Looking ahead to 2009-10...

If there's anything to look forward to in my life right now, it's the Avs.

The past several seasons have been difficult to endure. We have missed the playoffs 2 of the past 3 seasons after setting the NHL record for most consecutive division titles at 9 (1995-2003) and recently said 'goodbye' to a our team captain, Joe Sakic. Oddly enough, it was in Joe's farewell speech that I found hope.

Before the 1994-95 season, the Avalanche existed as the Quebec Nordiques. The team had finished dead last in their division 6 times in a 7 year period before entering into the NHL record setting streak. Sakic had endured most of this and spoke about the rebuilding process that eventually lead to two Stanley Cups. He also spoke of how the current team reminds him of those early years. We are young with a number of promising prospects.

There are three reasons why I am optimistic about this team:

COACHING... Although I think Patrick Roy is ultimately slated to become the team's head coach, we have added two assistants that speak well for the organization:

Steve Konowalchuck--Assistant Coach

Adam Deadmarsh--Video/Development Coach

Both are former Avs and therefore have a vested interest in having the team excel.

MATT DUCHENE... Our First Round pick (#3 overall) grew up an Avs fan and actually did a fist pump upon hearing the #2 selection! How many players can you name that are happier to be selected #3? I really am excited about having him added to a team that already has another great young player--Paul Statsny.

JOE'S WORDS... As mentioned, his speech about the future of the team was enough to make me look forward to the coming seasons.

As always...

GO AVS!!!

Second guessing...

A married couple I am friends with moved to Denver a few years ago. The husband is a good friend who I got to know when we were living in Salt Lake City. He was a part of a men's group I lead and I always appreciated his insights as he is a very intelligent individual. His wife, who is a native South African and also very smart, finished her PhD in Utah and the two of them moved to Colorado thereafter.

My friend started a PhD program shortly after the move and I remember a conversation I had with them regarding their housing choice. With Branden going to school in Golden and Ronel, his wife, working on the south side of the metro area, I thought the logical choice would have been somewhere in-between. But they instead chose Castle Rock, a small town half-way between Denver and the Springs. When asked why, Branden explained that they had chosen the location based on the location of a church. They simply wanted to be closer to a church they felt would be 'home'.

This past spring I jumped at the opportunity to teach a second year here in Laramie. I am now questioning whether or not I acted to quickly. There were a handful of things of concern that I was praying about this past spring that I am still lifting up on a regular basis. I don't know that any of my prayers have received a response, or maybe I should say that I haven't recognized a response to any of them, and I've begun to wonder if I acted so rashly this past spring that I missed the opportunity to have my prayers answered.

I realize I'm over analyzing this. Silence and solitude will do this to a person. This past week I traveled to the Little Apple and back to see friends and (hopefully) finish up some fieldwork. As much as I dislike the suffocating heat and muggy, I miss having people to speak to.

Laramie is great, but my life here is often empty and I am left alone with my thoughts. Maybe it's just that the grass is always greener.

ugh.

One of these days I'm going to learn. There are a number of mistakes I seem destined to repeat, and I suppose this is true with most people, but I really am wishing I could learn something to avoid repeating them time-and-time again. The area I'm referring to here is first dates.

The new millennium has not been kind to me in this area. Since 2000, I haven't had a second date with anyone I've been interested in. Zero. Zilch. Now I realize that statement needs some clarification as there have been a handful of second dates with some lovely women. When I say no dates with 'anyone I've been interested in,' I mean to say that I haven't had a second date with anyone who I've been interested in who is a Believer. This blanket statement also excludes one individual who I have no idea how to categorize in terms of interested in or not interested in (she's getting married later this month and I'm happy for her. Really. She's great). But regardless, there's a lot of truth to that statement of no second dates.

Last week I had a first date with someone in Denver. It was a blind date set up by a mutual friend. I had driven in from Nebraska earlier and was a bit jet-lagged, so-to-speak, as I had been in the car for nearly 24 hours over the past three days, but thought the date went alright. I guess not. I found out earlier today that she is not interested in meeting a second time.

I'm not sure what my problem is. There are times I realize the chemistry is not there, and that's just life, but beyond that there seems to be a trend here and I just don't get it. My confidence in the dating arena, which has been damaged for some time, has been crushed. Most of these first dates are the result of being set up by a mutual friend who has my (and I assume "our") best interests in mind. Since these mutual friends know me quite well, I've come to the conclusion that I must do a horrible job in presenting myself. It's quite frustrating when you realize there is a problem, but you have no idea where to begin to solve it.

Long story short: I'm done with dating until I figure this out.