On St. Patrick

With St. Patrick's day coming up on March 17, I thought I would do something a little different over the couple of weeks leading up to it.

I found a quote from Patrick that is somewhat of a creed. I would like to break it down, line-by-line, introducing a line a day until it's completion on the 17th. It will actually read like a devotional, with the passage from Pat, scripture relating to the passage and then a short commentary about it.

I hope you'll follow along with me and hopefully gain, not only some insights into the life of an incredible man of faith, but maybe some practical applications for your own life.

Join me beginning March 3. And don't forget to leave comments. I'd love for this to lead to some good dialogs.

And I thought the guys were a let down...

Watching Idol last night, I was so disappointed with the girls. It was the night of the bad song selection. Standouts for me were Carly Smithson (the Irish girl - duh!) and Brooke White, with her Carly Simon cover. Both chose songs that really fit them, IMHO.

Carly made me nervous when I heard the intro to "Crazy on You" by Heart, but she tore it up. Brooke had a few low notes that were a bit of a problem, but otherwise the song flowed from her quite naturally.

It's still way up in the air, but I think David Archuleta has a really good chance of winding up on top.

We'll see...

I am a blessed father

My daughter is amazing.

(I know -- I've bragged about her before, but I can't help myself)

I'll never forget when, at the age of about 1 year (before she could talk), Molly would sing along with familiar melodies on the radio, matching pitch perfectly. Then within the next couple of years, she was writing her own songs on the piano.

At 8 years, we asked her if there was an instrument that she would like to learn to play. She quickly responded, "The violin!" A short time later, we just happened to stop at a yard sale where they had two "her-sized" violins for sale. That was the best $75 dollars we ever spent.

She is now a second-year violin performance major at University of West Florida. She has aspirations of getting her Masters and most likely a doctorate. But in the mean time:

- She is a member of the Northwest Florida Symphony Orchestra (NSFO)
- She is a provisional member of the Pensacola Symphony Orchestra (PSO)
- She is the volunteer director of the strings program for inner-city kids at the Belmont Arts Center in Pensacola
- She is making a living (no, really) with her orchestra gigs (including the Pensacola Opera), playing for weddings, corporate events, etc. and teaching private violin lessons.

We got to see her play with the NSFO on Friday night. Wonderful.

Saturday night, Molly and I went out for dinner and then spent some time at Starbuck's. That's the first time we've been able to spend time together, just the two of us since I-don't-know-when. It was great. We mostly talked and theorized about "Lost".

Beth and I prayed for it, and now we're witnessing the fact that she is going to be ready (at least from a practical sense) for us to move away. It won't be easy, but knowing that she is becoming a gracious and responsible young woman makes it tolerable.

Love you, Molly. We're proud to be known as "Molly's parents".

From Empty Nester to AARP

Woo hoo! It finally arrived! My AARP card!

It was bad enough when at 38 I realized I needed reading glasses. I'm now 46, our daughter is out living on her own, so we've had an empty nest for about 6 months.

I'm okay with all that. But today I received in the mail a true, honest-to-goodness AARP membership card with application. AARP is for citizens aged 50 and older. Please -- let me have my 4 years! I plan to be on top of the hill at least that long.

But you know, there are some pretty good benefits...

Hmmm...

U23D

Wow. What a great show.

We went to see it last night with our pastor and his wife. Those guys (U2) are amazing (so are you, Robert and Vicki). If you are any kind of a U2 fan - go!