"A child arrived just the other day; he came to the world in the usual way. But there were planes to catch, and bills to pay; He learned to walk while I was away. He was talking before I knew it, and as he grew, he'd say, 'I'm gonna be like you, Dad, you know I'm gonna be like you."

Harry Chapin's lyrics have really haunted me the last couple of weeks, because I was definitely not around much. In fact, Michelle commented that she felt like a single mother. I almost cried. In fact, later, I did. With mid-terms, and taking on more responsibility at work, and football going crazy, I was gone more than I was home for the past couple of weeks. I am going to do better in the future. Of course, as I write this I am in my office. This is sick.

OK, so at least mid-terms have finally come and (mostly gone). I say mostly because my Acts professor was really slow about getting our test to us, so he gave us an extra couple of weeks. It is not due until next Tuesday, which is cool. Tomorrow, I am defending my paper in that class that I presented last week. Wish me luck.

In Christian Ministry class, we split up into groups several weeks ago, with each group being responsible for planning an entire worship service. My group will present its work this Wednesday. My role is to play the prelude and closing music on my guitar. This will be my first live performance ever, so wish me luck in that as well.

About 15 minutes after Alex came home from the hospital, Michelle started talking about having another baby. I have mostly put her on hold, until recently when she started really homing in on me about it. One night last week, in a half-asleep/half-awake stupor, she said that if I would agree to start trying soon, I could go to my favorite guitar shop and get whatever I wanted. Whatever I wanted. Of course, I replied that an open line of credit at the guitar shop would be a more equitable arrangement. The next day, I was at that guitar shop, telling the guys about my arrangement. One of them said with a straight face, "Dude, we could do that. Just put her Visa number on file, and we'll set you up." I said something to the effect that we shouldn't go getting crazy just yet. So, Michelle and I continue to be in dialogue about this.

This past weekend, I took my youth group to a weekend retreat near Camden, TN. We all had great fun, although the other adults were a little tired of "Smoke on the Water" and "Free Falling" by the end of the weekend...LOL.

Alex will be 5 months old this Friday. It's hard to believe...it seems just like yesterday. OK, no more cliches...LOL. He is rolling over more and more every day. Growing up so fast. He has an appointment with his apnea doctor tomorrow, and I am going to take him to the pediatrician on Friday to have him weighed. We figure he is between 12-13 lbs. now. When he first came home, he was just a limp little blob. Now, he feels really solid, and is getting heavier every day. It is great that he is so engaging; He likes to look around, and he responds to us by smiling and kind of laughing. He has started to make random sounds, so I think he is trying to say something. When I am playing guitar, he probably wants to yell out, "Free Bird!" Maybe, anyway.

I had my Epiphone AJ 500MNS up for sale, but took it off the market last week. It is kind of my favorite guitar in some ways (it is the easiest to play of the three), and it sounds really cool too. I will probably still sell it at some point, but just not now.

I think my career as a guitar tech has come to an end, before it ever started. Last week, I was restringing the Martin when I did something kind of dumb. After I removed the old strings, I decided to polish the guitar. So, I laid on a couple of thin coats of polish, and buffed it up real nice. Put a great shine on it. Then, I put on the new strings. Once I got the new strings on, and tuned it up, I started to play it. I noticed that the strings were really slick; so slick, in fact, that I could hardly hold a chord. I thought maybe it was the strings, since I was using a brand I had never used before. Elixer strings have a coating on the outside to reduce wear, which lengthens the life of the strings. Still, I could not imagine that the strings would be this slick. I could hardly play the guitar. Then, it occurred to me that I had put the new strings on with a bunch of polish on my hands. So, I had greased up my strings quite well. That put me in a quandry; should I cut the strings off, and waste $15, or should I try to play them until the wax wore off. I decided to try to play them, and although the wax seems to have worn off now, the strings do not sound real good. So, I think I ruined them. I am going to put on another set of Elixers to see how they will sound. This reminds me of the time I put Armor All on my motorcycle seat, even though it clearly says on the bottle not to do so. I slid around on the seat for two weeks before I was stationary again...LOL.

I hope everyone is doing well.

Peace...