It's Christmas time - traditions and such

Posted this on the "Front Porch" of Kentucky Sports Report, so I'm double-dipping, I guess. But just seemed more appropriate here than there, anyway. The question was asked about the various holiday traditions, and this was what I wrote about my own family's holiday traditions at this time of year.

We load up the RV and head to cousin.....no, that was a movie. I think having the septic tank pumped Monday made me think I was cousin Eddie.

Our traditions are pretty basic, but they work for us.

On Christmas Eve, we head to a children's church service at 4:30. Would love to go downtown to the Mass Mick mentioned, but somehow we're always preoccupied right now at midnight. Probably anxious about Santa, I guess.

Afterwards, we have dinner with close friends of ours at an Italian restaurant. Has been Macaroni Grill for several years, but this year it's a new place over by where Mick lives that is supposed to be very good. Reservations for 13 (my family of 7, and theirs of 6).

We arrive back home--kids are always anxious to get this done very quickly--because when we come back home, we have "family" Christmas exchanging of gifts. The big day is still Christmas Day and Santa, but this is a good warmup act, with extended family gifts being opened, the kids who drew each others' names (one for each) give their gifts, and my wife and I give the kids our one--and only--gift that we give them each Christmas. I give my wife heck about this, but I am very proud of this tradition.

We give each child an ornament. It's a nice ornament, usually something from Waterford, Lenox, something like that, always dated, sometimes signed, whatever. My oldest child has 20 of them from us, and this year will be # 21. Each year my wife spends weeks looking for the perfect ornament, and we buy 8 of them--5 for our kids, and 3 for godchildren. Our stupid ornament bill is crazy each year (they can range up to about $40 each!), which is why I give my wife heck, but the kids look forward to what theirs will be each year, and they are put away so that they will have them for when they begin their lives away from ours, and hopefully continue that tradition.

Christmas Day is for Santa, and contrary to when I was growing up, Santa generally wraps all the gifts. I'd be interested in seeing what Santa does at your house--I know he varies from place to place. When I was a kid, it was like "excitement overload" coming into our den, and seeing all the gifts immediately. Our kids are like those time-controlled capsules, where the excitement is parcelled out gift by gift.

The kids and their parents have a deal we strike on Christmas Eve on what time they will get up. A few days prior to Christmas Eve, we try to acclimate them to staying up late and getting up late. You may note that last night I took my 9-year old and 10-year old to the UAB Butler game. Then took them to have blizzards at Dairy Queen thereafter, and they went to bed at 11. They slept in a little today, and will stay up late tonight, and then again, on Christmas Eve, with church, dinner out, then presents, it'll be a little late again.

Christmas Day we have sausage balls, Dr. Pepper (well, for some), cheese balls, and any holiday fare you'd want for breakfast, including cake, because, hey, it's Christmas. The kids don't overdo that because they think anything like that is a treat anyway. For me, Santa usually brings me a box of chocolate covered cherries. I've always loved them, never buy them, and only get it once a year. So guess what I'll be having to accompany my breakfast?

At some point during the day, naps will ensue--I usually read a book beginning at this time, or sometimes, I'll take a drive out myself just to enjoy 45 minutes or hour driving around with almost nobody else out. I usually combine it with finding a place that has a newspaper, or getting batteries Santa forgot to get, or whatever. If somebody wants to ride with me, they can, but usually toys or naps prevail over getting in the car, so it's time I have to myself to think about everything, give some private thanks and appreciate the many blessings that have been bestowed. My heart will be a little heavy this year without the normal telephone call to my Mom, but I'll probably have a little chat with her during that drive, too.

We'll have turkey, broccoli cheese casserole, green bean casserole, and some normal family favorites for "dinner," which will be around 2:00 usually. Turkey is a Bates house of turkey fully cooked smoked turkey, courtesy of the place I teach on Tuesday nights. They have one delivered to me each year, Fed Ex'd in dry ice in a styrofoam cooler, and it is greatly appreciated by my family.

This year we'll add some packing for the trip to the Music City Bowl, as we'll be leaving the next morning.

That's about it. I miss the old time trips we used to make to either my parents or my wife's parents, but as time evolved, with all of our kids and their activities, friends, etc., it just seemed that it was time for us to create our own traditions.

A performing week from Monday through Friday

OK, so I lied--my next post is actually.....right now. Waiting on my daughter to finish work tonight so I can pick her up, so why not add some lagniappe--a little something extra, like that fist-bump fireworks on the McDonald's commercial?

Side note--is it sad that I can't remember watching television, but I remember a TV commercial? Sad.

Anyway, Monday night was the Oak Mountain High School Christmas Choral performance. Much fun and joy spread in that show, which I have attended seven consecutive years. This year is special for us, as Sarah is performing in Chanter (the women's show choir) and Con Brio (the mixed show choir), as she did last year, but Andrew is also performing in the Craftsmen (the men's show choir). What a joy it is to have a child in all 3 performing show choirs!

Chanter is doing a tribute to ABBA, "Mamma Mia," and they have a lot of fun. I love that music, particularly live--I have a Dream, Mamma Mia, S.O.S., Take a Chance on Me, and Dancing Queen were all performed Monday. The Craftsmen have a Pirates theme--interesting to see them weave in songs like "Shake your Booty," "Larger than Life," "Everybody, Rock Your Body," and "Come Sail Away." Con Brio's is a modern theme--Black Eyed Peas, Katy Perry, Coldplay, Bush Kevin Rudolf, etc. Love seeing the girls sing hot-n-cold; the entire group singing Boom, Boom, Pow (wasn't sure about it until I saw it, then loved it right away).

First competition is January 16th this year, I think, in Montgomery. They also do Albertville and Homewood this year. They competed in Montgomery last year--their first time there--and Albertville and Homewood will be new venues for them, dropping longstanding Auburn and Opelika competitions. Closer for us, but I will miss the Auburn show choir festival especially. We had some great trips down there, and a lot of family fun.

Collin stepped up to the plate today and had several songs he acted as "cantor" for today at the Children's Mass in school. He auditioned for it a couple of weeks ago, and was selected, and had a lot of "mike time" today. He has a very good voice, but is a little tentative right now. You could see his confidence growing with each song, though. He enjoyed it, and felt proud later.

And then we finished off tonight with the Alabama Stage Door performance (see my post from long, long, ago--maybe 30 minutes).

The one thing that I missed that I enjoyed last year was Caitlin's voice jury at Alabama. She has been lucky to find a spot each semester to take voice classes at the University. Had to audition to get in--it's for non-music majors, but there are limited spots--and I believe she has had these lessons, or classes, each semester, or maybe every one except one. Basically "free" voice lessons, which she enjoys. Her end of semester voice jury this year was Monday at 4:15, and we could not get to Tuscaloosa and back in time for eveerything, so we had to miss it. Hopefully she will get more chances to do that before she graduates, and we will be able to fit it in.

Tomorrow we're back to sports, as Rachel's basketball team attempts to bounce back from an opening 50-10 loss last week. They played a WNBA team, or so it seemed. I'll have to post a pic of Rachel attempting to guard a player more than a head taller than her, or being sandwiched between two 7-footers. When I post the picture, you'll know there's not much exaggeration.

Hope to have more blog posts through the rest of this month. Would like to get 1-2 a week in, but it seems I can never do that, so I end up making these monsterously long posts that nobody would want to read, anyway. Doesn't matter, I still enjoy writing them.

Til next time.

Premiere of Alabama Stage Door - The Red Nosed Revue

Had a very nice time tonight at an unusual setting, the North Shelby County Library. Tonight was the official opening performance of the Alabama Stage Door, a brand new community theater company organized by friends and catering to the talent in Birmingham, but particularly, North Shelby County.

Expected to enjoy a little light Christmas fare tonight, with low expectations. Instead, was treated to a night with some very heavy-hitters in talent, and a show that zipped by oh-too-quickly.

Yes, it had moments of home-spun, "we're family, and we're kinda putting this together as we go along." But all in all, just a great bunch of people, with some extraordinary voices and talents being shared to put all in the Christmas Spirit--and hopefully, give a nice boost to Alabama Stage Door and their goal of their first full-fledged show in June, 2010.

As usual, my blog wouldn't be complete, it seems, without a reference to my children. And today was no exception, as Rachel had the distinct honor of being the first performer ever to perform for the fledgling company, as she took center stage with her sweet rendition of "Rudolph, the Red-Nosed Reindeer." Yes, she just got music this afternoon for it. No, she did not rehearse it until today. Yes, she gave Donner a son in Santa's team, as she mentioned Donner twice (Sr. and Jr.?) and sat Comet out for this ride. But proudly went front and center in a small room (is there any more nerve-wracking?) and did a terrific job.

Her friend Casey (Colin-The Secret Garden; Chip-Beauty and the Beast Annie-Annie, Jr.) was in the show and did a great job, too. But the show wasn't a "kid's show," although there were a frew sprinkled here and there. Great Birmingham adult talent, emceed by Mike Bridges, was wonderful. I don't mean to leave anybody out, but will mention a few--Susan Cook, who we met when she played the lead role in Beauty and the Beast with Rachel and Casey, had a couple of numbers that were excellent. An acapella group of seven--the Augmented Seventh, a group of UAB Singers, were tremendous. David Coker and Tommy McDowell did a duet of "You're a Mean One, Mr. Grinch" that would do broadway and the big screen proud. The show ended with a flourish, with "Santa Baby" from Susan Cook, "Merry Christmas, Darling" from Emily Lunsford and "I'll be Home for Christmas," sung a capella by the powerfully-voiced Clay Boyce, was a terrific way to end the show. My apologies to all of the other wonderfully talented performers who contributed to the show as well.

I especially enjoyed Mike Bridges and a "special guest" in which he and Kermit the Frog sang, "I'll have a Green Christmas." I remember him doing that way-back-when my oldest child--now a junior in college--was in middle school or so. Haven't seen it since then, but it was as good as I remembered, and a big hit with the little ones in the audience.

Terrific show, certainly got the money's worth, a mere pittance of a donation for 2 hours of live entertainment at 1/4th to 1/3rd the cost of a typical show.

I wish Alabama Stage Door the very best. Good people involved, including Donna Corneil, who has such a great part in insuring successes of shows at OLV, and now Alabama Stage Door, Kathy Ellis, MikeBridges, Dava Fant and others. Community theater is tough, and right now may be especially tough. But if somebody can make it work, these people can. Support your local theater groups the best you can, all of them, but keep your eyes out for Alabama Stage Door. They can use a little extra special boost to get started. Then again, can't we all?

Will have another post tomorrow. Stay tuned--more music and performance stuff.

Of turkey, shopping and football

Thanksgiving is one of my favorite holidays. We do not travel for Thanksgiving, and it's just an enjoyable family time filled with far too much eating.

This year we tried to entice my brother and nephew, along with my Dad, but were unsuccessful. Maybe next year.

Our usual "Black Friday" shopping took place as normal. This year, though, we were very heavy on the online Black Friday deals. Makes more sense to us to go ahead and secure that bargain deal online--if you can get it--rather than fight crowds and be disappointed later. Also gave us two bites at the apple in most cases, as many of the Black Friday deals were available online before the stores opened their doors.

Susan and I finished online shopping around 3:30 a.m. on Black Friday--at which point she headed out and never went to sleep. She finished the brick-and-mortar store shopping around 9 a.m., and came back home and grabbed just a few hours nap. Andrew and Caitlin both hit the stores as well. We managed some success, and ended up getting almost every single item we were looking for this year. With five kids, and the bargains sometimes just too good to pass up, it's a big day for us generally.

We enjoyed the Alabama vs Auburn Iron Bowl yesterday....with Caitlin home, my girls were all rooting for Alabama, with the boys rooting for Auburn, and me managing to irritate both sides by getting excited for every good play and not rooting for either. Tonight Kentucky plays Tennessee. I'm sorta on the hook for going to Kentucky's Bowl Game this year, and if they win tonight, they'll go to Tampa...which has been pointed out to me is only 85 miles from Orlando and Disneyworld. Connect the dots, and the kids are big UK fans tonight.

Lose and the Cats will probably be going to Nashville for the Music City Bowl, or possibly to Atlanta for the Chik-Fil-A Bowl. Smart money has them going back to Nashville, which will be fun, but doesn't have the "oomph" that the former Peach Bowl will have. I'm hoping for a Cat win, or in that absence, for the Cats to play well and convince the Chikin' Bowl reps that they'll make a good SEC representative in that game. Goodness knows, the Cats fans travel.

Anyway, nothing too specific here. I need to find some time to prepare an Exam for the law school class I"m teaching, and to grade some papers I need to grade this weekend, but all in all, still going to chill the rest of the weekend as much as possible.

Happy Thanksgiving weekend to all.

In this Secret Garden......of Mine

Well, the show concluded Sunday afternoon, and what a wonderful weekend it was.

Rachel did a fabulous job as Mary Lennox--I was so proud of her, for her poise, her timing, and that terrific British accent she maintained from the opening of the show to the closing line (above). I did not realize so many people attended the performances based on the number of compliments we received on her. I'm starting to wonder if this might be a case where there were 200,000 people that claimed "they were there" when an event occurred in a stadium that holds 40,000 lol. Rachel performed the role Friday night and Saturday night, and realizing that I'm just a proud, biased parent, I thought she did a truly magnificent job acting the part. She worked SO hard on it, for many weeks prior to the performance, both at rehearsal, and at home (or my office), running lines, working on acting and blocking and cues, and generally treating it as a professional role for which she was obliged to work hard. And she did. Often when we ran lines, she would, just for the fun of it, recite Dickon's line, or Colin's line, or Mrs. Medlock's, just for fun before doing her own. That told me she really knew her stuff.

Anyway, it was a great weekend. My Dad, Mother-in-Law and Father-in-Law all came in for the show, and were not disappointed. Our Lady of the Valley may be an elementary/middle school, but the shows they put on are much better than you would expect from that show. The director, Mike Bridges, and the two wonderful ladies who assist him, Donna Corneil and Dava Fant, put their heart and soul into it. The lighting is good, the sound guys do a terrific job, and they try, best they might, to make everything the same quality as you might see anywhere around town.

I have mixed feelings on what they did this year with the show. They took the 18 "lead" characters, and double-cast all of them, with one "lead" playing two nights, and the other "lead" playing one. That gave 36 kids opportunities to have more of a role in the play, which is a great thing--but it also limited the actual time on stage rehearsing for any one of the individuals. With Mike and Donna there with scripts ready to whisper a cue, it works, and realizing that it is "merely" a school play, that's probably the right thing to do. I would've loved to have seen this play, though, with all of the leads getting full rehearsal time with it. It was an excellent play as it was, though, and I have no complaints.

It's back to normal (thank goodness) now, with "free time" available. Rachel will begin going to dance again; an activity she basically lost for the last two months during rehearsal. Basketball season has begun, but that will merely occupy 2 hours of her time a week now, and when she arrives home, there will be no more running lines for an hour or two. It's a joy to be in a play, but it's also a joy when it's over to relax and regain some free time.

For me, it's back to work. The last two weeks I'm involved fairly heavily in doing whatever publicity I can do for the play, taking and printing head shots, with captions, cropping, etc., taking cast photos (for souvenirs), taking photographs and/or videography during the play (photos dress rehearsal this year, video the actual performances), and even making a couple of "props" this year--old photographs blown up to 11 x 17 that came out wonderfully.

I'm taking a quick early lunch break to write this, as I haven't done much of it lately and don't want to let this go, but I probably should get something to eat and finish up. For now, I'll continue to be content that"the memories and miracles are ever so fine in this secret garden.....of mine."

It's not bragging if you can back it up

I started to use an offshoot of the original story I read on this--something about "Lawyer seeking tax xxxempt status has no happy ending," but I thought this was more in line with my previous comments about Tom Watson, and age being nothing but a number.

I was amused Tuesday as I read a story about a 77-year old tax lawyer who was denied tax deductions. Normally that doesn't amuse me, but the nature of his deductions was a source of some interest.

Apparently, the old geezer--and I better watch it, as those numbers will be at me before I know it--was deducting more than $100,000 per year in, let's say, courtesan costs. The old boy, who was single/divorced, claimed that he needed these visits to ladies providing sexual services to combat his depression, erectile dysfunction, etc. and claimed the expenses as medical deductions. All in all, he deducted more than $300,000 in "provider" benefits, performance aids, and the like.

He kept a "Tax Log" for each visit, purportedly including the first name of the "medical" provider, and presumably, the cost of each encounter, and submitted that for his evidence.

Alas, the expenses were denied. Nasty tax laws about not deducting the illegal payments and such.

I have a theory. My theory is that the guy will benefit from the publicity generated by the story, and that was part of it, and maybe a little bragging was part of it, too. Hey, look what I've been doing in my spare time!

I teach an income tax law class on Tuesday nights, and the story was timely. I always joke with my class that tax law is "sex, drugs, and rock and roll," and the story set the theme for Tuesday night's adventure in tax. Wonder what next Tuesday night's tax law story will be. Stay tuned.

Brooklyn Tax Lawyer denied happy ending

Weekend Rest.........not!

Started the weekend late last night by giving directions over the phone to two young ladies misplaced in downtown Birmingham after attending the Taylor Swift concert. Bless their hearts, it was confusing to them, they couldn't make the GPS work, and really, downtown B'ham--especially north of the Civic Center--ain't a place for a 20-year old and 17-year old to be spending much time after 11 pm, is it?

Woke up this a.m. and drove Sarah and Andrew to the ACT. Once again, we (meaning "I") failed to register them early enough to get the Spain Park location near our house, so they were transported to Shades Valley, maybe a dozen or so miles from our abode. No worries, we hit Chik-Fil-A for biscuits and it gave them a chance to wake up a little before heading in to what will likely be their last ACT ever!

Collin has a soccer game at 12:00 noon, and the schedule-makers were not kind to us, as Rachel's volleyball match is at 12:00 noon as well. Split crew, and I draw volleyball since I am the coach.

No rest for the weary, as after the games today (and thanks to Caitlin for being home this weekend to pick up Sarah and Andrew), we'll be replacing an attic door and ladder. We'll need that so that we--or a critter control type person--can come in and figure out how to remove the squirrels--we think--that have taken up an unpaid residency in the top portion of our home. Didn't hear any noise this morning, but we have heard it, and believe we have squirrels. We hope.

Tomorrow I will need to meet with another lawyer on three matters we have ongoing and get some work done prior to the week starting bright and early Monday a.m. Tomorrow I will also be attending the Thespian Induction ceremony at OLV. Rachel will be recognized as an "apprentice," since she's a 5th grader, and it begins with 6th grade. In other Thespian news, Rachel was also cast as "Mary Lennox" in OLV's upcoming Fall production of "The Secret Garden." It is the non-musical version of the play, but we are all excited for her. It will be her first big "starring" role.

The Secret Garden musical has always been one of my favorite plays, mainly because some of my favorite actors here locally were in it, and did a fabulous job. I recall years ago CenterStage performed the show at the Badham Theatre at Indian Springs School, and it was just terrific. Brent Jones and Frank Thompson did a duet, "Lily's Eyes," that just poured out to you. Mike Bridges was terrific as Ben, the Gardener, and Sarah James, and really, the entire cast, were special in that performance. Caitlin has a DVD of the show that I need to borrow to watch again in my spare time.

Which brings me to the conclusion of this blog post today, of course. There is no weekend rest, and other than these brief few minutes, my spare time this weekend is, of course, non-existent. Hope everyone has a wonderful weekend.

Yawn.....

After fighting being awake since 3:30, I decided to get up and start the day about an hour ago (4:15). Working for myself, sometimes that gives me a great chance to get a head start on the day, and as long as nobody is reading this blog, they don't have to know that I can sneak in a mid-morning "nap" while the rest of the world is back at work for real.

Of course, that doesn't work so well when I have a client meeting, does it?

Not to fear today, there are no meetings on the agenda, but it is "vacation day," when we will be leaving for the beach. With active kids and a 20-year old in her 3rd year of college, it has become a rare experience when we have all been together--I believe this is the first time in three years we've all gone away somewhere. These moments are becoming all too fleeting, and I am looking forward to this one.

We're operating a "split crew" as 4/7ths of the family will be leaving today around noon, and Andrew and I will be headed to Tuscaloosa to pick up Caitlin , leaving about 5 hours after everyone else, then on to Pensacola Beach. The hope here is that some of us may get some beach time today, with weather "iffy" for the next 4 days.

Will be a long day today, but the fruits of the labor will be worth it. Sounds a bit like my family, too.

Happy birthday, Mom!

I hate that I missed most of Mom's birthdays in later years, other than a quick telephone call, but I daresay what I wouldn't give to have "just" that opportunity once more.

Was a busy day today with school, work, volleyball practice and baseball practice, but managed to think of her today at times. With Ted Kennedy's passing, most will remember August 26 in connection with that, but I'll continue to think of Mom on this date.

Hope you had a great one, Mom.

Our Town -just 2 hours left to see it

Just a quick note for anyone that happens to randomly run across this blog, lives in the immediate area, and is looking for a way to spend an enjoyable Sunday afternoon.

Run, don't walk, to South City Theatre in Alabaster for the final performance of "Our Town."

I had "date night" last night with my 10-year old daughter, Rachel, and we both thoroughly enjoyed the performance. Saw some old friends that did a wonderful job in the show. It's a show that relies heavily upon the characters' abilities to draw a picture from Thornton Wilder's wonderful story, with a minimalistic--if any--set. The characters were outstanding in their efforts to do so. Mike Bridges, the OLV Drama Director and Assistant Principal, was amazing in the role of Stage Manager ( a narrator-type role, for those who have not yet seen the play). I don't know how many lines he had, but to keep them all straight, and to keep the story moving, with nothing else there is a difficult role that he mastered.

Everyone was wonderful, and this is not a review--but Rachel and I both enjoyed the performance of Emily Lunsford, who had us laughing and crying at almost the same time with her rendition of, as luck would have it, young Emily. Frank Thompson's performance of the newspaper publisher Mr. Webb was spectacular, and a big shout to our friend Raymond Quintero, who I thought did a wonderful job in his role in the final act as the undertaker. Really helped to set the scene.

I worried slightly that the show would be "too much" for my 10-year old, but it wasn't. We enjoyed the ride home last night from the show, with her asking me questions like, "the people in the cemetery represented the people after they were dead, right?" Remember, she's ten. I thought she did a good job of grasping the Stage Manager's ability to talk about the characters and the setting "after" the fact, then rejoin the "present," and that was her way of making sure she still understood how the play was being put together.

But enough--if you run across this, check it out yourself in the final performance. You'll be glad you did.

Age ain't nothing but a number

OK, so Tom Watson fell just a little short. Holding a 1-stroke lead heading into the 72nd--and final hole, the 59 year, 317 day old young man's adrenaline was pumping like a 17-year old's, and he hit an 8-iron about 200 yards, pure and solid--but just past the hole and over the green. From there he drew a less-than-favorable lie, putted it within about 8 feet, but left the par putt that would have won the British Open just a little short.

A 4-hole playoff with Stewart Cink saw time finally catch up with Mr. Watson, and a runner-up, rather than a championship, was his final fate.

But that ought to tell us all that age ain't nothing but a number. If a 60-year old man, one who had his hip replaced in October, can go to one of the toughest places in all of professional golf to not only compete--not only make the cut, but challenge for, and actually tie for the title--then how much is left in all of us as we age?

Next year I'll be hitting one of those "milestone" numbers. While plodding along just fine at age 49, you gotta peek ahead just a little. Thanks, Tom, for letting me know it's all good up ahead.

The thunder rolls

Raining in Birmingham this morning, or more accurately, enduring a thunderstorm in the vicinity. Thunder here truly "rolls" between the "mountains," and makes it very loud and hard to sleep. We were up late last night attempting to see what we could do with the rest of the summer, and I had planned on sleeping in a little--ha! 6:30 rolled around far too quickly today, but couldn't be helped with the gentle rain accompanied by the all-too-loud thunder.

So last night's activities are still fresh on my mind--having given up on a vacation due to this commitment or that commitment, the task is now placing kids in what camps or activities may be remaining. And even that's hard.

Took a large "desk calendar" from Office Depot yesterday, and filled it with remaining commitments the rest of the summer. There were blocks for days where there is literally no space left--between plays, rehearsals, Jr. Miss pageants (Sarah), golf (Andrew and Collin now), work (Sarah), college visits, trips to/from Tuscaloosa (Caitlin), doctor's appointments, social engagements (kids, not parents), school (Sarah), and the like, it made everything near-impossible.

For Rachel, who has been very busy 4 or so nights a week with play rehearsal (Leeds "Beauty and the Beast" opens this week--go see it!), just trying to find her an art workshop or camp. We missed out early this summer on a couple of opportunities, and it seems there aren't many opportunities remaining. But we're still looking.

For Collin, trying to balance soccer, basketball and golf. For golf, there are a couple of short clinics we're signing him up for, and that might be all we do. The best soccer camp we can find for what he needs overlaps with what our favorite basketball camp may be. So one of them may have to give, unless something else pops up.

But enough of a brief distraction from getting a few things done. Doing a little publicity for Beauty and the Beast this morning, as well as for Our Lady of the Valley, and need to get that accomplished before leaving to teach a class at 10. So back to it! The rain and the thunder isn't nearly so bad once you decide just to get up out of bed, by the way. I didn't feel that way around 6:15 this morning, though!

Happy Fourth of July

No real theme to this post, so wishing everyone a Happy Fourth of July seems as good as any, considering the date.

Been busy as usual. Trying to balance personal and business is always a tightrope walk with the wind gushing and operating without a net, it seems.

I guess the big story going on now is college visits. We have been to Auburn, Vanderbilt and Birmingham-Southern, and really liked two of the three. We had high hopes for all three and were disappointed with one. Next week we stay close, and visit Alabama on Tuesday and UAB on Thursday. Considering I teach a class on Monday and Wednesday, and considering that each week I pick up Caitlin from Tuscaloosa on Wednesday or Thursday and return her on Sunday, and considering Rachel is in play rehearsals four or five nights a week now--well, you can see how the tightrope act balances, can't you?

I've still been "tweeting," but most of it has been for Kentucky Sports Report, a quasi-business function, I guess. I have CartLaw and AlabamaLawyers, as well as DarrellKSR that I also "tweet from" on separate Twitter accounts, so those, plus this Blog, mean it's spread a little thin. Wish I could say the same for my waistline.

Was also volunteered to help Leeds with publicity for "Beauty and the Beast," the play that Rachel is in, and I'm glad to help. I like the director, Cliff Keen, and it has two of Rachel's schoolmates in it, as well as her school's drama director, Mike Bridges. Really doesn't take that much to help publicize an event like this, so I'm glad to do it. But adding that to the rest--well, I don't think I have reached that "straw that broke" but I can always see it nearer and nearer.

Went bike-shopping with Andrew yesterday. He's getting a more serious bike for his birthday. He enjoys bike-riding, and will no doubt take one with him to campus whereever he goes to school, so a good one is almost a college necessity for him. Saw a couple of bikes yesterday that cost more than a couple of cars I have bought. We're nowhere in that vicinity, but well over the low-end "Huffy" type bikes I'm used to buying.

Too much to do today to blog long, so I'll close. Here's wishing everyone has a happy, and safe, 4th of July holiday.

A Quiet Night....

Rare, in my part of the woods.

Oldest daughter is at college this summer, but for only 4 days at a time (Sun-Wed.) Sue and Rachel are at her play rehearsal....play will be heating up soon. Tonight's rehearsal is expected to go well past 10:00 p.m. Glad school is out.

Sarah and Collin went to see Night at the Museum, II-the Smithsonian (I butchered the title, but something like that.)

Andrew is quietly on the computer, or working with his guitar. Not sure which.

Which leaves me sitting in blissful quiet--no radio, no television, telephone ringer is off, and virtually no noise. Amazing how good that can sound with just the click of keyboard keys gently interrupting the silence.

No profound thoughts tonight; just realized that I had not updated this blog in awhile and wanted to do so while I had a minute. I have, as usual, been busy--I go back and forth to Tuscaloosa twice a week now, school is winding down and I will have my "summer vacation"--all of one week off, before school begins again--and workload is very heavy right now. My "play" time, if you will, has been devoted to going to play basketball at the gym with Collin--managed to do that three times last week, and intend to do the same this week, too.

I now have some "Twitter" accounts where brief updates are posted. If you're one of the two people who occasionally read this, I can also be found at Twitter accounts CartLaw, AlabamaLawyers, DarrellKSR, and MyKSR1.

I reached age 49 last week, and age 50 now is ahead of me more quickly every day. I don't feel that old. I'm out of shape and overweight, but basketball--even though it's fairly gentle--still comes rather easily and I'm enjoying it. Looked at pictures from 23 years ago last week (from Hawaii), and saw how skinny I used to be. Would like to approach that again before I reach 50, and start over.

Not much of an exciting update this time, I know. Going to enjoy the quiet a little more before people start arriving back home. Wow, how sweet this sounds.

A moment of pause

I had such high hopes for this blog. When I started it, it was going to meet two needs I thought I had--one, to satisfy my "pleasure" writing, to talk about my life, my family, in a little of a journal-diary sort of way. No reason for anyone to see it but me, but don't really mind if others do, either.

The other was a little of trying to connect a little more with my Mom and Dad. My Dad "threatened" to get a computer for several years, and my brother and I finally decided to get a small netbook computer for them for Christmas, and get them hooked up to the internet world. With that occurring, I thought this would be ideal for me to sit down late at night, or early in the morning and update what is going on. (note--it's 11:30 p.m., and I was also up on the computer this morning at 4:15 a.m. Kinda weird hours, but that's the nature of my sleep habits).

In my fantasy world, Mom would sit at home, with the netbook on her lap, and read about her son and his family and tell her coffee ladies, or lunch bunch about things I failed to mention during our weekly telephone calls. I pictured Mom sending emails to me, Sue, and connecting with her niece, Sandy through the internet. I thought she would get more use than Dad.

Unfortunately, as we know, Mom passed away before realizing any of this. On January 20 of this year she left our world for a better one. I now she's keeping up with us and our busy life, but I'm still disappointed that the plans did not work out as I thought.

My gusto for writing these blogs has been severely dampened by her passing. It's strange--at first I wasn't going to tell anyone; just write for the sake of writing--much as I am doing now--and then I thought how wonderful it could be to let Mom in this way.

So much has happened this year. The kids are all getting older, as we all are, of course. Wonderful moments are occurring-Caitlin continues to make us proud with her desire to succeed in school, and her acceptance into nursing school with stellar grades. Andrew and Sarah are rounding out into a very fine young man and woman. Rachel and Collin continue to delight us with school, play, and their activities.

I would have loved to have talked to Mom about little things, too.

* Rachel cooking dinner for the family with her girl scout troop. Should've seen her with her apron with "Rachel" on it.

* Collin and his up and down soccer season. He played "up" a year this year, and there were some good moments, and some not so good.

* Andrew progressing with his grades getting better and better, and his ACT scores looking like they will get him in the college he wants. He has matured and grown and is eye to eye with his Dad now, a big change from the days when his sister Sarah towered over him.

* Sarah, with her work, her friends, her show choirs, and her wonderful grades and personality. She's a handful, but we love her.

And not all good newes. Times like Caitlin having relationship issues with her boyfriend of several years, Michael. Or maybe her past boyfriend. I haven't asked many questions, but she has been very upset for days, although she is getting better.

Life goes on, the saying goes, though, and so will the blog.

Next week will be a busy one. I have a statute of limitations running the week after next, but with the bad schedule, may have to try to sneak in some work on it. Tuesday I have all day meetings planned. Wednesday I teach, and will likely be driving to Memphis thereafter. Thursday I will be in Memphis all day and come back late at night. And Friday I will (probably) be moving Caitlin back into her dorm. She has nursing orientation Saturday morning, but somehow Alabama has told us that she cannot move in until Sunday. They have required orientation a day before she can move in? Where are people from out of state supposed to stay?

In addition to this blog, I have four "Tweeter" accounts set up--one for Kentucky Sports Report (www.twitter.com/MyKSR1), one for me (twitter.com/DarrellKSR), one for my law practice (twitter.com/CartLaw) and one for a joint venture I'm doing with a colleague (twitter.com/AlabamaLawyers). So now in addition to this blog, and the posting, and writing on Kentucky Sports Report, I have "tweets" to post on four different Twitter accounts.

Collin's soccer season is over, but he's playing in a 3v3 tournament in a week, and may continue with other tournaments this summer.

Rachel is involved in her first community theatre production, which will take us deep into June and July. It has a three-week run of 10 performances, so in addition to many weeks of rehearsals, dress rehearsals, tech week, etc., she'll have a lot of actual performances, too. It's "Beauty and the Beast." Rachel is a beauty, but in this play, which is in Leeds, Alabama (birthplace of Charles Barkley, about 30 minutes from our house), she's a villager and castle character/pepper shaker. She'll be good in it.

We've been fighting with Sarah's school about a computer class they want her to take, and we don't want her to take, because it will bump either one of her two choir electives, or her 4th year of Spanish. So we've worked out a solution where she'll go to college this summer, take a college level computer course, get college credit for it, and get credit for the high school class.

We also were told earlier this week that neither Sarah nor Andrew would be allowed to take AP English--a decision that we do not agree with, as they have met all prerequisites, including teacher approval--and the principal advises they are working on a solution. We'll see.

And Sue, bless her heart, continues to make it all work somehow. Our house is a madhouse--literally. The schedules are one that would make a railroad train conductor dizzy. I have my G1 phone with all of its applications, and my Palm PDA, with its calendaring, and my Google calendar, and I sync everything daily (or almost so)--and somehow, I still miss things she just remembers. I don't know how she does it, but she does.

So there's a lengthy return to the blog--it's 11:55 now, a 25 minute blog, which is a very long one for me--and I'd really rather get back to more frequent, less wordy, but for now, we'll take what we can get.

Corridor "X"

Have made the trip to/from Memphis a couple of times now, and I can't decide whether I like the trip or dislike it.

It's on business, which requires me usually to arise around 4-4:30 a.m., drive 250+ miles to Memphis, spend all day looking at documents, and then drive back, usually getting back home between 9 pm-11 pm. Glamorous life of a lawyer, huh?

But Corridor "X" is the predecessor to what eventually will be I-22. It's a fine start for an interstate system, the road is great, and until you arrive just outside Memphis--if then--the traffic is very limited. So it's an easy trip.

But there's almost no scenery to speak of. And when you get on Corridor X outside of Jasper, be prepared to drive. And drive. And drive. Make sure your car is filled up with gas, you have eaten or have food supplies, and don't expect any bathroom breaks, as there just isn't anything at all for about 100-150 miles or more. Now, while I like to get on the road and get going, I also like the security of knowing there's a gas station/convenience store/restroom available in case either the car or I need refueling, or a pit stop. I intentionally refrain from drinking my general two large mugs of coffee in the morning, limiting it to sipping on one for many miles for fear of generating the need for a pit stop.

I don't know how long it will take for gas stations and convenience stores to be constructed along that highway, or what is needed to make it a full-fledged interstate. The two may be related. But for now, it's just a nice, easy, but kinda long drive due to the lack of conveniences along the way.

I think my next scheduled trip is May 26. I may see if we can do an overnight trip this time--drive up, start at a reasonable 10 a.m., work til 7 or 8 p.m., spend the night, and begin the next morning at 8 a.m. Seems more productive than making multiple trips....and if we spend the night, I know I can find rest rooms when I need them after I'm there.

May we never slow down

Weekend roared in and roared out.  Collin had his First Communion today, which was a special event.  It occurred while there were tornado sirens going on outside the church, with weather forecasts showing the church potentially in the path.  Fortunately, we were spared all but the excitement.

Have finished editing/copying DVDs for How to Eat Like a Child and Dear Edwina, Jr. and will get them to the professional video place Thursday.  

Rachel found out this weekend that she was cast in Leed's "Beauty and the Beast," and is floating on cloud 9.  With tomorrow her 10th birthday, it was a nice birthday present.  

Sarah's end-of-year show choir performance is tomorrow night at 6.  I give a final exam from 5-7 pm tomorrow, but I managed to give a take-home Final so I think I'll be able to leave by about 5:30.  

Tuesday I will be getting up at 4 a.m. to drive to Memphis.   And the best part is, I will return Tuesday as well--nice, full day.

Wednesday is the read-through, or opening meeting for the cast of Beauty and the Beast.

Friday we may go to Tuscaloosa and help Caitlin pack up some things.  Or at least we'll be going Saturday to load her up as she has to move out.  Of course, her summer session begins May 29, so we'll be moving her back into a dorm then.  And then we'll have to move her out of the dorm when the summer session ends.  And then we'll have to move her into her apartment when she goes back for the Fall.  More than a little ridiculous, if you ask me.

End of school things are happening, dance recitals for Sarah and Rachel, Collin's soccer through the rest of May with practices, matches, and tournaments, new play rehearsals for Rachel, and moving Caitlin home--and back again.  

May we never slow down.  Just don't spin fast enough that I fall off.

Just to get another post in before the month ends

Looked up and saw another 17 days have passed. My, how time flies when you're having fun.

Since the last post, there have been double-digit number of soccer games and practices for Collin, Rachel has "starred" in "How to Eat Like a Child"--she's now on YouTube, officially, with her scene of "How to Beg For a Dog-Say Yes," tax returns have been done, and I have been back and forth to Tuscaloosa four times. And may go tomorrow.

Was proud of Rachel, as she, at nine years of age, decided to audition for the Leeds Art Council production of "Beauty and the Beast." She went Tuesday night and left feeling good that she did it, but figures realistically she won't get cast. Fingers are still crossed for a role--any role.

Had the pleasure of listening to oldest daughter Caitlin's "voice jury" today. Felt a little like a stalker as nobody is allowed in the room with her, but she told us we could hear her outside in the hallway, as she had heard others, and invited us to come. Was strange hearing her voice so high--she has undergone a lot of training--and she did the German song she sang justice. Afterward Sue, Caitlin, Collin, Rachel and I went out to dinner and enjoyed a nice evening together. Arrived back in Birmingham at the very reasonable hour of 8:30-ish, which tells you how nice it is to have a daughter only an hour or so away at college.

Back to work--have a deadline for some discovery tomorrow in a case and getting ready to call co-counsel on it. I'm hoping to pretty much finish up most of it tonight and have very little "official" that needs to occur tomorrow. Sue's mom is coming in from New Orleans on the 9:05 flight for Collin's first communion Sunday, Rachel's 10th birthday Monday, and Sarah's choral concert. In the meantime, we have soccer continuing, dance for Rachel and Sarah as they move toward recitals, girl scouts and boy scouts, volleyball registration and pre-season practices, and Sarah will be in the Shelby County Junior Miss Pageant this summer, and some preliminary work on that has begun. And school and work--and oh yeah, the class I teach at Jeff State has Final Exams Monday, too.

So everything about normal. Missed seeing my buddies Frank Thompson and Dianne Daniels do Harvey at South City Theatre, and was very disappointed that everything hit at once for two weeks surrounding their performances. I'm a big fan of cozy theatre, and enjoy the occasional "Harvey," non-musical, life-is-good, family friendly performances, and I have no doubt that it was a real treat that I missed. Maybe some day they'll repeat it and I'll be sure and catch it then.

Til later--a rededication toward more frequent updates. Oh, I've also started four Twitter accounts too, so I ought to be "updating" all over the place (3 are business related--one my own law practice, one a joint venture law practice with another attorney, and one Kentucky Sports Report). As I said, everything about normal.

One Short Day in the Emerald City

Or, more accurately, in the Magic City of Birmingham.

Oh, but what I would do for Elphaba's magic spell book to give a little more time in each day. I glance at the old calendar PDA and it is filled each day. Sue and I wanted to go see Wicked--again--for a 3rd time in just over a week--if we can make it, but the odds of that appear long.

Tomorrow night--soccer. Wednesday night--dance--but if there was a way to get "lottery' tickets we could probably find a way to go for the 7:00 show. I teach at 5:00, though, so I can't be downtown at 4:30 and wait for the lottery at 5:00 "just in case." Thursday night--dress rehearsal for Rachel's "How to Eat Like a Child." Friday night--opening night show. Saturday is filled with a 12:00 soccer match, a 5:00 soccer match, and a Saturday night How to Eat Like a Child show at 7:00. Sunday has a 10:00 soccer match and a 2:00 matinee of How to Eat Like a Child, so that leaves the very last performance Sunday night at 7:00 p.m. Again, if there's a way to get lottery tickets at 4:30 p.m.--don't know how, since we'll be about 40 minutes away with a show that probably won't end until, oh, about 4:30 p.m.--but if we could, we'd try that one.

As you can see, each day is a short one in the old Magic City. I know I could pick up Balcony tickets again, but we've done that once, and would love to see the show again from a "reasonable" distance if possible. Watching it from the last row in Continental and the first row in Orchestra, as we did for Saturday's matinee, was incredible. I didn't realize just how much you "catch" when you're close enough to see facial expressions clearly, gestures, motions, and little things going on the stage that you missed from way up in the Netherlands from Balcony Row X.

We'll see. I won't hold my breath.

On a related note, my special thanks to Helene York (Glinda), Marcie Dodd (Elphaba), Colin Donnell (Fiyero), Marilyn Caskey (Madame Morrible), Tom McGowan (The Wizard), and Kristine Reese (Nessarose) who took time out to visit, sign autographs, and have their photos taken with Rachel, Caitlin, Sarah and Elizabeth (my niece) after the shows Saturday and Sunday. They could not have been more pleasant. Marcie Dodd saying, "I love little children" was such a wonderful thing for her to say. We wish them all the best and much success and happiness in their careers and in life.

One short day.....

Wicked-ly Wonderful

Getting excited about seeing Wicked--again--this weekend. We have the "good" tickets from our group purchase for the Saturday matinee, with some truly excellent seats. Last night we whet our appetite as we had picked up some not-so-great tickets for a song and saw it--OMG, how good can a show be?

Very entertaining production--just watch it and the time flies by. I won't say Marcie Dodd as Elphaba stole the show, as this was a production incapable of one person "stealing," but her voice is truly incredible. Her "Defying Gravity" as the first Act closed was spine-tingling good.

I thought Helene York, playing Galinda, was up to the task acting the part of the self-absorbed rich beotch, but wasn't sure that her voice was as good as Dodd's. By Act II, she had more than held her own, however, and her comedic sense of timing was outstanding. I also thought Colin Donnell as the initially self-absorbed to match Galinda Fiero was wonderful, and had a voice to match.

The production itself was, well, quite a production. From the bubble Galinda comes down on in the opening scene, to the Wizard's mask, to the flying monkeys--who I thought did a terrific job of what a flying monkey would look like, act like, and move like, if they them--the whole thing was well worth the 5-stars awarded to it by Alec Harvey, and well worth the standing ovation that began before the curtain call for the entire cast.

And all of that was from the Netherlands, aka, Balcony, Row X. I felt like we were "defying gravity" ourselves from that far up, but we quickly forgot the distance and the angle when the wonderful actors and the production started. Will have great orchestra seats for Saturday's performance, dead center, or better Saturday. I can't wait.

Wasting away again in Margaritaville

Well, there have been no margaritas made or consumed--yet, but we arrived at Santa Rosa Beach yesterday for a sorely needed attitude adjustment session.

Weather is beautiful, about 80 degrees, not a cloud in the sky. Had a beautiful sunset we watched go down over the ocean yesterday, settling gently down from the hot yellow to the fiery reddish-orange with a purple tinge.

Just before the sun set we watched the dolphins playing about 75 yards from shore. Wonderful day.

Mid-March Madness

Busy time of the year, and college basketball is at its zenith. That's not a good combination for me.

Postponed a meeting I had today scheduled at 1:30 because my Wildcats were playing with a tipoff at 12:00 noon. We rescheduled to tomorrow at 1:00.

So Kentucky wins today, and their next game is--yes, tomorrow at 12:00 noon again. Rescheduled meeting again for Monday. There are no games scheduled Monday, so I should be ok.

Have a client with a near-emergency need to get something filed in the next few days to thwart an unjust Order. Being a solo you can't exactly turn down those kind of things when they come in; you just make time and do it. Next week is the kids' Spring Break, but Sarah is working this weekend, and to my knowledge, we have no plans to go out of town. The two schools where I teach are both in session next week, and I am subbing for another teacher on Wednesday as well, so odds of doing anything look slim.

Maybe there will be a last minute trip somewhere, who knows?

Glamorous life

Highlight of my work week? Getting up at 4 a.m. to drive to Memphis, spend all day poring over 46 banker's boxes filled with documents, and driving back to get home at 9:30 p.m., skipping dinner.

Glamorous life, huh?

On the "good news" front, I was selected by Birmingham Magazine as one of Birmingham's Top Attorneys for 2009. Page 104, top of the page, you'll find my name as the first name listed under the category of "Tax" attorneys.

Err, that is, spelled "Darell." Yup, they misspelled it. At least they spelled the last name right, and the name of the firm correctly.

A good day of sports

Rachel's team played at 9, and won again easily, 17-4. She played some point guard as well as forward (her usual position), so she was excited about that.

Collin's team (the one I coach) had an easy time today, winning 30-6. I'm a big believer in sportsmanship, and having had a child play on the opposite end of more than one lopsided score, it's a difficult thing for me to see even being on the other side. Today we played everybody, kept our "star" players out more than half the game, inverted our guards and forwards and centers so they were all playing different positions, asked our main scoring threats to pass the ball to others who had not scored so they could shoot--and we still won by 24. We had six different players score, and it could have been all nine pretty easily, as the other three had multiple shots that just did not go in.

Didn't like the way the schedule lined up--next week we play the undefeated team who has not played a close game all year--except one. We lost to them in overtime by 2. I'm sure they'll be looking for revenge, believing we caught them off guard. We'll see. We've had no practices in two weeks now due to gym conflict, and have 1/2 court on Thursday for an hour, so there will be little-to-no preparation for the game. We'll still show up. We'd like to win.

Then saw my beloved Wildcats whip our hated rivals, the Tennessee Vols, by 19 on a CBS telecast. Always enjoy that.

Collin and I shot baskets at halftime, and he's shooting again. That boy loves basketball.

Ahh, young hope and audition time

It's time for the elementary school spring musical, and Rachel is excited. She has decided she will sing "Good Morning, Baltimore" for her audition piece and asked me to print the lyrics for her tonight so she can begin memorizing them.

The plays this Spring will be something that the school has never done before. Instead of one play, they are splitting them up into two One Act musical comedies. The first one, "Dear Edwina," will feature only children from 6th, 7th and 8th grades. The second one, "How to Eat Like a Child," will be just for children from 1st through 5th grades, so Rachel is excited about having an opportunity for a bigger role than "normal." She's a good little actress, expressive, dedicated, and with a sweet voice, but you never know. Wish her luck.

Collin--well, who knows if he'll try or not. Basketball season is coming to an end, and soccer is about to start, and that may be enough for him. We'll see.

It's Thursday, and plans "mostly" set

"Chanter," the women's show choir, is going to Opelika Friday because they perform so early Saturday morning. We, on the other hand, will stay in Birmingham Saturday morning to watch Collin and Rachel run the Kid's Mercedes Marathon. We should be done by 11, and then we'll hop down to Opelika and get there by 1-1:30 or so (depending on if we drop off kids at home or not).

"Con Brio" performs at 2:40, so we should be fine for arriving before then. So we will miss Sarah in Chanter, but see her in Con Brio.

We will not be making a late night out of it, but may hang around a little longer to see how things are going. I think they have a "top five" groups that perform later, and if Chanter or Con Brio make it, Sarah would perform again--but we'll likely miss that, since we wouldn't know if they were performing until we will probably be back in Birmingham.

Will be busy, a lot of camera and video work, and about 250 miles, I figure--probably on an Enterprise rental car. Let's see....where else can we go Sunday to maximize that car?

It's Tuesday..time to plan for the weekend

That's sort of a misnomer. Planning would be something you do and stick to it. That's not often our modus operandi.

This weekend should be a "down" weekend for us. Neither Rachel nor Collin have a basketball game. Both are running in the kids version of the "Mercedes Marathon" Saturday morning and we're trying to work out the time (they are different for different ages, but they will allow you to switch times if you need).

Sarah is completing the 3rd and final "public competition" for show choir this weekend. Three weeks ago she was in Montgomery, and after a weekend off, was in Auburn last weekend. This weekend she's in Opelika. We were toying with the idea that we may skip it--rumor has it they may be competing as early as 8 a.m., and Opelika is a 2-hour drive--but she may be doing more with the mixed group than she normally does, and if so, we'd like to see it. So we're waiting on the schedule to be revealed (hopefully she'll know when she gets home today) to see if we can work it out.

Our ideal situation would be if they compete in the afternoon, so we could watch Collin and Rachel run and then go to Opelika. If Sarah has that "enhanced" role, at least I will go and tape it, but I've never seen the Mercedes Marathon, and hopefully can fit it all in.

Sunday should be a down day. That'll be nice.

A typical busy weekend...and thanks to Enterprise

Sitting here relaxing with a cup of coffee, watching Collin eat his cheerios and drink his chocolate milk I made, reading about the Kentucky Wildcats, and posting a couple of stories from my favorite UK writer, Larry Vaught doesn't sound like "busy." It's just the calm after/before the storm.

Everybody else at the house is still sleeping in, after we arrived back home around midnight last night. Yesterday Rachel had a basketball game at 11 a.m., and Sarah was competing in the Auburn Show Choir festival. Sarah's groups performed at 3:00 p.m. and 6:30 p.m., so we had time to go to Rachel's game across town--or at least part of it.

Spoke to her coach and asked if we could take her out early. She said, "NO!," just kidding. So I told her we wouldn't leave unless we had a 10-point lead.

Rachel scored the first bucket of the game on a rebound and offensive putback--for being one of the shorter players, I'm always excited to see a rebound--and we were off. But the whole team was "off," and we struggled to a 9-4 halftime lead. So we stayed for the 3rd quarter. Rachel scored another basket in the 3rd quarter, and the team broke out of its funk to outscore their opponent 12-2 in the quarter, and we left as the 4th quarter began with us scoring again for a 23-6 lead.

We zipped down to Auburn in a little Chevy Aveo rental car from Enterprise. We have three older cars, and when we go out of town--almost always, surrounding a weekend--we get a rental car from the good people at Enterprise. Their 50% weekend rates are very good and hard to turn down for anybody, much less people with cars with odometers all in the 6 figures, as we have. For $15 a day for two days (picked it up Sat a.m. at 9 a.m.), it's hard to beat. Also figured we're getting well in excess of 30 mpg, which is probably close to double the mpg we'd be getting with the van, so our fuel costs are being cut in half.

Caitlin came down from Tuscaloosa for the weekend so she could go to the Festival as well, and visit with Auburn friends from high school. She spent the night in Auburn with a friend and will be coming back to B'ham today. Michael gave her a ride to B'ham, but we will take her back this afternoon--after Collin's 4:00 basketball game, and maybe after Rachel's 5:00 basketball practice. (Oh yeah--we'll be using the rental car again. Did I say we maximize the use of those cars? I'll put over 400 miles on it this weekend, all for $30. Better their cars than mine).

We had a good time at the Festival yesterday, but none of the OMHS show choirs placed, a very disappointing result. Last week we were in Montgomery at a larger competition--and the women's show choir finished 1st, the men's show choir finished 1st, and the mixed show choir finished 2nd. So you never know what judges are thinking.

Next week ends what I call their "spectator competition season," as they travel to Opelika for the Southern Showcase. After that, they will have some different types of regional/state competition that are during school hours, and not meant for spectators. Sarah has been an alternate this year with the mixed group--she does two of their five or six songs in competition--but next week she is supposed to do all six (of course, in addition to performing all the songs with the women's show choir). So if at all possible, we'll try to make it to Opelika next week, too. (Enterprise, keep a car back for me, willya?)

Off to get ready for church.

A few memories and thoughts about Mom

Mom fought a hard fight, and was the "miracle lady" to survive as long as she did. Three years ago, when I ran her doctor out of her room who told her she was going to die in that hospital bed, my dad could not cook, clean, wash clothes, or even dress himself. He's color-blind, and wears a suit seven days a week, so you can imagine the possibilities. Mom used to shake her head over things that he thought looked good together. I truly believe that the reason she lived as long as she did was because she knew Dad would be even more lost than he is today had she died then.

Those two loved each other so much. Mom once told Dad that she wouldn't marry him if he was the last man on earth, something I bet they told me a million times. Just three weeks short of making their 50th wedding anniversary, she obviously changed her mind many years ago, and my brother and I, and my wife and Mom's six grandchildren are glad she did.

Mom supported Dad in so many ways, but she also had a way of keeping Dad grounded. Dad told some old stories while we were there looking at pictures, some of which I had heard many times, and others that were new to me. One story he told couldn't help but make me laugh. Dad was giving a speech one day at one of his conventions, and he thought he did a pretty good job. Mom had traveled to the convention with him, and at the end of the speech, he received a standing ovation. (Dad later said that it didn't hurt that he was their boss, and that "might've" had something to do with it.)

Anyway, after the speech, he and Mom went to lunch together, and Dad--feeling his oats, looked over at Mom and told her, "You know, there aren't that many great speechmakers in the world."

Without batting an eye, Mom looked at him and said, "And there's one less than you think there is."

That was Mom, keeping the equilibrium where it should be. Mom and Dad have lived a modest life, never having much money, but plenty to make them happy. When she survived the April, 2006 hospital stay, Dad told her that they could do anything she wanted--he asked her if she wanted to go to Paris or Italy, or anywhere, and they could. Of course, she was on oxygen and traveling anywhere was an ordeal, but she told him that she was happy being right where she was. And she was.

Mom loved Kentucky basketball, and as we did our moving from Kentucky, her love for the Wildcats didn't stop. Some of the logistics became difficult following them--living in Mobile, and finding radio reception for games was troublesome, having the rare televised game in the early to mid 1970's was like finding gold. Mom and Dad were polar opposites when it came to being a Kentucky fan--Mom was patient, never gave up (she and I would watch the 31-point comeback; Dad calls it a UK loss when they fall behind in a game, turns the game off, walks out of the room--and then returns). They were a perfect yin and yang.

The story I remember most about Mom and Kentucky basketball was when we lived in Mobile. The year that Adolph Rupp retired, Kentucky was struggling with "new" coach Joe B. Hall, and one of the Mobile Press Register sportswriters wrote a column that said, "Rupp is gone, and so are the Wildcats."

Mom cut out the article and saved it--she knew she would need it, and showing her patience, sure enough, the Wildcats rallied and won the Southeastern Conference. She wrote a letter to the newspaper and told the writer he was right--"Rupp is gone, and so are the Wildcats....straight to the NCAA tournament as SEC champions."

They published her letter in the paper and I think it embarrassed her. She never wanted fanfare; that wasn't why she wrote the letter--but her husband and children were proud of that letter.

I could tell so many stories--we all have them of our Moms and Dads, I know. So many good memories.

As most of you know, I have five children, a rather large family in today's times, and it comes with the price of a very busy lifestyle. I wished we had time to visit more with Mom and Dad, and I wished we lived close enough where she could've visited more with us. Several years ago, I thought about calling Mom one night as I drove to teach the Tuesday night law school class I teach, and did. It's about a 30-40 minute trip. The next week I made the same call. And for almost every Tuesday night after that, we had the same tradition. My brother would laugh about Mom running him off the phone--"It's Tuesday night, and Darrell will be calling," she would tell him.

Mom would "take notes" of our phone conversations--she would tell me about Dad and work (he's 74, and still working), my brother Ray and his little boy Casey, and I would go down the list and tell her about the week's activities with all five of my children. She was so, so proud of her grandchildren--and would've been if they never accomplished anything. After Dad arrived home, she would take those notes, and relive our telephone conversation with him.

Mom never minded that I was in a car, with the cell phone occasionally dropping, or an occasional child or my wife calling in where I'd have to take that call. It worked so well with my busy life that often if I found myself in a car for 20-30 minutes, I'd make a call to her. In fact, while I was taking care of a few minor errands before leaving town for her funeral, I thought of something I wanted to tell Mom, and instinctively reached for my phone to call her. I bet I'm going to do that a million times.

Since Mom went to the hospital, I've either been there, or have called daily to check on her. I often spoke with my brother, who was probably a little more accurate on giving me the straight scoop than my Dad, who was often around my Mom after she arrived back at home, and probably wanted to stay optimistic the entire time.

I've been emotionally preparing for what happened this week for almost three years, knowing the ultimate outcome would be what it was. I called Mom Monday night--the last week or so, it was really calling Dad, as she was weak and slept a lot--and during the conversation with my Dad, she woke up before I ended it, and told me she loved me. I told her I loved her.

That was the last thing I ever heard her say, and the last thing she ever heard me say. It wouldn't matter-we know our family's love is strong--but I'm still glad I called Monday night before she died. I'm also glad I spent six days with her in the hospital right before she came home. Losing Mom, it's hard to appreciate all the blessings we truly had, some of these among them. Not too many people are fortunate enough to know and be able to cherish those moments.

Thanks for letting me write just a little about Mom. As Dad told his preacher and my brother and I, if she's not in heaven in a better place, there's not much chance for the rest of us.

God bless us all. He blessed my life with my Mom for all 48 of my years.