"Our last days of silence, screaming, blur"

Today was my 6th funeral attended. Not too many for a child of 23. My sister's mother-in-law passed away last week. She lived about 30 min. north of us where Chris (my brother-in-law) is from.

So the Spires have stayed with us all week, which makes for a crowded house. But I'm glad we can be helpful to them.

But the funeral attended, was more just the funeral listened to, as Lisa and I were on Noel duty. Noel said about 30 seconds into the funeral that "She didn't want to be scared." She then started talking too loudly so we took her out and listened from the nursery through the rest of the funeral.

My parent's were in for a day as they brought Noel up who had been left at home before that. Anyhow, that's the news from Novi where the "women are strong, the men are good looking and the children are above average." Time to say goodnight for awhile...

Last movie watched: The Score (fell asleep half way through)
Last song listened to: Let Go - Frou Frou
Last TV show watched: Entourage
Last sporting event: Colts victory fast forwarded through on DVR
Last time I jumped on the bed: Monday with my niece to be repeated tonight

"Our work makes pretty little homes"

My work recently has been very interesting/exciting. I've been very happy to have had some different types of work including some with an Indianapolis client. Also, I'm working for different project managers, which is good and hung out with a few co-workers tonight. Not to mention free Redwings tickets for Rogers and me when a client backed out last night.

It's starting to feel at home. I'm starting to be more open and likely to go chat with people--I'm a bit hesitant as I'm very low man on the totem pool with people that have been consulting for years, not to mention that I don't know much about their various lines of work. That being said, I'm starting to come out of my shell a bit, I think.

My sister and Chris have been here nearly all week as his mother passed away yesterday. Chris grew up in Metro Detroit, so they've been staying at our house during this ordeal. Baby Noel will come be brought back up by my folks on Saturday. I suspect I'll write a lot about death one day. But not today.

"Born and raised in south Detroit"

Just a few quick points:

• Last weekend in Anderson was nice
• My sister and her family have been visiting because her mother-in-law is on what may become her death bed
• Lisa and I went to our first hockey game ever tonight...and first time in Detroit at night --- a good time was had by all
• When Jon Ross says "Mason" on the phone it sounds a lot like "Nathan," causing confusion for Rogers and I on whose mother was sick

"Smile like you mean it"

A Poem for Squatch Palmer written by one of his students...

You changed my life
By: [Identity Protection]
For Mr. Palmer

What I learned from you
Will be with me
For the rest of my life
What made me see?
You are the one
That helped me
And I can't thank you enough
For helping me
Mr. Palmer with that gentle touch
You're the greatest
What is there to say?
Other than I will miss you
You'll always be on my mind
No matter what the situation
You changed my life
For that I am grateful
Didn't look at my braces
Didn't look at what I couldn't do
You just helped me through
It didn't matter to you
Because you saw me and not my impurities
With a smile on your face
That made me feel like I had a place
In life

"Too scared to know"

Well I finished the book For One More Day, and I must admit that I'm a bit disappointed. It's no The Five People You Meet in Heaven. While there were a few spots here and there that nearly brought a tear to my eye, overall it wasn't too special.

Yes, I basically admitted that the book nearly made me cry. You see, I'm not afraid to admit that I'm a sensy, "it's short for sensitive guy. Our music is acoustic alternative. We marvel at fireflies. And when we help a drunk girl home from the bar, sure we cop a feel --- a feel of her hair as we're pulling it back so she doesn’t get any vomit in it."

Lisa's Birthday begins in 25 hours, which is quite exciting. We've already eaten over half of her Rosenberg-Tradition Dairy Queen Ice-Cream Cake (Add caramel? Yes, please!), but that won't stop us from living it up come October 18. In the meantime, I'm hoping her present arrives, as it was ordered on October 6, but has not yet arrived. She knows already, so if you're reading this thinking, "Oh no, Lisa's going to find out that her present hasn't arrived yet," be not alarmed, for she has already. Found out that is. Because I told her.

That little girl's going to be 23 years old. And that puppy's been replaced with Grace Rosenberg.

"I promised I would write"

Just a quick note to say, "Hello..." and I guess then I have to add "is it me you're looking for..." - Lionel Richie

It was indeed a lazy weekend in Novi. I had a good nap today. I had some good food the last couple of days. I went to church and actually talked to some people for the first time on a Sunday at church. And those people were people from our small (very small) group.

Last song I listened to: All the World Tonight - Graham Colton Band
Last show I watched: Flavor of Love 2 (I'm not proud of that, but it's true)
Last meal: Lisa's doctored oven-baked pizza
Last drink: Lots of water
Last night: I dreamed about work stuff -- I dream about work a lot.
Last movie watched: House of Wax -- and it was still good
Last CD I bought -- Elliott
Last restaurant visited -- Chili's

That guy on the right is a good Father. The guy on the left never panned out as a Knight.

"Shoulders high in the room"

My visit to the Windy City was an excellent time full of good training, food, company and (surprisingly) a couple of hours with better-man Joshua D. Campbell.

It was nice to travel and have the company pay the bills. My plane was delayed coming back, so I ended up getting home around 9, when I was expecting to arrive at like 6. Booo...

I also learned that I could take a train to Chicago for $30 or so. Which would be a good deal as it costs about $40 to park a car in Chicago over night. Might be a good way to hop over there for a weekend with my lady-friend.

Also, it's important to note that it's my lady-friend's birthday this week. Yahooo!!!!

I also found out that the makers of Age of Empires are making a game called Halo Wars. Looks pretty cool: http://halowars.com/.

I'm currently:
Reading: For One More Day by Mitch Albom
Listening to: I Feel Fine...the IRS Years (as seen on TV) by R.E.M.
Watching: Arrested Development
Jealous of: My family in Disney World
Hoping to: Have a relaxing rest of the weekend and finish my work tomorrow in an hour or two.
Ready for: a night out with Rogers

"Talk about the passion"

Well there's lots of news, but little time to provide it.

First, all of the rumors are true, four friends visited Novi last week for some super-fun in Michigan including (but not limited to) visits to Detroit, Ann Arbor, Novi, Northville, Royal Oak and the Detroit Zoo.

• Philip gets the funny Phil award -- he was up to his usual antics at causing havoc on the streets and scaring innocent bystanders.
• Wilbe gets the "I'm up for absolutely anything" award -- this guy would have done anything and had fun. He was all smiles all the time.
• Andrea gets the self-explanatory coffee award -- she taught me how to make my own, but I taught her how to make it taste better with lots of creamer.
• Shannon gets the photography award -- see those pictures in her album on Facebook? What about the ones on xanga.com/ashesoftruth? Shannon took most of those and they are great.
• Lisa ties for the co-host of the weekend award and the snoring in the movie theatre award -- both self-explanatory, but to be fare we did keep her out until well after 2 a.m. at The Departed, a movie that I enjoyed very much.

Now I'm in Chicago for a conference and headed to bed. My second business trip (if you count my trip to Toronto last spring). Should be a good couple of days. And one of the best parts is Co-Better Man Josh is in Chicago too, so we will hang out tomorrow night if all goes as planned. See y'all soon. For the record we will be in town the weekend of the 20th. Parliament? Scary movies? Will you be home that weekend? I hope so.

"Standing in the ashes"

Favorite's Among the Series:

Back to the Future: Back to the Future part I

Matrix: Matrix I (although I liked the others there was just too much effort -- the first one was unbelievable the first time)

Indiana Jones: The Last Crusade: I wouldn't argue that it's the best, but it's my favorite.

Star Wars: I need to see Episode III again as I've only seen it once (and at the time, thought it might be the best) and to be fair, this has changed several times. Last time I watched them all (last year), I believe I lined up with fans around the world and went with The Empire Strikes Back

Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King -- from the opening sequence with Smeagol's finding of the ring it blew me away.

Kill Bill: Although they're really just one movie (and will be once -- apparently Miramax and the Weinsteins figure out who has the rights to it), I liked Volume II better.

House of Wax: It stands alone. And it's Halloween Season so everyone get your copy out and ready to watch...Come on, I know I'm not the only one who owns this movie...right?

"An old friend I know"

My Uncle Donald Wayne Rosenberg died in his twenties. He was in a car accident and was killed. He had recently returned from Vietnam at the time, where he had served two tours. No one really had much time to talk to him about his experiences after his return as it wasn't long before he died.

My Dad, who was several years younger than Don Wayne said that for weeks it felt as though someone had just punched him in the stomache. That was the resulting feeling of the tragic death of his older brother.

Don had signed his name in a Gideon's Bible that he had accepted Jesus--signed that he was indeed a Christian.

To me Uncle Don is a photo. A military photo. It's black and white. He looks similar to my Dad, his face is a little rounder and his hair is slicked back. I honestly can't remember ever seeing any other picture of Uncle Don besides that one.

I have a total three other Uncles and one Aunt. All are married. I have three cousins and two step-cousins. I don't know my step-cousins at all. I have four living grandparents. My paternal grandparents have been married over 60 years.

"You do it on your own, we all do"

Despite our scary encounter, the weekend was good. Relaxing. We met some people at church when we went to the small group thing, so that was good, as we hadn't really talked to anyone in Michigan yet.

And it was odd, being scared by a knock on the door. At the Lounge, if someone came at 1:15 a.m. or maybe even 3:15 a.m., it wouldn't be scary at all because 1) you'd be wide awake and 2) there would probably be 5 to 1o other people in the house with you. But when you're on your own in a new place and you've got someone to protect, it is a bit scary. Especially when he looked at me and continued to knock. Oh well.

So I found out that one of the three client's that I've had direct contact with -- and the one that I've had the most contact with (over the phone--never met her, graduated from Anderson University). That was an odd coincidence. She probably graduated about 10 years ago, so I don't know her, but I still found it strange, and cool.

"Scared, are you?"

It's a bit disconcerting when someone knocks on your front door at 1:15 a.m. in a place you've only recently begun to consider your home. 1:15 a.m., the very second after you've shut your bedroom door, meaning the knocker may have seen you pass the top of the stairwell. You know two things. 1) This is almost 100% likely to be someone you don't know -- meaning it's a complete stranger. 2) You should not be opening the door to a complete stranger at 1:15 a.m. You don't know why the person is knocking. You don't know what their intentions are. You don't know if they saw you walk by. Thus it's a bit disconcerting.

It's even more disturbing when you peel back one blind and peer out the window, and the person looks up at you. Your eyes meet. He's got glasses, sandy blonde hair. Looks normal. He had to have seen you right. But he knocks again...wierd.

You sit and listen. You wait. No more knocking. Your wife tells you that she thinks she heard a car start. You look out the window again. Boot prints leading up to the door, but not away. Did he go into the neigbors house? Still no more knocking.

You go to bed. After reading for awhile, you turn out the lights to go to sleep. Your wife is still scared. She decides to watch South Park.

3:15 -- "He's back!" You jump awake and hear the last few pounds on the door. It's 3:15. Should you look out the window and yell at the person. Should you get the phone to call the police. Why do you feel so scared? After all, "Burglars don't knock," your wife says. No more knocking.

You wake up the next morning. Your wife hasn't slept well. You slept like a baby. You always sleep like a baby. You're still a bit uneasy about the events from the night before. You figure it must have been someone for the neighbors. You decide that if it happens again maybe you'll call the police. Later that day, you buy a deadbolt...

"I react like its 1805"

Ah...Saturday's were made for this. Nothing but relaxing. The Mrs. and I watched the last um 1, 2...5 episodes of Season 2 of Lost today (and the last one was a double) for a staggering 4.5 "Lost" hours. The show very well might replace 24 as my "most-addicting." During season 4 of 24, I kept falling asleep , which had never happened during the first 3. Still a good show, but Lost leaves you asking many questions. It seems to almost always be fresh and new, while 24 does get slightly repetitive. Fortunately, the repetitive "15 seconds" is still good and worth the time and effort, but I would argue just not as intriguing as Lost.

Long story short, if you've never watched it, go buy Lost Season 1, watch three episodes and see if you aren't hooked and thanking me.

In other news, Rogers and I bought Season 4 of South Park ---- ok, we love watching television (it is supposedly the Golden Age of T.V. so if you're not watching now, you're missing the best of the best) ---- anyway, one episode into Season 4 and we suddenly see why Jason likes to say "Tits" instead of "Cool." And that was a darn funny episode by the way.

In other news, the Rosenbergs got a gift certificate for the Rosenbergs to get a new chair. The following is the result.

Now, I've got to rest up (after all-today was obviously exhausting), as I've got a busy day with Church and the Colts and hanging out with Rogers!