One Crazy Week

With fall comes tobacco firing season and the smell of smoke fills the air. The Pinsons have shelled Mom's corn now and I'm sure they are about to turn their attention to soybeans pretty soon.

This edition of our newsletter is later than I meant for it to be. My intentions were to send this out last Saturday but that didn't happen. My whole routine was out of whack because I had to commute to Murfreesboro every day for training on new software and a conference, and we got so busy over the weekend that I never had time to sit down and write anything. Then we left home for a short vacation for fall break. Given how all this played out I'll write about last week now (backdating this edition) and pick up with our trip next time.

COURAGEOUS. As you have probably heard the folks who produced Facing the Giants and Fireproof released a new film, Courageous. A large group of us from church went to see it a week ago Saturday night (the 1st). I think this film was their best yet. The point of the movie is to call men to be real men in their roles as husbands and fathers. I highly recommend getting to the theater to see it if you haven't done so yet.

NEW REFRIGERATOR. Probably the biggest news of the week is that we have a new fridge. I had noticed a couple of mornings that my orange juice didn't seem as cold as it should be, but when I took a second sip I decided my mind was playing tricks on me. Then one morning Vicki asked me if I thought things from the fridge weren't as cold as normal. She had been like me and thought her mind was playing tricks on her too. The soupy ice cream proved our suspicions were correct.

We decided it was best to replace our 16 year old fridge rather than repair it. Delivery turned out to be an unpleasant experience and by the time it got here almost all of our food had spoiled. The rest of the details about this saga are best forgotten.

STOMACH VIRUS. Mom and Aunt Mar have been two sick women. There's a stomach virus going around and they caught it. Aunt Mar was so sick we took her to the ER by ambulance late Wednesday night (the 5th). Mom came down with it by Friday. They are feeling better now, though it's taking Aunt Mar longer to recover than Mom. (Mom said today she knew she was over it because she felt like having dessert.)

SCHOOL PICTURES. We all remember taking the school mug shots. The boys came home with their proofs last week. Nate's picture looks really good. He had a great smile and his hair was behaving. A parent can't ask for more.

Ben, on the other hand, knew his picture was bad. He sheepishly handed it to Vicki telling her it wasn’t good. She quizzed him about having a goofy smile on his face before taking a look.

Ben had a great smile on his face, but his class had been allowed to have recess before sitting for their pictures. He was ringing wet with sweat and his hair is plastered to his head. What was funny was that he told us Mrs. Stroud had told all the boys to fan themselves. Ben obviously needed a towel to dry off at a minimum (a shower would have been better). So, this year’s annual will have a nice picture of a sweat drenched Benton. We are not ordering his pictures, unlike Pauline who ordered pictures of her sweat drenched boy many years ago.

BIRTHDAY DINNER. Friday evening we were invited out to dinner. Luke, one of Nate’s friends from church, was celebrating his birthday so he invited Nate over to spend the night. His mom decided to have us over for supper. Hey, when you’re used to feeding a family of eight what’s another five people! We had a lot of fun just visiting and enjoying each other’s company which I think is one of the most important things we can do in life.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY FLOYD POPE. Floyd Pope Hancock is Aunt Mar's first cousin. His family had a really nice party to celebrate his 90th birthday on Saturday. Mom and Aunt Mar we're still under the weather but the rest of us took in the festivities.

The party was held outside at his home and the weather was perfect. I had never been back to Pope and Evelyn's house before so I was looking forward to seeing it. Their place is way back on their farm and offers an idyllic setting for country living. The food was great and we all had a good time catching up with relatives we don't see very much.

ROCKIN' OUT. We decided on the spur of the moment Saturday morning to go to a concert scheduled for that evening. Matt Maher, a Christian music artist, was beginning his The Love In Between tour in Hendersonville. Laura Story is touring with him. The tickets were at a good price so we loaded up and enjoyed the music.

Nate was tired from spending the night with his friend so he slept through about a half hour of the music. At one point he was in a deep sleep snuggled up next to Vicki. The music was loud but it wasn't phasing him at all, however, when the song was over and the audience began to clap his whole body shook and he started clapping his hands.

I think the music made a big impression on the boys. We've heard them singing several songs from the concert since. I once heard Ben singing Indescribable (Laura Story). He was horribly off key, but full of gusto. Then he and Nate were singing You're Grace Is Enough (Matt Maher) which somehow segued into Pat Benatars's Hit Me With Your Best Shot. We haven't figured out where that came from, but it was funny at the time.

Joe