Looking back and looking forward

It boggles my mind (and it doesn't take much to do that) that another year is coming to a screeching halt, and another one is about to begin. It seems that time moves faster and faster as I get older. I've been waxing nostalgic concerning 2016 these past few days, and there are some things I'd like to reflect on, if you'd care to join me.

I think the most prominent event this year was in January, when I became a Grandpa. While I have settled in and enjoyed it, I recall that I had always thought of grandparents as old! It has been fun being Grandpa Rue, but the title is almost sad to me. I never met my own Grandpa Rue, as he passed when I was 6 months old. In fact I never knew any grandfathers, as the rest of them passed on before my parents were ever married. I have godparents, and he was the Grandpa to me, but that's a story I'll have to share another day.

I am bound and determined to be a consistent person in my granddaughter's life and in the lives of her parents. She is a bright spot in my life, and it is fun to watch her grow and learn new things. That's why I am striving to keep myself healthy and in shape, as I want her to know me as long as possible. 

I took my 3rd mission trip to Tijuana, Mexico this past August. This trip basically reinforced that fact that God is going to use me in a missions-related way. Preliminarily, I feel like God wants to use me somewhere in Mexico. However, I am prepared to go anywhere that God might move me. The fundraising is very slow. I have a fund set up through my church, and I put in as much as I can, and there are some others that donate to the cause, and that's a big help. I am praying for individuals and churches that might take me on for monthly support. The baking business was very slow as well. Very low. I picked up a bit for Christmas, but that's about the biggest increase I saw. For anybody that works as a home business, I'm open to suggestions. For my customers, I'm curious as to what I can do. I'm a big boy and am open to constructive criticism. What can I do better? I feel like the prices are fairly competitive.  All in all, while God has prepared my heart for missions, I still feel as though God wants me to wait. Maybe that's why funds are slow to come in, as God doesn't want me to take off yet. I don't claim to know the mind of God, nor do I dare try. He is in control, and He knows what He is doing. He can see the big picture, and knows the end result, so I have to rely on Him. It's not fun to wait though, is it? :-) 

This year, I began my 15th year in the Hutchinson school district, working in the Kindergarten and 1st Grade classrooms. These kiddos are a bright spot in my day, and I enjoy the time I get to spend with them.  And, I began year 4 at the Boys & Girls Club with a promotion to Program Director. Before, I was a Vision Leader, taking kids to different programs and activities, and monitoring them. Now I teach a class called Positive Action, which teaches kids to make good choices and help others. I sure love this program. I also worked the ballfields at a local sports complex west of town. My duties were running concessions for hungry ballplayers and fans. A lot of the people were kids, and I had a lot of fun joking and chatting with them. My main area was preparing food and operating the cash register, but sometimes I was sent out to the grill to flip burgers or hot dogs. I really enjoy this job. It's only seasonal, but it's a good source of income, especially in the summer, when there is no school paycheck.

I began my 27th year as an AWANA leader in my church, my 25th year teaching in the Sunday School ministries, and my 15th year in my current class. Currently, I work with 3rd & 4th graders in church ministries, and I really look forward to Sunday mornings and Wednesday nights. These are a great bunch of kids. I love my church and the kids I get to see when I am there. I grew up in this church, and I consider it a privilege to walk in the footsteps of those who taught (and put up with) me years ago. I found Christ in this church as the tender age of 5 years old. 

In conclusion, I feel it was a good year. What's up for me in 2017? Not much different than 2016. I hope to go on trip #4 to Tijuana, and I'm hoping for an uptick in the baking business. I intend to continue full-force in what God has for me here, rather than pine for God to take me to Tijuana. Yes, I love Tijuana and what God might do with me there, but in the meantime, I have work to do here. God has given me a number of ministries right here in Hutchinson, and I intend to keep investing in the young lives that God has sent my way.

I truly wish you a very joyous 2017, and that you will be blessed. Thank you for taking the time to read my blog, and for the kind comments that are left. I appreciate each and every one of you, and when you post a need or problem on Facebook, it gets prayed for. Thanks for your friendship! God bless you.    

December

With the arrival of December, it just makes it more real that Christmas is coming! I simply love the season and all that comes with it. The music, the lights, the smells, and the feeling. I enjoy the church services that lead up to Christmas, as we build up to the big day. It's like we know what's in the package (Christ), but we look forward to seeing it (Him) every year. While it's known that the birthday of Jesus probably isn't December 25, it's great to know that we can take this time to celebrate the greatest birthday in the world.

Am I ready for Christmas? Yes! Done my shopping? Not even started. This is my philosophy on the whole gift-giving thing: I don't care if I receive anything on Christmas. I just enjoy the whole spirit of the season. Besides, finances are very tight. I will be buying a few small things for a few people, but that's about it. My Christmas gift-giving season is being brought to you by Dollar Tree. 😁 Here's how I look at it: All of this holiday flair did not take place the night Jesus was born. His first guests were a group of lowly shepherds, people whose occupation might be looked upon with disdain. But, God wanted these simple people to be among the first to visit Jesus. Jesus was also visited by important and wealthy people. Do you know what that tells me? Jesus came for everyone! People from all walks of life are welcome to come and adore Him. Isn't that a wonderful thing to know? From the poorest man on the street, to the richest man on the earth, Jesus embraces all of them. "All" includes me! Me, an undeserving simple guy, has been found worthy of His love. That's the only Christmas gift that I'm thankful to unwrap every day!

That's my philosophy on the big day. My house is decorated to the hilt, Christmas music blares from every radio in my house, and I am at peace.  My heart is full of the Christmas spirit, and I'm happy. My prayer is that you find the true Spirit of Christmas, which is found in Jesus Christ, who as the saying goes "is the reason for the Season!"  I'll check in again throughout the season to inform you on what's happening in my household. I wish you all of the best! Thanks for reading, and God bless you!

Getting Ready....

It has been a busy few days, or might I say, weeks. The supplies have been gathered, and many of them have already been put into use. All of my chocolate-covered confections have been made and are in the cooler, as are many of my cookie batters. Actually, I am ahead of schedule, which allows me to take a few minutes and blog.

The whole process began on Friday, when I was able to get the house decorated. The front room is decked with trees, my Santa collection, Nativities, and my village, which is my pride and joy. It took quite a few hours to get it all set up. I am looking forward to enjoying this roomful of Christmas for the next few weeks. 

Monday and Tuesday evenings will consist of getting my cookies baked and into containers. Wednesday's jobs will be getting all of the loose ends tied up, and preparing for my open house. You ARE attending, right? 😁  My open house is Wednesday, November 23rd, from 3pm until 10pm. The location is 721 East Avenue A. I will have loads of food and drinks. You can sign up to win a free item of your choice on the date of your choice. I will not be selling anything off of the table, but if you taste something you'd like more of, you can place an order. This entire event is free. However, if you'd like to make a donation, I'll have a jar there for that.  You are under no obligation to make a donation. I'll just enjoy having you over! An RSVP is not required, but helpful. I just want to make sure I have plenty of food available for everyone! I can't wait! Last year, I had over 40 people come through during the course of the day. I'm hoping more will come this year. If this is the first you've heard of it, consider this your personal invitation to attend.

It's time to get back to work. I am looking forward to seeing you this Wednesday, and I hope you'll be able to attend. I understand that many people are gone or out of town, but for those that are able, please stop by and enjoy some goodies. Thanks, and God bless!

Looking forward

My last post kind of ended in a dark place. Not sure why the 7-year anniversary of the loss of my son would be harder than the other anniversaries. I would like to let you all know that I am OK. God helped me process through the large array of emotions that I was struggling through, and although the ache for my son is still there (it will always be there), it is not crushing me down like it did a few weeks ago. I am looking forward....

Next Wednesday, I'll be saying goodbye to my 45th year of life, and embark upon my 46th. Even at my age, I still enjoy my birthdays. Many people my age take on the motto of "another year closer to death," or "just another day." Heck, not me! I enjoy the celebrations and the little hugs I will get from my school and church kids. Our class at school gets to visit a pumpkin patch on my birthday (they always seem to plan these things on my birthday, lol), so that will be fun. We'll do some fun things at BGC in my classroom, and then I get to spend the evening with my AWANA kiddos. It's great to spend a birthday with people you love. I always enjoy eating with my family at Sirloin Stockade, but I won't able to do it Wednesday, so I'll have to go Tuesday evening. I share a birthday with many great people. One of the most well-known October 26th-ers is Hillary Clinton. If she wants my vote, I expect a personal call from her on our birthdays! Lol. I share a birthday with some of my good friends. Peggy, Ginger, Sarah, and my buddy Micah on the other side of the world. I wish you all the best! I am just curious, do any of my readers still make a big deal out of their birthdays? 

Although we are still a month out, I am busy planning my big open house on November 23. Do you know about this? I open my home on this day and lay out everything that I make in my baking business. If you'd like more info and would like to RSVP, you can find my "Rob's Homebaked Goods" Facebook site. We had about 40+ people visit last year. My home will be decked out for Christmas. There will be a new feature added to my Christmas village this year, and I am wildly excited about it. (Thanks, mom!) You can come and bring your families, and partake in all of the goodies that I make throughout the year, plus maybe a few extra goodies! I so enjoy this time of fellowship. This is a huge undertaking, however. I have about 20 things on my menu. To ensure that your favorites will make an appearance at the open house, send me a message so that I can make your favorite snack a priority. This open house is totally free! I will have a donation box in case you want to donate to the Project: Mexico fund, but do not feel obligated. Your being there will be a blessing to me.  I will not be selling anything at this event, but I can take orders.

The clock on the wall tells me that it is time to begin getting ready for work. I am working ballgames this weekend, so I am grateful for the extra income coming in. I want to thank you for reading and most importantly, for praying for me. I surely needed, and still need, them. God bless you!

It still hurts

I have never shared this story in a blog post before, and only a handful of people know the whole story. It helps me to write about this, as it helps the healing process. Some of the details are left out for legal reasons, but I'd like to share my story with you. On October 2, 2009, I lost a son.

In the Spring of 2009, my 2 boys and I were overjoyed at the fact that we were approved to welcome our 3rd son into our home by process of adoption. We will call him Cody. He was 10 years old, with a good heart and a desire to be adopted into a forever home. He clicked with our family right away when he officially moved in about June. He won the hearts of church members, and the teachers at his school took a liking to him immediately. He had a failed adoption about a year earlier, when the family changed their minds on him, and he was sent back into the foster care system. I assured him that we would not change our minds about him, and that this was his forever home. 

In September of 2009, our family was targeted by a sexual offender. He had seen my older boy at the library while we were on a family outing there, and was interested in him. When this man came to our home, I informed him that my son was 14 years old, and that he had friends his own age. I asked this man to leave. From there, I ran his name through my computer, and found a long laundry list of offenses, crimes, and time served. I showed this to my boys and told them to never try to find this guy or befriend him. Well, this guy came back to our house behaving inappropriately. I told this guy to leave. He did, and I called police. The police arrested him on attempted indecent liberties with a child. When our names went through the system, the adoption agency found out, they freaked out, accused me of being an unfit parent, and immediately pulled the plug on the adoption. They came by, took Cody and all of his stuff, and I have never heard from or seen him again.  It felt like a death, and it still feels that way. The SRS department wrote a review of how I was welcoming of the offender into our home, and that I allowed him to be a part of our lives. This was garbage, and this was after an extensive interview with them explaining the exact opposite; that I told him to leave and that I called police when he came back. To this day, I have hard feelings toward the SRS department, now called DCF. If you or family members or friends work there, I apologize, but they really put the final nail in the coffin with their review.

My boys and I were devastated, and from that point, their lives spiraled downward. Their stability was shaken, and they began making bad choices. It really messed with all of us.

Please don't judge me by this next paragraph, rather put yourself in my shoes. To this day, I have been haunted by one thought: If I had not called police, all this would not have happened. If I had left it at telling him to leave, I might still have Cody with me. People do not seem to understand why I feel this way. People have thanked me for taking this guy off of the street, but THEY did not lose a son in the process. I still wish I had never called the guy in. People have been upset that I feel that way, but the pain of losing that sweet boy was almost more than I could bear, and it still hurts.

I was never allowed to explain my story to the adoption agency. They still don't know the whole story, 7 years later. To this day, and in the future, I will never be permitted to adopt or do foster care. This whole thing really messed up my plans to adopt many children. Looking at it now, this may not have been possible with my plans to move to Mexico, but it still hurts that this brand was burned onto our family name and reputation. Most of all I miss Cody. He would be a senior this year and is 17 years old. I found him on Facebook a few years ago, but because of threats made by the adoption agency, I cannot send him a friend request until he turns 18.

Over time, the emotional wounds have healed somewhat. I still miss him and wish I could talk to him. I wish I could have watched him grow up and I wonder what he is doing today. I wonder if the impact I made on his life is remembered by him, and if he'll seek me out one day. He would be welcomed with open arms. I can put on a happy face and smile and interact with people, but October 2 cuts deeply into me, and I feel that an injustice was done in my life during that dark time.

That is the story in a nutshell. People have asked what happened, and this is the scoop. I was going to try to end with a cute quote or anecdote, but I have none to offer, and this is one of those rare posts that will end in a not-so-sunny way. I apologize for that, but in this instance, I have nothing sunny to express to you, except that I'm glad I have God's help.

   

Looking forward

It took me several day to recover from the fair. I had some achy legs and feet, and extreme fatigue, but I made it. I thoroughly enjoyed the fair, and I hope you enjoyed the pics and blog posts. If you'd like to re-read a post, or you missed a day, you can look to the right of this post and see a menu of past blog posts.

Now that the fair is over, I am now concentrating back on my baking business. I withdrew from the kitchen for a couple of weeks, but now I'm back, hoping to bake up some support for my Mexico missions fund. Believe it or not, I am now looking forward to my Thanksgiving event. On the day before Thanksgiving (Wednesday), I invite people into my home to enjoy a large buffet of everything that I make (it's free!). It takes a good amount of time to chart everything that I'll need ingredient-wise, get the necessary ingredients, and then make it all. I get the house all decorated for the Christmas season, so attendees get to enjoy my living room FULL of Christmas. Trees, village, Nativity sets, Santa collection, and more! There's a bit of a snag this year, as time is limited to get all of the baking done. In the past few years, school has been out the full week of Thanksgiving, and I bake all day Tuesday, and finish on Wednesday morning. This year, school goes through Tuesday. I'm trying to come up with a plan to get this all done. I have a few ideas. I might make up all my cookie dough over the previous weekend, seal and chill it, and then pull it out and bake it Tuesday night. I'll get it done, I promise. This is your cordial invitation to visit my home on Wednesday, November 23. The time has not been set as of yet, but I'll let you know when I have a definite time.

In the Spring, I'll be combining my love of baking and the state fair, and will host a fundraising Saturday of "Fair Foods." Yep, I can make most of what is made at the fair. For a donation, I'll have an open house day, invite people to come over, and I'll serve fair foods. Does that sound like something you'd enjoy? Of course, we're still quite a way from that event, so when that date comes closer, I'll have more info about this.

I was looking through my garden area last week, and for the first time ever, I have some cucumbers! It's only like 5 or so, but by golly, I was finally able to coax some cucumbers out of the ground! Better yet, I also have 2 watermelon when watermelon never grew in that plot of land before! I am babying those little guys along, putting newspaper under them to prevent ground rot, keeping them hydrated. My larger one is about basketball sized, and my smaller one is about the size of a softball. My hope and prayer is that they will fully ripen and be ready to pick before the first frost. As always, my tomatoes plants are going crazy with green tomatoes. Not too many red left, as we use some, and give more away. The sunflowers have cycled out, and I will be removing the heads soon, to dry and harvest the seeds. Let me know if you'd like some! These are raw, fresh from the head, unprocessed seeds, but you are welcome to some if you are interested. My biggest one grew to about 8 feet with decent-sized heads. I'm looking forward to next year's crop, as over the past 2 years, I've been working on a tub full of rich compost. Compost is better than fertilizer, and has been known to produce great results in gardens. Compost consists of rotten veggies, fruit rinds, coffee grounds with filters, leaves, grass, and other etc. I have to mix it often, to expedite the break-down process. Excited about the possibilities for my garden next year.

I have taken enough of your time, but I just wanted to give you an update on what's going on with me now that the fair is over. I hope that things are well with you. Thanks for reading, and God bless you greatly!

Rob's Final State Fair Rambling, Day 10

All good things must come to an end, and that is true of the Kansas State Fair. 10 days have literally flown by. To the vendors, however, the ones who have been there from open until close every day, the end of the fair couldn't come soon enough. Walking through buildings and over the grounds every day, you notice who is there all the time, and they looked very tired. As I was leaving the fairgrounds, people were packing up their displays and going home. This next week will be very busy as businesses take their tractors, RV's, storage buildings, hot tubs, and more etc. back to their businesses. The midway closed at 8pm, and the workers will work late into the night (some of them all night), and in the morning the rides will be in pieces again, loaded onto trucks, and pulling out for their next fair. KDOC crews will comb the grounds for hours, picking up trash. I don't get why there's so much trash on the ground. There are trash cans everywhere! People are just too lazy to walk to a trash can, I guess. The food vendors are cleaning up their trailers and buildings, and will be locked up or hauled out in the next day or so. Tomorrow night, I am going to feel lost without anything to do with my evening. However, on the other side of the coin, my legs and feet are very tired and sore, and they need an opportunity to rest. I didn't have issues with my knees as I did last year, but my back got a little sore during the week. This week, I logged 210,734 steps on my pedometer. A normal walking day is 10,000 steps, so the normal over 10 days should be 100,000. Wow, 110,734 over the norm. Most days I walked over 20,000 steps in a day. 

I went in to pick up my white ribbon before I came home. They give you a critique sheet with everything you enter. They gave the oatmeal raisin cookies a good review, and they liked the chewiness. "Good!" they wrote. My peppernuts did not do well because "the size and shape not typical of peppernuts." I noted that they were a different type of peppernut, made to be larger and softer, but I guess they have different ideas of what a peppernut should be. They noted that they had a nice anise flavor. At least my customers like my style of peppernut. They liked the uniformness of my snickerdoodles, but they thought they were undercooked and tough.  They said that my chocolate chip cookies were dry and crumbly, and suggested using a different typed of flour. Obviously, they were different judges, because I made my chocolate chips cookies the same way I did last year. I am not bitter at all, just disappointed, because I put my heart and soul into those cookies. I'll try again next year!

Fair food shout-out: I had to mention this booth: "Fungal Fusion," a new booth this year. They sell deep-fried fungus, such a mushrooms, truffle fries, and an assortment of fried things I have never heard of before. The fried items were described as funguses. They had a paper hanging there that noted they were approved by the state to run this stand, so I guess it has to be safe. I would never eat such a thing, but it seemed to be a popular place to eat. They are having a contest to give away a food trailer. It was suggested that I enter, so I could take my cookies to different places to sell, but 1) I have no place to store it, 2) no way to haul it 3) I'd have to hire staff to run it while I am baking, and 4)it costs $59 just to enter, and there's no guarantee that I would win. That sounds like gambling to me. Did any of you try "Fungal Fusion" this year? I'd like to get your spin on it. In another food-related incident, I was talking to a friend who offered me a bite of their gator tators, which is a potato peeled into a big blossom and deep-fried. The bite I got had a hair in it! Ick! This is the stand just down the road from the Old Mill that sells alligator on a stick. I think I'll avoid that place in the future. The lady running the stand didn't seem too concerned about it.  

I was glad to run into Sam & Robin, Valerie (I enjoyed our chat), Scott, Jackie, and more than I can recall right now. Running into people is the best part of the fair. I love to watch people. Seeing people laugh and smile, seeing dads carrying kids who are completely zonked out asleep, texters who trip or run into things because their eyes are on their phones....I will truly miss this atmosphere of fun, food, and fair....

I want to thank you for reading. I've heard a lot of people telling me how they enjoy the blog and read it every day. Those of you who like and comment really spur me on to bring you as much info, entertainment as I possibly can. I have enjoyed being the "fair guy," helping people find what they need, directing people to the places they are looking for. I've had people buy me meals, hand me food coupons, or will just stand and visit with me. For that, I thank you all. It's been fun being your "inside man" at the fair. I wish I could make a career out of this, Lol.  If you'd like to read or re-read any of the days, you can click on the days in the menu at the side of this page, or stalk my Facebook for entries and pics. This blog will continue, but as far as being a state fair info source, that won't be happening again until next year. Thanks for reading, and may God richly bless you!

Rob's State Fair Ramblings, Day 9

Today was Mother's day at the fair, the day when I take my mom to the fair and let her enjoy herself. Last Saturday was Father's Day. Mom did woodcarving in the Oz Gallery from 9-12, and answered questions and chatted with the fairgoers. They watched her carve and she gave them tips on how to get started. While in there, she introduced me to a man who knew my grandmother when they worked at Collins Grocery in the 70's. For you long-time Hutchonians, that's a blast from the past! It was nice to hear him talk about her. She passed away in 1996, and I still miss her.

At Noon, we were going to get lunch, but the Cottonwood Court (the food court) was so jam-packed, we decided to wait until later, and I am glad we did. The reason is because en route to a building to walk through, we noticed Bandaloni setting up for a show. Bandaloni is a one-man band, and very talented. My mom had never heard him before. He sang a lot of great songs, one of them being "Hey, Good Lookin." While he sang this, at one point he came up to my mom and sang directly to her. Bandaloni knows how to work an audience, and interacts with them constantly. We stayed for his entire 30-minute set, and thoroughly enjoyed it. 

After Bandaloni, we decided it was time to eat. Our tradition every year is to go to Cottonwood Court and eat Chinese food. The ChinaGo stand has a special  where you can get 3 entrees for $8.00. That's what we opted to do. The crowd had died down, so we hit up the ChinaGo stand and enjoyed our Chinese food. We were pretty full when we were finished. The food was pretty good as it always is, and the staff were nice as well.

From there, we decided to go walk through the buildings, but not before snapping a picture of Millie, the Channel 12 weather dog. As we walked through the buildings, I noticed that a lot of the booths had the same people that had been there during my morning pass while mom was woodcarving. I decided to play it safe and not grab for anything, lest they recognize me and say something. That was difficult for me to not pick up the free stuff available on the tables. Just as an FYI, the DirectTV people are very aggressive. If they ever offer anything, I walk on by, as they are dead-set on selling you a package, and they'll cross a flowing river of lava if they think they can make a sale. There are other booths that offer cool free stuff, but I don't support what they are pitching, so I leave it alone.

It was while we were walking through the buildings that my son and his wife (Ryan and Sarah) came out to the fair and hung with us for a while. We toured the tiny house (on the west side of the fairgrounds next to Main street), and then Ryan wanted to treat me to a round of go-cart racing, which is on the north side of the fairgrounds behind the big ferris wheel. We had a good time racing, and then he and Sarah raced. It was a lot of fun. By then, we were in the mood for ice cream, and in my opinion, the best ice cream is at the dairy bar in the Grandstand. My mom opted for chocolate, while I went for the cherry cheesecake. We both enjoyed our ice cream thoroughly.

After ice cream, mom wanted to treat me to a ride on the State Fair Railroad. The ride is about 8 minutes, and it takes you over a large portion of the fairgrounds. Along the route is a kettle corn popcorn stand, and sometimes they will toss little baggies of kettle corn to the riders. I have never been in the right place at the right time, and been unable to catch a bag. Oh well, at least I had the fun of riding the State Fair train! After the train ride was over, we were bushed, and decided to call it a day. Overall, although we were tired, we had a great time. 

It was good to run into Jeff and Sierra, The Van Fleets, who gave me a shout-out from the train, the Browns, the Cranks, Rob, Sandy, Cindy. Phyllis, Debbie, and the Hobbs, who blessed me in an amazing way today. I know I'm forgetting people, please forgive me. I see so many people every day, it's hard to remember them all!

There's only one day left, and that feeling is a mixture. I will miss the daily adventure of going to the fair, seeing people, and blogging about it for you. On the other hand, my legs are so tired and sore. What keeps me going every day is the fact that you read and like my blog, you leave comments, and that is a huge encouragement to me. I've had so many people tell me that they enjoy the blog, and that is uplifting for me. Thanks for reading, and I'll see you tomorrow night with the final night of the Kansas State Fair! God bless you!

PS: I have one gate ticket. Does anyone want it? Let me know. First come, first served.

Rob's Ramblings, Day 8

This evening (I'm actually writing this in the opening hours of Saturday morning) was a late night, and my plans for this evening changed considerably, but not in a bad way. My plan was to walk around and get my free stuff for the day. Instead, I met up with my former neighbor, Pat, and my mom out there. Pat had just ordered fried livers. I am not sure how much they were, but she shared them with us, and they were pretty good. We were alarmed to find a deep-fried toothpick in the order. The guy at the stand apologized and mumbled something we couldn't understand. From there, we walked down to the midway so Pat could try her hand at the Racer's Edge game. This is a game where you drop the tokens onto the platform and try to push more tokens over the edge. There were blue chips mixed in that could be turned in for prizes. Pat really got into that game! While she was playing, I reached into a slot next to her station, and there were several coins in there that someone had missed! I played some of those tokens, and was successful in pushing more coins off of the platform for me to play. I had the opportunity to play for quite a while for free! Pat got quite a few tokens and blue chips.

After that, we parted ways so Pat and my mom could go and see the dog show, and so I could walk through buildings. I had already seen the dog show and did not feel the need to see it again, so we planned to meet back by Ye Olde Grill at 7:30. This restaurant is directly across the street from the Ye Olde Mill. When we met back there at 7:30, Pat informed us that she was buying us dinner. That was so nice! Ye Olde Grill is a nice place to sit down and have a decent meal. They offer a dinner special of Chicken Fried steak, pot roast, or roasted chicken, with choice of 2 sides, and a biscuit for $12.00. They have a nicely decorated dining area, and they were very nice. Ye Olde Grill also serves grilled lemonade, limeade, and cherry limeade. The lemons, limes, and cherries are grilled, mixed in with lots of brown sugar, regular sugar, and other things that would send a diabetic into a sugar coma, and then served. By the time we were done eating, we were stuffed! We really enjoyed our meal and the atmosphere of the Ye Olde Mill.

From that point, we headed down to see one of the buildings my mom and Pat had missed earlier, but on the way, we noticed that the 8:30 Ron Diamond (comic hypnotist) show was starting. We forewent the building and stayed to watch the show, and it was really good!

After the show, it was back to the Racer's Edge game. Pat won a few more tokens and blue chips. She is saving up a good amount of blue chips to buy some bigger prizes with them.  By the time we were finished, it was about 11:30! We decided that we would call it a night. We were pretty tired.

It was fun to run into Doug, Pam, & Isaac, the Parks clan, Margaret, Dakota, Sarah, Jamison, Trenton, and all of the kiddos from different children's programs and ministries I have the opportunity to serve with. If I saw you and failed to mention you here, I'm sorry. Some days I'm lucky to remember my name, let alone everyone I saw in the space of a day.

Tomorrow will be Mother's day at the fair. I have been out here with her off and on, but we haven't really had a day we could spend together. She'll be at the Oz Gallery from 9-12 at the woodcarving area, carving and answering questions, and chatting with the people that come by. I can't believe there are only 2 days left of the fair. I'm definitely going to miss it.

Thanks for reading, and God bless you!  

Rob's State Fair Ramblings, Day 7

I was hoping that I would be able to post pics and videos for you, but guess who forgot his cell phone...? After I go to all the trouble of making sure it's charged up and ready to go, I leave it behind, and that's a shame, because I saw some neat things that I wish I could have captured on film. I suppose that I'll see some other things tomorrow that I will want to photograph. Early reports are calling for rain tomorrow night, but you know for sure that I'll be there!

This evening was quiet at the fair, as far as crowds are concerned. It was a ride-a-rama night, where you could purchase a wristband and ride all of the rides as many times as you wanted. It was a good night for it, because lines were short, and crowds were small. Of course, I was hollered at several times by kids, but by now, I am used to it. Those of you who work with kids probably know all about that! :-)

The Texas longhorn cattle were here this evening, so I walked over to the barns to take a gander at them. Some of those guys had horns that were 4 or more feet long! Also interesting is that they can be ridden like horses. However, after looking at those horns, I wouldn't want to be the one to prove that this is true. Be my guest! :-) I also stopped into the birthing center to see what animals had been born thus far. There were a few baby goats and calves, and 2 litters of pigs. 2 of the pigs were wrestling around, and it was so cute. Doggone forgetting my camera! Did you know that an elephant's gestation period is almost 2 years long? Does that make 9 months seem more doable?  I also had to go and check out the llamas. I have a soft spot for llamas, and would love to own one someday. Not sure what it is about them, but I sure do love them.

Fair food shoutout: Inside the Pride of Kansas building on the south side, there is a little café called the Wheatland Café. They sell the most amazing bierocks. Bierocks are a roll stuffed with ground beef, onions, and anything else you might care to add. These bierocks are large, hot, and are $7.00, served with a bag of chips. For those that are watching their gluten intake, the Wheatland Cafe offers gluten free bread upon request. They have always been so friendly when I have ordered from them.

Did you know that on the north side of the lake (Lake Talbott), there is a tent set up that is sponsored by Dillons and Turkey Hill Ice Cream. That Dillons booth is regularly handing out free small cups of ice cream. That stuff is goooood!

During my daily coffee sample run in the Sunflower North building, a lady asked if the coffee was decaf. The gentleman running the booth replied that "no," the coffee is not decaf! Yikes! Some of you know that I gave up caffeine at the beginning of the year, and I'm trying to stay away from any way, shape, and form of caffeine, so my coffee-sampling days are over. I'm sad about that, because that was really good coffee.

It was good to run into Matt & Laura and their boys, Jesse and Pam and their grandsons, Jason J, Kayla, Bryant, and the countless numbers of church, school, and BGC kids.  I enjoy listing the names of people that I run into at the fair, because I love seeing people there. Some of them I see regularly, and some of them are faces that I haven't seen in ages. The FAQ's I get from those people I haven't seen in a while are "I thought you were living in Mexico...? These are my Facebook friends, and it's obvious that they don't read my blog entries. The other one I get is "How are you liking that new grandbaby?" I get to brag on her and my kids, and I pull out my phone like a good grandpa to show pictures. I just love running into people at the fair!

What's your favorite thing about the fair? Is it a food? A ride? An exhibit? I'd love to know what it is that you look forward to, when it comes to the Kansas State Fair. Think on that for a while, and then post a comment. Thanks so much for reading this tonight, and God bless! See you tomorrow evening!  

Rob's State Fair Ramblings, Day 6

I did go ahead and take a trip out to the fair after AWANA this evening. Preliminary reports said that is would be cold and rainy, but it ended up being warm and clear, and I was feeling good, so I went out, and I'm glad I did! I ran into a lot of friends out there! Shout-outs to Rob & Maureen, Christiana, Colin, Skeeter, Nancy, Shea, Lilly, Ron & Julie, Kevan, Karla, Daric & Jen and their son....I know I'm forgetting someone. Most of them had been to the Crowder concert, and were in good moods. Crowder is a Christian recording artist, and very talented, not to mention entertaining. I wish I could attend some of these Christian concerts, but they take place on Wednesday nights, when I have AWANA. That is where I feel I need to be. I'm not too devastated, though, as I got to see him at the last Winterjam. I was able to take my spot outside the gates and hear him sing his final song. The Grandstand, which has a capacity of about 10,000, was more than half full.

I didn't get much of a chance to walk through the buildings to get free stuff, as I arrived at about 8:45, and the buildings close at 9. I got a few pencils, and that was about it. I still have 4 days left to get more. :-)

Tonights's food shout-out goes to the elephant ear. This is a flat piece of fried bread which is buttered and slathered with cinnamon and sugar. They are yummy and big! Larger than a frisbee! Elephant ears this year are $6.00, and for an extra $1.00 you can get a fruit topping, such as strawberry or cherry, etc.  The consolation about not being able to indulge in the food is the fact that I can make pretty much everything out there, and at a fraction of the price. Maybe one of these days, my baking business can take orders, and I'll have a state fair food day! Sound like a good plan? The only exception is that I won't charge outrageous prices.

It is now 10:30, and I need to get some sleep. I want to thank you for reading, and may God bless you!  

Rob's State Fair Ramblings Day 5

Well, the fair is officially half-over. Kind of sad. Not sure what I'll do on Monday when the fair is gone.

While I was in the Pride of Kansas building, I took another look at the beehive exhibit in an attempt to find the queen. The lady working there came over and asked me if I was looking for the queen. When I told her I was, she informed me that this hive had no queen. She pointed to a cell with a lump of waxy-looking stuff, and said that the bees were making a new queen. I had no idea how that all worked, so I thought that was pretty cool.

If you are into Fair history, you might want to look into visiting the Lair White House, which houses an ever-changing display of fair-related history. This year, the focus is on fair commerce, which is the businesses and corporations that bring their merchandise to the fair every year, such as tractor companies, boats and RV's, etc.

Food shout out: The Tacone! Rotten Rodney's takes the traditional flour tortilla and hardens it into the shape of an ice-cream cone. Then they fill it with all the things that go into a taco. They are so good! They hand it to you with a fork in it, and offer the option of sour cream or jalapenos. I have always opted for the cream, but they can keep the jalapenos! They have always been friendly, and it's a local business. I can't remember if it was $6.00 or $6.50. They are bigger than the picture shown below.

I also have to give a shout-out to Grandma J's in the Meadowlark building. They have the best mini-donuts! Thanks to Tammi who gave me the heads-up on this a few years back. These little nuggets of joy are baked right in front of you, rolled in sugar, and handed to you piping hot! You can get a 1/2 dozen for $1.65 or a full dozen for $3.25. For an extra .50 you can get a little cup of chocolate, strawberry, vanilla, or lemon sauce for dipping. When I saw those, I folded like a house of cards. :-) I got myself a half-dozen for the walk home. I never get the dipping sauce, as they are fabulous plain.

 

It was good to see some friends out at the fair this evening. Jason and Pam, it was great to touch base with you and glad things are going well. Brad, it was fun seeing you and catching up on how well your son is doing! I forgot to give a shout-out last night to the Morrises, whose boys I teach in Sunday School. It's always fun to run into you! Donny & Michelle and Valerie, I was glad to see you, too! As usual, I heard plenty of kids shouting "Mr. Rue!" Kids from church, school, and Boys & Girls club. I got my legs attacked from some of those little kiddos, and I had to explain to the freaking-out parents who I was. By the way this doesn't just happen at the fair, it happens everywhere I go, year-round! LOL.

In closing, I'll again take requests as to if there's anything you'd like me to check out and report on, or get photos of something. Let me know, and I'll see if I can help you out! Tomorrow's trip to the fair is up in the air. I have AWANA tomorrow night, and it will depend on how I am feeling. Tomorrow night, I will let you all know one way or another.

Thanks for reading, and God bless!   

 

Rob's State Fair Ramblings, Day 4

Today was Dollar Day, where admission was only $1, or free with a Dillons Plus Card. My friend Christy (you made the blog, Christy!) spent the evening walking through buildings collecting free stuff (yeah, we're both into that, too, LOL) and sampling the goodies that the vendors had set out for hungry fair-goers. We were pretty impressed with the bee display, and spent a while looking for the queen (we never found her).

From there, we traveled to the Domestic Arts building to look at quilts (Christy is into quilts). I have never stopped to look at the quilts before, and I've been losing out. Some of those quilts were amazing. Christy would explain how the quilts were stitched and sewn together, and I'm in amazement. A guy that likes quilts. Will wonders never cease? Lol.

We both stopped for a must-have food for me, and a must-have staple for any trip to the fair. The legendary Pronto Pup! Don't dare call this a corn dog, this is a banquet on a stick! Pronto Pups run at $3.50 this year. They also provide Ketchup, mustard (Granny's Mustard!), and spicy German mustard, if you prefer to put that on your Pup. They were served piping hot and delicious!

As is our tradition every Dollar Monday, we rode the large Ferris Wheel, and the view of the fair at night is spectacular! Unfortunately, my camera does not function well at night, but I did my best. Christy took a pic of me with the lights behind me, and that should pop onto my timeline before too long. There was a group of kids in the basket next to ours that were standing up and sitting up on the sides. Made us very nervous! The cool thing about this ride is that on Dollar night, all rides are only 1 ticket, and the tickets are $1.25! The ride on the Ferris Wheel was well worth the price.

By about 9pm, both of us were spent, and we decided to call it a night, but not before we stopped by the petting zoo to see the baby goats! They were adorable.

I'm going to end this now, as I'm really tired and need to get to sleep. Before I close, let me know if there's anything you'd like me to look at, take a picture of, etc. I'd love to bring you the info on what you'd like to know about. Thanks for reading, and God bless!

Rob's State Fair Ramblings; Day #3

I headed out to the Fair after church, and began my adventures the same way I start every trip. Walking through the buildings looking for free stuff. I also made my way through the free pretzel and dip line, as well as the free coffee and bread samples. Yum!  On the fairgrounds is a large selection of storage barns. I was surprised how many people visualized living in some of these buildings. It reminded me of "Tiny House Hunters." As I listened to the people talk of this, I myself began to think the same way. I was thinking, "The kitchen appliances could go here, I could put the bathroom there, the bedroom could go across the room...." I have a feeling that I may be tiny house living when I get to San Diego. Another company brings an entire manufactured home onto the fairgrounds for people to walk through. They are nice, spacious homes. It's fun to walk through this house and through the barns and imagine life in one of these spaces.

I had not walked the midway yet, so I made a trip down in that direction. It was great to see "Whitewater" back in action. Be careful if you walk that way, as a spray of cold water might just douse you if you're in the right place. I noticed that the "Rainbow" has been replaced with a different ride. It's the same premise, does the same thing, it just looks different and has a new name. (Right now I can't recall what it is.) While walking the midway, I was shouted at by a lot of kids who know me from school, church, and Boys & Girls Club. I didn't recognize many of them, as they had been to a booth that had painted their faces to look like animals, fairies, or whatever. They looked pretty cool. Maybe I'll get that done to me. LOL.

This evening I had one of my must-haves. I'm not going to eat much at the fair this year, so I'm only going to have my top faves, in addition to what I eat with my folks. This afternoon I enjoyed fried veggies. I got the mixed veggie basket which included onions, mushrooms, broccoli, cauliflower, and zucchini. You also get a portion cup of ranch with your fried veggies. This treat is $8, and the people were pretty nice.  

While I was sitting down, eating my fried veggies, Bandaloni came out to do a show. Bandaloni is a talented musician who can play multiple instruments simultaneously, while singing. I was able to enjoy his mini-concert while video taping and holding a basket of fried veggies. I'm talented! I have posted a couple of videos from his show today, and you can see how he can play multiple instruments and sing at the same time.  

As I was getting ready to leave, the motorcycle Patriot Guard was setting up to ride around the fairgrounds, so I stopped to watch them. I was able to get some footage of their ride. The Patriot Guard does a lot of good for people and organizations, so I felt compelled to applaud them on their ride.

Lisa, it was certainly good to see you. Congratulations on the great news that you shared with me! Helen, it's always good to run into you, and I was more than happy to come see you at the gate to say hello. You 2 ladies are great friends, and I am glad to know you! 

Tomorrow is Dollar Day at the Fair. The price of admission is $1, or free with a Dillons Plus card. I'll be going with a good friend from work, and with my son, daughter in law, and granddaughter. I'm looking forward to it. Thanks for reading, and have a great evening. God bless!

Rob's State Fair Ramblings, Day #2

Today was father's day, when I took my dad out to the fair. He really enjoys the skyride, the animals, and Ron Diamond, hypnotist. We took a while to sit in the arena and watch the horse-drawn chariot obstacle course. It was at this point that I was literally attacked by Bev with her walking stick. She tried to strangle me with it! Not really, but your orneriness made the blog, Bev! :-) From there, we rode the skyride. I do not particularly care for the skyride. I feel kind of vulnerable hanging there, but my dad likes it, and I will ride it with him because of that. This year, he also wanted to walk through buildings to see how much free stuff he could get. Maybe I have rubbed off on him? LOL. We were able to pick up pencils, pens, ice scrapers, and other miscellaneous goodies.

After that, we stopped in to the Domestic Arts building to see the final results of my cookies. The only thing that placed was my oatmeal-raisin cookies at third place. They had a white sticker on it which means "white ribbon." My chocolate chip cookie tanked hard. I used the same recipe as last year, and they were identical to last year's cookies as well. Not sure what happened there. Maybe there were different judges from last year. What I DO know is that my chocolate chip cookies were winners last year, and they will keep the name "Blue Ribbon chocolate chip cookies." I will add to the list "White Ribbon Oatmeal-Raisin cookies."  I'll try again next year.  

After taking in the dog show and Ron Diamond, we were ready to eat. My dad wanted to eat at Bernard's, in the Cottonwood Court building. Food shout out: Bernard's is a good place to eat, offering burgers, fries, and BBQ beef and pork burgers. My friend Desiree works there. Hi, Desiree! My dad and I have eaten there every year because their food is so good, and the people there are very friendly to us. My dad and I both got BBQ beef sandwiches and fries, and bottled water to drink. Total cost was about $21.00. We were both very satisfied with our meal.  We recommend it highly! On our way back out to the parking area, we stopped in at the Eisenhower Building to see what we could see. At the KDOT booth, they handed us some black "Click it or ticket" bags. Then we both noticed I was using a bag from last year. It was an orange "Click it or ticket" bag. The KDOT people got a kick out of that, and they asked if they could take a picture of me holding both bags. They said they might tweet it out on the KDOT site. I have a Twitter account, but I never use it. I might have to see if it's still active, and check out the KDOT site and look for myself.

By the end of the day, my dad was very tired. At age 75, a lot of walking wears him out. To be honest, I'm not sure how many more years he'll be able to do this. It was especially hard for him this year. But, he has said before that he enjoys this time at the fair. He would not go if there were no one to take him or stay with him during his time at the fair. Next Saturday, I will take my mom to the Fair. I take my parents on separate days, as their interests are so diverse concerning what they want to see and do.

Tomorrow is "Rob" day. I will head out to the fair after church, and finish looking at everything that I haven't seen yet. Then on Monday, I have plans to hang at the fair with my kids and a good friend from work. There are 8 more wonderful days of the Fair left!

God bless, thanks for reading, and I'll see you tomorrow night for day #3!

Rob's State Fair Ramblings, Day 1

When the State Fair comes to town, it always seems to bring rain with it. If we happen to be enduring a drought, just schedule a state fair, and it will rain! That was the story as my mom and I began out first visit to the 2016 Kansas State Fair. I dropped my mom off to wait under the awning on Poplar Street while I went to park the car. I had my trusty Channel 12 umbrella with me to keep my top half dry as I made my way to meet mom. From the waist down, I was soaked. Mom and I huddled under the umbrella as we made our way to the first of several buildings to walk through. One cool thing that happened to me was a visit to the Kansas Cash booth in the large Meadowlark Building. I stop by there every year, just in case something might have come up. I gave her my name, and, lo and behold, I had about $16.00 in unclaimed cash from some corporation I have no clue about who they are. But, it's money! I filled out the necessary paperwork, and I will receive a check in this amount in a couple of weeks! I have never scored money with this program, so I am glad I stopped and asked. I almost didn't.
My mom and I got a good supply of free stuff such as pencils, cups, and other etc. Also in the Meadowlark Building is a booth that sells dips. They offer free samples. You are invited to grab a pretzel stick, dip it in the dip, and try them. There are about 10-12 different types of dip there, and they were all pretty good! In the Sunflower North Building, there is a booth that sells coffees and bread mixes. They also offer samples of their amazing coffees (mocha, black forest, turtle,), and beer bread. The beer cooks out in the process of baking, so I felt comfortable trying this bread. It was amazing as well. By this time, the rain had stopped, so we headed to the Domestic Arts Building, where my cookies were. The cookies had been judged, but were not on display to the public yet. There was a lady back in the cookie judging area that had all the results on the table behind her. When I asked about the results of my cookies, she noted that my oatmeal-raisin cookies had placed third, and my others cookies did not place. She also added that these were just preliminary results, and that when they are put up for display Saturday, those are the final results. We will see tomorrow. I mentally prepare myself every year for the possibility of not placing, but I'm still a bit bummed that my chocolate chip cookies have lost their title. However, they still have the blue for 2015! (Bright side).

Tonight's food shout-out goes to the pulled-pork parfait! This is a delight that is served in an ice cream parfait cup, and it is layered with pork, BBQ sauce, loaded mashed potatoes, and baked beans. It is yummo! These parfaits are prices at $8.00 this year, and the people have always been very friendly at this booth. There are 2 of these booths. They are bright red, and there is one trailer by the Old Mill, and one by the Meadowlark Building. Remember that due to low funds, I won't be able to try everything at the Fair this year, so a lot of food references are simply shout-outs, and are based on previous years' experiences.

This is unrelated to the Fair, but after we were done, we went to a friend's house to visit. While there, we got a Facebook message from my first foster child, back in 1998! He has a vague memory of who we are, and he remembers my yellow truck! We have been wondering what happened to him, and it was a blessing to connect with him again! 

Tomorrow is Father's Day, the day I take my dad to the Fair. He likes to look at the livestock, and we spend a lot of time in the animal barns. He enjoys this time at the fair, and we're looking forward to a fun day.

I am writing this at 20 minutes past midnight, and I am bushed! I need to be well-rested for our adventure tomorrow, so I will close this now. Whether you are reading this late at night or in the morning, or sometime Saturday, thanks for reading, and God bless you! See you tomorrow night for Day 2's report!

Rob's State Fair Ramblings: Fair Eve

My cookies are baked, selected, and ready for transport to the State Fair tomorrow morning. All entries must be in by 12:00, as judging begins at 2pm. I'll hang out for the opening ceremonies, especially because my mom's singing group, Sweet Adelines, will be performing. I'm truly hoping that my chocolate chip cookies can hold on to their title, and that my other cookie entries can take home a ribbon. I spent about 6 hours getting those cookies ready. In addition to the chocolate chip, I have also entered snickerdoodles, oatmeal-raisin, and peppernuts. We'll see. By the way, if you happen to see how my cookies do before I see them, please don't tell me how they did! I want to see them and find out for myself.

My blog posts will go up later in the evening, and it could even be as late as 10pm. Most people prefer to wait until the next morning to read it. Whatever works for you. I hope that you will enjoy the posts.

Some helpful info: Last year, the cheapest bottled soda on the fairgrounds was the P-Nut stand just north of the OZ gallery. Their prices were $1.75 for an ice-cold bottle of soda. There are also some root beer stands around the grounds that have fairly inexpensive root beer, and also have it in sugar free. The cheapest food was the Dollar Days booth, just a few feet west of the P-Nut stand. They had hamburgers and hot dogs for $1.25. Disclaimer: This info is based on last year's info and prices. Due to things being very tight for me, I won't be indulging in the food this year, except for the days when I bring my folks out, and even then, it will be meager. Every night, I will be featuring a food item that I have had in the past. If there is a food you have not tried, let me know, because I may have already had it. I'll give you a critique. I talked with a few people who told me that if they saw me at the fair, they would treat me to a food item. Talk about being blessed! The fair is a very special time for me, and when people found out I was running low on funds, they were coming out to bless me. You know who you are, and I thank you. I did not ask if you wanted to be recognized in the blog, so I will refrain from doing so until you give me the go-ahead.

I will be out and about with my camera, taking pictures and video to share with you. I hope to get lots and lots of things that many of you will find interesting. I'll let you know who's out and about, and when and where to find them. Likewise, if you hear of some great entertainment or activity, please let me know, and I'll try to catch it on camera for you. All pics and videos will be posted to my Facebook page, while the written blog will appear here.  I can hardly wait!

Till tomorrow night, my friends, thanks for reading, and God bless you!

  

Crazy Saturday

It was at 11:00 this morning that I received an urgent message from my mom. "Rob, we need you to come get us. We've been in an accident. We're OK."  If you've ever received a message like that, you can imagine the panic I was in. On their way to visit family in Salina (I was supposed to go, but opted to stay behind), their vehicle and a semi met each other. The driver's side wheel collided with the back of the semi as they were coming off of an off-ramp on the highway. Their vehicle came to a stop just a few feet from going down into a deep ravine on the side of the road. My parents walked away from this without a single mark. They were only shaken up. The driver's side wheel is dented in (not drivable), and there is damage to the front fender. I went to pick them up, praying all the way. I was relieved to see an officer standing with them on the side of the road. I picked them up and brought them home (Salina was cancelled). Their car is still sitting by the side of the road on the east side of McPherson. It needs to be moved by Monday at 11:00. That's a prayer need right there. We can't get in touch with a tow truck driver on the weekend, and it being a holiday weekend, to boot. We also can't afford to pay for a tow back to Hutch to our repair guy. Any advice or help you can throw our way would be greatly appreciated. All in all, I am glad that my parents are home, safe and sound. They feel pretty helpless without their vehicle, but I'm going to do my best to try to get them to where they need to get, when they need to go. God is definitely good. People who have run-ins with semi trucks usually don't get to tell their story. 

Switching gears: We are now 6 days out from the start of the Kansas State Fair! The Whitewater ride, returning after a several-year hiatus, is assembled and put into place. I'm going to head out there tomorrow and get some pics to post. All my pics and videos will be on my Facebook page, while all of the written Ramblings will be here as usual. And by popular demand, "Find Rob" is back. If you see me and come and say "hello" to me, I will have a little treat for you. In the past few years, I have been surprised how many people look for me at the fair, kind of like a "Where's Waldo?" type of thing. Friends have taken photo ops with me, and posted them on Facebook with the caption "We found Rob!" It's so much fun! I won't be indulging in the food too much, due to finances, but I'll still have pictures and stories to share. I'll still walk through the buildings, collecting free stuff for my collections, and enjoy the fun atmosphere. If you find me, and are looking for something in particular, I'll probably be able to steer you in the right direction. And if there is a food you are wondering about, chances are I've tried it and can give you a review of how it was, how the service was, and the value. My ultimate dream job would be an official State Fair food tester. Yeah......  I wonder if the vendors would give me free food in exchange for a positive plug for their product....? Anyway, back to reality.......More than likely I'll make a pre-state fair rambling on Thursday evening, and then....be sure to look for a Friday night 1st night rambling! Feel free to "stalk" my Facebook page for pics, updates, and other fun Fair stuff. I so love the Fair! I'm now able to track how many hits my posts get, and it will be fun to see how many hits I get during the Fair. If you want to comment, there's a box underneath my Facebook page where you can comment, ask a question, etc. If you have a blogger account, you can comment right on this page.  

I am so looking forward to seeing you at one of the most fun times of the year for me. If you live far away, you can live the Fair through my posts. Thanks for reading, and God bless you!

Tijuana and The Fair

Ever since I returned home last week, my nights have been filled with dreams of still being at work on the field in Mexico. Every night has me in Mexico as I sleep. I know that it is my mind's way of decompressing every thing that has happened in my life during that week. It also tells me that evidently, Mexico is in my thoughts most of the time. My thoughts will always be with Tijuana and the orphanage, and I will be ready to go when God says the time is right. In the meantime, however, I will continue to serve God here in my area of the world, and do my best.

We are just a few weeks from the start of the State Fair. For those of you who know me well, you will know that I am a Fair nut! This blog site will continue to be your place for info that is fair-related. I will inform you of where you can get the cheapest soda, food, and other etc. I pretty much know where everything is. I have a season pass, but there will be a change from years past. I will not be eating as much at the fair as in years past, and that's for a couple of reasons. 1) I am saving as much as I can for the Tijuana fund, and 2) Due to being gone so much, doing camps and missions trips, etc, cash is very tight. I'm about a month behind in everything. If you want a review on some type of fair food, I'll have to refer to the archives in my memory to tell you how it is. It will be extremely hard to say no to the wonderful fried food that the fair is known for, but that's life.
I'm entering 4 types of goodies this year. Of course, the chocolate chips cookies will go back in, hoping to hold on to its title as first place. I'll also be entering snickerdoodles, oatmeal raisin, and peppernuts. We'll see if I can add a few more ribbons to the collection. In a related note, I sold some of my cookies at my yard sale yesterday, and the customers cleaned me out! They would buy a couple, then buy even more. It made me feel really good!  Anyway..... Keep your eyes open for my famous (or infamous) daily state fair report. Every evening, after coming back from the fair, I'll make a blog post containing what I did, what I saw, and if I see one of you at the fair, YOU might even make the blog! Over the next few weeks, I'll post some flashback pics from fairs past, some of my favorite moments, as we head toward the 2016 Kansas State fair. I will be heading up there tomorrow to turn in my cookie paperwork, and while I'm there, I'll see if there's anything to report.

Thanks so much for taking these few minutes to check out what's going on in my world. God bless!

Whatever It Takes

From the moment I left the orphanage on Friday, I was ready to go back. I spent a week helping with carnivals, playing with the kids there, and did some work projects. My body is tired and sore, but it's been a great week. Since this post is considered a "rambling," I will ramble a bit about my trip, and then share my heart with you. Disclaimer: This post has the potential to become a short novel. :-)

San Diego: I love San Diego! Our host once again was the Ocean View Church. I simply love this church. The praise & worship is off the charts! The preaching of The Word is right on target. I really enjoyed worshipping with OVC on Sunday. The people there are so friendly!
I had the opportunity to drive a wee bit in San Diego, something I had not done before. I was able to navigate between the church, the supermarket, and Starbucks. Of course, I was white-knuckling the wheel in this big, big city, but God brought me through.  

Tijuana: The border crossing went very well, and we got through with no problems at all. It's a bit of a culture shock to see everything in Spanish. If I thought driving in San Diego was crazy, Tijuana was even crazier! Stop signs are merely suggestions, and we came very close to crashing into other drivers, the scariest time almost being hit by a semi truck. Missed us by a few feet! I was not doing the driving by any means. We had a great driver (Hi, Eder, if you're reading this) who knew how to maneuver the streets and wild drivers. One thing that still catches me off guard, even though I've seen it before, is the poverty. It's not unusual to see houses with missing walls, doors, and/or ceilings. And everyone has a dog (which we don't pet, by the way, for obvious reasons).  However, most houses have satellite dishes on the tops of them.  It's just something you have to see for yourself to grasp it completely.

Colina de Luz: We arrived at the orphanage at about 9am on Monday. The orphanage is named Colina de Luz, which means "Hill of Light." This is a wonderful place. Some of our newer team members were expecting a compound, but what they found was a well-kept campus. None of the kids were out playing, as they were engaged in other activities, so after we settled in, we got to work transporting sand to other parts of the campus that needed to be raised a bit. Afterwards, we ate lunch, and the kids joined us. Many of them have grown over the last year, and it was so good to see them! Sadly, one of the boys who I had formed a connection with over the past 2 trips (Oscar) was no longer at the orphanage. He was the one who I had looked forward to seeing the most. Another boy (Bryan) whom I had connected with was also not there. I had known about Bryan, but not Oscar. I felt like I'd been punched. I hope both of those boys are doing well, wherever they are. But, God brought Edwin into my life. He is a sweet 6 year old boy with a big smile wherever he goes. He brightened my day when we got to visit at lunch or on the playground. All of the Colina kids are clean, happy, and well-taken care of. They don't have all the toys and things that American kids have, but they have some small things, and they are happy with what they get. They appreciate the food they receive, and practically nothing gets thrown away. They clean their plates! It pains me when I see kids in our schools throwing away mountains of food because "they don't like it." Our kids here in the states could sure learn something from the kids in Mexico. 

Carnivals: Every day, we took a carnival to some of the other communities that are partnered with OVC or Colina. A carnival consists of a large inflatable water slide, face and nail painting, popcorn and juice, and a presentation of the Gospel, in which we used colored Frisbees to share the story of the Wordless Book. In some carnivals, we filled up bags with food items (beans, rice, coffee, etc) and gave them to the families. Before the carnivals started, we canvassed the neighborhoods, inviting the kids out to our carnival. In many instances, there were very young kids left at home alone because the parents had to work. And the poverty. Many of the houses were made of sheets of plywood or cardboard. The streets were littered with garbage, and there were loose dogs and goats along the way. But we showed God's love to the kids as we gave them invitations to our carnival and made balloon animals for them. We had pretty good turnouts to our events, and the kids were loving it! The big hit was the waterslide! The kids enjoyed splashing water all over our team members, who splashed them back! We built good relationships with those kids and their parents.  

Friday:  Friday was the saddest day. That was the day we had to pack up and say good-bye to these kids who had become so precious to us. We hugged them and some of them didn't want us to leave. The feeling was mutual. It was tough getting into that van, waving good-bye to the kids that were waving back at us.

There is simply no possible way on earth that I can enclose all of the feelings and emotions into a blog post. I only hope that you can somehow get a simple image of what this week was all about. Throughout the week, the phrase "Whatever It Takes" kept coming up in different circumstances. We need to do whatever we can to show the love of God....not just to the kids in Mexico, but to all people everywhere! Whether it means letting the kids splash you with water, or play soccer with them when you have no energy left in your body. We learned that in order to bless the body of Christ, we need to do "Whatever It Takes."

What Now? This is the part everyone is waiting to hear. If you skipped the first part of my blog and came straight to this part, go back and read it, so that this part will make sense. In fact, this part may come as no surprise to those of you who know me well.  The desire to get back to the San Diego/Tijuana area is stronger than ever. My heart is still there with the kids. I guess I could sing, "I Left My Heart In Tijuana." All joking aside, I want to be back there. Don't get me wrong, I love my life here, with all of my friends and family, but God is drawing me to serve and minister to another group of people about 1,000 miles away, and the distance between us hurts me. What has God asked me to do? Here's what God revealed to me this week. 

1) God wants me on the mission field. I feel drawn to Mexico, so that is where I feel He wants
     me.
2) I need to brush up on my Spanish starting immediately!
3) It's time to start some serious fundraising. I am praying that individuals and churches will
     feel God's pull on their heart to begin supporting me monthly. If you are involved in a
     church that would be willing to take on a guy who wants to bless in Mexico, I'd love to visit
     with you. I'm not a pastor, nor am I chartered with a missionary organization, I am
     partnered with God, and we're doing this together.
4) I am looking for an individual who would be willing to help me make a promotional DVD 
     that I could use, should I be invited to share my vision with a local church.
5) I'm praying that my baking business will pick up.

This is just for starters. It's not much different than last year, except that I need to start raising support. More than anything, though, I need your prayers! I'm needing guidance from God, because I want to be in the center of His Will in every step. The long and short of it is that if God truly wants me to be in Tijuana, He will make it happen. He will cause everything to fall into place.

(Heavy sigh) If you made it this far, thanks for sticking with me. Thanks for reading and hearing my heart. Most of all, thanks for praying! I am dead-tired, and am ready for a good, long nap. God bless you!

Final Thoughts

After I posted my last entry, I realized that I had titled it, "6 days til Tijuana!" That is not entirely true. It was 6 days until my trip, but in all actuality, 8 days til Tijuana. Sorry for the incorrect information, and hope your life was not negatively impacted by this. Lol. Saturday and Sunday will be training days, and then we drive into Tijuana on Monday morning. My mind has been going 100+ miles an hour, mentally checking my packing list, and tying up loose ends. Everyone I meet gets an earful of my excitement, and I think people are avoiding me on purpose. Lol.

I will update as I have time. As always, internet could be very sketchy and updates might not happen, or happen infrequently. In any case, we don't know. Once we cross the Mexican border, all bets are off, and internet is not always available. The past 2 years, we have been lucky, and have been able to update. Praying that this will be the case as well. Feel free to stalk my page for updates. Understand that if updates are not coming, it's because internet is not working, or I am working. I will be very busy with carnivals, work projects, and hanging with the kids, and I cannot post during these times. The long and short of it is this: I will post when and if I can.

This is my final post before I take off. I wanted to post once more to thank you for getting me to this point. Many of you bought goodies to support my cause. Many people donated to my fund at my church to get me where I need to go. I had people push money into my hand, or send an anonymous gift in my direction. Please know that every dollar has been appreciated and been used to make my way toward fulfilling my dream of serving on the mission field. You have no idea how much it has meant to me. Your donations and prayers have made a huge impact in my life. After my first trip, God used the experiences to heighten my sense of mission work and how God might use me. After my second trip, God "pushed me over the edge," and actually called me onto the mission field. I can't help but wonder what God might do with me after my 3rd trip? I can't wait to see what happens!

Thanks again for all you have done to bless my life. Thanks for reading, thanks for your prayers (Please keep them coming), and God bless you!

PS: 1& 1/2  days until my trip, and 3 & 1/2 days until Tijuana, but who's keeping track? :-)

6 days til Tijuana!

If I don't count today, it's only 5 days, so maybe I'll go with that. That will make it seem closer! I am simply out-of-my-mind excited about this trip. I've been waiting for a year to go back to this very special place that has stolen my heart. This trip will feel like coming home. I so love the church in San Diego (Ocean View Church), and the orphanage in Tijuana (Colina de Luz).  Today was a special day in which the church gathered around to lay hands on me and pray for a safe and life-changing journey. I've never had that done before, and it was quite a blessed experience to be in the midst of all of that prayer and support. It is so crystal clear that God's hand is in this. He has led me every step of the way. Today, I wore my Mexico shirt to church and gave some of the kids treats that were made in Mexico. You can find them in Dillons or Walmart. I then asked them to keep the wrapper (it has Spanish writing on it) in a conspicuous place as a reminder to pray for me. There is power in prayer, especially where kids are concerned. I believe that kids are some of the greatest prayer warriors we have. I'm asking you to pray as well, if you would be willing. Here is how you can pray: 1) That the hearts of the people we reach out to will be open to the Gospel.  2)For safety. I would sure appreciate it.

This Thursday will be a tomato day! From 6-8 pm, you can come by my place and take some tomatoes. Here's the disclaimer: I do not have too many red tomatoes, there are more green ones than red. So, if you are a green tomato fan, we have the goods! If you are in the mood for red ones, come right at 6pm, as they will disappear fast. I will have more tomato days in the future, when I have more red ones.

This post will be a short one, and will end in the way my posts usually end... I have a shift to work at the ball fields tonight, and I need to get ready. I'm thankful for this job. I have good people to work with, and it brings some fundage in my direction.  I'm not sure if I'll have the opportunity to post again before I leave, we'll just have to see how busy life gets. I thank you for reading, and for your tireless support of what I am trying to do. I pray that God blesses you.   

From one thing to another

I think a more appropriate name for this blog post could be, "I was a sponsor at Jr. High camp....and survived!" Truth be told, I enjoyed it thoroughly. It was a blessing to see these kids worshiping and praising God during the evening church services, some with hands lifted in connection with God. I also had a chance to pray with these kids about their needs and concerns.  I am not exactly sure of the exact numbers, but a large number of teens made decisions concerning salvation and lifestyle changes. Most people would have heart failure at the thought of dealing with this age group, but I was tremendously blessed by them, even the onery ones.  Camp was also very exhausting. The students were kept busy with crazy games and challenge courses. I had the opportunity to ride a zip-line and a simulated flying experience. I got to bond with the kids by swimming (translation: get pummeled and nearly drowned) with them. All in all, I think I was more blessed by these kids than they were by us. I am kind of sad, as this was the last time I was able to take some of these kids to camp, as most of them are moving up to high school camp next year.  FYI, I do not do high school camp.

We came home on Friday, and I instantly jumped into prep for VBS, starting tomorrow. Our theme is "Cave Quest," and my co-teacher and I are teaching the lessons for this week. We don't merely teach these lessons, we transform our classroom into another world, bringing the Bible to life for these kids, allowing them to become a part of the Bible story.  We truly feel that if they can experience the story, they'll remember it for life. In addition to the Bible lessons, I'll also assume the character of "Clark Cavern," a cave explorer who will learn throughout the week that the exploration of God's Word has many more benefits than what this world can offer. Please pray for stamina, as I'm still a bit tired from camp.

2 weeks from today, I'll be in California, worshiping at the Ocean View Church, and preparing to cross the border into Mexico. I have truly missed the people of Ocean View Church, and especially the children at the Colina de Luz orphanage in Tijuana. I have waited for this time to come for over a year. The next 2 weeks will probably crawl by, as waiting is going to be hard. This trip will be my 4th and final adventure of the Summer. After that, I'll be readying myself for the re-start of school.

It's yet again time for another set-up session for VBS. I'm truly pumped! I am praying that the kids will experience God in a whole new way, and that God will move in their hearts. I'll try to update soon with a report on what God is doing in VBS.

Thanks for reading, and God bless!