Tonight our home will be invaded by 13 little 6th grade girls as we host them for DNOW (Disciple Now) this weekend at our church. About 65 students from our church will gather in homes across the area for the weekend. Here's hoping that the weather holds out. Right now-it's looking ok.

Disciple Now was begun as an intense discipleship weekend for youth (placed between Summer Camps--to fire up the youth) and was originally designed for the church itself to disciple it's youth. This format has been going on for some 35 years.

Our three kids are going--but we're getting 12 little girls instead. Hmm, wonder if that's a good exchange. All I know is that I have to live on the other side of the house this weekend.

RT: Disciple Now

Cowtown--One Month and Counting

The Cowtown Marathon is one month from today! One month from today I will be attempting to run 13.1 miles (Half) for the very first time in my life.

I'm on track.. up to 10 miles and yet I'm still a little scared of running the whole 13.

One month and counting... here I go.

In Memory of the First Church I Served

I googled the first church I served today and found out that it ceased to exist (in the form that I knew it) in September of last year. They have since moved to another location and started over.

It made me a little sad because that congregation was so gracious to me as a seminary student. I'd learn something at seminary and they would allow me to experiment on them, week after week.

We struggled while there to know what the future of that little church would be. They were smack dab in the midst of apartment complexes on every side, but had little strategy to meet the needs of that area, or the transitioning neighborhoods around them. Truth be told, this move to the new place was 20 years in coming and probably is 20 years too late to keep this church around for the long haul. They just kept doing what they had been doing since the early 70's and were surprised that no one was responding to that approach.

Why is it that the church is the last place to react and redirect itself given the conditions of the community? Have we become so cemented in what we want and what we like in church that we are totally oblivious to the world around us? God forgive us if that's the answer.

I was a little sad today to hear the news. Many memories flooded my mind as I thought about them and countless names came to mind that I haven't thought of in years. This post is in memory of the first church I served.

Happy Birthday Dad!

Today would have been my Dad's 93rd birthday. He passed away in 1993, but I still remember his birthday.

I'm the age now that he was when I was born and there are things rolling through my mind that I certainly wish that I could ask him. There were some decisions that he made about that time that changed the course of our family. I'm wondering if we're not in the same position--or is it just that age when you begin to re-evaluate things?

He never served in big churches, never served on a high profile board or was elected to office. Yet, in his life he made an impact on many lives.

Happy Birthday Dad! I miss you.

Worship Confessional, January 24, 2010

This post is part of Sunday Set List over on The Worship Community. Fred McKinnon has been sponsoring this Sunday blog carnival for over a year and half as worship leaders worldwide post their Sunday songs and worship orders.

Today ended the series "THE PURPOSE OF THE CHURCH" and marks the last time in two weeks that I will be leading (DNOW (Disciple Now Weekend) is next weekend and the following week I'll be at RECREATE conference).

There were not as many technical glitches during the service, but the devil was in the sound system before (residing over by the drums and bass!). We finally got that worked out.

Ed spoke on The Church Alive--saying that a church that is dead to the flesh is alive in the spirit. Hmm... how many live dead churches are out there? All I know is worship at the end was awesome as I think they "got it" that praise is to be a hallmark of the church.Set List

Hosanna (Baloche)--one of our favorites. This is a great way to open the service.

Rising (Baloche)--I think that we've just about done all of the songs off the Greater Song album. This one has been on my radar for a while. I love the phrase "the people of God, in the power of God, for the kingdom of God"--that line just sticks with me everytime.

Welcome/Announcements/ Offering

Take My Life (Worship Choir)

Video Moment--Seeing (Floodgate Productions) We used a video from Floodgate production to transition from the choir to the next set. It worked really well.

Be Thou My Vision (Praise Charts)

Do It Lord (Walker) Third and last time for this song for a while... I think they've got it! Went well with our set out sight and seeing.

Morning Message--The Purpose of The Church (final sermon)

Our God Saves (Baloche)

How was your Sunday?

Toy Box Leadership

I scurried through Mardel late last night before they closed and found this book on the bargain table ($5!) and couldn't pass it up. I read and collect different resources on leadership--so I got it.

I'm only in the first few pages, but it's making sense. Leadership begins when we are young ( and who hasn't seen some stellar leadership potential on the playground lately!)

Think about--all that we are and know about our abilities and capabilities as leaders is put to an early test on the playground. Who will organize? Who will pick teams? Who will set the rules? Who will declare a winner? Who will referee? Who will call it quits and who will admonish those who aren't playing fair? See what I mean?

I've already confessed my love of Legos here on this blog, and wouldn't you know the first toy they talk about is LEGO! More on that later.

What are some of your favorite toys from childhood? What do they reveal about your leadership?

The Constitution and Freedom (Part 5- Conclusion)

This is the conclusion of the videos from Judge Napolitano. In fact, this is where we came in while watching TV one night and I gave us great discussion of "what America is and what it should be". I quickly told my oldest teens that they'd better pay attention to this--because when they vote in the future, they need to know where we came from and where we are suppose to be.

Have we surrendered to much to government or has it slowly slipped away because we don't know what America was founded on and what was meant to be our form of government. Don't get me wrong! America has done some outstanding things in the last 200 years as a group of collective individuals, but somehow, someway, we have given and inch and been taken for a mile in areas that were never expressed or intended to be the domain of the government.

I hope this has caused you to stop and think about America and what she should be in the future.

Prayer and Planning

One of the great things about my church is that they give the staff some specific time away for Prayer and Planning for their areas. I use this time to specifically plan for seasons of worship (Christmas, Easter, etc) and so I'll be doing that today and tomorrow.

I'm specifically working on the spring worship series and EASTER which includes our annual day of prayer on Maunday Thursday and Easter Services. It takes some time to get these services together and we try to make them creative and different each year.

So, if you try to catch me on these days--- I'll be talking to someone else. I always come away with a list full of things that have inspired me and a set of things that the Lord has given me. I can't wait to share them with you.

The Constitution and Freedom (Part 4)

Everything that you ever wanted to know about the Judiciary system in our country is here. The Courts were set up to interpret the laws of the land (in light of the constitution)--they were never meant to create the laws.

Things that make you wonder---"how did we ever get this far away from the ideals of American"

A Tragic Church Fire Begs The Question: Does The Church Go On With No Building

I was altered on Facebook yesterday afternoon that the First Baptist Temple (Tx) Worship Center and offices burned in an early morning fire. Fellow SWBTS grad Gary Anthony is their Minister of Music and it destroyed the music suite, the sanctuary and the offices. I can't imagine the mess that he's having to sift through.

At such times I have seen the church rise to it's highest potential. A church fire at a sister church across the street from ours in Sweetwater brought out the best in everyone as they hustled into other parts of the building to save books, tapes, tables and chairs. We sat for hours that day just marveling how the walls come down when tragedy hits.

Would your church go on if they had no building? What if tomorrow you had no place to "gather" or call home? Would you see the church rise to it's highest potential and say "we have no walls--for we are the church" That's right--the church isn't a building. The church is the people of God where the presence of the Holy spirit dwells right now. In all the churches in my city right now that sit dark and empty, God isn't there waiting for someone to come visit him. No, the church is scattered all across and ready for action at any moment. The church "building" is only a gathering station and as such is temporal.

So--what would you do. The newspaper in Temple said a poster left in the building untouched by the fire said "Greater things are yet to come". Maybe the hand writing is on the wall.

RT: Church Fire in Temple

Recollections of A Funeral

It's been a long day--a journey to Dallas and back for the funeral of a friend's mother. So--I've seen both sides of the clock today (the sun rising and the sun setting and in a few short hours the sun will rise again).

I guess today's like today make me realize how fast time is marching on and how little time we have to spend on the really important things in life. The tyranny of the urgent drowns out the important. Today made me realize that people, family and friends are important and that events only magnify and augment the memories of these things.

I told my girls tonight that I want this song sung at my funeral. It's my anthem and my cry. Enjoy!

The Constitution and Freedom (Part 3)

"The job of the President is to make sure that the people of the United States remain free!" Wow-now that will start a discussion in a current Civics class.

These videos really open up the questions--how did we come so far?

All Eyes Are On Massachusetts

Today's election in Massachusetts carries with it the same importance as those in the early days of our country. Will we stand up for liberty or for big government?

Which side wins will giving an indication of the direction of the United States in the coming months.

What do you think?

The Constitution and Freedom (Part 2)

Watch this video and listen to this phrase from the judge--"We are not surrounded by men who love liberty, but men who love power". Does that not describe the times in which we live?

Can you really look at the things that government is doing and say "this is liberty!" Or can you agree with the judge that we are surrounded by "those who seek and crave power?"

Things that make you wonder how far America has drifted. To be continued...

The Constitution and Freedom

I grew up with a Dad who taught American and World History in the public school, so I might be a little bias, but I think this video is the kind of thing that needs to be shown to our kids.

Diane and I plan to show this to our kids in successive evenings and talk to them about what America really means! They're not getting this information in classes and what they know about government is "biased" towards activism and social issues. If they knew what Government was "suppose" to do, then they would know what they're responsibilities are as they grow up (to take personal responsibility and care for their fellow man).

These are important lessons that I think my kids need to learn. If you haven't watched these videos, do so this week. It will put in perspective how far we've drifted from the founding fathers and what they wanted America to really be.

Rising (Paul Baloche)

I'm excited to do this song next Sunday (it's been on my "to do" list for a while). I think it goes along great with our series on THE PURPOSE OF THE CHURCH.

I especially love the line "the people of God, in the power of God, for the Kingdom of God" What more needs to be said about the church.

Worship Confessional, January 17, 2010

This post is part of Sunday Set Lists over on The Worship Community where you can see what other churches did today in Worship.

Today was a challenge... technically! It was just a plethora of things that you can never anticipate. I haven't had one of these days in a long time and in the midst of it you want to scream. On the back side of it you just want to learn what went wrong and correct it from ever happening again.

Set List:

Your Grace Is Enough (Maher). We love this song.. we really do, but right from the beginning I could tell something was wrong. Turns out that the Key correction we made in rehearsal was reversed (we had it printed in A, but I wanted it in G--but we went back to A, but played it in G) Train wreck with the trax! I didn't know what happened until the break in the songs. People just were looking at me like Deers into the headlines. I felt like a cheerleader leading a new cheer.

Awesome Is The Lord (Tomlin) We got back on track on this one (Literally, the trax worked on this one)

Welcome/Announcements/ Prayer Focus on Haiti and the Americas)

Amazing Grace (My Chains Are Gone) Worship Choir

Do It Lord (Tommy Walker) Second week on this songs... I love it and the Praise team and choir love it...may take a while for the congregation to really own it.

You Are My King (Foote)---old standby that made us feel comfortable again.

Message--The Purpose of The Church

This is the second week that we've had Battery issues on Ed's mic. Last week it was dead and this week it was dying (clip, clip, clip). I had to sneak up in his prayer and take is module away and give him my mic. Nothing like a short bald man sneaking up on the pastor during his prayer. Anyway--frustrating! My new mantra is EVERY BATTERY EVERY WEEK from now on. It's just got to become part of our discipline.

How Great Is Our God (Tomlin)--enough said!

Introduction of New Members!

So--how was your Sunday?

Pants On The Ground

This song was made famous last night on American Idol. I'm sure that it won't be the last time we hear it (in fact look for it to come back at the American Idol finals in May and a record deal is probably in the works)

However, this artist has accurately portrayed something that we've all commented on and wondered why? Why do those kids wear their shorts down to their knees? Do they really think it's fashionable? What message are they sending ( just ask my wife what she heard that the message means in the prison system)

Maybe General Larry Pratt has used his art to call attention to something in our culture that we need to examine (and exterminate!)and to ask "Why are your pants on the ground?"

411Fit.com---My online food journal

Overall Grade A- Very Good
Why Did I Get This Grade?
Your overall grade is based on contributions from the following:
40% of your grade is from today's nutrition. Grade : B+ why?
40% of your grade is from this week's exercise. Grade : A+ why?
20% of your grade is from your overall progress. Grade : B+ why?

Since August I have been journaling every bit of food and drink that have come into my mouth. It's been a daunting task, but now I have the hang of it and I look forward to seeing how my day panned out and where I made good and bad choices along the way. I would recommend 411fit to anyone trying to get in shape and get a hold of their health and eating habits. It is extremely easy to use and counts not only your nutritional values, but you can keep track of your exercise here too.

It's true what they say--knowledge is power and when you see where you are spending your nutritional points, you know why you are stuck in the ditch or moving down the highway. Give this site a try and see if it helps you. It did (and does) me!

You Can Think It... Just Don't Say It

I am watching this video of Pat Robertson from today's broadcast, and honestly I don't know what to say. Is this something that really needs to be said in a moment like this when we see such suffering in Haiti? Come on Pat, think before you speak. This wins you no friends nor does it extend the cause of Christ!

How about the incredible stories of missionaries and mission teams being on the scene already to render aid. Doctors that normally wouldn't be there were there at the moment's notice. I was in awe today as I listened to story after story of these people already there and in place giving aid and comfort in Jesus' name. Could that not have been the highlight of Robertson's story. Guess not!

Just goes to show my Momma was right. You can think it, but you'd be better off not saying it.

It's The People's Seat

This man has it right--no man (regardless of fortune or lineage, education or status) is entitled in America to a seat in Congress. We don't live in England where the House of Lords is passed through the generations to the next heir. This man (vying to be the next Senator from Massachusetts) has the correct vision. IT IS THE PEOPLE WHO GIVE POWER TO CONGRESS...not the other way around. Pass this along--this message is infectious!

This Is One Musical I Won't See

I love the theater, I really do, but does this musical really constitute anything of artistic value or is it purely political? (or opportunistic). My feeling is that it will make it to Broadway at some point and sometime in the future I'll be watching the Tony awards and it will get some prize. I'll just shake my head.

What do you think?

Unhooking Your Hopes and Dreams

I was listening to this podcast this morning by my friend Pete Wilson. I'm a little behind in my podcast listening (this was his Christmas series) as my Powerbook has been out of commission and my ipod was initialized on my Mac--so I didn't want to reformat it in PC. I waited and it was worth it.

Somewhere around mile 2 this morning, Pete whispered in my ear (via the podcast) that sometimes "God will dissolve your dreams so that you can hook your hope to Him and not the dream." (I think I got that right Pete, if not correct me). Wow! Can I tell you that in the deep dark of the morning when you are running and a truth comes to you like that, it is overpowering. I think it gave me something to chew on for the next 2-3 miles as I really pondered what that meant in my life.

I was having a conversation the other day with someone who knows my dreams. They asked "So, how is that going? Do you think it will happen?" Thinking back to that conversation and this teaching today, I don't know. When asked that question the other day for the first time I really couldn't articulate what the dream is right now. That scared me that I might have given up on it, but maybe Pete's teaching this morning (Thank You Holy Spirit) means that I have unhooked the dream from my hopes and expectations and I've linked it to God's will, whatever that may be or look like in my life.

Give me some help here if you can. Can you clarify for me what that means to unhook your dreams and hopes? Have you done this? Have you ever come back to the dream?

Everyone Can Be A Speilberg!

This video was shot entirely with a Nokia cell phone! Amazing. Look at the video and then the still shots to see his set up. Thanks Brook Sarver for mentioning this. Now where's my cell phone! Oh, yeah, it's not that good

.

Elio from Rob Diaz on Vimeo.

Worship Confessional, January 10, 2010

This post is part of Sunday Set List over on Fred McKinnon's blog

This is the second week of THE PURPOSE OF THE CHURCH. All of this is very important to us as a church while we are working towards the calling of our new Pastor in 2010.

Set List

BRETHREN WE HAVE MET TO WORSHIP (G3 Worship)--Standard hymn for us, but felt it was the right one as we learned last week that the church on Sunday morning is the CHURCH GATHERED and when we leave, we are the CHURCH SCATTERED

MADE TO WORSHIP (Praise Charts)---long time since we did this one. It was good to revisit it and it went to the heart of the message today.

Welcome/Announcements/ MISSION FOCUS TODAY (AFRICA)

Offertory Music-Judy Brown

DO IT LORD (Tommy Walker) I heard this song last Spring on Travis Cottrell's album and then again this summer on Tommy Walker's album at National Worship Leader conference. It has become a regular on my ipod and has become the prayer I pray for my church as I run. It's so prophetic.

TO GOD BE THE GLORY (Hymn Charts)

Morning Message--THE PURPOSE OF THE CHURCH (Ed Ethridge)

Response---just the chorus of TO GOD BE THE GLORY

Out--- DO IT LORD (3rd verse "I see the church rising up in power....)

How was your Sunday?

Changing Your Style

I'm trying to change my running style. Having just finished the book BORN TO RUN, I'm interested in the POSE method of running which is more natural, and increases your endurance and running speed.

However, I've formed some very bad habits in my running and it's hard to change your style. I find that when I'm not thinking about it I lax back into my own style which has more heel action too it (as I notice in my worn out heels on my shoes).

So--I may have to slow down a bit to learn a new style. Anyone want to video me?

Life Lessons From The Longhorns--Succession Planning

Surely if there is anything to be learned from the big game last night it was BE PREPARED FOR ANYTHING. No one could have predicted the situation with Colt Mc Coy's injury, but you have to think: Was there no preparation if McCoy goes out? Was there ever a game plan minus McCoy?

This brought up a thought on FACEBOOK that just like the Texas team, organizations never envision the day when they will be without their leader, but it happens. No one is irreplaceable.

Leaders do leave organizations and it is imperative that both the leader and the organization be prepared for this. The leader must prepare those around him for the day that he (she) will no longer be there. The leader who keeps it all to himself (leadership and influence) and doesn't give it away does not help the organization thrive in his absence. Leadership must be shared.

The organization must have a plan in case the leader is not there. There must be one of those "break the glass in case of emergency" plans somewhere for the organization to continue to thrive in the absence of a leader. Organizations can survive without a leader, but not without a plan.

So what were the lessons that you learned from the game?

Succession Planning in Organizations

Texas Puts All Its Eggs In McCoy's Basket

The Eyes of Texas Are Upon Pasedena

Even though I'm a Red Raider, tonight I'll put my Longhorn cap on and cheer for the boys of Austin to bring home another championship. Unfortunately we won't be with our good friends, the Grays, tonight like we were in 2006...but we'll get by.

Hook'em Horns!

America Rising

If this isn't a campaign ad later this year, I'll be surprised. Wow! You gotta watch this one.

Leadership Heroes: Pat Lencioni

One of the things that I want to focus more on in 2010 is Leadership. There was a period of time where I soaked up every bit of leadership information, training, books, videos etc that I could get my hands on. I let that slip for a time because I doubted my leadership ability and skills.

I'm revisiting some of the resources for Leadership that I've collected and I've come across the talks from Pat Lencioni at the Willow Creek Leadership Summit from 2003 and 2006. Both of these were a pivotal moments in my leadership journey.

He is the author of 5 Dysfunctions of a Team and also Silos, Politics and Turf Wars. I'm going to be sharing on Staff retreat this weekend about the latter book and setting a Thematic Goal (short term) for us. I think we need that. I need that--something to shoot for in this interim period.

Enjoy the video. It's only a slice of his talks. I'd be willing to let you look at them (but you'd better give them back!)

I'm a PC and I'm A Mac---The great transition

We're making a big jump in the office.. We're going Mac!

Actually, I've gone MAC as of last week and have been working the bugs out on the change over from PC to MAC. It's been an adventure trying to figure out what goes and what stays. In reality, it's time for some of these PC programs to all go away.

Spent today setting up new protocols for my routines with MAC. Once they are set in place I believe I'll be flying faster on the MAC side.

Come join the dark side with me! MAC forever!

Run The Mile You're In

There are many things that I'm learning as I run. One of them came from an online running friend who was encouraging me in my apprehension about running the full 13 miles for the Half-Marathon in February. Somehow the whole 13 thing has me kinda nervous.

The advice given to me today was "run the mile you are in". I had to think about that for a moment and then it hit me how simple and profound this was and so applicable to life.

You see when I start to run, I envision the whole course from beginning to end and try to see myself ending the race. Many times I get discouraged about midway through because I've lost the vision of what the finish will look like. However, I tried this advice today and only focused on the mile that I was in at the moment and not the conclusion.

Immediately I relaxed and ran a faster pace that I did Saturday at the 10K. But the larger lesson was that we should relax and run the mile that we're in each and every day of our lives. We get so far ahead of ourselves that I'm certain that we psyche ourselves out of much of our productivity in life. And face it, life is getting faster and faster. This is just one way to enjoy and savor every moment.

So--just some wisdom from the streets. How are you "running the mile you are in" right now?

My New Running Buddy

So my new year of running began yesterday with a twist. About half a block down from my house as I began I heard barking. Let me back up and say that I searched all over the house for my ipod from Saturday's run, but couldn't find it. I was frustrated until something told me not to worry about it. (That usually means God has something to talk to me about on my run)

This barking became louder and louder and I thought maybe I was hearing the dog behind a fence. Out comes this mix (Shepherd/Sheep) who was just a puppy. If I've learned anything in these months of running, it's to just ignore the dogs and go on. It was my hope that he would leave me by the end of the block. No doing.

He followed me to the end of Houston, then on the 37th and by the time I got to the Admin. building I knew he was in it for the long haul. The dog followed me the whole way for the 4 miles. There were a couple of times I had to scream at him to get out of the road because he was going to get hit.

At the end he was happy and jumping and way ahead of me, not really paying much attention to what I was doing.

I finally led him back to my house and neighborhood. He had tags and a collar on, but I couldn't get close enough to see it. I told him " Go home now, thanks for the run."

Needless to say, I enjoyed the day with him (but I was worried about him getting hit the whole time I was out there) and I didn't run until the end because I was afraid that he would think I was running away from him.

Lesson learned: When walking with God, don't get so far ahead of him that you can't hear his voice and concern ( a big problem that I have) and don't get so distracted that you can't see the danger. I guess God had a purpose and plan for me not to have my Ipod and to enjoy the company of my new running buddy.

I hope he's sleeping in this morning.

Worship Confessional, January 3, 2010

A New year, a new set of confessionals

Today were in ONE service for the Holiday season. Next Sunday we go back to two worship services.

We began a new series today: THE PURPOSE OF THE CHURCH. Ed will be talking the next 4 Sundays out of Acts 2 about the purpose of the church. It was really good today. The statement that stood out to me was " a truly healthy church will breed evangelism" I thought that was a great statement because so many times churches focus on evangelism to fix their health. Churches really need to take a hard look at their habits, their dysfunctions and their relationships!

Set List

Scripture Reading-from Psalm 137 (The Message) "Great Is The Lord"

Great In Power (Fragar)-Praise Charts-- One of my favorite Hillsong songs...but it's not well known. We need to to this one more often.

Great Is The Lord (Smith)-Praise Charts David did a trax to this one that would have made MWS proud (complete with the ending)

Welcome/Announcements/ World Missions Moment (Operation World)--This week's focus THE WORLD. We are focusing on a different country each Sunday this year (to keep missions before our folks. We'll be doing interviews with missionaries (via skype, video and in person) and really making the focus of missions (praying, giving, going) all year long. I made contact with a missionary in the service this morning about Spain (he was on my to-do list this week). I'm excited to see how this energizes our missions efforts. We'll also utilize the Operation World web site.

Indescribable (Story)-- always a great song. This one would have been even better if I hadn't looked up and taken the CODA instead of the 2nd ending... it was a momentary boo-boo but those chords in that section are so "different"--oh well! I'm starting the new year off with true confessions!

Wonderful Maker (Tomlin)--- one of my favorite songs...we did this simple this morning

Great Is Thy Faithfulness (Lincoln Brewster arr.)--- a great hymn!

Morning Message (The Purpose Of The Church)--Ed Ethridge

I Surrender All ( Hymncharts arr.)

How was your Sunday?

This post is part of Sunday Set List over on Fred McKinnon's blog

Death To The Bowl Championship Series!

I had a lot of time to think (driving 2 plus hours in each direction to our run) and as I thought about the Bowl Championship Series, I got mad.

These Bowls use to mean something. First of all a birth in said bowl (Cotton for example in the old SWC) meant that you were the best of your group. Now--it's all for naught. None of these bowls mean anything anymore,(except money to the networks and to the schools who have the scam going)

I'm all for a playoff system in college football. Can you imagine if they did this in Basketball? Let'll all go to different tournaments then claim a championship and you'd have rioting in the street.

When is this all gonna make sense to those in charge? Maybe never because all they see is the $$$ in their eyes and in their bank account. There is truly no NATIONAL CHAMPION in football. You have a purchased championship--paid for by the companies and fans who still follow blindly!

Resolution Run--Game On!

So Daniel and I headed out early this morning to Monahans (about 30 minutes West of Midland) for a Resolution 10K Run through the Sandhills State Park.

This is our 2nd 10 K together and our 4th race. I'll post the results and some pics when I get back home.

Now--on to Cowtown Half-Marathon in February!

Update: Daniel got 1st in his division (11-19) with a time of 53:57

I got--nothing. I was :15 off my 10K time from November. I came in at 1:02:37

But we had fun!

A Bowl Game Half-Time

Now this is what a Bowl Game half-time performance should look like. I watched yesterday's Rose Bowl where they gave each Band less than 2 minutes to play and show what they've got. Seems like some producer would have least have watched the rehearsals to pick out the best 2 minutes, but no it was "let's swing the camera in and give them their two minutes regardless of where it enters and exits". Awful!

The half times of college games are some of the best exhibitions of marching music today, but we have to suffer through drama and analysis of ESPN commentators and broadcasters. I say bring back the band and let half time be the focus again!

Rose Bowl Parade--Someday

We say it every year "we're going to the Rose Bowl Parade!" And every year about this time we say, we didn't get there this year, but we will some day.

It's on my do list--some of those things you want to do before you check in to the heavenly hotel. Also on that list is New Year's Eve in NYC!

I'll keep hoping and dreaming. Maybe when the kids are gone--who am I kidding? They'll never be gone

HAPPY NEW YEAR