June 15, 2007 – Well, what do you know about that?

Surprisingly, Tammy did not respond the way I had anticipate. I had become completely comfortable with the idea that I would have to replace the pics with the text “unfortunately, the images have been removed at the request of the victim (but eMail me and I’ll send you some better ones),” but she really threw me a curve. She just laughed it off. What a trooper.

As a reward for being such a good sport, here’s an embarrassing pic of me from around the same time, a silly school photo, and another of my adorable little hiney. You’re welcome.

    


And here’s a few more of Tammy, in all her awesome cuteness, including a very rare, seldom seen, photo of Tammy with her very first boyfriend. Adorable, isn’t she?



And here’s a gratuitous photo of Josh (from well before the p@nts fiasco) (ain't he button?).



Hopefully, Tony’s not sitting around worrying that he’s next.

June 14, 2007 – Ah…those were the days…

I’ve been feeling a little nostalgic lately. I’m staying at my parents’ for a week and I’ve been looking through some old pictures from “back in the day.” I’ve been feeling that way for a while. Looking at these pictures was a real eye opener. I got to look back and see myself when I was in shape and easier on the eye. I even found a few pictures of me when I only weighed a buck o’five…and I was 21 years old. And there were quite a few from when I was in the Air Force, back when I was a real stud.

More fun than any of them were the hundreds of pictures of Josh when he was a baby, a cute little toddler making everything seem fun, and a little kid finding fascination just about everywhere he looked. I must have spent 5 hours looking through all these pictures. What a great day.

But I was surprised to realize that my sister, Tammy, has been having that same feelings of nostalgia, too. Now, I’m sure she wouldn’t admit it if you asked her, but I know what I know.

This isn’t to say that she’s not happy with her life or that she’s regretting any decisions. She’s very happy and, as far as I know, she wouldn’t change a thing. But recently she and her husband bought a pool. They’ve put in a lot of time and effort to make it just right. I know this doesn’t seem like a big deal, but there are signs; signs that she’s really reaching for something in her past. I’m her big brother. I can pick up on the signals when no one else can.

Like most people, our childhoods had some good and some bad. And sometimes we hold onto those good times so tightly, we just have to do whatever it takes to relive them. I think everyone reading this can relate, in some way, don’t you?




Cute as a button, wasn't she?

June 11, 2007 – Uh…when did THAT happen?

I had a pretty big epiphany this week. Josh is staying with me for the next 3 weeks and I picked him up on Saturday. He was wearing these…you know…p@nts. I can only describe them as… goth, or something. Now, I guess this seems cool to the kids these days and I totally get that. But so is selfishness and narcissism. And I get that too, but I think it’s a highly inappropriate way to live your life. As are these p@nts. I’m pretty sure I’m going to use them to light the grill sometime this week when we’re grilling out. When I mentioned that, Josh was like, “What?! These p@nts are awesome! They’re…like…totally cool.”

 

As I’m writing this I’ve been thinking about the pros and cons.

Con: You could never out run the cops in these p@nts (a point Michael made), and I’m betting at lease 87.6% of the people who wear them need to at some point.
Pro: If you ever get lost in the wilderness overnight you can use one of the legs as a sleeping bag and the other as a tent.
Con: : I’d imagine these babies greatly limit the number and kind of ch!cks who’d be interested in you.
Pro: You’d never be accused of being a narc at a Korn concert.
Con: Your job opportunities would be severely limited wearing these p@nts. (“Would you like fries with that?”) No way you could show up to a job interview wearing them if you wanted to get the job.
Pro: How sweet would it be to watch someone show up for a job interview wearing those p@nts.
Con: People in public places would just assume you were a punk and stay away from you.
Pro: People in public places would stay away from you.
Con: Your dad would hate them.
Pro: It’s great blog fodder, if your kid shows up wearing them.

But back to my epiphany. When I was Josh’s age I had this thing for heavy metal t-shirts. (I still do, I guess. I’m told my collection of t-shirts is abnormally extensive these days.) But my Dad, a Southern Baptist Preacher…man, he hated them. I remember this one time he said something like, “I’m pretty sure I’m going to use that shirt to light the grill this week when we’re grilling out.” And I was like, “What?! This shirt is awesome! It’s…like…totally cool.” I mean, seriously. I have NO idea why he wanted to burn my shirts. They were awesome and totally cool. But these p@nts...that’s a completely different situation.

Okay, okay, I really do get it. (And props to my Dad for all those years I never understood.) The adults just can’t understand the teenage generation and their ridiculous trends. Dad hated my shirts, I hate Josh’s p@nts, and Josh will hate his kid’s…I don’t know…chin piercing that links to his nipples, ears, elbows and ankle piercings (I mean seriously, it’s gonna have to be weee…eeeeird to top what’s hip with teens today). Well, let’s not kid ourselves…if he’s wearing these pants all the time, he may not even have to worry about little Johnny’s piercings. I mean who’s gonna get close enough to those p@nts to procreate? Then again…the one chick he dated with the hot-pink hair…

June 3, 2007 – Yeah, this is what our founding father’s had in mind.

Maybe it’s just me, but I’m profoundly disappointed by the fact that people in today’s world are far more reverent in a movie theater than they are in a worship service. I resigned myself, long ago, to the fact that in a church as big as the one I attend I’m going to have to deal with people forgetting to turn their cell phones off. Hearing a few ring tones every service may simply mean that some people are just too ignorant or forgetful to pay attention to the 2 12 foot power point projections reminding them before the service starts to turn them off. I’ve even decided to be content to merely roll my eyes when the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th ring tones go off because maybe the previous ring(s) of other phones wasn’t enough to clue them in to make sure their phone is turned off. But it’s getting pretty stinkin’ ridiculous when people answer their phone in the middle of the service and proceed to hold a conversation. And then to think it’s cute, makes it that much worse. I’m even more disappointed that anyone witnessing that happen is not allowed (read “required”) to slap the phone out of the person’s hand and then throw it as hard as they can against the wall.

But today’s service (to coin a phrase) really takes the cake. First, the guy that sat next to me walked to his seat by walking ON the pews between him and the girl sitting at the end of the pew. They had a nice little laugh about it. Luckily, he was wearing sweat shorts and one of those basketball shirts with plenty of holes in it so he didn’t get dehydrated from the exertion. Apparently, all of this made him cool and somehow I missed it.

The people who sat behind me decided that what they had to say about the people they were gossiping about was way more important than singing worship. They talked through the first 2 songs. When the music got louder, they talked louder. At one point they were yelling back and forth like they would at a night club.

When the service started the guy directly behind me put his foot on the back of the pew I was sitting in right next to my head. Not to be outdone, the chick with him put her leg over the pew on the other side of me with the back her knee resting on the top of the pew, so she could bounce her leg. Turning around, cringing and giving a “seriously?” shrugging got me a disgusted look back, but did nothing to resolve the situation. Anything I would have said at that point would have been entirely ungodly. If someone were acting like this in a movie theater, they’d be asked to leave.

I know, I know…typical teenage behavior, right? I totally agree. These people were in there late 30’s or 40’s. The teenage kid with them obviously learned how to act from his other parent/step-parent family unit, because he seemed well-behaved and respectful. And maybe a little embarrassed.

Now, some people who read this are probably thinking, it’s all about grace and we just need to let these things go and focus on our own relationship with Christ. And it’s fine with me if you feel that way. But I’m a dude who is action packed with issues. I need all the church learning I can get. If I’m sitting in the service, trying to get something out of it, but the ridiculousness going on around me is so big I can’t even focus on anything that’s being taught, then odds are, I’m not the only one.

And don’t even get me started on the “me first” fiasco in the parking lot after the service every Sunday.