Losers, Winners, Cowpies, and a Pleasant Surprise, Vol. IV

I was supposed to go to Boise with Tim on Thursday but after last weekend's pseudo baby scare I decided that I should stay home with Mel and the fetus. After our victorious softball effort on Friday night, we went to Santa Cruz on Saturday to see Katie's volleyball game. She attends Bethany College and it just so happened that on that lovely evening her team played Nick's girlfriend, Sheri's, school (Simpson). A group of us drove to down to watch the game. My goal was to embarrass Katie and I think that I did a pretty decent job of doing so. My loud yelling coupled with my Oakland hat definitely set the standard for fan-athlete embarassment tactics. The game was a lot of fun and in the end Simpson came out on top. After the game, we went downtown and enjoyed some comida de Mexicana. It was grand. On Sunday I headed back to the Pine's ranch for the church staff retreat. It is a pretty epic place and I enjoy each opportunity that I get to go there. The weekend was spent discussing church matters, unity, and 4-wheeling. Jake, Jason, Charles, and I went out driving late at night to look for the ghost house. It was fun and scary all at the same time. Hearkening back to his farm boy days, Jake taught us how (not that much teaching was involved) to throw cow pies. Picture what you would do with a frisbee. Now add poop. It was not as gross as you would think but not as fun as Jake would think. I got back Sunday afternoon and then headed back to Santa Cruz with Charles and Justin to see Jimmy Eat World at The Catalyst. Jimmy has been one of my favorite bands since high school and it was pretty amazing to see them in such a small venue. As you can see from the picture, we were pretty dang close to the stage. It was one of the best shows I've been to. They played a ton of old songs which was a pleasant surprise and really nailed every note. It was like hanging out with some old friends who sing really well and never really make eye contact with you or acknowledge you, but somehow at the end of the night, you look back and say, "thanks guys, you really made tonight special for me. Thanks for letting me pay to spend time with you."