I did some searching and settled on using BoxedUp to compile my wish list. This freed me up from having to find everything on a single site, or have multiple lists that you had to sort through. It’s not perfect and there are definitely things I’d like to change about it, but BoxedUp is about 75% there, which is more than enough.

You’ll find a link to my Wishlist below and also in the sidebar.

Yet another post inspired by FiatLux. It was hard not to edit the photo before posting, but what the hell…

1. Take a picture of yourself right now.
2. Don’t change your clothes, don’t fix your hair… just take a picture.
3. Post that picture with NO editing.
4. Post these instructions with your picture.

Holly met Debbie & Carrie Moore (aka Moore & Moore) in her Jazzercize class and found they had a lot in common. The girls were kind enough to invite Holly to come sing at their latest gig and it was a lot of fun. It was a thank you concert for their fans and after doing a small set, they turned the show over to several guest artists while they socialized with their fans. It’s a really great idea! We met people from all over the United States who came to Nashville strictly for Fan Fair and to see the Moore sisters.

Speaking of which, Moore & Moore have a very popular video right now to “Find Me A Man Like Goober”, which you can see on YouTube at this link. There are a TON of cameos, so keep your eyes peeled.

And for the geeks out there, I shot the video with Flip Ultra and edited it in iMovie HD 6 because iMovie 08 doesn’t import .mpg (don’t get me started).

• Canon PowerShot A570IS
• Kingston 2GB Secure Digital Memory Card x2
• Energizer 15-Minute Charger

It’s a pretty sweet package and now her camera is actually better than mine!

During my initial diving into Mac OS, Mike Rohde and Justin Nolan gave me a lot of assistance. Having them both online so that I could assault them with questions was a big help for me. For some of the more obscure questions related to Parallels and Windows-ish questions, Hal-J was a great lifeline. Yet none of these questions would have been possible without the years of gentle council and guidance of my Mac-Zen guru Fred Heumann.

Fred is on the Leadership Council for the Nashville Palm Users Group and over the years, he has been the soft voice of reason in my ear, calmly suggesting the Mac OS as an alternative. Without fail, he and I talk after every monthly meeting about what’s happening in the Mac world. Not only that, but since he works at the Cool Springs CompUSA, he and I pow wow in the aisles about the various options available to in making the switch.

I know that I’ve talked his ear off on more than one occasion — in fact, I’d guess that it’s more often than not — and he’s always been open and receptive to my questions and handy with a knowledgeable answer. Throughout all the many years that I’ve had his council, I still had not made the switch. We did have a little fun when he got us a killer deal on an iMac for my Mom a few years ago, but up until last week, I was still on the fence waiting for the right time to leap.

So now that I’ve finally made the leap and landed firmly in the Mac Addict category, I just want to say Thank you Fred! I couldn’t have done it without all your help. Thank you.

Holly’s performing a total of four songs – three originals and one cover. Her set will include:
» I Wanna Live Like That – by Larry Wayne Clark
» Lost In America – by Larry Wayne Clark and Tom Fisch
» You Don’t Know Me – by Eddie Arnold and Cindy Walker
» What’s Not To Like – by Holly Ashby

This is the same set she did at Dan McGuinnes back in May, but what’s different is the fact that she has different instrumentation. instead of the full band, she’s doing this as an acoustic set with her friend Tarryn on acoustic guitar. Tarryn and Holly make a nice combination and hearing them at rehearse at the house on Tuesday was a real treat.

If you’re free tonight, please stop by Lyrix. If you’re not familiar with the name, don’t worry because it just changed. It was previously Ga’ Dangs and prior to that it was the old Sole Mio. Regardless of the name, it’s on the corner of 1st and Peabody, just past the FOO bridge. If you need more directions, you can get them at this Google Map.

Show starts at 8pm and I think Holly is the second person up. It’s inside, so you won’t have to brave the heat. Hope to see you there!

Holly’s performing a total of four songs – three originals and one cover. Her set will include:
» Lost In America – by Larry Wayne Clark and Tom Fisch
» I Wanna Live Like That – by Larry Wayne Clark
» You Don’t Know Me – by Eddie Arnold and Cindy Walker
» What’s Not To Like – by Holly Ashby

The first two numbers are from her last demo album and the third one is a cover. The reason for the cover is that it’s always good to throw in at least one song that the audience already knows. New music is good, but hearing the familiar now-and-again helps keep people attention.

What I’m most excited about is her last number, “What’s Not To Like”. Holly wrote it a couple of weeks ago, so it’s hot off the presses. It’s a solid tune and we hope to record it soon. Tonight though, Holly’s being backed up by piano, acoustic guitar, bass, dobro and box, so it’ll be a rockin’ set.

Here’s a list of her backup band:
» Bill Rankin (piano)
» Reilly Gallagher (acoustic guitar)
» Analog Dave (bass)
» John Calzabera (dobro, sax)
» and Me (box, roadie)

If you’re free tonight, please stop by Dan McGuiness Irish Pub. Holly is in the first set, so she’ll be singing at 8pm sharp. We’ve got a small group together and we’ll have a table out on the patio front and center. As always, we’ll be out on the patio enjoying a pint and some fish and chips, or shepherds’s pie.

And as if hearing Holly perform while enjoying great food and beer isn’t enough, you never know who might show up there. Keith Urban has been known to make and appearance on a Monday night with his good buddy John Corbett, among others

Show starts at 8pm. Hope to see you there!

Personally, I’m more of a bicycle touring person, but I have to say after seeing his trailer, it definitely makes me consider RV-ing. I love the floor plan and envious as hell that I’m not doing a trip of my own. There’s just something about being that portable and compact that I find so appealing.

Chris’ initial plan is to spend the summer going up and down the coast, but I hope he’ll expand his plans and venture out a little farther east. If I’m lucky, he’ll make his way over to Tennessee and come stay awhile.

I take an occasional week here-or-there to do a bicycle tour, but my one-and-only extended vagabonding was back in 1990 when I toured Europe by bicycle for 6 months. Following Chris’ travels makes me think back to that time and yearn for the open road. No deadlines, few responsibilities, just me and my bike making my way wherever the wind blew. Oh how I miss it.

Best of luck Chris – you lucky dog!

A Map Of The Area
I’ve created a little Google Map of the area, so that you can see how close the storm came.

A Little Funny Story
I know that devastation is never a funny topic, but I thought a little story about what I was doing during the storm might bring a little levity.

Yesterday I had a late lunch and since I was working in my home office that day, I turned on the television. All the major stations were carrying weather coverage about an approaching storm. This was actually an improvement over the usual Divorce Court/Jerry Springer/Cops garbage that is usually on at that time of day, but that’s another story.

I could quickly tell that we were out of harms way for the most part, so that was a relief, but every storm we have gets a ton of live coverage, so I’ve grown quite numb to the reports. I mean no offense, but I grew up in Louisiana, so I’m used to rain and never saw it as a big deal. Of course that all changed yesterday and I now won’t take these reports so lightly, because I can now see why they do them.

Anyway, after watching the news reports, it looks like just another big thunderstorm and it’s going to miss me for the most part, so I dismiss it. I head back upstairs to my office and initiate a conference call that I had scheduled for that afternoon. Once we’re into the meat of the call, my office phone starts ringing off the hook. Since I’m the one that started the conference call, I can’t get out of it without disconnecting everyone, so I just try to ignore it.

That proves very hard to do because of the volume of calls, so I try and seek refuge by moving into another room where the ringing isn’t so loud. Well, I have phones all over the house, so the only room where it’s quieter is in the bathroom. So when the phone starts ringing again, I stand up and walk into the bathroom for a bit.

Well all this up-and-down business starts really frustrating me to no end. Every five minutes, I have to go stand in the bathroom while the phone rings off the wall. I know that the other people on the conference call must be frustrated too, so to lighten the moment, I mention how I wish my office phone had an “ignore” button like my mobile phone does. Everyone laughed and we continued with the conference call.

Bear in mind that I’m trying to lead this very important meeting, so my focus is on the call itself and not on these silly interrupting phone calls. I just keep thinking to myself, “Leave a damn message!”, while I bring up the next bullet point with the other participants. Isn’t it nice to know that, as a consultant, I can pontificate on the merits of technology all the while zig-zagging back and forth between my office and my bathroom? I’m sure my client would be impressed.

The call ended up lasting for well over an hour and when it was ended, I checked my voice mail and all of my messages were from Holly. Seems that it wasn’t just a big thunderstorm, but that multiple tornados touched down and she was calling to see if I was all right. She didn’t have a TV, or radio at her office, so she didn’t know how bad Antioch was affected.

Needless to say I called her right back, not only to let her know I was OK, but to make sure that she was OK too. The rest of the afternoon was spent watching the news and calling friends and family to make sure everyone was safe. I’m happy to report that they were.

Maybe next time I get a persistent caller I’ll pick up the phone. Who knows, they could be telling to to seek shelter from a horrific storm and not just interrupting an important call. Yet, now that I think about it, we don’t have a basement, so the bathroom is the safest place for me to go during a storm. A bit Pavlovian, but it’s better than nothing.

Now you might be wondering just what the hell this guy is doing staying in New Orleans. Well, it seems he works for a company called DirectNIC, which hosts hundreds of thousands of web sites and their data center is located in downtown New Orleans. He’s on the 10th and 11th floors of a corporate high rise on 650 Poydras Ave right near St. Charles. They are running a diesel generator to keep power going and the police have been using their building as a staging area, so that’s good news.

If you’d like to read his blog from the start of the storm, simply select this link. There’s navigation towards the top of each post with arrows to allow you to navigation forward and backward in the timeline. It’s interesting to start from the beginning knowing what we now know concerning the flooding and looting.

He’s also posted some pictures here and here, but the best is his live web cam. You have to use Windows Media Player, but you can view it at either mms://204.251.3.10:3349, or at http://old.mises.org:88/NO2. I just saw four military vehicles in a wide convoy go down the street looking pretty serious and a Coast Guard helicopter flyover.

This whole Katrina thing is just freakin’ crazy and now to have blog and web cam at ground zero of the aftermath just takes things up another notch. Incredible.

One last note – the content on LiveJournal, where his blog is hosted, can get a little rough. Language can get a bit harsh in a hurry and there’s even some nudity in the comments, so if those types of things offend you, you might want to steer clear.

New Orleans is a disaster area of epic proportions. Just take a look at the photos on the NOLA.com web site and you’ll see what I mean. To help give you some perspective on what’s happening where, my good buddy Mike Rohde found a map at The New York Times that does an excellent job. To get a detailed account of the damage, there’s a great article in the Times-Picayune paper called Under Water that’s definitely worth a read. And last but not least, Wikipedia has a great article that has details such as before-and-after satellite pictures of the New Orleans area, showing the overspill of Lakes Pontchartrain and Maurepas, photos of the levee breaches, cross-sections, predictions and more.

I’m just floored by what I’m seeing because having grown up there, I know where a lot of these places are in the images. I know what’s around them from a 360° perspective, so it’s just horrific. Here’s some bullet items of things that blow my mind:

» NOAA has a high-resolution image of the storm.
» Greater than 80% of New Orleans is flooded to some degree and in some cases it’s up to 12 feet of water.
» Lake Ponchatrain is pouring into New Orleans.
» The only dry land at this point is a narrow band from the French Quarter to parts of Uptown.
» This same small strip is what was settled by Bienville amid the swamps when New Orleans was originally formed!
» There’s talk of using shipping containers filled with sand to be air-dropped into the levee breaches.
» The Superdome is being evacuated and those who sought shelter there are going to be transported to the Astrodome.
» Tulane and Loyola colleges are not having a fall semester this year.
» One of the worst damaged areas, the 9th Ward, is also the poorest. For many residents, rebuilding is simply not an option.

Some Good News
The good news in all of this is that my friends and family in Baton Rouge are perfectly all right. Some neighborhoods are still without power, but the infrastructure is still intact. Water is good and electricity is still up in most places. For those with power, they’ve been loaning out their generators out to friends. Ken Duffy for example has been running back and forth with a loaned generator between his house and others. They’ll power their refrigerator for a couple of hours and then pass it along.

Our house in Baton Rouge seems to be OK and no one I know sustained any serious damage to their homes either. It was a hell of a storm by 75 miles West/Northwest made a big difference in Katrina’s impact. I’m still waiting to hear from a few friends, but so far all the news has been good.

If you have any updates please post them in the comments below. Especially if I haven’t talked to you, please let me know you’re OK! :s

Update
Just got an update from Chris LaFleur. I haven’t been able to reach him via phone, so I sent him a text message. That seemed to work and this is what he wrote:

Glad to hear that he and his clan is all safe and sound. Whew! :O

So if you’re free tonight, please stop by Dan McGuiness Irish Pub. We’ll be out on the patio enjoying a pint and some fish and chips, or shepherds’s pie. And as if the great food and beer isn’t enough, you never know who might show up there. Keith Urban has been known to make and appearance on a Monday night with his good buddy John Corbett.

But wait, there’s more…
I’ll be backing up Holly tonight on box. You heard me. I’ll be playing a cardboard box with brushes as Holly’s drummer. This is my debut performance as a box player and although I don’t fancy myself as a serious drummer, I do think it will be a lot of fun.

Show starts at 8pm. Hope to see you there!

As of this writing he is in stable condition and from the last phone call I received he’s responsive and appears to be getting better by the hour which is fantastic news. I know that many readers of this weblog are friends of mine who may know Dennis, so I thought it best to post something here and I’ll try and update this page as I receive news of his improvement. If anyone needs hospital information, please contact me.

I know this is a very stressful and tragic time for Dennis and his family. My thoughts and prayers go out to them and I hope that readers of this weblog would include them in their prayers as well.

I first met Helen in the 8th grade at Glasgow Middle Magnet School. In fact I consider her my first real girlfriend. There was one other girl I had “gone with” (aka gone steady) in 7th grade, but Helen was my first real kiss, so I think that gives her the official title. Anyway, we dated – and I use that term loosely since we were only 13 and just how much real dating can you do at that age – through the end of 8th grade, but she broke it off with me when we graduated. She figured we’d never see each other again after Middle School so I guess she thought it would be easier this way if we ended it before we were big 9th graders. Turns out we both ended up going to the same High School, so we dated off and on for most of 9th grade before she transferred to another school. We remained friends all throughout high school and even into college. There was always a closeness with us and given that we were so young when we dated it made for an easy transition from “girlfriend” to that of just “friend”.

As friends, we became each other’s occasional relationship compass. I’d begin dating someone and if I felt that the new relationship was a bit confusing, Helen would help me sort it out. I did the same for her on a few occasions. In fact, I remember the first time she told me about a new guy she’d met in college by the name of Tom Papaneri. I could tell from the start that she was really serious about this one and in my gut I knew that he was the one. As luck would have it, he was and they got married several years later. I even the trumpet player at her wedding.

Now don’t let me give you the wrong impression. It may sound like we always kept in touch and let me assure you that wasn’t the case. During college we may have talked once every couple of months and since college, it’s turned into once or twice a year at best. What’s funny though is that we’ve always been able to pick up where we left off, as if only a couple of days had passed. I suppose that’s the hallmark of our friendship. Sure, I’d love to stay in contact more, but you know how things are, you get busy with your own life and the next thing you know a year has passed. It’s not intentional, this stuff just happens. So even though our contact with each other may be somewhat sporadic, northing’s really changed – we’re still close friends.

I last saw Helen back in November. I was down working on the house again and she stopped by to say hey. In tow were her husband and their daughter Sarah. Helen was pregnant at the time and was absolutely radiant. We had a lot going on at the house right at that moment, so we didn’t get to visit like I would have liked, but we were able to catch up some and having a face-to-face was really nice. Laura, her sister and also a very, very dear friend, kept me up to date as Helen went through labor. So I knew about the birth before I received Helen’s e-mail, but I also knew that they hadn’t settled on a name just yet. Even knowing all of this, it didn’t prepare me for the shock of it all when I received the following e-mail.

Hey Mike,

We had a little boy on 1/18. Believe it or not, we named him Michael Thomas. He weighed 9 lbs 15 oz. His picture can be seen at www.womans.com under my name and id [XXXXXX]. His name is listed as Joseph but Tom changed his mind when he didn’t like me calling him Joey. Take care and keep in touch.

Helen

Typical Helen, her e-mail is short, sweet and to the point. No fluff, just a little note to say that they gave their son my name. Short though it may be, her packs a punch like a two ton hammer. I’m floored. I don’t know what to say and I feel like a fool as tears instantly fill my eyes beyond capacity and slowly fall down my cheeks. It feels like such a silly thing, I mean it’s only a name right? Yet I can’t help but feel unworthy of this honor. Helen gave her newborn son my name.

mercy

I woke up today having just a normal, nothing special day. Now I’m sitting in a CC’s trying to put into words how I feel and not let on to everyone else in the coffee house what’s happening inside me. My throat feels like I swallowed a grapefruit and my damn eyes just won’t stop leaking. Maybe the other patrons will just think I’m having an allergy attack? Yeah, I didn’t think so either. Probably doesn’t help that I’m listening to Beautiful by Mandalay right now either.

I have no idea how to respond. What do you say to someone who’s given you the honor of naming their child after you? “Thanks!” just doesn’t seem suffice. NOTHING seems to suffice at a time like this. I’m speechless. I’m humbled beyond belief as the impact of what Helen’s done slowly seeps into my consciousness. This is so unexpected and such a grand gesture that I’m at such a loss for words. So I do the only thing I know how to do and begin cobbling together a entry for my weblog…

To see a larger version, select this link.

After living in Topeka, Kansas for two years and now Nashville, Tennessee for five, I’ve become a bit more acclimatized to cold weather. That’s not to say I could hold a candle to someone from Minnesota, but I feel I can hold my own considering I’m just a Southern boy from Louisiana. Yet, as I sit outside sipping a Super Grande Chai Latte from CC’s and enjoy an exquisite Arturo Fuente Hemingway Classic cigar, I’m cold – real cold. My fingers feel very stiff as I type out this entry. If it wasn’t for the cigar I just lit, (I can’t let it go to waste) I would abandon this endeavor and head inside this instant.

The temperature is only around 30 degrees F, but cold weather in Louisiana is more drastic than in other parts of the US. My layman’s opinion for this reason is that there’s a lot more humidity in the air. Given the higher moisture content, you feel colder than you normally would. It’s why you can survive in colder air temperatures than you can if you’re caught in cold water. I’m sure my buddy Ken Duffy could explain it a lot better and with actual facts and figures to back it up, but hopefully you get my point.

Regardless of the cold weather, I’m still looking forward to all the hot food that’s being prepared. Holly’s Mother and Grand Mother have been cooking all morning making cornbread dressing, white beans, a pork roast, mac and cheese, roasted turkey, green peas, green beans, sweet potato casserole. The food here in Louisiana is always good, but for festive occasions, those two ladies really turn out quite the feast. Suffice to say, it’s going to be a good Christmas. I might even try to squeeze in a shrimp po-boy for lunch if I can.

Once in Milwaukee, we hooked with Mike Rohde, his wife Gail and their son Nathan. Mike has really lost some weight and looked fantastic and it was a lot of fun visiting with his family. He took us to The Chancery Pub and Restaurant for dinner and we capped off the evening at Alterra Coffee Roasters. Mike and I could have stayed up all night visiting, but we wrapped things up at a reasonable hour since we both had church in the morning.

On Sunday we woke up and drove down the lake front on our way out of town. We made a morning stop at Alterra, since it was so good, and then I drove like I stole something to make it to Willow Creek in time for the morning service back in Chicagoland. Willow is such an amazing church and we go there we’re blown away. That Sunday Stephen Baldwin was there to share his story of how he came to Christ and it was rather funny as well as interesting.

After being “willow-ized”, we drove downtown to the Miracle mile for a little shopping. I only buy clothes once every few years and with all of my weight loss, it was time for some new duds. Mom and Holly had a lot of fun as I paraded out in new clothes for them to review and give a thumbs up or down. After a few hours I was spent and repleted with a whole new casual wardrobe. While Holly and Mom continued shopping, I made my way down to the Apple Store and then we all met up at Ghirardelli Soda Fountain & Chocolate Shop for a farewell hot fudge sunday before heading back to Nashville.

We had such a good trip that it was hard to come back home and get back into the swing of things. Luckily, my fun wasn’t over because Holly and Mom fixed Grilled Scallops for dinner on Monday night while we drank Apple-tinis. After dinner, I was presented with a cake, an iPod and 60 tracks from Napster. Talk about your cup runneth over! :O You’ve probably noticed that there’s been a running apple theme throughout the weekend, but it was completely lost on me. Of course all of the apple references was for the big gift of the Apple iPod. Just color me dense because it was a complete surprise.

All-in-all, I had an unbelievedable birthday! I was showered not only with gifts, but with friendship and love. I can’t begin to thank everyone for all that you did to help celebrate my birthday. Suffice to say that I feel humbled under the deluge of affection that everyone gave me. Thank you to everyone.

My first reaction was that of glee. I was reminded that it was this time last year that Gracie found me and that today was her special day (if only to me). Yet in the next breath, I was reminded that Gracie is no longer a puppy and that made me just a little bit sad. That little tinge of sadness only remained for a moment, but it was palpable. For a fleeting instant I quickly went through the statistics of what a dog’s average life span is and how much longer I have with her in my life. Morbid as that may be, the thought of not having Gracie in my life is a thought I can’t bear to entertain. Hearing how Tyler Hamilton had to put his dog down yesterday perhaps put these thoughts more in the forefront of my mind. Whatever made me dive into these doldrums, I quickly shook my head to knock these thoughts loose, because today is a happy and special day, not a sad one.

After spending a year with Gracie, I truly cannot remember what life was like without her. When I come downstairs in the morning to let her out of her crate, I bound down the stairs like a kid at Christmas. I open the door, she stretches and then walks out and immediately flips over for her morning belly rub. While I rub her belly and coo over her as if she were a newborn, she stretches some more and then she’s up and bounding for the door. After a quick walk, now without a leash, we come back inside where I fix breakfast, while she eats hers. Later, when I sit down with my morning manger, Gracie is sitting in “her chair” next to me ready for the errant bite that I share with her. After writing a little on my weblog, or reading one of my current books, we hit the back yard again for another bathroom break. More often than not, Vegas (our neighbor’s dog) makes an appearance and they run around and play while I sit back and watch the show. It’s a beautiful thing to see a dog just being a dog.

She’s my little buddy and this little morning ritual is but one of the many that we share throughout the day. They make my day and when I’m away at client sites, it drives me nuts and I can’t wait to rush home and let her out of her crate and let her run free. If it wasn’t for the fact that she’s a chewing machine, I’d never crate her, but alas that’s simply not an option. Luckily, she like’s her crate and I now have the luxury of telling her “time for bed” and she’ll walk into her crate without objection. She’s just the perfect little dog.

[Cue Michael's Catch Phrase]

“I love her soooo much.”

[/Cue]

Looking over what I’m writing, I realize that this entry is anything but macho. Writing about how I coo over a pet isn’t exactly something we picture James Dean, or Hugh Jackman doing. Maybe Hugh does coo over his dog, but I don’t think he’s going to share that side of him with the rest of the world. So why am I doing it? Because, I just don’t care. I’m like a teenager who’s fallen in love for the first time and is compelled to profess his love by carving it in trees and shouting it from the rooftops. In my eyes, Gracie is the most perfect and beautiful dog in the world and I’m completely smitten and I don’t care who knows it.

They say that a dog is man’s best friend and no truer words have been spoken. The past year with Gracie has been one of discovery, joy and wonderment. She has taught me so much about unconditional love and the joy of just being in the moment reveling in who you are, flaws and all. I never knew that having a dog would be like this, but it’s such a wonderful surprise. I just hope that someday I can be half the man that Gracie thinks I am.

Happy birthday baby.

It’s times like these where I think to myself, “how did I get into this mess?” I knew I had company coming in, so why did I agree to this 4^th of July performance? Well, it’s simple – I don’t know how to say no. On top of that, I’m a bad judge of time and as a result, I tend to underestimate the time necessary to get something done. Take this weekend for example, on Saturday I had the following items on my to-do list:

1. Mow the grass.
2. Edge and weed.
3. Re-clean the pool.
4. Clean the kitchen.
5. Clean my office.
6. Do the invitations for Caroline’s party

When I made the list, it seemed like a fairly straightforward list. I wanted to add more items, but actually forced myself to keep it simple. My thought was that it would be more motivating to get the list completed versus making a complete list of EVERYTHING that has to get done. So I limited myself to just six items thinking on how great it would feel to get all the items checked off.

I completed the first two items in a couple of hours and then jumped in the pool to begin that process. It was only after I jumped in that I realized just how much water was still in the pool. Instantly I knew that it was going to take longer than I expected. My two hour estimate was instantly pushed up to three in the blink of an eye. Six hours later, the job was done and so was my Saturday. Sunday I was so unbelievably sore in my hamstrings, and lower back that all I was able to get complete was Caroline’s invitation. Well, I did manage to moan and groan a lot as I walked around like Frankenstein.

Then Monday hit with a bang and I was off to the races for the week. I managed to get some of my office straight yesterday as I reformatted my main workstation, but that task is still not complete. It’s now Thursday and company arrives tomorrow afternoon. Holly and I are now on “high alert” to get the entire house cleaned tonight. Unfortunately, we’re not just talking about a little dusting here and there. There’s floors to scrub, sinks to repair (yes, I said repair), fixtures to hang, you name it. That’s on top of having to learn all this music and of course run my business.

So as I sit here this morning typing away on today’s entry, I’m struck with a thought. This time is a little different from previous high stress moments like this. Namely, I’m not freaking out. This isn’t the first time things have hit all at once like this and my normal method of handling it is to run around like a chicken with my head cut off. This time, I’m not doing that. Maybe it was my little nirvana moment in the pool on Saturday, I don’t know, but I’m MUCH more relaxed this go around. I have an overall feeling that everything is going to be just fine. Everything will get done and we’ll all enjoy a nice long weekend.

I’m really looking forward to having Holly’s parents and my un-official cousin Deesi up for the weekend. It’s going to be a lot of fun to visit with them and catch up and of course eat. I have three major breakfasts planned:

Saturday - Madeleines
Sunday – Steak and Eggs
Monday - Omelet Bar Greek, Western, you name it)

It’s going to be a LOT of fun. Yes there’s a lot to get done before they get here, but it’s all worth it and I’d do double the work if I had to to get them up here.

Yes the next couple of days are going to be stressful, but it’s all going to be OK. I have a lot of friends and family to help when and where needed, so there’s no sense worrying about what might happen. Instead, I plan on staying in the moment and enjoying the time I have with them and let the wouda, shoulda, couldas fall where they may. My cup may be full and running over, but it’s not stress that’s filling it, it’s opportunities and blessings. What more could anyone ask for than that?

Since many of you have asked for more pictures of Gracie and because I recently cleaned up all my photos on my computer, I will be posting some new photos soon. I’ve been out at client sites a lot this week, so I haven’t had time at my desk to get them posted yet. I should have them up before the weekend though.

Two day report from the beach!!!!!!!!! Had the pleasure of fishing yesterday with JR Cox and associates. The guys came in the night before from baton rouge and we got an early start. We had a reds and heads day catching 5 reds in the 8-12 pound range along with a bunch of sheepshead. We also had about 10 trout. We filled the big igloo to the top. We fished hard burning 50 gallons of gas. Came back to the lodge and had a fresh fish brunch while the fish were being cleaned.

James, my father-in-law, said that the accommodations were great and that it was a great trip. They didn’t have to do anything but fish. Captain Frank did everything, including cleaning the fish while they enjoyed a nice lunch. Sounds like they were in fishing heaven! Oh and by the way, that cooler they filled? Yeah, it’s a 162-quart. :O Translation – that’s a LOT of fish they caught.

I was recalling this story and laughing at how fixated I was on my height and weight as a child with my Mother recently. I recounted the story about the doctor’s office and we had a good laugh about it. Then, while we were still laughing over the story, she threw in “… yeah and like I knew what a ‘football neck’ was!” and continued giggling. My laughter had stopped.

Me: “What are you saying?”
Mom: “I said once that you had a ‘Football Neck.’ ”
Me: “Yeah, I know. What about it?
Mom: I made it up.
Me: You made it up?!?
Mom: Yeah, I made it up.
Me: You mean I don’t have a football neck?
Mom: I don’t know, I mean you have a nice neck, but I just made it up. You were so depressed about your size and I had to say something to cheer you up.
Me: And you made up the term football neck?
Mom: Yeah (giggle)
Me: It’s not a commonly used term?
Mom: No, I mean I had never heard of it. I just made it up to make you feel better.
Me: Yeah? Well, it worked!”

And then we fell out laughing again. Here was something that my Mother had said in a last ditch effort to make me feel better about my size that was completely made up, yet up until that moment I believed with all my heart. I remember the moment as clear as a bell. I was sitting on her bed moaning about how small I was and that I was going to be picked on for the rest of my life and questioning why I had to be so small. My Mom tried to console me that I would get bigger and grow up, but of course that wasn’t going to happen soon enough for me. Hearing I was going to get bigger in a few years was the far far distant future from my young perspective. Clearly nothing she was saying was having an effect.

My dad was tall, but very skinny and that was my only male comparison at the time, so my Mom was having a hard time convincing me that I was going to be “big”. “You don’t know that I’m going to be big one day.”, I said. She replied, “Yes I do. Take a look at my brothers, they are all big guys.” She proceeded to pull out a few photos of them and sure enough they were some “big guys” in my book. “Yeah, but I don’t look anything like them.”, I bemoaned. “Yes you do!”, she quickly countered. Then came the moment that left an impression on me for the next 25 years.

“Just look at your neck. You definitely have a football neck.” she said authoritatively. “I have a what?”, I said in a faraway voice as my brain tried to take in what she was saying. “Yeah, you have a football neck like my brothers.”, she continued. I picked up the photos and looked at them as if they were a map to my future. “You’re going to grow into your neck and be just like my brothers. You’re going to be big.” And from that moment on, until just a few weeks ago, I believed that I had a football neck.

I never questioned what it meant. I didn’t play football because I would have been demolished by the other kids given my size, so in my mind anything to do with football meant big and tough – just what I wanted to be at that age. So I relished in the fact that God had blessed me with a “football neck” and that bolstered my spirits and I was no longer quite so down about my size. I was still little, still got picked on just as before, but now I knew that I had a “football neck” and that gave me hope.

Looking back on it now, I have to laugh at all the little times that I made a comment about my neck size to other people. My belief was so strong that, I just figured that everyone else saw it too. I remember having some custom made shirts in Kansas City and telling the tailor to make sure there was enough room in the neck, because, “I have a rather large neck.” I distinctly remember the hesitation in the mans voice when he agreed with me. LOL

In all honesty, I’d have to say that my neck is fairly average. It’s not skinny, but it’s also not the size of a linebacker either and I find it very comforting to know that I can laugh about it now. My Mom may have told me a fib, but that fib was just what I needed to hear to give me the self confidence I needed at that time in my life. Had anyone else said it, I don’t know that I would have accepted it so whole-heartedly, but my Mom said it, so I took it as the Gospel.

Granted every child growing up is fixated on one thing or another that makes them stand out from the rest. I don’t think my attitudes were any more unique than anyone else’s. If I was sensitive about being small, there was another kid who was sensitive about being big, medium, blond haired, big eyed, etc. My point is that all kids go through this. My situation was not unique. Growing up, you too were probably down on yourself about one thing or another. So here’s the question you have to ask yourself, is there anything your parents told you about yourself that may not have been 100% honest?

Me: “Ok, what about this thing you said once about how ‘taking a shower would set your tan’?”
Mom: “What?”
Me: “You told me one time when we were at the beach that if I took a shower, my tan would ‘set’. Did you just say that so that I would take a shower when I didn’t want to?”
Mom: “No. When you take a shower, it brings the tan, or the burn to the surface.”
Me: (Giving a look of incredulity.)
Mom: “Ok, yeah. I probably made that up too.”

Part of my resistance has been due to Gracie’s propensity for running to greet new people and/or animals. When I have her attention, she usually minds me, but when she’s been on the leash and a squirrel darts across our path, I’m thankful that she’s tethered to me. Walking through the neighborhood during our evening walk, I’ve felt the temptation to unhook the leash and let her run free a little bit, but my overwhelming fear that Gracie would tear off and not come back is too strong. I’d like to think that she’d stay close, but it’s such an unknown and if she were to run away, or get hurt, I don’t think I could take it.

The two of us did go through “puppy training” at the local PetSmart many months ago, so she does have some of the basics down. Then about month ago, I put up kiddie gates at each end of the deck behind our house. My idea was to give her a safe and secure outside area in which to play. In my mind this was the first step in letting go. When I would mow the grass, I’d let her run around on the deck. Since the deck equates to almost half of our backyard, she had plenty of room to run around. At night, if I went outside to smoke a cigar, Gracie would come with me and explore while I puffed away. The one thing that came out of all this was that it looked like I had a lot more work to do with the command “Come here.” Gracie was fairly hit or miss on this command and I simply didn’t feel confident that I could get her to obey once there were other things to attract her attention. I figured that there would have to be a lot more training if we were going to try taking off the leash. Gracie on the other hand had other ideas.

One afternoon I was going to the mailbox to retrieve the mail. The front door was open, but the outside screened glass door was still closed. Vegas came to say hello, like he usually does and when Gracie saw him, she went nuts like she usually does. As I walked back to the door, my attention was more on the mail than on Gracie bouncing like a spring behind the screen door. Before I knew it, as soon as I cracked open the door, Gracie was past me like a shot and running down the street. I didn’t panic, but I was scared as hell as I dropped the mail and took and walked back to the street. Trying to remain calm, cool and collected, I stopped at the street and just observed what was going on.

Gracie was running in huge circles around the cul-de-sac with Vegas right on her tail. Her ears were swept behind her head like pig tails as she ran as fast as she could. The had a look of ecstasy on her face as ran and ran and ran. It was as if she had this secret desire to run free. All the times she’d seen Vegas running untethered had built up a deep longing that was finally being set free. Vegas is about 3 times her size, but he couldn’t catch her as she made one lap after another. I simply sat on the curb and let her go.

After awhile she started tiring and Vegas began to catch her a bit. So instead of the long sweeping laps, she began dodging left and right as if they were playing tag. When she was finally getting tired, I opened my arms and yelled “Come here Gracie!” in the manner in which we used to do in puppy class. Her head perked upright upon the sound of her name. Snapped from her reverie, she saw me as shelter, or home base and made a bee line right into my arms. I said a prayer of thanks as I wrapped my arms around her. She was panting and her tongue was hanging out and her eyes were just ablaze with the rush of being so free to run where she liked.

Once back in my arms, I took the opportunity to bring her back inside where she was once again safe and secure. Although the result came out OK, I was still in a bit of shock about the whole adventure. As the day wore on, my mind kept turning over the details looking at all sides of it. What stood out was that she stayed in the general area where I felt it was alright for her to run free. Secondly, she did come when called, so much to my surprise the command did work in the real world and lastly, I did have Vegas’ help. Although I may think that Vegas has a bit too much freedom in the neighborhood, he is a good done and he does follow most basic commands. With the two dogs playing together, I knew that Vegas would come when called and that was a nice backup to have. Even if Gracie wouldn’t come, Vegas would and he’d bring her in by proxy if necessary.

So later that afternoon we gave it another shot. We went outside with the leash on and went out to the street. A quick whistle to Vegas and he was over in a heartbeat. Gracie was bouncing like a rubber ball, but I eventually got her off the leash and off they went again. After all the running in circles, both dogs came over to where I was sitting on the curb and they began to play all around me. I became part of the tussle as Gracie used me as a spring board to jump all over Vegas. Now it was my turn for that crazed look of ecstasy, because is there anything more exquisite than playing on the ground with dogs?

Since that fateful day of Gracie’s semi-independence, we’ve continued to work on Gracie (or is it me?) becoming more comfortable with being off of her leash. We’ve worked in the backyard going up and down the hill and learning where her boundaries are as well as continuing to play with Vegas when he’s around. One great tool that has come in handy is an extendable leash that my Mother purchased for us. It gives Gracie a good 30′ of line and has helped make for a smooth transition. Now when she’s on her leash, she has a lot more play and it’s closer to being untethered as possible. There’s still some work left to be done in regards to training. She still has a tendency to charge when she sees another dog, or a cat, or a person for that matter, but she’s getting much better.

I suppose I needed that “jump into the deep end” experience that chance happened to provide. As much as Gracie needs training, I think I’ve needed just as much time to get comfortable with the idea. It’s still a little scary to unhook that leash and let her go. Yet as soon as I see that look on her face when she’s free as a lark, it’s all worth it.