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OKLAHOMA!

Kari took me to see Oklahoma! in Monroe tonight. Reading the casts' biographies made me want to go into full time theater, but then I thought, "Wait a minute! Weren't you planning to change to a career that would make you MORE money?!?"

Speaking of actors, I'm hoping to travel back at the end of the month to see Ryan and Amanda when Ryan's students put on their show. (Mental note to double check the dates). I found out he just auditioned for a commercial. I can totally see him becoming famous.

PREMATURE

I had myself totally convinced that I was OK about Katrina. No more grieving, just moving on. "I'm finished with this whole grief thing; I'm just excited about the possibilities." I can't believe I even thought that, much less spoke it to a friend.

So, I went to Gulfport and had breakfast with Ryan and his girlfriend Amanda this morning. And then I visited Chris and Wendy. And then I left and went home, forsaking the rest of the day's plan. I just couldn't handle being in Gulfport anymore. I needed to get out of there, for sanity's sake. My thoughts wouldn't stop racing. My heart wouldn't stop hurting.

I'm just not ready yet.

RUBBER SHOES

While visiting a big city, I went into a discount store's shoe department and asked the clerk where I could find a pair of rubber shoes. She smiled and led me directly to...the galoshes! I was surprised and amused, since (and you true country Southern boys and girls who are reading this will know this already) I was requesting the location of their selection of flip flops. I didn't bother to explain the clerk's mistake to her, but I thought you might enjoy the joke. I surely did.

ELEVEN BUCKS AT KINKO'S

$11.oo spent at Kinkos...lots of eHarmony communications...3 downloads from iTunes...finally getting to the blog...can't wait to get home internet access again!
eHarmony has been like being at a dinner party/mingler with lots of cute girls, so I'm, of course, enjoying it. But having dated so few women, I feel so inexperienced and not at all dating savvy. Some of the women I'm talking to seem a lot more experienced with this than I feel. Isn't learning fun?
With some encouragement from friends (you know who you are) I have decided to take that month-long trip to Germany this Christmas. It will actually be a little over a month to avoid the price increase in tickets. Spending time with my brother and his family is exactly what I need right now. It will give me the time to get my brain back in order, and they are exactly the next ones I need to be around when I need to be grounded in who I am in relation to my faith and family (after being with family on American soil).
I'm on a leg of my life's journey that I never anticipated, but I'm past the grief for the most part (though having everything I own crammed into crates in my parent's living room is something I could live without right now) and moving into the excitement of all the possibilities that starting over in this way allows.
I'm headed to the Coast tomorrow for the first time since moving out what I salvaged after the storm. Time to tie up some loose ends and say some better goodbyes to three of my friends. Breakfast with the first, lunch with the second and dinner with the third. Sounds delicious, ha ha.
I'm going to a play with my brother's girlfriend this upcoming Tuesday. I'm filling in since he's back on duty with the LA national gaurd. Having him on a two week break has been great, and the whole family hated to see him go back, but duty calls, you know? I'll still be staying at his place the month of November before I leave for Europe, keeping his girlfriend and son company. I'm hoping to make a couple weekend trips to see my bro's family in Arkansas - camping - yipee!

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HOME

Tonight I had dinner with Gwen, an old friend from college. It was so good to catch up and reminisce. After dinner we went to Joe Muggs for dessert. There we ran into 2 more old friends. Bumping into people I know is one thing I love about going home.

my neices and nephew at myrtle beach

MRYTLE BEACH

One week in Mrytle Beach is long enough to lose track of what day it is... Ahhhhhhhh, relaxing.

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GERMANY FOR CHRISTMAS

Since I'm taking a break from work, I'm totally enjoying seeing my family again. (I keep expecting somebody to hand me a Christmas gift, though, since that's usually the season that brings all of us together under one roof).

Speaking of Christmas, I talked to my brother Dan tonight about the possibility of nabbing a cheap (ha ha) ticket to Germany and spending a couple three weeks sharing their fa la la's, ho ho ho's and the like.

What do you think? Should I go to Germany? Maybe I'll never come back... It could happen. What would Mom and Dad think about me moving to Germany (or to Japan to teach English at a university) the same year that Dan moves back home to Mississippi?

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SO THIS EHARMONY THING...

So this eHarmony thing is interesting, but it takes up a lot of my computer time, so I've not been posting regularly. But back to the grindstone...

I went camping a couple weekends ago north of Birmingham. I called Terry on Friday, and he & a group of friends were driving up there to hike & camp. I was driving up to my sisters' in the city anyway, so I borrowed a sleeping bag and jacket and drove north to join them.

Hiking in the mountains, enjoying the campfire and the views, the whole time I couldn't stop thinking about God and how much he deserves our praise. I needed that realization that weekend in particular; I was getting a little mopey, but I'm cured now.

wikipedia.org...

NUMBER, PLEASE

My brother in law got a phone message late tonight. He was going to bed at 10 without returning the call. My sister fussed at him, insisting he call back because, "the man is waiting on you to call him back!"

Wow! I'm glad she doesn't know my dirty little secret. Apparently, I'm the world's worst at returning phone calls. Evidence? I've got, like, 15 missed calls/voice messages/text messages that have built up the last couple of weeks that I've yet to return. 'I've been busy' sounds like a totally lame-o excuse, since I'm not working yet. I mean, I guess I have been pretty involved with getting re-acquainted with my sister's family and helping around the house. Three small kids in one house are enough to make you forget that you have a phone, I'm finding out. But I'm thinking the real reason I've procrastinated is that I'm not ready to talk with my acquaintances about my feelings about the hurricane, and I suspect everyone is going to try to make me talk about it before I'm ready. I'm more of a wimp than I thought... I need to call them tomorrow. They probably will understand if I explain that I don't want to talk about it right now.

How long was the longest time you ever took to return a phone call? Come on, beat my record if you can!

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COMFORT FOOD?

So, I'm sitting in the wing chair working on pictures on Snapfish when the phone rings, and its Sarah: "We're in the driveway. Throw on some clothes so we can go to dinner at Cracker Barrel." And I seriously dressed so fast I hurt myself. Literally...I smashed my toe, and it bled. Yikes.

But dinner was nice. Nothing like Sunday night breakfast dinner. Mmmm. I've eaten so much while I've been in Birmingham - too many cookies and not enough veggies. I think that comfort food is making me feel less comfortable. While dressing for dinner I realized that I've gained a few pounds since the Hurricane. In that regard, I'm looking forward to being in Ruston where I'll be back on my regular running schudule and back to my normal diet. Goodbye comfort food. Hello being comfortable in my clothing.

So, if you are in a stressful situation, I've got 4 words for you: Don't eat too much.

That's all for tonight. Thank you.

oldtimeconfection.com...

WHERE SHOULD I MOVE?

OK. So here goes. I am relocating. The question is - where? Any suggestions?

johnmhightower.com...