Subway

Hello friends. Sorry that my posts have been extremely irregular lately. As you can tell, I have been painfully busy..... so excuse my lack of communication.

Here's an observation that you may have noticed.

I have not been a fan of Subway for very long. For quite some time, I found their menu to be bland and I truly preferred the taste and quality of the subs from local shops instead. I have a few friends, however, who are Subway addicts. After many visits to Subway over the past few months, I have finally crafted the perfect Subway sub.... a sandwich that I actually crave.

Here it is:

1. Italian herbs and cheese bread
2. Turkey breast
3. Swiss cheese
4. Mayo
5. Lettuce
6. Sweet peppers
7. Oregano
8. Salt & Pepper

Try that. It will bring you joy.

I must include a warning with this recipe: If you choose to eat in the restaurant, you will smell like Subway for the rest of the day. There is no escaping the aroma. You truly become what you eat.

Jay's first date

For quite some time, my 4-year-old son Jay has had a major crush on Sara Vnuk. Sara is a member of our church and she helps us take care of the kids during the Summer camping season. Jay is completely convinced that he will one day marry Sara.

A few days ago, Jay asked for permission to take Sara on a date. Because I approve of his choice of a future wife, I complied. This was a first for both of us. For Jay, it was his first date. For me, it was the first time my son bummed five bucks off of me.

Jay took Sara out for ice cream (she drove....only because he has short legs), and Jay paid. He was home at a reasonable time and from what I understand, he behaved like a perfect gentleman.

I asked Jay for a comment about the whole experience and he summed it up nicely.

Me: "Hey pal. How was your date with Sara?"

Jay: "It was awesome. I got chocolate ice cream with chocolate sprinkles."

Wilted rose

Early this morning, my little girl woke up and carried something into the kitchen. She then threw it away. I didn't see what she had, so she told me.

Little girl: Daddy, my rose died so I had to throw it away.

At this point she began to cry. It literally broke my heart. After a moment, I explained to her..

Me: Honey, God let your flower die so it would become nutrition for the soil and help new roses to grow. God did this so that we will always have new, fresh roses to enjoy.

Little girl: I understand. I just need to go back to my room and think about it for a while.

What a sweet daughter God has given me. She came back a little while later, after letting out a good cry, happier with a better understanding of God's plan.

Spoons

This weekend, we had a retreat at PMBC. It was a very small retreat which meant we actually had some free time between meals as well as later in the evenings.

A favorite game for my wife and the staff is "Spoons." For the uninitiated, the game is played by passing along a series of playing cards until you have four of a kind. In the center of the group of players is a pile of spoons. Once someone has four of a kind, everyone reaches for a spoon. If you don't get one, you get a letter S-P-O.....etc. The winner is the only person who hasn't spelled the word SPOONS.

I didn't really want to play.

My wife pressured me to.

I didn't want to be a spoil sport.

I really wanted to go to WAWA and get snacks.

So to make her happy, I played. But since I wasn't into it, I privately made the game more interesting for myself by cheating in nearly every round--hoping to get caught--but realizing that no one was paying close enough attention.

I frequently made it appear that I had four of a kind (when I didn't). I randomly grabbed a spoon, thus causing frequent battles between other players. I laughed at the others as their letters piled up while I spent most of the game without any letters. I even made it to the final round against my wife and I beat her (at least that's what she though.....I didn't really have four of a kind).

Fast forward one day. I thought it would be funny to confess what I had done. Let's just say that no one thought it was funny. My wife no longer respects me and the other players now think I'm a big sham.

Stupid game.

Next time I'm just going to WAWA.