My Lifetime Love Affair

My Lifetime Love Affair, that is what you are
I knew it the moment I saw you from afar
A smile that quickly turned my darkness into light
A feeling that from loneliness, I had finally won the fight

Some said we moved to fast, what did they know
We had things to do and places to go
Rings on fingers, heart in heart, lips on lips, and hand in hand
We knew we may stumble, but forever we'd stand

At first it was shaky, a lot of screaming and crying
But we didn't give up, we just kept on trying
We both simply knew we both believed in this love
And didn't even realize the help from above

We didn't have much at all, a small place to stay
Four walls and a roof, and that was ok
Despite all my fears, I couldn't help but realize
The very things I needed, were there in your eyes

I had no idea that the best was to come
I just knew where I was, and where I'd come from
Now the depth of our love is impossible to gauge
But ones thing's for sure, it gets better with age

Now here we are, better than any story or fable
With two brown-eyed angels here at our table
Who ever knew it would be so much fun
Smiles, tears, and laughter, and four hearts as one

Who needs riches, with fear, with stress, and with hassle
I've got three treasures at home in my castle
When I see the kids, my heart soars and flies
Because I see you when I look in their eyes

Better than any romance novel that I've ever read
I somehow still know the best is ahead
In our book of life, I'm happy and thrilled
That more pages remain empty than those that are filled

So what would I be doing, and where would I be
If I hadn't met you and you hadn't met me
One thing's for sure, we’ve always had God's favor
And every little drop, I'm determined to savor

There's times that I fail, and I let you all down
But you're there to help pick me up from the ground
Of the failures I have the and weakness I’m showing
You are the reason that I know I can keep on going

Your hair like soft silk, your eyes like the moon
Make me want to embrace you, whether morning or noon
Your bright smile, your body, from your head to your feet
Makes me feel like a kid, makes my heart skip a beat

So when God made us both, there was one thing He knew
You were created for me, I was created for you
So at the end of the day, it’s quite easy to see
You’re My Lifetime Love Affair and always will be

-jte

Caffeine Confessions

My name is Jeff and I'm a junkie. Self-admitted, self-proclaimed, and good, bad, or indifferent....un-ashamed. I used to do Mountain Dew, almost exclusively, until I jumped head first onto the energy drink bandwagon. Thanks to the energy drink craze, any backwall refridgerator of a gas station or convenient store is now a caffeine junkie's paradise. No more are we limited to Moutain Dew, coffee, or week substitutes as our source of go-go juice.

Highly caffeinated drinks have been out there for a while (Jolt, etc), but Red Bull was the first to go nuts with marketing and started the whole craze. I remember trying Red Bull when this whole thing first started. I couldn't (and still can't) stand that stuff!! Very simply put: It tastes nasty! One sip brings to mind every horrific, disgusting practical joke and retaliatory story you've ever heard about beverages....to keep things in good ~taste~....I'll just leave it at that.

Good thing is, many other companies jumped on the chance to start producing super-charged drinks and started improving and mixing things up a bit. Now there are all kinds of drinks and flavors out there to give you the extra boost you need or desire. Also, many energy drinks actually have a few "good" ingredients like Ginseng and Vitamin B. Since Caffeine does physically have addictive properties, I usually will do a caffeine fast once or twice a year to help myslef feel better about the whole thing. I'll admit I get a headache for the first few days, but that's what aspirin's for.

By nature, I'm an energetic person & I enjoy being that way. Unfortunately, I also require alot of rest to be myself and have a busy lifestyle that doesn't allow for as much rest as I probably need. This also probably explains why more than 1/2 American adults consume more than 300mg of Caffeine per day. I prefer an energy drink over coffee (especially in warmer times of the year), and again, at least the energy drinks contain some fairly healthy ingredients. (notice how I'm making myself feel better..again :)

Honestly, I don't limit myself to energy drinks exclusively - I like alot of soft drinks out there. Anyway, my personal favorites are AMP, Full Throttle, Vault, Mountain Dew, Cherry Coke, and of course, anything from Starbucks, especially frappuchinos! I just tried Coca-Cola's BLAK which is very interesting. It tastes like, and actually is, coffee and coke mixed together. It comes in 8oz bottles and can be found at Meijer in the coffee isle. I've had two bottles and I'm still not sure if I like it or not. There is now Tab Energy, which is in the pink bottle and has been marketed at the female consumer. It boasts 95mg of go-go-chem in a very small package. It will certainly keep you awake and feeling alive for a late-night project, social gathering, or exam-cram!

Anyway....I've spilled my beans. I've confessed! I've come out of the caffeine closet! I love caffeine and caffeine loves me!

I've included a couple of links. One that is a great chart showing caffeine content in almost every soft drink imaginable. The other is a link to an article on How Stuff Works.com explaining how Caffeine works. This article makes me want to consider stopping my caffeine craze.....ok....I've considered....now back down to the soda machine. Thanks for listening. I toast a Coca-Cola Blak to you!

-jeff

http://www.energyfiend.com/the-caffeine-database/

http://home.howstuffworks.com/caffeine.htm

24? - I Need More!

I have list of to-do's, a couple of them, and they've grown so lengthy that they are nearly unattainable! I'm just trying not to add to them until I can shrink them a bit first, both at work, and at home. I told myself I was going to slow things down, and I did a bit, but it's gotten a little crazy again. Oh well, God's grace is sufficient. I am becoming more and more protective of my time. This year I'm trying to be "more selective and more effective".

I've thrown around some ideas of starting out on a business endeavor, but I'm having a hard time making the transition with my other committments. I need to do some more praying and then take some more action to get focussed. I put up a marker board in my bedroom a while back (I know this sounds strange) to help with this process. I need to regroup.....again.

I could ramble on about this forever, and I probably will later, but as for the events of the past couple of days...nothing real interesting.

While getting my bicycle ready for this year, I remembered, and re-realized, that my bicycle computer is dead. I guess I should look on the bright side; I wanted a couple of features my old one didn't have anyway. Problem is, I don't mind spending money for NEW stuff that I don't have, but I hate spending money on repairs and replacement; at the end of the day, you are right where you started (esentially) only with less money!!!

Last night I decided to go with the super-short "Moby" haircut. It's 1/8" from using the Bic razor. It takes a few times in the mirror to get used to it; this is the second time I've done it. The front border is on the way back anyway and it appears that the back isn't as strong as it used to be, so I'm planning on keeping it short inevitabley anyways. I won't complain...my dad and younger brother have both been using the same bottle of shampoo for the past 10 years, so I got the delayed reaction. I won't complain. This is the best time of year to go buzz anyway. Problem is, the now visible top of my scalp didn't get the sunburn the rest of my head got while flying kites last weekend. I'm sort of a beacon. I need to get the top baked somehow, and quick!

This morning my daughter woke up with a rash which clearly warranted a trip to the doctor's office. It appears it's an alergic reaction of some kind. We do need to keep an eye on it as it could be the onset of an auto-immune issue which can follow infections like her recent throat infection. This would be a bit more serious, but the symptoms do not appear it's this, thank God. We will keep an eye on it - please say a prayer for Araceli if you would. Thankfully, she seems to be feeling fine and is now at school after taking a Claritan.

Please Quickly Change The TV Channel - My Daughter Is Watching

I love my kids so much! They each have such unique personalities which continue to develop more and more everyday. My daughter is 7 yrs old and my son 6 yrs old.

I think it all started about a year ago. My daughter was watching tv and comes running into my room to get me. She’s yelling, “Dad, hurry up! Come here! Quick! You need to see this!” Of course, you leave your child in front of the tv for a few minutes alone with a remote, hear these words, and don’t know what to expect (I do not recommend doing this). Whatever it is, good or bad, it’s got her all amped up. I’m hoping it’s nothing I’m going to have to apologize for, since I’m the bozo who left her and my son in front of the tv alone.

As I turn the corner, while she’s jumping up and down, I see it; there in front of me; in plain view. I’ve ran across things like this before, and then very quickly changed the channel….but she’s watched virtually the whole ½ hour’s worth of it for sure, but it still on…..It’s an infomercial! An infomercial for kitchen knives! I’m relieved, but have no idea what I’m in for.

The guy is still doing the demos and my daughter is in awe. She quickly tells me to watch closely and that we need to get mom these for her birthday (which, incidentally, is months away). She watches in utter amazement as the guy uses a “normal” knife (like we have) to try to cut fresh bred. I don’t have the heart to point out to my daughter that he’s slamming the loaf down flat with his left hand as he pretends to cut it with the “normal” knife in his right hand. He then proceeds to cut sheet metal, steel, wood, a pop can, and a cutting board with knife, of course. Then he pulls out the bread once again, and cuts a perfect slice. She can’t believe it! The “oohs” and “aahhs” the tv studio audience bellows out only adds to my daughter’s amazement factor. I blast out some artificial “oohs” and “aahhs” myself and assure her we’ll think about some for mom sometime and casually walk away.

She knows what commercials are all about; we’ve talked about it and she gets it, and even comments about some of the techniques used on some commercials. She’s always been interested how and why things work and why they are what they are. It doesn’t slow her down though. Every time she sees the Lunesta commercial with the glowing butterfly, she’s convinced it would be the answer for any night she couldn’t get to sleep.

There’s a new one for a drug for treating RLS, Restless Leg Syndrome. Well, she’s had a growing pain or two in her cute, skinny little legs, and guess what she could use? It’s cute & makes me laugh….unless she ever starts asking questions about the Viagra commercials. ; >O

Well, very recently and about a year later, the four of us are walking through Sam’s Club and what comes on the intercom? “Hello Sam’s shoppers! We have a product demonstration at the end of isle 11. Anyone who attends will get a free gift!” Well….ok, my curiosity get the best of me and I wander over to isle 11 just as it’s about to start. Guess what the demo is of (and Don’t You DARE say Viagra)? You guessed it – Kitchen Knives!

I ran and got my daughter as fast I could! She was so excited. There it was in all of it’s glory! This guy, after cutting pop cans and wood blocks, actually cut a hammer and showed us the shavings before thinly slicing a tomato. He had hair like John Trivolta in “Greece” and had more jokes than Comedy Central. I’ll admit that some of them were pretty funny, and he had the routine down to a science. My daughter is in shameless amazement and also nearly wets her pants with every joke.

The full, set! Not $120. Not $100. Not $75. Not even $50. All for only $29.99. And, we get 3 extra knives and juicers! Could it get any better? Why…yes it could! If we give an extra knife to a friend, we get two more items!

Actually…as I watch….I start realizing…...that really is a lot of knives for $30. And…the thing did skin a tomato after cutting a hammer; I watched it. He’s right, my old knives don’t cut like they used to and these “Forever Sharp” brand knifes come with a lifetime replacement guarantee. They really could be the last knives I ever buy. The grapefruit juicer is stupid, but the purity of the grapefruit juice did look pretty good and it was quick to use. There was an extra primary knife and a couple of paring knives too. The fillet knife can slice so thin it’s crazy, and it’s guaranteed forever too.

Well, guess what kids and dad walked out of Sam’s Club with the biggest smiles that Saturday? Not the ones with the new dvds, televisions, volleyball sets, or even new bikes; even though we were all in a hurry to get home and try our new toys. The family with the biggest smiles that day was the family who walked out with the little white box, talking about what they were going to slice up for dinner.

-jeff

Music - You Rock My World

If you were to cut me, I would bleed music. It's in my veins. It's in my heart, in my soul, and in my spirit. It brings me closer to God. It brings me closer to the ones I love. It brings new dimensions to my life. Sometimes I hear chords of music that tug my heart strings so hard it makes me choke up, and there doesn't even have to be lyrics; just a really cool chord progression or instrument sound can do that to me.

I love playing in the worship band at church! All the band members are so cool. There's something about being in a band that's hard to explain with words. Each person has their own musical personality, and each instrument it's own "personality" too. Everyone is playing together; different parts and different sounds, but all the ingredients come together to form a wonderful concoction! When I'm there surrounded by my fellow musicians, I hear it all and I love it all. And it's all for worshiping God. I take it all in. Every guitar strum, every floor shaking note from the bass, every vocal harmony, every horn part, every smack on the drum or cymbal! It's then that I have had many of those defining moments in my life where I realize "I could do this forever - this is where I belong, this is what I was meant to do."

Sometimes I feel like listening to some smooth jazz, or slammin' hard rock, some funky R&B or rap, some crazy dance music, maybe Celtic or beautiful symphony music, and always some good worship tunes! I love it all!!

The majority of the music I listen to is Christian music. There is some secular music that I enjoy very much that can touch my heart and soul too, but there's a spiritual dimension to Christian music that brings along another wonderful element to the mix.

Music - who would I be without you?
You make me smile, you make me cry, you make my spirit touch the sky.

-jeff

You Go Goose!

Lately I've been reflecting on how so many things we do are acts of worship to God. Certainly, ther are many ways to worship God and many levels and degrees of worshiping God. Also most certainly, God delights in them all. He created us to love us and to have a relationship with us, and that we would, in return, love Him and worship Him. I John 4:19 states that, "we love Him because He first loved us."

Whenever we do what we were created to do, we are pleasing, and therefore worshiping God. When you work, you are worshiping God. When you excercise, you are worshiping God. When you are talking to a friend, you are worshiping God. When I kiss my wife, I am worshiping God. When we sleep, we are worshiping God; certainly to a different degree than when we are putting our heart, body, and soul into prayer and song, but it's still pleasing to God. God chose to create us to sleep; he didn't have to. When we don't sleep, there are consequences. When we don't excercise, there are consequences. When you don't have freinds, there are consequences. And yes....if I was to stop kissing my wife, there would be negative consequences in my marriage relationship as well.

God created us to enjoy his creation. He also created the earth to enjoy it Himself, including all of nature! James 1:17 tells us that "every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father.." That means going out for a hike or walk or swim at the beach is very pleasing to God. I know He loves it when we are doing these things and especially when we tell Him why and how much we are enjoying them! God loves the crashing waves and the swaying trees. He didn't have to make them crash and sway, He wanted to. He enjoys it, and since we are created in His image, we enjoy it too. The waves are doing what they were created to do, and so are the trees. They are pleasing God.

Not long ago I was riding in my van on the way to work. Just above me, there was a magnificent flock of Canadian geese flying south. They were in a wonderful formation, each in their place. They were flying as hard as they could, for all they were worth, on a direct course and vocally communicating as they pushed along. Tears filled my eyes as it occurred to me that they were worshiping God. They didn't really understand it, they were just putting everything they had into doing what they were created to do....wow..

I'm begining to think of alot of things as worship. It's worship whether I realize it or not; I'm just now begining to realize it more. It's not a substitute for praying, singing, or traditional ideas of worship, it's an addition to it!

So next time you go for a walk with or without the dog, a drive, go to work, hold hands with the one you love, take a nap, or go for a swim; try to think about it from God's pleased and smiling perspective.

And next time you see a flock, remember to say, as my good friend Brad said after listening to my story, "You Go Goose!"

-jeff

The Monday Morning Key Debacle

Yesterday morning's series of events:

-on the way into work, get a call on my cellphone from the boss, asking if I have a key to his office; he's locked himself out

-no I don't

-arrive and realize I forgot my keys at home, and the only spare is in the boss's office (which he's locked out of)

-he realizes that the HR manager may have a spare key to his office, which would allow him into his office, and therefore, me into mine, but HR manager hasn't arrived yet & no one knows where she is.

-boss asked me if I have key to HR manager's office. I do...it's on my key ring, back at home with my office keys.

-I realize I may actually have a copy of a key to boss's office, but it's in my desk, in my office, which I'm locked out of.

-maintenance guy arrives on the scene, states that Operations VP may have a key to HR office.

-I approach Operation VP, who says he doesn't have a key to the HR office, but gave one to the maintenance guy when the new lock was installed.

-maintenance guys says, "yeah, I think you're right" and searches his key ring, trying every available key. None fit.

-I decide to take advantage of the downtime, go to the corner gas station, buy some caffeine, and arrive back shortly.

-HR manager finally arrives, searches for keys to boss's office. Doesn't have one.

-Maintenance guy get's biggest wrench I've ever seen, beats the crap out of boss's door handle, snaps it off, and we all get to work.

-jeff

God Was With Me In The Bathroom

I was really worrying about finishing up the trim, re-installing the toilet, caulking, re-installing the washer/gas dryer, etc in my 1/2 bath / laundry room after the new floor install. This was the last piece of the puzzle for me, and this type of work, historically, doesn't go too well for me.

Well, it couldn't have gone any better. Had enough baseboard to finish, (including the one little miscut), got it all nailed in, caulked, and got the toilet and appliances back in. Everthing works like a charm.

No question...God was with me in the bathroom.

-jeff

Go Fly A Kite!

Lisa, me, and the kids went out Saturday morning to fly my kites at Heritage Landing! What a blast! We had a little trouble because the wind was a bit too light at moments, but after a while got everything up and flying all at once!

It all got started when my kids had a "kite day" one Saturday at their school. They had a guest speaker, semi-retired Gordon , who talked about kites and had a little kite-making workshop too where everyone got to make their own kite. He brought some of his really nice, and larger kites from his family's store, the Mackinaw Kite and Toy Company in Grand Haven. They have a lot of really cool kites, accessories, and also specialize in Kite Boarding gear and training.

The last kite I had flown was a small kid's kite I got from Meijer back a couple of years ago. I had the thing up around 300 feet before the cheap line broke. It was fun while it lasted. It was quickly apparent that the newer, high-end kites were going to be even more fun! So......I went to the store, and after talking to Amanda about the various kites they sell, bought a 9 foot delta kite and a bunch of line junk (or line laundry).

During my various trips to the Mackinaw Kite Store, I also got to spend one-on-one time, on a few occasions, with nationally know kite expert Steve N himself, learning about kites at his store. This is like a guitar player wanna-be getting to spend time with Eric Clapton; an aspiring actor getting personal acting tips from Tom Hanks! I've been like a sponge, soaking up as much conversation, reading, and learning as possible about kites, gear, knots, rigging/anchoring, etc.

The majority of kite flyers tend to gravitate in one direction or another; usually either stunt-kite, two-handed, acrobatics flying, or sky decorations, as I call them. After flying my 9 foot delta a few times and hanging a bunch of line-junk on the line, it was apparent to me that decorating the sky would be my new passion. So.....I went back to see my new buddy Steve and found out what I would need to get to the next level. Once he showed me the 11 foot sled, more of a parachute-style kite capable of lifting about anything I could possibly attach to the line..well.....I couldn't resist. My current kite inventory now consist of the following (listed how I fly them) My primary kites and most of my line junk are by made by Premier Kites:

-9 foot delta (triangular) kite with five 6-foot banners on each back corner
____Line Junk___
-24 foot tube tail (blue/green/white color scheme)
-15 foot rotating hypno-twister
-20 foot transition tail (green and black)
_____________________

-11 foot Power Sled 36
____Line Junk___
-100 foot rainbow tube tail
-76" rainbow twisting windsock
-6 foot sky-guy
-7 foot diameter rotating wind wheel
____________________

-3 foot neon box kite

Let me tell you, I am having a complete blast flying these kites! It's a bit of work, fun work however, getting everything unpacked & packed, and it's so cool once they get in the air. They are absolutely beautiful.Saturday, after we got everything up and tied them off to a couple of the the concrete pillars on the north side of the park, quite a number of people began driving through the park to look at them including some friends of ours, Kim and Brad. They were cracking up because they saw the kites with their kids and decided to ride through to see them, not knowing it was us, at first.

I'm hoping to go out with my dad too. My mom and I bought him a kite for his recent birthday. It's a poison frog design with 14 foot legs that hang off the back.

I can't wait to go out again!!

-jeff

"You gotta be kiddin' me - How cool!"

This was my reaction to a friend here at work telling me about geocaching. Sure, I've played around with the little handheld GPS units, both my brother and dad have one, and I got to try one I bought for a work Christmas party prize for a night. So many people have these little units these days; Whoever invented this game is a genious!

If you don't know about it (yet); are you familiar with GPS? Global Positioning System. There are the very popular little handheld units used by hunters, hickers, gadgeteers, etc. They are the about the size of a cellphone. There are also car and boat versions. They are basically electronic maps, giving you road maps, terrain maps, and actuall lattitude and longitude coordinates, all based on a Satalite system in the sky.

Geocaching is a game people play using their handheld GPS units. Essentially, it's a hide-n-seek type of game using treasure boxes or caches, as their called. There is a huge website devoted to the game. In a nutshell, people all over the world are playing, hiding and finding these treausure boxes and logging them.
I've not done it, but after talking to my friend, here's how it works- a bit like a hidden scavenger hunt.

1- log onto the site, enter your zip for a list of "caches" in your area, print out the paperwork, special instructions etc, and hit the road to hunt for the hidden cache with your GPS using the coordinates given from the site. The site notates various levels of difficulty. My friend picks the easy ones to find with his kids.

2-rule, when you take something, you leave something, ie, the site will tell you it's a toy, so you bring a small toy to leave in it's place

3-you hunt with your GPS until you find the stash, then in the little book in the treasure box (or chache, as it's called) log your team/name, the date you found it, etc. You then go back to the site and log there that you found it as well.

I was absolutely AMAZED to find how many people participate in these and that these little caches are stashed all over the place. I put in my zip code and 2,700 local caches came up in my area. Some are tucked away in public parks and parts of town, others require a little hiking, some in the woods, dunes, etc.

Apparently, certain items have unique numbers on them, and are specifically meant to be moved from one location to another. From logs of the finding on the geocaching website, you can see where these items have traveled, some all over the world via vacations, etc.

I can't wait to try this with my dad and brother! I'm still amazed by this cool concept and the level of international participation, in about every city!

Check it out at http://www.geocaching.com/

-jeff

Armstrong Is Not Just A Great Bicyclist.

Well, this week we finally got a new floor put into our kitchen, dining room, 1/2 bath, and main hallway! We bought the house 3 years ago and have been putting up with the ORIGINAL floor from 1965...which was unattractive, to say the very least! My wife has wanted the upgrade and quite frankly, really deserved it. Sorry you had to wait so long, hon.

We bought the house and it had lime green shag carpet. On top of being ugly it was as dry and scratchy as the hair on an elephant, and I swear it had dandruff. Well, after about a year, we decided to pull out the raggy-shaggy, which unveiled yet another wonderful 1960's treat...some very interesting linoleum. The bandaid-beige base color was bad itself, but all the decorative slices of various colors, shapes, and sizes, made it look like someone blew chunks all over ugly. Good news about the chunky-monkeys....the wide open, gaping nail holes from the carpet didn't show much, we just had to be careful not to snap off a toe by stepping into a nail hole. My poor wife.....I didn't care as much as her...I was only walkin on it, after all.

Three long years later we finally found the right deal at the right time on the right floor. We ended up getting one of the most beautiful vinyl floors I've ever seen (and the experienced installer, Steve, agreed with me :) It's from Armstrong's top-end, designer and durable line. Steve did a great job! Him and his girlfriend work as a team; they were really cool. We eneded up eating lunch with them the second day into it (via my gas grill) and I bought them lots of snacks over the 2 days they worked so hard. Steve and my 7 yr-old daughter had a great time joking around with eachother. She cried herself to sleep the night they fininshed up and headed home. We'll all take them out to dinner sometime soon...I'll see to it.

Anyway, I've been up late (2:00am) over the past couple of nights putting up the new baseboard. I took 3 days off from work, but couldn't do much trim work during the 2 days of install. I didn't think I'd ever get it all done. Bear in mind, me using saws, tapemeasures, and other tools is like a one-eyed, three-legged, severely retarded dog trying to perform open heart surgery. Good thing I bought lots of extra lengths. :)

Everything is now finally done except for re-installing the toilet, washer, and dryer which will be done tonight. Good thing...we have LOTS of laundry to do after being outside and then working for 4 days without a washer hooked up. We need clean laundry, now!! My 6 yr old son's underwear doesn't quite fit me like it should. Also, I need to get the toilet into the 1/2 bath and out of my Norton Shores front yard before I get arrested. This morning, I was discrete enough to cover it with a blue tarp. Yesterday, I joked around with my neighbor that I was going to use it as a planter. We are quite a bit loud and crazy at the Eikenberry household, but certainly not in a hill-billy kind of way. He laughed....but only after I started laughing first and he realized I was joking.

Anyway..thank God for our new floor! It looks even better than we thought it would!

-jeff