Turning around.

Lately I have felt that I am personally in a slump.  I don't know why exactly that I feel this way, I just haven't felt like myself.  I've been kinda depressed and mopey and I know that it has been concerning my wife.  However, I think that I had a bit of a breakthrough last night.  We had a rehearsal for Sunday worship with TuEternity.  Usually, this rehearsal time is a relaxing/stress relieving time for me, though for some reason, last night seemed different.  I came away from rehearsal very tense and high strung.  To me it felt like people in the band were merely arguing for arguing's sake.  Unfortunately I know that I did my part to contribute to these arguments.  Last evening found us doing song that we are not used to doing with the musicians that we had on and I was a bit snippy if we did a part of a song incorrectly, but that is beside the point.  As I went to work later that evening, I thought long and hard about the way rehearsal went as well as where my life has been going and what I am doing with it.  Repentance is the beginning of the road for me.  I know that I can't be perfect, but I know that I have to try.  I need to turn away from any sinful and/or lustful thoughts that I have; I need to work hard to control my anger over the little things in life, they're not worthy of causing that rift in the relationship that I have with Jesus.  One of the big ones that I have to work on is loving my enemies.  How does that work?  You mean Jesus, that I have to care for the people in my life that make me so angry and so livid that I just want to scream?  I think that is exactly what I need to do.  Again, I know that I can't be perfect, but I think that taking that first step is so important.  Last night while at work, the opportunity came out of nowhere for me to minister to a coworker who I otherwise would have called a mean name and walked away, instead I chose to speak God's word.  The timing was not right for him, so he turned and walked away.  However, hearing God's word come out of my mouth in the situation strengthened my heart and helped my floundering spirit turn around.  I pray that I have the will power to continue my repentance, though again, I know I'm not perfect, but God's love for me is.  Hopefully if you are reading this, it makes some sort of sense to you what I'm saying.  For me it is kinda just coming straight out of my head without any sort of filter or grammar check, just a veritable free flowing thought pattern.  Thank you for allowing me to vent my thoughts about where my spiritual journey is at in my life right now.

TIMBER!

Last night Melissa and I had a date night.  We left to go to karaoke like we normally do, but we made a stop out in DeForest first to hit up a restaurant that we heard about called Timber's.  We went there because we heard that they have an "All You Can Eat Chicken Wing" special on Wednesday night that was pretty affordable.  It actually turned out to be a really good deal!  It's true, "All you can eat chicken wings" for just $5.95!  Typically at that price one would think that they wouldn't be all that great, but I thought that they were awesome!  I ended up throwing my diet out the window into the middle of a hurricane telling it to go fend for itself!  I do think that I over-indulged on the deep-fried goodness, but I'll jump right back on my diet bandwagon today.  I definitely got my chicken wing fix for a little while!  Keep it in mind though for your next evening outing, Timber's in DeForest on Wednesday nights!  Awesome!

Two Day Weekend...Continued

So far, it has been a pretty good weekend.  Sunday night, Melissa and I took Tommy over to Rick's house.  Rick is Melissa's father and Tommy now calls him Popow.  We went over there to watch the Packers beat the Bears and have a few drinks.

Tommy had a blast!  Rick has a pool table in his basement, and Tommy couldn't get enough of rolling the balls across the table and watching then disappear into the pockets.  Melissa and I had a good time visiting.  We stayed until the game was over and had a few more drinks after that.  Then we had to stay long enough for me to sober up.  We ended up leaving about 12:30.  Keep in mind that Tommy stayed awake the whole time.  He was a good boy the whole time too.

To our amazement, Tommy stayed awake for the whole ride home too.  When we got home, Tommy let us put him in bed with no fuss and he quickly laid his head down on the pillow and fell asleep before the light was off!  What a tired toddler!

In the morning I happened to wake up at 6:00 am.  As I was lying there trying to get back to sleep, I remembered that Melissa had a doctor's appointment scheduled for 8:00 am.  Oh well, I guess I'm not going back to sleep.  I stayed awake so that I could get everyone awake in time to get to the doctor's office.  Tommy and I waited there for her to have her physical.

While waiting, walked all the way around the clinic while Tommy told me the colors of all the cars driving by on the highway.  He's getting so smart.  We then walked around inside the clinic and looked at the aquariums and the big waterfall that they have there.  When Tommy started to get restless, we went out to the car and I let him get in the driver's seat and play with all the buttons.  That kept him happy and it was fun to watch him dance to the music on the CD player.  We were listening to Big Bad Voodoo Daddy.  Awesome swing band!

Last night, we basically stayed home and had a quiet evening in, seeing as how we were all tired from having to wake up so early.  So far it has been a good weekend.  I'm already looking forward to next weekend and being able to have another two day weekend.  I'm thinking that I could get spoiled by that!

My weekend is here!!!

The weekend is here for me.  I got off of work this morning at 7:00 and was home by 7:30.  I woke Tommy up so that he could go to breakfast with Granny Ally.  After they left, I attempted to do a quick email, but fell asleep on the keyboard for about 5 minutes.  I'm guessing 5 minutes because I got about 5 minutes worth of "F's" and "G's" scrolling forever down the screen of my email!  I decided at that point that it was bed time.  I remember crawling in bed, but I don't remember my head touching the pillow.

I'm not quite sure what we are going to do this weekend, seeing as how we don't have any money to do anything.  A friend invited us over to watch the Packer game this evening, and we might take him up on the offer, but Melissa doesn't like football, and I think that the game might run a bit late for Tommy.  But maybe we can go for the first half.  I guess there's also the option of heading out to my Dad's house for a while.  It has been a little while since they have seen each other, so that could be fun.  I guess that I'll discuss it with Melissa when she and Tommy get up from their naps. 

Otherwise, if you are reading this and would like to do something tonight, or at least hang out, give me a call and let me know.  All that I do know is that I haven't had two nights off in a row for a while now.  Work has been "On-a-day, off-a-day" for quite a while now, and I miss the two day off in a row.  I am looking forward to the way that things are going to be changing at work.  We started a new management scheduling program last night, that puts an assistant manager in the store 24 hours a day, which is much better for productivity than having merely a crew leader on for the night.  Suddenly I saw a little bit of pep in the step of people who seem to have been simply coasting through their evening while a select few of us are being held accountable for the state of the back room.  And... wait, why am I discussing work on my weekend?  Argh!  Obviously I need this weekend!

Has crappy driving become a fashion statement?!

Tommy and I headed out today to run some errands.  On the Beltline people were driving like raving lunatics!  Have they gone MAD in the Madtown!  I couldn't believe the stunts some people were trying to pull.  I drive a 2003 Ford Focus, a small car, but it sits surprisingly high.  That being said, I had a red pickup truck tailgating me between Verona Road and Whitney Way.  This *expletive deleted* was so close to my bumper that I could only see the grill of his truck in my rearview.  I was traveling slightly slower that the flow of traffic and my speedometer said that I was going 68 mph.  The speed limit is only 55 mph on the Beltline, and I'm about to become a hood ornament on a pickup truck bigger than Magilla Gorilla!  Sorry I'm not going fast enough for you there, Scooter!  When I found an opening and pulled into the next lane, Dale Jr. passed me by like I was standing still.  He had to have gotten that thing up to at least 90 and was weaving in and out like a punt returner going for the end zone!

Finally, we reached our exit.  I breathe a sigh or relief.  I'm off the Beltline!  And alive!  YAY!!!  Now I find myself on a road with one lane on either side, oncoming traffic in the lane to my left, speed limit, 25 mph.  Next thing I know, this POS Japanese compact car that hasn't seen an oil change since '87 pulls out from behind me into oncoming traffic and puts all six of it's horsepower into passing me.  Parked cars are lining the curb on either side, meaning no one can pull over to let this maniac through.  Slamming on my brakes and moving as far right as I could without slamming a parked car, it was still only by the grace of the Almighty Himself that this psychopath didn't cause an eleven car pile up!  A block and a half later I pulled up along side this same rust bucket to find a lady older than Bob Dole wilting behind the wheel with a cell phone glued to her ear and a "late for bingo" grimmace.  She glared at me and FLIPPED ME OFF!  As the light turned green, she slammed the gas and pushed those six horses to the limit.  It was simply the most wrong situation I have ever been in!  It is a miracle that I made it home with my son, both of us still alive.  The greatest part of this story is that the errand we needed to run that took us into these situations was that I needed to pay my car insurance!  Oh, the irony.  I'm glad its a good policy!

Pickin' Apples!

Another beautiful day in Madison, Wisconsin! Upon suggestion of Granny Ally, we decided to go on out to Eplegaarden Farm and do some apple picking. Located just outside of Fitchburg, we drove across town and met up with Granny Ally and Rachel.

Once there, we hiked up the hill to the apple orchard. It was a struggle for Melissa and I after walking around at Taste of Madison yesterday. We started off picking some sort of golden apple. I can't really remember the name of it, but they tasted quite good! Tommy had a blast just picking away and putting the apples in the bag.

After picking a half bag of those, we walked to the other area to pick Macintosh apples, also rather tasty. Tommy perfected his picking technique of grabbing an apple and leaning backward until the fruit broke loose and left him stumbling backward! He also started to eat an apple. He started at one side of the apple and ate straight through, including the core! I've never seen anyone eat the core of an apple before, let alone a child do so!

Finally filling the apple bag, we started the descent down the hill to the barn area to get some cider. After reaching the bottom of the hill, I realized that I had remembered I had brought the camera to take some pictures of Tommy picking apples. Unfortunately, I forgot to get pictures while picking apples. So we got some of him in the car seat on the ride home.

Taste of Madison

Had a great time on Sunday. Melissa, Tommy and I hooked up with a friend of mine from work, his wife and son, and we all drove up to the square for the Taste of Madison. My friend from work, James, recently moved here from Georgia, so I thought it would be fun to invite him to the Taste of Madison so that he might be able to get a feel for Madison.

We met at Ella's Deli and then went uptown. It was actually a lot easier getting up there and find parking than I thought it was going to be. We then walked the block to the square and started walking around. We quickly found Melissa's favorite, Jamerica. She loves the jerk chicken! Next stop was a popcorn stand for Tommy and a beer for me. I also stopped in at Quaker Steak and Lube's booth for some chicken wings.

Around the next corner we found WJJO's pavillion. James saw that the next act was going to be "Sand," and made a mental note to stop back and check them out. But we continued with the flow of traffic and stopped at my favorite stand. Brat Und Brau! I used to work for Brat und Brau for almost six years, and I still think that they have the best brats in the world! We all ordered a brat, and Tommy just devoured his! I had to stop and think, and that was his first brat ever!

We continued our walk and eventually made it back to the WJJO pavillion just in time to hear Sand say, "Thank you Taste of Madison! We are Sand! Come see us at the merchandise booth. Have a great day!!!" I just had to laugh. We decided that we would stick around for the next band, which was "Day of Fire." They were a pretty good act, however, I thought that the singer was a bit weak. He sounded good for the first two songs, but then his voice got tired and he couldn't hit his notes right for the rest of the set, which was only about 45 minutes total.

Following the Taste of Madison, we all decided to go back to Ella's Deli for ice cream. I knew that they would get a kick out of seeing that place. There's so much to look at inside. James' son Kevin thought that the flying Spider-Man was pretty cool, but he was bummed that the flying Bart Simpson wasn't working. Tommy just loved looking at everything. I think that he actually got himself quite over-stimulated for the day!

All-in-all, I thought that it was a great day! We ate good food and spent the time with good friends on a day with perfect weather! Add in some pretty good music and the only way to say it was a good day!

We've been to the Brink and back!

Last night I was again surprised that I didn't have to work. So once again, Melissa and I were able to do a date night. We decided to call up a friend of mine, Barb, and see if she knew of any blues bands that were playing. No surprise, she did. She had already planned on going to The Brink Lounge with her brother to see Perry Weber & the Devilles. We decided to tag along!

I haven't been to a blues show in years. Actually, I don't think that I've gone to one since Melissa and I have been together. We picked up Barb from her house and drove on downtown to The Brink. I was quite impressed by the bar; a gorgeous place with a wonderful laid back atmosphere. The band was rockin' and everyone was in a good mood!

I went up to order drinks, and I discovered that they had a drink special on Blue Moon. For $10, I got a 23 oz glass that I could then take home, as well as a t-shirt and a hat, all three with the Blue Moon Logo on them! In addition to that, the 23 oz. glass was refillable with Blue Moon for $2 for the rest of the night, it was a pretty darn good deal.

The band was pretty good. I was happy to see that the bass player of the band was Tony Menzer, who used to play bass with a band I used to follow, The Westside Andy/Mel Ford Band. During one of the intermissions, I had the opportunity to chat with Tony. He's a pretty cool guy. That's one thing that I love about the local music scene in the Madison area is the approachability of the musicians.

After the concert - which I thought ended too early - I was a bit too inebriated to drive, thanks to those 23 oz refills and a blues concert that ended at 12:30. We decided that we should probably go for a bit of a walk so that I could sober up to be able to drive. We chatted at the bar for a while and then left for a walk.

Finally at about 2:00, I was able to get behind the wheel. I wish that I could say the same for some of the other drivers I saw out last night. After a stop at Perkin's for a bit of breakfast, we took Barb home and then went home ourselves. We finally got home around 4:00 in the morning. Long night! But, we had an awesome time!

P.S. Here's a link if you would like to check out the band we saw last night.

Perry Weber & the Devilles

Date Night at Topp's

Once again, Wednesday night at Topp's. I was actually expecting that I had to work last night, but a call to my boss told me that I actually had the night off. Therefore, Melissa and I had another date night. We decided to go to Topp's Hideaway, as we do just about every Wednesday night for karaoke.

As we got there, we saw a few of our friends who are usually there. And more continued to come in. We had a lot of fun! DJ Tom runs a really good show that keeps everybody in a good mood.

As the night went on, I began getting urges for hot wings. We kept asking various people if they knew of any place to get chicken wings at 1 to 2 in the morning. No one really knew. So on the way home, we stopped at PDQ to see what they had. They did have some that had been made that day, tossed in BBQ sauce and then chilled so that they could later be microwaved and eaten. I decided to try them. Honestly, they were horrible. I couldn't finish them.

Anyway, bad wings or not, Melissa and I had an excellent time last night. I hope that I'm off next Wednesday as well. Maybe we can do it again!

Lots-a-shows

What a busy weekend! Sunday was a long day. Helped lead worship with Tu Eternity at New Life Church for two services from 9:15 until 11:30 am. I thought that the music went very well as we had lots of energy! After church, members of JoyousNoyz all got together and traveled up to Fox Lake to lead worship with the minimum security prison they have there. We then went up to Redgranite, WI to lead worship at the prison up there. That's a lot of music in one day!

I then had the chance to rest up on Monday. Melissa let me sleep in until about 12:30 pm. I got roughly 12 hours worth of sleep! Yay! The rest of the day was spent with the family. In the evening, after Tommy went down for bed, my Mom said that she would listen to Tommy's monitor and Melissa and I could go out. We drove out to Waterloo to have a couple of beers with my Dad. It was a nice relaxing visit.

On Tuesday morning, Tommy surprised me by sleeping in until 10:00! This gave me enough sleep to allow me and Tommy to go to the church where JoyousNoyz was set to play yet again and set up the sound equipment for the evening show. We played for an awards ceremony at which an organization that our guitar player is a part of, was given an award for their effort in the field of criminal justice and corrections. The name of the organization is "Voices Beyond Bars," and they are deeply involved in reaching out to those who are incarcerated in the prison system of Wisconsin. They then establish a support structure for the individual so that they are better acclimated back into society upon their release from prison. It's a wonderful organization!

As you can see, it was a very busy weekend. Within the span of three days, I played for five different worship services and/or concerts. It took lots of energy, and though it was a lot of fun, I'm looking forward to the next two weeks in which I don't have to play at all! I miss spending the time with my family.