It's almost 11pm on Sunday night, and I'm just sitting here chillin' listening to David Sanbourn on Yahoo! Music. I switched from Napster to Yahoo! Music just a few weeks ago when we got our new Dell Pocket DJ mp3 player. First of all, Yahoo! Music is cheaper than Napster. Napster was $9.95/month and Yahoo! (probably because it is new) is only $6.99/month. With Napster, I would have had to pay $14.95/month to be able to transfer my "rented" music to our DJ, whereas that is part of the service with Yahoo! Music at no extra charge. I spent some time tonight loading up some good music on the DJ...some good peaceful music for playing at bed time, Jerry Reed, a guy most people have never heard of named Randy Cutlip, some Beach Boys and Hooked on Classics.
I'm also chillin' because I've been relaxing with a good book tonight. I like to read, but as I've shared before, when I read what I call a "good for me" book, I read so SLOW because I underline everything and don't sit down to read that long at one stretch. If it is a book I am reading purely for enjoyment (i.e. I am not going to teach from it, therefore I do not have to underline), I read faster and more in one sitting. Anyway, I have found when I read a book purely for enjoyment, I am so much more relaxed. I can sit and read a computer newsletter online or read a book about small groups (both of which I enjoy), but they do not relax me like reading a non-study book.
I just finished "Under and Alone" which is a true story about an ATF agent who went under cover with the Mongols, and outlaw motorcycle gang worse than Hell's Angels (if you can imagine such a thing). I just picked up the book at the library on Friday and finished it tonight...it was that good. This guy was under cover for 2 1/2 years. I cannot imagine living that lifestyle for 2 1/2 days, let alone 2 1/2 years. It was quite an adrenaline rush. They guy did a great job of writing the book. Since it is written in the first person and you are reading the book, it's kinda a no-brainer to figure out he did not get caught and killed, but he did a good job of giving you a little bit of what it must have felt like to be around people all the time who would have killed you without a second thought if they knew who you really were. The other part that made the book so interesting was the agent's inner struggle after sharing 2 1/2 years of his life with these guys. He knew they were REALLY bad and needed to be in prison, but he had developed quite a relationship with some of the guys he was with. After all the time with them, he had to face many of them in court and testify against them putting them in jail for years. Pretty good book.
We've had people in and out all day. Our church is a drop-off point for supplies to help the hurricane victims who have moved here to the Metroplex. Since the church is closed today and tomorrow, our house garage is the temporary drop off point. We've had a number of people come by today dropping off stuff.
This afternoon, I went and played racquetball with some guys from the church. It was a lot of fun, but I've figured out I'm not much of a doubles player. I could hold my own with the guys I was playing against, but I just didn't do a very good job helping whoever was partner. Spent way too much time saying "I'm sorry" to suit me. But still, it was a great time hanging out with the guys.
When I came home, Brooke and Amanda headed out to a park not too far from the house to hang out with some people from church. I was too wiped out from racquetball, so I stayed home, chilled and read. Brooke and Amanda came home around 9:30pm and then Brooke went back out with the "girls". Amanda got a bath, and then she and I sat on the couch and just talked while eating some popcorn. I think that was my favorite part of my whole day. So Amanda is in bed, Brooke is out, I'm done blogging so I think I'm gonna read more of the small group book I started ("Cell-Driven Church") and listen to the rest of this David Sanbourn CD on Yahoo! Music.
-Rob
