Just came back from outer space...

First a couple weeks went by and then it quickly became several months since my last post.  Summer "vacation" is already more than half over and I still feel like there is a lot left to do until the school year starts back up in August.  Anyone else feel time is speeding up?

So what has been going on??

Wife spent 3 weeks on the outer banks for the National Park Service.  While I was out there with her we enjoyed some good seafood and time on the beach.  It's pretty cool to drive down a road and see water surrounding you on both sides.  My current facebook profile pic best describes the overall vibe on the outer banks I think....

So once back from N.C., we did some home improvements (...fun fun fun...).  Painted my office a cool blue/grey color and remodeled the master bathroom.  Really - why would someone want carpet in the bathroom in the first place?  Spent more money at Ikea for square-shaped things that hold other things.

But after finishing house work we finally got a new TV!  This was about month or so ago.  Went with a 42" LG LED.  So far, so good...but we only had local stations, so not too many channels.  Today we had an HD cable box installed, so we're back to "regular" cable and have a decent amount of HD channels now.  Finally I have my 24-hr news, sports, music and other crap again!  For the last 5 years we've had this old Sharp that I'm pretty sure my youngest brother found on the curb of a street.  He went through a phase of finding "street TVs" as we called them.

Oh, let me see, what else.  I got a T-Dap shot after stepping on an old rusty nail.  A horrible sinus infection caused me to go to the doctor's for the first time in almost a decade.  Recently just got over that.  Saw Clapton with Daltrey as the opener earlier this month.  I could tell Clapton really, really liked the strat he was playing.  He was just on that night.  Probably the best I've heard him.  Man, if I can even come close to play like that when I'm 60-something I'd consider myself very lucky.  He's still playing better than most.

So let's just jump to right now.  Right now I'm practicing songs for a wedding gig this weekend.  Everything from Otis Redding to Paul Simon to Grateful Dead to Kool & the Gang.  I was just listening to this live recording of the Dead doing "They Love Each Other."  Man I hate to say it, but sometimes Jerry was just on and other times he kinda stumbled around.  This is one of those stumbling moments unfortunately...but he hangs on and picks it up toward the end.  So 'A' for effort I'd say.  Anyway, the couple asked for this song specifically, but not just that...they also wish for their friend to sing the song with our band and also play lead guitar.  Hey, that's fine with me.  Should be fun, I might try playing some keys on it.  :)

Well, time to head out and teach some youngsters gee-tar.  Yee-haw!