Daily Picture

Last meek marked a special day....yes my birthday(i'm sure your present's in the mail)....but my birthday is an anniversary.  Three years ago on my birthday, I decided to try and take my picture doing something or with someone every day.  Over the three years I've given myself grace.  I don't remember all the time (surprise surprise).  I've gone through periods where I don't do any for a week or two.  But I keep picking it back up and trying it out.  (Two years ago I posted some thoughts on this project if you wanna see.)

Here are some new thoughts...

1.  I still love pictures with my family.

2.  We're really good at remembering the big moments in life.  The big highs and lows.  We're not good at remembering the small little bumps along the way.  My daily picture helps me remember those things.  As I look back through the last three years of pictures I can say, "Hey I remember that day.  That was fun".  Things I know I would've forgotten otherwise.

3.  When I switched this past spring from my trusty side flip phone of 4or 5 years to an iPhone it totally changed how I take pictures.  I knew exactly at what angle I needed to hold my phone to get myself and everyone else in the frame.  I'm still trying to figure that out on my iPhone.

Without further ado.  Here are some fun pics from the past year.

 Corban as one of the wisemen.  Oddly...when he had a beard/costume on, he wasn't embarrassed to be in front of people and do his lines.

Corban after he lost his second from tooth

 Our pack has a special tradition to encourage boys to sell popcorn.  You can pie your den leader if you reach a certain amount.  This is Andrew. He made it.  And took great delight in his pie.

This is Whitney, Mary and Dan on my birthday last year playing music together to get ready for a gig we were playing.  While we were there we recorded a four part harmony version of Happy Birthday.

This was part of Daddy Day Camp last year.  We went to "Pirate Island" to bury our treasure.  We drew a map of the entire island and paced off exactly where our treasure is.  We're going back this summer to check on it.  This is us and our treasure.  We marked it with a T......for treasure.

Tobiah had a special treat one day before his speech therapy session.  The Life-Flight helicopter had landed and the pilot let us check the entire inside out.  He also gave Tobiah a helicopter temporary tattoo.

 Marjorie and I with a life size Woody made out of Legos

In May I got a call to play a tournament I wasn't suppose to play because their goalie got hurt.  Not only did we win the championship, we beat a team that was two divisions ahead of us.  This is me and the trophy after we won.

This is one of my favorite pictures period.  We were having a nerf fight.  I love my family.

Tuesday Coffee

From the history of how coffee changed the world, early foreign and American coffee-making devices, 1922:
1—English adaptation of French boiler. 2—English coffee biggin. 3—Improved Rumford percolator. 4—Jones’s exterior-tube percolator. 5—Parker’s steam-fountain coffee maker. 6—Platow’s filterer. 7—Brain’s Vacuum, or pneumatic filter. 8—Beart’s percolator. 9—American coffee biggin. 10—cloth-bag drip pot. 11—Vienna coffee pot. 12—Le Brun’s cafetière. 13—Reversible Potsdam cafetière. 14, 15—Gen. Hutchinson’s percolator and urn. 16—Etruscan biggin.

Tuesday Coffee

Last week we stopped at Wegman's and I got some chocolate covered coffee beans.  I've rationed them out.  Today, they're helping me make through a long busy day.

Father's Day

Thanks for showing me repeatedly how to change the oil in a car.....even though I never do it myself anymore.
Thanks for telling me you were proud of me after band concerts.
Thanks for always taking time out of your busy schedule to play with us.
Thanks for wrestling us. Boys need that. I didn't know how much until now.
Thanks for wrestling with my boys. I love watching them giggle when you get after them.
Thanks for loving mom. You showed us how to treat women.
Thanks for loving Jesus. You modeled that in your daily life for us and those around us.
Thanks for not yelling at me when I overflowed the stationary tube, when I was doing laundry. Does mom even know that happened?
Thanks for being my mentor...particularly the last 13 years of full time ministry. It's good having a resource like you who's seen and done it all.
Thanks for taking Jer and I backpacking. Those were some of the best trips of my life.
Thanks for being my Weblos leader.
Thanks for doing voices for all the characters when you read books to us.
Thanks for making us work in your garden and showing us the value of it.
Thanks for coming to listen to my bands play.  I know you didn't always like it...particularly going to the Alchemy Club....but it meant the world to me.
Thanks for listening to me and asking good questions.
Thanks for making "The Movie" with us....someday Sundance will come calling.
Thanks for making my friends feel welcome when we visited in college.  They loved coming to see you guys.
Thanks for loving my wife like your daughter.
Thanks for showing me the need to control my competitive nature....even though I'm still horrible at it.
I love you Dad.

Vespalogy

Some day I'll get mine running....but then again I've been saying that for 10 years or more.

VESPALOGY from Nomoon on Vimeo.

Best Stanley Cup Commercial

I stayed up last night for triple overtime of game 1 of the Cup finals.  Maybe I'm tired.  But this commercial gets me all emotional.

Male/Female Communication

NHL Playoffs: Stanley Cup Finals

So here we are.  The Finals.  At the beginning of this ride, I would've guessed one of these two teams...and made a strong case for the other.  The Finals are always a sad time for me.....because it means I can't watch hockey for another 3-4 months.  That's dumb.

So let's start by checking where all our competitors are at.  Remember the last round was worth 3 points per prediction.

Mike came into this round leading with 14 points.  He was 1-1 so Mike currently has 17 points.
Jeff had 13 points prior to the Conference Finals...he also went 1-1 so Jeff now has 16 points
Randy had 12 points before this round and went 2-0 predicting that the Bruins would upset the Pens.  He now jumps into first place with 18 points.
Aaron (me) had 12 points....I also went 1-1...so slide down to 4th place with 15 points.
Matt is having a rough year and came into this round with 8 points...and then went 0 fur...so still has 8 points.


Randy 18
Mike   17
Jeff     16
Aaron 15
Matt     8

So on to my Finals picks.  Also note that this round is worth 4 points.

STANLEY CUP FINALS

Chicago Blackhawks vs. Boston Bruins
At this point you can make a case for both teams.  They didn't get here by accident.  Chicago was suppose to be here.  Lots of international prognosticators had them winning it all before the playoffs began.  I've always said that if I were an NHL coach I wouldn't want to meet Boston in the playoffs...they're gritty and tough and built for this time of year....and they're showing it.  You have a high scoring machine verses a defensive shut down team.  How'd that work out for Pittsburgh?  I don't really know....but I have to pick....so I'm saying Boston in 6.


Randy's picks:  "I will hopefully retain my title by picking Chicago to defeat the Bruins."

Matt's picks:   "Boston wins in 6"

Mike and Jeff also have Chicago



ALSO:  We are in agreement that we like the points set up.  I think we'll tweek it a bit next year.

Tuesday Coffee

"Coffee is like a warm hug inside my mouth"

-Me

Guest Blog Monday: Busted Knee

 Guest Blog Monday is a feature for 2013 where I ask friends to write a blog post for me for Monday morning....so I don't have to.  The theme for June is "Birthday".


The theme proposed to me for this blog post was “Birthday.” For lack of immediate material or direction, I did what most people do and I asked the smartest person that I know, Professor Google, who else shared a birthday with me. 

I’ve always considered my birth-day to be above average in nature. It isn’t one of those birthdays that you hear about all the time like September 5th or July 10th or anything like that. Oh no. Ocotber 1st is a dignified, almost renaissance in nature, day to be born on. I’ve always thought it was quite distinguished, and my ego was further inflated when Professor G. turned out a rather unimpressive list of people who were also born on this day. Apparently I belong towards the top of this heap. Some notables—at least in the circles that I run in—would be Walther Matthau (of the Grumpy Old Men movies), Julie Andrews (think Mary Poppins), and the royalty of the bunch, Randy Quaid (none other than Cousin Eddie….need I say more?). Probably the most unique birthday I’ve ever encountered is that of my grandfather-in-law who was born on a leap year day. He only had a proper birthday once every 4 years. So, when he turned one year old, he was actually 4 years old….or something like that. The most inauspicious birthday I’ve encountered is my great aunt, who shares a birthday with none other than….ta-da…..Jesus of Nazareth! How’s that for comparison? I’m not sure if that is something to be excited about or depressed about, and no, I’m not going to get into the debate about whether or not Jesus was REALLY born on December 25th.

Ok, in all seriousness birthdays are important for all people, no matter what date it falls on or who or who doesn’t share the date with you. In the last 5 weeks I’ve been particularly reminded of just how many birthdays I’ve had (30) and how those cumulative years can add up to more than just candles on a cake. After tearing my ACL, MCL, and Medial Meniscus at the end of April, I have been reminded that as the years go by, my body simply does not bounce back as quickly as it used to. In previous years of athletics, injuries, and recovery times I was undaunted. My body responded well to recovery and treatment, and each injury was little more than a mild inconvenience. Enter the knee injury. Not so much, anymore. It hurt worse, I recovered slower, my patience dwindled, my moodiness went up. The pain increased, the swelling was there longer, and the proposed recovery time is months….not weeks or days ahead. I thought surgery would be the tip-top of the bell curve that would leave me coasting into full recovery, only to experience my body rebelling with the side effects of anesthesia, pain medications, dehydration, and the like. I feel like I could be on the Golden Girls. Seriously.
 
All of this has left me to consider just how broken this world is and just how much I hope for a future time when its brokenness is restored. For every Christian (I am one) that is accused of focusing so much on heaven that they are no earthly good, there are an equal amount who forget so fully about the future promises of God that they end up wallowing in what is nothing more than a temporary place. Whining incessantly about their lot in life—busted knees, anyone?—they lose their hope, a cardinal mistake for anyone seeking to remain focused on Jesus, the author and perfector of our faith. Although not a “go-to” passage in terms of the eternal hope that we have, I’ve always found encouragement in Paul’s words to the Corinthians when he says, “therefore, we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.” (2 Corinthians 4:16-17)

I’m eager for heaven…..more and more everyday, really. Many have marveled at how scripture tells of those who had lived hundreds upon hundreds of years. Forget that! Get me out of this place and into the arms of Jesus! My life is blessed and I have much to do with the things that God has given me in the here and now, but don’t ask me to apologize for looking forward to the day when I can take off this ice pack, throw these crutches into the sea, and do as much Jiu-Jitsu as I want with Jesus and the bunch as I want without worrying about how my busted, broken, sin-soaked body will hold up.

Cameron and his wife Sheri live in Frewsburg,NY where they pastor an awesome community of Jesus followers. Both are in agreement that excepting their salvation, the greatest gift ever given to them was their 2 year old son, Noah, by adoption. Sheri is very beautiful, and Cameron just has a nice beard. You can see more about their church at www.trinityumcfrewsburg.com

10 Opinions in a Row

I've mentioned before that I listen to Buffalo Sports radio 550 am while I"m driving around.  Their afternoon guys are good.  They do a segment called "10 opinions in a row" where they just talk about whatever they want.  I've decided to do my own series.  Things I don't wanna post on Facebook, but are too short to actually blog.  Here's the first installment.


1.  Chocolate Tootsie Pops are redundant.  I'm already getting chocolate from the tootsie inside....why do I need a chocolate flavored pop around it? 

2.  Why is there such a thing as UnderArmor hoodies?  It's not UNDER anything.  I know it's a name brand.  I get it.  They made their money selling under gear.....but now it's just getting absurd. 

3.  I don't care how buff you are, or how hot it is, put your shirt on, you're just walking down the street.  I kind of understand if you're running or working out, that you might take your shirt off....but not walking casually.  Also, for the record you actually get cooler if you leave your shirt on.  You pick up more radiant heat with your shirt off....and when you sweat your shirt acts as a cooling agent when the wind blows.

4.  Turn signals.  Use them more often.

5.  I love a good nap.  Not too short....those just make me more irritable.  Not too long, then I"m groggy.  Long enough that I wake myself up without use of an alarm.  Yummy.

6.  I've been watching Big Bang Theory online.  I'm not sure I'm going to make it through...it's funny but not crazy awesome.  ANYWAY....the last picture on the opening song is all the characters sitting on the couch eating Chinese food or Thai food.....and without fail it makes me hungry every time.

7.  In the past two or three weeks I've had several conversations with teens or young 20 somethings where we've been talking about learning something new.  And in almost every case, they have said, "I can't do that, I'm not good at it."  To which I've responded "and you never will be unless you work at it...this isn't something that just comes naturally to anyone."  Do people really think that they should be able to pick up a guitar and play it?  or pick up a football and throw a perfect spiral?  or be able to dance all the steps instantly?  Really?  Has our work ethic gone that far down? 

8. In the movie (and book) "Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy" there is a babelfish that goes in your ear and helps you translate any language.  I wish I had one of those.  I've been watching the NHL playoffs online...and for whatever reason the best feeds this year are the foreign feeds.  Russian.  Italian.  Czech.  etc.  Except I don't understand a dang thing they're saying.  Except the occasional "Patrick Kane"  or "Pittsburgh Penguins".

9.  I don't think I will ever cease to be amazed at what people thing goes through my head just because I work for a church.  They preface what they say to me.  They clarify things because they think I know nothing about the "real" world.  They apologize for swearing...because I've never heard a curse word before. 

10.  A month or so ago I was in Pittsburgh and went to a hockey store and tried on the newest line of goalie pads.  They literally would make me a better goalie.  The way they're designed would help cover areas quicker.  They're also the price of a cheap used car.  So is that good?  Is it good that I can buy less goals per season?

Guest Blog Monday: Birthday Traditions

 Guest Blog Monday is a feature for 2013 where I ask a friend to write a guest blog post for Monday morning....so I don't have to.  The theme for June is BIRTHDAY.....because my birthday is in June.....see what I did there?


Aaron has asked me to share on the topic of birthdays. I would hope that most people look forward to their birthdays, I mean what’s not to like? There’s cake (or pie!), ice cream, family, friends, fire...I mean candles, and let us not forget PRESENTS!

When I think of birthdays, I think about traditions!  For some, birthday traditions might mean having those things I mentioned above: cake and candles, presents, and family. For me, it is all about my Grandma Ledebur. All of my favorite birthday traditions happen to involve my Grandma.  

See, my Grandma always wants to make your birthday extra special, so she has each of us over for our "birthday dinner". You even have a special seat at the table. You see, for as long as I can remember, and probably even before that my Grandma places coins under the birthday boy/girl's plate equaling how old they are. So when I turned 26, under my plate was a quarter and a shiny penny. Even though it is a small amount of money, we all look forward to it. It makes you feel loved. Additionally, my Grandma also insists on making whatever you want for your meal. My dinner is typically roast beef with and vegetables.  It doesn’t matter how many times I have my Grandma’s roast beef, it always tastes amazing and she always seems to put love into to making it. Then we finish each birthday meal with a delicious chocolate cake or dessert of your choice. She just recently turned 92 and so for her birthday I wanted to make her her own cake. It turned out well and was a pretty cool experience. And now I will hopefully one day get to continue these traditions she carried on with my family.

But traditions need to start somewhere. For instance, I am sure my Grandma had someone putting money under her plate when she was a little girl and therefore she carries on that tradition with us. It is often our family who implants the traditions in our lives. For me, these traditions carry over to my faith, my friends, and work. They get ingrained in my friendships and I think that traditions are most fun when you can share them with others.

So why do birthdays matter? Because they are a reminder, yes of how old we are, but also because they are a tradition you will celebrate each year with the people you care about the most. So if you have a birthday coming up, Happy Birthday and make sure to celebrate and carry on those traditions! (Insert funny have your cake and eat it too line!)


Jeff Ledebur lives in Titusville PA, loves playing frisbee and all sports, hates mayonnaise, just finished his 4th 5K and works as the Director of the Learning Center at University of Pittsburgh at Titusville. Currently reading Love Does by Bob Goff and loves serving others.

NHL Playoffs: Conference Finals

As I start this, game 1 is already 2/3's done....but all our picks are already in, even though they're not already blogged.  I'm gonna try to make this short and sweet as I'm short on time tonight....and I want to watch hockey more than I want to talk about it.

Recap of 2nd round.  (remember that a right prediction in round 2 was worth 2 points)
Randy was perfect in round 1 for 8 points and went 2-2 in round 2 for an additional 4 points and now has 12 points total
Mike finished round 1 with 6 points and was perfect in round 2 for an additional 8 points.  He now has 14 points total
Matt had 4 points at the end of round 1.  In round 2 he went 2-2 for an additional 4 points he now has 8 points total
Jeff ended round 1 with 5 points.  He was perfect in Round 2.  So he has 13 points total
I finished round 1 with 6 points.  I went 3-1 in round 2 for an additional 6.  I now also have 12 points total

So as of now
Mike 14
Jeff 13
Randy 12
Aaron 12
Matt 8

Remember round 3 is worth 3 points each (we should've made this round 4 points to even things out....but this is what we agreed to so I'm sticking with it.....next year!)

EASTERN CONFERENCE FINALS

Pittsburgh Penguins vs. Boston Bruins

I'll make this short.  I love the way the Bruins play.  I still think the Pens are just too deep this year.  They're getting scoring from everyone.  They made a good goalie in Anderson look like a rookie in the last round.  Unless the refs call zero penalties in this round, the Pens win.  PENGUINS IN 6

WESTERN CONFERENCE FINALS

Los Angeles Kings vs Chicago Blackhawks

This is the series to actually watch.  I picked the Kings via Facebook yesterday, but the more I've thought about it over the last 24 hours, I have a feeling the Hawks are going to win.  I think I picked the Kings because the Blackhawks would be more of a challenge to Pittsburgh in the Finals then LA would.  So if any of the boys are reading this...you can decide.....I'll stick with my Kings pick if you want.....but I'm calling Chicago in 7


Randy's picks for this round:
My Picks are Chicago over Los Angeles and Boston to upset Pittsburgh.

Matt's picks (until he can blog them)
Los Angeles in 7 (they have the look of last year again), Pittsburgh in 6 (Boston is sitting too long to maintain their streaky offense)