Some people call me the Space Cowboy...

I couldn't decide on a song title for today's post.  Yesterday was Christmas, and Mom is doing better so I didn't need anything else for Christmas.  Randy was really disappointed that we had to spend our Christmas money on Rachel's car.  He never would tell me what he wanted to get me... or what he secretly wanted to spend that money on... but I wasn't disappointed at all.

Well, I don't like to post about job stuff, not anymore, but I am going to admit that I'd been interested in a nuc med job.  I miss working in nuc med and not just because teaching is a stressful job.  (Nucs could be stressful too.)  Today I talked to a former co-worker who is the imaging director at her current workplace.  She was not very encouraging (it's a long story but she was very nice), though she did say she'd consider me for summer PRN work.  I have 2 possibilities for that, which is better than where I've been in the past.

So, I guess I'm staying in the classroom.  Last semester ended on a sad note.  I can't go into all the details but all of you know about what happened in Connecticut at the end of the semester.  That happened right after I had a not-so-hot observation and right before I got a threatening email.  I felt like there was a huge shadow hanging over the idea of having two weeks off.  On the other hand, I was looking forward to having two weeks - or at least one - to plan ahead.  I've done a little of that today and I'm glad.  I'm not ready, but I'm feeling a lot better about it.

more You Tube for everyone

More You Tube for everyone. Here are some cute kid commercials Rachel found. Enjoy.

I don't want that much for Christmas...

Like everyone else, I wish for peace...and love...and joy.

I thank God for giving us His Son, whose birth we celebrate this day.

We get so far from the reality of the reason for the season. We put the focus on outgiving other people, not because we truly want to share but so that we look more generous (and therefore more prosperous) than the rest. And if you really watch the ads, you'll find a lot more ads focusing on keeping more of those expensive toys for yourself. When did "gifting" become a word? Didn't we already have a verb for that - GIVING? But really, it IS a different action. GIVING puts the emphasis on GIVE. GIFTING puts the focus on the thing, the gift itself, the item you have to buy.

Of course, God's greatest gift was not something that you can buy, although He was sold for thirty pieces of silver.

I got a great compliment from the man of the house this morning. He told me I've really come a long way in my cooking. I guess you could take that as a left-handed compliment, like I couldn't cook worth a dime before. But, really, cooking hasn't been one of my strongest points. Oh, I was passable. I could do really simple stuff like instant oatmeal & cheese toast & macaroni & cheese. I could always make attractive salads & fairly decent cookies. I could even do good mashed potatoes & chili. But breakfast wasn't a specialty. I always made biscuits from a can. Anyway, I felt like I did breakfast all right this morning, even with biscuits from scratch!

Merry Christmas!

Back in black!

I am NOT celebrating Black Friday! (Actually, most people, excluding retailers, should call this "Red Friday." Or, everyone could call it "Green Friday.") Oh, I may go to the little gift store in Pleasant View & sample some of their hot apple cider. I may run through the little antique store there in town & see what they have. But at 4 AM I was snoozing in my warm, cozy bed! I liked what Pamela said about the things she didn't know she wanted...or needed...or just had to have. It's 5:30 AM where she is. I wonder if she's up yet?

After reading "Affluenza" I am just so annoyed with the whole commercial Christmas scene anyway. The crowds of people knocking each other down, the long lines & packed aisles, the shelves stripped bare of the very items I came to get (because I didn't beat people out of my way to get there first) - that stuff is straight from Satan. WWJD? Would Jesus knock somebody down to get an Island Barbie playset? We do all this to celebrate His birthday...?????!!!!!

Now, please don't get me confused with some radical who will protest by not spending a dime on anyone because that is so not true. I will probably spend in the neighborhood of $1200 for gifts for people. I have actually already spent around $400 of that. I will probably receive somewhere in the neighborhood of $200 for gifts for myself. Of course, Randy & my kids will get a lot too, so it's probably a pretty fair trade. It just seems like a lot out of my pocket.

If I had it my way, I'd cut my Christmas spending by a good two-thirds. Randy & I don't really get each other much, usually around $20 worth or something. We do spend a lot on the kids, but, we are very open with them now that they're older. I find it a lot easier to give them money & let them decide how to spend it. I like giving small thoughtful gifts too. For our parents, we usually try to be very generous too.

In general, we spend a lot less on his family than mine, simply because there are more people in mine. Now, this is not REALLY true because he has a lot more relatives than I do. We just don't exchange gifts with his three aunts, two uncles, all the associated aunts & uncles by marriage, or his eleven cousins & their spouses, or their children (I think there are 8 of them). We play Bingo on Thanksgiving for prizes we bring to exchange. That's just his mother's side - I really, truly have no idea how many cousins he has on his dad's side. His dad was one of ten kids.

Randy has a mom & a sister with a husband & two kids, one with a fiancee & soon-to-be stepson. I have a mom, a dad, a stepmother, two brothers, a sister-in-law, a niece, a nephew, a brother's girlfriend, & a grandfather. (Last year, I had a grandmother too.) I am not counting my stepmother's daughter, son, two granddaughters, parents, grandmother, brother, sister, in-laws, aunt, uncles, & nieces & nephews, the number of whom I have long since lost count. I don't exchange gifts with them. I used to give gifts to my stepbrother & stepsister, but now I just give to my step-nieces, because they are just little kids. And, we have - I have - several additional relatives who evidently have a lot of money, & for them to give all their great-nieces & nephews & cousins & the like gifts ranging from $10 to $40 is no big deal. For me, 7 cousins once removed plus their 6 parents plus their 2 grandparents plus all the others mentioned before - well, that adds up when you can barely hold your head above water. I tried not giving one year, thinking they would quit. No. So, we buy, they buy.

I feel compelled to share the fact that we see them once a year. Maybe twice, if someone gets sick or dies. I have other aunts, uncles & cousins who I do see & talk to more often (or at least I did while Granny was alive) but we haven't exchanged gifts in years.

For the record, I spent more on the distant relatives this year than I usually do. I didn't spend a lot per kid, but for the grownups, I bought things that meant something to me & I think will mean something to them as well.

I feel like complaining about this makes me sound really greedy. I really don't mind giving to all these people (though it seems a bit ridiculous to continue trading with the ones we only see once a year) but I wonder just how much of my debt that I struggle with year round for what seems like forever came from gifts I HAD to buy to keep the Santa myth going...& gifts I HAD to buy for people because I knew they were buying something for me.

Next year will hopefully be different & by that I mean, better. I restarted my Christmas Club account recently, so I shouldn't have that "OH MY GOSH!!! WHERE AM I GOING TO GET THE MONEY FOR THAT???" moment next year. I hope not, anyway. I am working so much more, surely we will manage to do better.

I may put up the tree today. Rachel got up early & made us some "Butter Braid." The choir sold them a month or so ago, so I bought two. Rachel fixed the first one a day or two after we got them. Today she fixed blueberry cream cheese. Yummmmm!!! I have another one ordered from a co-worker.

We went to Dover yesterday for Thanksgiving (where we played Bingo). We had a lot to eat there too! I didn't eat breakfast, which is unusual for me. Well, on the way down there I had a "Payday" candy bar, so that I wouldn't make a pig of myself. I didn't eat a huge dinner either, just a little cottage cheese & then some hot chocolate later. It's too bad I don't often have time for a nice lunch (& siesta to follow) during the workweek. That's usually the way I eat on Sundays. Late suppers don't go well with early mornings. They probably contribute to larger waistlines too.

Well, it's past nine now so I need to get busy. Can't sit here all day snoozing & goofing off.

At the drive-in

I figured out that the title problem was a Blogger problem. So, it wasn't just happening to me. And here I thought it was my limping old computer.

If I had it my way, me & my family would be living without satellite or cable TV. We'd watch the news, & maybe some old movies. It would save us money, & I'd never have to worry about the kids watching filthy TV shows. The simple answer is, cut off the cable. In reality, not so simple. Simply put, Randy & I do not see eye-to-eye on this issue.

Our upbringings were not so different in most ways. His parents were a little older than mine (his mom is a year older than my dad, but his dad was six years older than my mom), but they all grew up in the 50's & came of age in the 60's & lived in rural areas in Tennessee. They had a lot of the same values. None were rich; some were very poor. There were a few differences. His parents had many siblings. My mom has one brother; my dad had two. Both Randy's parents had parents who divorced - unusual for the time. My dad's parents separated after 30 years of marriage, but never divorced; my mom's parents lived together until my grandmother's death, after 46 years of marriage.

My parents were not big movie-goers. I do recall seeing a handful of movies with my dad, a few more with my mom or my grandmother, & as I got older, quite a lot with my brothers (while Mom was at the mall or something) & with friends. Randy's parents, on the other hand, were BIG movie-goers. His mom still is. They saw EVERYTHING. I'm going to make another post on that subject. His parents demonstrated a long-lasting, committed marriage, while mine divorced after something like 28 years together. Their marriage demonstrated a lot of tenderness & passion, combined with a lot of bitterness & hurt. Well, some things are better left in the past & some relationships just never heal.

One movie we saw as a family was "The Wilderness Family." After seeing this my dad wanted to uproot all of us & move to the wilderness. I was afraid I'd never graduate from third grade. I didn't particularly like school, so I don't know why I wanted to stay where I was.

As an adult, I probably lean more toward that wilderness approach. (I do, however, like air conditioning a LOT. Indoor plumbing is awesome, too.) I would probably homeschool & totally have the kids living in a bubble. But when I was a teenager & a young adult, I didn't want to live in the wild, & neither does Randy. He might like the privacy a zillion acres of woods would bring, & he'd certainly appreciate the beauty, but I think he likes the comfortable world of the recliner & the air conditioner. And let's not forget HBO. He sees nothing wrong with them watching HBO & MTV. He used to be stricter about it. I, too, used to police the kids' TV a lot more, but as they've gotten older, Randy has relaxed the rules a lot. So, policing would not work now. They'd just get up after I go to bed & watch what they want. Randy might watch with them.

I feel like I screwed up - again - by letting down my guard. But, I try to make the best of this. Here's what I do. First, I do TiVo a lot of shows that aren't risque, such as classic country music TV shows & gospel singing shows. I record a lot of them on DVD & share them with my grandmother, who enjoys them, & then I have them for my collection. Another thing I do is TALK TO MY KIDS. When we see something I don't like, I say so. Like, "I hate how in some of these movies people just end up in bed. That is so tacky. And dumb." (And we DON'T watch the sex scenes together! Eww!) Or, "Drugs'll do that to you." Or, "See how people con you into wanting to wear their style of clothes?" I try to turn those moments into teaching opportunities.

So, before you judge someone's lifestyle, remember that they might be practicing submission to their spouse!!!

How ya' gonna keep 'em down on the farm?

As I recall, this song had a message like, "How are you going to keep the kids on the farm once they've seen Paris?" Or, for that matter, any big city?

In January, Randy & I chaperoned a church youth trip to "Warmth in Winter," an annual gathering of teenaged Methodists & their brave adult advisors. This was our third year, & we've almost got the job down now. One of the boys asked why anyone would want to live in a city the size of Nashville. Most of the other youth agreed in their doubts about city living. They've never lived anywhere larger than Clarksville (which is no small town anymore - it's well over 100,000). Most of them haven't ever lived anywhere bigger than Pleasant View (population somewhere around 3600 - which is about 1500 more than it was when we moved out here in 1993). All of them currently live out here in the country between those two municipalities, out here where subdivisions and cattle farms co-exist, where the Interstate & the old Dixie Bee Line connect us to the nearby state capitol, where roads are named after people's great-grandparents.

I felt like the closest thing to an expert on the matter, having a brother who lives in Weehawken, NJ & works in Manhattan. I told him that some people like living close to work, where they can have a nice dinner after work or see the Titans play and not worry about parking or driving home late at night. Having worked in Nashville for several years and always living way out of town, I can appreciate that desire. I can also appreciate the desire to live in the country.

I've spent a lot of time pondering these things lately. I've pondered a lot of things. Most of them seem kind of insignificant. Here are a few sample questions.

Should I cut my hair? Almost everyone I work with thinks long hair looks terrible on older women. I'm only 39. But I'm almost 40! I hate when my hair looks bushy. I used to look good with short hair. But I think I look old with short hair now. I have a lot of gray, but I like the color of my hair. If I let my hair grow it will be wild and unprofessional looking. But I would love to have long hair, if only just so I could say I'm not disobeying I Corinthians 11.

But are we supposed to be wearing headcoverings too???

Why am I haunted by my decision to get out of the nursing program back in 1987? Didn't I really want to be a technologist, & nuclear medicine seemed like the perfect marriage of patient care & technology for me? Didn't I want to be a technologist, like, as long as I knew what one was??? Why haven't I felt as respected as a technologist? Why do I think I have to be a nurse to get respect? Would I really get more respect as one? Why is it so hard for someone like me to go back to college to get my RN degree? And why do I even want to?

Why didn't I know when I was younger that...I would wish I hadn't taken birth control pills? That I would wonder what it would've been like to have as many kids as God would have given me? That I would regret having epidural anesthesia? That I would regret using disposable diapers, and being in debt so much that I never got to be a solely-at-home mom? That I would wish I'd started homeschooling the kids in 1997? That I would wish I'd been more active & less interested in the computer???

Why can't I agree with Randy that our life isn't so bad...that cheap & easy (& overprocessed) food from Wal-Mart is best...that I need to work a 40-hour week in a hospital job even if it means driving 40 miles one way to work...that two kids was more than enough...that women wearing pants & short hair is not necessarily a bad thing...that public schools are better than homeschooling...that constant TV & movie entertainment is a necessity instead of a luxury...that eating home-grown food is a luxury & not a necessity? Why can't I be a good housekeeper and work full time like his mom did? With very little help from his dad, who preferred working outside the house instead?

Where did these zillions & zillions of homeschooling, homesteading women find the men who wanted their wives to live that way??? And for the record, NO, I'm not looking for a man!!! Though Randy & I disagree on a lot of stuff, we do love each other very much. But if they could teach Randy what they know...naah, I don't think I'd want to change him that much. I just wonder though.

I DO know why there are few blogs for & by Christian women like me, who don't live on a farm, who don't homeschool, who watch TV. BECAUSE ALL THE OTHERS ARE BUSY DOING HOUSEKEEPING JOBS & I'M SITTING HERE AT THE DANG COMPUTER.

Why don't you haul off and love me one more time?

Locals will recognize this as the Jean Shepard song from the Springer Mountain Farms chicken commercials. For those who aren't familiar with her, Jean Shepard is a real treasure in the Country Music community. I'm totally serious. She's a 50-year Opry veteran and regular who has lived the music. In 1963, while she was pregnant with their second son, her husband Hawkshaw Hawkins was killed in the plane crash that killed Patsy Cline and several others. Jean remarried & raised her sons while continuing her music career. These days she's making commercials for chicken, but she's still performing on the Opry & other places as well. So many of our country music legends have gone on. Take a few minutes to learn about this amazing lady & enjoy her while she's still with us.

Cheap tricks

Well, I've had a fairly busy week, so I haven't done much writing. I've been a little under the weather, and the weather's been kind of wintry this week. The kids got out of school Friday because the flu has been running rampant through the county, but they'd have had a snow day anyway. The day before, we were "supposed" to get a bunch of snow, but that didn't happen. I think most of the kids who missed Thursday were tired from staying up late anticipating a snow day. At least, this is the story my daughter tells me. I've spent a little time working on the house, and a little time planning the Super Bowl party for our youth at church, and a lot of time looking for bargains.

Randy likes my "new" hobby of looking for bargains. I told him that's because it actually benefits him. Yesterday I spent quite some time viewing sites that came up when I Googled "coupons." I don't like these survey-type sites where they send your e-mail to advertisers who offer "free" stuff for $1 shipping - & of course they want your credit or debit card to get your $1. I feel like all that's a big waste of time, between the multiple times you end up answering the same question & the zillions of e-mails you get from these people. Instead, I prefer going to the sites of brands I like to buy. I signed up with "My Coke Rewards" yesterday. If you don't get the Procter & Gamble coupons from your local paper, try www.pg.com. The Tennessean's Ms. Cheap has a regular column in the paper plus every year she has a "Cheapest of the Cheap" contest.

We filed our taxes this morning with Turbo Tax. I've been using this program for years & I highly recommend it. It's not free, but it's been cheaper for us than going to a tax preparer, & I feel better using the program than doing it completely by myself. Unfortunately, I didn't realize I could log in through my bank and get it cheaper until I'd already filed. Dang! So if you're a U.S. Bank online customer, be sure to click on "Special Offers" at the left of the screen.

Now, I know all this sounds like I've really gotten far away from my "shop locally" message. I like to save money on some things (like cleaning products, shampoo, etc.) so I can have a little more money to splurge on the things I buy from "the little guys." If I'm going to eat out, I prefer Stratton's in Ashland City to their neighbor, McDonald's. But occasionally, I might go to the golden arches too.

That's what I'm talking about.

Barbara Curtis' blog MommyLife had a very interesting link today: Wandering the Aisles, from the blog Inspired by a True Story. I haven't read enough of the blog to know if it will join my list of favorites, but I liked that entry. The writer's a Garrison Keillor fan, so he can't be all bad.

Money is tight, as usual. The man of the house thinks we should tell the small business owners to come off their "boutique" prices or we'll go to the big box store. Ugh. Sigh. Here in this town, he's in the overwhelming majority. There aren't many "little men" out there - it's a town of 3 Super Wal-Marts and yet another in a neighboring community (just a mile or so past the city limit). I so disagree with him. But, what can I do? My job as a wife who wants to obey God is to respect the man of the house & do what he wants. Besides, if I'm ever going to get out of debt, I have to save money somewhere. I need more money. Actually, I just need less bills. This brings me to the point that it's time for me to get ready for work. Another day, another dollar, daylight comes, I'm on my way.

I love Christmas, but I hate "X-ma$."

I don't really have the big issue a lot of people do with the X itself. I mean, X is one of those Greek letters - chi - that has been used as a symbol meaning "Christ." X can symbolize Christ's death on the cross. What I oppose is the cutting Christ out of Christmas, and I don't mean just the word.

This morning I didn't have to work early. I thought, cool, the Wii is coming out at Wal-Mart, & I can go up there. So I left the house at 4:45 a.m. ! and went to the lovely House of Sam. I went to electronics. I mean, video games are in electronics, right? I didn't see too many employees. The announcement had been "they'll be sold starting at 8 a.m." so I thought asking someone in the store would be, well, a waste of time. Fooled me.

I walked around for 30 minutes & didn't see anyone standing or sitting around waiting. So, I left, went to Starbucks, & came back. I walked around another 20 minutes, then had to go to the bathroom.

There it was - a line of people waiting for the Wii. "There are only 24," the lady in the last chair said, "and I'm just here in case someone's credit card doesn't work."

I sat down in the floor, and I got irritable just thinking about it. The lady next to me, the one in the last chair, said, "That man in the front of the line is selling his."

"I wouldn't buy one from him if it's the last one on earth," I responded. "I hope nobody buys it from him."

Well, the longer I sat there, and the more I heard people saying "There aren't but 24," and "He's gonna sell his for $800," the madder I got. I mean, there weren't any SIGNS in the store pointing to where you wait for Wiis. I thought ELECTRONICS was where you'd wait...& I blindly and mistakenly thought I was the only one there looking for the God-forsaken thing.

I have been looking for an excuse to boycott Walmart. I have spent thousands upon thousands of dollars there over the years. And there I was, having wasted 90 minutes already plus the money I spent on breakfast & coffee, & I'd have to wait 90 minutes to see if I even had a chance. I decided to go home & give Derek the money for Christmas instead. He's not happy, but he understands.

What is this world coming to? It is full of greed and evil, I tell you. I was so incensed. I thought, you know, I thought this was God giving me my chance to get that game he's been wanting. Instead, it's resulted in my just getting angry at the whole system: at Nintendo for their twisted idea of releasing a few systems at a time, at Walmart for not making it more clear where they would be distributing the games, and at people like the jerk at the front of the line who had no intention of giving that game system to anyone - just selling it for a profit. I am no communist, and I don't necessarily disagree with capitalism but there is a point where unchecked greed becomes too much.

There was a time when I might've paid more than something was worth just to get it and put it under the tree "from Santa." But not anymore. I wouldn't have paid $500 more than something was worth, though. Yes, people like that guy are gonna make a killing off other people who are trying to keep the myth alive. Thank you, Lord, that my kids are old enough to know better.

And I know my anger isn't really in the spirit of Christmas. Maybe it's righteous anger. (Maybe it's self-righteous anger. :)) I know one thing. The whole experience made me so much more inspired to celebrate the REAL MEANING OF CHRISTMAS.

In a funky way...

Tonight I'm kind of in a funky mood. Not funk like Earth Wind & Fire, unfortunately, but funk like...well, I've said it before...funk like "What is that FUNK growing in the refrigerator?!" When I am in a funky way, writing usually helps me get the nasty out of my system.

Actually life has been pretty sweet lately. It's been crazy busy, and at times that's taken a toll (i.e., chest pains, enough to warrant me discussing this with one of the docs I work for, who ordered a stress test, which turned out fine, and the other doc ordered another test, which showed some mild changes, but nothing too scary, but my meds have changed...and it's actually inspired me to eat better and get more exercise, so I feel a lot better now) but it's been good overall the last month or two. The weather has FINALLY cooled down and it's actually NICE to go outside. Work has been all right - some days are busy, others not so much, and I've had plenty of hours. Randy and I are getting along, the kids are well. The rest of the relatives are well, too, I think. At least they were a few days ago.

The kids are back in school, which is great for D and not so great for Tiny. She has had a LOT of work, and not in the classroom. She has P.E. and colorguard, and the band schedule is really, really hectic. Combine that with her busy social life and you can see why I'm spending an awful amount on gas every month. Every night it's something. On Monday night she has piano. On Tuesday and Thursday evenings the band practices until 6. Wednesday nights she usually likes to go to church with some of her friends, about 12 miles away. Friday nights are football games (except tonight - but I'll get to that in a minute), and they have band contests six out of the next eight Saturdays.

And there were parents at the first band boosters meeting who wanted to know why we weren't going to MORE contests. These are people who don't have a blanking life. I mean, these people SERIOUSLY do not know how to have fun. There is a really big problem. I know a few good psychologists they could call.

For the record, I do not mean that about ALL band parents and certainly not all the ones in our organization. I just mean, anyone who thinks our band (or any band, for that matter) needs to go to more than six contests in eight weeks (and really, they're going to seven - they're doing two one weekend) is certifiable. I mean, these kids aren't NASCAR drivers who get paid big bucks to travel from place to place every weekend. They DO have school to attend. They have families, churches, and some of them even have part-time jobs. Heck, all of them probably need part-time jobs to pay for the constant bleeding of wallets that takes place in a school like ours.

The hemorrhage of money is unbelievable. I know people told me this before I had a high schooler, but I didn't realize just how serious this problem would be. I don't think I would've believed them if they'd had the words to convey the reality to me. It's like this. Imagine your fingers representing your paycheck, after taxes. Now look at your pinky. Now imagine all the other fingers, and the top two sections of your pinky were cut off. See what would be left? THIS is what you have to live on until your next check. Oh, and by the way, the cupboard is bare and your mortgage and two car payments are due. Good luck.

Did I mention she's counting the days until she turns 15 and can get a LEARNER'S PERMIT? I'm just thankful she won't turn 15 until the last day of July, 2007. She hates this. I can understand why, but I don't hate it with her. I think there are five kids in her class who are younger than her. This means the other 494 are older. Of these, approximately 485 were born between October 1 and December 31, 1991. In other words, most of the kids in her class will be getting learner's permits within the next 90 days. I find this to be a frightening fact.

D is spending less of our money. Of course, once he figures this out, he'll be hitting us up for some unnecessary, expensive gadget, which, once he acquires it, will maybe come out of the box three times before he either gets tired of it or tears it up. He's playing the drums in middle school band, which means he does a lot of practicing here at home, which is sometimes rather annoying. As long as he keeps it down to a dull roar, it's all right. When he starts doing rim shots and hard banging, I'm ready to move to the outbuilding. He's also into this game online called "runescape." It doesn't look much different than what he's been playing on his x-box. FYI, this name is pronounced like Rune Scape, not Run Escape, which is what I would've said. Apparently, this is a pretty popular game among...well, among people who like to play online role-playing games. And I don't mean 50 year old men who pretend to be high school cheerleaders in chat rooms.

Randy's playing the Toy Run tonight. For the non-Clarksvillians out there, the Toy Run is an annual event where a group called "Bikers Who Care" (or BWC) collect toys for needy children. Tomorrow, it will be a lot of fun to see the many, many bikers who'll be coming in from all over the country. Actually, today would've been a good day for it too. They have a huge party at the Fairgrounds in Clarksville. The radio ads emphasize "FREE BEER" and music and good food and vendors and did we mention, FREE BEER? All for the admission price of $25, which goes to the BWC, and they use the profits to benefit needy kids.

I know someone else who'll be playing tonight, and she told me I could take my kids. I mentioned this to Randy. He said, "I don't want MY kids going." So HIS kids aren't there.

Of course, Rachel had plans anyway. The game tonight's an away game in a rather unsavory neighborhood in Nashville, so with the first contest being TOMORROW, the band director thought the band would benefit from rehearsing on the football field under the lights in the team's absence. No one complained that we weren't going to that game. No one.

A second of Randy's bands plays the Toy Run party tomorrow afternoon, after a third band Randy sits in with plays the Jostens employee picnic. Randy's taking Derek with him to help set up. So, tomorrow's a me day, pretty much. I'll drive to Clarksville, watch his band and eat free hockey puck and chips, then go to Hendersonville for the marching band contest (about a 60 mile drive), then on my way back home, I'll go to visit Granny and maybe, if it's not too late in the evening, Granddaddy too.

I got in a funky mood tonight because I wanted to go hear Randy tonight, but I understand his concerns. Kids aren't supposed to be out at the party after 9 pm anyway, and Randy's band is playing at 10. I think. I love my kids, DON'T GET ME WRONG!!! Occasionally, though, I'd like to be Randy's WIFE instead of his babysitter. I know, it won't be long. Time flies. Just like the last hour flew by while I was typing.

Later!!!