Feeling Feminine

Yesterday about noon the Dodson Pest Control rep., Jeff, was out to inspect the house we are renovating. While touring the house we found a young 3 foot black snake resting peacefully on top of the block wall and an interior wall in the basement. We discussed this development for a few minuets. During our discussion it came to light that he had little compassion for snakes in the house and he also had no desire to remove the thing from my presence. He decided he needed to work on my estimate while I came up with a game plan for Mr. Creepy's removal. He conveniently leaves the basement. The thought of hitting a snake with anything makes my skin crawl but I new the only way to avoid marital strife was to terminate the critter's life. I pick up my 16 inch crow bar, take a deep breath, and.... WAM I nailed that sucker right in the back. (His head was not to be seen.) MR. Snake made an apparent attempt to retreat down the block wall. What was I going to do??? My body is shaking in horror and shock. Once again I did the unheard of and hooked that fellow with the crow of my crow bar and gave a jerk. Much to my horror I he got wrapped around my bar. This is a very short bar and this caused me to have an out of body experience. I saw this black thing swinging viciously at the end of my bar and my arm began to have a very serious bout of malaria type symptoms. I heard this shuddering, wailful, fearful howl. I could see my knees pedaling wildly before my eyes. Apparently my body was going into an intense self-defense ritual. This is usually referred to as jumping up and down while yelling wildly. None of these antics made any difference because the snake was still located on my steel bar. After about 5 horror filled seconds I flung the bar and snake onto the floor. I then reached for 2x4 and gave some several serious smacks. I then picked up my crow bar and touched him. He acted like he still had some life so I proceeded to place two very well aimed blows to his head which put an end to this discussion. I then hooked the critter again and took him outside. I felt like I had just slain a lion or something of that nature. I tell you, when it comes to snakes I feel like a woman in her late eighties....

Jackson

Jack took three or four steps today. He is 366 days old...

Jackosn...

 

Jackson

Jackson is partaking of his birthday cake. This morning a year ago we found out Jackson needed a home. The agency gave us 30 min. to make up our minds....

 

Flood Gates

I do not know how many of you are aware of this fact but we have been really dry. In fact, the neighboring farmer told me he cannot remember when the soil has had such a small amount of moisture in it. The last several days we have been under a severe weather warning and flash flood watchs. However, we have not got any rain. The most we have gotten was half an inch. Well, today that all changed. About two this afternoon the clouds opened and just poured the rain onto us. It stopped raining for an hour or so before another wave of drops began to fall. Currently it is raining cats and dogs, I wish you could see it. Every kind of cat or dog you could imagine. I think I saw several Doberman Pinchers splat awhile ago......
Anyway, to make a long story longer, our nations capital had recieved about 12 inches of rain the last I heard. I don't know what they did with it, probably flushed the streets.

Swimming

When I was a boy I swam in the Seneca creek/river. I am not overly fond of pools or ponds. Something about swimming in ponds and pools reminds me of a huge bathtub. I would much rather swim in cold river. What about you?

Questions

I just finished answering some questions from a group that gives finacial aid to folks who have adopted. Part of the process to recieve the grant is filling out some forms. On these forms they ask some very thought provoking questions.
1. What is your Christian testimony?
2. Who is Jesus Christ to you?
3. How do you define a Christian?
4. How does the Bible affect your life?
5. What role does your church family have in your life?
How would you answer these questions?

Living Room

This is the living room. Notice the very nice set of bookshelves around the fireplace. I remember when my dad had them made.

 

Tools Of The Trade

Notice the power saw sitting there waiting to be used.

 

Hall

Hall from the opposite direction. The wall needs a few more studs taken out to make it the right width.

 

Hall

This is taken from the living room looking down the hall toward the addition.....

 

Kitchen

Their will be a wall added somewhere in their for cabinets.... The far wall with the door in it will be replaced and their will be cabinets on that wall also. You can see where the old cabinets were. If you look real close you can see the 60 model flooring under the wheelbarrow.

 

Remodeling Update

Where the fridge is sitting will be the dining room. (The wall to the left of the fridge will be removed after a beam is put in.) This will allow us to stretch our table out into the living room.

 

Appliances

We are shopping for a kitchen stove, dryer, and a fridge. What do you recommend?

Exhaustion

Exhaustion: is this a state of mind or body? It was so hot today!!! This morning I worked on the combine in the front yard under a nice big shade tree. I still lost roughly 30lbs due to sweat. This afternoon I took the machine to the field and begon to harvest my piddly barley crop. After traveling roughly 300 yards I stopped to check things. Their was a belt that was slipping and had stopped running the straw walkers. This caused the straw to build up in the guts of the machine. I had to crawl into this machine and remove the straw by hand so it would work properly. After doing this dreaded job we noticed another problem. This other problem may have created the first problem. The thingy had stopped running the thingamabob which in turn caused the doohickey to malfunction. This mechanical issue ruined my belt and I am now waiting on another one so I can try the combine and see if all these doohinckeythingamabobs will work together. By the time I had figured this out I was tired and hot. I then went to the house we are remodeling and tore out the old kitchen cabinets. By 6:30 I was exhausted and saturated with sweat. How do you combat the heat? I did drink water today but I still didn't drink enough I am sure..... Do you have a heat remedy?

Home On The Range.....

Where the cows and their babies are fed.
Where seldom is heard a discouraging word,
And the rain falleth gently on the crops.....
Okay, that is not the correct words but I like it............

 

Reveiw Part II

Some of you are probably wondering why we sent our most recent album to a review board. I will try to explain our reasoning. About two years ago, after we recorded Resting In His Grace, we heard about this review board and thought it would be interesting to see what areas they thought we could improve in. So we sent the album to them and eagerly awaited their response. What we learned from that review was some what helpful. They mentioned things such as lack of energy and that we were a little sloppy with some rhythms.
As a group we have talked quite a bit about the quality of music we produce and how it effects worship. We feel that the better job we are able to do with the music we are singing the more it will be able to speak to the listener. So we took their thoughts to heart and worked very hard at improving our next album. We tried harder than we ever have to interpret songs in a way that would lead the listener to think about the message of the songs.
We sent in Deliverance to see if we had made any improvement. They thought we were worse then before, which was discouraging. After contemplating what these fellows are looking for in an album I can understand why they thought it was boring. It is disappointing that we have nothing to take from the review which we can use to help us improve.

Honoring My Father

I cannot believe I did not tell my Father Happy Father's Day yesterday. I talked to him last evening on the phone after our program. Daddy called me and wondered how our program went. (We were singing at Pilgrim in Stuarts Draft Va.)
Anyway, I forgot.....
I have been pondering this post for roughly a month and I still do not know what I should say.
Why do I love and appreciate my father? I am not sure I can put it into words. My father was, in his words, an absent father. I remember him doing things with me/us children and I reminded him of this fact. However, his response was something like this, I never completed a project with you. I was so involved in my world. I didn't take the time to do something with you like build a birdfeeder or anything like that. We milked together but that doesn't really count. Now, I love my father deeply but I did have to agree with him that was what happened. I cannot be angry with someone who admits he made a mistake. So, that is one reason I love my father. He has always been very honest about himself and who he is as a person.
I love my father because it doesn't matter if I make a complete fool of myself he will love me. He will be okay with me. I love my father because he is proud of me and tells me so and because he tells friends of his that he is proud of his children. Do you know how it feels to hear someone else tell you I was talking to you dad the other day and he told me he is proud of his children. That is special....
I must also add that my father has been an incredible example of living a Christ-like life. His desire to live this way has spilled into the lives of many people. I am thankful God decided to place me in my parents home. That I was shepherded by a man who has sincerely followed the Shepherd.
Daddy, you are loved.....

Review

VOP has sent their last two albums into the Recorded Acappella Review Board, RARB, to read what they have to say about our latest album, Deliverance click

here.

I was dissappointed.....

The Flood

When God judged the world for its wickedness using a flood did He forgive the ones who cried out to Him as they were drowning? Noah gave them the choice of joining him on the ark and they chose not to....
Why did they choose not to? Wasn't it obvious that something supernatural was going on? I have never seen animals willingly board a ship two-by-two, have you? I doubt Noah went to the jungle a dart gun and tranquilizers to persuade the tiger to board his ship.

Another Poll

What is your favorite flower?

Straw

I heard a rumor the other day about a farmer who had some straw for sale at an extremely low rate. I called him to see if this was true. He said it was. So, I purchased a thousand bales of straw for $1.25 a bale. The only problem is, I have to go pick it up..... Wanna help? Give me a call.....

Rhododendrum

This flower is located just outside of our bedroom window.

 

King's Heralds

Several weeks ago Mr. ITF did a post on the King's Heralds latest album entitled Encores. In this post he talked about their newest member, Jeff Pearless, who sings bass. I made a few comments concerning the bass sound on this album. My comments also were based on what I heard from a good source. I stated in my comments that I had reason to believe that Jim Ayers was actually still singing some of the overdub parts on the Encore album and that Jeff Pearless had redone all of the main bass vocals. Therefore we were still hearing Jim Ayers enhancing Jeff's sound. If I remember right I also stated that I thought the jury was still out on how good Jeff Pearless really is.
Today at lunch the phone rang and I could not believe who was on the other end of the line. It was Jerry Patton. Jerry sang second tenor for the King's Hearlds for 36 years. He had found the post that Mr. ITF had done and he wanted to chat with me about my concerns with the group and some of the statements I had made. So we had a nice chat in which I learned that my good source may not have been as good as I thought. However, in my good source's defence I must say that if the King's Heralds pulled out only the bass tracks their is a very good possibility that you would still be able to hear Jim Ayers bleeding through the other three microphones. When this happens you have what is referred to as a ghost/phantom voice. What Jerry informed me was that Jim is NOT on the album. So, I stand corrected. I told them I was sorry if I had caused a problem. Jerry informed me I had not caused a problem but they just wanted to clarify and give me the most accurate information that they could. I appreciated their honesty about the album and I will continue to support the group. I was given the opportunity to voice some other concerns I have. The main one being their move toward southern gospel music. Jerry informed me that their has been a minor move in that direction but that the group was not moving away from the sound they have been producing for the last eighty years.

Wedding Part II

I am wondering where you went on your honeymoon/wedding trip? We went to a cabin in West Virginia. If I had it to do over again I would pick something else. For our tenth anniversary we went to Prince Edward Island which was a lot more fun. Anyway, where did you go? If you haven't gone on one yet then where would you like to go?

Rain (Or Not)

I am wondering if we here in south central Va. are the only people enduring a rather serious drought? How much rain have you had since March? I don't think my crops have received 4 inches of water. This is a real concern because it will affect my next years milk production which will affect my milk check which will affect, well, you get the point.

Talk Radio

How many of you listen to talk radio?
How many of you can't hardly survive without it?
I used to listen to talk radio all the time but in the last 2-3 years I have stopped listening to all political talk radio shows. Shows like Rush Limbaugh, Neil Boortz, Clark Howard, G Gordon Liddy, and Dr. Laura. (Okay, Dr. Laura and Clark Howard are not politacally based shows.) I felt uncomfortable with them. Oh, they were interesting and funny but, in my opinion, they were basically unwholesome. I think their critical approach to the topics they were covering was and has affected my view of other people. I began to think like them concerning government and the people they spend their time discussing. But I think this attitude also began to affect my view of the local church and people in general. Their are two in my list who are probably being helpful in some form. Those two are Clark Howard and Dr. Laura. Now I would also like to mention sports talk radio. I do still listen to ESPN Radio on the rare occasion but in all honesty they spend half their time talking about things that have nothing to do with sports and Colin Cowherd can be downright dirty. I do listen to WFAN which is based in New York City. They stick to sports.
Thoughts any one?

Wedding

A friend of mine from church is getting married this weekend. The rehearsel is tonight and the wedding is at 3:00 tomorrow afternoon. I was asked to be in charge of the singing. I am a little nervous but I keep telling myself it is just a wedding and it doesn't matter how bad or good we are they will still be married when it is over.....

Bagels

Do you like bagels? If so, what style of bagel do you prefer? I am partial to the Cinnamon Raisin. How many stripes of bagels are their? Where did they originate and why are they called bagels? Are they related to doughnuts?

Smash

What a way to end the day, aye? Sierra wanted to help me put some tools away and she was carrying a small pry bar which slipped out of her fingers and landed on the edge of her toe. The nail was slightly removed from her big toe which seemed to be the cause of all the screaming. Of course the sight of blood seemed to add several decibles to the sound....
She is currently singing a tune in the living room so the pain must be decreasing.

Roundup Ready?

I don't know how many of you are aware of this fact but technology has given seed corn companies the ability to developed seed corn that is Roundup resistant. This means you can spray roundup to kill all the weeds and it will not harm the corn. Well, I planted 15 acres of corn with a 90 day RR seed corn. At least I thought it was RR, that was what I was told, I think. Anyway, we sprayed five acres Fri. for Johnson grass and I was rather shocked when I drove by it Sunday evening on my way home to notice everything was dying. Now, I hate to point fingers and things of that nature but someone made a big boo boo. There are several options here concerning what may have happened.
1. They put the wrong seed in the bag.
2. I was given the wrong seed.
3. I had a brain lapse and didn't catch the problem when I planted.
4. My agronomist didn't catch the problem.
5. Everyone messed up.
There are also two things that are positive.
1. It was only five acres.
2. The chemical worked.

Reflections

I have been reflecting on the time we spent this past weekend at Penn Valley. It was a very good weekend and there were several things that struck me. The first was the number of black/bi-racial children that were present. The second was the number of people that have adopted or are considering adopting. It is nice to know you are not alone. The third thing was the lack of knowledge concerning domestic adoption. Most of the fellows I talked to knew nothing about domestic adoption because they had fostered to adopt or had adopted internationally. I was unaware of how many people foster and adopt. I must say I enjoyed talking to Doug, (D)rivvel supp's Husband, it was neat to hear their story. They are headed back to China this fall and will be bringing home the second child from China. I would highly recommend her blog to you. The thing that challenged me the most revolves around the issue of building a relationship with my children. Whether you have adopted or not you still need to be developing a relationship with your child. How do you do it? Do you do anything special? I don't know if this is making sense or not.......

Beds

As you know we are away for the weekend and we have been sleeping on a bag of rocks. Okay, it is a very smooth bag of rocks but the fact of the matter is, it is extremely hard. I have awakened with a back in so much discomfort I could hardly put on my socks. My question to you concerns the style or type of bed you use. We used a pillow top matteress for several years before switching back to a waterbed. What kind of bed do you use and do you sleep as well when you are away from home?

Troubles

Yesterday morning I had troubles. Well troubles. Lack of water troubles. Cows lacking water is a very serious issue. We were planning to leave for Penn Valley at noon and I thought this would still work. However, this was not to be. The guys who fixed my well were tied up until 12:30. We knew we had to leave no later then 1:30. I got home at 1:35 showered by 1:36 and ate in the van. The service started at 7:30 last evening and we arrived on the premises at 7:30. Needless to say we were late..... Why does God throw these unplanned activities into our well planned days?

Tid Bits

Last night I was sitting on the floor and Aleya kept accidently stepping on my fingers. Every time she did I would yell OUCH because it really hurt. I skun my knuckles really good some how and she was stepping on them. The first time it happened I hollerd and told her she needed to kiss my poor hand, which she did. She continued to kiss it everytime she injured me. How sweet.....
Tonight, she was trying to tell me a secret but when she attempts to whisper she makes no sound. So I have no idea what the secret was but it really made me want to laugh.....
Ah, aren't children great!

Tomorrow we are leaving for Penn Valley for and adoption seminar. The man who put it together is from our church and I know him very well. He will be speaking as well as his son, who was adopted. Also my dad will be speaking so I am looking forward to hearing what he has to say about the issues that surround adoption. I think it will be a good weekend.