Honesty

I can honestly tell you that I have no idea what the coming year is going to look like. This is "flying by the seat of my pants" in action.

I guess we'll see.

Here's hoping for goodness.

-b

Plastic Windows and Future Felons

Jim has an extra car which he plans to sell now that he has a new one. It has been parked in front of my house for several weeks. It seemed in less danger here than in his apartment complex, we reasoned.

Last week before I went home for Christmas, it was egged. Okay.

This morning when I got up and went out to go the gym, the back window (yes, the most expensive one to replace) had been busted out and the side mirror was cracked.

I've spent the last three hours chatting with police, cleaning up glass and installing a nice, new plastic window on the car. Considering these vandalizings have all happened since the future felons have been on winter break, it seems most reasonable to assume that the same future felons who broke the community mailbox and who threw my neighbor's yard lights into the street while on fall break are, once again, running wild at night.

The bad part is that they're getting braver.

And now, it is all I can do to NOT take the garbage bag full of glass shards up to the apartment complex at the end of the street and dump half of it across the entrance and the other half across the exit. ...but that would be wrong.

-b

David

Today is David's birthday. He's been holding at "30-something" in feigned ignorance ("I really don't know how old I am.") since I've known him.

Well played, my friend. Well played.

-b

Home

Leaving home (West Virginia, where I grew up and where my parents are) to come back here (Tennessee, where I've lived for more than 10 years) gets harder every time.

I'm reading a book and in it one of the characters says that when we are born, there is a map of home on our hearts and no matter where go in life, the heart can always take us back.

I think that's true.

-b

The Letter

Do you all have people in your lives who really aren't interesting, but they send you those printed out generic page long letters about themselves every Christmas? I have one. I haven't seen this person in years...I honestly don't recall the last time, but if I had to guess I'd say it was around 15-20 years ago. I never really knew this person very well, either. And, so the fact that I get this weird letter at Christmas every year makes me assume that either a) they haven't updated their Christmas card list or b) they don't have any friends, but still have this strange need to send a letter. After fifteen plus years of this, though, I'm tempted to assume the latter.

Let me make my point: if the ONLY thing you have to tell me is that you belong to a Bible study on Thursday nights, then skip the letter. Most everyone I know is involved in a Bible study of some sort. It's not a point of interest. Did you travel? Okay. How is your health? Okay. Do you have something unusually interesting to share (new baby, new marriage, sickness, health, etc.)? Okay.

But, if all you have is a Bible study, then may I suggest finding a nice card, signing your name and letting it be.

Just saying...

-b

Strange Way vs. Joseph

I finally made it home. Pete was on alert all night at the hotel (translation: we didn't sleep much at all) so I got up about 6 A.M. and drove on home. All of us who had been stranded in the ice storm were obvious this morning as we were all driving 50-60 while the people who were clearly not in it last night were flying by us. Funny.

I'm sitting here now trying to find something to sing for my parent's church tonight. Going home and enjoying the service anonymously is generally not possible, so every time I happen to be here when there is a church service, I have to panic and try to find words to something to sing. I realize that I write songs that we hear on the radio, but that doesn't mean I know the words to them without the laptop or my notebook. Someone once said that if you know the words to your songs, then you're not writing enough. Works for me.

I'd really like to do this song I've only heard once. The last time I wrote with Tony Wood he played me a new song he'd written called, "Joseph." It may in time, Dave Clark fears, take over the spot that "Strange Way to Save the World," has held for the last 80 years.

I thought about emailing Tony and asking him to send me the song today, but I didn't want to bother him on Christmas Eve. And so, here I am on the internet copying down the words to "Strange Way to Save the World." Again.

Maybe "Joseph" will happen next year.

-b

Ice Storm and Me

I'm drinking a CapriSun right now. It is Wild Cherry. This is the best thing about my day; perhaps, the only good thing about this day.

I left home in Nashville around eleven A.M. I was in Lexington by 2:00 P.M., right on time. I had a few moments as I was on the highway nearing Lexington when the car shifted. The first two times I thought, "Wow, the wind sure is strong today." I then noticed the trees weren't blowing and so I thought I was hydroplaning. But, it really wasn't raining hard enough for that. The fourth time it happened, I realized that every time it had just happened, I had been under an overpass. It was ice. The road was freezing.

By the time I made it to Lexington, I was starting to think I was crazy. No one else seemed to be affected. But, by the time I stopped just before the I-64 on ramp, I had almost been hit by two other vehicles who were sliding around, and I knew it wasn't just me. The overpass for I-75 was shut down both ways by the time I made it under on I-64 and I was stopped just a few miles past that. For the next 6 1/2 hours, I inched and slid and sped up and slowed down and prayed. My how I prayed. I didn't even cry till I was 5 hours into it. I was kind of proud of that. But, a quick weeping is just what is required every now and then. Once I got it out, I was fine. And, just after I cried, they shut down my side of I-64. I kind of wonder if my superpowers didn't make that happen.

As we sat on the highway, Pete (the dog) had to get out. I thought that would be a good time to see how slick the road was. So, in the dark night midst the sea of parked cars and 18 wheelers, Pete and I got out. I didn't fall, but Pete enjoyed pulling me nonetheless. I planted my feet and he pulled me around. Yes, I'm just here to entertain, gang. Anyway, that's when the truck driver who had been behind me for hours told me to put my right wheels in the grade on the side of the road. Let me tell you, that was an excellent idea.

Jim is at home and so he got on the internet to find me a room. He was able to find a place in Grayson, KY. I only had to make it 17 more miles at that point. Hours later, I'm here at the hotel with a headache the size of Montana. It took me 6 1/2 hours to drive what would normally take 1 1/2 hours.

I've never been caught in an ice storm like this. I always imagined it would be awful. I grew up dealing with snow and I'm not afraid of it, but ice is just a different story. At one point in the trip when I really wasn't sure if I was going to be able to pull this off, I programmed in my phone the word "Emergency Numbers" and listed them. But, the worst part of all of it and the part that made it the worst was that if something happened to me, then no one would be able to take care of Pete. Pete is the most nervous dog of all time ("Safety First" is his life motto) and no one could've caught him if he got loose.

And, then, I started to think about how my life was really in danger and I was more worried about my dog and getting the Christmas presents to my family. ...weird.

But, to beat it all? My debit card is lost or stolen. Happy times.

Here's to a much merrier day tomorrow. May your day be filled with Wild Cherry CapriSuns...without ice.

-b

Signs

I guess you all have figured out by now that I'm thinking about adding a Blackberry Storm or an iPhone to the family. I'm trying not to make impromptu emotional decisions these days and so I keep filling my cart on both websites and then emptying it before I get to the "confirm order" page.

My Verizon contract is officially up on April 2, 2009. If I can wait, which I can, then I could switch to AT&T and get an iPhone without having to pay the $175 early termination fee. Incentive. (I'm not a MAC person, by the way.) But, if I want a Storm, then Verizon has given me the chance to take $100 off the price rather than the $50 promotional discount if I'll call this certain number (I HATE calling Verizon). Which one has the better calendar and contact set-up and which one would be cheaper ultimately? Those are my only real questions. I'm leaning toward the storm just because Blackberry's typically are geared toward business and are proven in that realm, but I think the iPhone would be cheaper monthly.

Today, however, I thought providence had come when Verizon sent me an email telling me that if would enter this certain promotional code, I could order the Storm for the lower price via internet. I don't have to call and sit on the phone for hours? OK. I'm in. So, I went to the site, filled my shopping cart and entered the promotional code. You know what? I got an error--"Criteria not met for promotional code. Discount not applied." What? I've gotten snail mail and email telling me the promotional code DOES apply to me. So, now I have to ask myself if THAT was providence?

Sigh...

Maybe the paper book really is the way to go, afterall.

I need a sign.

-b

Christmas Cards

...are not happening this year. I normally make my cards and, frankly, it takes a while. Today, I mourned the dream and moved on.

-b

Crazy

I have no problems telling you I'm weird. I would guess my official diagnosis in these particular times would be "anxiety." For a while now, and I'm talking several years, I haven't been able to keep a paper calendar/date book. I love them, though. I would trade all of my technology for the ability to carry around a cool journal-type date book. Every time I go into Borders, I go to the section of the store which houses all of those beautiful books and I pick the one I would like to carry for the rest of the year. Then, I carry it around the store with me while I browse the other offerings until finally, I take the date book back and replace it on the shelf for someone else to buy. Someone who will actually use it.

I had to put the paper date books away around the time the microwave started bothering me. I used to stand in front of the microwave and watch the timer as my gourmet meals were cooking (yes, gourmet--leave me alone) and get depressed as the time disappeared. I would think, "I just wasted 3:30 of my life standing in front of a microwave," and then really regret it. I began to fully internalize the reality that I was literally watching my life tick away while doing nothing. So, like the date book, I had to give up the microwave for being too depressing. ...wait, I didn't actually give it up, I just started leaving the kitchen while it worked. Let's not get too crazy here.

The date book was the same. I would fill up a months worth of activities and plans in the pages and when I looked at the monthly calendar, it made my life feel too small. I'd think, "Well, there it is. All on the page. Turn the page and it's all gone." See? Crazy. ...doesn't "anxiety" sound much nicer?

So, anyway, here we are all this time later and I really hadn't thought about this for a while. I was at dinner on Thursday night with some newer friends and I was telling them about it. I can do nothing if not laugh at myself, gang. Today, I'm thinking I've grown up enough to handle the date book. Maybe I'll grab one while I'm in Borders. Of course, I'm probably going to get a Blackberry Storm or an iPhone very soon to handle all my schedule--I do love me some technology--and the date book won't get used, but I still think maybe I should face the neurosis just to see if it is still there.

I'm not, however, going to start watching the microwave again.

-b

Welcome

...to our new home. It's going to take some getting used to and I have lots to do, but after weeks of being fed up with spaces.live and then snooping about, I think this is where we're going to be, for now, anyway.

So, as I start to get things organized and added, you'll probably see some changes, but I think we'll all be much happier. For you, commenting will be simpler and posting will be simpler for me.

Okay, now I'm off to do something that will pay me...no offense.

-b