Odds & Ends

The family and I have returned from vacation and found ourselves more entrenched in busy life than ever. Our trip to Nashville was great and now hindsight is telling me that it came at the perfect time. Lara starts school on Thursday. Jack starts soccer on Saturday which coincides with the beginning of my soccer coaching career. Hilary and I joined a small group study this week (that assigns weekly homework!). And my training regimen has ratcheted up, being that the Chicago half marathon is only 4 weeks away.

Nashville
We had a great time visiting my aunt Carol for a few days as we enjoyed a low key vacation. The kids enjoyed the planetarium at the Adventure Science Center, the park, and of course, hours at the pool. Hilary and I were able to visit some friends who just recently moved to the area from Cincinnati as well as Hilary's college roommate. My aunt Carol was a generous and gracious host in spite of our family of 5 invading her house. Cooper found the fish and pug dogs to be the highlight of his trip.

Dark Knight
My wife took me to the movies while we were away. We had been wanting to see (especially me) the sequel to Batman Begins, which of course, is the best movie I have seen in a long while. I'm not sure what the critics are saying (I don't really care anyway!) but I thought the sequel was every bit as good as the first. I can't use the word 'enjoy' because of the violence and themes present, but I can say that it was well done and thought provoking. Watching it was sort of like reading a good novel knowing that the scenes and characters are made up but understanding that the story itself provides the platform that revels real life dilemma, conflict, and philosophical crossroads that we all experience. This movie has tremendous artistic value. I recommend the Dark Knight if you are ok with dark, story driven films. It is not a film for children even though the main characters have been plucked from a comic book series.

Financial Peace University
We agreed to join this small group study with our friends on our street at their LDS church. Hilary and I have been eager to analyse and complete Dave Ramsey's approach but just haven't done it. Now is as good a time as any I suppose, especially since this vacation has exhausted our checking account. We actually got to meet Dave Ramsey while we were in Nashville. Hilary's college roommate works for Dave and she was able to introduce us as we got the tour of the studio. Apparently Dave actually practices what he preaches on the airwaves. As we toured the studio and surroundings, Dave was eating his leftovers from his plastic food storage container. Encouraging and impressive!