..........what a great weekend!!!

This is the weekend I've been waiting for. First, the football game scheduled for last Friday was cancelled due to the rain from Hurricane Humberto. That all seemed like a great idea (to cancel the game) until today. Yep, we play here tonight. That's okay, I got a free Friday night out of the deal, and some much needed R&R as a result thereof. Saturday was outstanding! I had nothing scheduled and just did as I pleased. I got up, made some coffee and relaxed during the morning. Lisa made a full breakfast with eggs, bacon, sausage links, grits, and croissants. More relaxing took place in the afternoon as some great documentaries were on TV - yes, I am a nerd. Lisa and I went out for dinner on Saturday night and had a great time. Some of the band students actually had a car wash on Saturday to help raise money for some of the other kids who were going to have problems paying for our bowl game trip this year. I was really excited about what they accomplished. First, one of the students initiated the idea. I told her that she could hold the car wash in the name of the band; but, that it had to be completely organized by students, completely run by students, and had to have a couple of band parents there to supervise. The kids did it all and things went great! I was expecting they would make about $200. I was amazed when I got a call from this young lady who organized the car wash, and she told me they had earned $834!!! I am so very proud of them! This money will be used to help other kids. They participated in this project and expected nothing for themselves. That shows great values among these kids - selfless service is, too often, rare at best. Sunday, I got up made some coffee, made waffles for breakfast, and went to church. Prior to Sunday morning, I asked our pastor if I could address the congregation concerning a student at the high school who was really in need. One of our guidance counselors sent out an email last week asking for some money to help buy this new girl at the school a few changes of clothes. She stated that the kid only had a couple of outfits to her name, and hoped that we could help. I talked to our congregation about 10 minutes before the offering and told them about the young girl. This has always been a very generous church, but I had no idea what was to come. I asked them to put money in a special envelope with ACHS on the outside or write checks to ACHS (our school initials). I thought we might get a couple of hundred dollars or so for the girl. We collected $1,200 for that child - another act of selfless service. That has always been one of the things about the United Methodist Church that has impressed me. One of the major ministries that our founder, John Wesley, made well-known was the fact that the UMC would be the champion for the poor and needy. That is certainly true in our congregation. We intend to put some of the money in a fund to help with this student's needs as they arise. After church, I went over to the high school and set a new practice field lining record - 20 minutes!!! No, I'm not telling a lie. I got a new paint sprayer a few weeks ago with 6" pneumatic wheels, and it holds 22" cans of field paint. Being able to see the lines already (no stretching the string today), and the new equipment made everything go quick. After that, Lauren drove me home (she has her NC Learner's Permit), where I would watch the Carolina Panthers vs. the Houston Texans. Well, the first ten minutes of the game went well. Fourteen unanswered points by the Panthers! Then came the 31 unanswered points by the Texans. At any rate, I had my favorite beer and my big screen TV. The Cottonwood Brewery Pumpkin Ale is in season for a few weeks right now! It's my favorite micro-brewery beer. They sell it on tap at some restaurants in Blowing Rock/Boone; but I enjoyed it from bottles yesterday. Lisa bought me two packs on Saturday. It will be gone soon, and those two packs will last several weeks. During the game, I started grilling some ribs. Oh my gosh, if you could have only smelled them cooking. I got this new thing that will allow you to stand the ribs on their side while cooking with indirect heat. It worked great. I cooked three racks of ribs in about 1/3 of the normal space. I used a charcoal fire and put big chunks of hickory wood for smoke. I can't believe I didn't take a picture - they were magnificent! They had the red smoke ring down for about 1/8 of an inch all the way around. Following dinner, we watched a little TV, I took Megan's boyfriend home (he's a great guy - yes, I actually do like this kid), and we went to bed. Not a bad weekend at all.