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In honor of Independence Day and my dad’s 60th birthday, I’ve chosen two videos today.

The first was an easy choice. The singer has always been my dad’s favorite and he played his records for as long as I can remember (until I got cute one day and broke his record player…well, I was very young). My dad and his band, The Liberty Boys, played his songs for years and years and the band was always pelted with requests to sing his songs at local Hee Haws, barn dances and the like.

So, my first, and maybe surprising choice is none other than Merle Haggard.

For my choice for Fourth of July video, I’m going off the beaten path and using a scene out of one of my favorite movies, “The Sandlot” and when you see it you won’t question why I chose it one bit.

Have a happy and safe holiday, everyone, and happy birthday, Dad!

The more I stare at this picture the scarier it gets. Look at it closely. The cake looks big enough to be a small pond and it’s red no less. So, I’ve recreated the Bloody Pond from the Shiloh Battlefield and my grandmother’s walker at stage right appears to be sinking into it. Ooooh. And, well, there’s the T.V., of course, shining brightly and eerily in all of its “Poltergeist” glory and while there’s clearly (well, sort of clearly) a person displayed on the screen with her hands on her hips, she’s wearing a dark shirt with light pants so she’s giving the effect of being an eyeball watching over the Bloody Pond.

And what’s scariest of all is that this cake (or lake, take your pick) you see before you, this cake yet to be frosted and done up all pretty like, is the only effort I’ve made so far in getting ready for my dad’s big birthday tomorrow. The thing is, I know he’ll be pleased with whatever effort I make, but I really want to go for the gusto. After all, he is turning 60.

But, well, let’s see, starting off with a cake resembling a key body of water in the Civil War when Dad’s birthday falls on a key date during the Revolutionary War…hmmmm….But, then again, after I add the white and blue to it, well, there you go. I’ve solved that problem.

Now, if I could only figure out a way to shoot myself out of a cannon or something equally as earth-shattering….   

The garden has really grown since I posted the last baby pictures.

Let’s see. Corn on the left, then purple hull peas and green beans, then tomato plants and just beyond that, okra plants. Front and center are the squash plants.

Looks like it’ll be a good harvest.

As a few of you have read before, church is very important to me and my church is near and dear to me. With that said, I’m not going to talk religion, but I am going to share something that happened today that really bothers me and I guess I’d like an opinion or two.

After services today at my church we had a vote. Yep, a vote. Secret ballot. All political-like. We voted on whether or not to build a new church.

Now before I go any further, I’ll fill you in with a little background information. The church is small, but not tiny. We average about 90 to 95 people for Sunday school and on a good day or a much-anticipated revival night, we might break 100. The church is not particularly old. It was built in the 1930s (not old by some church standards) and has had a couple of additions over the years. One of my favorite things to show visitors is a noticeable area on the building where the older bricks stop and the newer-looking bricks start up again.

My memories of the building run deep. From the time I was baptized and I, not knowing how to swim and being afraid of the water, grabbed onto the preacher’s arm and screamed upon being dunked, producing full-out laughs from the crowd rather than supportive “Amens,” to the time we had a preacher who delighted in handing me purple pieces of candy after the sermons to my catching frogs on the church’s steep hillside to the lock-ins we had and getting myself locked in the nursery in the dark and thinking I was going to die because my friends told me the Holy Spirit was in there and was going to sneak up on me. As you can tell, I grew up in the church. Some of my best friends went there. Some of my best memories live there. I’m a firm believer in not getting rid of someone or something that is doing his/her/its job well. And (I don’t care that I’m using a very common cliche right now) if it ain’t broke, well…you know the rest.

Now, you’ll have to forgive me if I say something irrational or out of anger because I’m very afraid my anger is about to do the talking.

A few years ago, a few younger families (a little bit older than me, early 30s) moved into the church, well, I should say a few young couples moved in and commenced to having babies so quickly that I frankly lost count. It seemed they were determined to populate the church with their offspring and they were determined to do so as quickly as possible. Well, they did. And in that time, our church got a complete renovation of the sanctuary, the bathrooms and a couple of Sunday school rooms. We got a new nursery and a new garage for the church van. In a nutshell, a lot of work was done. At the same time, a few members of the young guard (what I’ll call them from now on…as opposed to the old guard) pushed and got the church members to purchase a piece of land on which to build a new church. After all the additions and renovations, history didn’t much matter. They were new and the history didn’t call out to them. They didn’t grow up in the church. They only saw visions of a bright, shiny new church in which they could show off to their friends and they acted on the vision.

Today was a historic day in the life of the church.

Seventy-three to 17. We’re getting a new church. Who can say if we’ll stay together? I’m normally an optimist, but I say No. I’d like to be mad, but all I can really be is sad. 

Naturally, I was very sorry to see Jeffrey return from the Sunshine State, but he made up for his return by thoughtfully bringing me the famous tongue twister t-shirt.

I’m surprised I didn’t get this one years ago, but I’m now a member of the tongue twister club. Yeehaw! And it’s a purty green too. My day was made.

That Jeffrey kid might not be so bad after all.

Indulge me for a minute. I cannot stop staring at this picture of my guinea pig. Normally, he and my mom don’t get along at all, but yesterday, she was holding him and he rolled up into a little ball on her lap before falling off to sleep.

He’s never done that with me. I’m severly jealous.

Oh, but he’s so precious, it doesn’t matter one way or the other.

Yes, that’s his back foot up near his mouth. Quite flexible for a little pig.

Okay. Kudos go to the Squirrel Queen and her “Passionate Kisses” video for helping me come up with this Friday’s particularly healthy offering of feel-goodness.

I present to you one of my all-time favorites, ”I love my lips,” in the way that only Larry the Cucumber can sing it. 

Go see Killa’s offering too. I’m not sure of any others at the moment, but if I’ve left anyone out, I didn’t do it intentionally.

Happy Friday, everyone! 

Update: Alright, all you’uns. Got me a list now. To continue the good feelings go see Ginger, Sharon, Slarti and Kat Coble.

P.S. And Newscoma’s gotten all British wif us.  

Yesterday was such a red letter day. Such a red letter day. I guess that’s why today’s been such a downer. I’m going through severe withdrawals from yesterday’s fun.

My bff, Ms. Henrietta, came up to our university city to do a presentation for a summer class she’d been a part of last year. As always, we talked, reminisced, cut up and otherwise got caught up on everything from tragedies to goodies to the fact that it’s so hot outside we’d like to invest in a slippin’ slide, position it on a very steep hill and place a wading pool of water at the bottom of it.

But, as my bff is not only the sweetest and most thoughtful person in the world but also the most random and silly, one of the first things that popped out of her mouth was, “The teacher in the class today was eating sour cream and onion crickets.”

I did a double take and asked, “Um, healthy? High in protein?”

Apparently so, but also apparently, one of the class members just decided to bring a big bag to class.

So, I decided to scout about and see what information I could find and yes, there really are sour cream and onion crickets as well as other various flavors.

Well, crickets are high in calcium but personally, I’d rather just listen to them sing at night and occasionally use them to catch bream.

I think I’ll let my conscience be my guide on this one.

I can actually feel myself slipping into one of those don’t really care, don’t want to post, don’t have anything interesting or important to say comas, so before I get too far deep into it, I’ll try to find something to talk about.

Actually, I should be trying to get something together for my dad’s 60th birthday bash on July 4 (He’s a Yankee Doodle boy.), but I’m running on empty in the creative and cute ideas department and gas for that tank also costs too much. Go figure. Everything’s affected. Anyone have any ideas? I was trying to put together the firecracker cake last year, but that idea, well, exploded in my face. This year is especially special (redundant?) though because Dad’s turning the big 6-0. Still hard to believe.

I am, however, very excited that Pixar will be releasing a new film tomorrow. I’ve been looking forward to the release of this film since I saw the previews last year. Can’t wait to check it out. Someone want to go with me?

It’s the catch of the day and thanks is due to my brother and his gang of pimply, adolescent skateboarders, World of Warcraft players and overall brats. They’re vacationing in Florida right now and went deep-sea fishing yesterday.

Jeffrey hauled in this 12-pound King Mackerel.

Nice fish, but doesn’t compare to the Giganto-cat.