The BIG announcement! It's Official!

This is it! I'm sure everyone thought this day would never come. Personally, I never thought I would live to see this day either, but it has happened. Finally, after nearly 13 years. . . . I am officially tired of eating out.

I was telling Jawana last night (over another one of her delicious home cooked meals), that I think I would just prefer to eat-in as much as possible from now on. Home cooking is so much better. Of course, it helps that she has impressive kitchen skills. If the cooking part were left up to me, we'd be eating toast, cereal, and occasionally ramen noodles for the rest of our lives. So, thankfully, that is not the case.

When I say it is so much better, I'm not talking about just the fact that it is fresh and tasty. There is something special about sitting down at the table with your wife and kids that I personally find very satisfying. Even though at this point, she isn't my wife and the kids weren't there. With the hustle and bustle of the society we live in, I view dinner time as when we get 30 minutes to relax and just be with each other without disturbances from the outside world. I mean, she works 50-60 hours a week and takes care of dance and sports. I also work 50-60 hours a week at 2 jobs and play in three bands. Busy you know?

We are excited about learning how to grill. We both concur that from a flavor standpoint, getting a good old fashioned charcoal grill is the way to go. My favorite part of grilling when growing up was, after the charcoal was lit and well on its way, I'd get out what was essentially that big bottle of lighter fluid and squeeze it over the hot coals and watch the flames roar up from the grill. Fun! Big Fire!

Squirt, Woosh! Squirt, Woosh!

If you see any red glowing skies coming from Hartselle or SouthWest Decatur, you'll know we're grilling out. Come on over. Drive towards the smoke plume, not away from it. Well, unless the plume is over by Brown's Ferry Nuclear Power Plant (TVA). In that case you want to drive away from the smoke plume.

Has anyone noticed?
Ever since I got my first job in the mall in 1993, I've loved to watch people. Some people are Wheel Watchers, I'm a People Watcher. There is a lot you can learn by observing how people handle themselves and live their lives.

In broad sweeping terms, over the past 13 years I've realized that it seems folks who adhere to what I would consider a "conservative" Christian lifestyle tend to be better off than those who adhere to a "liberal" lifestyle. I wonder why that is?

When I say better off, I don't necessarily mean financially or "status" wise (although both those attributes seem to benefit from holding conservative values as well), but better off in terms of home and family life, which to me, is what really matters.

When people adhere to basic moral principles, say the 10 commandments for instance, the level of "issues" that crop up in their lives tend to be far less than those who do what they want, when they want. I think it all comes down to both self-respect/respect for others and communication.

Random I know, but it's something that has been on my mind after watching, "The Break-Up" (starring Jennifer Aniston and some other guy) and "The Family Stone" (starring Cameron Diaz and some other semi-famous people) this past weekend.

The 3-armed child.
So by now, I'm sure everyone has heard of the news story about the Chinese kid that was born with three arms last week. I was thinking, I bet that would open up some amazing opportunities on a musical instrument like the drums or piano. Can you imagine if he could achieve limb independence on the drums?!?!

What if he was in the marital arts? He could be doing the nun-chucks and throwing ninja stars at you simultaneously. He'd be sort of like Goro in Mortal Kombat! Is anyone else disturbed that I know that? I am.