As normalcy creeps back in...

Yes, "normal" is a relative word, but that's the best way to describe life is like now that Stacey's sis has returned home to Minnesota.  It was a good visit, though, and I'm glad that Stacey has at least ONE normal family member :-).

Anyway, here's some quick updates on the 'happenins' around here:

SUNDAY - Church went okay, except that I broke a string on my electric during the middle of "Let the Praises Ring," so I frantically changed guitars mid-song.  Funny thing is, it worked, though the next song ("Caught in the Moment") was extremely difficult to play on the thick strings of the acoustic guitar.  Still, it was funny how I managed to make the transition JUST in time to sing the words to the next verse.

Went to the membership class at Dave's before small group.  Good crowd made up of - as Dave termed it - (*)BC refugees.  Later, Sunday night small group consisted of J-mo, Dabney, Eli, Elizabeth (Dab's sister), and the young-uns.  Had ultra-cheesy spaghetti, due to a miscalculation of how much Velveeta to add on Stacey's part.  Good, but I think the cheese has clogged some arteries.

MONDAY - Normal Guad gathering Monday night - Stacey, me, Sharon (stacey's sis), Dabney, Eli, Elizabeth (who joined us after work), Kyle, Eric, Wendy, and the kids were all there.  Walked around a while, made fun of Elizabeth's dirty shirt, and then waited on the incredible downpour outside to stop so we could go to our cars.

WEDNESDAY - Mowed the lawn, which was a chore.  On the plus side, I'm now the most feared wasp hunter in London Place.  With my trusty wasp killer spray in hand, I destroyed 3 wasp nests and killed about 20 wasps.  Still, there were times where I performed the 'wasp-dance' frantically in my backyard.  You know, that's the dance where you run around frantically hitting yourself screaming "Get it off me!  Get it off me!" hoping that the angered wasps hadn't found an exposed spot to sting.

Had band practice tonight, then went to O'Charley's.  The highlight of the night was when Jordan couldn't stop laughing with a mouth full of whip cream and chocolate chips.  Half-expected for the concoction to blow out her nose at any moment, but -sigh- it didn't happen.  Maybe next time.

 
In other good news/bad news, the house is finally under contract in Birmingham.  It's a 'rent-to-buy' situation (better than that sounds).  However, the incredible amount of rainfall in Birmingham over the past 2 days left the garage area (*really just an exaggerated 'crawlspace') flooded with 3 inches of water, which freaked out the purchaser a bit.  Fortunately, the respective realtors calmed the guy down a bit, though we're still having to have a drain-specialist go out there to see what can be done tomorrow.  -Sigh- I don't want to pour any more $$ into that money pit, but it may be necessary to sell it.  D'oh!

 
KEY PHRASES:  "A little Dab'll do ya."  "Ewww...now I'm going to have nightmares for a week."  "Meet 'rabid' Jordan" (said as whip cream was oozing out of her mouth as she laughed).  "That was the most unfunny thing you have ever said.  Could that have been any less funny?  In fact, I think we're all a little more humorless having listened to you."  (Sorry, I must have been...sleepy...hungry...(insert your own excuse here)).

Today was phat, and so am I...er...with an f...

Today was a good way to wrap up a busy week.  Stacey's sister Sharon has been in town pretty much all week, which is pretty cool.  Stacey officially has one normal family member.  Only downside is that when Stacey and Sharon are together, it seems that they live in some kind of temporal time warp.  What they experience as one hour, is actually 2 or 3 hours for the rest of us.  Ask J-mo for verification of this small detail...

Anyway, started today out by cleaning the Expedition.  I washed/waxed it yesterday, so I turned my attention to the interior today.  OMG!...what a mess.  But after everal hours of vacuuming, scrubbing the carpeting, cleaning/treating the leather, and spreading Armor All pretty much over every applicable surface, the truck looks/feels (and smells!) like new.

After lunch...wait, I didn't eat lunch...after, er, noon, I decided to bite the bullet and go with Stacey and Sharon to Dismal's Canyon over near Russelville.  Though the drive there was pretty depressing (it was, after all, the type of landscape/culture that made me fear Alabama before I moved here), the park area itself was pretty nice.  Though nothing as impressive as Little River Canyon or Cloudland Canyon, the rock formations, waterfalls, and hiking trails were good to look at.  Overall, it was nice to get outdoors and into nature for a change of pace (and a return to something I used to do all the time).  Unfortunately, the humidity in the canyon was close to 100%, so changing clothes when I got home was more like "peeling off" what I was currently wearing to get into something cleaner.  Kailyn had a pretty good time, though she was a bit freaked by the uneven terrain.  But she seemed to love being outdoors.

Ooo...saw a store on 24 called "Alabama Ammo."  LOL...yes, I moved up here on purpose, folks...

Hmm...I need to start posting pics...

KEY PHRASES: 
"Yeah, J-mo would've melted in this much humidity." 

"My pants are all wet."
"Well, I could've pulled over..." (hehe)

"Look at all that mounge growing on the canyon walls."

Sunday - energy, a pool, and more burgers...

(Read post below for Saturday's update)...
 
Sunday turned out to be an awesome day.  Started things of - of course - with church.  The band lineup (Steven, Jeremy, Eric, Eli, and myself) was a fun mix for a change, but the best part of the morning was the energy level of the room.  Over all the crowd was more responsive, the band as a whole was more expressive, and I believe God's presence was more evident (that's all HIM, but it's nice to be allowed to be a part of that).  The crowd was average, but the crowd we're starting to see consistently at church is - I believe - a crowd that will truly carry this church into the future.
 
Sunday afternoon, we had a birthday pool party for Kailyn.  Good turnout overall - J-m0, Kyle, Eric, Wendy, Pam, Jack, Mamaw & Papaw Anderson, Eli, Dave, Dana, Jordan (it was their house...hehe), and all the respective young-uns (Holly, Heidi, Emma, & Claire).  There was also another family there that Dave invited...and being the idiot I am, I never remember their names except that his name was Dan and they had 3 daughters, one named Kaitlin (sp?).  Still, we all joined in for swimming and ice cream cake.  Mmmm...ice cream cake...
 
After the party, we had the weekly small group gathering.  Another huge crowd this week:  J-mo, Stacey, Stacey #2, Scott, Dabney (name? sp?), John, Eric, Wendy, Eli, Allison, and an assortment of our young-uns.  Had a great conversation to start with about developing a secondary worship service that's very free form, creative, experimental, which would meet on a Friday or Saturday night to try to proved people an outlet for something different from Sunday a.m.  It was great to engage in a conversation like that where everyone seems to be on the same page, but there was also a healthy amount of critical evaluation to make sure something like this is done right and for the right reasons.  As I've said before, I sense a renewal of energy and community around us, and that's an awesome thing.
 
Grilled burgers, playined Mario Kart, played the question/answer part of Trivia Pursuit:  Pop culture edition, hung around outside, laughed a lot at the usual stupid stuff...
 
All in all, a fun day.

Saturday - italian food, cars, and toys

This past weekend was a lot of fun.  Saturday, we headed with the J-mo to Huntsville for lunch at Macaroni Grill and to get some birthday presents for Kailyn at Toys R Us.  Picked her up a tricycle, a little sand/water outdoor play table, and some stuffed animals.  J-mo got her a gift, too.
 
Afterwards, we went to the Nissan dealership to check out the vehicles that J-mo is interested in buying.  Took a couple of test drives in a new Pathfinder Armada (very big vehicle) and a new Maxima SE (very fast vehicle).  The Maxima was definitely more J-mo's style, as driving the Armada almost looked like too much of a chore for him, since the thing is so freakin' huge.  But behind the wheel of the Maxima, I could visualize him screaming "Get out of the way" to slow moving traffic on 565 (as opposed to just running over them in the Armada..hehe).
 
Came home and assembled Kailyn's tricylce.  Upon seeing the box, she did NOT want to go down for a nap, but she did anyway.  I finished assembling it by the time she was done napping, and we took her for a ride.  She very quickly learned how to move the pedals, though she doesn't yet have the strength to propel the trike entirely by herself (tricycle comes with a push handle that lets a grown-up 'drive').  Sadly, after two trips around the neighborhood, Kailyn was NOT ready to call it a night, so she started crying when we steered her into the driveway.  Almost made me cry to see that...  Still, overall she was a pretty happy girl.

"He spends more time in the sand than David Hasselhof"

The massive pile of sand (read:  dune) in my driveway is finally gone.  We finally got all the holes and dead areas of grass filled.  The only thing left is a sandy spot reminding us of the hours of hot, aching chore it was to take load after load of sand in the wheelbarrow to the backyard.  So, no more comments like, "Kevin, if you wanted a house on the beach, you could've done it for real," or, "Can we test out our 4-wheeler on your sand dunes?"  Having the Expedition parked out in front of it looked like some weird SUV commercial on TV...like every time I came home I might 'possibly' just drive UP the dune and park at a 45 degree angle...
 
Er...enough about the dune...
 
Did a lot of work yesterday in the yard, obviously.  I also spent a lot of time fixing the recent damage my hellhounds did to the kennel, too.  Bailey, the golden retriever, had literally torn apart the chain-link on the gate with her teeth (let's just say she's terrified of thunderstorms).  Schastye, being the smallest of the dogs, could then squeeze through the hole Bailey made.  Bailey and Abby could then eventually get out when Bailey pulled hard enough on the busted chain link to literally force the gate open by twisting the latch around on the post itself.  So I had to cover the whole area with a thick metal grate and add some to stop extra latches to stop that.  I also 'cleaned' out the kennel, too.  Ewwww....
 
The fun continued as we spent several HOURS bathing and brushing all 3 dogs.  They were LONG overdo, but the effort was worth it.  They all smell better, and Schastye no longer looks like she's an explosion of undercoat waiting to happen.
 
In other news...  We did take a break and spend some time at the pool yesterday.  You know, gotta keep my tan :-).  Wound up eating dinner really late (like 9:00) and watching Seinfeld on TV.  How's that for excitement?
 
Oh, and Kailyn has officially learned how to open doors.  FUN FUN!
 
KEY PHRASES:  "Dude, I'd die if I ate as late as you.  Fortunately, you apparently have built-in reserves."  "Have shovel.  Will vomit."  "He'll have a new car in no more than six weeks."
 
KAILYN'S WORD OF THE WEEK:  "Himming." (her word for telling us she wants to go swimming - often asked right before I need a nap). 

Ups and downs...

This past week has been pretty busy so far. Even this past weekend was busy. Our church crowd was up. My small group crowd was up - Scott, John, Eli, Stacey, Stacey (another one), J-mo, Kyle, Eric, Wendy, and all the respective young-uns were there. Changed things up this week by starting with a Bible study/discussion time, then we cooked up some ground-up cows on the grill. I was pretty happy the crowd was so big.

Our Monday night Guad gathering carried on this tradition. Except for J-mo and (my) Stacey, we had the same crowd together again, with the addition of David.

Lately, I've been 'feeling' a renewal of energy and a renewal of our community, and I hope that it continues. We've been praying long and hard for it, so I hope God's just beginning to answer.

Band practice was Tuesday night this week to accommodate several of the musicians. Steven, Jeremy, Eli, Eric, and I are on tap to play this week. The rehearsal went long (6:30 - 9:00), but it was an unusually 'fun' and definitely turned into a time of worship and fellowship. I want to see that kind of energy continue weekly AND carry into Sundays. As I've been saying a lot lately: "If we're not letting God work IN our lives, how can we expect him to work THROUGH us?" Sure, he can use us "in spite" of our lack of connection with him. But when we connect with him in our daily lives (our walk, our community, our own worship), the work he does through us is so powerful.

So, all in all, things are 'up.' J-mo's transitioning to a new job, so he's more fun to be around ;-). The community is re-strengthening. There's energy. Stacey's new job starts in a couple of weeks.

Still, the house in Birmingham has not sold yet. We've received one offer, but it was more of an insult than anything. So, if you're into prayer, pray that the house sells at a reasonable price so that we can let go of the 'weight' it lays on our shoulders.

KEY PHRASES: "Snack muffins." "A ministry for beer lovers? That would be a first for Decatur, Alabama." "Are you getting any?" (relax...it was a funny-sounding comment where Kyle asked Kailyn if she was getting water through a straw...I simply responded, "Gee, I guess you and J-mo hear that a lot.") Yes, must...go...repent...

So, all in al

On weathermen and "how I became a Navy seal"

I think it's funny that we've had severe storms on 3 of the past 4 days. These storms are not simple, short-lived storms, either, but storms that sweep in, dump ungodly amounts of rain, pack enough wind to blow trees down, have enough lightning to resemble camera flashes at the Super Bowl, and - each time - drops the temperature outside at least 10-15 degrees (if not more). It's only funny to me because the weathermen have been forecasting drier air and fewer storms for days. Heh... Yes, it's the same old joke - that weathermen can't predict the weather, but to be so far off - and all of them in consensus about the forecast - only proves one big point to me: God's world is infinitely complex, and figuring it all out is impossible, even though we can and do make strides in understanding many things.

What? Where did that weather bloggage come from?

Sorry about that.

I've been getting a grip on "Joint Operations" for the PC. Been taking my Navy Seal character (Ghost) on several training missions getting used to the game. Yes, folks, it's another time-robbing multiplayer game, but -so far- it looks good, plays good, and I still like it even though I suck at it. -sigh- Well, maybe I'll follow Kyle's logic and practice, practice, practice 3 hours a day so I can learn my instrument...er...gaming skilz. Um...maybe not.

Band practice is tonight instead of last night. Hopefully, all will go well with that and we'll have no post-work 'grumpiness' or impatience. At least the songs are easy, so things should go by quick.

KEY PHRASES: "Hmmm....you don't have a key, do you? Rats...I didn't think so." "Has ANYONE seen my pressure washer? (cough) Brian?" "When I'm not saving Indonesia from the rebels, I'm earning trophies racing a kart around a track with these kart-eating giant plants."

It's like going back to dial-up

...at least, that's how well blogger seems to be working today. Long load times, etc.

Anyway, on with the bloggage.

The holiday weekend went pretty well...though, I (as usual) at too much food at the cookout at Dave's on Sunday and the 'rib-fest' at Andy/Dixie's on Monday. Got a lot of sun and swim time, even with the random severe thunderstorm or two. Church went well... Stacey had a nice couple of days with her sister, who made it safely to Florida today. Kailyn had a GREAT time swimming. Blah, blah...all in all, a really good weekend.

Until...

Today. Day begins at 5:30 when I realize that our golden retriever has literally ripped the gate open to the dog kennel. -sigh- Worked all morning on fixing it, only to watch her tear it up again this evening as another big storm rolled through. That dog is quickly on her way to being turned into some sort of throw rug. (hehe). Oh, well, I've 'rednecked' the kennel so that it will stay shut tonight, and I'll work on a more permanent solution in the a.m.

Met up with the J-mo at Logan's for some grub. Food and service were better than last time, at least.

Now, it be raining...I be tired...and Kailyn be wanting some attention, so peace out...

KEY PHRASES: "I feel a 'but' coming on..." "It's so humid, I could take a bar of soap outside and lather up..." "Grumpiness is, on occasion, a genetic trait...hehe."

Act "20"

Were it not for the fun at band practice and the 'aftermath' last night, yesterday might have gone down as yet another day not worth blogging about, since I spent most of the day getting crap done around the house.

But...band practice WAS fun. This week, it's J-mo, Kyle, Jordan, Derek, and I hitting the stage. Derek's filling in for Heavy E again, who had to go out of town (that is, if you call driving down Spring Ave. with your kids in the car 'out of town'...hehe). The songs came together well, even though "America" was off to a rough start, but hopefully it will rock by Sunday ("America" by Chris Tomlin, not "America" as in "O beautiful for spacious skies...")

After band practice, we dared attend O'Charley's, which has plagued us with bad service and bad food in the past. The verdict: It was good last night. Nothing overcooked/undercooked. Took a little long for the food to get to us, but not even as long as it's taken at Logan's the past THREE visits. (I should be a restaurant critic as much as I talk about it...).

Had fun making fun of Jordan, making fun of each other, eating, and all of us trying our best to act at least 20 years old. Alas, we all acted more like we were 12. Still, it was fun...Kailyn laughed at our stupidity...so did our waitress. Only sad moment was when the waitress slid Kailyn out into the aisle so she wouldn't splatter grease from Stacey's fajitas on her. Kailyn looked puzzled, then just started crying...it was pitiful.

By the way, there were at least 4 times where the staff had to sing Happy Birthday to someone. Good grief.

FUNNY STUFF:

WAITRESS: "Oh, she's ticklish." (referring to Kailyn)
J-Mo: "I'm ticklish, too."
WAITRESS: "I'm married."

(As Jordan scoots 'away' from Jonathan):
ME: "Yeah, sit closer to Kyle. He's safe."
(she leans against Kyle)
KYLE: "Cooties!"

J-MO: (to waitress) "Jordan's here as part of our Big Brother/Big Sister program."
WAITRESS: "Oh, does she ride the short bus to school?"

(Blonde moment at band practice):
JORDAN: "I think your microphone just went dead."
ME: "No, it's turned on."
JORDAN: "Well, I can't hear it anymore."
J-MO: "Is your volume turned up?"
(she goes to check, then giggles...)
JORDAN: "Ooops...I thought I was turning it up..." (she'd actually been turning it down)

GROUP QUESTION: "So, Kyle, are you sure this girl he's 'dating' actually exists? Have you ever met her?
KYLE: Well, no...she never got out of the truck."