A Very Busy Weekend

We had a very fun, but very busy long weekend.

We started by going on a date Friday night to the Melting Pot, where we enjoyed tasty fondue. Here are some pictures of us with the dogs afterward.

Erin asked me to add a little dialogue to this blog.... you know... for some spice. Melting Pot was quite the experience. The last time (and only other time) we went to a Melting Pot was when we were engaged. We went to the one in SLC which has a bit more going for it in the ambiance category... the Houston location is in a strip mall... and a strip mall in Houston is usually a good place to do any of the following: 1) Fine Dining, 2) Drug deals 3) Rob someones car 4) Obtain a limited time services contract between yourself and a purveyor of adult-themed companionship. With so much to offer in one location it's no wonder this restaurant is booming in it's current locale. Anyway - we had a great time at dinner. Our dining experience was enhanced by our waitress who kept asking bizarre questions skirting around the issue of whether or not we worked for Melting Pot on a corporate level.... I guess because we were sort of dressed up we looked intimidating....

On Saturday, we went to the Astros game with our friends the Matthews'. Here is a picture of us with Eli, who is so grown-up now and has decided that he's not very into smiling for pictures anymore. His favorite part of the game was the big train that was across from us at Minute Maid Park--he loves trains!

Interesting notes about these pictures provided by Jake: First off, Eli is a massive fan of trains, the clutching of thumbs, and tearing out his dad's arm hairs. I'm cool with all of those traits. Eli dispensed his energy by rotating who's lap he was sitting on. An interesting side note about the train pictured below: Houston's baseball stadium is called - Minute Maid Park - and the train is full of oranges..... of course these oranges aren't to scale... they're quite massive, and on several occasions first-timers to the park have asked me if they're pumpkins... which is a good segue to my next installment.
On Sunday, we went to Galveston with our friends David and Lori for the afternoon and enjoyed great seafood, the beach, and shopping along the Strand.

We hung out on the Strand with David and Lori... and because the temperature was approaching 368 deg (F) we were in desperate need of some cool refreshment. On the Strand there happens to be a local creamery with a large selection of ice creamy treats. We all had a scoop and I had pumpkin pie ice cream (note the smooth transition from pumpkins in the train to pumpkin pie ice cream.... and then allow yourself an appropriate length of time to marvel at my literary genius)

Finally on Monday, we helped host a baby shower for my classmate & neighbor. Below is the quilt I made for the baby, Aidan.

I don't really have any snarky comments to insert here because I've already outed myself in a previous post concerning my love-hate relationship with fabric stores..... plus Erin's sewing affinity is cute and her blankets are comfy.

Home Away From Home

Here's the lovely call room where, if I were lucky, I got to spend a few hours every 4th night this past 4 weeks during my Pediatrics Sub-Internship. It was good times...so much to look forward to during residency! Actually though, it wasn't that bad and rather fulfilling as a medical student to make a larger contribution to the team. And I have funny stories...related to not knowing if a mariner is a true mariner unless he is tested in difficult waters...that are probably only funny to other medical students...so I will leave them out.

On a side note, I have the whole month of June off, and Jake is more or less out of vacation, so he can't really venture outside of Texas this time...and for some reason he does not appreciate me spending all of my vacation away from him :) So if anyone who happens to read this blog is interested in coming to visit us...please come, we would love to have you! We have a guest suite waiting for you in our house...

It's late....

It's officially Sunday morning. Erin and I were privileged to attend a gala this evening at the downtown Hilton to benefit the House of Tiny Treasures. House of Tiny Treasures is an accredited private school for homeless children run by SEARCH (www.searchproject.org). The theme of the Gala was: Bikers and Babes.

In case you were wondering- Harleys aren't really our thing - but it's a great cause and an excellent organization. A lot of the folks I know on staff there have amazing stories of being brought out of homelessness through the efforts of SEARCH. Anyway - the reason I'm up right now....

Erin has to work in the morning and I have to disassemble our elliptical so we can return it to Costco after church. When we got the elliptical at the end of last year it took me and 4 of my neighbors (who all play football at Rice) to lift the thing upstairs. When we get the replacement... it's going in our room downstairs...

Because it's late and Erin really needs to sleep - I'm trying to kill a little bit of time so I don't wake her up when I go downstairs. My Mom always compares my Dad to 'a bull in a china shop' when he gets up in the morning..... a trait which I've inherited.

So it's random post time:

First off:
According the: http://www.cnn.com/2008/US/05/10/baby.names.ap.ap/index.html
Jacob is the top baby boy name for 2007! I'm flattered. What I found disturbing about this article is that for girls, the 31st most popular name is: Nevaeh - which is 'heaven' spelled backwards. When did that become a trend? Seriously... as a society we've achieved an all-time creative low when it's come to spelling things backwards to come up with new names. I suppose in five years time 'Bocaj' will be the new most popular name for baby boys.....

Random Follow Up:
Before Erin and I got married - she made a bizarre request of me (by which I mean demand)... and when you're engaged you do all sorts of ridiculous things that you would never fathom doing in your right state of mind - things that would ordinarily violate the code of ethics by which all men abide (like a shared commitment to persist in making immature jokes, breaking wind whenever possible, and growing lots of body hair). But of course I was in an altered state of mind... somewhere between the bended knee emotional high and the mind numbing trauma of being asked to have a serious opinion about things like registering for tupperware there exists a mental malaise in which a man will acquiesce to any request simply because he's no longer paying attention. I found myself in such a state when Erin made this request of me:

She wanted me to get my eyebrows waxed.

Dudes and waxing don't normally go together unless you're speaking of cars.... but I went.... tail tucked between by legs, to do this deed. We went to some joint that does nails too.... I get nauseous when I walk into those places but I think after a couple of minutes the smell numbs the nerve endings in your outer extremities which I suppose is a good thing for what was about to take place......

Anyway - here's the thing. Once my own fashion statement which linked me to most of Eastern Europe was plucked from my forehead - a light shined... and now I'm a plucking addict. I can't stop plucking my eyebrows... if I have to go a week w/o doing it I freak out. Marriage changes people. I watch Gilmore Girls basically every day of my life... and I pluck my eyebrows. I even spent a portion of my day today at Joann's crafts helping Erin pick out fabric to make blankets with. Crossing the threshhold of Joann's is like crossing the picket line to break the strike. Every man you see in a craft store may have a smile on his face, but on the inside he yearns for something apocalyptic to happen that will free him from the torments of trinkets and fake plants yearning for the attention of his once sane wife who becomes transfixed on 'making things' whenever one gets within 5 miles of a craft store. If craft stores would just put a 17 in. B&W tv in the back with ESPN and a mini-fridge I could chill at the craft store all day....the whole area would be like a national man refuge and upon crossing into it's presence all men would be free of questions about matching thread with fabric for a period of 10 min or until the Top 10 highlights play in their entirety (whichever comes first). I think that would go a long way to restoring my own personal dignity.

However... there is no TV at Joann's and because I've been dragged in there so many times with Erin.... I sort of like it. I know right where the snuggle fabric is - I know the patterns she likes and it's fun when she finds something she likes and gets all excited.

So here I am.... 45 min or so have passed since I started this communique.... and I think it's safe to head downstairs and get some rest so tomorrow when Erin gets off work we can swing by a craft store... maybe check out Target for some picture frames... and head home for some Gilmore Girls..... hopefully I can steal away some time tomorrow to pluck my eyebrows.

-Ekaj

1 Corinthians 15:50-58

I got to preach this Sunday on the last 8 verses of 1 Corinthians 15. The last time I tried to invite co-workers to hear me speak at church my text was Jonah in the belly of the whale.... this weekend... the resurrection.

Random Aside:

For a phenomenal read on hard to answer questions about God (like: Why is there so much suffering and evil, what's up with miracles... etc.) I highly recommend Tim Keller's: The Reason for God: Belief in an Age of Skepticism. The book is written primarily for intellectual skeptics - the arguments mix the philosophical with the practical and I found it incredibly engaging..... plus I have a theological man crush on Tim Keller... but seriously folks... buy the book today. In fact - if your interested and can't find the cash I'll buy the book for you.

Random Aside Completed.

Anyway - I doubt that the message will ever make it's way to the internet. About 5 minutes in I noticed some people waving at me from the back.... my lapel mic wasn't on. I reached into my back pocket and flipped the switch.... still nothing. I didn't want to mess with it so I just tried to project and press on. Afterwards I discovered that the chord came unplugged when I put the battery pack (which was on) in my pocket.... weak.

So no audio - which is unfortunate because I'm pretty sure I uttered the phrase 'Holy Ghost grenades' and nothing edifies the soul quite like that.

Should some audio surface it shall be located here:

http://www.kaleohouston.com/podcast

I'm preaching the middle two weeks of June on Gal. 3 so hopefully I'll have all my plugging issues in order. Until then dear listener I leave you with this picture to meditate on:

Cardboard

Who knew cardboard could be so much fun?

It provides entertainment for the dogs and, as an added bonus,

when they're done, it all fits into the trash much more easily...

Occasionally they like each other enough to lay next to each other...but seeing how Battlecat is a big fan of her personal space, it's very occasionally....

Sticks & Snoop

One of my classmates got a new beagle puppy, Snoop. We've all been going to the dog park together for a few weeks now so Snoop can become accustomed to other dogs and so all the dogs can run their energy out.

Snoop is very cute and still quite little...but each week he becomes a little braver in interacting with Kelsey & Battlecat. He so far has found Kelsey's long wagging tail quite interesting, and will sneak up behind her...but if she moves at all, he turns and dashes away, usually to under the bench where his mom and I are sitting. This week as you can see he became more playful and quite brave as he came right up to both dogs!

And of course there are always great sticks for everyone's chewing pleasure at the dog park.