Learning

Today's Set
Arise (Baloche) w/ loop intro
I've Found Jesus (Smith)
My Redeemer Lives (Hillsong)
Madly (Fee)
How Great is Our God (Tomlin and his crew)
I Am Glad (Wright)


Service started good. Couldn't hear the loop very good, but I think it went okay. I've Found Jesus was amazing - called an audible and did another pass through V and C. I lost them on Madly, though. It was new, and it just didn't work bumped up against My Redeemer Lives. I thought I could talk a transition, but right before we ended, I got a giant drop of sweat in my eye. That hurts, man.

How Great to I Am Glad is normally an awesome connection, but the people just didn't go with us. I'd like to keep those first four upbeat, but then Clay comes up for prayer....... got to figure that out!

Nugget Day

We all woke up around 6:30. When I first got up, I was completely disoriented. In fact, I thought it was a work day. It wasn't until I made to Jonah's room that I realized it was Saturday. Awesome.

Jonah and K fell back asleep on the couch and I went back to be. Around 8, I dreamed I was spanking Jonah and he was screaming. Then I realized he actually was screaming. In reality, he was in timeout. I came in, took over so Krist could grab some more sleep. I dozed on the couch while he watched one of those ridiculous cartoons on the WB. Japanimation junk.

Once we were all awake, we got ready. Jonah and I picked up Robert and Ashlin and went to All Slides, while Krist and Shelly went shopping. It was ridiculously hot, so we all went for ice cream after. Took Rob and Ashlin back to the Fullens and went home for a little lunch. Krist got home around 1:30 and had Jonah down for nap by 2. I walked on the treadmill (very hot and sweaty) to get ready for the nugget eating-constest for OSM.

And then, there were nuggets.
When all was said and done, Clay and I (along w/ recent addition, Nolan) ate 130 nuggets in about 12 minutes. We eventually removed ourselves from the race. I had never believed we would win. I was proud of our effort.

After that, drove out to Linda's for a Steph and Nick's birthday, then drove to the Fullens for Jason's 30th birthday party. Jason has a nice house - very roomy. Except when there are 17,000 people there. It was loud and fun and exhausting.

So we're home, Jonah is in bed and I'm psyching up for a little mo' treadmill. (The nuggets will not beat me!)

___________________ (insert title here)

Woke up at 7:15, which is a little late. I stayed up extra late watching the last episode of LOST. Krist watched most of it in real time, then I got the tape and did about 50 minutes of it while I walked on the treadmill. A lady at work also passed me a tape of the 24 finale. I'm not a die-hard fan of 24, but spy stuff is so cool, I had to watch it.

Threw on my new shirt and khakis (thank you to my dear wife.) Work was what it is. No big news. Krist worked too, so Jonah was at my grandparents for a few hours. At lunch, I drove out there and ate a couple of grilled chicken sandwiches. Granny had some homemade cookies, so I devoured one.

Swung by the church on the way back to work. Checked email and updated a few songs on CCLI. Did another 4 and 1/2 hours for the County, then went home. When I got back, Krist said we were grilling chicken over at Carol's. I grabbed a shower and we all drove over. Carol had also made a giant cake with white icing, but I was strong and didn't eat any.

Now I'm at the church preparing for rehearsal. Everybody should get here somewhere around 8. This is a weird week because Mark is out. Romack is playing which is always super fun for me. After leaving Carol's, I went back home to grab a CD for tonight. Of course, there was a message on the answering machine from Adam saying that he couldn't make it.

Surprise, surprise.

So, I go now to prepare the stage for rocking.

Night!

What Bugs Me About the Church #1

Our church has a thing called the SPR. It's the "Staff Parish Relations" committee. Essentially, they're job is to hire and fire employees of the church. In effect, they are all my boss. They also rate job performance and make recommendations regarding financial support of specific staff members.

Clay calls today and tells me that the SPR has created a new Mentor. I've been assigned a mentor. This mentor is going to be a support for me. He will be the place where I can go with any concerns or particular problems I might have. The Mentor program is also supposed to better relationships because the Mentor/Mentee relationship is supposed to be brand new - someone I don't really know.

Couple of problems with that....

1. Fellowship is important. Of course, I need to constantly form new relationships and work hard to support my brothers and sisters in Christ. But is the Mentor Program the place for that? How do I know my problems will be taken seriously? What's my mentor's view of worship? What kind of vision does my mentor have for the church music department? And what happens if I find out his view and my view are at complete odds?

2. In truth, I think that the SPR is already supposed to serve the role of Mentor. They should help me with problems. They should manage staff/parish relations.

Seems like an idea that wastes time and may cause more problems than solutions.

Life Among the Lufkin

Monday morning after a weekend of gigging is always such a horrible thing. Jonah woke us up around 6:30. It took me about 40 seconds to remember where I was. He and Krist fell back asleep on the couch and I slept until around 7:15. Ironed clothes, woke them up (to give me a ride) and made to work at 8 on-the-dot.

Dull morning. Krist and I tried to decided if I'm going to try to go to Jonah's school program tomorrow. She also has a Houston trip next week and we were thinking on whether or not I should be the guest driver.

They picked me up (late) for lunch and we ran home. Threw some corn dogs in the oven and drank the rest of Diet Pepsi Wild Cherry - don't knock it til' you've tried it! Also partook of a 3 Musketeers with a tall glass of icy-cold milk.

Back to work. Boring.

Krist and Jonah picked me up at 5. In the car, I said,
"So when are we watching Episode III?"

Krist answered,
"Tonight!"

So we got home, ate, gave Jonah a bath and then took him over to Carol's. Luckily we made it just in time for the previews.

Should it bother me that my favorite part of watching Episode III was the trailer for The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe?

Go Time

Woke up a little after 6. Decided to stay up since I didn't have an alarm clock. Ate some toast and watched TV. Heard Rob waking up down the hall, but didn't bother him. Ashlin woke up about 7 and Jonah shortly thereafter.

Rob and I start getting ready when Kristen realizes that she didn't pack any dress shoes for me. Luckily, Robert had an extra pair.

Ran over to the church to double-check Powerpoint, sound checked a bit and did the early service. I didn't feel that great about initially, but afterwards we got a lot of compliments, so apparently something worked. Robert did a great job. I hadn't heard him preach in awhile until the retreat, but he's doing a great job and finding a very specific voice.

After first service, walked back over to the Conn house to help pack up. Loaded the car, then drove back to the church for second service. More people, more energy, more visible response. "I Am Glad" went swimmingly. I think it was a good move for the church. I think it provided a time of more relevant expression for the young, yet it still respected the tradition of old.

After that, did the lunch thing with the Conn's and all the Seniors. Got in the car, made a quick stop at Braum's for a little traveling treat and went on our way.

Ride was good. Jonah fell asleep in Athens and pretty much stayed that way until Lufkin. Closer to home, he was in an out of consciousness, but it was definitely not awake.

Collapsed at home, hung out, then drove over to Carol's. Jonah just got in bed and I'm gearing up for some treadmill and the conclusion of CSI's episode from Thursday night. (Finale) Krist is catching up on Episode II so we can go catch Sith sometime this week. Man, Episode II was bad.

Gigging? Awesome.
Gigging AND having a full-time job? Suck fest.

Sanging

Jonah woke up at 6:30. I ran to the kitchen for some milk hoping he and K would get some more sleep. I got up and hit the laptop to make some track notes for the recording stuff I'm doing. Heard Jonah crying, went back in and took him so Kristen could sleep. We played on Rob's computer, watched cartoons and just hung out until around 7:30. After that, everybody started waking up.

Showered and changed, then Rob and I headed over to the church to setup. The setup was simple and it was so much fun to play w/ Rob again. My cold is really freaking out my voice, but the Father is in control, so I'm good!

We soundchecked and rehearsed until around 11, then walked back over to the Conn's. Shelly put Claire down for a nap but it didn't take so we all headed out to a Mexican food place called Miguelito's. Very good.

Came home, put Claire back in bed, then hooked up the water sprinkler and the kiddie pool for Jonah and Ashlin. Robert and I sat outside and tried to avoid getting soaked while the kid's exhausted themselves in the balmy North Texas afternoon.

Brought the kids in for a nap. I took a few aspirin and did the same. Slept about 45 minutes and woke up feeling even worse. We laid around, let everybody wake up, then we headed to town for a little shopping.

I was useless, man. We were actually looking for clothes for me, but I was completely out of it. After a couple of stores, I called it off and we went to eat. Chili's. Like No Place Else. Or something like that.

Drove home. Laid around some more. I formatted my projection for in the morning while the kids watched some TV to calm down.

Washed the kids off, threw them in the bed. Jonah took a while getting to sleep again, but finally went to sleep around 10.

Watched a little TV - now off to bed!

The Plan that Wasn't

This is the weekend of Robert's Senior Sunday service where I'm leading worship. The original plan was to leave tomorrow (Saturday) at around 8am. In accordance with this, plans were also made to attend Star Wars Episode III, Revenge of the Sith.
Somewhere in the middle of the day, Krist threw the idea of leaving right after work and zipping up to Sanger. That would give us a full day to have fun w/ the Conn's and make use of the lighter traffic setup of evening travel. All was good. Then Clay called.
Every screw-up in my life starts with that phrase - "then Clay called."
Somebody had requested that we video the Senior Sunday service back home. Easy solution - take a camera, turn it on. Easy right? Not at FMC.
No, no. Then the worship of Lufkin's Elite class wouldn't be complete. No, we need to activate cameras and utilize the auxilliary sound board and turn on the switcher. One problem.
I'm the only one who knows how to do that.
So Clay demands that I come right after work and hook it for him. I call Kristen. She starts crying and screaming that the church is stealing my soul and that Clay Walker has been a leech on my talent and spirit since way back at the Union. (Cult)

Ran by the church to hook up junk. Took longer than I thought, but I least I got the wireless mics hooked in to the aux board. Krist and Jonah showed up and we took off. Right around Central I called my mom and told her we were heading out. She asked me to stop by so she could give me money. How could I refuse?

The drive was good. Jonah was great. We ate McDonald's in Jacksonville. (Why the heck isn't there a Burger King in Jacksonville?) Stopped somewhere short of Dallas for snack.....
Jonah - donut
Kristen - Kudos
Todd - granola bars and diet vanilla coke (my new favorite)

Got to Sanger just before 10. Jonah played in the living room for a bit to wind down, then he took his bath. After PJ's and bath and a lot of whining to "go home" by Jonah, the Wrights turned in about midnight.

That's what I like about Tuesday

Went to bed early again. Not as early - had to change guitar strings. (Thanks, Rob!) All said and done, crashed at around 12. Jonah woke me up at 7 this morning wanting to play. Of course, I couldn't. We all know what happened then - F.I.T.

Got to work around 8. Somebody had brought donuts. Believe it or not, I resisted. Pretty dull morning. I called Clay about 10 to see if he was up for lunch. Never heard back so I thought I'd swing by the church. On my way out I asked Chad Jackson (co-worker and college worship guy at First Assembly) if wanted to go. I got to the church and Clay couldn't make it so Chad and I ate Del Rio. Yummy.

Back to work for more of the same old. Toward the end of the afternoon, we started to load files into the shelves. I stayed up front and did 10,000 marriage license.

Somewhere in the day, I was roped into a Tuesday night practice w/ our youth band for Senior Sunday. I was mad - they tried to say it was my call, but in the end they pretty much told me what to do. I hate youth ministry.

After work, went to church council meeting then shot home for a few minutes. Ate 2 corn dogs, played a game of Hungry Hungry Hippos, then went back to church for the practice. I'm still there.

Hopefully, I'll be home by 9.

That's what I like about Monday...

Went to bed crazy early last night - like 10:45. I was mega-tired. Woke up around 7:15, activated the old "snooze" feature and woke up 9 minutes later. Ironed clothes, jumped in the shower, grabbed a piece of toast and hit the road w/ one Mr. Kid Kraddick.

Work was pretty dull. Everybody else wore jeans today - apparently on Friday, the boss said we could wear jeans because we'll soon be loading the files into the new shelf system. So I was the only one w/ khakis. Woe is me.

Clay called around 11:30 to invite me to lunch w/ the new OSM interns, but I was scheduled for a home lunch. Came home, played w/ Jonah then warmed up some of Krist's homemade pizza. Dang. After lunch played some more, which turned into a Jonah-fit which then resulted in a spanking. It's no so much a spanking as it is me trying to strike a flailing screaming kicking body as it writhes speedily all over the floor. It's almost funny.

Back to work. Krist and Jonah came by to let me sign a check, then we all walked over to Dad's office. Toward the end of the day, the shelf guys came and told us that we unloaded the wrong wall last week. So Chad and I moved 7 filing cabinets (full of stuff) into the office. Sweaty work.

Came home and ate a snack, then Jonah wanted a bike ride. We did about half-a-mile w/ a stop at Sugar's. Then he rode his bike while Krist went to town. After the second bike, we had small water gun fight until Kristen got home.

I rinsed off Kristen's car (car-wash broke in mid program on her, so she had a soapy ride.) Then Jonah and I came in and we all had grilled chicken sandwiches. Around 8, we all drove over to Target and got Jonah "Hungry Hungry Hippos." We came home, put it together, stuck eyes on the hippos and started playing. It was fun - we're starting to play more real games w/ Jonah now - so he can realize that he actually doesn't win everything.

Bathed Jonah, updated the blog. Now debating whether or not to ride the bike, walk on the treadmill, change guitar strings or consume and entire box of Mrs. Freshley's Cupcakes. Tough decision.

Additonal note - my Roland multi-track is working. Romack is working on a loop for "Glorify," which I like to spend a little time on. I'd also like to do up "The Cross of Christ" just for kicks.

Night, night everybody!

Da' Blogging Neva' Stops!

Today's Set
Every Move (Ruis)
Praise the Lord (King)
Praise Adonai (Baloche)
How Great is Our God (Tomlin)
Give Thanks (Moen?)
We Fall Down (Mr. Tomlin)

I hadn't planned on an early morning practice, but one happened anyway. "How Great" was received well. I probably would have enjoyed the service a bit more if I had been more awake, but I was plain ole exhausted.

We went to Carol's for lunch. (Roast, rolls, sweet tea, and get this - bowl of Vanilla Ice Cream w/ a Little Debbie "Zebra Cake" dropped in. Holy moly.)

Hung out there and watched Star Wars Episode I. Got home and put Jonah to bed. Rode my bike, came home and showered then went to the church for youth. Kyle did a good job on drums. Came home from church to find Krist and Jonah gone so I snacked on the complimentary Oreos from the hotel and a giant Fudge Round. Yeah, I'll be on the treadmill tonight!

Walked over to Carol's, picked up Jonah and Kristen and we ran to Blockbuster to return a movie. We came back home, threw the kid in the tub and just got him in bed. Kristen is watching "Entrapment." Catherine Zeta, man.

I'm gonna' go walk and then hit the bed. I'm as tired as can be...

Identity Theft Retreat Day 2

Got the wake-up call at 7:15, then the alarm went off at 7:25 (a back-up alarm – if I had 2 or 3 more, I could be like Jason and Rachel.)

We were going to try to make it to breakfast at the camp but it didn’t happen. Took a lukewarm shower (not Justin’s fault) then threw on some clothes. Packed our stuff and headed out of Lewisville. Stopped for a Chick-Fil-A biscuit and listened to Stephen Curtis’ “All Things New” record as we drove. Got to the camp just in time for the morning set.

Typical second day/first set – everybody’s sleepy and a little lethargic. We did run “I Am Glad” into “How Great is Our God,” which went well.

Robert did a good lesson and then we hung out. I called Krist and then snacked on a couple of granola bars. Shelly came by and asked us what we wanted to do for lunch. Hot dogs are tempting and all, but we opted for Chili’s.

We went to the mall, walked around let everybody stare at us with the dog. It was cool. They thought I was a trainer or something.

Chili’s was good. Chicken Crispers – the greasiest meal ever. I love grease.

Took a long lunch then headed back to the camp. Got back about 2 and ran the set through with Justin. He did a great job all weekend.

Last session was good. Good worship, good lesson. As we wrapped up, Rob decided he would go ahead and back me up on percussion next week at FBC Sanger's Senior Sunday.

Justin and I headed out around 4:50pm. Of course, the drive home is never as exciting as the drive to the gig, so we were both a bit more quiet. We listened to some more music, stopped in Jacksonville for a bathroom break and some dinner and shot home.

All said and done, home by 9:15.

Identity Theft Retreat Day 1

We got up around 7:00am. Jonah was all fired up to play Spider-Man, so I put his Spidey gloves on for him. Around 7:50, I called in “sick,” and started getting ready.

Got ready pretty quick, then helped Krist move Jonah’s car seat to my car. Not too fun – had to endure the better-half’s looks of disgust as she cleaned out the back seat. It was pretty bad back there.

Picked up Justin around 9:35 and we hit the road. Made great time. Stopped in Athens to fill up, then in Kaufman for buffet at Pizza Hut. Everybody in there seemed really surprised at Larry (Justin’s guide dog.) That dog rode the whole way in the back seat and never had any problems – very cool. One side story, the waitress from Pizza Hut brought us our ticket for around $13. I had already decided to buy Justin’s meal. We were wrapping up when the girl comes back w/ another ticket. She takes the original one and gives me a new one.

$5.40.

I’m assuming this was some sort of gesture for Justin and Larry. (Sure, make the guy who can see pay for his!) Actually, I think it was a kind gesture for all because I didn’t even get charged for a drink. I was very impressed by it. It’s nice to see kindness now and again.

We listened to a lot of music, mostly me skimming through new CD’s I’ve received recently. Passion, Gadsby Project, United Live. Hit Dallas about 45 minutes after lunch and shot to Denton. Got Robert on the phone as he was headed to meet us. I missed a turn, but other than that, we found it great.

Setup went okay. Pandiero needed some tweaking, but we got it to sound pretty good. Did a quick run-through, punched the song texts into Powerpoint, then changed shirts, washed my face and brushed my teeth.

First set went okay. Justin was a bit nervous about the pand kit, but the set still went over great. The kids were singing on songs I know they had never heard before. Mainly because I wrote them.

Took a small group break where Justin and I talked through the “concert” portion for 10pm. Punched in more song lyrics and got ready. We did a bunch of fun stuff. My song, “Lord of Live” seem to work with the kids.

All in all wrapped up shortly after 11. We followed Robert back into Lewisville (where our hotel is) and ate at IHOP. I think it was probably the first time any of us actually sat down and let our minds stop working. It was fun. Got to the hotel a little after 12. I ran through the channels to see what was on. Justin wanted to watch dirty movies, but I said no way. I am a worship leader for crying out loud.

Justin collapsed into bed and was asleep quickly due to a combination of a very long day and some very powerful cough medicine. I showered, updated the blog and got in bed around 1:45am. Which is right now.

Wimberesque

There's a story that John Wimber (founder of the Vineyard church) tells. He was on the pastoral staff at a church and was terribly unhappy.

Wimber says that suddenly the question was before him....

"If you didn't work here, would you go to this church?"

I'm not going to sugar-coat it. That's EXACTLY where Krist and I are with First Methodist right now. Now, I know that my friend and co-worker Clay will read this and call me and do all he can to cheer up sad little Todd so that nothing terrible happens to the contemporary service.

So, I'm opening myself up....what are your thoughts on this?

Should I work at a church that I wouldn't attend?

I Get Tired of Writing Titles

Monday 5/9/05

Slept a little late, but it was cool. We got to wear jeans today. (My life is so sad.) So I threw on yesterday morning's shirt (wrinkle-resist, baby) and my best jeans and headed to work.

Morning was boring. Spent most of it typing in birth indexes. Not too exciting for anybody else. In fact, it's not very exciting for me either.

Came home for lunch. Played w/ Jonah and his Star Wars action figures. Then decided to make myself a Dagwich. You remember the Dagwood comic? How we would make that massive sandwich w/ multiple breads, meats and other goodies? Well, I gave it a shot. Of course, since I only eat meat, bread and cheese, it wasn't nearly as impressive. Here's how it broke down..

Bread
Cheese
Meat
Bread
Meat
Cheese
Bread

Very filling. Then went back to work for more boredom. One thing did happen, though - a redneck pulled out her purse to show her ID.

And a roach crawled out. Then she squashed it with her hand. Gross.

Krist and Jonah and I ran to Target to see if pictures were back, then ran to Blockbuster for "National Treasure." Then we shot down to Little Ceasars for a large pepperoni. $5. Can you believe that? Five bucks?

Came home, put Jonah to bed, then watched a bit of the movie. I had a ton of stuff to do, but crashed beside Krist instead.

There's my day. Kinda boring, huh?

.........................

May 8, 2005
Today's Set
O Come Let Us Adore Him (Public)
Rejoice (Foote)
Sing to the King (Foote)
All the Earth Will Sing Your Praises (Baloche)
Step by Step (Beaker)
Lay it Down (Lubben)

You know, there are some days when you look back at your band and think,

"We're finally getting this."

Today was one of those days. We'll never get hired by Integrity. We'll never be able to play all the top 40 hits of CCM radio. We'll probably never make a live worship CD w/ hundreds of adoring fans out in the crowd.

But every so often, we get it. We play w/ some sort of unified purpose. I have to give very few cues and and the songs just flow from us. Cool.

After the service went to Granny's for Mother's Day Lunch. Sandwiches. Yeah. It was weird. But we did have Blue Bell Vanilla w/ crushed butterfinger topping. Mama mia.

Came home put Jonah down for a little nap and laid down myself. I slept for about an hour and half as East Texas rain fell pittering/pattering on my roof.

Woke up, ran to the store. Went by Carol's, came home, put the boy to bed. Krist and I talked for a bit, then I did about thirty minutes on the treadmill watching "Tombstone."

That movie is completely ridiculous and stupid.
So why do I like it so much?

This Seems Familiar Somehow

Saturday 5/7/95
You know, when you blog for five days straight, it's a little weird when you have to stop for awhile. Clay took "my" laptop this week for a UM Army scouting trip so I was completely disconnected from anything and everything worth living for - the Internet.

A lot has happened this week, nothing earth shattering, mind you. But I'm not about to try to record the whole weeks worth of events. I've been busy. There. I said it.

I'm about to practice w/ Romack on his percussion kit for the retreat next weekend.

My writing is driving me crazy. I've been playing new stuff for some folks and while almost all of them seem to like it, none of it is really impressing me. One time when Kristen and I were talking about a particular worship song, ("Jesus, You Alone" by Tim Hughes,) she said that she loved it because it expressed exactly what she would want to say to God. That's the kind of stuff I want to write.

Tuesday, Bloody Tuesday

Tuesday 5/3/05
Well, the scale was the same, which is always good. You know, when I get good number on there I am always afraid there's been some sort of microchip malfunction and I really haven't lost any. So if the next day looks good, I'm happy!

Slept late, ironed clothes like a madman. I had Krist throw some bread in the toaster for me while I got ready. Scarfed toast, drove fast, listed to Kid Kraddick. (Don't know how to spell that, by the way.)

Work was alright. I'm still feeling bad, but I can't really call in because I'll be calling next Friday to head to Rob's retreat. Think I wrote a chorus for one of my songs called "You Gave Sight." I've still gotta' try it out.

Went to the church for lunch. There was tons of pizza in the fridge from Sunday night's OSM. So I ate pizza and emailed the senior pastor about our confirmand service, Rob with some more info on the retreat and Justin Romack to schedule practice for the retreat.

Back to the office for another challenging day serving the public. No freaks, losers or rednecks today. Kinda' slow in county government.

Went home (over to mom-in-laws.) Picked up family, drove to the house. Jonah and I got ready for the playground where we had a blast until.....

I jumped off my swing and he kept swinging on his. Not a problem, we do it a lot, except this time my swing went sailing into his path. He missed it on the way up but nailed it coming back down. This thing took a chunk out of his head, man. He went frikkin' nuts. I grabbed him up and found it soon enough by the trail of blood streaming down his head. We ran to the the bathroom of the gymn where he got really freaked out by all the blood on ME.

I got him calmed down enough to understand the word ICEE. An ICEE makes everything better, right? Right.
We get home, clean him up and throw him in the tub. He wants his ICEE, so we give it to him. Then he pours hot bubbly water in it which completely destroys the thing. So now he didn't even get to drink 1/4 of the thing and it's gone. Another fit.

He ate popsicle and then we did the bed thing. He was out pretty quick. I made a sandwich and watched taped Conan on the little TV in our room. My plan was to do some walking, but I still feel bad. So, I skipped the walking to do my other chore for the day - setlists.

So I drove up to the church and put my set online. Tried my new chorus of "You Gave Sight." Blah. Guess I'm not as good as I thought. About to hit the sack. Later.

Back to Work

Monday 5/2/05
Woke up about 7. Pretty pumped because the scale in the bathroom has some good news for me. I'm not going to go into detail, let's just say the last few days of treadmilling finally paid off a bit!

Ironed my clothes, kissed the fam and headed back to the Clerk's Office.

It was okay. I was a bit groggy. (I think I'm fighting off some mutation of the sickness that took over Kristen's life a few days ago.) The funniest part of the morning was this redneck couple getting a marriage license. A lady came who knew this guy and they started up a conversation about the lady's grandaughter. The lady said "She weights eighteen pounds," but the guy thought she said "she weighed eighteen pounds," so responded loudly with

"at birth?"

Here's something to think about - every met a quiet redneck? Me either.

I made it to lunchtime, then headed home for a sandwich. Clay came by to pick up the youth laptop. He's doing site inspection for UM Army this summer. Krist and Jonah took me back to work by way of Chick-Fil-A for fries and DP for Kristen and Icedream for Jonah.

Went back to work for an uneventful afternoon. Krist picked me up and took me back to her mom's where Jonah was. I didn't have my afternoon snack so I was frickin' starved. Luckily mom-in-law had some awesome ham cooked. Ham sandwich, man. Nothing like it. I had done pretty good on the no-sugar thing, but I was still starving, so I inhaled a couple of Pop Tarts.

Jonah and I went home and changed, then headed over to the playground at church. I got on the swings and tried to the jumping off thing - you know how we used to sky high on a swing and then just sail off of it? Well, I did it. Not as high as I used to, but you know what, it's still fun!

Came home and threw Jonah in the bath. Krist gave me a haircut. I showered and then we put Jonah to bed. I went for a run around the hood then came home for another shower. I probably should have worked on setlists or something, but instead, I fell asleep w/ my wife. Not something I do that often, but it's pretty nice.

Sunday - the busiest day of the week

Today's Set
Lifted Hands (Keyes)
Rejoice (Foote)
Great and Glorious (Smith)
King of Mercy (Wright)
Here I Am (Bleeker)

The set was good - band did a great job, but the crowd was dead. Didn't hang around long after church. Headed home, ate a sandwich, then took Jonah's to my grandparents.

Then, Krist and I went to a funeral for her cousin. Kristen was still running fever, but felt obligated to go, so we did. The service was good, but the musical selection was very interesting. Apparently, her cousin Patrick had requested that the song be played at his funeral. So they played it ....

"Dreamweaver."

It was weird. I almost got a case of the giggles right there on the front row.

We went to the cemetery, a practice I still don't understand, then rushed to get Jonah, then rushed to drop me off at church for OSM. It went okay. When I was done, I went home to help put Jonah to bed, then ran back up to the church for a meeting w/ our new Associate Pastor, Mike Tyson.

He met w/ Clay and I for about an hour. I like him. I think I'm going to learn a lot from him. Seems to be passionate about evangelism, but still respectful of the traditional service, which is what we need, I think.

Came home, talked to Krist.