And in other news!

I have recently taken point on a new project that I and other members of the church have decided to start. To state it simply: we're going to start fixing people's houses, doing yardwork, and any other manner of handyman type work we can find to do. When I lived in N.Y., there was a man in our congregation who started service projects like this- he called them "Frolics" (yeah I don't know). Usually once a month or every other month, a whole bunch of men and women of the church would converge on the house of someone who was struggling and just go to town on their house. We would put new roofs on, do interior work, fix plumbing, do yardwork, etc etc.

I found that these "Frolics" were a great way for people to actually put their time into building up the church and encouraging one another- it really personalizes giving when you're actually buying the paint at Home Depot or nailing down shingles. Not to mention, it was a great chance to show up much too early in the morning, eat donuts with your fellow Christians and get to know each other better.

I have wanted to start something similar to this ever since I left N.Y. I do not want to call it Frolics though because I think that sounds...un-manly. I think it would be a great opportunity to not only build up the Christians around us, but also reach out to those who do not share our beliefs and show the Lord's love to them.

Now to the point: I was hoping to get a) prayers from all of you as we begin this enterprise, and b) your ideas! We want to base our group/work on scriptures and want a name to reflect that. There are no shortage of scriptures about building up the church and helping those who are without. Using these scriptures we have been trying to come up with a fun name.

So far we have the following names:

"Body Builders" - Ephesians 4:15-16

"The Handyworks" - Ephesians 2:10 (the Word actually says Workmanship, but it's somewhat synonomous)


These two are the only ones that have survived a harsh screening process ("The Spurs" Hebrews 10:24 was, I thought, mocked much more than it deserved). Any suggestions you have would be greatly appreciated!


Sincerely Yours.

Well, I'm not sure what I expected to happen once school had been completed and work began. I can't say that things have slowed down and yet, I can't honestly say they are as hectic. I think it would be most accurate to say that life has mellowed into a monotonous, yet high-pitched hum like that of a small car on cruise control at 85 mph.

I'll try to sum up some of the major points in bullet format for those of you who just want the "facts":

- I'm in Toastmasters now. I don't really know how I feel about that. It just happened so fast...

- Lindsay started school several weeks ago and is enjoying it...some days. I, on the other hand, am soaking up the joy of no homework while she has to study. Call me cruel but there it is.

- Lindsay and I agree, Kansas City is fairly swank. Outdoor theater, Shakespere in the park, downtown city markets on Saturday, BBQ galore, etc. If you've never been, now's your chance cause you know me and can stay at my house.

- I bought a gun. Not just any gun- a 1942 Russian-made Mosin Nagant 1891/30 (it's a rifle). This gun was probably used by a soldier of the Red Army to drive the facists out of Stalingrad. I'm not really sure if this bolsters my burgeoning red-neckedness or not but hey- it's my first gun and I'm really proud of it. Even though I haven't actually shot it yet.


That's it really. I'm sorry it took me so long to update but surely you guys are used to it by now :-) I will try to update more frequently. I may change the format/purpose of my updates as we are preparing some ambitious projects with some of the believers here and I may have more interesting things to report than the status of my red-neckedness. Ha- that sounds so skanky but it's really fun to say.


Sincerely Yours.

Let me s'plain.

No. There is too much. Let me sum up.

1. I graduated.
2. The interview went really well (all 5 hours of it) and the subsequent stats skills test also went smoothly...
3. ...So I was offered the job starting June 15th.
4. Due to the aforementioned job offer Linz and I are moving to Kansas City tomorrow where I will work as a Research Analyst at the HR Consulting Firm Service Management Group while Linz pursues a Masters in Vocal Performance (she's gonna sang!).

So all we have to do is get in, break up the wedding, steal the princess, and make our escape...after I kill Count Rugen.


Sincerely Yours.

Well, after 2 solid years- I am officially done today. In approximately 3.5 hours they will award me my degree. I always assumed that today would feel different somehow but so far it just seems to be pretty normal. Of course, today is the day I get to wear a robe that puts Dumbledore's to shame so...It's a good day!!

In other news, there has been another stabbing incident at our apartments. This time it was the apartment next to us and it was not personal- the victim simply walked into her apartment and caught a man in the act of robbing her. He panicked, roughed her up, stabbed her (superficially), and ran into the woods.
I saw the police leading their search dog along the edge of the woods until he picked up the scent. And then the cops pulled their guns and ran off into the woods.

In a related story: Today I will be investing in 4 cans of pepper spray. Seriously, 4. The 12 gauge is next, but to be honest, a 12 gauge won't help Lindsay much if she's here alone. She wouldn't shoot anyone even if she knew how. And no, she won't let me teach her.

Sad News: My mom bought Lindsay and I tickets to see Coldplay in Birmingham on Monday, 18th as a graduation present. And then I got a call from the consulting firm that is currently the basket containing all of my eggs and they want me to interview Wednesday morning...in KC. *sigh*
As sad as I am to miss Coldplay- the stronger emotion gripping me is somewhere between nervousness and terror- the consulting firm wants me to give a detailed, 1-hour presentation of some practical, statistical analysis that I've done and be prepared to answer questions afterward.

And they said I would be bored once school was over. I would appreciate your prayers!

Sincerely Yours.

Ok- This happened Sunday and it's pretty crazy and 100% true.

At approximately 5:30 pm on Sunday, I could be found typing my research paper in the back room of our apartment. The sounds of the tv drifted gently through the open office door even though I knew Lindsay wasn't watching- she was feverishly working her way through "Breaking Dawn", the last book in the Twilight series. And then I heard a knock and the short bark that our little Ginny offers when surprised by...well, anything really.
And then several things happened very fast:
I heard the door open and then shut quickly again and a male's voice talking rapidly. I also heard Lindsay saying with increased urgency: "Reuben. Reuben! REUBEN!"
I ran into the living room and saw a man standing on the small square of linoleum we call the "foyer" locking my front door behind him as Lindsay backs toward me with the dog in her arms. So, I'm angry and about to start yelling at this man when I realize that he is literally soaked in blood from his head to his feet.
He keeps repeating "He stabbed me man- he stabbed me. He's coming after me man- he's coming after me. Please help me!" I notice he's holding a phone but not talking into it- he seemed to have forgotten that it was connected to a 911 agent.
So I took his phone and gave it to Lindsay and she starts giving information as quickly as possible to the 911 dispatcher. I grabbed a couple of shirts waiting on the couch to be folded and try to get the guy to let me see where he's been stabbed.
The first two injuries were apparent- One enormous slash from is left ear to his chin, and one deep slash across his right forearm. Instead of attending to his forearm though, he was holding his right hand against his lower back and wouldn't move his hand to let me see it.
I pulled a stool over for him to sit down on, wrapped a t-shirt around his arm and pushed down. At that point his head started to nod, he slouched over and started to bob up and down. I grabbed him under the arms and he passed out. I lowered all 220 pounds of this guy as gently as I could, put a t-shirt under his cut face, and lifted up his shirt to see what was wrong with his back. Clean stab near the right kidney, bleeding profusely. I put a t-shirt on that, put all my weight into putting pressure on it and held another t-shirt on his arm. He wakes up slightly just enough to tell me that he thinks he's going into shock- a fact that is blatantly obvious by the fact that he's starting to shake violently and can't stay awake. At this point, Lindsay is told by the idiot 911 dispatcher to go out in the parking lot and show the police/ambulance where we are- regardless of the fact that we have no idea where the stabber is.
The next thing I know, a police kicks open the door, aims a Glock 17 with tactical light in my face and yells at me to get my hands up, where's the weapon?
Once he realized I wasn't the attacker and that my hands being down were preventing further blood-loss he allowed me to stay where I was and continue to shout questions at the victim to keep him awake.
Finally, the paramedics rushed in, started taping, bandaging, and generally fixing the victim. They secured him to a stretcher and ran out with the police officers following close behind asking for his name, the name of the stabber, and what happened.

So Lindsay and I just stood there with the door open, all of the furniture pushed back, with spatters and pools of blood across our entry-way like some crime scene from a movie.

Ginny barked mournfully from the back room where she had been unceremoniously dumped as soon as the action began.

What had happened: The victim had been visiting a woman in an adjacent building. They were watching TV when her Ex-Husband pounded angrily on the door. When the woman opened the door to make him go away, he pulled a knife, pushed through the door, and started stabbing the victim.
The victim then ran from the apartment and ran to all three floors of the building pounding on doors and leaving a blood trail across all three levels. He finally gave up and ran for our building (some 100 yards away) and pounded on our door. In the end, he lost so much blood running up and down stairs and across the parking lot that he almost died from blood loss.

The stabber was apprehended and the victim was eventually discharged after a couple transfusions and many, many stitches.

And I didn't finish my paper until 2:30 in the morning (the CSIs wouldn't let us back in the apartment until 11).

The end.


Sincerely Yours.