Ready for a Road Trip

If you have known me very long at all, you probably know that I love to travel. I especially like to take a road trip. There's nothing better than loading up the car and hitting the open road to Destination Unknown. No agendas. No appointments. No commitments. Just enjoying the scenery and discovering new places.

Some of my road trips have ended up in major cities -- Minneapolis and Albuquerque, for example. Others took me to small burgs that provided a beautiful backdrop for a few days of quiet reading and thinking. Most of the time, summer vacation is when I'm able to hop in the car and find my way to an open road.

This summer has not been the normal summer vacation for me. Don't get me wrong -- it has been wonderful! I have thoroughly enjoyed being with my family and enjoying the love, laughter, and food with them. But it has been a stressful summer as well. I came home to uncertainty due to health complications Mom was experiencing. There were seasons of conflict. We prepared to say goodbye to family members who are moving farther away from home. There were the numerous doctors appointments that naturally come with caring for the Geriatric Ward as well as cataract surgery and the recovery period that followed. My summer included my own injuries, too.  At the beginning of the summer, my concern was related to my hand. Much of my time in Arkansas was devoted to resting and recovering from that frightening injury. Now, as my vacation comes to a close, I'm dealing with a sprained ankle -- actually the second in as many weeks -- that simply does not want to heal and has definitely put a damper on my normal level of activity. Summer has been a good break on one hand, but I am definitely ready for things to return to normal. In the process of all this activity, I haven't had an opportunity for a road trip.

So I'm just keeping my eyes peeled for the first long weekend to come along in the Fall semester. That's when I'll hit the road and spend a few quiet days alone. I'm not sure where I will head or what I will discover.....but that is part of the fun of the road trip. And I honestly can't wait!UIKEYINPUTUPARROW

Deserted Island

This week, I was introduced to an ice breaker that I had never played before in quite this way. The question of Deserted Island is pretty simple:  If you were stranded on a deserted island, what 3 books, 3 movies, and 3 TV series would you want to take with you? I thought it would be fun to share my answers here.

Books: This answer was probably most difficult for me. If you've seen the number of books in my apartment, you can figure out why! If forced to narrow my selections to just 3 works, I suppose I would have to choose....

• To Kill a Mockingbird. It has always been one of my favorite stories since first reading it in preparation for my freshman year at Pepperdine. Plus, it reminds me of home in many ways. And what can compare to the drama in the courtroom as Atticus defends the downtrodden with class and incredibly daring morality?
• The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. This novel is single-handedly response for my love of American literature. I love the comedy and wit that Twain provides in this coming-of-age story that is all about the search for self-identity and freedom. I'm always amazed when someone tells me they have never read the book. I can't imagine my life without it!
• Les Miserable. It's an epic tale that would occupy lots of my time. I can hear the score from the musical playing as I read the various scenes. Plus, I like pondering the choices that Javert, Marius, and Valjean face against the backdrop of the Revolution.

TV Series: This was an easy choice for me. My 3 selections are....

• Lost! It took me a season to figure out what all of the hype was about, but once I did, I was hooked! John Locke is still one of my favorite characters in all of television.
• The West Wing. I love political drama, and this one originally aired during a really interesting time in modern history. I recently watched the entire series again and was impressed to see how relevant the piece remains a decade later. Any chance we could convince Jed Bartlet to run for re-election in 2016?
• Scandal. There's simply no better show on television. Shonda Rhimes is a master.

Movies: This was a little more difficult for me since I don't really watch as many films as I would like to. Off the top of my head, I would be forced to choose....

• Top Gun. It's always been a favorite. And it's the film that made Tom Cruise a household name.
• Star Wars. A classic good-versus-evil film with fun special effects. It's just about time for me to take another journey to a galaxy far, far away!
• Mr. Smith Goes to Washington. What can I say? I really love this old black and white film. It's another part of my fascination with political stories.

Now it's your turn! I would love to hear some of the books, television series, and movies that you would want to take along to your personal deserted island. Share in the comments (if you dare!)

Celebrating the National Holiday!

Did you know that today is a national holiday? The first Friday is June is National Donut Day! That's a beautiful thing! As a kid, my family would often stop by the local Howard's Donut in West Memphis after a church event and enjoy donuts or ice cream. Growing up, I was always attracted to the chocolate iced sweets, but now I find myself wanting the simplicity of a glazed donut. Even after I was introduced to Krispy Kreme and Shippley's, I still found myself preferring the yeast donuts of home. So today, I'm heading out the door to enjoy a fresh puffy donut from my favorite shop. I may have to do a little comparison shopping though.....just to make sure Howard's is still my favorite. (Hey! It's a holiday......so I have to make sure my opinions are accurate!)

Halloween Candy

Tonight is the night children will don costumes and begin their annual quest for sweet treasure. I'm really not a fan of Halloween, but I do love seeing the creative costumes. The best (or worst?) part is that my family begins preparing weeks in advance by stockpiling candy.

For as long as I can remember, my Dad has been known as the "Candy Man." Whenever he goes to church, kids of all ages find him, knowing that he has a sugary treat for them. As soon as October arrives, Dad begins looking for the most exciting bag of candy to share with the young revelers who will knock on the door on October 31.

Because of Dad's health issues this year, Dad settled for a simple bag of treats. Of course, my family didn't wait until Halloween to start enjoying the confections! For some reason, I opted for a different candy this year. Instead of reaching for a wafer drenched in chocolate, I grabbed a box of Milk Duds from the sack.

And that was the beginning of the end! Those little nuggets of chocolate-covered caramel are addicting! I feel like I need to find a meeting of CEA -- Candy Eaters Anonymous -- in order to deal with my problem. But I think I'll wait until Halloween is over, unless the little yellow boxes of yummy-ness disappear into my tummy first!

Rediscovering the Joy of Mail

Written communication is essential to our modern life. Each day, words fill cyberspace in the forms of email and brief text messages. This communication is thrilling because of its efficiency; a string of emails can contain a lengthy conversation occurring in a very narrow time frame. What all of these electronic messages are missing is the anticipation and humanity of a hand written letter.

I vividly recall the excitement of receiving a letter in the mail. Scanning the envelope began to unlock mysteries as I examined the penmanship, stamp, and postmark. Upon opening the envelope, I was certain the message contained on the hand written pages were intended solely for me as they were carefully crafted by a writer whose attention was directed entirely on me. This precious gem was much more than merely a piece of mail; it was a personal letter that I would repeatedly return to in the days ahead.

These days, most envelopes I receive by postal mail are either bills or junk. Neither is terribly exciting. To remedy the absence of personal letters, I joined an organization known as International Pen Friends (IPF). That's right...an adult man is writing to pen pals. IPF is a subscription service. For $30, I received the names and addresses of 15 pen pals. These members were selected because of their age range, geographic location, and some shared interests with me. Additionally, in the coming year, my contact information will be shared with 10 to 15 additional members.

What do I expect from my IPF membership? I'm not entirely sure. It's fascinating to share stories with a person on the other side of the world and compare their life with my own. By putting pen to paper again, the process suddenly feels more relaxed than composing another email while sitting at the computer. In a best case scenario, I will make a few new friends that I probably would have never met without first taking the chance to write a personal letter.

Living Among the Crazies!

I'm convinced that I have surrounded myself with some truly sick people. Not those suffering from illnesses. No, I'm talking about people who are truly disturbed and have sick senses of humor. The sad part of this fact is that most of the sick people I'm talking about are members of my family.

I suppose it's probably true of every family. The same types of things are humorous to siblings.....and their humor comes from at least one of the parental units. The sick humor is passed to the next generation as well. Get my siblings and any of my nieces sparring in a battle of wits and we'll be rolling in the floor before too long.

Most people don't realize that we are truly this funny. Maybe it's because our humor is too high-brow for others. Maybe we're not as funny as we think. Perhaps we don't allow others to witness our unrestrained humor. (There's the most likely situation.....we have to maintain our reputation, after all!) Don't get me wrong, we're not filthy with our humor. Our jokes are never intended to hurt anyone. Most of the time, we're making fun of each other or some stupid family trait that we all share.

Humor has become part of our healing process. Over the years we've had much to recover from....and we've found that laughter brings us together and reminds us that joy comes after pain. Whether I find myself living among the Crazies or spending extended time in my personal Geriatric ward, one thing is certain: the roaring laughter indicates that there is love, hope, and joy just around the corner.

My First Stay-cation

Since I've been thinking about resting for the past few weeks, I decided to take a weekend to do just that. I had planned to hop in the car and set out for places unknown. As the day of my departure drew near, I thought this would be a great opportunity to explore the idea of a "stay-cation" and share my findings with my blog readers. Instead of hitting the road, I stayed close to home and have to admit that I'm really glad I did.

If I was going to stay home, I knew that I had to make it worth my while. One of the best reasons to opt for a stay-cation is to reduce the expense of a vacation. I decided to attempt a 3-day adventure for the average cost of a hotel stay (approximately $80). I only actually had outings on Friday and Saturday, but managed to make it all happen for $57.31! That's what I call an inexpensive weekend.

What exactly did I do?  Here's the overview:

Friday

• Lazy breakfast at home and reading in the morning
• visit to the Memphis Brooks Museum of Art      
• lunch at Spaghetti Warehouse                           
• visit to the Benjamin Hooks Library                  
• movie rental - Quartet (Redbox)
• Dinner at home                     

Saturday

• All meals at home
• Morning of baking (for pleasure)                        
• Window shopping                                              
• Circuit Playhouse's production of Deathtrap      

Sunday

• Morning and afternoon with family
• Quiet reading

It's great to realize that it is entirely possible to find some relaxation without leaving home. Nothing I did was extravagant or terribly expensive. (The ticket to see the play topped the list at $35 and constituted over half of my budget.) In order to make it "feel" like an escape involved doing some things that were not typical for me in a normal week. I don't watch a lot of DVDs at home; that was a nice change of pace and a wonderful way to end an evening. I haven't been to the theater in several months; last Friday was my first visit to the Brooks. (I'll share more about the thrilling exhibit I viewed next week.)

I still love getting away from it all and visiting a new location. Taking advantage of the outlets that are available close to home is a great way to recharge your batteries without breaking the bank though. 

When you have time for a stay-cation, what's one of your favorite things to do? I'm looking for ideas since I am already planning my next weekend adventure in the near future. Share your thoughts in the comment section of the blog.

One Historic Road Trip!

On my drive home this afternoon, I saw a van filled with college students pulled off the interstate to take pictures in front of the "Welcome to Tennessee" sign. There's no doubt about it....they were on a road trip. As much as I love to fly, some of my favorite travel memories come from road trips.  Some of the trips were extremely fast paced and possibly stupid, but all were fun.

Since I was attending school in southern California, many of my road trips were along Interstate 40. Driving along the historic Route 66 was a joy -- most of the time.  I loved seeing the desert in New Mexico, the mountains (and inevitably snow) around Flagstaff, and the rolling fields through Oklahoma and Texas. Normally I allowed 3 or 4 days to make the trip. There were a few times where I was stupid though.

In their great "wisdom", my parents sent me to California in a Ford Escort Hatchback that had been retired as the family car. They were certain everything was okay since they had replaced the engine in the car. For a Christmas present, my family flew my roommate Andy to Arkansas and we drove back to Malibu. The desert was not kind to the Escort, but we finally made it in one piece.  A couple of years later, Andy and I had loaded the red beast down with luggage and equipment to drive out to Pasadena for a performance before heading to Arkansas for a break. While we approached the 101-405 interchange late on a Friday afternoon (non-Californians should read that as INSANE TRAFFIC), smoke began to billow from the car. That's actually a bit of an understatement.....the thing blew up! We managed to get to the side of the road, got a tow to a garage, called a cab and loaded the essential equipment. We made it to the performance minutes before I needed to be on stage and then headed back to Malibu to call my parents; I wouldn't be coming home anytime soon.

Over the next few weeks, my parents purchased a new car for me and instructed me to try to get the garage to take the Escort for scraps. They refused! That tells you what a nightmare this car truly was! In the end, they took pity on me and allowed me to pay the cost of the tow to the junk yard to get it out of everyone's hair. My car was in Arkansas and orientation was starting in a week. I was a student leader of orientation and could not be late!

My parents and I decide that I can rent a car to get to Arkansas. They'll take the rental to Memphis on Monday by which time I'll be back in Malibu if everything goes according to plan. Somehow, I convinced my roommate along with another of our fraternity brothers (Andy Hughes) to make this whirlwind trip. Since none of us were 25 yet, we couldn't rent a car.....but another friend, Heidi, came to the rescue!  So on Friday afternoon, the three amigos left Malibu and drove non-stop to Crawfordsville, Arkansas.  We arrived around 1am CST; we woke my parents, got the nickel tour of the car, grabbed a quick bite to eat and loaded the Mitsubishi for our return trip. An hour later, we were back on the road. Despite a flat tire in the Dallas area (really!?!), we pulled into Pepperdine on Monday morning at 8am. We dashed to our rooms, showered, and started welcoming a new class of students to the campus.

You would think I would have learned my lesson, wouldn't you? I didn't. Later that fall, a friend and I would drive home for Thanksgiving and got back to Malibu on Monday morning. There were trips up and down California, a few dangerous jaunts into Mexico (another example of my youthful stupidity), and more trips to Vegas than I care to remember. (Most of these trips involved various fraternity brothers as well....I'm beginning to notice a trend!)

I still love to travel by car. My traveling partners have changed a bit.....now I drag my parents around with me.....but we still have a lot of laughter in the car and make memories that will last a lifetime.  It's time to pull out the road map and figure out where I need to head on my next adventure. I'm open to suggestions!

Whatcha Doin'?

With that simple question, an adventure began on Monday afternoon. Last Saturday afternoon, I sent a quick email to my nieces, asking when they would like to get together and just have an afternoon of fun. I left the planning to them (with a couple of suggestions) and decided to see where things would go. Late Sunday afternoon, I got the reply; they wanted to go to the Memphis zoo on Monday afternoon. We spent a few hours together and had a wonderful time.

Why do I even bother to mention such a mundane experience? Because I think that the simple question that ignited the conversation needs to be asked by adults more often. My nieces have had a less-than-easy life. They have watched their parents' marriage end and experienced the frustrations and stresses that come with being raised in a single-parent home. Please don't misunderstand. I'm not assigning blame to anyone. That's simply the fact of the situation. The girls live with my sister and have very few positive interactions with men on a regular basis.

When I asked them to spend some time with me, I thought I would simply provide an escape from the four walls of their apartment during the summer break. If that's all I accomplished, that would certainly be worth the effort. As we walked through the zoo, ate lunch together, and headed to the bookstore (youth literacy is a personal passion for me), I learned things about them and their lives that I had no clue about. By simply being with them and listening to their words, I had opportunity to speak positively into their lives while gaining insight into areas that need prayer. And it all started with a simple question.

At home that night, I watched the series premiere of The Fosters on ABC family. (I'll write more about my feelings of that television program in a later post.) The Fosters traces the lives of a non-traditional family who has been actively involved in the child foster care system. As the show's opening episode depicted the challenges faced by children and teens in our nation, I noticed a recurring theme. We all have something that we can give to these precious treasures of our society. If I don't pour into the children and teens in my sphere of influence, someone else will. The problem is that what's being poured into the children may not necessarily be positive. When children are desperate for love and attention, they will take it however (and from whomever) they can get it!

So I ask you the same question I asked the girls: Whatcha doin'? There is a generation of kids growing up all around us that need to know that they are important. Are you willing to be part of the solution or are you just going to sit by and watch as their generation is caught up in political correctness, questionable moral choices, and indifference? Certainly you should invest in the children in your family. But what about the kid around the corner that your child hangs out with? Who's influencing them? The good news is that it can be you, if you're willing to make a little effort.

Here's my challenge to you today. Take a look around you and see a child in your sphere of influence that needs encouragement, mentoring, or simply a little human love. Allow the Holy Spirit to give you direction. Take 15-minutes out of your day and listen to what they have to say. How do you get a child to talk? It normally works best over a scoop of ice cream, a glass of lemonade, or while tossing a ball around in the park. Don't say the challenge is too tough; make the effort, watch the joy that you can bring to the life of a child or teen, and get ready for a flood of love from Heaven above! I promise that you'll be glad you made the effort.

If I Had a Million Dollars.....

Since the taxman has come to collect his share of my money (and reduced the size of my checking account by half), I think it's as good of a time as any to fantasize about what I would do if I had a million dollars. Since this is purely fantasy, I don't have to spend responsibly. I'm not thinking about buying a home, charitable giving, or paying bills. No, this imaginary money is simply going to be spent on things that bring pleasure to me.

It should come as no surprise that I would begin with some major travel! There are so many places I have visited that I want to see again. There are places I've dreamed about going and just haven't gotten around to it. I would definitely return to San Francisco and New York. My limited time in southern Germany during graduate school ended with me leaving a piece of my heart in its burgs. I can't wait to visit Australia. I long to see an opera at La Scala and visit the Louvre. That will be enough travel before returning home for a week or so! By then, I'm sure I'll have new "must sees" added to my list.

I'd probably pursue another degree as well. I can't help it.....I love being a student! Right now, I'm fascinated with the study of history, especially the European Renaissance. But I'd also like to explore sociology and political science. Where would I go? I think I'd head east this time.......maybe to the Boston area? 

What about you? If you had a million dollars, what would you spend it on? (Remember, this money can only be spent on pleasurable activities......no mature or responsible decisions are permitted!)

Watching Preferences

I've always been a bit of a television junkie. If there's a new series on the tube that everyone is talking about, I want to make sure that I am current with my television watching. I really enjoy a good thriller -- something that keeps me on the edge of my seat. What's really funny, though, is that I miss most of the REALLY spine-tingling moments because I'm watching through the slits between my fingers! It's sad, but true.

Since I'm rarely home on a regular basis to watch anything when it first airs, I'm addicted to Hulu Plus. I'm sure there are other services that people like better, but I'm a creature of habit. Since I started with Hulu, I anticipate sticking with it. Tonight, I was catching up on episodes of Chicago Fire. It's really a great show with its strong plot line and talented cast. In each episode, the fire squad deals with crises of all types. When we're fighting fires or dealing with explosions, I'm good. A little blood on the face or arms.....no problem. But when I'm watching a man with his arm stuck in the gears of a machine, blood all over the place, and the rescue team starts pulling out bone saws and other instruments of torture.....enough is enough! The episode opened with this scene. I had to get up from my computer and listen to the story without watching. When the victim began screaming as they were removing his arm from the gears, I left the room! I'm a wimp, and I accept it.

As you can imagine, I've never had much luck with the medical dramas. I get nauseous simply watching! I know I've missed some incredible shows like ER and Chicago Hope, but I decided that their entertainment level wasn't worth the ill feelings I experienced week after week.

My other version of the addiction is grabbing up DVDs of shows and plowing through the entire season...and sometimes through an entire series!  I realized today that I have a little free time coming up in the next few weeks, so I added a few videos to my collection. (Besides, I have to do something since Scandal is on hiatus!) I'll be catching up on Once (I saw the first half of the season before life got crazy, so I decided to just start from the beginning again). I may be the only person in the world who hasn't seen some of Mad Men at this point; that will change in a couple of days since I picked up season 1 today at Target as well.

I've never had much luck finding many comedies that I think are worth the investment of my time. I liked the Tim Allen series and other shows like that. If it's witty and based in realistic situations, I'm there! So much of what I see on television today is romantically driven and/or what I refer to as "stupid humor."

I'm open to suggestions. What are some of your favorite television series (either drama or comedy)? I'm willing to give almost anything a try. Just promise you won't be offended if I don't share your taste in entertainment!

Bucket Lists

I've always been intrigued by people's bucket lists. You know, those lists of activities that a person wants to make sure they experience once before they die. In a way, I find them rather morbid and depressing. On the other hand, I think it's liberating to clearly express what is important to you and to spend your life pursuing interests away from career and family commitments.

Does a person start a bucket list when they are diagnosed with a terminal disease or when they reach the age of retirement? By that time, it seems as though there isn't enough time to do everything I would hope to do! After all, I do enjoy an adventure (or at least, what I define as an adventure). As the bucket list morphs as you age, is it fair to say that those things that cease to be included on your ultimate list were never truly on the list? Things are getting too philosophical now, so let's head back to safer territory.

There are many things on my personal bucket list, but most of them involve travel. Many of the items currently dominating my list also involve helping my parents achieve some of their remaining dreams. My mother, for instance, has always wanted to say that she has visited all 50 states. (I always tease her that driving through a state and visiting are certainly not the same thing. For her purposes, though, entering the state fits the bill for her.)  So there are some long distance road trips in the plans in the coming years for us. With a trip through the northwestern states and New England, we'll be fairly close to meeting her goal. Then I just have to convince her to hop on a plane with me to visit Hawaii and Alaska since she's adamant that she won't take a cruise!

After visiting Europe in graduate school, I definitely want to get back there. I plan to return to Germany, but I also fantasize about seeing Italy, Austria, Switzerland, France, Spain, Greece, and Great Britain. As soon as I cross those things off of my list, I'm sure I'll add a few more countries!

I fell in love with symphonic music while a student at Pepperdine and am becoming a greater fan of opera now that I am teaching about it. A lifelong goal has been to hear the major American orchestras in their home concert hall. When traveling with my family, concerts are not at the top of the list so I've not made much of a dent in this bucket list; so far, I've heard orchestras in Memphis (although not what I consider a major American orchestra), St. Louis, and Los Angeles. As you can see, I have many more to hear. Opera involves more world travel as I wish to see productions in major houses around the world. Thus far, I've seen performances in the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion (LA) and the Bayerische Staatsoper (Munich). I have plans to visit the Houston Grand Opera this fall, and hopefully the Met.

This doesn't even begin to address everything on my bucket list. I want to become fluent in American Sign Language, climb a rock wall, attend the Winter Olympics, learn to swim, and pick up a second instrument. Some may ask if I will be considered a failure if I don't accomplish everything on my bucket list. My response is that by simply pursuing as many items on my bucket list as possible, the life I live will be fulfilling and filled with tremendous memories of adventures dear to me.

So what's on your bucket list? What have you gotten to mark off and what things are in the plans now? I'd enjoy hearing from you. Who knows, some of your items may find their way onto my personal list as well. Now it's time to mark something else off of my bucket list!

Why Blog?

Over the past few weeks, I have been surprised at the number of times I have been asked what the point of blogging is. Many people seem surprised that there are actually people in the blogosphere who take the time to read random posts. Beyond that, they don't seem to understand that some people ENJOY reading the thoughts of another person......whether they are writing professionally or personally. For me, it's not necessarily about who reads the posts (although that is fun and hope that my audience continues to grow); instead I'm more encouraged by the benefits I see in my own life.

Blogging helps me to organize my thoughts. In order to clearly express something in words, one must first take the time to sit and think about the topic to be discussed. As I think about what seems random concepts to someone else, I begin to see patterns as well as cause and effect relationships emerge. As I organize my thoughts, things often lead to the next benefit.

Blogging often reveals solutions. While organizing my thoughts to share with another, I begin to see things from a fresh viewpoint. Puzzles begin to untangle themselves and the solution becomes vividly clear. I don't believe that there is something supernatural occurring when I blog; I think I finally sit still long enough and find a calming release in the writing process that leads to the "light bulb" moment.

Blogging sharpens my writing skills. As a musician, I have repeatedly heard that "practice makes perfect." Why do I fight against this same concept in other areas of life? I want to become a stronger writer? Practice writing! It's not always about the topic either. When I can effectively communicate a message just by crafting a story about the mundane parts of my life, my strength as a writer -- and by extension, as a lecturer and group facilitator -- grows exponentially.

Blogging provides a scrapbook. I enjoy looking back from time to time and remembering emotions, thoughts, successes and failures. My blog is a public diary in a way. I invite whoever wants to keep up with things in my world to follow along, but I know that my main interest is in processing my day and writing what's on my mind at the moment. It's always fun when a thought or situation sparks a memory of something I have written about and I get to return to the post and read again.

That's why I love to blog personally. There are many benefits a well-written blog has for business, civic, and religious organizations. But that will be a discussion for another day and another time. Maybe tomorrow....maybe next year. Either way, I'll be guided by my thoughts and interests and continue to blog for my personal pleasure as I continue Livin' Life.

Posted with Blogsy

My Best Idea

What has been the best idea I have ever had?  That's a tough question for me to answer.....I've had plenty of ideas that were good ideas at the moment.  Lots of my ideas resulted in funny situations.  For instance, I had the great idea to drive non-stop from Los Angeles to home with two fraternity brothers to drop off a rental car and pick up the new car my parents had bought for me.  Problem?  We all had to be back in LA by Monday morning for work and didn't begin this round-trip insanity until 2pm on Friday.  Probably one of my favorite memories from college, but definitely not my brightest idea.

I had the great idea of buying a baby grand piano while doing my graduate work.  I figured out that my bed could fit in the little space next to the closet so I would have room for the instrument.  Didn't think that one through though.  Getting out of bed every morning was interesting......and often painful.  It was difficult to hop over the foot of the bed at 6am without hitting my toe.....my shin......or anything else!  Not a pleasant memory, but the sound was wonderful!  Sadly, I had to finally admit that I had to give up the baby grand for a more sensible console.

There were lots of other great ideas.  Rushing a fraternity after being rejected two times -- and the last time was just a week earlier -- shows that I'm a glutton for punishment.  (I wouldn't change it for the world, but really......sometimes I need to learn to take a hint!)  Playing flag football in the park? Sports and I do not mix.  That was proven when I ended up on crutches for the next 6 weeks of the semester.  I could go on and on here.......driving home from Los Angeles for Thanksgiving break with a friend (left on Wednesday and back on Saturday.......stupid drives were a trend for me in college.......), leaving my car parked in a Malibu parking lot for a month until it finally got towed (What can I say?  I was busy everyday for the whole month!), and taking a fateful trip to Hawaii that went from good to bad to funny and then back to a blast (Tiff, I will always remember seeing lobsters in the mountains behind your house and our whale watching excursion)!

You probably don't see the common denominator, but I certainly do.  The best idea I have made over and over is to invest in relationships with people.  I have learned how important it is to treasure those relationships that keep you grounded, joyful, and honest while letting those relationships go that bring you despair, frustration, and trouble.  Friends near and far, though we may not talk as often as we should and don't see each other as often as we would like -- even if it has been years -- know that you are still treasured, valued, and have a special place in my heart always.  You are truly the best decision I ever made!

Longer Weekends

How I wish I had the power to make a case to someone in authority to make weekends longer.  I would be willing to have longer days for four days just to get to begin my weekend on Friday at noon.  Am I alone it this?  It seems as though there are too many things that must get done on the weekends because there is no time to do them during the work week.  Those personal things that simply can't be avoided:  going to the market, cleaning the house, returning personal phone calls.  So who's with me?  Let's work Monday - Thursday 8am - 6pm and enjoy a longer weekend.

A guy can wish anyway.........

200 More....

Yesterday I was posed with the question of what thing I could use 200 more of.  (I’m thinking that July 26 is the 200^th day of the year, but I’m not completely sure about that, so don’t quote me!)  It was pointed out that many things we think we want more of may not actually benefit our quality of life.  For instance, would you really want to live 200 additional years?  You would still have to deal with all the issues associated with getting older and I’m having enough problems as I push 40.  An extra 200 cars or even 200 close friends bring troubles of different kinds.

I must admit that I was stumped at first, but finally came up with an answer that I can live with.  I wish I could have 200 extra square feet in my room.  Since I’m living with my parents, real estate is a hot commodity for me right now.  I am in the process of getting things cleared out of my bedroom that has been there for years.  Last weekend finally saw my Dad’s HUGE desk taken out and many of the walls cleared for me.  That allowed me to move in a desk (much smaller) and a great new desktop computer I have been coveting for quite a while now.  I’m amazed at how much more work I can get done in a given afternoon now that I can really see what I’m supposed to be writing on the screen.  (Be nice y’all…..there is no need to comment on declining eyesight’s association with old age.  I already know all about it!)

The extra square footage would definitely require more cleaning and I would fill it up in no time flat, but I still wouldn’t mind having it.  That way I could write a blog about what I wish I could have 400 more of! 

Happy Wednesday, everybody!