Ooo look! An update!

You would almost thing I've forgetten about my blog with my VERY infrequent updates. I think things will slow down a little for me to catch my breath in the coming weeks - after my high school class reunion this weekend...

Lately, I've been in touch with old friends I haven't seen or heard from in about 20 years! I'm really very excited to see lots of my old classmates, some that I've been friends with since elementary school. We've already exchanged emails and reminisced about our times together. It's truly amazing the sorts of things that come back to you once you start talking about it. In preparation, I've dug up my high school annuals and pictures from "back in the day". I really wish I would have been more serious in my photography back then to have a better record of all the goofiness that went on with all of us.

Oh, just a little side note that some of you might find amusing. Most of you have heard of Johnny Knoxville I'm sure. Here's my tie-in. Johnny (then P.J. Clapp), was a freshman at my high school when I was a senior. He seemed normal back then. LOL!

Anyway... guess what I still have? My orange safety patrol helmet from 4th or 5th grade. I don't have the belt and badge. I think I had to turn those in. If I have time this weekend, I'm going to get a picture made of me standing at my old "posts". I'll have the helmet with me although it no longer fits as it should. If it did fit, that would be kinda weird.

I'm really looking forward to spending time with old friends. That'll be great!

I have some more exciting news... coming sometime in February '07, I'll be an uncle! How cool is that? I'm very happy for my sister and her husband. This also means I'll get to see my parents around then too as I'm sure they'll be coming back to the states for the birth and then for mom to help her out those first few weeks. That reminds me, I probably need to get my sis the book I get for pregnant friends... the "What to expect when you're expecting" one. From what I've heard, it's THE book to have for first-time moms.

That's all the big news for now. Oh, I did pick up an early birthday present for myself a few weeks ago. A Dunnett titanium snare drum. I looked into one of these a few years ago, but the price of them was prohibitive. Through a friend, I was able to now have one of my own. If you're a Dave Matthews fan and have watched the Live in Central Park concert DVD, then you've see what this snare looks like. Other than being .5" deeper (13X7 instead of 13X6.5), it's identical. Gold hardware, translucent purple finish, black hoops... mmmmm... and a sound to match the looks. VERY "crispy"! When I got the drum, I wasn't particularly enamored with the hoops that were on it. They were more of a vintage style hoop with claws. I changed those out for some more modern style triple-flanged black chrome hoops which I like the looks of better AND am used to playing on. The thing with the claws is that the come up over the edge of the hoop. When I'm playing rim shots, I would somtimes hit a claw instead of the hoop and get a funky kind of tone out of the drum. That's not an issue any more. :-)

Switching gears - Kyle's new home is coming along nicely. I rode by there with him yesterday to check it out. I didn't get to make it all the way through because of a huge storm that came through while we were there. There's no roof yet. Not even close. They are still framing the first floor. From the looks of it, the builder is probably going to start on the second floor soon. To me, one of the nicest features of the place will be the recording studio area above the garage. There will be a control room, drum room and a room for the guitar amps. We talked a little about some of the wiring that needs to be done to make those rooms as easy to use as possible. Neat huh?

Church went well today. Jack did a good job delivering the message and me and the band held the music together - for the most part. Kevin, our lead singer and rhythm guitarist was out of town on a retreat with some of the youth of our church leaving Pam to sing, Kyle on guitar and Jack S. on bass. Jack S. normally plays guitar but can fill in on bass as needed. (Our bassist was on the same retreat as Kevin) Jack had a moment in the first service where he couldn't read the music and the more he squinted, the worse it became. We came close to a train wreck (very close) but managed to keep the train on the rails somehow. I had a bit more to do today though as "Preaching Jack" needed me to assist with some illustrations, one of which involved me playing the intro to "Wipeout".

It looks like another weekend AND month is coming to a close. It's been a good one. I was able to take a nap both yesterday and today. That's always good. It was just WAY too hot and humid to do anything outside.

Time to wind down and hit the sack in a few mins.