My baby - not so much anymore

Rachel will turn 6 on Friday. I can hardly believe she'll be 6 years old. I know every parent says this, but, "...it seems like just yesterday..."

She is a very fun kid. She keeps us laughing. She is a delight to be with and to play with. She is a very social girl. She obeys pretty well - at least for a 6-year-old. She knows how to cuddle well, especially with me. She snuggles in real close and it just feels SO good.

I love her very much.

I can hardly believe she'll be 6 years old.

Blind Sighted, Take 1, reprise

I felt that the concert went well. We had a bit of a delay getting started (Jed, glad you were able to make it through the whole gig!), but I think it went fine. Randy did a great job with the mix. The weather was just great, too.

We'll do it all again next Saturday at BH. It should be a lot of fun.

I just LOVE 2 play music! If only I could do that for a living...

Blind Sighted, Take 1

Our first gig as "Blind Sighted" is this Saturday night at the East Cobb church. I hope it goes well. It appears that we'll have good weather. I'm bothered right now by the pollen in the air, so I hope that doesn't irritate my voice to where it gets iffy.

We'll have another concert the following Saturday, this time at Burnt Hickory. We have some logistics to work out for that one - I don't think we have enough stage room to do it outdoors just yet, but perhaps some of what we use at East Cobb will be reusable.

I'm not yet comfortable with the band's "expertise" on the songs either. It has been far too hard to practice regularly with all of the "grown up life" stuff getting in the way.

Regardless, I hope the audience enjoys the music. I hope we do well enough that we enjoy making it, too.

Natalie's birthday!

Today is Natalie's birthday. She's... um... one year older! This morning she's attending the Burnt Hickory Ladies' Day. This afternoon we'll open presents. This evening we'll go to dinner at the restaurant of her choosing. I hope she enjoys this day and feels the love through our gifts and attention. The girls really enjoyed shopping for her presents.

Tomorrow I lead worship at BH. I hope it goes well. We also have a Class Picnic instead of Life Group. We'll be at Laurel Park. The weather should cooperate, and it should be a fun time.

Band rehearsal last night went well, except that the bass player was home sick. We made good progress, but it was definitely "missing something." I hope Clay feels better quickly. We rehearse again on Monday evening! Our show at East Cobb is one week from today. That will (probably) be followed one week later with a show at Burnt Hickory. Gotta keep the gigs coming so we have an ongoing reason to practice!

Silver Comet, here I come!

I've signed up to run the 5th annual Silver Comet Trail Half-Marathon on 10/29. I need a good reason to continue training, and THIS IS IT!

I ran a half-marathon in September of 1998. My goal was 2 hours. I ran it in 2 hours, 11 SECONDS! So my goal is ABSOLUTELY to finish this in under 2 hours this time. This has gnawed at me since I turned the last curve in that race and saw it tick just past the 2 hour mark.

Homeschool is now in full swing. Lauren started her piano/voice lessons with her new teacher yesterday. I'm hopeful that Lauren will rediscover the joy of learning music, and not be "satisfied" with her current skill level. I want her to get that "fire in her belly" to really develop her gifts. How have you parents inculcated that in your children? (Or, what did you do that did NOT work?)

US 10K - DONE!

Today was the 10K. It went well. For fear of oversleeping I had a hard time staying asleep last night. But I was at the starting line bright and early - well, not so bright, the sun wasn't up yet!

My time was just over what I had hoped - 51 minutes. It was SO crowded at the start with people who were walking or running VERY SLOWLY that I was kinda trapped for a while. I joked that I added 1/8 mile to the run just from going sideways to avoid entrapment. I definitely feel I would have been able to meet my 50 minute goal without that hindrance at the start. Oh, well, next time I'll know...

The third hill (up to the South 120 Loop) was the hardest one for me. Windy Ridge and Windy Hill weren't nearly as hard - but the cumulative effect was certainly there. I have to say, though, that the crowd knotted up a bit going up that hill, so I wasn't the only one having to push a bit.

It was a PERFECT day for the run. Clear, cool, just beautiful.

Thanks to all the volunteers who worked to make the day (and the fund raiser) a big success.

So, what's NEXT?!? There is a half-marathon along the Silver Comet Trail on October 29. Also - There is a half-/marathon in Charleston (at Kiawah Island, where I used to be a lifeguard) on Dec. 10. I don't know if the logistics would work out for the Kiawah trip, but I'd really enjoy another half-marathon, and would also like to work up to a full one. I'm sure I could be in better shape...