Doogie Howser Did It, So Why Not Me?

Sunday – Clubthummping

Waking up Sunday morning no church was on the docket. So later was better.

All weekend I was trying to figure out what I was going to give up for Lent. And I had an epiphany in the shower…Caffeine. So no more soda or coffee. Ask me how it’s been going when you seen me.

Matt and Jeni were going to give us a call after they got out of church and see if we all could meet up for lunch. But unfortunately our schedules conflicted and we missed the opportunity to meet for lunch.

Although we didn’t have lunch with Matt and Jeni, I got to hit one of my favorite places to eat in Spokane: David’s Pizza. Man, if you ever happen to be in Spokane and want some amazing pizza go to David’s, it’s located near Gonzaga University. After a quick lunch we picked up Krista and headed back downtown to go and see the afternoon showing of “The Passion” (see the separate post). After the movie I headed up to Northwood for youth group where I was to be the surprise guest of the evening. I ended up hiding in a closet while the group was making cotton candy in the hall and Jamie asked one of them to go and get something in the closet, and I was the thing in the closet. It was fun to see all the kiddos again. It was hard not to really have time to catch up in some more meaningful way, but it was good to see them for a brief time.

After youth group, I headed over to Krista’s house where a bunch of people were having an Academy Awards party. Unfortunately that’s not the reason I was stopping by.

Krista had really wanted to go clubbing now that she was 21 so we were going to take the chance to go out for the evening. Krista, Jacob, and one of Krista’s friends (I think her name was Rachel), almost a double date, but I guess since I can’t even remember her name it wasn’t. Honestly they promised me it wouldn’t be like that or would be awkward, which it turned out to be just fine.

But back to the evening…yet another adventure…what a great weekend.

So Krista had picked out this club that she heard was supposed to be a good place, mind you this is Spokane, nightlife ends at 6:30 when everything closes down. So we drive down to this one club not only to not really find that it looked closed, also we weren’t really sure where the place was. So we tried to find some other clubs that the girls had heard of. So we drove around for the next 15 min trying to find a few clubs downtown. We finally stopped at a gas station to see if we could locate this place we had been hearing about on the radio. No luck. So we drove around some more, we finally found this one club but it looked pretty empty and no fun. Pretty close we saw this other club but the girls were determined to try to find this one club that we thought was about 20 min away. So as we circled the block for the 20th time, we decided to stop in at this one club we had kept on seeing. It turned out to be the one we heard on the radio and we thought was 20 min away. So we went in. After of not being too impress upon first impression we stuck it out for Krista’s sake since she really wanted to dance. But after we concluded that not much was going on, we headed to a pool house that we knew of. No dancing but a very laid back atmosphere.

On a side note: I know my limit when drinking and if you ask most people I show very good discernment when drinking. But this night I had a bit too much. Not more than I’d had before, but I had not had all that much to eat that evening so I guess it went pretty much to my head. It was a bit fun to have a few less inhibitions. It made playing pool a bit harder, but a lot of fun.

Eventually we ended our evening on a positive note. Krista had a good time playing pool and Jacob and I enjoyed the more laid back, less smoky, and more our style environment.

We headed to Taco Bell on our way home to fill our stomaches a bit after the night of booze, which was a good idea, being that I did wake up the next morning with NO hangover. Good for flying home.

So ended my trip to Spokane, which was much needed and enjoyed.

Saturday – Ship to Walla Walla, Washington

After a restful night despite all the commotion of the previous day. I woke and started the day by having b-fast with the old youth director I used to work for at Northwood Presbyterian Church. It was some good time to catch up with Jamie and to hear about how God’s been moving in some kids’ lives and what’s been happening at their youth group.

After b-fast I headed back to Jacob’s house and we had made plans to make a surprise visit to see his girlfriend Krista play tennis that afternoon. Only problem: she was playing in Walla Walla at Whitman College. Which is about 3 hours away from Spokane. So after a quick lunch with some old friends. We set out on our road trip. Which by the way seems to be a trademark of our relationship, which is a good thing.

The drive was uneventful, being good since the previous day’s activities.

We arrived in Walla Walla just in time to catch the tennis team warming up for their match. Let’s just say the expression on Krista’s face was well worth the time it took to drive down to see her match. It was fun to watch her play, we talked to her coach for a while and she had told us that Krista was playing the best she’d ever seen. All in all Krista won both her doubles and singles match. Unfortunately we couldn’t stay too long, and her matches ran longer than we’d expected, so after saying goodbye we headed back towards Spokane since we were supposed to meet up with some people to head out to a bar for some drinks. Once we got back to Spokane we didn’t really find anyone who wanted to come and hang out with us. Which meant that Jacob and I were on our own. We first headed to one of my favorite bars, the Blue Spark which is down town. To my dismay there was a band playing, so therefore a cover charge. The band didn’t sound too hot so we passed. Lame. We then debated as to where to head for the evening…our pondering led us back to The Onion for drinks and dessert.

That for the most part ended our evening and our saturday night.

A well spent day and a satisfying time hanging out with Jacob.

Friday – Do, a Deer, a Female Deer

This was by far the greatest adventure I have ever had.

Let’s start with the morning. So I woke up at around 7:40 to take Jacob to work since he was going to lend me his car so I could head up to Schweitzer for a day of snowboarding. The night before I tried to rally someone to go with me but was unsuccessful. I then decided it would be a great day to spend alone, reflecting and having some good quiet time alone in God’s Country. But since I had fallen asleep so late I had made the decision to take Jacob to work and then go back and catch a bit of sleep before heading up to the hill. That sleep lasted till around 2:30 in the afternoon, there went heading up to Schweitzer. I was fine with that. I’m sure my body needed more sleep than the snowboarding. And I knew I was going to go night skiing, with my friend Maren to teach her how to snowboard at Mt. Spokane. Which was supposed to be a great time…

And then the adventure began.

I met Maren over on campus and we headed over to the HUB (the campus center) to pick up her snowboard that she was renting from the school. Problem #1: Trying to find a board that would fit her. I finally found one that was about the right size. The only problem was that we determined that she was a goofy foot. So knowing a bit about snowboard repair I took it upon myself to just switch the bindings around. I started off and got all but one screw out. I had Maren get some extra tools out of her car. I tried and tried to get this one screw out, trying my hardest not to totally strip the screw. In the end I broke one of her flathead screwdrivers. How annoying. After 3 more boards and not being able to undo any of the screws, I finally found a board that would work.

So we set out to head up to the mountain. As we were driving up the hill, it started to rain. And fairly hard at that. Doubt creeped into our minds that maybe this wasn’t the best idea. My hopeful suggestion was that maybe that the rain would turn into freezing rain. And practically at the moment I suggested it, it did happen. So we pressed on and the rain then turned to snow. The roads held out for the most part and finally we found ourselves on snow covered roads. As we continued to drive we found ourselves having no real problem moving along. Then we came upon a car stopped along the side of the road. Being caring people, we decided to stop alongside them and see if they needed any help. We stopped and the guy came over and asked if we had any studs in our tires or chains, because he at that point was having some trouble getting up the hill. We smugly replied that we were doing fine. But as ironic as it may have seemed, once we went to get on our way all we did was spin our tires. Luckily that same guy ended up giving us push to get us going again. So on we went and a little whiles up the road conditions started to deteriorate. I had already moved into 2nd gear for her so we would have more traction. I asked if she wanted me to drive at that point and she happily agreed to let me do so. We switched and I tried to get us going again and all I did was spin the wheels for a moment. Finally I grinded down far enough to get some traction to get us going again. A little further we passed another truck stopped and decided NOT to stop and keep going. But a few hundred feet further the snow was coming down fairly hard and we made the call to just turn around and head back to town. After we started heading down the mountain about a quarter mile down we pass a snow plow. Oh Joy. So we turned around once again and resumed our journey back up the mountain with ease. We finally reached a peak before you come back down a little to reach the entrance to the ski resort. At this point we were thinking “no problem” we are pointed downhill and can take it real easy and make it down to the bottom and finally our ski night can begin. We started down and after about 1/2 a mile I suddenly lost all control of the car. Mind you I was only going about 15-20 mph. I did everything under my power (which wasn’t much) to avoid sliding off the side of the cliff and I successfully got the car aimed back towards the mountain. And then BANG. The snowbank jumped me. I got out of the car to asses the damage. I was buried far enough in the bank to not be able to tell if I had ruined my friend’s car. I unsuccessfully tried to back us out of the bank. So (in my sandals mind you) I got out of the car and had her throw it in reverse while I pushed it out. We now had ourselves quite a predicament. Pointed down and not able to hold traction, we decided to try and put the chains on the tires. Once again UNSUCCESSFUL. So faced with the only way to go was down, I precariously etched our way down towards the ski area.

“I think we can, I think we can, I think we can” was our mantra as we finally reached our destination. I swear I heard Handel’s infamous song ringing in the background as we pulled into a parking space.

We thought our troubles were over and we could finally enjoy our remaining time on the slopes. But NO!!!! After we got our lift tickets, we were ready to do our thang. So I had Maren start to strap in to her board, but alas one of the bindings was broken. In my haste to finally get a board I overlooked the broken piece. So we headed over to the repair/rental shop, and this wonderful chap was kind enough to hook it up and fix the board. Finally!!!!

The snowboarding went well and Maren took to the hill like a Mongoose to Spam. She didn’t even ever fall while getting off the chair lift!!!!

So after the wonderful, long awaited night on the hill, we decided to take some precautionary measures before heading back down the hill. We chained up, since we had the light and now knew what we were doing. After driving a few minutes it was very clear that we DIDN’T need the chains at all. So we pulled over to the side of the road and un-chained the car. About half way down the mountain, where the roads had become clear again and the driving became easy, we came upon an unlikely situation. A car wedged in a ditch on the side of the road and 4 or 5 teenagers standing around. Needless to say we stopped to check on them and see if there was anything we could do. After getting a phone number so we could contact a parent once we could get phone reception we sat there until the state trooper arrived. As we drove we discussed how our phone call may have to sound. “Excuse me Mr. ____ we found your son on the side of the road in a ditch.” NO NO NO. “Hello, Mr. ____ we were driving along and noticed a car half turned over by the side of the road.” What an awkward thing to have to do. But it gave us some good conversation up to the point of capstone of our evening.

As we neared the bottom of the hill, I was driving with my brights on to illuminate the dark road that we were the only car on, but what should jump out in front of the car but…….A DEER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

For crying out loud!!! So I slammed on the breaks and this time was able to keep the car undercontrol but did not want to end up in either ditch on the side of the road, nor did I want to give Maren’s car a new body shape. I finally slowed down to between 5-15 mph. And just barely clipped the hindquarters of the deer as it scurried across the road. After the thud. I turned the car around to shine the headlights into the ditch to see if the dead or wounded deer was lying helplessly in the ditch. Happy ending to the story. No deer in the ditch. But I got a souvenir from the event. There was a tuft of hair left stuck inbetween the hood and body of the car. No blood or flesh which means that it just ripped out a nice bald spot. On a side note, I saved the hair in a plastic baggie, ask me if you want to see it.

Finally we made it home and then soon retreated to a local bar for some drinks and food. A great way to end the night of a great adventure.

P.S. This story is to be referred to as “BLOG-FODDER” a term coined by Maren as to how I was going to describe the events of this evening.

Thursday – Soccer, Beer, and Quadruple Mocha

So I got into town on Thursday and like I said earlier, I felt this air of relief flow over me once I got off the plane. Jeni was the one who ended up picking me up from the airport. Jacob ended up having to be at a meeting so he wasn’t able to pick me up. No worries, mate. Jeni and I headed back to campus to wait for Jacob to come back and then things would take off from then. In the meantime I headed over to Matt’s dorm room and said howdy. It was good to see Matt and Jeni since last time I saw the two they were in LA during xmas break and not engaged. Wowzers. While I was hanging out with Matt I ran into one of my old residents from when I was an RA, who happens to live on the same hall. Layne is his name and a great guy at that. In the process of running into all these people I met Matt’s roommate Derrick who happened to be on Layne’s intramural soccer team, and they were going to be a man short that night and invited me to play a game with them. So being the adventurous person I am, I agreed to play at their 11pm soccer match. Immediately I had reverted to the freshman college stage where sleep was of no concern and I was carefree.

I headed back over to Jacob’s office to greet him and say hi before he had to head off to another meeting. I decided to make some calls and let people know I was in town. So I ended up calling Lee, Layne’s older brother. He was glad to hear that I had made it into town and was actually on his way out to have a beer with one of our friends Bret. We headed down to a local tavern called Fizzies which I had never been to before. And being 4 o’clock in the afternoon, there weren’t too many people in there, aside from the local group of Bridge players stashed in the corner and the working stiffs in there for their after work drinks. And surprise, surprise I happened to be the ethnic minority, ONCE AGAIN!!! Oh how I love Spokane. But I did have the chance to sample (well a whole pint) of Grant’s Mandarin Hefeweizen, let me tell you some of the best brew I’ve ever had. Ooohhhhh weee!!! After my mid afternoon beer. I headed back to campus where Jacob was finally done with his meetings. So Jacob, Matt and I decided to have some dinner. We headed over to a local Thai restaurant for some good Phat Thai, as well as some orange chicken and some stew stuff. Good eats. We dropped Matt back off at campus and on the way over to Jacob’s apt, we stopped at the armpit of coffee houses so I could get a beverage that would help me stay awake, I decided on a Grande Mocha, which has 2 shots of expresso in it, but alas I knew that wouldn’t suffice so I added another 2 shots. All hopped on caffeine we headed back to Jacob’s pad where his roommate Ben warmly greeted me upon my return to Spokane. By the time I had my stuff unpacked a bit and was taking some time to get settled, it was already time to head back to campus for the soccer game. All wired from the coffee I headed over to the game and ended up playing most of the game and became so winded after running such short distances, having being accustomed to running my 5k s the last few previous days, I quickly switched over to defender. On top of that the coffee had seriously dehydrated me to the point of utter exhaustion. Let’s just say I had produced enough sweat to fill an olympic sized pool. Afterwards I stopped by the local Safeway to pick up some things for my snowboarding trip the next day. What a liberating experience to shop in a grocery store again. It’s been too long. I finally got home and couldn’t sleep due to the Starbucks so I ended up staying up until almost 4 am trying to modify the blog, which was unsuccessful.

There’s no place like home, there’s no place like home…

I’ll be home later today (monday) I’ll post again concerning my great weekend and vacation.

As for an incredibly long post, what I’ll do is post by day and fill you in on each of the day. But I did see “the passion” this weekend and it will have it’s separate post..

Have a wonderful day. May God bless you in incredible ways, keep watch for He never sleeps and is working in your favor.