1. Being married to the same person for 16 years feels great.
2. The solution is to put the relationship of husband/wife before parent/children.
3. My beloved wife is always next to me before I fall asleep.
4. How about going into marriage with the idea that it IS going to last, and divorce is NOT an option?
5. Marrying your best friend is something I highly recommend!
6. Imagine living with the same person for 16 years; imagine looking forward to coming home to the same person every night, and actually wanting to be there; imagine a lifetime of being in love.
7. And as for the weekend, tonight I’m looking forward to celebrating my anniversary with the woman I love, tomorrow my plans include starting year 17 of a fantastic marriage, and Sunday, I want to sit in church beside the woman I love, and listen to her sing alto against my bass!

1. I was at a friends house yesterday looking at some old drum parts. (Some of the parts had me stumped. Well, almost.)
2. The nurse burst in and said “We need to see you in here, right away,” so I jumped up, and ran in, and I left my book right there in the waiting room.
3. Why am I not as affective a leader as I’d like to be?
4. A Dairy Queen Blizzard was in my thoughts today.
5. One of my father’s favorite sayings was “I’ll be down to get you in a taxi, honey, you better be ready by 1/2 past eight.”
6. My friend Lynn Archer has been posting on FB lately that she’s in love–I know that feeling!
7. And as for the weekend, tonight I’m looking forward to a nice meal and some time in the hot tub, tomorrow my plans include going to Paddy’s wedding, and Sunday, I want to do what I always do!

I was perusing Facebook today when I saw a note that said a friend of mine had joined the “To Write Love on Her Arms” fan page. I remember another FB friend mentioning the “project” (for lack of a better term) several months ago. I was trying to figure out what it was all about. I was a little familiar with the group; I knew they were an anti self mutilation group, but I wanted to know a little more. What was the background story.

The TWLOHA web site, contains the story, but it’s hard to find. I finally found it published on someone else’s site. It wasn’t until later I found it on the TWLOHA site. But in looking for the story, I found this photo:

The actual shirt says “Love is the Movement.” I misread it, though. I thought it said “Love Moves Men.” In a way, I wish there was a “Love Moves Men” shirt. Because it does. Or it least, it should.

Not much happened Friday.

Saturday I was home with kids for the day. I played a gig on Saturday to a very responsive crowd. A very nice lady from Alabama told me twice I had beautiful eyes. I played a drum solo that was pretty decent and garnered applause. The end.

Now, let’s get to the magic!

Immediately after church, Susan and I and the kids packed up the van and headed to Somerville. You see, Susan’s parents live there, and they were going to be watching the kids for us. Why? So we could be alone for a romantic weekend! Oh yeah!

We left the kids, and headed for Freeport. I had booked us a room at a place called The James Place Inn. Freeport is a quick drive outside of Portland, and The James Place is one of the few places near Portland that offered an in-room two person hot tub! Oooh la-la!

Having settled into the room for a little while, we started on our way to Portland. The entire thrust of the outing was to see Casting Crowns and Kutless in concert at the Portland Civic Center. We were going to meet Jim and Jeanine for supper at some Mexicn place Jim likes. We weren’t too far away from Haddlock Field when I heard this really awful grinding/thumping  noise eminate from the front passenger side tire. It was a rhythmic sound that sped up and slowed down with the speed of the tire. It almost sounded like a flat, but the car was handling fine. I pulled over. No flat. I looked under the car. Nothing. I got back in, and started looking for a garage. Susan got Jim and Jeanine on the horn. Having stopped for directions, I was told of a Sullivan Tire not far from Haddlock Field. Jim and Jeanine would meet us there.

Not wanting to be detered on our romantic weekend, I threw the keys in a service envelope, and stuck them in the key drop. Jim and Jeanine offered to chauffer us for the remainder of the evening. The Mexican restaurant was closed/sold/out of business or otherwise not open. We opted for a Chinese restaurant with a buffet, as time was of the essence. It was ok. Then the concert…

We were told the concert started at 6:30pm. When we got there at about 6:20, Caleb was already on stage. Just him and his brother (I think), who was playing the cajon. They were pretty good. Kutless was next. I didn’t really know anything about them. I enjoyed them very much, and they know how to rock! The drummer was pounding! Big arm movements, way above his head. They played 1/2 dozen songs or so, maybe eight. I was really surprised their set was so short. Casting Crowns played two sets. They were good, as you would expect from the headliner. I would have preferred they played a little less, and let Kutless have some more stage time. The concert was done around 10:30pm. Jim and Jeanine dropped us off at the B&B. They took a quick tour of the place, and took their leave.

I was up Monday morning at 7am. Breakfast was from 8-9am, so I went, procured some coffee, said good morning to innkeeper Robin, and met his daughter Elise. Breakfast was innkeeper Tori’s delicious homemade granola and yogurt, raspberry oatmeal muffins, cinnamon French toast (homemade cinnamon bread!), bacon, and juice. While having breakfast, the garage called, and quoted repairs on the van. It wasn’t all outdoors expensive, though they did try to talk me into four new tires and an alignment. No thanks. The car was done around noon. Innkeeper Robin was gracious enough to give me a lift into Portland to pick up the van. Both Robin and Tori were wonderful hosts; I’d stay with them again in a hearbeat. I drove back to the inn and picked up Susan. (So not only did they give us a lift to Portland, the innkeepers also gave us a late checkout. Thanks!)

For the rest of the day, Susan and I drove north. We took Rt 1 to Brunswick, looking for antiques and shops. Not much going on on that stretch of road. We then took I-95 north to Gardiner. We walked up and down Mn St of Hallowell. Note: downtown Hallowell is mostly closed on Mondays. We drove into Augusta, and did some quick shopping at a couple of stores, nothing eventful. We had a nice “lunch” around 3pm at Longhorn. After that, we went to Bed, Bath and Beyond in Augusta, as Susan was looking for some new curtains. While there, I also found an “extra firm” pillow that seemed to suit me. There was a Christmas Tree Shop located right next door. Having never been into one myself, Susan talked me into going in and looking around.

We got back to Spruce Head around 7pm. It was nice to be home. I think we may have watched a little TV, but we didn’t stay up long. We went to bed, tired from what could have been a trying weekend, but instead we never let the little things get to us. We instead decided to have an awesome time.

T-two hours to wedding take off. Everything is going mostly fine up to this point. I cut myself shaving this AM, and bled for like two hours! The trash can in the bathroom looks like someone performed surgery in there; there’s bloody pieces of bandage (i.e. tissues) all through it! We went into Bay City for breakfast, and found this little place called Turkey’s. It was very hot, and I paid way too much ($8.50) for two eggs, two pieces of homemade wheat toast, and canned hash. I’m giving the groom-to-be husbandly advice on things like “picking your side of the bed” and stuff like that. I found out yesterday that, in addition to the toast, I’m in charge of announcing the bride and groom at the reception, making sure the music is taken care of at reception, offering the invocation at the reception, and making sure the bride’s aunt is trained in how to use the video camera! Oh, and make sure the officiant (Pastor Joe) has the rings. And learn everyone’s name too! Jim told me that Heather’s husband name is Matt. It isn’t! It’s Chris. Now I have to un-learn the name, and remember the right one! Yow!