Betrayal

Every sane person who lives within driving distance of a Chik-fil-A restaurant knows that it is truly a superb fast-food chicken spot. I've recently started the dreaded task of calorie counting, etc. in an effort to loose 21 pounds by mid September (this is the amount that sparkpeople.com says I should lose to get to my healthy weight). This feels fairly daunting, but I know I need to commit to it and stay committed. However, today I was looking on the Chik-fil-A website to see what whether the chicken salad sandwich and small coleslaw that I brought home for dinner tonight would send me into the red. I know you're all probably saying, "Seriously, Adrienne? You brought home the chicken salad sandwich and you're trying to count calories. OK, maybe not my brightest moment today. Yes, I know it has mayo in it. Fortunately I looked before I ate the whole sandwich. I had already downed the coleslaw (too hungry to wait and see how damaging it would be), but I'd only eaten half the sandwich. Good thing since the sandwich is 500 calories and 20 fat grams, so I've put the other half in the frig and hopefully Stan will play disposal later so it won't tempt me. I ate the coleslaw knowing it wasn't going to be really low in calories, but I thought it wouldn't be too bad. Wrong. 370 calories in that stupid small coleslaw and 32, let me say it again, 32 fat grams in that tiny little cup. Are you kidding me CFA??? You remember that old song from the nineties "Killing me Softly"? That's what I felt like singing in dramatic fashion after this bitter discovery. So, what has been learned from this incident? You cut me deep, Chik-fil-A. You cut me deep. I feel betrayed, but I know I've only betrayed myself with remaining ignorant to these harsh truths. But no more. Innocence is lost. I've exceeded my caloric intake goal for the day by 90 something calories, but I did run 2 miles and walk 2 miles, so I'm hopeful that will help. Chik-fil-A, fool me once, shame on you; fool me twice, shame on me.

Our Triathlete!

On Saturday Olivia participated in the Splash Pedal Dash. It was a fun mini/pseudo triathalon for kids. They started by climbing a 20 foot water slide and sliding down into water sprayers and then they had to get their shoes on and helmet and then they biked for 1/2 a mile and then they ran for 1/4 a mile. Quite a feat for a girl who's not quite five years old! We were so proud of her. She went down the slide without an ounce of fear, and then Stan ran with her during the 1/2 mile bike ride and then I ran with her for the 1/4 mile foot race. Her finish time was 9:58, and she was beaming when she finished---and huffing pretty heavily, too! She had a few moments while biking and running when she was discouraged, but she never gave up and she just kept going. This was a really neat event, and if you're local, check this event out next year for your kids. It's sponsored by the rec department and Camden Bicycle Shop. Really neat, and honestly ridiculously cute. Here are some pictures.

A Spontaneous Trip to the Beach

We sometimes miss seeing large open rolling fields, farm country, mountains, any kind of hills for that matter, Buuuuuuuut, we LUUUUUUUV being so close to the beach! Yesterday afternoon when Stan came home from work at 4:20 Olivia said, "We wanna go to the beach!" and Stan sweetly said, "Sure! Let's do it!" So we quickly made a picnic dinner, got dressed, piled into Jo-Jo, put the top down and headed south on 17 to Fernandina Beach. It was an absolutely glorious late afternoon visit to the beach. Just perfect! I said to Stan as we ate ice cream at Dairy Queen after we left the beach, "I feel like I've been on a little vacation." That's the great thing about the beach being so close. We do feel like we can slip away on a little mini vacay whenever we have a free morning or afternoon. Stan and I first ate at that Dairy Queen in the May of 1992 when I was 15 and he was 16. His sister, Karen, who was a couple years older, was staying at a condo on S. Fletcher (A1A) on the beach front with several other friends since it was Prom weekend. We were both too young to go to the Junior/Senior Prom, so we were hanging out at the beach instead. I remember walking out on the pier by the condos overlooking the ocean with him in the moonlight, and I don't remember a lot of the details of that conversation, but that was the night that I really remember falling for him. I had had a crush on Stan since I was in 7th grade, but there was something significant about the intimacies shared that night that changed my feelings from just a crush to admiration and respect. Somehow it was a turning point, and I'll never forget that night--at least in fuzzy details with a warm glow around it--even the trip to the DQ to get blizzards! :)

Benjamin turned 2!

It hardly seems possible that it has been 2 years since we brought Benjamin home from the hospital. These days have flown past and it makes me want to do a better job at cherishing the present moments. His birthday was April 9th, so we had a small family celebration on the official date, and then when we went to Mom and Dad's for Stan's spring break we had a shared birthday part with his cousin Jonathan, or BoBo as Benjamin often likes to call him, much to Jonathan's chagrin ("Me no Bobo!") Jonathan turned 3 on April 20th, so we partied together to celebrate them both. It was a fun time. One funny experience I had with Benjamin while we were at Mom and Dad's was when he looked up at a picture on the bathroom wall and pointed at it and said, "Bobo!" I looked up and there was a picture of an angel cherub with curly golden/brown hair. Jonathan has curly hair just like that angel cherub, and I smiled and said, "Yeah, that does look like Bobo, doesn't it?" Then Benjamin laughed and pointed again and said, "Bobo's hiney!" The cherub, as most cherubs are, was barely dressed at all and just had a silk scarf only partly covering up his hiney cheeks, and Benjamin thought it was hysterical that Nonny and Cocky had a picture of Bobo with his hiney showing! :) How funny. :)

Easter Weekend '09

We had a wonderfully full Easter weekend complete with two egg hunts, sunrise service on the St. Mary's River and Easter celebration services at church. My favorite part of the weekend was the sunrise service. I woke the kids up at 5:45, bundled them in sweatshirts and pants and drove to St. Marys where we had the service at the waterfront park. I haven't been to a sunrise service since before Olivia was born, and it has always been one of my favorite parts of Easter, so it was great to finally go back to this special tradition. We set out a blanket and Stan and I set up chairs. The kids rolled around on the blanket through much of the service and periodically climbed into our laps to get warmed up under blankets, but it wasn't that cold and the sunrise was lovely. There were sand gnats there, of course. It is St. Marys, and where there is marsh, there are sand gnats. But it felt like it had been ages since I got to sit with my whole family during a worship service and I just enjoyed the intimacy of that--sharing in that time or worship together as participants rather than leaders. Some one played a bell solo, never one of my favorite things exactly, but he did a wonderful job, nonetheless. I just always feel like Easter morning needs brass. The bell solo of Christ the Lord is Risen Today just didn't pack the punch I was anticipating, but we were jubilant in spirit, regardless and we enjoyed the service together. Here are some pictures from the weekend.

Zoo trip with Noah's Ark

Every spring we take a trip to the Jacksonville Zoo with Olivia's preschool class, and the Friday in April we went for the morning, and it was a perfect day for the zoo. Sweet Miss Tracy, her teacher, walked around the zoo with us and we all talked about each animal we saw. I think the most interesting thing we saw was the new exhibit with the Komodo dragons--renamed by us "The biggest lizards we've ever seen!". We enjoyed a picnic lunch with classmates and other mommies and then we headed home. It was a fun morning. The Jacksonville Zoo never disappoints.

A Weekend with the Atkinson Family

The last weekend in March was Stan's 8th grade band trip to Orlando, but in Stan's absence, I had the wonderful privilege of keeping my nephews, David and Jonathan, for the night while their mom and dad had a night away! Then on Saturday, they returned and stayed with us through Sunday. It was a fun time. It would've been an amazingly fun time if it weren't for the fact that Olivia and I were both a bit sicky. Carrie Beth and Brad saved me on Saturday and Sunday. It would've been an extremely difficult weekend without them there to help out. I was very grateful for them. Sunday morning, I had to lead worship since Stan was out of town, and with Olivia having flu-like symptoms and Benjamin still not well from his strep throat, it would've been really hard with out them. We had fun inspite of the sickness, and the Atkinsons were real troopers putting up with all of us sickies. Here are some pics from our fun weekend. We went to Lowes on Saturday to participate in the kids workshop, and sweet Aunt CB had brought stuff for the kids to dye eggs.

Deep, Rich Layers

This weekend was our church Easter cantata. We had it on Palm Sunday afternoon because it was a joint effort with the First Presbyterian church's choir and we had to find a time that would be good for both congregations. The cantata is called "The Risen Christ" and it was marvelous! The words are so rich and powerful, and the orchestration was beautiful. There was also a DVD that played throughout that had segments of video from the movie based on the book of Matthew. The combination of the moving video footage and the powerful orchestration and the meaningful lyrics made for quite a marvelous experience. We praise the Lord for being so present throughout the time of preparation that led up to Sunday's ministry performance and His spirit was very close during the cantata as well. Stan had worked so hard and I was very proud of what a fabulous job he did leading us. We were very grateful to have Mary and Stan sr. come, and it was also a treat to have my parents and grandparents come. Dad said afterwards he was grateful it hadn't lasted any longer because he was afraid he might have dehydrated from all the crying he was doing. Sweet Daddy. Mom then mentioned that for her, the cantata's impact was magnified because of all the layers of feelings and memories she had sitting there in the pew. She was thinking about how she had been a little girl in that church. Her parents, Billy and Sunshine Key, who were sitting next to her, had pastored there at SMUMC back in the late 50's when she was in elementary school. Now she was watching one of her daughters and son-in-law lead in worship in this church she had worshipped in as a little girl, and Olivia, her grandaugther sat next to her--not too much younger than she had been when they came to St. Marys all those years ago. Deep, rich layers of memories. I was reminded of these layers today when we went to our downtown community Holy Week church service. These Holy Week services are held in our little white chapel every day during Holy Week, and today as I sat in the choir loft during the service, Olivia sat next to me. This little picturesque white chapel was all there was to SMUMC when Mimi and Poppy and Mom and her sister and brothers came to St Marys. So that's where Poppy preached most of the time he was there. I believe they either began building the present sanctuary while he was there or completed it, but most of his preaching was done in that little white chapel. So as I sat up there in the choir loft with Olivia by my side, I couldn't help but wonder how many times my own mom probably sat next to her mom, Mimi, in that same choir loft--looking out of the old glass pane windows onto the lawn of the church--windows shaded by the old huge live oak tree covered in Spanish moss. Deep, rich layers. I'm very grateful for the deep, rich layers within my family's Christian heritage, but this Holy Week, I'm reminded of the deep, rich layers all of us have as children of the King of kings. We all are so blessed to call him, our Savior, Abba, Father!

A Dream Realized

Some of you may know that Stan's freshman year of college was at Valdosta State University. It wasn't until his sophomore year that he began at Asbury College, but during that freshman year, Stan met an amazing trombone player and a great friend, Steve Pruitt. Steve became a musical mentor of sorts to Stan and as they got to know eachother, Steve began introducing Stan to some really interesting musicians. I think that it would be fair to say that Steve opened up some new musical doors for Stan by introducing him to these new and varied artists. Now, I have to say that some of these artists are more than just "out there" some have jumped off the limb and are diving into insanity--such as a group called "News for Lulu". I could do without hearing them again. However, there was one trombone player that Steve got Stan hooked on named Ray Anderson, and I must say that I had never heard anything like him before and that I also came to really love this guy's music. 15 years later, Stan has continued following this guy's musical progression as have I. He has always talked about wishing he could see him perform live and went so far as to find out his tour schedule only to be disappointed. Ray seems to only tour in Europe and play in New York. Since we've never had lots of dough sittin' around to fly to Stockholm or NYC to see him play, it has seemed to be an elusive dream. Until Monday. A few weeks before Stan's birthday, which is March 8th, I was doing some searching on-line to see if any of his favorite bands/artists were playing anywhere closeby, hoping I could surprise him with some tickets for his birthday. I had no success, and although I generally had given up checking Ray's website, for some reason I did. I found out that he was playing on March 30th at USF in Tampa, FL! Wow! I was so excited, but then I realized it would not work out, because Stan would be arriving home at midnight on the 29th after a long, hard weekend trip to Disney World/Epcot/Universal with his 8th grade middleschool band. I thought, "There's no way that will work out with him being so exhausted, him having to take more days off...etc." So a day or so passes after I discover this information, and I said to him, "Have you looked at Ray's site lately?" He said, "Yeah! I'm thinking about going down there on the 30th!" I said, "Really? Even after just getting back so late the night before?" He says, "I'm thinking this could be a once in a lifetime opportunity. I don't think I can miss it." We didn't talk much about it again, but I sensed he wasn't giving this one up, and sure enough, he got back a little after midnight Sunday night, and when he got up to to go work on Monday morning, he said, "I'll be home at lunch. I've taken half a day today and a whole day off tomorrow. Let's go to Tampa!" So after some quick work on Hotwire and ticketmaster to secure a hotel and tickets, we were on our way by 1pm. We got there around 4:45 and had time for dinner at the hotel before we headed to the university for the concert. We got there at 7:15 even though it didn't begin until 8, and we were the first ones in the door at 7:30. As soon as we walked in, Olivia started giggling because she could hear Ray and the USF jazz band warming up in the back and they sounded wild, burping, screeching animals back there. We sat down and before we were in our seats a minute, Stan said, "I'm going back stage. I've got to talk to this guy." I said, "What are you doing? What do you mean? You can't just walk back there can you?" Stan said, "I've waited too long not to give it a try at least." I have to say when I saw my husband walk up on stage and waltz through those backstage curtains without one single worry of who might say what to him, I was pretty proud of him! That took some guts. I said a quick prayer for him as he made his way back there. And about ten minutes later, he popped his head out from behind one of the curtains and signaled for me to come with the kids and to bring the camera! So we all raced up there and had a wonderful sweet moment of introduction with this guy whom Stan and I both have come to admire musically. I told him how I had used his music in my English classroom as a journal starter. I remember specifically using "Damaged but Good" and "Don't Mow Your Lawn", both of which provide lots of room for good discussion within the classroom." He was so happy to hear that, and when I asked if I could take the picture, as you'll see in the pictures below, he hugged Stan like he was his brother. It was truly such a great moment. We don't in anyway want to seem as if we idolize this fellow, but there is such joy that comes from finally meeting someone who has challenged and inspired my husband in the world of music. He is truly one of a kind. A world-class musician, and he was so approachable and friendly. He spoke with Olivia and Benjamin and said, "Boy you guys are gonna have a late night tonight! Are you up for it?" Olivia smiled and nodded her head and Benjamin just stared with fascination at his trombone gleaming in the dim lights back stage. After we got back to our seats, I asked Stan how it had been talking with him, and he said, "Just great." He told him he'd driven a long way and waited a long time to see him perform and he didn't want to miss having the opportunity of meeting him and shaking his hand and telling him how much his music had impacted him. They chatted a while and then Ray said that Stan could meet them afterwards at a restaurant if he was interested. Wow! Stan said, "Well, I told him, of course, I couldn't do that since I was here with my family." And I said, "What??? Of course you'll meet him at the restaurant! Just dump us at the hotel and go!" He said, "Really?" I said, "Absolutely!!" He said, "I'll have to try to find out afterwards where they're meeting." Then the concert began and we had that awesome sort of experience where you feel like you're sitting with an old friend, even though you've never physically met this guy before. As soon as he opened his mouth, and as soon as he put his lips to his trombone, I wanted to say, "Yeah! I know you! You've been performing in my home for the last decade or so and oh my word, now I'm sitting less than 10 feet from you as you perform live." It was mindboggling and it was obvious that my husband was completely gah-gah. He was hanging on every note and loving it all. Olivia was blown away by it. I had tried to warn her it was going to be loud, but when they started the first number, she immediately clamped her hands over her ears, and at one point when he really got into some of his more crazy "ray-like" stuff, she leans over and whispered a little too loudly, "This isn't music!" :) Oh, but it is, and it is amazing! I had to go out with Benjamin during one song, but he and Olivia both were remarkably well-behaved. I put a jacket on the ground and he eventually fell asleep down there during the next to last number. I left feeling so energized and uplifted simply by his exuberance for his craft. Watching him play with such utter abandon. You know the old phrase, "Dance as if no one is dancing..." Ray Anderson perfectly exemplifies this concept. There is a beauty in his wild ways and when he plays it often sounds like he is talking through his horn to the audience. Afterwards, Stan waited in line to get his autograph, just in case he weren't able to see him at the restaurant, and then he drove us to the hotel and left us while he zoomed over to this meeting place. He only stayed briefly because there was a large group of people who knew one another and who did not know him, but he stayed long enough to thank Ray and talk again briefly with him about what his music has meant to him. He also talked with Tom Brantley, the jazz director at USF, and he thanked him for arranging to have Ray Anderson come. What a night! And if you've ever been with someone who has had their dream realized, it is a magical experience. There's hardly anyway to explain it. I praise the Lord for this wonderful opportunity and that my husband was silly enough and impractical enough to say, "Why not??? Let's do it!" Maybe this will encourage you to consider not giving up on dreams planted in your heart. We just never know when and how they might be fulfilled! What a blessing! What a joy!