...is a meltdown of epic proportions.

Well, having kicked most of the sickness, Kari and I hopped in the car and headed to St. Louis last week to see our first game in the new Busch Stadium. It's a very nice facility. And, as Mike Shannon would say, old Abner was right on duty that night. Pujols came to bat with two outs in the bottom of the ninth against Brad Lidge, whom he victimized in the playoffs last year, and the Cardinals trailing by one. Two runners were on. Pujols doubled down the left field line, scoring both runs, and giving the Cards a walk off winner. Kari had the presence of mind to take this fantastic picture during the excitement:

What a great first experience at the new ball park. I only wish my dad could have joined me!

I also ran across this beautiful tidbit: Pujols has struck out fewer times this entire season than Adam Dunn has struck out in his last 115 at bats. Ouch.

Had a very enjoyable lunch with Obadiah yesterday, and even got a brief phone call from Doug. (Their blogs are both over there ---->) Obadiah and his wife, Alesha, have a three month old baby named Aurora. He had recently posted how well things were going with Aurora until he bragged on her, at which point she returned to her yelling and screaming and crying incessantly at night. Well, I (the ever experienced father) encouraged him yesterday, telling him things would only get better, and bragging on how rare those times are with Braden these days. You can guess what happened next. Right on cue, Braden woke up four times last night with long, loud cries. Amazing.

Not much more of depth today, just wanted to post some updates. Hope things are well for all of you who make your way to read this every now and then...

As I was watching the OSU-Texas game Saturday night with some friends, something weird started to happen. I hadn't been feeling too hot all day, and it started getting worse. Before I knew it I was shaking almost uncontrollably, feeling quite cold inside but hot outside. I went home, where Kari found that my temperature was 103.3. This is my second highest temperature ever (I hit 106 in Peru...remember that night, James and Dave?). So, yesterday was a quiet day at home with a nasty sore throat, a fever, aches and pains, and lots of football. Here are some thoughts:

• The Colts' run defense is bad. I mean just flat out bad. I think the Colts will still make the playoffs, but I wouldn't be surprised if Jacksonville wins that division.
• Bengals' fans won't like this, but the hit that Geathers guy put on Trent Green was far worse/more classless/more bush league than the hit the guy from the Steelers put on Carson Palmer last year. Don't mess with a guy's head, man.
• I've never been a fan of Joe Morgan. I think he's pretty much the worst color commentator in baseball. It's a shame, because I really enjoy Jon Miller's play-by-play, but Morgan makes me so sick I usually just mute the TV. Last night I was reminded of one of the reasons he's so lousy at what he does. He was talking about how well Woody Williams had handled Barry Bonds, and he said the key was changing speeds (this isn't exactly rocket science for baseball fans to begin with). Then he made this statement: "Every pitch Williams throws him in this at bat is a different speed." Hmmm. Then they replayed the at bat, showing the speed of each pitch. There were six pitches in the at bat. Two were 85 MPH. One was 84 MPH. But, according to Joe, each pitch in the at bat was a different speed. And for this performance he gets ESPN's number one baseball color job? Please.
• On an entirely different (and more selfish) note, Kari and I are in need of new appliances. The house we bought had all the appliances left, but they're less than energy efficient (understatement). Since we don't have a thousand or two bucks laying around unused, we thought we'd just ask all of you for money. Just kidding. But, what you can do is click here and fill out one of the simple offers from FreePay, a site that offers all kinds of free stuff. (Make sure you fill out a free offer...I don't want to be responsible for the financial downfall of my friends.) If enough of you sign up, we'll net a $300 gift card which will help with these needed appliances. We appreciate it in advance.

I've been wondering...What is our (the traditional Church's) fascination with "devotions?" It seems like that makes our "time with God" too cut and dried, implying that our whole day isn't "time with God." It is semantics? If I call it the "Daily Office," is it any different? I've just been struggling with that for some time now. Any thoughts?

On a separate note, Labor Day weekend was fun and included a trip to Cincinnati for a softball tournament, where I was able to see two of my closest friends in the world, Dave and Dave (both their blogs are linked to the right). It was great to see them and I only wish I had had more time to visit with them.

If you click here, you'll go to a site where you can download Derek Webb's CD, "Mockingbird," for free. That's right folks, free! Make sure you click on the link that says "Why is Derek Doing This?" to find out...well...why Derek's doing this. Pretty admirable.