The Christmas Ornament

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I mentioned in my Friday Fill-In about my most treasured ornament. This pink ornament came from a set my grandmother has. There is still on her tree two mates that go with this one: a white one with pink writing, and a blue one with white writing. Every year, Ma let me put this one on the tree. Several years ago, she gave it to me. I still put it on the tree every year. To stay safe, it goes near the top.*

*Ma has another very special ornament. I’m not sure about its origins, but it’s an old, clear glass ornament with three (I think) colored stripes on it. I remember that when we kids decorated Ma’s tree, we were never allowed to touch that one. Only a grown-up could put that one on the tree. In my memory, I only remember Dad putting it up, but that may not actually be the case. In any event, my pink ornament follows that same tradition: the kids don’t touch it, and only I am “allowed” to put it on the tree.

Friday Fill In #102

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1. Friends are precious. (And good ones are precious and few.)

2. Forget about health; it’s overrated.

3. I’m ready for scooter season.

4. Grey Flannel is one of my favorite perfumes or aftershaves or smells.

5. The oldest ornament I have is one from the ’50s, I would guess. (It’s one I loved as a child, and my grandmother gave it to me a few years ago. It holds the place of honor on our tree.)

6. Take some ice and snow, mix it all together and you have a recipe for low attendance at your company Christmas party.

7. And as for the weekend, tonight I’m looking forward to a night home alone with Susan (who’ll be recovering from carpal tunnel surgery), tomorrow my plans include a gig in Bangor, and Sunday, I want to crash in the afternoon after about six hours of church services!

Weekend Wrap Up

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Friday. Work all day. Head to gig in Brunswick. Play ’til 12:30. Head home. Arrive home between 2:30 – 3am.

Saturday. Get up at 7:30. Shower. Pick Paddy up at 8:30. Head to gig. Play the Windward Gardens craft fair until 1pm. Get rave reviews. Make quick trip to grocery store. Quick nap. Get pizza at Pizza Hut for supper. (Just like at the office, everyone at home likes those $5 Pizza Hut pizzas.) Head to Chestnut St. Baptist for their “Walk Through Bethelehem.” Head home to bed.

Sunday. Awake at 6:30. Make coffee. Wake family at 7:30. Get more coffee at Dunkin Donuts on the way to church. Birthday lunch (mac and cheese and homemade chicken “nuggets”) at Mom’s, with some wonderful gifts. Head home for two hours. Make ice cream for evening church supper. Spill ice cream mix on blue blazer. Head back to church at 4pm. Have Christmas program practice and Venezuelan missionary supper. Accept rave reviews on ice cream–even though Susan did all the hard work! Head home. Fall asleep to “Car Talk” playing on my new iPod alarm clock Susan and the kids got me for aforementioned b-day.

The end!

Friday Fill In #101

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1. Snow is supposed to fall in our area on Sunday.

2. I’m looking forward to spending time on the beach with Susan!

3. Mac OS-X is the best OS ever!

4. One of my favorite old tv shows is Emergency.

5. I’m done with cruising the bars, looking for hot chicks. (I found one, and married her!)

6. The most enjoyable thing around the holidays is the joy of finding the perfect for someone, and watching their expression as the open it.

7. And as for the weekend, tonight I’m looking forward to playing a gig in Brunswick, tomorrow my plans include playing a gig in the morning and going to a “Walk Through Bethlehem” in Camden, and Sunday, I want to have enough free time to work on my neighbor’s computer!

And then, 20 minutes later…

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So I’m on my way out the door. Nat is eating his English muffin, which his brother has conned him into sharing. As I’m about to step out Matthew says “I want to give you a huggey.” Nathaniel says to me “That’s how he says “hug” in French.” And Matthew corrects him: “Brother, we don’t live in French!”

Early Morning TV With Nat

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I had a little extra time this morning, so I snapped on the Tivo. There wasn’t much there waiting for me, but there was an episode of Andrew Zimmern’s Bizarre Foods. (Or, as my boy’s call it, “The dirty foods guy.”) He was in Turkey, exploring the local culture. There, they participate in oil wrestling. Guys put on tight, water buffalo leather pants. They then cover themselves in olive oil, and wrestle. Now Mr. Zimmern is built like I am. They couldn’t find a pair of pants that fit him. They ended up having to call in guys to help him put his pants on, and they also oiled the inside of the pants. At one point, Nathaniel said “Daddy, we should try that!”

I’m afraid not, Son. I’m afraid not.

Thanksgiving Weekend Wrap Up

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Thursday

Breakfast at home (bacon and eggs–Susan’s pick). To Mom’s in the AM so Julia and I could get a hair cut. Home. To Ma’s house for lunch at 2pm. Fun with 20 people. Home. I don’t remember what happened in the evening.

Friday

Dropped eggs on hash (my pick). Organize the garage a little. Put Sta-Bil in the scooter and lawn mower. Take the scooter for a quick ride. Hey, it was warm. (Well, warm-ish.) I went out to the Owls Head General Store, drank a cup of coffee, and beat feet for home just ahead of the rain. Head to Wal-Mart just to see the madness. I did some dish washing and cleaning in the afternoon. In the evening, my gig was at My Fork.

Saturday

French toast and bacon (Julia and Susan’s pick). We all went to the Farnsworth for their kid’s Christmas festivities. After that, the boys and I came home and watched The Incredibles (again!) while Susan and Julia went to the Samoset Craft Fair. In the evening, we went to the Festival of Lights parade down town.

Sunday

Cheese filled crumb coffee cake (Nathaniel’s pick). Church in the AM. Susan’s lasagna soup for lunch. In the afternoon, I went to Keith Wass’s bachelor party. (Pot luck. Some beers–for the others, not me. No strippers!) Back to church for the Christmas program practice. Home and bed. The end.

Friday Fill In #100

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1. My stomach is empty right now, and I’d like to put something in it.
2. Ma’s sausage stuffing is what I ate the most of on Thursday.
3. The yard is in rough shape, needs another raking, and needs the toys put away (again!).
4. Snuggling with Susan is where I’d rather be at any given time.
5. The smell of Grey Flannel reminds me of a Shawn Colvin concert I attended with Susan.
6. Lunch is what I need right now!
7. And as for the weekend, tonight I’m looking forward to an early gig (done at 12am), tomorrow my plans include going to the Festival of Lights parade and Sunday, I want to attend a bachelor party!

Heather Armstrong Has Been Found!

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For years, I’ve been trying to find Heather Armstrong. All through middle and high school, we were in home room together. (Her last name starts with A, mine with B. Melissa Baker fell in between us!) On graduation day, Susan, Heather, Chris Clayton, and I drove to Perry’s Nut House and hung out for the day. And then, after graduation, she fell off the face of the earth. No one could find her. When the time came ’round for the 10th class reunion, no one could figure out how to find her. And so, I kept posting about Heather hoping that she would some day find me–since I couldn’t seem to find her.

Fast forward eighteen years. Allison has been trying to get Susan to join Facebook.  So Susan joined up. And guess who she found?! Seems Heather DID go to Johnson and Wales, got married, had a few kids (one quite recently), and joined Facebook. So Susan asked to be her “friend” or whatever on Facebook, and they messaged each other like three times yesterday! It was nice to know she’s doing well, and is somewhat close by. Heck, she mentioned the irony of me gigging down in Boston (where Heather lives now) last weekend. She invited me to stop in the next time I play down that way.

She also wanted to know what happened to Scott Ballard. And as I thought about that, I realized “I haven’t heard anything about Scott since graduation!”

Paging Scott Ballard, where are you Scott? 🙂

Four gigs, three days, too tired, one oyster

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The weekend started for me on Thursday this week. Three Button Deluxe was booked to play a gig in Boston. I still had (still have, actually) some vacation time to use up, so I decided to take Thursday and Friday off from the office. Paddy and I tooled down to Boston, and had a relatively easy trip. On the way down, there was one slight lane issue (I was trying to get into the same lane that someone else also wanted), and on the way out of town, I missed my on-ramp, which forced me to double back a block or three. The gig went well, no major issues, and I took some time to eat a raw oyster. I was home at 2:30am Friday–which in reality isn’t that late.

The boys were spending the weekend at Grandma’s and Granddaddy’s, so that meant–luxury of luxuries–I could sleep late! I slept until 9am, something I haven’t done since I don’t know when. It was nice! I ran a few errands for Susan, and took a little nap in the afternoon. Then, I drove to Bar Harbor for a gig at The Blues Authority. Again, I was home about 2:30am.

Saturday morning was an 8am wake up–a little more my norm. The boys were still away, so Susan, Julia, and I went to The Brass Compass for breakfast. My bacon/mushroom/swiss omellette was pretty good, and Susan’s “Granny Apple” pancakes looked really yummy. Then I think I just hung out at home until I needed to leave to play the matinee of Annie Get Your Gun at Medomak High School. That lasted ’til about 4:30pm. A bunch of us from the pit (all rhythm section players and the music director) went to Waldoboro to have supper. And then it was back to school for the 7:30pm show.I was home by 11, in bed by midnight.

Sunday, and everything was back to normal. The boys were back home, and ready to go with the sun. Church in the AM, then lunch at Mom’s. I took a one hour nap Sunday afternoon, then got up and washed some dishes before heading back to church. After church, it was straight home. Susan was very tired, and wanted to go straight to bed. I nuked some Spaghetti-Os for supper, and watched a documentary on Noah’s Ark. Then I went to bed, and the weekend came to its conclusion.