Last year I purchased “You Need a Budget” (YNAB) and was very ambitious about entering all the data I could for as far back as I could and and drowned under the weight of the volume of the numbers. I could never get caught up to current and so gave up. This year I upgraded to the latest version of YNAB and I am back at it, but now I am only going back to the first of the year so that I have a hope of getting caught up.

We have way more outgoings this year with 2 car payments and a wee little one that we feel compelled to keep surrounded by battery operated plastic toys. Even with that I am hopeful that this is the year we get it under control. Wish us luck, pray for us; we need all the help we can get!

To my old friends who haven’t heard from me in a while, so, a long while, know I still love you and I will try and do better.

Did you know that Galena is the 3rd most visited city in Illinois? Right behind Chicago and Springfield (Lincoln’s home town). Anyways, it’s a great place to visit, we can highly recommend it.

The last 2 places of note that we ate at in Galena were Fried Green Tomatoes on Monday night and the Perry Street Brasserie on Tuesday.

First, Fried Green Tomatoes (FGT)… we had to order the signature appetizer for which the place is named and it was very tasty. I did not expect the tomatoes to be crunchy. They were breaded, fried, covered in a marinara sauce and topped with melted mozzarella. It was very good but we probably should not have gotten it cause there was just so much food served. Every entree comes with soup and salad, served in courses, with a loaf of bread. By the time the entree comes out you’re getting full. Not to worry the main course is so tasty you forget you are not hungry. Heather is a fettuccine alfredo connoisseur and says that the measure of a good italian restaurant can be discerned by their alfredo sauce. I don’t know about that but I like my alfredo cheesy, not just creamy. i am no connoisseur, I am just speaking for myself but I think the flavor of the cheesy gives the sauce it’s distinctive taste and the alfredo at FGT had distinctive taste My seared scallops were divine though I must confess that a little butter sauce on scallops isn’t that complicated, I love it. Scallops are easily my favorite seafood and FGT’s offering was delicious. Heather absolutely loved the peanut butter dessert they had though i was really too full to properly appreciate it. It was like a creamy, thick peanut butter mousse with a cookie crust on the bottom and gnash on the top.

Far and away my favorite place was the Perry Street Brasserie. Aside from their awesome food, they have this interesting collection of monumental brass, a very large collection from what the back of the menu tells us. The father and son team that own the place and run it were very personable and made the meal that much more enjoyable. But the main thing is that “dad” can cook and I mean he’s a top rate chef. And it does not seem that he knows any limits as he cooks the dinners and the desserts and both are amazing.

The sample menu at the website is just that, a sample. Their menu changes monthly. Heather had the NY strip and though she had them cook it medium well it still tasted good, i had to have a couple of bites:) They put this sauce on it, I don’t know what it was but man it was delicious. I had the duck with lamb tenderloin. Now I have been disappointed many times with duck and only ordered it because I was feeling daring, assuming the price they were charging inferred they knew how to prepare it. I was not disappointed this time, it was fabulous. The tenderloin practically melted in my mouth, need I say more?

You could tell that everything was crafted with care right down to the side dishes. We had the pecan encrusted potato croquette, and wow. I’ll say it again, delicious.

The pièce de résistance of the evening was the desserts. Heather had their signature dessert, the chocolate cup, ’cause, well, it’s chocolate and man oh man the dark chocolate ganach was richer and creamer then most anything I have ever had. I had the Banofti tart, apparently the Queen’s favorite dessert. It has a creamy English toffee, banana slices, and Kahlua mousse in a large tart shell, mmmm…

An aside, I haven’t talked any about alcohol. Sorry, I am just not a wine drinker. I have tried to learn about it in the past but I prefer beer. Good beer, not that swill sold by the case at the convenience store. I only had a couple during trip and the only of note was what I had at the Brasserie. It is called Red Seal Ale by the North Coast Brewing Company and I found it tasty. It had a nice bitter to it that I like in my ales and I found it a very satisfying compliment to the meal.

And that about ends my comments on our trip to Galena. I know it was mostly about food, but we really didn’t do much else beside some shopping and catching up on movies. That was purposeful, both Heather and myself just wanted to go somewhere and relax, enjoying each others company and giving ourselves room for being lazy. Mission accomplished!

A final note, I want to give out another plug for the Bernadine’s Stillman Inn. It is a great place to stay. Dave, the proprietor is a really friendly guy and the place has a really homey feel to it. “Like going to visit your grandparent’s house when you are little” kind of comfortable and familiar is what Dave remarked that some have said and I have to agree.

Also, they tell me Galena got it’s name from the natural mineral of the same name that is otherwise known as lead sulfide. (Wikipedia link.) This is because, you guessed it, this is what was the area’s chief export in it’s initial heyday of the early 19th century.

Ok, on to the important stuff. we scored with the restaurant selection since Saturday night. Bernadine’s Stillman Inn serves up a tasty breakfast daily so that’s covered. Yesterday we went to lunch at Vinny Vanucchi’s Little Italy and in word, since i am not a review, nummy. Heather had shells stuffed with ricotta in an alfredo sauce and I had one of the house specialties, the seafood italiano i think it was called, whic had shirmp, scallops, lobster, etc… covered in cheesy goodness. We followed it up with dinner at a new restaurant called One Eleven Main. Heather had this awesome chicken with with garlic mashed potatos that tasted just like you always hope they would when you order them in the restaurant. I had the new york strip, peppered, with blue cheese mashed potatos, oh so good! both came with these brussel sprouts in a butter sauce with bacon bits that was the perfect compliment.

Today we went to Durty Gurt’s Burger Joynt with their big, juicy burgers and homemade fries. Sorry, no website. Their motto is, “You have two choices for dinner, take it or leave it!” Corny, but good burgers.

One of the things we like to do is grab a christmas ornament from the places we visit. It was a bummer last year when we went to Cedarburg, WI and counldn’t find one. It looked like this trip would have the same fate, not even the seasonal store, you know the obligatory holiday store that is in every tourist center, had one so we were doubtful we would fine one but today luck smiled on us and we found a great little ornament of Grant’s house. Whew, that was a close one!

Here are some of the links that I looked at prior to choosing Galena:

http://www.galena.org/
http://www.galena.com/
http://www.galenachamber.com/

I’ll let you know if we like it or not.

This is a great site that helps me track calories, fat, carbs and protein as well as exercise. My favorite part of the site is the recipe analysis feature where you add a new recipe and it spits out all the nutritional information based on the raw ingredients entered. It is not 100%, for instance, it is not easy to switch out a single ingredient with something similar to adjust the recipe when the analysis comes back slightly off, but that is a little thing. I have found that the database is fairly comprehensive and it is easy to add items not listed and tag them for quick reference in the future.

The best part about the site is that it is free (actually ad sponsored). About.com has always been really good about the quality and type of ads allowed so having to put up with that to get such a good service for free is more than acceptable to me.

The due date is June 23rd, 2009. Barring a moment of weakness, we are going to go ahead and let the gender be a surprise.

It’s a cold world after all
It’s a cold world after all
It’s a cold world after all
It’s a cold, cold world

Ok, so it’s not “joyful”, per say, but it made me laugh as me and Jen made it up on the way into work this morning. This is not a commentary on the state of the world today, rather, I just like the juxtaposition of the cheerful with the gothic.

One of the other things that happened to me in the last month is that I got laid off from my job. It was the grace of God that they gave me over two months notice so I was able to mobilize and find a new gig within a couple of weeks. It is a real blow to one’s confidence to be laid off even if it is just a financial thing, I was bummed for a week. But, I got three interviews right away and from those three I got two offers and a call back! Now that was a great confidence boost that more then offsets the previous blow.

So I am pretty happy right now. I have an awesome home life, a great new job and prospects for going back to school next fall to get me some continuing education. I want to work on being more active at my church, bluer, lose some weight and learn guitar but things are good over all.

If you think about it, pray for my mom. She has been fighting breast cancer for a year and a half now. It’s a real bummer but I am hopeful for the future. God can do anything so I am still praying for the miraculous and would ask you to also.

My lucious hair” –Author Unknown

I’m engaged to a wonderful girl, who’s name is Heather… lucky me!

In this new series that I will call ‘daddy likes’, I offer up for your consideration the Numark NuVJ.

This MIDI controller would allow me to VJ more like a DJ using it in conjunction with a Apple iMac and the ArKaos VJ 3.5 DMX software… of course, I do not have either of these items so they both fit into the ‘daddy likes’ list too.

I see a bank of old tv’s setup, stacked high in the corners of a concert or worship space to which I could project the images that this system can create, moving through those images in rhythm to the music… ahh, what a pleasure that would be.

So, does this make me a materialist? I don’t know, you decide.

]]> http://www.revivalprojects.com/journal/?feed=rss2&p=117 0 http://www.revivalprojects.com/journal/?p=115 http://www.revivalprojects.com/journal/?p=115#comments Tue, 09 May 2006 18:16:09 +0000 Mark Miron http://journal.ragedied.com/?p=115 So far I am about halfway through ripping my CD collection to Apple Lossless files. Here’s the stats as they stand:

99.1GB or 106,435MB

311 Albums

-=Averages=-

342MB/Album

29MB/Song

I cannot stand the idea of compressing my music and excepting the following loss in audio quality, that’s why I chose the lossless compression route. Larger files? Yes. Much greater audio jam satisfaction? Most definitely, yes!

You’re getting the hang of it now. No gift for this one,

’cause you haven’t even left the house yet.

Here’s the next one:

A fellow cohort in crime,

she has been my best friend since before graduation in ’89,

has the next clue.

Drat, wrong clue! Here’s what was supppose to be in this post originally:

You found the clue! Yay! Now here is the next:

There are 14 of these, one for each month we have been together.

In one of these balls of hot air,

blown up with great care,

is your next clue.

Note: To all my friends reading this with confused looks on their faces, all will be revealed in short order, but for now, this message is just for Heather.

]]> http://www.revivalprojects.com/journal/?feed=rss2&p=103 0 http://www.revivalprojects.com/journal/?p=101 http://www.revivalprojects.com/journal/?p=101#comments Tue, 14 Feb 2006 04:46:37 +0000 Mark Miron http://journal.ragedied.com/?p=101 Sometimes you have to blow off steam. Life can get you wound up so tight, it can do that to me at any rate, that you loose perspective. I still feel frustrated today but not without hope and that amkes a difference.

I think there is too much focus on me in this “Surprise me God” thing. Continually looking for Him to do something special in my life, and being bummed when He doesn’t, is not what this is about. The miraculous is going on all around us, everyday, so i think tomorrow i am going to stop limiting the surprise to things that directly effect me and open myself up to the surprises that God is working in others and in His creation as a whole.

I am being too hard on myself, but i feel trapped by my own habits and it is suffocating. Is it pride that makes me think that i could be doing so much more? I have great girlfriend, good job, wonderful church and aspirations for the future on all fronts. Life is good, but… whether it is in relationships, work or ministry, i consistently feel like i am halfassing my way through life and not giving my best to all that has been put into my care. I can’t even stay on task for three days!

I’m just blowing off steam here, don’t mind me.

My friend and mentor Rusty, called me from Florida on Wednesday evening. It was good to here from him.

He went through a rough patch starting a few years back and really had a hell of a time with it. He lost a lot and it was mostly his own doing, i think he’d say the same. The world got a hold of him and man some of the conversations that we would have just pained me inside, i hurt so much for him.

This conversation was different though, he sounded like he was in love with God again. The passion in his voice reminded me of the good old days back when we were running together in Jacksonville. It is just so encouraging to see Rusty on the rebound.

Rusty identifies with King David, or so he was telling me during our conversation and i can really see that but i will always identify him with the Apostle Paul. Paul never was able to do anything halfway, whether it was trying to destroy Christianity and becoming one of it’s greatest adherents, Paul did whatever he did with great passion just like Rusty. It makes me smile just thinking of it. Rusty is a world changer and with his face towards God, basking in the light of Jesus, God will use him to change peoples lives.

Makes me wonder why we are friends sometimes, he doesn’t halfass anything and i’m the king of it. You would think that we would get on each others nerves but that has never been the case. Go figure.

Have you ever seen an idealist
With grey hairs on his head
Or successful men who keep in touch
With unsuccessful friends?
You only think you do
I could have sworn I saw it too
But as it turns out,
It was just a clever ad for cigarettes

Cause if it isn’t making dollars
Then it isn’t making sense
If you aren’t moving units
Then you’re not worth the expense
If you really want to make it
You had best remember this
If it isn’t penetration
Then it isn’t worth a kiss

We’re so sorry, sir,
But you did not quite make the cut this time
We’d appriciate it if you’d get
Your stuff all out by five
Don’t take it personal
Everyone knows you did your best
If it makes it easier,
You should look at things from our perspective

Cause if it isn’t making dollars
Then it isn’t making sense
If you aren’t moving units
Then you’re not worth the expense
If you really want to make it
You had best remember this
If it isn’t penetration
Then it isn’t worth a kiss

Penetration by Pedro the Lion from the Control album

for some reason that made me think about this quote from Shakespeare’s Caesar:

Why, man, he doth bestride the narrow world Like a Colossus; and we petty men Walk under his huge legs and peep about To find ourselves dishonorable graves. Men at some time are masters of their fates: The fault, dear Brutus, is not in our stars, But in ourselves,that we are underlings.

i have this part-time gig pimpin’ (read vendor marketing rep.) Kodak digital cameras. You make sure the product in the stores plan-o-gram (POG) are setup correctly, priced right, that point-of purchase (POP) marketing materials are up and that the store employees are trained on your product line.

Bryan got me the hook-up over the holidays when they were doing this big push in the stores to demo the cameras, trying to increase sales. It was fun and the extra cash didn’t hurt either. It was suppose to end after the holidays but some hours opened up for a permanent part-time position so i thought “what the hey?”, extra cash doesn’t hurt.

They had to figure out how to break up the region and what stores i would be assigned so i didn’t start repping until a couple weeks ago. That’s when i found out that i know absolutely nothing about how to be a vendor marketing rep. It took forever to figure out my schedule and the hours were all messed up. I was told that it would be 12 hours a week but that the actual work would take about 8 hours. but then i received my schedule and found that those 12 hours were the weekly average of a monthly total of 50 hours and 2/3 of those hours would need to be done in the first 2 1/2 weeks of the month. That adds up to 18-20 hours a week the first two weeks and next to nothing the last week of the month. Not what i signed up for and, man, those 12 hours were taking me 12 hours!

Mix that with not being able to spend as much time with Heather as i would like, not being able to take more on at the church, not having time to visit with my mom and not having any me time and i guess you could say that i am a little frustrated. But, it’s not a good idea to throw in the towel on a new thing just because you’re thrown a few curve balls at the beginning so i decided to give it a month and see if things smoothed out.

In the back of my head i don’t think i was too hopeful because when i received the call today that they would only be able to keep me until the end of March because the account is changing agencies, i felt relieved. The decision has been made for me and a weight has been wifted. Yay!

So, is this a God surprise? Lots of people are going to loose their jobs, i mean their livelihoods, not just their extra cash jobs. That’s not too cool. But, i have been given a way out of this commitment that i am not too terribly excited about without feeling like a quitter.

Here’s the main thing that i have come to grips with, if i can’t manage a parttime job now how am i going to manage school in the fall? And i have to get back to school, for good or ill, i feel compelled to go. If i explained why this post would become a book, so i will refain from explaining why i feel this way. It does give me a an idea to post about this topic in the future though.
This gig has shown me that it ain’t easy managing all the stuff in life, stuff that would have to be managed well if i ever did go back to school, excel at the day job, have a relationship, be there for my mom, be there for my church and maybe, just maybe, have a hobby or three and some time to read and relax. Well, this gig has shown me that i’m not particularly good at the whole time-management thing. Add that to problems with the whole money-management thing and the emotional-investment thing (i won’t go into either at this time) and i have too many issues on too many ‘thing’ fronts to get anything done. Very frustrating.

Maybe the God surprise is in making me confront these things about myself or in the steadily growing realization that i am going need some help with my ‘thing’ fronts… oh joy.

“Every day, for thirty days, I pray and ask God to surprise me? “Surprise Me, God.â€? Nothing more, nothing less. Three words. Not asking for something in particular. Not giving him my list. Not presenting my agenda. Just inviting him to barge into my life in any old way he pleases-to crash into the busyness of my schedule and mess with it.” – Terry Esau, “Surprise Me”

So i woke up late and ran to catch my ride share, it’s Amy’s week to drive, and totally spaced praying “Surprise me God.” Thankfully, i remembered by 9:45, took a deep breath and prayed.

Reading Terry’s book last night he mentioned a certain level of trepidation that was brought about by an email sent buy a friend of his that said, in essence, that “it is a fearful thing to fall into the arms of the living God.” (Heb 10:31, ESV). Actually, I think she said something like that was a scary thing to do, asking God to surprise you. That got him thinking about that it isn’t necessarily safe to ask God for such things.

That reminds me of a quote from CS Lewis’ The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe:

‘If there’s anyone who can appear before Aslan without their knees knocking, they’re either braver than me or else just silly.’

‘Then he isn’t safe?’ asked Lucy.

‘Safe?’ said Mr. Beaver. ‘Don’t you hear what Mrs. Beaver tells you? Who said anything about safe? ‘Course he isn’t safe. But he’s good. He’s the King, I tell you.’

It reminds me of when i jumped off the forty foot cliff into a lake at the boundary waters this last summer, i couldn’t think about what i was doing or it wouldn’t get done. Fear sets in too easily, it was gonna hurt when i hit that water but their was nothing to do about that. Thinking about it only wears at my resolve. Thinking about what i’m asking God could definitely wear at my resolve.

What will God do with me? i am inviting Him to do anything. Scary.

It doesn’t matter though. The real scary question, the one that motivates me to ask God to surprise me is “What would i do without God?” And that is a real fear as i feel really far away most times in these days. i need to invite Him back, i need to start look for Him were He is. So here we go, time to jump.

“Surprise me God.”

Update

As I prepare for bed, thought it would be good to close out the first day’s entry. Nothing earth shattering happened today. Most of the time i was so caught up in whatever i was doing at the moment that it never occured to me to look for the God surprise in things. That’s the way it is most days i think. The day just carries you along, like a riptide sucking you out to sea. If you don’t watch it life can easily become a long list of routines rapped up in the urgent needs of the day, there is no room for dreams or the miraculous in such a life.

Oh well maybe tomorrow.

Take my hand
And lead me to salvation
Take my love
For love is everlasting
And remember
The truth that once was spokenm
To love another person
Is to see the face of God.

The musical was one of the most beautiful works that I have ever seen. It ended up being the absolute best thing Heather and I could have done to celebrate our one year anniversary.