His and Hers

In your twenties, it's matching T-shirts on your honeymoon.....

In your thirties, it's matching towels for your master bathroom....

In your forties, it's matching digital cameras for your

silver anniversary trip....

In your fifties, however, it's....

His...

and Hers....

....HEATING PADS WHILE YOU WATCH WHEEL OF FORTUNE AND HGTV!

Tech Envy

Inspired by my daughter Rachel's recent blog entitled "Blog Envy", I thought I would write about a condition commonly shared by most of the people in my generation: tech envy. Yes, that's the dreaded condition where trying for 45 minutes to program the VCR leaves one dazed and babbling incoherently to one's self. When trying to answer my cell phone without experiencing PTCPD (Post Traumatic Cell Phone Disorder) summons every bit of will power. I tend to panic when my cell phone rings for fear that I will not be able to answer the call in time. The buttons on my cell phone are small and difficult to master quickly for me. Sometimes I spazz and miss a call because of the lack of response time and feel like the world is going to come to a screeching halt just because I missed The Important Call (even though I do realize that I can simply scroll down and highlight the number I just missed and call it back). And don't EVEN get me started about the computer....My daughters and son-in-laws (and probably grandchildren!) fly around the computer like a NASA-launched rocket while I still look for the part of the mouse required to get my screen to come back up....The list is endless. I will spare you the dreaded "Back in my day" rehash of three-channel, manually operated televisions and eight-tracks. I will just privately reflect in the glory of the mastery I had of these technologies (which, unfairly, didn't seem to boggle OUR parents) and hope that SOMEDAY, SOMEWHERE, I will be able to take steps closer to being "tech- savvy". That will probably happen the day my hair grows back and gas returns to a reasonable price....

To My Best Boys

My Best Boys: Braydon (above), Noah (below)

Today, we celebrated my oldest grandson's 4th birthday at a local park. We had family (Christy, Kenney, Braydon, Makenna, Aunt Laura, Aprille, Alex, Ella Bella and Nate) and several friends from Braydon's Preschool Class join our celebration. We had beautiful weather and a scenery to enjoy our party.

I often will refer to Braydon and my Noah, my other grandson, as my "Best Boy". These two little guys are the apples of my eye. They are lights in this dark world, and are the source of tremendous pride and joy to me. Soon, my other Best Boy will come and stay with us for a while. The thought of having him back here is tremendous! Then I will have both of my Best Boys near me!

Only in the South!

Yes, that's right. As if NASCAR, grits, pig pickins, and mullets weren't enough, now our lives in Dixie are now thoroughly complete. We now have JUST the right kind of soft drink....

I'm Back.....

I know it has been quite a while since I have added a new post. As most of you know, my time and attention has been focused on helping my wife deal with her major surgery and possible cancer diagnosis, which wonderfully is NOT the case. She is on the slow road to recovery, but at least she is on the right road!

Some other cheers and a few jeers to share:

:) I recently began a texting frenzy with a good friend of mine from Canandaigua, New York, who has the same distorted sense of humor that I have. We have shared some bizarre and twisted texts, the contents of which are best kept to myself. This has been fun!

:) I am currently working on creating the scenery for a production of THE PAJAMA GAME at a theater in Virginia where my brother Joe is currently acting. It has been a lot of fun to meet new people and to work on something that makes me soooo happy!

:( I had to reluctantly write a check to Uncle Sam for my 2008 taxes- grrrrrrr that so much of my hard-earned money is stolen from me and freely given to support the same people who abuse me in my classes and who make my life miserable. This stinks!

:) I am SO THANKFUL for my daughter Christy's faithful care of my wife during her illness, surgery, and recovery. My son-in-law has been very supportive, as well!

:) I have enjoyed spending time with my grandchildren Braydon and Makenna here in Rocky Mount, and spending time via the wonders of the web cam with my grandchildren Noah and Chloe in the UK (and of course, their wonderful mother, Rachel!) Good times with grandkids!

:) My niece Aprille and her husband Alex, who took time out of their lives to feed me lasagna (YUMMY!) and to bring a beautiful plant to the hospital while we were up in Chapel Hill. They are a precious and giving couple who make the world a better place!

:) The incredible and generous friends from our church, who have showed tremendous love and kindness to us during Janice's illness.

:) Our gracious neighbors, who have also showed great kindness to us during Janice's recovery!

:( The price of gas...GRRRRRRRRRRRR!

:) My weekly dose of the reality shows I indulge myself with: American Idol, Top Model, Top Chef. Ah, the joys of self-indulging!

:) My sister Laura, who drove 1 1/2 hours last weekend to come and stay with Janice last weekend so that I could keep my commitment to the theater in Virginia. Laura served us both like we were royalty. I am humbled to know someone like her. Her husband, Jim, graciously allowed her to leave him for the weekend to come to us to help. Wow!

:) The joy of blogging!

Hopefully I will be better at posting on a more regular basis. Talk to you soon!

Not My Will

This Easter, I have had the privilege of participating in a riveting stage production centered on the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ called SHEPHERD OF LOVE. The story closely follows the scriptural account of Jesus' birth, ministry, miracles, betrayal, crucifixion,and resurrection. Having been exposed to this story for many years, it is easy for me to gloss over certain aspects of who Jesus really was and what He actually experienced for me. There is one particular part of this account that has begun to consume me: the prayer of Jesus as He struggled in horrific agony in the garden before He was led away to be murdered for us. His humble and submissive declaration of, "Not My Will, but Thy Will" in the midst of facing the most gruesome torture to pay for my crimes is beyond my capacity to process. But the phrase is sinking into my spirit as I am facing some potentially critical issues in my own personal life. I want things to be comfortable and happy. I want everything to be peaceful and calm. I want...I want...But what does GOD want? What is HIS "want" for me? Quite often, the paths He calls me to walk are the polar opposite of the colors I work so hard to use to paint my life. He chooses difficulty, while I scream out for ease. He calls me to walk through loss, while I work feverishly at times to hold on desperately to how things are. In my spirit, I want to humbly say, "Not my will, but Thy Will, be done." And sometimes in my life, I sincerely offer up that same prayer. Sometimes in my life, though, I find myself fighting and grasping to keep control of how I see I want my life to be. And yet God my Father continues to work out His best in my life, even though His best doesn't always come packaged the way I want it to. My only recourse is to utter the words my Lord did, knowing that our Father always DOES know and do what is best: "Not my will, but Thy Will, be done." Amen.

If you think of me, maybe you can ask God to help me to continue submitting to Him. Maybe you can join me as we bow to His Will.

Just Another Manic Monday

Ah....the Monday of Dress Rehearsal Week. This week, my high school theater department will have our Dress Rehearsals for our upcoming production of THE KING AND I. For those of you who have never been in a high school stage production, you surely have missed out on an experience soon not be forgotten: relentless hours of toiling to correct endless lists of technical challenges, cast members who choose to spazz and go Diva on you, endless and needless delays that you prepare for months to avoid but happen anyway, lost keys, late parents, broken set pieces (of course which are BORROWED from other theater groups), ripped zippers on- you got it- borrowed costume pieces, students who flit back and forth beyond your wildest imagination (but who can never seem to be at the place they should be for their set changes), skipped meals, unwanted visitors who want to get in on the "fun" backstage...the "fun" seems endless.

But then, miraculously, Opening Night comes and sets begin to move smoothly between scenes, actors actually project, become their characters, and tell the story you've been drumming into their heads for months, props appear out of nowhere for the first time at the right time, cast members actually are quiet backstage, and audiences again are moved by seeing their children become Story Tellers who take them to places impossible to visit in real life. They are touched by the truths their Story Tellers reveal and discreetly wipe away tears of pride and joy as they see their Story Tellers bow in recognition of their months of effort. They suddenly no longer resent the director who demanded so much of their Story Tellers and actually smile and speak warmly to the director in the thrill of the afterglow of a successful production (although earlier that week the director's picture had been drawn with horns on his head and was riddled with dart holes). The Story Tellers experience the thrill of goal-setting, endurance, persistance, and success, and realize that anything in life worthwhile demands our very best effort for a long time.

And the director gets to go home to his wife!