It has been a long time since I posted, so I am not sure if I can remember everything that has happened in the interim.

Last Thursday, I had a game at Sewanee, which was something to behold. Neither team had any pitching at all, and neither had much defense either. The final score was 10-9, and the only thing that kept it from getting worse was the fact that neither team could run the bases well. There were several baserunning mistakes, and tons of double plays. Oh well. I guess the funniest part was that my lineup cards looked like jigsaw puzzles, due to all the substitutions. Piedmont, the visiting team, made 8 or 9 substitutions during the game. Jeez. One of their subs' last name had about 7 syllables, so the coach just told me the number and we left it at that. I remarked that having a name like that must be really tough on the first day of school every year. The coach started laughing like crazy, which lightened the mood a little.

After the game, I drove back to Tullahoma to Michelle's parents' I can't quite bring myself to say "in-laws" yet, but it will come eventually. I am at a stage now where I am not sure what to call them, Mr. and Mrs. Swift, or by their first names. So, I just don't address them by any name.) house After a nice dinner, I repaired to the TV room to watch the OC. I have never watched OC before, but since the world premier of the trailer for Star Wars Episode 3: Revenge of the Sith was going to be played during one of the commercial breaks, I certainly did not want to miss it. During the show, I tried in vain to get my laptop hooked up to their wireless network, but to no avail. I went downstairs for a few minutes to get Michael's help, but neither of us could get it figured out. I ended up spending more time down there that I had planned, and I thought I may have missed the trailer. Michelle pointed out that it was probably going to air at the tail end of the show, so I relaxed a bit. Indeed, that is when it aired. It looked really cool. I am really excited about the movie, although not excited enough to stand in line for days or weeks to see it. I have read where there are people who are already standing in line, and have been for months. Jeez, get a life. I have too many important things to do.
We spent the day at the house, getting stuff ready for a yard sale. We are looking to unload some stuff before we move to Memphis, so a yard sale seems like a good idea. I have never known if yard sales are a southern thing, or if people all over the country have them. Anyway, we will be having at least one, and probably more.
We left her house in the afternoon, heading for the church. The trip was smooth, and we made good time. Which, if you remember the Seinfeld episode, is all that counts. It doesn’t matter if you actually know where you are going, as long as you are making good time. LOL.

Anyway, we got to the church, and got things ready to go. The trip to the campground was uneventful and smooth, which was exactly what I was looking for. We stopped at the Bellevue exit to pick up one kid (it was a pre-arranged deal to pick him up--he wasn't a hitchhiker). We got registered smoothly, and immediately proceeded to the weekend's first event.

I gave the message Friday night, and I didn't really think it was all that great. I don't really know what went wrong. I felt I was well-prepared, but it just didn't feel good. Several people told me afterward that they thought it was fine, but people always say that. Anyway, my cousin Paula gave the message on Sunday morning, and it was fantastic. About 20-25 young people came forward to accept Christ as their savior. It was an awesome sight. In fact, in all the camps and retreats I have been to, I have never seen anything like it. It was way cool to see young people making the most critical decision of their lives.

When we got back to Clarksville, we had to go to the Tobin's (the family Michelle works for), because they were in new York and Michelle had the kids until they got home Tuesday. I spent the night there each night just to house-sit, and to give a manly presence. I grilled burgers Sunday night, and we all had a great time.

Tuesday night, we went to TPAC to see the production of Billy Joel's Broadway rock musical, "Movin' Out". Michelle and I both had an incredible time; I told her afterward that it was one of the best dates we had ever been on. It was so cool.

Last night, a couple we know went, so it will be interesting to hear of their thoughts.

As were going to TPAC, we passed by the Ryman. We saw two guys with guitars heading inside, and we deducted that they must be with Keith Urban's band, since Urban is playing the first of three shows there tonight. Which will explain where we will be tonight--yes, we going to see Keith Urban at the Ryman!! YAY!! He is Michelle's absolute favorite artist right now, and I think he is great, too. So, we are mega-hyped. He is playing 3 shows, which all sold out in about 20 minutes. We were lucky to get seats, and they are not bad seats at that--20th row.

I have spent all week scheduling umpires for two tournaments this weekend. It has been tough finding guys who want to work--I don't really know why. Oh well, I have got most of it taken care of, and the rest will come together tonight. I emailed one guy to let him know who his partner was, and he emailed me back, saying "Sorry--I don't work with black people". I immediately was like "What the fuck?!?!" I stomped around, really pissed, for a while, and trying to think of what I wanted to do. I was oh-so-close to canceling that guy's entire schedule for the weekend, but I decided to just move him to another field where he would work with a different partner. I emailed him back to let him know that what he had said was one of the most ignorant things I have ever heard, and that I was moving him to a different field. He came back saying that he was just joking, that he was black, and that the other guy was one of his best friends. Jeez, they really had me going for a while. Maybe I need to lighten up. Man. We all had a good chuckle about it last night, so all is well.

Today, Michelle has a doctor's appointment, and I am hanging out at Grinder's. I am working on some church stuff, some baseball stuff, and some fun stuff. I would like everyone to know that when I say I am hanging out, that can be read to say that I am working on stuff. Just because someone doesn't go to an office every day, doesn't mean they don't work. My brother Steve and I have never been real fond of positions where clocking in and out is involved. We prefer to work on our own, and it seems to work for us.

I hope everyone has a wonderful day. Peace...