Various Updates

I have several items to report:

  • My mom’s parents have upgraded to cable internet service, so now they can surf the Net at warp speed. Yeehaw!
  • I got my first adult tooth filling yesterday. Although I was quite upset at having tooth decay, Dr. Butler did a great job. They can now fill cavities with tooth-colored material so that it looks completely natural.
  • I am now officially a grant-writing volunteer for ALARM. Celestin (the president/founder) and I had a great meeting on Monday. They have lots of great ideas and just need help finding the money to pay for them. That’s where I come in.
  • Our garage sale prep is going GREAT! Our Sunday school class and families are contributing lots of stuff, and our living room is filling up. We plan to run ads in both the Keller and Fort Worth papers to boost publicity. We’ll be open for business March 23-24 from 8-3. If you’re in the area, come shop or just hang out!
  • My stocks are not doing well! This isn’t as much fun when the price doesn’t keep going up. At least my Prosper borrowers are paying me back.
  • Tonight I went to poker night with the guys from my men’s Bible study (ironic, eh?). We ate manly food like wings and tacos and then played Texas Hold’Em, which I’d never played before. Not surprisingly, I only won one hand and was first to leave the game. Good thing we were playing for free chips instead of real money or, even worse, clothes.

Jazz

Tonight I took Jenny on a surprise date to Jazz in the Atrium at Dallas Museum of Art. It’s a free jazz show from 6:00-8:00 PM every Thursday. We toured the modern art museum (some weird stuff in there!), got dinner at the cafe, and enjoyed the fabulous voice of Texas native Rosana Eckert, a smooth and engaging alto who also teaches at UNT’s music school. Her talented band easily kept up with her. I like live jazz partly because it acknowledges individual talent without deifying any one performer like pop concerts can do. In jazz culture/tradition, although the singer or band leader has the microphone, each performer takes turns in the spotlight with solo-type work, often ad-libbed, while the others keep the rhythm softly or stop playing altogether to focus attention on the soloist – the pianist, the saxophonist, the guitarist, the drummer, the percussionist, the trumpeter. The singer/bandleader also introduces each performer to the audience, often repeatedly throughout the show. Contrast this with a Britney Spears concert (poor Britney…I admit that I like some of her music, but I hope she gets real help soon) where the focus is on BRITNEY, and all the dancers, lights, musicians, makeup artists, roadies, etc. are there to make her look good. Thousands of preteen girls pay good money to worship her. Jazz isn’t about image; it’s about the music – rhythm, passion, texture, virtuosity, sweat, and dreams.

Living at Work

Ahh, it’s good to be home. I had 3 midnight shifts scheduled over the weekend. Hearing all the forecasts about the ice storm, I brought some clothes, food, a sleeping bag, and a pillow up to work and stayed in Headquarters from Friday night to Monday morning to make sure I could work my shifts. I also thought that chances were very high that I might be able to get some overtime on Monday. I set up camp in a quiet, unused office, turned off the lights, and managed to get decent amount of sleep each day. I tried to stay out of sight so I wouldn’t have to explain myself to people. It felt a little like being homeless, sneaking through the darkness, walking softly, turning off the lights if someone was coming. Sunday morning a cleaning lady opened my door to vacuum and was quite surprised to find a strange guy on the floor in a sleeping bag. I showered in the locker room and used the computer in my “hotel room” to monitor the weather and email my people. Sure enough, I got called in for two overtime shifts on Monday. Finally, exhausted, I drove to my home in Fort Worth Monday night and slept in my soft bed, thankful for safe passage and a fatter paycheck but also thankful that it was over. I woke up shortly before noon the next day.

Four Years

Yesterday Jenny and I celebrated our fourth wedding anniversary. It certainly doesn’t seem like four years have passed. Time flies when you’re married to such a wonderful woman. I am so happy to have her as my wife! If you haven’t seen it, I invite you to check out my wedding page to get the details. This year our celebration spans two days. Yesterday we got takeout from Whataburger. No, I’m not a total slob – we picked up some Whataburger after leaving the reception on the way to our hotel. Imagine two young adults in wedding clothes driving a fire engine red Trans Am through the drive-thru. Anyway, last night we ate burgers by candlelight and then watched our wedding video. Our officiant, Tim Wallace, did a fantastic job on our ceremony, and he plans to perform Katy’s wedding as well. Tonight we have a reservation at Perfect Touch Spa in Fort Worth, and after our treatments we plan to have dinner at Simply Fondue in Arlington.

The Bed

When I graduated from college, I had very little furniture, so I furnished a living room and bedroom. The bed I chose was a wall unit, queen-sized with huge piers on either side and a tall headboard with a mirror, all in oak veneer. This bed is BIG. The matching dresser and chest had plenty of space. I chose these pieces partly because I liked them and partly because I wanted to have enough space for my future wife’s things, in case I ever found a woman willing to marry me. Well, once I did find a wife, she thought the bed was too big and didn’t like it. She also didn’t like my nice brown comforter that had served me well as a bachelor. At first I was hurt and offended, but over time I came to understand a woman’s need to “fluff the nest”. We replaced the comforter early on, donating the old one to some needy folks, but we ended up saving the bed for this weekend. We spent a few hours at IKEA, one of the coolest furniture stores ANYWHERE. We bought a black metal bed with birch nightstands, another new comforter, funky lamps, and a beautiful painting for over the bed. The massive old bed now sits in the guest bedroom. We also got a new mattress set for the guest bedroom from Sleep Experts. They are very nice folks, helpful but not pushy. They rehab and donate your old mattresses to charity, so I like doing business with them. Now that everything is set up, Jenny is happy, and I must admit that I am, too.

December Happenings

Jenny and I enjoyed Handel’s Messiah at Bass Hall in Fort Worth last week. Like most choral performances, it made me want to sing in a choir again. It also reminded me of the majesty of Christ, the grandeur of His plan for the world, and how insignificant most of our daily worries really are.

Friday night was graduation time. On a cold, drizzly night aboard the USS Lexington in Corpus Christi, with many members of my family aboard, I finally put an official end to my time at Embry-Riddle. I met ERAU administrators and a fellow student for the first time. My mother- and father-in-law flew Southwest for free for the first time as well. We toured the Texas State Aquarium beforehand, which I recommend. Dad treated us to a fabulous dinner at Landry’s Seafood, which I also recommend. It was a great weekend.

It’s hard to believe Christmas is almost upon us! 2007 is only a few weeks away. Jenny and I will celebrate our 4-year anniversary soon. It’s always amazing how time flies!