i'm with the band!
I get so excited in general about marching bands, live bands, any kind of bands...you name it and I just naturally get into live music. As a little bitty girl, my visits to relatives' houses always involved getting everybody gathered up and singing something. I even remember the first time my mom and dad sat me on top of the piano and said "listen to this!" And even though, I never played any instrument other than piano, I once was invited to carry the band banner when Ray Blanton was inaugurated as governor of the state of TN. I had no idea we were supposed to be solemn, so I marched in January sleet having the time of my life, waving and cheering. Needless to say, I was not invited to carry a banner or anything else EVER after that. But I did enjoy the experience, as I did other opportunities to perform, such as Stage Band, Kamala Prince and Take 5 (or was it 7?) BUT nothing compares with the excitement, anxiety, nervousness and thrill that I feel when our high school band takes the field!!! I just love it, especially that extremely talented and handsome third bass drum player!! He will be thoroughly disgusted with my gushing, but so what? They have an incredible field show that's already won them some huge trophies and I expect more from this Saturday's competition. We have an awesome band director who loves his job, his band and makes them feel like his family. HOW BLESSED we are and I just had to brag a bit about this wonderful fall experience. I think Jack is getting into it, too. Of course, it probably helps that UT is about as exciting to watch play football as watching paint dry!! No doubt we'll be there every time MCHS marches, loud and proud, and doing our best to enjoy every single second. After all, we know how fast the time goes by and we want to make the most of it. Hope all who read this can relate, even if it's not exactly your passion. The point is...spend time with your family, enjoying what they enjoy and learn to appreciate your kid's hard work. THAT'S what life is about.

labor day

I must confess...I'm always a little bit sad about Labor Day when summer begins to fade slowly like a big red sun as it sets in the evening shade. It seems that nothing is the same until May reappears....a long, long time from now. Sure, there is beauty in autumn and fun in winter holidays and freshness in spring, but I do love sunshine. Although I hate being hot, (I get really ill-tempered) bright sunshine brings out the best in me! We had such a good weekend with Whitney, Lindsey and 2 dogs in the house. We spent river time with friends on Pickwick Lake and hated to see the weekend end. Now we move on to the fall activities, i.e. TN football, high school marching band competitions, and it will be no time until it's beginning to look a lot like Christmas!!! It's amazing how time flies once you're an adult when it once seemed to crawl at a snail's pace when you were a child. Seems like it should just now be spring and I wonder how it will feel to my dear friend Teresa who was in a car accident July 1 and who has not been out of the hospital yet. I am so grateful for her recovery and for the prognosis now that she is in a rehab facility. So today, when I'm a bit blue, I just remember that a) I'm not in a hurricane b)I'm not suffering c) I have the gift of today to do what I choose to do d) I have been blessed with much more than I deserve.

Whitney's birthday

Ohmygosh!!!! I cannot believe it's been 24 years and I can still remember it so well....me, who can't remember what I had for dinner last night!!! I guess it's a mother's gift (or curse, but in my case, it's a gift) that I can recall the entire event so vividly. On this day, I woke up very early and immediately knew that I was finally in labor. My due date had been August 1, so we had all been on pins and needles, anxiously awaiting ANYTHING resembling labor. Since our childbirth classes taught us that first babies take their time, I went on the inservice training and Dad went to the barber shop as usual. The day was uneventful as my nervous sister timed my contractions all long. I assured her there was no need for alarm and that I had EVERYTHING under control (what a moron I was!!) so I calmly went about the business of preparing for another year of kindergarten. I didn't expect to go to school the next day, so when my contractions abruptly stopped mid afternoon, I was devastated. Calling my doctor in Jackson, I frantically begged them to tell me what to do to keep things going. I WANTED YOU OUT!!!! So they advised me to walk, and walk I did.... up and down our road until finally contractions began again. Still, there was no urgency so dad decided to go to bed early as he expected to be awakened in the night. YOU had no intentions of letting dad sleep, however, and around eleven, my water broke, leaving me looking like a beached whale!! I figured we still had a while to go, so I bravely tried to handle things on my own, since dad is a bear when he doesn't get his nap out. But at midnight, contractions were too hard and coming too fast and THE PANIC SET IN!!! We had to get to Jackson fast!!! Dad drove like a maniac and when I started last-stage labor breathing, he screamed, "You can't do that!" Like I had a choice!!!!! Thank GOD there's not much traffic at one in the morning and we arrived all in one piece. Dad wasn't too happy about having to properly park our car...he really thought he might miss the whole thing. But you gave him a break and patiently waited until he and Kay and George and Mom and Dad got to Jackson. After much pain and pushing through the Lamaze natural childbirth, here you came...all 8 pounds 6 ounces!!!! I KNEW you were a girl all along, so you already had a name and about two hours after we got to the hospital, we met Whitney Lauren for the first time. I had never been so in love!!! As soon as the sun rose, I began calling everyone I knew to tell them about the best thing that had ever happened to me....and you still are, my precious baby girl. So happy, happy birthday and all my prayers and best wishes for all your dreams to come true for you today and forever!!!!

August blues

Here comes August, ready or not! It always seems to slip up on us and then we sorta get the blues thinking of all the things we meant to accomplish. I really was gonna get lots done (and I DID) but it never fails...school starts and I always comment that summer was so busy that I don't have time to go to work! This summer I experienced life as a band geek mom...and since my band geek isn't driver's license age, I got the privilege of taxiing him (and sometimes his friends) back and forth from band hall and practice field to home and back again. Made me wish I'd spaced my children a little less than 10 years apart, so our always-willing-to-help-her-brother daughter could take a turn with the driving route. So now you know our family...older daughter Whitney and younger son Reed who are our sunshines. As for our title, betterhalf, well......you will have to read and decide for yourselves, although I could save you the time and trouble and tell you WHICH of us IS the better half!!!!!
On a much more serious note:On a much more serious note, our summer has been touched with a tragic accident in July. A very good friend of ours and her son were involved in a car wreck which has left her in the Trauma Unit on the 10th floor of Vanderbilt Hospital for the past 40 days. And while she is improving slowly but surely, the journey to complete recovery will be a long haul. We are trusting God to work out His will in ways that only He can. She is a very strong woman and her faith and witness are also strong, so we know that nothing but good will come of this.