The One With Thanksgiving '06 And Stuff...

So I guess it's been a little over a year now since I began this "blogging" thing. I think Howard reminded me of that recently. Time does indeed fly. I suppose during this process, I became committed to not only letting you guys read up on what's going on in this weird head of mine, but also checking in with God regularly using a different style of candor and venue.

I figured it was also time for a new look on this site. I don't know why, but I'm in this "brown" phase in life right now. What's weird is that it's somewhat of a fad with the general public and I've found myself engulfed in it. This totally goes against everything I believe in, but I digress. Anyways, that's the color scheme I've gone with. I changed the font, too, as it's a new one that the kind folks at Blogger added. I'm not going to bother with going back and changing all of the old posts to the new font - if somebody as anal as me can deal with it, I figured the rest of y'all can, too. Hopefully it'll be somewhat pleasing to your eyes. Furthermore, you can now access the archive by using the dropdown menu on the right side. Lastly, I added a link to the GotRadio Soundtrack Channel. I became the programmer of that station a few months ago and have slowly become comfortable at selecting tracks and rotating them in the playlist. If you're at work or ever need something to relax to, feel free to give it a listen. The free version has occasional commercials, but it should give you an idea on how the station sounds and flows. Feel free to browse the entire site for the other stations. I know I said "lastly" already, but I just remembered one more thing: Tony's computer crashed at work. It was hosting the music that usually plays when you come to read my ghetto entries. Hopefully, it'll be fixed soon. Enjoy all the the new stuff, folks. And now, on to the post...

The official gorgefest day of the year has come and passed; and I've managed to dodge the plunderous downfall of high caloric intake. I'm "OK" with that I think. I set out this year to have the unconventional holiday: No big feast (I ate one of the three heavily-seasoned/spicy turkey legs I cooked); no human contact other than a few IMs from Tony in Boston; and no browsing of Black Friday newspaper ads. As I look back on it, it really was a nice change of pace. That's not to say that I haven't enjoyed previous go-arounds of this belt-loosening day - not to mention having to put on the official uniform of Thanksgiving (sweatpants) - but having the day to myself without any agendas was such a peaceful and relaxing way to reflect on what I truly was thankful for this year (important and petty). A 17-mile ride provided the perfect backdrop to just wonder and be refreshed as I head into a busy next couple of weeks. This, added to the fast-approaching Christmas season, should prove to be nothing short of grand.

Just a couple of notes before I get to my list of thanks and stuff. We're in the final stages of prepping for Andrew Peterson's Behold the Lamb of God - The True Tall Tale of the Coming of Christ <--- (click to open up the player and lyrics to all the songs) program at church. Our first performance will be on December 6th, 7:00 p.m., at Capital City Christian Church. The second and last performance will be at First Christian Church (FCC) on December 9th, at 7:00 p.m. Even though our one performance last year was well-attended, I'm hoping there will be even more people that experience it this year. We've all put in a lot of hours into the weekly practices and I'm really proud of everyone involved. I firmly believe that this time around, the performances will be more polished and refined. It's very easy to get lost in the performance aspect of everything, but at the end of the day, all of our egos will be checked and the most important thing will be that God's message through the lyrics will be heard. Not that I played my drum/percussion parts and sang my notes well - or that my other ten brothers and sisters on stage did the same. But that the words to this wonderful story of the Baby Jesus will pierce through each heart and soul in the audience clearly and vividly. The lyrics are absolutely astounding; the arrangement of this vast array of instrumentation will surely add to the overall flow and feel of the program. I hope if you're reading this, that you'll be able to attend one of the dates we're performing it. If you have any questions regarding the dates/times or locations, please contact me. If you're not able to attend, we will hopefully have a decent recording on video (and maybe even audio) this year of the performance at FCC. I hope I'm not speaking too soon, though. After our FCC date, a group of us will travel to Jacksonville to see Andrew and his friends perform the "real" version. It'll be a nice way to unwind and relax after a busy week of moving and setting up equipment, practicing, performing, and etc. It'll come and go before I know it and I'll want that feeling of anticipation back again. But in the meantime, nerves and excitement are co-existing each time I think about the performances. It's a good feeling actually - I just really hope the people I've invited will be able to attend. Not that I actually look out in the crowd or anything, but it'll be nice to see familiar faces prior to the program starting. I'm just rambling now. Onward...

To end this entry, I'd like to list some things that I thanked God for this year as I sat on the dock watching the sunset on Thanksgiving day. Don't let the numbers fool you. After the first few, there's no particular order of importance:

1. God and His tenacious strength at keeping me close to Him
2. Family and friends (you know who you are - if not, then I've done a poor job of letting you know...and for that, I humbly apologize)
3. Murphy and his legacy
4. Game nights with the crew from IIR
5. Lego Star Wars for PS2
6. Stepmom, King Kong '05 (especially the Deluxe Edition DVD), Nacho Libre, Felicity: Seasons 1-4
7. Wiffle Ball with Tony and Howard
8. My Yakima bike rack and the vehicle that it's attached to (and my bike)
9. My "in-ear-monitors" for church
10. Racquetball with Bruce
11. Banana Republic
12. DVR (Survivorman, American Choppers, Survivor, Amazing Race)
13. GotRadio programming gig
14. Lean Pockets (Cheeseburger and Pepperoni Pizza)
15. Orange juice with "Most Pulp" and bananas for breakfast
16. Honey Nut Cheerios and Golden Grahams
17. POM Tea and the glass it comes in
18. Turkey legs
19. Black beans and rice from The Black Bean
20. Fixedfront Valley (the physical dwelling place and Web site - the regular visitors, too)
21. Trip to CA and NY
22. My MP3 player and the soundtracks programmed into it - they provide the ultimate backdrop to my times with God during my rides

~KH