Ado & Osi: Diet Coke & Menthos

After the Freakin' Fabulous Forty-eight, I hit the road to St Louis. Well, actually a little town still in Illinois before you get to St Lou, and it was there that I met up with two more Wow buddies: Adomis (more recently known as Francais or "Frenchy") and Osideus (who's Osizzle character name I prefer because... well... I got to pick the name). IRL: Matt P. and Brennan S. Two of the craziest guys you could ever meet.

I picked up Matt at his house and we went to the GameStop where Brennan works. We talked "shop" <-- video games that is. We played games on the various kiosks. Actually, I watched them play as I'm primarily a Wow, Halo, and GhostRecon kindda gal. And then Matt and I went to the nearby Starbucks to hang out and chat... about serial killers... while Brennan had to work.

Once Brennan was off work, we followed him home to drop his car and then the three of us headed to Outback for a steak dinner and lots of laughs. I heard about college adventures and love life adventures... something about a girl who was liked first, but claimed by another, who didn't appreciate her, when dumped hooked up with the first though she'd been with a best friend, and now the radical decision to take a break in the whole love life scene. Who am I to judge? hehe

It's all so amusing as young people work through these things called relationships.

Next we went back by Brennan's and their friend Steve-O joined us. I found out he'd been in our guild as well for a short time, so here I was meeting guildie #10. Woohoo! We all piled in my car and decided we needed to do something 4th of July-ish, despite the rain.

We hit up a WalMart for Diet Coke & Menthos. Some guy walking through the store dropped bottle rockets, which we rescued for our own entertainment. Brennan later shot a couple of them off by sticking them in the zipper of his shorts. Talking about getting off. Okay, bad joke, but I couldn't resist. He burned a couple holes in his shirt. LoL!

We had to go to a couple stores to finally find both Diet Coke AND Menthos. Along the way, the guys hit the scratch off lottery machine... repeatedly... until they... umm... almost broke even. Then we found a vacant street in a new housing edition and created fireless fireworks.

Matt tried to put Menthos in the first bottle, but it spewed all over him before he could get the cap back on. It was a riot! Good thing it was raining so hard. Brennan demonstrated how it was done, by putting the Menthos in the cap and then slamming the cap on and shaking it up. Wait for it... wait for it...

It didn't explode. Matt picked it up and smashed it to the ground... still no explosion. Brennan picked it up and smashed it to the ground... still nothing. Steve-O & I stood laughing at both of them. Brennan tried again and successfully got covered in Diet Coke. Again... good thing for the pouring rain.

Back in my car they all sang for me, and I got some of it recorded on my iPhone. They fogged up all the windows with their heavy breathing and wet clothes. I took them all home, and after hugs & goodbyes, I once again hit the road. Good times!

Driving away... I missed them already.

Freakin' Fabulous Forty-Eight

The next morning, I awoke in the Galesburg Comfort Inn, and after getting ready, phoned the boys next door. And yes, I woke them up even though it was already 10am. I know! I know! All teenage guys sleep until afternoon as a rule. They started getting ready and Matt came over to my room soon after. We sat and talked more about the mysteries of God, and his plans, and the things Matt had learned at Bible Conference. It was so cool!

Then Tegan knocked on the door and said they were all finally ready to go. I treated them to breakfast at Perkins, cuz that's just what big sisters (I.C.) do, and at my insistence they ordered whatever they wanted. "Whatever?" Matt asked, "Can I have a chocolate milk?". I replied, "Of course!", to which he responded, "Can I have a LARGE chocolate milk????". I laughed. We both ordered a LARGE chocolate milk. Each of the guys then ordered this thing called the Tremendous Twelve ~ a breakfast consisting of 12 items across 3 plates each... eggs, pancakes, bacon, hash browns, sausage, and the list goes on.

I deemed it the "Freakin' Fabulous Forty-Eight!" and wondered if it would all get eaten.

What was I thinking? Of course it was all eaten... well, almost. With the exception of the pancakes, the food just disappeared. Then everyone added their pancakes to Brett's stack and challenged him with working his way through all that. He made the attempt, cutting through all those pancakes and stuffing a huge bite into his mouth. Dave on the other hand was taking dares to eat mouthfulls of whipped butter. Teenage boys... so weird, yet so adorable. Gotta love em.

I got this pic of Matt and Tegan, and of course Tegan told me I couldn't put it on Facebook or anything, but I'm gonna post it here where it will get limited viewership. I don't know why he's shy about it. They are both such cuties.



After breakfast we went outside and said our goodbyes. The visit had been tooooo short. Bummer! I gave/got hugs and kisses (on the cheek) and hit the road again. I'm so looking forward to spending eternity with that bunch. It will be fun, fun, fun!

Cornerstone Festival

The next group of guildies, I had the pleasure of meeting, required a road trip... a 13 hour road trip! I jumped in my little red eclipse Thursday evening, July 2nd, and headed north... and then north east. I arrived in the tiny town of Bushnell, Illinois the next day around 2pm. Bushnell is home to the yearly Cornerstone Festival, an all-week campout and multi-stage concert event featuring Christian artists from all over. And these guildies of mine had decided to make the trek south from Canada, so I trekked north to meet them.

I pulled into the campgrounds and texted Tegan. Standing near the entrance, I then spotted this handsome young man bounding across the dirt road in my direction. It was Praeclarus (known in real life as Matt "famous President last name" K.) He gave me a big hug, and introduced me to the stragglers who were walking up: Tegan (same character name in Wow: I love it!), Brett (Krogan), and Dave, who's only played Wow for like a day.

They were in between concerts and hungry, so they all piled into my car and I drove them to the nearby, only slightly bigger, town of Galesburg. They had been camping out all week, and had I known how nice the weather actually was this far north, I might have come earlier and camped out as well. Finding out Relient K and KJ-52 had performed on Wednesday night increased my realization that I should have been there.

Anyway, camping still has it's disadvantages, so I treated the boys to a hotel room, at my expense, where the 4 of them could get a nice hot shower (that didn't smell like water used to boil hotdogs) and a comfy bed for the night. I also bought them pizza for dinner. We sat around eating and talking. They told me about the festival adventures. Then I hit my own room for a nap and let them take one as well. I wondered how they would manage sharing double beds that looked too short for these tall Canadians. I would hear funny stories about it later.

We headed back to the festival in the evening, and despite being coaxed to hit 120mph, we were slightly late for the band Matt & Tegan had wanted most to see: youwithoutme. They bolted for the stage off in the distance, when we pulled in, and I went to buy a ticket. The guy at the entrance was really nice and let me buy a one day ticket, which was totally against policy.

I wandered through the campground, amazed at how large this event turned out to be... hundreds of tents in all directions. People of every size, shape, and color. And best of all, a place where you could feel totally safe knowing that most everyone here loves Jesus... lots! It was like a tiny slice of heaven.

I listened to a couple of bands and checked out the merch tent, and finally caught up to the guys after some mosh pit / dance party craziness. Then Matt and I went to see Anberlin in concert. It was a beautiful nite sitting out on the hillside of the natural ampitheater. Afterwards there was a fireworks show to which Matt responded "you crazy Americans". Lol! More to that story, but not enough space here.

We walked back talking about how good God is, and what He might possibly be wanting to do in Matt's life. He's had his struggles, but you can read more about that by just clicking on his blog which I follow, right here on this blog site.

We headed back to the hotel around midnight for some much needed sleep. As I was getting ready for bed in my room, the phone rang. It was the guys next door thanking me over and over again for the luxury of showers and soft beds, and Tegan and Matt saying "I love you. I love you." over and over again. I let them know I loved them as well... like the little brothers in Christ that they are to me. And I fell asleep praying for them... and all the many others who God and I talk about on a regular basis.

never knew a newfie

'Til now. Now I've met a Newfie in real life...
A Newfoundlander: Auggy.
Real life name: Chris T.

I had to go to Denver on a business trip in early June, and I'd heard in game (Wow) that Auggy was currently there, being mentored by an artist, as a part of his collegiate studies. So I got his phone number before I left, and when I arrived, I gave him a call and we arranged a meeting.

The company I was there to visit, Maverick, happened to be hosting dinner for all of the GameStop contingent at a very fancy restaurant, and they said I could invite Chris as well. My daughter was included in the dinner party too, and so we all got to hang out together on the company dime. I always love a good time where someone else picks up the tab... steak... seafood... and great conversation. The best part was just listening to Auggy's accent for the evening and hearing about his studies and future plans in life. Woohoo!

dynn does dallas

Not many weeks after my trip to florida, dynn came to visit me in texas... the first AfterLife guildie to come see me. His visit had a dual purpose; to hang out and to interview for a job at GameStop on my team. Dave C. has always impressed me with his knowledge of IT related nerdiness. He would fit right in to the Nerdvana that we've named our environment at work.

He stepped off the plane Friday morning and I picked him up and took him to work with me. We toured the warehouse and he interviewed with several on my team and the Vice President of our group. Everyone liked him, and had the economy not taken it's recent turn resulting in a freeze of all outstanding job requisitions, we'd be working together now, I'm sure.

The day before had been his birthday, so after work, we took him to his choice of restaurants: Pappadeaux. We enjoyed yummy cajun & creole seafood. Afterwards, we hung out at our place watching TV, enjoying Woodbridge Cabernet Sauvignon, Newcastle, and the Shiner Hefeweizen beer I'd bought just for Dave.

The next morning Dave & I went to Cracker Barrel for breakfast. We talked about life and love and the type of girl he's looking for. The thing I remember most is his comment about wanting a girl who would genuinely laugh at his jokes. Charming! =)

We went and checked out various apartments in the area, in the hopes that the job freeze will lift soon and he'll get to move to Texas. We even hit up one of the super ritzy places, outside of both of our price ranges, but got a bottle of Grapevine vinyard wine out of the deal. Unfortunately, it wasn't that good. =(

We got home around 3pm to find Marty cooking up his famous fajitas. After dinner, we headed to downtown Ft Worth where the Arts Festival was going on. It was tremendous. The streets were overflowing with booths full of art of every kind, and there were varous stages set up with jazz and blues filling the air. It was a beautiful evening. We'd intended to go to Hyena's Comedy club but got mixed up on the show times. Turned out it was more enjoyable out on the streets just wondering around and taking in the sights. We went to the Flying Saucer bar, but it was standing room only. We bought fresh squeezed lemonade and roasted corn on the cob from the street vendors and enjoyed several of the shows on stage.

It was really late when we left, but we made the trip all the way across the metroplex to let Dave get a look at the Dallas skyline at night and show him around the city a little.

The next morning at church, the message was about "Change" and it seemed to speak directly to Dave. Even if this change to come to GameStop doesn't go through, his life is definitely in motion. God is definitely at work, and it's awesome to watch. He went to youth group with us, and just as it was starting I got a call from Josh A. He was looking for a church to go to and wanted to know if Grace Lutheran would be a good place. It made me smile just to think he was going. I told him it sounded okay to me, and said a little prayer that God was in control of that situation. Told Dave about it and he smiled too.

After church we went to Pei Wei's with the teens and college students. Dave was impressed with our group of kids. Back at home, Mark, our son came over and we all watched "It's a Beautiful Life" together. Dave had never seen it. It's a powerful movie. Finally, we went to Speed Zone and hit up the Slick Track and Turbo Track. I love racing cars. Then I took Dave to the airport to catch his flight home. I sure hope we get to see each other again and hang out some more.

There's still a bottle of that Hefeweizen sittin' in my frig awaiting his return. Beer doesn't go bad does it?

and then there was OKI

After meeting with Shawn for lunch, I headed north from Ft Myers to Tampa, where I had the immense pleasure of getting to meet one of my two WOW best friends: OKI!! Dave B. has been dear to me since the first day I heard him talking in vent about his belief in God. Since that time, we've played alot together in the game and had even more times when we didn't do anything in game at all; rather stood around with our characters just running and jumping in circles while we just talked and joked and laughed.

Dave is funny, sensitive, thoughtful, and an extremely caring person. He's always looking out for his friends. And he gives the greatest of gifts. His main character Oki, was a warlock, and while I don't want to play a warlock for the spiritual implications, I do love the warlock mount: the horse with the firey hooves. Once when we were on this Kara run together, the first boss in the instance dropped the Firey Warhorse Reins, which is a horse very similar to the warlock mount. Oki won the roll for it, but gave it to me. It's goofy I know, but I love this thing. I still ride my Firey Warhorse around in the game all the time.

The only game item I've ever received that was better was when my son saved up alot in the game of Lineage II to buy me a crystal dagger. LOL! He gave it to me for my birthday. Didn't cost him any money, but the time and effort and thought that went into it meant alot to me.

Anyway, back to the Florida story. I went to Dave's house and he was there with Dynn (Dave C. in RL). I also got to meet the best dog in the world: Matty... Dave B's half golden retriever / half chow pup. Matty is the coolest of dogs... extremely playful, yet careful not to overwhelm you.

Dave and Dave and I went out to eat at this Shrooms place... pizza... not drugs! We hung out eating and talking and joking around. I'm blessed to have both of these guys as friends, and I would later get Dave C. to come out to Texas where he interviewed for a job at GameStop Corp, which is yet to come through.

I spent the night at Dave B's under the hospitality of his wonderful parents. The next morning we went to breakfast, where he told me about the things God is doing in his life... the book he's writing... the books he's reading... working with his dad. He'd quit the game at that point and started to focus on his health issues. I'm truly proud of him, and I know God is going to bless him and use him in many ways. I'm just happy to get to pray for him and watch as the adventure unfolds.

the quest for guildies

To really deal with this subject, i must back up several months... all the way to March. It's always great to go on a trip paid for by your company, and also get to have a little fun. In March, I found myself on a flight to Florida, for the purpose of checking out an AutoPacker system that Gamestop is interested in for the shipment of Internet orders.

I flew into Miami, but once business was done, I took my rental car and headed directly across the state to Ft Myers, to meet one of my favorite WOW guildies: Demise. He was my Hunter class leader for a long time, and taught me most of what I know as a hunter in the game. He's always been funny and easy going, and willing to help an almost total hunter noob. I should back up however, and state that it was truly Dynn, on his hunter Hroken, who got me started and pushed me to find out more about the game and the gear I needed, etc, etc. But it was Demise who taught me about shot rotations and how to maximize my DPS (damage per second).

Okay, I know... i know... i sound like a total nerd. I am. I admit it.

I once made up new lyrics to the song "Bells will be ringin', the sad sad news... oh what a Christmas, to have the blues..." I changed it to "Bells will be ringin', the sad sad news... oh what a guild run, to have the blues. My kitty's gone. I have no friends... cuz i've wiped my raid group, once again... (many more lines I won't post at this time) ... Friends and relations, send salutations... sayin' 'Surely you're addicted to this game.' But this is Warcraft, yes, Warcraft my dear... and all my friends here, are addicted, just the same..."

I met Demise at his GameStop store in Ft Myers. I'd helped him get a job at GameStop because he struck me as being such a good guy with a great work ethic... and he has been a great addition to our company. We had lunch at a Carribean style restaurant, sitting out on the patio enjoying the beautiful weather. We talked about the game and RL ("real life" for you non-gamers).

He shared his amazing story of mountain biking, taking a highly risky downhill (practically a cliff jump) trail, and ending up with a crushed wrist. He'd hiked 3 miles back out of the area, and I'm surprised he made it. But that's the kind of guy Demise, Shawn in RL, is. He's an adventurer, a risk taker, and yet also a sensitive, caring kind of guy.

It's for that very reason that I longed to share with him about the God who made him into such a thrill-seeker, but he shut me down pretty quickly saying he didn't want any of that "stuff" pushed on him. I didn't want to push, but I did wish he would have let me share. It didn't matter. It caused me to want to pray for him more passionately than ever, and I have been praying for him ever since that day we met.