Happy Halloween!

Here's my costume! Those of you who aren't sure of who I'm trying to be, check out the "Fun" section of the links on the right. :)

Deck Wash for 19 cents

Planning to clean and seal our deck, Jenelle and I went to Home Depot a few days ago. We bought some deck wash for $3 and some premium deck sealer for $25. We used a 10% off "pocket peeler" coupon, so our total with tax was $26.43. Not bad. We paid for it with a debit card.

After a phone call to the condo association president, we discovered that all of the phase 3 decks (including ours) will be stained in the spring. So, there's no point in us sealing it right now. We decided to keep the deck wash and return the sealer.

I went back to Home Depot after work. I set the receipt and the sealer on the counter, and I was on my way in minutes. I checked the amount credited to the debit card. $26.24. Huh. Interesting. It seems the clerk didn't subtract 10% when entering the credit. Assuming Home Depot doesn't contact us about the error, we just got a bottle of deck wash for 19 cents. Perhaps the computer system only alerts the clerk if the return amount is greater than the cost of all of the items on the receipt. I have no idea what's going on.

But I'll bet that the deck wash is worth what we paid for it. :)

It's Gettin' Dark Early

Jenelle and I had steak for dinner tonight. She did a great job preparing it (with the help of Saran Cutting Sheets. We also had crescent rolls and red potatoes. Yum!

In other news, it's nice that Northwestern finally won a football game at home. The added bonus is that the 'Cats victory was over Wisconsin, which means I won't be singing the Badger fight song at the family Christmas celebration.

For some reason, my calendar program didn't remind me about Jeri's birthday on the 21st (the same day as Randy's). So, Happy Birthday, Jeri!

I hope you took advantage of the sale at Dairy Queen yesterday. We still have ten buster bars in our freezer. :)

Homecoming

Tomorrow is the first Northwestern Homecoming weekend for which Jenelle and I will both be alumni. The big football game is against Wisconsin at 11 a.m. on ESPN2. A note for my parents: You don't have to tape it. :)

In other news, I got my Newsboys Adoration songbook in the mail today. The neat thing about it is that it lists every note exactly as it is on the recording. The only trouble is that a lot of the songs are very difficult to play. Of course, reading the music gives me a new appreciation for the band and anyone who makes a living playing music. In any case, I have some serious practicing to do.

Question of the night: How come the smallest size of coffee you can get at Starbuck's is called "tall"? Anybody know?

Insert Clever Title Here

I should have said this yesterday: Happy Birthday, Uncle Randy!

The past few days weren't all that exciting, but I have been getting some important things done (updating the church web site, for example). I wish I had another story like the Muto's Pizza incident to share. However, I will share a few small bits from the past week or so:

I hope all you Wisconsinites had a chance to get out and enjoy the weather on Monday. I managed to play three sets of tennis. The strangest thing was that we broke a sweat clearing leaves off the court. It's not supposed to be warm when you do that.

I discovered last week that Floral Art is no longer in business. It was the place that I frequented whenever I wanted to buy some flowers for Jenelle. I managed to find another place, but I don't know if any place will ever be able to match their convenience and quality.

The Dairy Queen on highway 20 is having a half-price sale on Sunday. Jenelle and I plan to stock up on Buster Bars. Yum.

I rented the movie TRON over the weekend. It didn't do all that well at the box office, but I must say that the digital effects are pretty good for 1982. Did you know that the Academy did not give them a Oscar nomination for special effects because they felt the producers cheated by using a computer? My, how times have changed. The movie reminded me of the work done by the company that my brother works for, Hornet Animation. Obviously, Hornet's work is much more advanced.

My mother asked me to put together a Christmas list. Just so you know -- I'm working on it. :)

Pizza for Isaacson

Last night, it was my turn to pick what Jenelle and I would get for dinner. As you might have guessed, I chose to order pizza from Tenuta's, one of my favorite places. I called them twice and got no answer. Since it's only five minutes away, I decided to drive over and find out what was going on. I learned that Tenuta's has been CLOSED since October 6 "due to the loss of our lease". Major bummer.

After weighing our options, we decided to order from a different pizza place in Sturtevant, called Muto's. We called in our large cheese with 1/3 ham & black olives and went to pick it up about twenty minutes later. Our order was under the name "Isaacson". Keep that in mind as you read the details to come.

As we were leaving Muto's, Jenelle and I had the following conversation:

"Jenelle, I smell onions."
"Yeah, the whole place smelled like onions."
"I wonder if they gave us the wrong pizza."
"Nah, it's fine, let's go."

As we pulled out of the parking lot, we happened to notice Uncle Jerry pulling in. After a friendly wave, we made the turn onto Durand Avenue, and then to 90th street. I was still pretty sure that I could smell onions, but we didn't want to open the pizza in the car.

After a bit of confused discussion, we didn't know what to think. Then, Jenelle put 2 and 2 together.

"Wait, our order was under ISAACSON, right?"

Yup, that's right, we got Uncle Jerry's pizza. As I turned around to head back to Muto's, Jenelle called Aunt Nancy on our cell phone. Sure enough, they ordered a large pizza with cheese, sausage, mushrooms, and onions. As we got back to the parking lot, Uncle Jerry was just about to leave. We made the switch, confirmed that we had the right pizza, and headed back home.

So, two people with the last name of Isaacson, perhaps the only two families in Sturtevant with that last name, happened to order pizza from the same place at nearly the exact same time. I was surprised that no one at Muto's confirmed our order when we arrived or even mentioned that there were two orders under Isaacson. They still don't know they messed up, and probably never will. Heh.

We enjoyed the pizza, but we agreed it wasn't as good as Tenuta's. I don't know exactly how they lost their lease, but I hope they get it back real soon!

Precious Moments

I should have written this two days ago: Happy Birthday, Laura!

Today was another busy day, but I think I should write about the weekend before I forget!

Every second with my family was absolutely priceless. On Saturday, we got to spend a lot of time with Andrew, Holly, and Ella. You might be surprised to learn that I held her for quite a while. She was sleeping for most of the time, but that doesn't mean it was easy. :)

It's amazing to see the glow in Andrew and Holly's eyes as they take care of her. We were also blessed to see Ella roll over by herself for the first time! We didn't get it on film, so Andrew got the camcorder in hopes that she would repeat the feat. All she did was spit up. Oh well, better luck next time, I guess.

Grandpa Tom and Grandma Pat were nice enough to babysit so that Andrew, Holly, Jenelle, and I could go out to eat and see a movie that evening. Though we didn't do anything really exciting, I wish that I had more opportunities like this to interact with my brother and sister-in-law. I didn't notice it growing up, but Andrew taught me quite a bit about this great big world we live in, and I bet I could learn a lot more if I had the time (and we weren't so far apart). In any case, I did my best to treasure the time we did have to share, and I can't wait until they come to visit in December.

On Sunday, the wedding ceremony was certainly the quickest one I have ever attended. However, that did not cut down on the amount of joy in the room. Yolanda was overflowing with cheer and excitement with every step she took toward Ed. The vows were somewhat relaxed, but the solemnity of the event remained.

The reception was also very nice, though I think the DJ was a little bit over-the-top. He was encouraging everyone to play games and do different dances and things like that. I guess there's nothing wrong with that -- until you can't sit down without him bugging you. Heh. On the plus side, he made sure everything ran smoothly with the toasts, the cake, the first dance, and the other important parts.

So, another big congrats to Ed & Yolanda as they begin to experience the truly wonderful blessing that is marriage!

Ed's Wedding

Pictures from our trip to California (Ed's wedding + lots of Ella) are up. More details soon!

Another week flies by

Let's see what I can do to sum up this week:

Monday: Played tennis after work. Won three sets. Got a great workout.

Tuesday: Drove to Evanston for the Delta Chi Alumni Board of Trustees meeting. I'm the secretary. It sounds more exciting than it actually is.

Wednesday: The evening church service went very well. Our new drummer, Matt, is so musically talented that he can tell when my guitar is out of tune better than I can.

Thursday: Church executive team meeting. We finished up the 2004 Spending Guide proposal. It's a tough process, but we all feel much better now that the first step is done.

Friday: Getting ready for another exciting weekend!

I'll have some much more interesting things to write about on Monday. Trust me. :)

Where'd my photos go?

I should have posted this yesterday: Happy Birthday, Aunt Lisa!

The Walk for Diabetes was a lot of fun. My parents joined Jenelle and me, and we got lots of great pictures. However, when I imported them into my mac about ten minutes ago, they disappeared into oblivion. I think that happened because I was updating the system to version 10.2.8 at the same time. This bugs me quite a bit (just ask Jenelle, who has to endure my frustration), but you can be certain that from now on, I won't try to import photos while doing anything else. I apologize to those of you who were looking forward to the photos. In any case, "Team Isaacson Walkers" raised almost $200 for the American Diabetes Association, and no computer glitch will change that.

The AIDS Walk last week was also fun. It had far more people than any of the other three walks, which you might be able to tell from the pictures, which I successfully put online here. Jenelle and I walked ten kilometers and burned quite a few calories. As far as snacks go, the only thing that had at the rest stops were boxes and boxes of protein bars. We tried one -- they didn't taste very good. There were two short periods of rain, and it was never pouring that hard, so we just kept on walkin'.

I'm now going to watch the rest of the Cubs game with Jenelle. Maybe make some popcorn. Good night, all! :)

This week went fast

First of all, it's time to catch up on a few birthdays. Everyone deserves to see their name appear it red when it's their birthday.

Four days ago: Happy Birthday, Hunter!

Two days ago, my nephew, Lucas, had his second birthday. He's the son of Jenelle's brother, Jeff, and his wife, Josie. Happy Birthday, Lucas!

Okay, I feel better about that. The next thing I need to do is share some more details from the walks last weekend.

The UCP walk (also known as "Joe's Run, Walk, and Roll") was a blast. Jenelle and I both got t-shirts just for particpating. This was the fourth walk for which we signed up. After I heard about it on the radio, I had to quickly change every reference in the THREE walks site to the FOUR walks site.

Shortly after registering, I located Danny and D from 105.3 The Fish. After gathering up the confidence to approach them, I greeted them and introduced them to Jenelle. I got a great picture (right here) and shared some basic information. I don't think this was a big deal to Jenelle, but I was loving every moment because I felt like I was talking to celebrities.

In any case, I learned that Danny and D would be "strolling" at the back of the pack, and we were welcome to join them, which we did. I first thought that there would be a lot people doing this, but there weren't all that many. This gave us the chance to learn a lot more about them and tell them all about us. I told them all about my efforts in the church worship band, the joys of our marriage, and plenty of other things along the 5k route. We finished the walk in just over an hour. In an amazing coincidence, Danny crossed the finish line at 1:05:30. Wow.

Jenelle and I stayed a little while for the after-party in the Hart Park building. We didn't win anything in the raffle, but we still had fun. We thanked Danny and D for the fellowship throughout the day, and D mentioned that he'd give a "shout out" to us on Monday morning. I didn't actually hear it, but I didn't need to. It was a wonderful experience to meet two brothers who both let their light shine before men (Matthew 5:16).

Next post: A recap of the AIDS Walk.