4th of July

technically, it's the 4th as i begin this post, but functionally it's still the 3rd for me, here at 12:58 a.m. big lightning storm going on outside, mixed with various local fireworks displays. strange combination, in that you have to wait for thunder (or the lack thereof) before you can tell what caused the curtains to glow.

played some foosball with Colin this morning, and then taught him to play the table tennis game on the xbox360. he was actually pretty decent at the table tennis; still a little too short to be very effective at foosball, though. then he and i went to IKEA to get a bookshelf and some lights. unbelieveably busy out there today, but we had a great time together listening to Bill Cosby CD's in the van as we drove. he loves helping me build stuff, so he handed me dowels and shelves and we assembled it this afternoon before my chiropractic appointment.

played some soccer out at the church fields with Ross, Mark, and Robert - mainly just practiced penalty kicks since there were only the 4 of us. then we came back to our house and played a little FIFA World Cup on the 360 before calling it a night.

in an interesting coincidence, Steve Yzerman (heart and soul of Detroit's professional hockey team, the Red Wings) announced his retirement today and Ben Wallace (heart and soul of Detroit's professional basketball team, the Pistons) announced he's leaving the Pistons and signing with the Bulls. Yzerman's glory won't fade in the city, that's for sure. but Big Ben's? hard to tell. too bad. remarkable how much boils down to finishing well. sure hope i do. by the grace of God.