highlights

the first of highlights...best game ever! http://www.facebook.com/video/video.php?v=331856854482&ref=mf

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bL6EhjaS4o8

today was a crazy snow day...i've never seen this much snow in my life. it was pretty but...honestly i could do without.

if you can dodge a wrench...

will sent me a msg on fb, with the following: hey - you wanna play dodgeball tomorrow? lemme know

to which i thought he was kidding...and then i was like...what are we, in 3rd grade?

oh boy, was i wrong - apparently "recreational" dodgeball is serious business. no joke. the red team showed up with a coach. A COACH. in a suit and tie, yelling at them from the side.

so it turns out that a few ppl from my church plus others have been playing zog for the last few years. team bibimballz was in the playoffs last night and needed an extra person since they had lost some people due to injury. particular a girl, since you have to have a minimum of 2 girls on the court at a time. and as will said..."it's fun - and you can catch"

well i must say - it was SO FUN. the funnest thing i've done since football season ended. overall it was a great way to meet people and i love just playing any sort of game or sport for competition...and despite my spectacular fall onto the bad hand that immediately made it turn kind of purple...eh.

so will got hit with the ball, but it ricocheted off of him, and i dove to catch it. i must say, it was a pretty cool catch - but unfortunately i landed on my hand in the process. =( as jj said when i told him later: "+1 for the catch, -1 for the fall. net: 0."

overall it was great fun, and we almost (ALMOST) won the whole thing. won 3 tied 1 in the playoffs. won 2 lost 2 in the finals. 2nd place overall. team dinner at ktown afterwards...made some new friends...got "recruited" as a "free agent" for the next season...definitely looking forward to it.

"you're an awesome player..."
"um, why? because i do what you tell me to do?"
"YES! um, i mean...you listen and you're coachable..."

and as an added bonus, i think all that sweating cleared up my sinuses and crossed the turning point in my cold recovery. bonus =)

sick and tired

my boss joked that i'm allergic to canada (or other cold places). i'm totally not faking it, i've been really sick both times, but it's quite uncanny that i become ill when we have business trips to cold places planned. whereas the one week i was completely healthy was when i went to vegas for open. huh.

but jj sent me some encouragements this week in my misery, which gave some hope in the haze of congestion.

Heal me, Oh Lord, and I will be healed;
Save me and I will be saved,
for you are the one I praise-- Jeremiah 17:14

"I will restore you to health and heal your wounds," declares the Lord,
"because you are called an outcast, Zion for whom no one cares." --Jeremiah 30:17

the closing date for the sale is set - finally. about 6 weeks later than it was supposed to be, but at least the end is near.

i really need to figure out this car situation. i realize i really dislike making big decisions when there isn't a clear answer. apples and oranges are really difficult for me (which is probably why i like algebra so much. you can only combine like items.) jesus, please just drop me a car from the sky. if it comes with a dude, that'd be great too. thanks.

vday redeemed, february happenings

well, us open came and went. i have to say, vegas lost my interest after a couple days. cirque was amazing (ka), though i get supremely annoyed at people who talk during performances. seriously guys - it's just not cool.

never get suckered into looking at timeshares. biggest waste of 3 hours in my life...lesson learned. nothing in life is free. well, except God's grace.

but i was rather pleased with our pairs performance (bronze). i'm thinking i might not do individual anymore...i'm just not that good at it and i don't think i have much chance of beating everyone. something to think about moving forwards, i guess.

valentine's day was surprisingly awesome. a normally dreaded holiday (singles awareness indeed) ... but not so bad this year.

my parents sent me flowers. they were F.O.A. frozen on arrival. but it was a nice thought.

and jj surprised me with a bag of candies...with gummies! man, that was so nice - i love gummy candy. totally redeemed my vday.

well, that and the homeless outreach. it was pretty encouraging that so many people from tlc came out to love the homeless on vday. it was pretty awesome to talk to this one homeless guy, and walk away and see him putting on the socks from our blessing bags. all this homeless outreach lately has really changed my perspective on how God sees the world. i think it's good for me.

it was a 1 john 4:19 kind of day...

conversations with kids...

snippets of conversation since i moved in:

issac: 1 + 1 is 2!

me: that's right! are you a smart boy?

issac: umm...YES!

me: that's good...because i like smart boys

issac: and i like strong eemohs!

* * * * * * * * * * * * *

on football:

sunny: man, those guys are so fast! i don't think i could ever run as fast as them!

sammy: i bet soyun eemoh can!

* * * * * * * * * * * * *

me: who loves you?

issac: soyun eemoh!

me: that's right...

* * * * * * * * * * * * *

despite the tantrums and squabbles that are inevitable in a house of kids...i love these guys. there's something about having a little face wake you up in the morning, or want you to kiss them goodnight.

this deathly ill business must stop soon...can't take it much longer...

encouragement

they passed the board interview, all is well, closing should be next week. oh thank God. one less thing to worry about.

it's been a little crazy lately (well, more than usual)...i was praying for j, who's getting hosed at work and feeling overwhelmed, and i thought to start another project (and we all know i like projects) to send him a verse each morning to encourage him. kind of like the daily verses and prayer requests i did last year for my small group...i wonder if they actually read them.

when i was looking up verses for discouragement and such, i realized...i really need to take my own advice. it's so easy to dole it out, but how many times this week have i had the clouds following me around and raining on my day as i felt flooded with anxiety about all the crap i had to do (and all the things i forgot?)

moving is no joke - the sheer logistics of it all is staggering. every day i'm on the phone, online, checking things off my list to shift my life along. and at the end of the day, i have to do it all over again in a few months. it's painful. i actually made myself sick - now i have some sort of sinus something and i'm generally congested and useless. (this did get me out of flying to buffalo tomorrow for work, though. hooray for people not wanting to fly in close quarters with the newly infected).

between the apt stuff, tlc stuff, tkd stuff...not to mention work and teaching...it's getting a little ridiculous. and i really ought not to get too excited and take on other things. (why did i volunteer to lead games at the retreat? and the mit tkd 10th anniversary hoopla is just getting me all excited about possibilities all over again). not to mention that i want to spend time with my nieces and nephew.

anyways. encouraging someone else is a good time to remember to encourage yourself. looking up scripture was actually kinda good for me.

i really hope people buy my furniture...and that i find a good car...


Zephaniah 3:17

17 The LORD your God is with you,
he is mighty to save.
He will take great delight in you,
he will quiet you with his love,
he will rejoice over you with singing."

wrinkle

so...the buyers for my current apt have great financials and everything seemed to be working out nicely. their co-op board interview is tonight, which is the final piece before we can set a closing date.

my broker called me this morning saying that we have a "wrinkle" and that the buyers were hedging on the apt because they didn't like the subletting policy (which they had ample time to read and consider from the get-go, and which can also be looped around as well). like seriously guys, you had all these documents, this is what your lawyer is for. this is way late in the game.

they've already signed the contract and put a deposit down, so it's legally binding - but there is a possibility that they can deliberately throw the interview tonight in the hopes of getting rejected by the board (thereby nullifying the contract).

my board is really nice/lenient, plus my buyers are a gay couple (i mean, no one ever turns down gay couples, for fear that they'll sue for discrimination), so they'd have to do something egregious to not get approved - but we're getting nervous that the sale won't go through.

but seriously?? i'm so exhausted from all the mental logistics of the moving and contracts that i can't even begin to make contingency plans. i started thinking about the worst case scenarios and the feasibility of carrying 2 mortgages and how much time i'd have to sell if we had to put it back on the market...etc etc etc.

the fact that i'm paying rent at unnee's while still carrying my mortgage, and what would happen if it fell through. would i ever get another buyer who offered the same price. all these months of time lost.

what is going on??

but in the middle of the stress, the song running through my head was "you alone"

you alone
can cover me;
jesus, savior
all i need;
you, my holy one,
my holy king

maybe this fast was good for something after all...

praying that everything sorts itself out...