A slight modification

For some time now, I've been hoping to do something with the phrase "fixin' to" other than use it as the basis for some now defunct, common e-mail addresses Amanda once shared. We hope to launch "fixin' to," essentially, as a Web site sometime in the near future.
But in the interim, I decided to make some changes to this existing site to bridge the transition the old and the new. Granted, there isn't a lot of traffic on this site, at least not lately, but I'm hoping to change this very soon, posting more often and with a bit more of a theme - Southern culture, my exposure to it and how I'm warm to or turned off by aspects of it.
I'm a native Southerner but I married someone who grew up north of the Mason-Dixon line; scandalous, I know.
You get the idea.
So thanks for stopping by now and look for posts marked "fixin' to" as the core of the new approach. Later!

Revamped!

Since I've taken some steps to increase the potential visibility of this blog, I decided over the past weekend to make it more navigable and catalog every post in some form or fashion, especially the posts which pre-date the label feature's availability.
Speaking of labels, please note the one entitled "essential posts." If you read no other posts on this blog, I'd appreciate you taking the time to read these, even though several are fairly lengthy. There are currently five posts in this folder.
You'll also find I've clarified my About Me info and even dropped a picture of Amanda and I in the profile so you'll know there's a real human behind this. It should also be easier now to follow this blog with the Subscribe feature in a prominent location.
So please enjoy and let me know if you have questions!

Riding the train

OK, a regular viewer of this blog says that sometimes I'm guarded in what I say.
I guess I've heard too many stories about being fired for what you say on your blog and I'm a little leery of that.
I'm not prone to hurt people's feelings typically, unless I'm on some kind of tear about something.
I've been hurt myself and it feels like crap.
But the train known as blogging is pulling out of the station, and it's time this wordsmith jumped fully on board.
I've seen an online magazine where they have a whole bunch of bloggers - from what I could see that's all they do. The famous (infamous?) "dooce" makes a living off hers. The new leadership of the U.S. House of Representatives held a specific "press" conference for bloggers.
The future is here and it's high time we acknowledged it.
I don't know what I'm promising except hopefully more frequent posts and possibly developing a real passion for the medium. I want to push the technology envelope! And the unfortunate part of making a name for yourself is promoting yourself, something that is somewhat foreign to me.
But I guess we have to do what we have to do to move forward.
All aboard?

Tick tock

Here's another short entry in my feeble, unofficial attempt to participate in NaBloPoMo.
When we can take a nap on a Sunday after church AND get something done, that's pretty amazing.
I've been feeling pretty good lately after getting to the gym twice this week for the first time in five months.
Working out really makes a difference on all sorts of levels.
I'm up pretty late tonight so I don't know how it's going to work but hopefully I can get up and get in gear in the a.m.

The day and other stuff

I'm trying to loosen up here and splatter my thoughts across the Internet. I'm one of those people who want to be read and seen by the whole world but don't want to make a mess that might take me years to straighten out. You know, like getting dooced or creating other work problems or making a friend mad at me for near perpetuity.
Anyway, please bear with me and keep reading.
We spent some of the day at a friend's child's birthday party. I got the oil changed in Amanda's vehicle. Boy, those oil change places LOVE to upsell you. Of course I didn't go for it.
The girls at the Chinese restaurant smothered Jadyn with attention and love. It was too cute!
After we got settled back in at the house and watched some TIVO'ed stuff. Yes, we love TIVOing stuff. We don't feel chained to the tube and we can actually enjoy certain shows and not be tied to a schedule. We're also trying to limit Jadyn's TV intake and get off our butts and do things like exercise and things on the aging to-do list. TIVO is really worth the money.
Then, we took a HUGE nap and we're still running at this late hour without being too tired. OK, I'll speak for myself on that one. I've been averaging five and a half hours of sleep and it's starting to catch up to me.
Got to catch up with someone I haven't talked to in years, seems more like eras.
Watched the movie "Cars." It's great! It's worth a look-see.
Ordering food off the Internet is totally awesome! Get the door. It's Domino's!
So, I was going to blog about something tonight and I forgot what that was.
I've got a Roofus blog in mind for sometime later this month.
OK, for those of you who talk to me in person, this probably looks like a normal conversation with me. I'm working moving toward that.
Please bear with me.
Oh yes! The blog thought. That's another post. Give me a minute.

Blogging ...

Can be difficult when you know that is this isn't private space but is rather globally distributed at the click of a mouse.
Yet, this is a place to vent, relax and be yourself. Not when you're not entirely sure who you are and whether you wonder if you can or should rely on what you know.
Self-editing can create as many or more problems as not being able to communicate feelings.
But "feelings" are probably not what you stopped by for.
There are a number of things I want to blog about, but am restrained not to do so for now.
Maybe the freedom to write on these subjects will present itself soon.

Iron Bowl
I've been talking to people about how the Alabama-Auburn game in Alabama is more than just a football game. It is, in and of itself, a way of life. This is not just a rivalry between current and former students of a school.
I've watched traffic in Montgomery dwindle to just a handful of people who just happened to be out, or were passing through town, oblivious to the gridiron battle raging somewhere in the state (between Auburn, Tuscaloosa or, at one time Birmingham).
This game's intensity has little to do with its national title implications. These schools could be 3-8 heading into tomorrow, but the game would still mean a great deal.
It has the potiential to be a job-breaker for coaches.
Well, it's almost midnight and we have to be up relatively early in the morning. Later!

My July post in August

I find myself once again trying to reclaim my miniscule readership with another heartfelt apology and a feeble attempt to put something else out there for blogdom.
Bloggers who post infrequently and randomly aren't usually the ones who get noticed. That's not why I'm doing this, is it?
I must say that I do enjoy reading other blogs (Here's a shout out to Amanda Johnson in Texas!) In my blogging, I am attempting a moderate amount of anonymity, so I don't put everything out there. However, frequency and interesting material helps maintain readership.
So here's a rough recap of July. We:

• Continued bonding with a great group of friends who shoulder each other's burdens and really seem to give a rip when the sea gets choppy and got new perspective on what friendship means.
• With lots of help, hauled most of our earthly possessions across town.
• Went through some stuff we hope we never face again. Trust me - this statement covers several events we wouldn't wish on anyone.
• Watched our daughter grow, start forming some basic words and even move toward walking.
• Started walking through some transitional phases of life with some friends and we're hanging in there together.
• Felt like even simple things were hard to accomplish, like communicating and changing a burned-out turn signal bulb.

So far in August, we:

• Wish the Lord would send some rain and turn down the thermostat just a hair.
• Pray for the peace of Jerusalem.
• Hope our daughter will be prepared whether or not conditions improve in her time here on Earth before Jesus' return.
• Finally feel like we're not trying to walk in mud.
• Still think about Chris, Leah and the kids and find it odd to speak of them in the past tense.

That should get things kicked off for the month, except an explanation about the new tagline. While there are some things about the band "Drive-by Truckers" which curl my hair, I will say they sometimes have an uncanny grasp of the truth. What's more, they don't mind sharing it. A co-worker has introduced me to their work, concentrating on their album "Southern Rock Opera." It's an interesting look at Lynyrd Skynyrd, political and racial issues, and the world with and without the band. The line comes from the song "Shut Up and Get on the Plane," which talks matter-of-factly about death. Several band members died in a plane crash in 1977 outside McComb, Miss. The line is relevant to me because overcoming fear of all sorts is a challenge I'm growing regularly toward facing and conquering, by the grace of God.

Been too long!

I probably have lost my entire fan base (made up largely of long-standing friends, family and a few recent arrivals to the fold).
I'm flying solo with Jadyn tonight so I might need to run back in to where she is (also because the first episode of "E-Ring" is on and I got hooked on the show after the first episode aired).
Got to work on the shopping for Amanda too along with a whole host of stuff to do before Christmas.
OK, more soon. I hope.
Fading out to my version of an old Van Halen song:
"Whoa, whoa, whoa, Jadyn's crying... ."

Blogger's Block

I'm off work sick today and I haven't been blogging much because I really haven't thought about how to use this blog as an outlet without venting about work or other stuff that just wouldn't be appropriate for this forum.
So that's why you haven't heard from me lately. We also do our baby updates on another Web site and I like to keep them there.
I also wanted to let some time go by after Rina passed away. While she wasn't someone we were in touch with every day (she resided in the western United States), she checked in with us frequently during Amanda's pregnancy and some afterward. Her death was just so shocking because of her age and we simply just didn't see her as someone who was sickly. I guess it's your time when it's your time.

Christmas list
She's one of four people who would normally get a Christmas letter from us this year who won't be there to get one.
We haven't contacted everyone about Jadyn's birth on our normal Christmas list because we simply haven't had time to generate all the letters needed.
We try to send the letters to people we probably won't see at Christmas, although at least one person who we do see at Christmas has told us to send one anyway. We'll see as we get it together this year.

Treating the ills
I visited a neat practice today to get my medications. A Nigerian-born physician and a nurse practitioner (from the Southeast) have a great little clinic here. They take some different approaches to things and I think it'll actually be fun to go to the doctor. At least it was today.

Yes I AM sick so I'm going to lay down next to the swing (see Jadyn's blog) and keep an ear for her. More later maybe.

What I'm missing

This is a quick note before my wife (and baby) and I go out to eat.
Blogging seems to create a really interesting mish-mash electronic community of people we know in person and are learning about through posts.
My wife, YankeeAmanda, is having a lot of fun at this and I hope to join this crowd a bit more, though I try to keep relatively anonymous so I don't let my opinions get mixed up with my other work.
Most of the people involved in this hodge-podge would probably tell me just to get over myself and have fun.
Hopefully that's what I'll do!