Baby... Baby Ruth

Sitting at Red, Hot, and Blue last Sunday, beside Austin Felton, my favorite young person from our church youth group, I overheard a young girl say to her dad as they were walking past our booth...

"You could drop a couple of Baby Ruths in the lake today..."

Austin and I snapped our heads toward each other, eyes big, huge grins suppressing laughter until the father and daughter, were out of earshot...

One second, two seconds...

We sensed they were almost out the door and we nearly spewed food on each other as we burst into riotous laughs, which spawned tears, and hands smacking the table, and cramps in my side. Ohhhh my!

The little girl, looking up at her dad with inquiring eyes, couldn't have been more than eleven. Only your typical uncouth guy would use the phrase for it's metaphorical meaning, so she must have been wanting dad to pull the practical joke made famous by Bill Murray in the Caddyshack pool scene.

Nonetheless, the randomness of the statement during lunch in a crowded restaurant was hilarious on so many levels. And the mutual reaction Austin and I shared being on the same wavelength just added to the outrageousness. Another one of those priceless moments when so much is said...

without words.

Goldie's Last Day

Actually, it was my last day in Canada, but Sharayah's been house/dog sitting for a golden retriever by that name, which reminded me of the PFR song "Goldie's Last Day". It wasn't that I'd thought of the dog dying, but rather it was a combo of the dog's name and our discussion of the demise of a certain "Quest for the Holy Grail" killer rabbit that brought the song to mind.

I woke up Sunday morning for my last day in Canada. Josh and I got ready for church and he was sportin' the GQ style that makes me think of "Mr. Bailey's Daughter" by Bryan Duncan. Songs help define so much in our lives, huh?

I dropped off the rental car and we headed to the church. Bummer! The service time had changed from 11am to 10am, catching Josh unaware. We'd just missed it. Sadness. We went to Starbucks instead, and then stopped to pick up a movie.

I'd told Josh about "Elizabeth, the Golden Age" back when I'd first seen it and told him about how she was one of my heros. He was up for watching it with me. I love the scene where she's doing the Braveheart thing on her white horse in front of all her troops on the cliff. She's willing to die with them. I also love the way God intervenes to destroy the entire Spanish armada and blesses her with a reign of great peace.

After the movie we rounded up Chris and hit an asian buffet. They were just putting out dinner. Shrimp and crab legs ~ yum! Josh was off getting food at one point when Chris and I had this conversation that included a comment about his use of recreational drugs. He read the concern in my face, which mirrored the many discussions we've had in game on this subject. He said "I know" in his usual manner... low & slow... reflecting an understanding of the depth of my concern.

He knew what I meant. I knew what he meant. I love these conversations where so much is said without words. I love Chris very much. I hope his buried love for Jesus will resurface and light up his life in such a way that the AL celebration IRL someday will be more meaningful for him.

Back at the house, the three of us watched multiple episodes of "How I Met Your Mother", and Nate even joined us. I searched the web for a hotel by the airport b/c I didn't want to make Josh drive there at 4:30am, so I could catch my ridiculously early flight. Then we watched True Blood, a show that troubled my soul. I prayed alot, sensing a level of spiritual warfare I'd not felt in a long time, probably due mostly to my moving away from God in recent years. I wanted to talk to Josh about it as he drove me to the hotel, but couldn't find the words.

When we dropped Chris at home I gave him a big hug and told him I loved him. Same for Josh when we reached my hotel. I love him like a son? a brother? a very special friend... in Christ... forever... =)

the elusive fizzie

sat the 25th of july... shannon and i woke up in edmonton around 10am or so after that late night of talking. we met up with the guys at calith's house and we caravan'd to the other side of town to try to uncover the whereabouts of our most elusive guild member fizzie. he's never posted a pic on the website... he's a self proclaimed "loner" who's only friends are in the game of wow... and he's my raid leader.

he's a fantastic raid leader when he's not under the influence of some hardcore, rude, tactless jerk... when he's more focused on everyone having fun and progressing rather than just pure progression at the expensive of people's feelings. he's once again lost that focus recently, and so it is with mixed feelings that i write this post.

he'd said we could come to his house as long as we asked for him by his game name, and i was all set to do just that.

/knock... wait for it... no answer
/knock again... more waiting... silence
/ring doorbell... nothing... start to walk away

suddenly the door opens and it's his older brother justin. i ask "is FIZZIE here?!?!" to which justin replies without hesitation, "sure! just a minute" and recloses the door. everyone gathers near the porch. out comes fizzie and his twin brother tyranthius (adam v.).

what a moment! finally meeting the guy behind the voice. his mom came out and he introduced us "guildies" with "see mom, i have friends!" his mom couldn't believe that this bunch played an online game.

we convinced ty to come along as well and we all went to calith's for a bbq. calith cooked up some great burgers & dogs. we all sat around in the shade talking about the game and life and whatever else came up. good times!

melissa & sarah, the non-guildies, came over and got a water fight started... between the hose, a bucket, and a few waterguns, everyone got soaked. everyone but me that is. i think the "mom' image helped, though they didn't realize i really wouldn't have minded gettting all wet. shannon got me from like the waist down, but they were nice enough not to go after my white shirt.

after that we went to the movie theater where connor works and he got us all in for free to see... what? what? not again? oh yes, again... transformers 2. well, a few went off to see hangover, but i wasn't up for a repeat of that one. after that it was mid evening, so josh, shannon & i headed back to calgary.

josh slept on the backseat and shannon & i had an intense conversation about life and beliefs... and oh how i hope she finds that last little bit she needs to cement her faith in Jesus. =) i'm sure praying for her... and her mom.

Fury, Calith & Bambooooooooochu

Friday morning Josh and I headed to Edmonton. We rented an SUV since his car's clutch was going out, and picked up Shannon, in hopes that the trip would provide her a quick recovery from her... uhhh... sickness ;)

We drove along talking non-stop, such that the 3 hour drive was over in what seemed minutes. It was on the road that I got my favorite pic of Whitewolf. And I must set this up...

Whitewolf is this self-proclaimed "gangsta". He's a tough guy that people don't mess with, and it took alot of effort to craft this image (based on how he describes himself in his middle school years).

As a result, he doesn't smile much for pictures. He tends to have this serious look. But when I met Whitewolf in real life, I discovered something...

something many probably don't realize he possesses...

wait for it...

wait for it...

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ DIMPLES!

OH... MY... JOSH! He's got this gorgeous smile and dimples! No wonder the girls fall for him so quickly. He's got a grin that would melt butter.


And there I've gone and done it! Quite possibly ruined his image for life, if many of our guildies discover this blog post. All I can say is, "I'm sorry Josh! I couldn't resist!!!"


Anywho... we arrived in Edmonton and met up with Furyian (Dylan), Calith (Jordan), and Bamboochu (Connor). Guildies galore!



We all went to the biggest mall in Canada, where Dylan played tour guide, giving us all the fun facts. We went to dinner at Earl's in the mall, and enjoyed steak and seafood. Next we hit up the indoor amusement park and rode the rollercoaster. Shannon and I screamed and laughed as we looped upside down three times. It was a blast!

Next we went to a big carnival that was in town, called Cap X. Josh was walking along in top gangsta, body guard form. He'd gotten into a fight at the Stampede in Calgary a couple weekends ago, when some drunk guys just started picking on a nerdy guy. He took the bullies down before being taken down himself by a cop. This is why he's one of my heros... because he stands up for the little guy.

We met Melissa and Sarah, two other friends in the Edmonton circle. We hung out listening to some country & western band... why? i don't really know. Not like anyone in this group particularly likes C&W. We took pics of each other and watched the fireworks show.

As we walked back through the ghetto 'hood to where we'd parked our cars, Shannon told Connor (the young one in the group at only 16) that she sure hoped he had a gun. He was like "Nope! Only my wallet & cell phone." The sound of his prepubescent voice rang out down the vacant street lined by crackerbox houses all darkened at this post-bedtime hour. It must have struck him as alarming, because he suddenly spouted, "Wait! I don't have anything. No wallet, no cell phone, no clothes even." To which Shannon responded, "Are you naked?" "Nope," said Connor, "just walking along in my underwear... nothing to see here."

What a cute kid! And he always makes me laugh =D

Shannon and I went to our hotel for the night and the guys dispersed. We had a great "girls' night", solving all of the guild's problems and analyzing the drama surrounding such characters as Beatific and Eldonnia. Who knew two grown females could have so much to say about an mmorpg???

Moxie

It's something I would say Josh has alot of, but it also happens to be the name of the restaurant we attended my third night in Calgary. I've often drawn the parallel between Josh and Joshua of the Bible because of his moxie, and because the theme of Justice runs through his life.

Our Moxie's experience was made up of Josh, Mikey (spell check!), Chris, and yet a new guildie to add to my list: Kayleria (Shannon). We enjoyed dinner and conversation and especially that blueberry dessert thing we all shared at the end. It was amazing!

This followed a day of working hard in the yard. Yes, it seems Josh's parents took advantage of his planned days off and ordered a couple of pallets of sod that had to be put down right away. I helped do the weeding and the raking of the dirt. Josh's brother came over to lead the effort. And I had the pleasure of meeting yet another guildie when Garon (Grant) joined us. He's such a nice guy. We've always had fun in game together. I think the first time we met was while dancing on tables in Booty Bay, one of my all time favorite places, if only because of the name.

After Moxie's we went to the mall where I was to be introduced to 5-pin bowling. Alas, the lanes were closing. We went to the movies instead and saw Transformers 2. We worked on getting Talcan, Eagleam, and Kayleria to agree to join us on our excursion the next day to Edmonton.

Talcan already had the day off, but was finding excuses in something about taking apart an Audi. Eagleam was tempted. But it was Kayleria who went all in... devising a plan to call in sick in order to make the escape. Hmmm... I hope no one from her work ever reads this. At least I hope no one from her work who hasn't called in sick when not really sick ever reads this.

Hey Mikey!

Is it Mikie (Josh's spelling) or Mikey (my spelling)? This day would not yield the answer. Mostly because I forgot to ask.

We got up and hit the gym, and then I got a tour of Stewart and Stevenson, the place Josh works. I met Sugtor/Rotgus (Ryan), Mandrollen (Ibrahim), and Ooglie (forgot RL name). Next we went to see Eagleam (Mikey!!) He's one of my favorite Wow personalities. He joined us to go to the movies where we watched Hangover. Crazy!

After the movie we headed home and Josh got into a wow raid. I had a bad headache... maybe just the thought of a hangover? So I took a nap. Got online later and checked on how my raid group was doing. I couldn't really raid anyway b/c Nate's computer wasn't set up to my profile.

Speaking of Nate, I got to meet yet another guildie: NateDAWG!!!! He's Josh's co-houseowner. We hung out in the kitchen talking Wow and eatin' pizza. Then I had a "hunter" talk with Minesweeper in game.

Later we watched The Indescribable Tour video and talked about Amazing God and His Amazing Creation. It's the deepest desire of my heart for these friends of mine to come to love Him even far more than I do. <3!

Oh Canada!!

Wrapping up these guildie meeting adventures was a trip to Canada. Marty was off to Comicon in San Diego, so I headed to the Great White North, primarily to meet my all time favorite GM (guild master for you non-wow folks) and one of my best friends: Whitewolf (aka Josh A.)

Talcan (Chris R.) and WW came to pick me up at the airport. Chris was playing the TFK CD I'd sent him, and that was a nice welcome. I shared the experience I'd had when the girl at Immigration asked...

Are you here for business or pleasure? pleasure.
Are you meeting anyone here? Yes.
How do you know them? (hesitation) Umm... I play online video games with them?
(Raised eyebrow)
Have you ever met them before in real life? (at this point I lied) Yes

She gave me a look that said "I should put you on a plane back to the states right now!" LoL

But when it comes to knowing people, there aren't alot of people I know better than Josh. We've been playing Wow together for 2-1/2 years and we talk almost every day. He's a sweetheart and a hero of mine. I love how he stands up for people and befriends everyone. He has natural leadership ability, and he knows how to get people who are very different to work together for the common... fun! In WoW that is.

In real life he strikes me as a sharp guy who knows his job and does it well. Despite multiple layoffs of hundreds of people at his company, he's still there. They know the value of this young man who is wise beyond his years, despite not having the advantage of a college education... yet. (I'm still hopeful he'll go for it one of these days.)

He's also the type who is really good to his girlfriend, despite the lifestyle of the group he hangs around with which can be quite the opposite. It's just too bad none of these girls have yet realized the treasure they had enough to stick with him. I imagine that's okay though, because I bet God has someone in store for him who will rock his socks off... once he gets a firm grasp on the ultimate love himself.

I also know Chris pretty well, though I've not had as many "life" conversations with Chris as with Josh. Chris was more shy than I expected, but just as adorable as ever. I just wanted to hug him... again. And I had a good excuse for it, b/c Kalukhata (Donn) had specifically told me in game to give Talcan a hug from him. =)

We went to Josh's house and Chris had to go. Josh gave me the grand tour and his house is really nice. We sat out on the balcony enjoying the cool night breeze and chatting. We watched some "How I Met Your Mother" episodes from season 1, and then went to sleep. Josh graciously insisted I take his room and he slept on the couch.

I went to bed hardly believing I was actually in Canada. I'd been thinking about visiting this bunch for well over a year now.

Oh! I almost forgot. I also got to meet Jynx and Boo... Josh's kitties... a couple of truly cool kats!! ;-)