Seven - the number of completion

So today’s anniversary numero siete, and it’s getting close to 3 p.m.  What’s a guy to do?  I need to come up with something quick.  I think we might try this new restaurant that’s opening today.  I’ve got my eye on a 32 oz. Porterhouse.  Medium.  Ummm…  I guess we should put on something nice since it’s our anniversary and all.  Now to get rid of the kids for a couple of hours.  Mother-in-law?  Ashley?  Summer?  Mr. B?  Tom?  Rebecca?  *crickets*  No matter – we’ll dump ‘em somewhere.

14 days till the Feast of Tabernacles!  4.5 hours till Trumpets!  I guess I should go prepare.  See ya!

Addendum: I just accidentally replaced the previous post with this one. I hate it when that happens.

'Tis Only a Flesh Wound

Nick had an accident yesterday.  Nothing major, if you ask me.  We were crossing the street and he fell, skinning up his left elbow and left knee.  Typical boy injuries.  Well, not to dear old Nicholas.  Nicholas was hopping on one leg, and keeping his left arm stiff as a board the rest of the night.  Luckily he informed us that he would not be able to take a bath, as that would cause his bandages to become wet and lose their adhesion.  The M.R.S. had a different opinion however; guess who won?  I held Noah while the “OWWWs!” and “MAMA DON”T TOUCH ITs!!!” reverberated down the hall.  He made it to school today, so I assume he’s going to pull through.

I’m disappointed in Miri Ben-Ari’s new CD.  She’s a classically trained, Israeli-born violinist who now lives in the U.S.  She plays on many rap recordings, and I was hoping that her new CD would be primarily instrumental.  Unfortunately, it’s basically a who’s who of rap artists rapping, while she plays in the background.  I did hear one instrumental, an interesting rendition of the “Star-Spangled Banner”.  Maybe her next CD will actually feature her playing.

The same day Annette posted the picture of her niece sleeping, I got a wonderful shot of Nicholas.  I went to check up on him after placing him in the bed and tucking him in.  This is what I found:



Notice that he’s still wrapped in the covers.

Just when I thought it couldn't get any better...

...on comes the extended mix of Milli Vanilli's "Girl You Know It's True".

I know you'll never admit it, but you like them too.

092205

I didn't sleep well last night. Jalen was on my mind. I feel so powerless to guide him as he makes the transition from being a kid to becoming an adolescent. I so feel like I'm failing him. He's had a few failing grades this quarter because of not turning work in on time. I went and spoke with one of his teachers today, who stated that the failed assignment was an anomaly. However, he's had the same anomaly in almost all of his classes. Overall he's doing OK, but I need to address this before these "anomalies" become trends. Guys, PLEASE don't have kids if you aren't going to be there full-time.

Nick really made my day this morning. His class is covering the letter "D" this week. They have show-and-tell every Friday, and each student must bring an item that begins with the letter being studied that week. Well, the M.R.S. tells me yesterday that Nick wanted to take "Daddy" for show-and-tell! She told him to ask his teacher if it was OK, as I'd need to know what time I needed to be there. Anyway, his teacher suggested he bring a picture of me instead. So as we're leaving to go to school this morning, he is frantic b/c he forgot to get a picture. I was extremely touched. Of course, he then changed his mind and took a toy duck instead, but I was still happy.

I've FINALLY recovered from the Monday night football game. We OWN the Redskins - I think we'd won 15 of the last 16 games we'd played. And to lose the way we did... *sigh*... At least we have the scrub 49ers coming to town this week, so the natural order should be restored. And to lose like that on the night the Triplets are inducted into the Ring of Honor. Completely unacceptable, people.

I need to print Nick out the next coloring book (that's YES lessons for you and me). Great!!! Everyone just left the office, and "Burning Down the House" just came on XM radio. Lemme crank it up and get my sing on! It doesn't really matter that I have no idea what the lyrics are - except for "THREE HUNDRED SIXTY-FIVE DEGREES - BURNING DOWN THE HOUSE".

Summer, I just thought about that night at Renee's when "Baby Got Back" came on; we were commenting (or maybe it was just me)that the one line everyone knows from that song is "even white boys got to shout - Baby Got Back"... Or was that Ashley? Or was it you AND Ashley?

Rita - please disperse. Please.

Where's my Muse?

Ahhh, ABBA. "Dancing Queen" is helping me wind down. I'v been in the midst of a spell of writer's block for a few days. Perhaps the seminal Swedish band's harmonies can reach my inner Ernest Hemingway. Never mind. Now it's Motley Crue's "Looks that Kill." Great workout tune, but doesn't inspire me to put the pen to the pad, so to speak. Oh well - c'est la vie.

I'm finally settling back into a routine after being gone 3 of the last 5 weeks. I'm being requested by my department to go to DC October 2-3 on a recruiting trip to Howard University. Seeing as how HU is an HBCU (Historically Black College or University), and I'm one of two black grad students in the department, they really want me to go. The other black guy has to work and can't take off. I think I'm all traveled out though. Not to mention that I'd be hustling to get back in time for Trumpets - and there's the matter of my 7th wedding anniversary to deal with as well.

This past Sabbath was weird. Not the sermons, or the brethren. It was entirely me. I enjoyed my Sabbath, but I almost felt like I was somewhere else, while my body was on remote control. I think it was because I was tired from all the bus riding and whatnot. Rebel told me I looked really tired when we were at Russell Stover's. I guess that was all it was, b/c when I woke up Sunday morning to go to Cracker Barrel I was back to my normal self.

Well I've got to walk home and get dinner, so I'll stop here. I may come back tonight and pick up where I left off. I know - I can dazzle my adoring public with pictures of cotton fields... and charter buses... and cotton breeders... yadda yadda yadda...

Live from Tifton, GA

Made it to Tifton, my last stop. It's about 35 miles from Moultrie, GA, and not much farther to Tallahassee. Unfortunately, that makes Tifton about 4 hours away from Savannah. Incidentally, even though this morning was free time with which we could explore Savannah, I was scheduled for a meeting to last from 8-10 a.m. The meeting lasted until 11:30. We boarded the bus at noon. So much for seeing Savannah, other than the late-nite stroll I took along river street before I went to bed.

We pulled in to the Tifton experiment station for a catered dinner, and it was truly southern. Just about everything was fried. I don't know how much more fried food I can take this week. Anyway, they served cole slaw, potato salad, fried shrimp, shrimp cocktail, fried tilapia, fried grouper, fried catfish, fried crabs, fried oysters, french fries, and cheese grits. Ummm... My table was populated by a guy from India, one from Texas A & M by way of Michigan, one from Texas A & M by way of Idaho, and two Lubbock-area representatives. They were greatly amused by my obvious elation at being served grits. Not as much joy as I took in the grits, but they enjoyed them nonetheless.

After this repast, we were treated to a slide show chronicling this old breeder's international travels - complete with witty anectdotes. Following the slide show, we boarded our buses and went to the Courtyard Marriott; unfortunately, my roomate booked our rooms at the other Marriott. It was within walking distance though, so we eventually checked into our room. I sleep now.

Must... Find... Internet...

I haven't had internet access the past few days and I'm going through withdrawal. Let me say that I will be returning to Savannah with the M.R.S. at some point - this place is quite enchanting. I probably won't be staying where I'm staying now - downtown in the Hyatt in the middle of the Historical District, but I'm sure there's a Motel 6 or something somewhere here. I've already seen enough cotton fields to last me a while, but there's still 2 more days to go. At least tonight we ate dinner in some lady named Paula Deen's restaurant. Apparently she has a cooking show on the Food Network and is famous for putting butter in everything. The creamed corn was the best I've ever had in my life, and the banana pudding wasn't bad either (though I'm sure it's not as good as Country Girl's). Oh well, I gotta run now.

Scary thought: Tman getting a job in Clemson - that means I'd see him more often. Help!!!

Rambling...

In a column titled "Shock and Awe in America", syndicated columnist Kathleen Parker states, "No, he [Pres. Bush] didn't cause the hurricane, nor, by the way, did God in retribution against sin, or gays, or corruption - or whatever story the end-time gang is advancing this week." Now the major thrust of her column was to criticize the President's actions following Katrina's leveling of the Big Easy. I've heard everything from President Bush's failure to sign the Kyoto protocol to the diversion of levee funds to build a new casino given as reasons for the catastrophic destruction in the Gulf. I've heard numerous pundits emphatically deny that our sins had anything to do with the the tragedy. I don't presume to speak for God, nor will I definitively say that He directly caused this particular hurricane. I can say that at the least, He either allowed it, or He was powerless to stop it. I know the latter is not the case, but if it is, then it doesn't matter how we as individuals or nations live. If the former is the case, however...

I've stopped counting the number of times I've heard that some variation of "God wouldn't do such a thing". These thoughts (IMHO) are based upon two false premises: That any of us are truly "innocent", and Who and What God is. Deceived - yes. Ignorant - yes. Innocent - no. None of us. The Bible is full of examples of God punishing disobedient nations using catastrophes, famines, plagues, droughts, lack of peace, and subjugation. Once again, I'm not saying God targeted New Orleans, but there are most certainly plenty of precedents.

The people affected are certainly in need of any help we can give them. I feel helpless, but not nearly as helpless as I imagine the residents of New Orleans, Gulfport, and Biloxi feel. The suffering there is unimagineable to me. There are so many people out there like Heather who are in pain because their neighbors are in pain. There, but for the grace of God, go us. Everyone is wondering how we can prevent such a catastrophe in the future. The one sure way to prevent this type of thing, along with tsunamis, looting, rapes, murders, cancers, etc., is never broached - unless it's by the "religious crackpots."

On a lighter note, we took a pic after Jalen's game. They're 2-0, and have won their two games by a combined score of 80-12.

Home again

I haven't posted in forever... Not much has changed. Nick's begun practicing soccer; Noah's pulling himself up and still puts everything in his mouth; New Orleans and Biloxi/Gulfsport are still in bad shape. I'll be leaving Sunday to go on the Southeast Cotton breeder's tour. We'll be touring (obviously) public and private breeding facilities and farms starting in Raleigh, NC and ending in Tifton, GA. I'll be gone until Friday; I wouldn't mind hooking up with some brethren in Atlanta on the way home and spending the night; I don't think that's gonna happen though. There was a slim chance of having the M.R.S. pick me up in Tifton and spending the weekend in the Live Oak, Fl. area, but my financial advisor (my wallet) strongly advised against it. *sigh*...