find out secondhand and wonder what's going on. This week Cathy and I decided to say goodbye to Grace Church as "home" and shop around for a new church. A few more details are in this post on my other blog, and if you're interested please look over there, but I do want to make it clear that we're not angry at anyone. We have taken this action with a lot of prayer and with peace in our hearts. We love our friends at Grace and will miss you VERY much, so email us or call us or write on our Facebook wall or whatever, and say hi!
Tonight I sang an original song about Hannah at the Grace Church Ice Cream Social. The performance of the song was... problematic. There was a technical difficulty with the guitar (we still don't actually know what the problem was) that had Jimmy distracted at the beginning, so the first verse and chorus were weird. And I was enough distracted by that, that I flubbed the words on the chorus once. But we got it together on the second verse and it was awesome for that verse and chorus, and then we went into the bridge, which was Robert on harmonica, and he did an AWESOME solo (I was very impressed with what he was doing, actually) but then at like the very last measure of his solo, he misjudged the distance to his mic stand and dropped the microphone! Fortunately he was just about done anyway and I just went right into the last chorus. So it was far from a picture-perfect performance, but afterward a number of people came up to either me or Cathy and told us how much they enjoyed the song! Apparently we did a good enough job to communicate the message of the song, which is a daddy's love for his little girl. So in the final tally, it was a successful performance, if not a "perfect" one.
The best part for me was that I got to have some real fun making music with friends. I'm certainly glad that our message got across to the people in the audience, and I would have preferred a stellar performance, but I regret nothing. And I'm so thankful to Jimmy and Robert for helping me make it happen.
UPDATE: Here's the video, warts and all!
Here's a picture of my sunshine that I snapped while she was getting ready for church that Sunday morning:
In downtown Tulsa, sometimes strange things happen. Even in perfectly normal, peaceful office environments. A few days ago, the peace was shattered by a sudden, unprovoked attack by Window Ninjas! Read on for the play-by-play (which occurred, 2009-style, on Twitter). The first sign of danger: Aug 10, 8:41am. Protective cover over sidewalk next to BOk building. I expect window ninjas later today.
I was frightened: Aug. 10, 11:57am. D'OH do you mean to tell me that the ninjas are ATTACKING??
Then, tee_dub reported: Aug 10, 1:36pm. I captured a window ninja!
I was ecstatic! Aug 10, 1:44pm. WOAH!!! THAT'S A SCARY ONE!!!!
But soon it was clear to me that the Window Ninja that had been captured was not alone: Aug 10, 4:39pm. AAAAAAAAH! THE WINDOW NINJA IS OUTSIDE MY WINDOW!!!!!!!!
Apparently I was not spotted: Aug 10, 4:44pm. Whew... he left.
The next day I assumed I was safe. THAT didn't last long! To my horror, I realized that a Window Ninja was in my very own office, just inside the window! Aug 11, 2:18pm. OH! MY! GOSH! THE WINDOW NINJAS ARE ATTACKING!!!
But with the help of some friends, the Ninja was contained: Aug 11, 4:52pm. Pirates capture the Window Ninja and force him to walk the plank!
The pirates did not, however, act alone: Aug 11, 5:14pm. The REAL muscle behind the pirates' capture of Window Ninja was... Bumblebee!
Future installments of the Window Ninja saga may appear on my Twitter. Follow me!
Kevin and Candi and Mikey's cousins came to town... Kevin on the way to a worksite and the girls to stay for a few weeks. The first day they were here was Kevin's birthday! Here are some pictures...
