I have not been posting much lately, and I feel bad about that. I would like to record more of the wedding planning process, but I have not been able to make myself sit down and write. Going forward, I am going to write more.

Saturday, Michelle's parents came up, and the 4 of us went to the bridal show at the mall here in Clarksville. It was essentially a waste of time, since there were only about 5 vendors. By coincidence, I ran into several people I know, so that was pretty cool. I even remembered most of their names. I am horrible about running into people, and forgetting their names. One of the people I met at the mall, Ray Roby, is a guy whom I have known all my life. He has been a member of the Clarksville church forever, and he worked with my dad for about 30 years. Yet, for some reason, it took me 30 minutes to remember his last name. Jeez. He is such a nice man, too. I remember that he was the liturgist the morning that I announced I was leaving the Clarksville church to take my current job at Mt. Denson. I asked him before the service started if I could make a special announcement, and he said sure, no problem. He then kind of got curious, and asked what my announcement was about. I told him it was going to be emotional, and I would prefer to only have to say the words once. He just sort of nodded his head, and said OK. After I made the announcement, he told me he understood my plight and wished me good fortune.

After the bridal show, we went to eat lunch at Whitt's BBQ. When we got done eating, we talked about the budget and other stuff. Michelle's dad was really wound up at first, because he had found all of her mother's random notes, and put every number he had found into a spreadsheet. His total put us about 50% OVER budget, and he was freaking. Little did he know that most of the random notes he had found were invalid, so he was greatly relieved to find we are actually about 15% UNDER budget right now, with no major expenses unaccounted for. Whew. Since Whitt's is catering the reception, we spoke with the owner for a while, and worked out the details for that. Towards the end, he asked me what I did for a living, and I told him I am a minister. He asked me jokingly asked me if I was going to marry myself. Michelle's mother looked at him and said with a straight face, "No, he's marrying HER", pointing to Michelle. Everyone got a good laugh. I told him that since I would be busy GETTING married, I would leave the officiating to someone else.

We were supposed to have dinner with my parents, so they could meet Michelle's parents, but my dad was violently ill, so we postponed the meeting until later. I guess the thought of meeting new people must churn my dad's stomach...LOL.

I am going to swing by the new Grinder's location tomorrow, to see how things are going. Hopefully they will be opening soon. I am seriously jonesing for some good coffee. I also am supposed to take the engagement announcement to the newspaper. I am also go to the gym. Michelle and I joined the Y a few weeks ago, and we have been having a good time working out. I am down to just under 190, and it feels good. The last time I was 190, I was at 8% body fat, and was lifting everything in sight. I am a much softer 190 now, but I am going to start lifting soon to build some muscle mass, which will also help burn some fat. Last year on the baseball field, I was way too slow. I am not going to let that happen again.

Speaking of baseball, it is almost here. I am going to start working in the bullpen soon, as my first game is 2/18 at Trevecca. The last time I worked there, the game manager was a buffoon. He put us in a locker room while telling us he would have to move us after the first game. WTF? Why not just put is in one place and leave us there? After the first game, we had to pack up all our stuff, and then move it to another locker room, which happened to be on the other side of the basketball gym. We had to move all of this stuff across the gym floor, while a basketball game was underway. Jeez. As umpires, we try to remain as inconspicuous as possible, and here we are walking across the gym floor, with all eyes on us. We may have well as been wearing beanies and Bozo shoes. I am not going to let that happen again.

Anyway, it will be great to get the season underway. I have a great schedule lined up. I have about 12 dates on the calendar right now, and will probably pick up some more. In addition to my non-conference schedule, I am working in the Great Lakes Valley Conference, which is a D-2 wood bat league. I worked in that league 2 years ago and it was great. Wood bats keep the scores down. I had a conference series in St. Louis, and the last game was 9 innings played in about 1:45. A total of about 6 hits if I remember correctly, and the score was 2-1. Beautiful.

I will also be working plenty of HS ball and Middle school ball should be fun, too.

Speaking of St. Louis, I had the strangest dream ever last week. I dreamt I was in the St. Louis airport, and I ran into Rodney Lockerman, who was working for UPS and had a cart full of stuff to deliver. We chatted for a few minutes, and then I woke up. Rodney is a kid from the Clarksville church who I have not seen in quite a long time. Weird. Very weird. LOL.

I have been reading a book called, "The Gnostic Gospels", which are the documents found at Nag Hammadi in 1945. Probably the most interesting, and certainly the most controversial, part of those documents was the Gospel of Thomas. I just started the book, so I have not gotten very far yet.

The youth group is hard at work getting ready for World Vision's 30 Hour Famine. We going to have a chili luncheon and silent auction of Feb. 20, and the actual famine is Feb. 25-26. We will go 30 hours without eating to get a feel for what a lot of people live with every day. We did this last year, and it was great. Please support World Vision as they try to help people around the globe, including victims of the tsunami, have a better life. One of the main things I love about World Vision is that 84% of all the money they bring in goes directly to their ministries. This is one of the best percentages of any charitable organization in the world. When you give to World Vision, you can feel confident that your money is going to those in need, and not lining the pockets of fat cats in an office.

"They might have split up or they might have capsized;
The may have broke deep and took water.
And all that remains is the faces and the names
Of the wives and the sons and the daughters."

--From the Gordon Lightfoot classic, "Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald"

What an incredibly intense song. Jeez, I'm shaking while listening to it.

I hope everyone is doing well. Peace...