The Big Bomb has been dropped

Here it is.

The big news that just can't wait.

The shot heard ‘round the world.

Sylvia is pregnant.

We weren’t trying, planning, hoping, expecting, thinking about, wishing, (are you starting to get the picture???). This was not on the radar. In fact it was just not, not, not. Here’s an understatement for you – we haven’t gotten our heads around this thing yet! This baby will be born roughly 8 years and 2 months since our last child was born.

What does this mean? Well, we already have 3 kids… all of who can feed themselves, wipe themselves, dress themselves, bathe themselves, one can cook for himself, two of them can use the microwave without fear of nuking themselves into infertility, they do their own laundry, do the dishes, mow the grass…. they can’t flush the toilet for some unknown reason but we are working on that. I fear I am losing that battle. It’s like they think the toilet will get hungry and just swallow the chunkage on its own. What gets me is one will go into the bathroom and clearly see that there are floaters in the bowl, add to it and just walk away like it’s no big deal. Smell? What smell?

“I forgot” is the common answer when asked why. I thought I had the problem licked when I went into their bathroom and the toilet looked like it was overflowing with snow. There was white everywhere. Between the 3 of them they had used enough toilet paper to cover, oh I don’t know, Cleveland. Of course the toilet would not flush and I came up with an ingenious solution. I gathered the kids into the bathroom, explained that I was not going to put my arm into the bowl to get the mountain of paper; they were going to do it. I figured a little bit of poo diving would jumpstart their brains into remembering to flush lest they have to poo dive again. But noooooooooo……….. Back to the story at hand...

A fourth baby 8 years after the third. To all my fartknocker friends out there we have a TV. We in fact have 4 TV’s. When we found out I looked God in the face (well, as best as you can look God in the face.) and said to him “so, you think you’re funny do you? I’m not laughing.” Want to know what he said back? “Deal with it… I know what I’m doing.”

So there’s the bottom line. “I know what I’m doing.” I believe God to be sovereign and in control and he is in control of this situation. It’s up to us to sit back and just bask in his glory and find comfort in his control. Don’t worry, don’t sweat it, don’t even think twice about it. Just sit back and relax. We need to do what seems impossible and just stay out of the way. After all it’s his story anyway. I’m just along for the journey.

Surprise Visit

My good friend Ted stopped by unexpectedly today. Ted is a sax player I had the pleasure of working with at Bay Life Church for 6 years. He is one of the original CC Riders. The Riders, for those who don't know, was Wayne Cochran's back up band back in the 60"s. Ted played in the band at the same time as The Worlds Greatest Bass Player, Jaco Pastorius. He and Jaco were very good friends and I have heard enough Jaco stories from him that I almost feel as if I knew Jaco as well.

Last year Ted began working for a company in Houston, Texas and has been playing on weekends with some old friends of his. Originally from New Orleans, Ted was back there a few weeks ago on business and got to play with some old friends there too. One of his buddies from the CC Rider days was there and gave Ted a copy of a CD entitled Portrait of Jaco: The Early Years. It turns out that Ted is on a few of those tracks and there are some pictures of him with Jaco on the CD jacket. How cool is that?! Needless to say I will be purchasing my own copy of this CD.

News of the Stupid Bank Robber

I found this on TBO.com. Criminals are idiots.

A Different Ending To A Bank Robbery Story
Posted Mar 29, 2007 by The Tampa Tribune
Updated Mar 29, 2007 at 11:46 PM

SEFFNER - Most bank robbery stories end with witnesses saying the robber ran away with a bag of cash.

That wasn’t the case Thursday: Hillsborough County sheriff’s detectives said a Seffner man robbed the Bank of America at 816 W. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd. but didn’t rush out the door.

Investigators said Varick Lane Griffin walked into the bank about 11:10 a.m., showed a teller a gun and a knife, and demanded money, sheriff’s spokeswoman Debbie Carter said.

The teller gave him an undisclosed amount.

For unknown reasons, Griffin walked over to another bank employee, sat down and told her he just robbed the bank, Carter said.

A customer inside the building finished his transaction, walked outside and spotted two deputies, Carter said. The customer told them about the robbery and that the suspect was still inside.

Griffin, 53, of 11914 Clay Pit Road, was arrested without incident and faces one count of armed robbery. He remained in Orient Road Jail late Thursday. Bail had not been set.

My question to Mr. Griffin is WHY? His brain obviously at some point had oozed out from his ear and onto the floor. Why else rob a bank and stick around telling people you just robbed the bank?

I found this on Yahoo! news. It's one of those it sucks to be you kind of stories.

CANTON, Ohio - After four suspects in a jewelry store robbery were arrested, police surmised one of the men may have swallowed a missing two-carat diamond ring worth $30,000. The theory proved correct, police said, when the ring was found Wednesday in the toilet inside Dandre Turk's jail cell.

"We did suspect him of swallowing the ring," said Maj. Dave Zink of the Jackson Township Police Department. "We were going to X-ray. Instead, we alerted both jails that whenever he had a movement to scrutinize it."

Stark County sanitary workers were called to the county jail and sucked the ring out of the toilet.

How could authorities be sure the diamond ring, in an 18-karat white gold setting, was taken from the jewelry store in the robbery Tuesday? It still had a price tag, according to the county sheriff's office.

The sheriff's office photographed the ring and tagged it as evidence to be turned over to the township police department.

"It's pretty difficult for them to say they weren't involved," Zink said of the suspects.

Turk, 20, Juantai Phillips, 22, Reggie Jackson, 20, and Ricco Almon, 18, all of Detroit, were charged Wednesday in the robbery at a mall near Canton, the sheriff's office said. The men were arrested near a freeway interchange about 30 minutes after the store reported the robbery.

How would you like to be the guy on the receiving end of the phone call telling you to "scrutinize" some guys baby ruth? I about peed my pants when I read that line. Then the ring ended up still having the price tag on it! That is priceless. First of all that makes for some expensive poo. Secondly what about the guy who had to did through the poo, find the ring, clean it off, and photograph it? Sucks to be you. I can see it now.... "Hey honey, guess what I did at work today?"

Looking Forward....... NOT!

Well, I got a call this evening from Brian telling me he had to change his plan. Apparently his elderly father needed to go to Louisiana to take care of some business back at the old homestead. No trip to Florida. No time spent with my friend and his family. Brian gets to spend 7 hours or so in a car with his dad. Oh well. Next time I guess.

Looking Forward

So in a few days my life long friend--we've known each other since we were 4 years old--Brian and his family are driving down from Atlanta to stay with us over their spring break. Our break will have been two weeks ago so my kids will be in school while they are here. Oh well. Last summer we drove up to see them for a week--hadn't seen them in 4 years; we had many phone calls and emails but no face to face--got reconnected and had a great week. Tyler had his first solo ride on a 4 wheeler and drove right through Brian's privacy fence. Fortunately for all involved, especially Tyler, he was alright except for a few scratches, bruises, and a wounded ego. Then last fall they came down to Disney World and we got to spend the day with them there too.

It's always good to reconnect with old friends. As I get older it seems that a lot of my friendships are seasonal and that just plain sucks. Phone calls, emails, and instant messages are great but they do not take the place of sitting in the same room with someone and just being. Just talking and being friends, drudging up old memories both good and bad. Believe me when I say Brian and I have a lot of good and bad memories. I love going through these times of reconnection with people from my past. I wish I could do it more often. 2006 was a great year and a hard year all at the same time for me. One friend moved to Texas, one to North Carolina, and we left our church of 11 years to go help out at a new church plant 30 plus miles away in west Tampa. We left a lot of good friends behind when we left. We are making new friends at the new church but it's not the same as having people around that you can count on. It took a long time for us find someone at the new church to go out to lunch after church. At our old church the only reason we didn't have someone to eat with was 1. we had other plans and 2. we weren't in town. Slowly this is changing at the new church and I am very grateful for the change. It's hard not feeling connected to someone.

I guess that's what we all need to help us get through the day. Relationships. I'm learning that relations are one of the greatest gifts I can give someone and that they can give back to me. We weren't meant to go at this thing called life alone. I'm so grateful that my friend is coming to see me. I cherish the time I get to have sitting down with him and talking, making fun of him, burping, farting, and just being friends.

American Idol results

Apperantly Sanjawa has birthed a new hair style. At least if Ryan Seacrest is any indication. Not that it's a good thing. Now on to the results.

Phil is in the bottom 3 once again as is Haley and Chris Sligh gets to go home. It's too bad really.... I liked him. He's better than Sanjawa. What is wrong with you America? How can you people keep voting for Sanjawa? This guy absolutely sucks!!! He cannot sing. I can't believe that all of the people voting are watching the same TV show that I am. When are we going to wise up and vote this goon off. Gwen Stefani was great however. She in my opinion took the contestants to school. I didn't like the song she performed and as a general rule I think her lyrics are just stupid and meaningless but I do like her singing and she sure knows how to work a stage.

The truth be told this is the first season of this show I have ever watched and I'm completely hooked. I'm really diggin' the band except for the backup singers. They're out of tune more than they're in tune. Hey, Paul Jackson Jr. is playing guitar. He's one of the greatest! A couple of years ago I was at a music conference in southern California and got to sit in on his master class and got to have about a 5 minute private lesson with him. He's very down to earth, approachable, and humble. All rare qualities for someone in the music business.

COMING SOON.........

A very big "bomb" will drop.

Here we go

So this is my very first post in the blogging world. I don't really even know what to say right now except HI. We'll see how this goes, if I like it, want to keep doing it, or if I am even able to do it. My hope is that I can get the hang of this blog thing and make it work.

I have a secret that I have to keep until April 16, 2007. It's not that far away but still this is proving very difficult. Here's the secret. A good friend of mine is turning 40 and his wife is trying to organize a surprise party for him. The difficuly lies in the fact that he and his family moved from Florida to New Hampshire 7 years ago. We fell out of touch--and yes I did try to find him on several occasions during that time--and haven't spoken since they left. I few nights ago I got a phone call from his nephew looking for me to invite me to the party. I now have my friends phone number, both house and cell, and his address. It's killing me not being able to just call him up but I am under strict orders from his wife not to call him and blow the surprise.

The really sick thing about all of this is how easy it should have been to actually fine my friend. Stupid me kept spelling his name wrong when I would do searches for him plus I couldn't remember what state he moved to. Only that is was somewhere in New England. To make me feel even dumber he has an NFL blog on a news web site right here in my home town. I feel like a bumbling idiot. Anyway, I'm just very thankful that they found me and I will at some point be able to talk to my friend again. I'm working on finding a way to get from Florida to New Hampshire for his 40th birthday party. Hopefully that will work out because I would love to see him and his family again.