Author: Wick

Vacation pretty much rocks.

Let me start at the beginning. Last week, Sarah/Addie/I left wednesday night, to begin a week long trek to Virginia for my brother Larry’s wedding. I was doing the wedding, and Sarah/Addie were both in the wedding (Addie was THE cutest flower girl EVER). Traveling with a baby for the first time, I realized my OCD was not my favorite aspect of myself. STRESS was the word for the week.

So yeah…we prepared for…celebrated…and the wedding happened. It’s the first wedding I’ve ever done, and actually went well from what I can remember. Finally, we celebrated post-wedding, saw them off…and breathed a heavy sigh of relief.

I get like one vacation each year, so we decided to use being on the East coast to our advantage (thanks Larry). Through the generosity of family, we drove up the coast to Long Island, NY where we’ll be staying the rest of this week before flying back thursday.

Last night was truly a “vacation night”…and was good for our souls. We walked the beach looking at shells and other things that had washed up, went over to a local seafood place where we sat outside and cracked fresh crab legs…then went to a local ice cream shop where you could tell them pretty much how to make you the perfect sundae, and they did it. Came home, finally saw the LOST-Season Finale (HOLY COW!)…and went to bed actually before it became the next day.

Slept in this morning until Addison wanted me to play at about 7:30…and am thanking God. This is good for us. My wife has deserved a vacation for a long time…and I’m actually being refreshed too. 🙂

Today we’re heading to the BIG APPLE! I’m thinking this might not be the best time to be reading a book about our consumeristic culture, and how our faith MUST affect our economic involvement. We’ll see how this goes….

And so the Detroit Redwings have been knocked out of the playoffs, as the Anaheim Ducks advance to play the Ottawa Senators starting Monday for the Stanley Cup.

I selected this picture for a couple reasons. First is number 22, Brett Lebda. A recent addition to the Wings, but has everything it would take to become the next Lidstrom or Yzerman even. A defensive player with a thirst for getting the puck to the net, but who will sacrifice everything of himself to help out his own goalie.

Secondly, for number 39, Dominik Hasek. Wow. The Dominator. My “hat” is off to that man. He would get so bored, that he’d come out hunting for the puck. Sprawling on the ice in the butterfly or “snowman” positions, and wearing the helmet only someone who has played for 20 years would dare to wear. He retired in 2002 after winning the Stanley Cup with the Wings in 2001 Season…then returned for another short stint with them that didn’t go well, played for Ottawa for a year, and came back this year. He’s 42 years old, and one of the BEST goalies in the league. But he was on a 1 year contract for $750,000. He’s going to take the next few weeks to decide whether he wants to accept the Redwings offer for another year or not. I hope he does…obviously.

But with Yzerman gone already, Hasek and Chelios already in their mid-40’s…the Wings are becoming a new team. Not the one I grew up watching, but at the same time, they are. The longevity of these older players have allowed them to pass on certain philosophies and styles of hockey that the younger teams in the NHL would never be able to develop or train with. This team will always be my team.

We had a great year. We played a very competitive and physical game that we haven’t been capable of in 5 years at least. We conquered 28 of the 30 teams in the NHL, and can lift our heads high…We are STILL the Detroit Redwings…

Okay…so the Wings are currently down in the series 3 games to 2. If they lose tuesday night it’s over. But if they win Tuesday night, we go to our first GAME SEVEN of the year!!! WHOO HOO. THAT would be some unbelievable hockey, no matter who wins. Hopefully it happens.

Life’s been a rush lately. Not so much comparable to trying to swallow a deluge coming over a waterfall, but more like rolling the window down on an open country road and sticking your head out to enjoy the wind. Maybe catching a bug or two in your mouth along the way, but overall a very positive experience.

And it looks like the window will be open for a while longer…Wednesday night we leave for a week, which will include visiting my room-mate from college (Scot Kraemer, click the link on the right)…doing my brothers’ wedding in Virginia…and a few vacation days up in New York City! Hoping to check out the Jacques Torres Chocolate Shop….that’s pretty much my only goal in NYC. I’ve been there once before with the BURPO brothers …but Sarah’s never been. Hopefully I’ll have some sort of internet access while out of state…we’ll see.

I’ve begun reading “Religious Literacy- What Every American Needs to Know, and Doesn’t”. Parts of it are a bit shocking, but then again, I’m more ignorant than I realized also. This book NEEDS to change the life of it’s reader. I like books like that. Probably why I’m also a big fan of La Biblia Santa also.