This summer I am playing in a 6-v-6 soccer league run by the Manhattan Parks and Recreation department. We are generously sponsored by della Voce bistro italiano. The team is made up of ex-teammates from my high school team – the Manhattan High School Indians. This includes the likes of Noah Reagan, Oscar Montenegro, Justin Kastner, Steve Howe, Justin Deweese, Brett Robinson, and Jim Launchbach. The team is supplemented by friends to round out a good, but aging team.
We finished the regular season with 3 wins, 1 tie, and 3 losses. At least 2 games we should have won (the tie and one loss). We are starting the tournament tonight and hope to play better in the tourney than we did in the regular season.
I have enjoyed the soccer but the best part is catching up with old friends. It is amazing that Oscar hasn’t lost a step and has turned out to be a hard working banker and family guy. Steve and JK are still in pretty good shape and still quite the players despite the lack of practice. And Jim is as strong and aggressive as ever – a nice thing to have on the back line. And it was fun catching up with Deweese but it sucked that he broke his collar bone in the first game.
I have been doing this on-n-off since then and have generated 4460 grains of rice. I am pretty steady at vocab level 40 (although I have dropped as low as 36) and hope to achieve their highest rank of 60 at some point (fat chance but I like to set lofty goals).
Sorry, I just had to brag a little bit. Besides, it is always fun to promote worthy causes – and feeding the hungry is always a good cause.
A good friend of ours, Jessica Lea Johnson, is displaying her art starting today (April 11) and runs until June 1 (2008). It will be shown at Z’s Divine Espresso (1800 E. 23rd St., Lawrence, KS). So go take a look and enjoy – we believe she is very talented.
I had a busy week of catching up. I had two Theta Xi brothers (from the Alpha Psi chapter) in town last week. On Sunday (March 30), John Meyer was in town so Kari and I went out to eat with him (at Della Voce – yum!). And on Thursday (April 3), Brian Massey was in town so I took him out to eat.
It was a lot of fun catching up on all the latest news with my old brothers. But the best part was getting to know two great guys all over again. It had been quite some time since I had seen John – the last time I remember was in 1996. And it has been a couple of years since Brian had been in town.
I guess I am finding that the brotherhood is truly timeless. Even after all these years apart we are still close.
Larry works in the Animal Sciences and Industry department here at K-State. He has been team-teaching a class with my wife for a couple of years. He has also taken over as her mentor in the department and done an outstanding job.
For some time, Noah Reagan has been busy learning all he can about running a great restaurant. Even when we were young he used to grill some pretty fantastic dinners when his parents were out of town (and we had the run of the house – sorry Mom and Dad Reagan). He attended school at K-State and studied Hotel and Restaurant Management. While going to school he worked at Dean’s Liquor learning about wines and spirits (which served us well in college).
During his time at K-State he had the opportunity to do an internship in Paris, France. Internships like this are great chance to see the world as well as develop a real sense of working at an up-scale establishment.
After graduating he packed-up his bags and headed for the Turks and Caicos Islands where his cousin put him to work at his restaurant. What a great chance to hone his skills. And based upon my visit, the place was fantastic (Noah picked Kari and I up from the airport when we went on our honeymoon to the islands and treated us to dinner at his place).
Over the next couple of years he spent time in Boston, Costa Rica, and another tour on the islands before he finally decided to pursue his own dream. He decided to open a new restaurant here in Manhattan, KS. It seemed like it took forever to go from idea to opening day (I am sure it felt a lot longer to Noah). I recall many conversations about location, menu, the market, and technology (technology being the only one I could speak intelligently about). I also recall a great evening of food at his parent’s house trying out some items for his menu (wow, he has really become quite the chef).
He is now open and running a great establishment named della Voce (I wrote about it here and here). It is a fantastic place to relax and enjoy some great food (way to go Melvin and the rest of the kitchen folk).
I am so proud of Noah for all he has accomplished and thankful that I get to enjoy the fruits of his labor. He has come a long way from that skinny, annoying neighbor I used to fight with over basketball games. I am truly blessed to know him and call him my friend.
I really like the video and it captures how I feel – I am very grateful for those serving our country but I have a hard time expressing it. So from now on, I will try harder and I will try to use the gesture for Thank You as often as I can.
And I want to take this opportunity to say thanks to all those serving and to those that have served. And I would also like to personally thank all those that I know that have served. Thanks Armour, Bill, Don, Earl, Gene, Jodi, Joe, John, Jonathan, Matt, Matt, Mark, Mark, Megan, Mike, Mike, Millard, Omar, Steve, Steve, and Wayne. I truly appreciate your service to our country.
It isn’t often that I receive forwarded email that touches my heart. But I recently received the following story from my sister. And according to Snopes, this story is actually true — which makes the story that much better.
Our 14 year old dog, Abbey, died last month. The day after she died, my 4 year old daughter Meredith was crying and talking about how much she missed Abbey. She asked if we could write a letter to God so that when Abbey got to heaven, God would recognize her. I told her that I thought we could so she dictated these words:
Dear God,
Will you please take care of my dog? She died yesterday and is with you in heaven. I miss her very much. I am happy that you let me have her as my dog even though she got sick.
I hope you will play with her. She likes to play with balls and to swim. I am sending a picture of her so when you see her. You will know that she is my dog. I really miss her.
Love, Meredith.
We put the letter in an envelope with a picture of Abbey and Meredith and addressed it to God/Heaven. We put our return address on it. Then Meredith pasted several stamps on the front of the envelope because she said it would take lots of stamps to get the letter all the way to heaven. That afternoon she dropped it into the letter box at the post office. A few days later, she asked if God had gotten the letter yet. I told her that I thought He had.
Yesterday, there was a package wrapped in gold paper on our front porch addressed, “To Meredith , ” in an unfamiliar hand. Meredith opened it. Inside was a book by Mr. Rogers called, “When a Pet Dies.” Taped to the inside front cover was the letter we had written to God in its opened envelope. On the opposite page was the picture of Abbey & Meredith and this note:
Dear Meredith,
Abbey arrived safely in heaven.
Having the picture was a big help. I recognized Abbey right away.
Abbey isn’t sick anymore. Her spirit is here with me just like it stays in your heart. Abbey loved being your dog. Since we don’t need our bodies in heaven, I don’t have any pockets to keep your picture in, so I am sending it back to you in this little book for you to keep and have something to remember Abbey by.
Thank you for the beautiful letter and thank your mother for helping you write it and sending it to me. What a wonderful mother you have. I picked her especially for you.
I send my blessings every day and remember that I love you very much.
By the way, I’m easy to find. I am wherever there is love.
Love,
God
I hope you enjoyed that story as much as I did … and now go and wipe your eyes and get back to work!
A friend of mine, Dr. Justin Kastner, has been hard at work creating a digital-presence for his research. It is called Frontier and was created along with Dr. Jason Ackleson of New Mexico State.
Justin has done such a great job of embracing technology to convey and enhance his message. He started by creating a great web presence (web site) and has enhanced it with podcasts and RSS feeds. And while the podcasts are not of professional quality, he is constantly improving and making them better. Quite a feat for a non-technical professor at K-State. So check out the website, checkout the podcasts (on their website and through iTunes), and checkout the RSS feeds. All great sources of information, even for those that aren’t experts.
Way to go Justin. Keep up the great work. And hopefully others at K-State will catch on and make use of technology to enhance their own message (at least 1 other professor on campus has done this).
