Who Let the Cats Out?

Megan and Will arrived before 4:30 yesterday afternoon (it's another Christmas miracle .. forgive me for doubting) with their cats, Jack and Dewey.

Jack made himself at home right away, but Dewey found it necessary to hide under the bed for a little while (like I do when Cheryl has yard work for me) before making an appearance.

Now, they are both quite comfortable in their new environment and I have to fight for my regular spot on the couch and at the dining room table.

I'm a dog person. I spend so much time in the dog house, I readily identify with my canine counterpart, plus I had a golden retriever for many years (this will be our first Christmas without Shadow .. he was the best) and he made me feel like I was the most important person in the world. When I arrived home after a long day at work, there was a lot of tail wagging (his was wagging .. mine was dragging) and it really boosted my spirits.

A cat can "take you or leave you." They might acknowledge your presence at the end of a work day .. they might not. It just depends on their mood at the time of your arrival.

They, also, like to suddenly leave a room .. without warning or reason. What's that all about?

Cats are curious creatures. In fact, one is half way up the trunk of my Christmas tree at this very moment.

Please excuse me. I must go and help prevent a catastrophe.

Over the River and Through the Woods .. then Turn Left on Chere Carol Road

If everything goes as planned, Megan and Will .. and Jack & Dewey (our grandcats) should be here before the end of the day .. yeah! They left their North Carolina apartment late yesterday afternoon and made it all the way to Newport, TN (that's where Meg's text said they were .. I received it at 1:40 this morning).

They are, approximately, six hours away from our house and the start of a ten day Christmas break in West Tennessee (I'm excited right now .. my tune may change after having our "cat free" environment invaded by two creatures of the feline persuasion for the next week and a half).

My daughter looks a lot like me (a fact she can not deny .. lament, yes .. deny, no). However, she acts a lot like her mom. This means she loves to sleep in on Saturday morning, if at all possible.

I'm sure the motel where she and Will stayed last night (make that .. early this morning) has a checkout time of eleven o'clock or so. I'm also sure, they could request a late checkout and stick around a little longer.

My point is this. That six hour drive from Newport to Humboldt may take far longer than I would expect.

I'm an early riser .. for the most part. If I have somewhere to go, I want to be up, out and on the road by "dawn's early light." If I'm on time for an event, I'm late for an event (I will make an ideal senior citizen .. they arrive, at least, one hour before any planned activity I have).

Megan and Will have a different concept of time and "time travel" .. a wrong one. They are more laid back in their approach to life .. que sera sera. Though this is a great frustration to me, it probably means they will live longer, healthier lives. Longer, healthier .. late for everything .. lives.

So, here I am .. waiting for the arrival of my daughter.

I couldn't do anything about it in March of '87, and I can't do anything about it, now.

Patience isn't one of my virtues.

It's All in the Cards

It's six days before Christmas. Can you believe it? It seems like only yesterday it was .. seven days before Christmas.

We do a photo card each year to send to friends and family and those cards were mailed yesterday afternoon. Hopefully, they will get to their respective destinations before Christmas day. If not, many of you can look forward to the Hamilton family's New Years resolution (600 dpi on 4 x 8 heavy paper).

Our church, has a "post office" located outside the worship center (that's 'sanctuary' for you old-schoolers) where you can leave Christmas cards for fellow (or lady) church members. You are asked to donate the amount saved on postage (42 cents times the number of cards .. see students, math is important) to international missions. This is on the "honor system" (there's a little container on the table to drop in your money) and not policed in any way (I'm thinking about installing a security camera and cracking down on the freeloaders). This works well for us, and the post office gets far more traffic (we have a huge pile up between 'I' and 'J') on a daily basis than this blog site.

Some people are not content in merely sending a Christmas card. They like to send a Christmas newsletter. This newsletter usually includes all the wonderful things (exotic vacations, cruises, etc.) they have done throughout the past year. I feel like I speak for 95% of the general public when I say .. you make me sick. I'm glad you had an amazing year, but do you have to rub it in my face?

My dog died in January, I blew up the engine in Cheryl's car, and I've had a colonoscopy. However, I'm not going to Kinkos with a dozen digital photos commemorating those events and a lengthy mailing list.

Some things are best kept private.

UPDATE: My wife likes those newsletters .. never mind.

Well, Lottie Da!

Today, I will be returning to my former church in Memphis to speak or sing or .. something (I haven't decided .. don't rush me, it's not until 11:30) for the Keenagers, the church's senior adult group.

I served (would you like fries with that?) at Whitten Memorial Baptist Church for six and a half years before moving to Humboldt, and part of my responsibilities included working with this wonderful age group (they had to keep me away from youth .. teenagers tick me off too easily).

There are plenty of memories associated with Whitten.

I worked with three pastors during my tenure (for some reason, they didn't stick around very long with me there .. go figure?) and each had his own unique personality and leadership style.

One of those pastors was Dr. Jack May, a longtime (let's just call like it is .. older than dirt) Memphis pastor who experienced, first hand, my twisted sense of humor (don't be shocked, I actually have one) on more than one occasion. He was so kind and trusting .. a perfect target.

I recall a staff Christmas party we had several years ago. It was at one of my favorite Memphis eateries (Houston's) and one of those dutch treat affairs (that sort of sounds like a tryst with a woman from Amsterdam .. it wasn't).

Before leaving the office, I took several Lottie Moon (Southern Baptist's special offering for international missions) envelopes from the church and put cash in them. When it was time to pay the ticket, I pulled these envelopes from my coat pocket, tore them open one at a time, and proceeded to remove the cash inside to take care of the bill.

I wish I had a camera to capture this beautiful moment. Bro. Jack's eyes were the size of saucers! I assured him, later, it WAS my own money. However, I'm not sure he ever believed me.

Wouldn't you?

Your Eyes Are Getting Heavy .. Aren't They?

Last night, Cheryl was the one who couldn't sleep (she probably felt guilty for making a snide remark about me at a local Christmas gathering, in front of all my friends). I am usually the insomniac around these parts and she is honing in on my territory. However, I'll gladly hand over my title and all that it entails.

The difference in last evening's scenario and when I'm up all night? If mama don't sleep .. don't nobody sleep.

When she finally got out of bed, the light came on (I don't mean she had an idea .. the light really came on) and that's all it took to awaken me .. that, and her poking and asking me if I was awake, too.

Consequently, when my alarm went off at 5 o'clock (it's blogging time), I gingerly turned it off (hit it with a baseball bat) and rolled over like a dog doing a trick.

So .. I'm late (for me) blogging, I've missed my Men's Prayer Group (sorry guys, I didn't have one today) and I feel a little sluggish (no, not that kind of sluggish .. I'm a 'regular' guy).

I need some coffee.

Missed It By That Much

Well, it's five o'clock in the morning and it appears that "sure thing" ice storm they predicted has either stalled or missed us completely.

This comes after everyone and his brother (I always felt sorry for the brother .. he must really feel left out NOT being included with everyone) cancelled meetings, games, practices, rehearsals, and classes in the entire West Tennessee area.

The "science" of weather forecasting is looking more and more like it's done with a roll of the dice or a Magic 8 Ball. At best, the meteorologist is "dead on," only fifty percent of the time.

If I apply that stat to my profession, I can have 26 "duds" on Sunday mornings in a year's time (come to think of it, that's a fairly accurate assessment of my work in the music ministry .. my apologies for being so critical, Jim Jaggers).

Because of this latest weather warning, I cancelled an outing (last night) with our senior adults to Bellevue's Singing Christmas Tree. I made the call around ten o'clock in the morning (we were to leave for Memphis at 3:30) to "can" the trip (for the safety of our seniors .. and because I really didn't want to go .. rainy days and Mondays always get me down). Some were disappointed (they would lose some money on this little venture .. boohoo, take a look at my retirement fund), but they understood. Thankfully(?), Bellevue cancelled their Monday night performance (on the advice of .. the National Weather Service) and that made me look better, when nothing ended up happening .. at all.

On the positive side, there is no ice to contend with this morning during Humboldt's rush hour (make that .. quarter hour .. okay, three to five minutes), and there's milk, bread and eggs in 99 percent of the homes in Jackson and it's surrounding area.

French toast, anyone?

Thank Ye, Thank Ye, Thank Ye

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I appreciate everyone who participated in "The Splendor of Christmas" on Saturday and Sunday night at FBC Humboldt. You did a great job and I want to thank you from my bottom to my heart!

This was one of the more challenging projects to memorize, but you were all troopers (we got us a smoky bear at mile marker thirty one, good buddy) and did it .. with the help of Mike Z and the back screens (I could have fallen dead at the music stand and the show would have continued .. if something had happened to Mike, we would have wrapped things up and gone home).

The soloists were super and the trios (there were two different ones) were terrific!

Elvis left the building .. then tried to re-enter it, the Three Amigos (make that, Amigets) "spiced" things up in salsa style, and when Cowboy Kev sang, there wasn't a dry seat in the house.

The "show stealer," however, would have to be Julie .. or Helga, as she will now be known for the remainder of her natural life (it appears, her family might have been slightly embarrassed .. they have asked to be in the witness protection program and have assumed new identities).

There were many fun moments, but there were very serious ones, too.

When we "turned the corner" between secular and sacred, the gospel story was clearly presented in word (thanks, Tony & Linda) and song. By the end of the evening, there was no doubt about the true meaning of Christmas.

All in all, not a bad weekend. Not bad at all.