Happy Birthday, Pop!

Today (December 6th) was my father's birthday. He left this world a little over a year ago and I still miss him greatly...especially on days like today.
In honor of my dad, and because I happen to have had a few unused iTunes gift cards, I decided to download some of his favorite music.
When I was much younger, he and I never saw eye to eye on music...what was good; what was bad; what was cool, etc.  Today, I downloaded some Willie Nelson, Merle Haggard, Waylon Jennings, and a couple of records done by Chet Atkins and Jerry Reed...some of his most favorite recordings.
I'm not sure if it is that I'm older, or if I'm feeling particularly nostalgic, or if I just miss him so immensely, but now that I've downloaded some of his favorite music to listen to...what I thought was awful to listen to as a child now seems really hip in so many ways. I guess I was unable to appreciate it all when I was a child. However, in spite of whether I still hate it or not (I don't by the way), as I'm writing this blog and listening to the songs that he insisted on playing over the 8-track in the car during any and every family outing, I'm taken back to a different time in my life when my old man wasn't old, possessed super-human powers, was the last great American cowboy, the Marlboro Man (though he smoked Kool Filter Kings), and was my hero...not that there was ever a time when he wasn't my hero. Funny how the sounds of an old recording can bring so many of my childhood memories back to life instantly. I had never realized until now that the music we listen to as children can make an indelible mark in our hearts and minds. The music of our parents somehow gets woven into the fabric of our memories and becomes part of the soundtrack of our lives.

As these songs are playing through the small speakers in my headphones, the sounds of my childhood are somehow revived and I can remember almost each every family vacation we went on. Countless trips to South Carolina to visit my grandparents. A few trips to the beach. A long trip to Texas and back. A trip to Silver Dollar City. I can remember how he used to light cigarettes with the car lighter. I can remember how he never wore sneakers, and always wore cowboy boots and a Stetson hat. He always carried his guitar with us on those trips...and his pistol. I can remember his favorite beer, his favorite hot sauce, and I can remember my dad's love for McDonald's egg McMuffins, which we would always stop for as the sun came up during those long drives, and how he was always so particular about how he sprinkled black pepper from paper packets onto them. I can also remember how he always washed down those McMuffins with orange juice in the plastic containers covered in foil.
He was a funny, peculiar man. Part James Dean, part Johnny Cash, part cowboy, part chess nerd. Bright, witty, and wise beyond his years...even when he was being an unbelievable dumb-ass. He was almost always personable and lovable. However, he was not without faults. He was far from perfect...especially when he was in a bad mood, really drunk, or both. However, he was as good of an example of being a man, a father, and a husband as he knew how to be. I am blessed to have had him as my father, and blessed to be able to have the memories of him that I keep so closely held in my heart.


Yep...today my dad would be proud of me. If for nothing else, at least for the fact that I finally developed a love and appreciation for those tunes that as a child I thought were "yucky" and "not fun".
Yep...today my dad became my hero all over again for having unbelievably hip taste in music. The kind of music people just don't make any more. The kind of music that only my dad would love so intensely.

Happy Birthday, Pop. I miss you. I love you.

dreadful?...maybe not

A completely dreadful day...

It's cold and rainy today. I'm feeling like warmed over death...the result of a sinus infection trying to rear its ugly head. To top it all off I have tons of stress mounting up upon me...finances, a lawsuit, business responsibilities to live up to...

The silver lining to the proverbial cloud hanging above me today is that I will be spending this weekend with my wonderful family...something we don't get to do very often. We don't always have opportunity to spend time together as a family, so the fact that we are making time thrills me to no end. I will also be going to visit my father's final resting place...for some, that would be a potentially stressful situation, and maybe it is for me too, but I really feel the need to "visit" my dad. It will be good for my soul to go there.
Another silver lining in my life right now...my beautiful wife and I are trying to have a baby. Ok...maybe not trying to "have" it just yet, but trying to get preggers. We're both a little older than most who are looking to make that leap, which presents certain obstacles, however, we have been discussing our different options and are going to do all that we can to make it happen. This, also thrills me beyond words, in spite of all the potentially stressful aspects of such a thing.

Yes, it is a entirely dreadful day on the surface. But I am truly blessed beyond description, something I am making sure to be thankful for...even on such a seemingly bleak and bleary day.

Where did my time off go?!?

SERIOUSLY!!!

My beautiful wife asked me this evening what time I will need to be leaving to meet the bus tomorrow...

What?!? What day is this? Crap!! I have to leave again already?!? Didn't I just get here?!?

This, my friends, is the toughest part of my life to grapple with...the disappearance of time off.
It always seems that just when I feel like things have calmed down, when all the dust has settled for a day, my time off is over and I have to pack my suitcase once again and board the bus for a destination which always seems to escape me until I actually arrive there.

Don't get me wrong...I LOVE my job. I always have. There is nothing that I would ever want to be doing as much as playing drums and making music...save one thing...spending time with my family at home.


Now...in spite of feeling as if my few days at home have just sped by in the proverbial blink of an eye, I am happy to report that I did get one big thing accomplished this week. It took me almost an entire day to do it by myself, however I did get it done. I replaced the garage door opener where Holly parks.
The old one was at least ten years old...in fact, it looked as if it were a lot older. To tell the truth, it may have been the best and most innovative thing in the realm of garage door openers...when it was new! Let's put it this way...there were absolutely NO plastic parts on this thing except for the thingy that covered the light bulb. But, it had served its usefulness and had finally begun to have some of its parts wear out.
Tried, I did, to find the right replacement part as so to not have to remove the entire thing...but, as it turns out 1) the replacement part cannot be purchased alone; and 2) if I had been able to find just the one part I needed to make the repair, I would have had to dismantle the entire thing anyway. Taking it all into consideration, I opted to get a brand new garage door opener and install it myself.
I must admit, it was easier than I had expected, and I was able to do it all by myself...but i sincerely believe I would have had an easier go of it had I gotten some help. I probably would have been able to get it completed in less than six hours too. (I am of the belief that you always measure twice...at least. I like to take my time and do it right...and only once.)

One more thing scratched off the "honey-do" list, though...and for that, I am thankful to have been able to spend some of my off time taking care of things at home.

Trials and Tribulations

Trials and tribulations...we all have 'em from time to time...sometimes literally.
I know that I certainly do.

But, as the old sayings go, "When life hands you lemons...make lemonade", and "What doesn't kill us only serves to make us stronger."

Sometimes finding that silver lining to the cloud hanging over our heads is quite difficult, but it's always possible, regardless of the fact that it's easier said than done.

My silver lining these days is that there will be finality to certain things, and that these certain events and their particular timing are all part of a larger cosmic plan. Everything happens for a reason.

More than that, I have come to believe that the timing in which everything happens is for a reason.

All I can do is have faith...

...faith that God will provide for me, and guide me.
...faith that there are lessons to be learned and that somehow I will become a better person because of it all.
...faith that everything will work out exactly as it is supposed to.


...and faith that can find that damn lemonade recipe.

Mmmmm...yummy

Ok...since the term "Debbie Cakes" is in the name of my blog, I figured it might be time to write about them.

I can't speak for the rest of the world, but here in the South there is a thing known as Little Debbie. Little Debbie is a family owned bakery that creates snack cakes. Over 75 varieties of them to be more precise. You can find them in grocery stores, convenience stores, gas stations, truck stops, drug stores...basically anywhere you can find a King Size package of Peanut M&Ms, you'll more than likely find Little Debbie cakes somewhere close by.

Now...having said that, I have a theory about the more successful varieties. The ones that seem to be the most popular -at least in my mind- employ what I like to call the "Peel-Apart Component".
Most every variety from Little Debbie has it...and anyone who has enjoyed the scrumptrulesence of a Little Debbie cake has more than likely taken advantage of it.

For example:
Nutty Bars...You can separate the layers of wafers exposing the delicious peanut butter filling inside. If you are a seasoned Little Debbie pro, you can peel them apart leaving all of the peanut butter intact.
Fudge Rounds...You can rotate the top and bottom layers of this inviting treat and break it apart like a really soft Oreo cookie. If you are really good you can achieve perfect separation with the exact same amount of chocolate filling on each side.
Swiss Cake Rolls...You can peel off the chocolate shell on the outside and then unroll the cake to expose the creamy filling.
I could go on, but there I think you get the idea.

Now that I'm really thinking about it all...there are a lot of candies, cookies, and cakes that are generally more fun to eat because you can peel them apart, break 'em open, or one-at-a-time them. Maybe that's what makes 'em so fun to eat...and so quick to wreck my diet. Maybe carrots and celery would be much more appealing if they had a "Peel-Apart Component"...probably not.

My wife, the excel genius...

So my beautiful little wife spent an unusually large amount of time behind the computer the other night...I thought she was typing away furiously at a new blog entry, but she was using the wonders of Excel to make a spread sheet that would become my shopping list.

Yep...you read that correctly...Excel spread sheet shopping list.

A novel enough idea...to be quite honest, I was very proud of my amazing bride. Quite ingenious actually. I thought it would work like a charm...

until I got to the store.

That is, when I actually got to the store. I was initially about a block away when I realized I had left the damn thing at home.

Turned around; went home; ran inside; grabbed the list; back in truck; hauled ass back to the store; pulled into grocery store parking lot: total of 27mins. (with daughter, Ashley, mildly amused at my absent-mindedness)

Looked at my wife's incredible creation and realized that the whole could be streamlined by having clearer definitions...e.g. 1lb. tomatoes=16oz. can of tomatoes; 1 lrg Canned Onions=French's French Fried Onions; corn starch=??(who knew there were so many varieties of cornstarch?); canned coconut=bagged, shredded coconut.
I'm sure you can understand my confusion over terminology...we've since worked that part out.

The other, more important, area of streamlining that could benefit the list is to have the categories on the spread sheet correlate with the different aisles of the store. This may not seem to be a good idea because of the many different stores and their respective layouts, however since Holly and I almost always shop at the same store, I think it could benefit the spread sheet shopping list. I mean...if you're going to be anal about making a shopping list, you might as well be as OCD about it as you can!!!
However, our list was not cross-referenced by aisle contents, and I spent more time than I wanted, trying to figure out where stuff was and jumping from one column to the next keeping up with what was on the list, and going from aisle to aisle trying not to forget anything on the list.

Anyhoo...we finished shopping. Got most of the stuff on the list, save a few items that weren't available at that particular store. And to be honest...the official spread sheet shopping list (T.O.S.S.S.L. for short) worked pretty well.

btw...upon finishing our shopping spree, I had Ashley use the list and a marker to double check everything that was not purchased...so we can make an amended list for the next trip!!

The 39th Annual Band Jamboree

Ok…so tonight Holly and I went to the 39^th Annual Band Jamboree.

Basically it’s an exhibition put on by the county board of education that features most, if not all, of the local high school bands. Every band gets their chance to shine on the field. There are judges who grade the performances and offer objective advice on how and where to make improvements before competition season, which will begin in a few weeks.

There were plenty of bands…some were good…some not as good…some were pretty amazing!

Holly and I had an incredible time. Being there brought back so many fond memories for both of us…memories of being in marching band ourselves. At one point she mentioned that she was cold, and I (as I always did so many years ago) unzipped my jacket and let her warm her hands inside…kind of like hugging me under my jacket. It used to excite me beyond words back then, and again tonight, I felt the same level of excitement as I did all those years ago.

My first time marching in the band jamboree was at the 12^th annual…Holly’s was the 13^th. Funny how all of those memories (even the ones we had lost track of) all came rushing back as if it were just yesterday. Seeing it all again made me feel so blessed to have experienced it in the first place, and put into perspective just how precious some of those memories are.

I can only hope that the kids in these marching bands are building the same type of timeless memories that Holly and I did during our time together in high school marching band.