Ice Hockey and Palm Sunday

I met up with Vivian and some of her co-workers at the Delta House bar & grill at 108th and Maple on Friday. There's nothing like some after-hours goofiness and a half-pound burger to start a weekend off right. We had to leave around seven to set up at JNO, which turned out to be a good deal — we had a live band tonight, and setting up at the Eagle's Lodge means we got in for free. The band was a last-minute ensemble of local musicians who performed as part of a fundraiser for a youth jazz organization, and wow, they were terrific. I wore my feet out quickly dancing for several hours of the night and quickly wondered if I were getting old.

On Saturday night, Vivian and I got to watch our first hockey game together, thanks to her dad and Union Pacific who secured the tickets for us. It was the first time Vivian, I, or her parents had ever seen a live hockey game, and we all had a good time. The Omaha Lancers beat the Sioux City Muskies 2 to 1, and even though we were too high in the bleachers to see any blood on the ice, I was happy to see my camera was able to turn out a couple decent snapshots.

Christ Community Church had an elaborate presentation on Sunday morning for their Palm Sunday service. It was a musical reenactment of Christ and the week leading up to the crucifixion. The cast and crew did a terrific job, and it made me want to see The Passion of the Christ again sometime before next week.

Afterward, Vivian and I dropped by Costco for lunch and wound up buying a combination Foosball Coffee Table! It was significantly marked down and we couldn't resist — now we have a shiny piece of furniture in the middle of our family room that will hopefully give people another reason to wander downstairs at our next party.

We stopped by the new Kroc Center in South Omaha a little later to attend a free country dance lesson put on by the Country Kickers. The lesson was already well underway by the time we arrived, and Vivian and I didn't get to do much other than step all over each other as we struggled to follow along. I snapped a bunch of pictures before heading on home.