Congrats to the Knights...

The Memorial Cup final today saw the London Knights defeat Sidney crosby and the Rimouski Oceanic 4-0. I'm not a huge follower of the CHL, but this tournament was something to watch.

London has been amazing all season. With a record of 59-7-2 and a total of 120 points, the next closest rival in the OHL came in with only 90 points on the season. At one point before Christmas they had a 31 game undefeated streak, which broke the previous record of 29.

Now we'll just wait and see where some of these guys end up playing next year.

Yes, I do believe there will be NHL again in the fall.

Getting nervous...

I'm a bundle of nerves right now. I've got 2 hours left until I have to start fasting. Then at 11:00am I have to be at the hospital. Then at 2:00pm I'm on the table.

And let's just say that I don't handle medical stuff well.

It's official...

Monday at 2:00pm I have surgery on my left knee. The plan is to remove whatever might be preventing my knee from fully extending. My surgeon says it could be torn ACL fibres, a piece of the miniscus, or a piece of torn cartilage. I know, that really narrows it down, eh?

He also still thinks I've torn my ACL which will once again need to be repaired once I recover from the surgery on Monday. Depending on what they find, the rehab could take up to 2 months. That would mean ACL replacement in early September, which really messes up the plans for NYWC in Sacramento.

So, I wait for Monday's surgery which will prepare me for yet another surgery somewhere down the road. Whatever happens, this really puts life on hold.

This can't be normal...

Newsradio, hysterical...

I loved this show from the moment I first saw the reruns on A&E. My wife and I were hooked. I raced home from the office every noon hour to watch it. And then it sadly came to an end...they stopped showing the reruns. (Curse that A&E!)

For years I have heard rumors that it was going to be released on dvd. But that got pushed back and delayed. But no longer! Today I forked out my forty some dollars for season one and two. Let the laughing begin!

If you haven't seen this show, you have to!

The time has come...

So today the day finally came. We officially discovered that my daughter is also allergic to peanuts. I say "also" because I've been allergic to all nuts since I was young, and we found out last year that my son is allergic too.

Today my little girl got her hands on a peanut butter cookie at the babysitters (yeah, that's another story...) and had her eyes swell shut and got covered in hives.

But she's ok now. A trip to the ER fixed her up and now we know for sure that 3 out of 4 in our household are severly allergic to nuts. What's the odds of that happening? I should buy a lottery ticket!

I'm ashamed...

I guess I posted too soon. Guess what my wife just turned on?

I'm thankful for the internet, YS Forums and AIM at times like this!

Reality TV...

I thought that reality TV had hit an all time low when they decided to give Britney Spears a show, but then I notice "Rob and Amber Get Married". Good grief! Who watches this stuff?!?!

My wife had the Spears show on for 5 minutes and I was begging her to change the channel. I wish I had something more profound and intellectual to say but all I can manage is, "Sheesh, that sucked!" And that phrase doesn't even do the show justice.

Thankfully, Rob and Amber didn't find their way across my screen tonight. I was rooting that they would win Amazing Race, but now that I know they had this in the works, I'm glad they lost!

But when it comes to good TV, I can't wait to get into Best Buy and pick up Newsradio on DVD. I've been waiting for that for years!

All I want to say...

It's been a busy weekend around here, so I'll be brief. Grad was good. FA Cup final was bad. Long weekend is great. Glazer sucks. Knee hurts. I love my family.

Choosing to Cheat...

Just finished this book by Andy Stanley. I'm still processing it, but all in all I think he has some good stuff to say. I may not always agree with the way that he communicates it, but the principles certainly have merit.

One thought that has particularly struck me is, "Does my wife feel like a single mom?" There is almost no doubt in my mind that there have been days and weeks when she has...and does. I imagine that most Sunday mornings she feels this way. I always have a billion things to do and she is forced to get the kids ready all by herself...which I know is not an easy task.

So how do I get back to normal...and not "normal" by my standards, but "normal" by the standards of my family? It's a thought to ponder.

I remember having a conversation 4 years ago with another YP at NYWC in Dallas. He asked me to mark down on a calendar how much I worked in a given week. Then he asked my wife to do the same thing. She marked down the time where she felt I was working. The catch was that I wasn't allowed to question what she wrote down, or try to justify it...which is what any guy would do.

The end result showed me that my wife felt I was working way more than I thought I was. There were times when I was "cheating" her by giving to my job. My family was missing on on a significant portion of my time. That was not a good thing, and some changes were made. But I think some changes still need to be made. I'm just not sure what they are.

Just a thought: Normal to you is not always normal to her.

Nothing profound...

Ever had one of those "blah" days? You know, the ones where you can't find the motivation to do anything. Today is such a day. I'm tired and would probably rather be anywhere else but in the office.

And it's not like there isn't anything to do around here. I've got work to do on our missions trip, phone calls that need to be returned, events that need to be scheduled, and a desk that looks like Staples threw up on...what a mess!

Guess I better dive in.

Crazy pilots...

Saw this picture and was just amazed by it. Here's the explanation:

Formation Flying for Jet Airplanes747 & 757 close call formation flyers...

A Lufthansa 747-400 and a United 757-200 are on a simultaneous landingon the parallel runways 28L and 28R at the San Francisco International Airport (SFO).Real runway separation is 225 meters. Due to the Jumbo being 3 times larger thanthe 757 and being behind gives us this fantastic optical illusionseeming to fly too near together...

Here we go again...

So, it would appear that what was looking like a torn MCL is now actually a torn ACL...that's right, the same ACL that I tore in February 2004 and had replaced last June. This was the worst possible news I could hear.

The surgeon wants to see me next Friday again once the swelling is down and I've been able to walk on it. Then he'll figure out what to do. But he said that he suspects it's the ACL and that it'll probably require another surgery. He also thought I might have damaged some cartilage.

I was handling this fairly well until I got that news. Now I'm wondering what, if anything, is God trying to tell me. I'm also wondering what this does to the plans for the next 6 months. We have a missions trip to Mexico in August and NYWC in September. I was also thinking of starting some seminary classes.

The only good news right now is that I can start trying to walk again and get rid of the crutches. It's painful, but it also means that I can drive again. It's been two weeks since I could drive. Maybe now I can actually do some things around the house and actually take some of the burden off my wife. At least till I go under the knife. Then I'll be a big wimp again.

Anyway,two ACL surgeries within one year...that can't be normal.

In football...

Well, a win for the Red Devils to end of the season is a good thing. Maybe that will lift some spirits as we head into the FA Cup final against Arsenal. Although, after the Gunners midweek 7-0 thrashing of Everton followed by today's 2-1 loss to Birmingham, who knows what to expect.

As well, it is time to say farewell to Norwich, Southampton and Crystal Palace...at least for another year. I can't believe that the Baggies pulled it off. Oh well, good for them.

In hockey...

Canada loses 3-0 to Czech Republic in today's World Hockey Championship. It sucks. I'm still in disbelief that yesterday we let Russia make a game of it after we were up 4-0.

Too bad, we couldn't have had some of the "big names" show up. The guys fought hard, but just seemed to be missing something. Oh yeah, consistency...that's what was missing.

Funny stuff...

It's always great to find stuff that makes me chuckle. In case you haven't seen it, you should check this out.
Anakin Dynamite

It can't be...

For starters, I'm still a newbie fan of the Red Devils. I only got hooked on the EPL and the world's greatest football team about 4 or 5 years ago. Some accused me of jumping on the bandwagon. Others thought I was yet another victim of their extensive marketing.

But I am not. Not only have I come to love this club, but I have also come to cherish it's history...a history I am continuing to learn about. Any "bandwagon fan" would not be phased by this latest bid by Malcolm Glazer. A "bandwagon fan" would be simply excited about the prospect of thousands of die-hard fans not renewing their season tickets. I am not a "bandwagon fan".

So now we wait.

Learning the ways...

So I've spent a bit of time on here the last few days and I'm starting to figure out some of the ins and outs of blogging. I finally figured out how to post a picture and add some links. So now, I'm officially ready to join the YS Forum Blogring.

Does this mean this will actually get read now?

Stand Up...

It's always a good day when a new cd by the greatest band in the world comes out!

Just for the record: Dave Matthews Band rocks!

The office...

Today I decided to try and get back to normal by going to the office. Since I can't drive, my wife had to drop me off at 7:45am on her way to work. Incidently, have you ever tried driving a stick with a full leg brace on your left leg? If anyone has any pointers, let me know!

But now it's 9:00am and I'm already feeling my knee swelling up like crazy. And lets not mention the fact that I'm drowzy because of the meds. Hopefully, I'll at least make it to noon. I really need to get some stuff done around here.

I'm also getting ready for a short meeting tonight with my youth staff...or at least with some of them. They've offered to help out in any way that they can while I recover, and I appreciate that. I think I need to give them a raise in pay...they really are great!

It must be Monday...

Home alone today. The kids went to the babysitter so I could have some peace and quiet. Ok, so maybe it had nothing to do with the peace and quiet and everything to do with the fact that I can't do anything but lie on the couch.

I feel bad for my wife in all of this. She's getting stuck with all the hard stuff. She's got to look after all of us, drive me around, and basically deal with everything in life without much help from me.

I want to be better just so she can be back to normal. Right now I'm not focused on recovering so that I can play soccer again, or so I can drive again. I just want to get back to normal so she can get back to normal.

Lending a helping hand...

It started when they lost to Norwich. Now, today it was time for the Baggies. And this one really should have been in the bag. the only problem is that when teams are fighting to stay in the Premiership, they are usually more up for a fight. Today was really no different.

We started the game on fire. Giggs looked like his old self again and appeared ready to pounce at any time. Then a bit of bad luck for the Baggies keeper timed with a perfectly placed free kick from Giggsy to give us the lead. A keeper switch only made things look more appealing. But the it happened. they started saving everything.

The rest was a bit of a blur. I remember shot after shot being saved, and then there was a penalty kick. 1-1. And that's how it stayed. Even bringing on Scholes, Rooney and Saha wasn't enough. mind you, in my opinion, Fergie should have left Smith on...that guy was fired up, but at least he's committed.

And I can't help but think that the teams residing in the cellar are loving us right now. And with Southampton up next weekend, after a midweek tilt with Chelsea, I'm not sure what to even think.

I really think we need some house cleaning in the summer. It'll be interesting to see what happens.

Another bad knee...

On Monday night I played my first outdoor game of the season. This was my first game on grass in quite a while, since I missed last season due to an ACL replacement.

I was feeling good about being back out their too. I got a few runs in, some shots at the keeper, and I was getting some decent tackles in. I even gave the ref a piece of my mind for missing a hit I took after a whistle...and then I got booked. Oh well...

But then it happened. I planted on my left leg and tried to make a quick cut back to my right...and then CRACK! I think anyone within a few feet of me heard it. I knew right there that I was done.

A 2.5 hour ER visit showed no damage to the bone, but suggested that I had now torn my MCL. That might mean 6-8 weeks in a leg brace and then rehab time on top of that. There goes most of this season too.

I'm beginning to wonder if my footballing days are done. I don't think I can handle another one of these time consuming injuries. FYI, isince 1998 I have torn the MCl on my right leg, broke my left ankle, torn the ACL on my left leg and had it surgically replaced, and now the torn MCL on the left leg.

This can't be normal...at least, it shouldn't be.