days gone by...

I'm trying out this new widget thingy on my computer.  Apparently I can type this and then post it whenever I sign online later...so I can take more time with my posts or something.  Technology!

falling in love, it's a revelation...

It's another beautifully dreary day and again I find myself at work. Surrounded by the aroma of coffee and some other aroma which I'm not really sure what it is, but I know I don't like it. In fact I've been trying to track it to its source with my nose but I can't quite pin it down. It's been bothering me.
Anyway this week has been slower than most. I say that in a good way. I've really been in need of some time to slow down. Everything was so crazy for awhile and it's great to finally stop and breathe...especially now that spring is in the air. I love spring...it's nature's great do-over. If nature can have a do-over can't I? Why do we waste our time with New Year's resolutions? Everything is so dreary that time of year there's no way you're going to stick by your word, but spring resolutions, that's a great idea. If we made our resolutions in the spring we would be more apt to keep them, at least I would.
I'm falling in love again...in love with Marisol, in love with Joel, in love with life itself. I've never been out love with any of those things I'm just being drawn into a deeper appreciation of what it all means. I'm in love...

it was a good thing the donkey talked...

"So it was a good thing the donkey talked?"
"Yes, it was a good thing."

That was the conversation I had with a woman at Signs of Life this morning. She was asking me about the name of our coffee club, the Talking Donkey Club. I shared with her the story of the prophet Balaam (Numbers 22:21-41) and how his donkey had to warn him about the angel of the Lord blocking his path. It got me thinking that it's a good thing to open our mouths. It's good to help other people see what sometimes they can't see. I know that I've benefited from conversations with people or books I've read in which I've been told something that on my own I wasn't able to see. Sometimes we get so caught up in our daily routine that we miss what's right in front of us. We miss the budding of trees signaling the hope of spring just around the corner...we miss the smiles on the faces of others that are meant to show us that the world isn't out to get us...we miss out on life.
Mari and I have been talking about life lately and it convinces me more and more that my faith is absolutely necessary. My choice is between faith in a loving God who in turn teaches me to love others or in an empty nothingness...a life that lacks meaning or purpose...if I don't have faith then what am I living for? Why do I bother working or going to school or anything? Thinking about a life without faith scares me. I don't know if fear is a good starting place for faith, but I prefer the hope of faith to the fear of a life without faith.

why does it always rain on me?

This is about the quintessential day for working at a coffee shop. The world outside these doors is a beautiful gray and in the air you can sense that the rain is just taking a quick break before it starts up again. The world outside is cold and dreary, and here I am in the shelter of my warm coffeeshop. I'm safe from the elements outside in here with a couple of good books and the smell of espresso beans filling the air. Yes, days like today are why I love working in a coffeeshop. It's been really slow today too so I've been able to take my sweet time with the orders I have taken and I've had time to enjoy my books. Anyway I guess I'll get back to reading I just had to take sometime to reflect on the beauty that is a rainy day...

thoughts on being a unknown rockstar....

Man, the setbacks. are a rocking band! I know it sounds like I'm bragging (and I am and I should probably stop), but we were shut down by the cops for the second time in our short career today! In a short span of four songs John broke a drumstick, Bryan nearly fried his amp, I just about blew out my voice from screaming so much and the cops shut us down! It's practices like that that make me glad I'm in a band! This is all I want to do with my life!

you say it's your birthday...well, it's my birthday too yeah!

Well, Mari's birthday went off without a hitch. I was worried that I would screw things up or mess her day up somehow, but I don't think I did. I did opt to buy her a cake instead of making her one. I decided that making her breakfast and serving it to her in bed was good enough. Timing worked out just right too. I was able to finish burning off the CD with the compilation and my new song on it just in time to pick her up from school. It was great to surprise her with that song! Our whole Lawrence posse drove to Topeka and ate at the Olive Garden (her favorite restaurant). The funniest thing was Adam spoiled my gift for her! He blurted out in the car that we went shopping for a bike for her! Oh well, I think she was expecting it anyway. After the Olive Garden we ate my cake from Target and opened presents. It was really great day and I'm just glad she enjoyed herself. She even went wild and ordered a strawberry daiquri at the Olive Garden. She wasn't carded (one of the perks of having a kid...people think you're old). Um, I'm tired of typing so that's everything for now.

valentine's day and other thoughts...

So Valentine's Day has come and gone. Mari and I celebrated at home. I made her a candlelight dinner and we attempted to drink a bottle of wine. I say attempted because we quit drinking it after the first glass. My first wine experience was disappointing to say the least. We had a $15 bottle of Merlot and it tasted like crap. Oh well we had some back-up lingonberry sparkler in the fridge to save the day. Nothing like drinking something from the motherland (Sweden, that is). Mari was a sweetheart and she bought me a new wallet since my old one was falling apart (it was tearing at the seams from all those fat wads of cash I carry around!) Ha, that makes me laugh!
Anyway now I'm looking ahead to Mari's birthday. She turns 21 on Wednesday. I'm taking her to the Olive Garden to celebrate with our merry old gang of friends here in Lawrence. I spent the majority of this afternoon recording a song for her. It was a song I wrote for her for Valentine's Day 2003. It was probably one of the most satisfying recording experiences I've had in awhile. I'm starting to enjoy recording with just Adam. We don't always see eye-to-eye, but I feel like we come up with some really interesting ideas of things to do on songs, plus he really pushes me to sing better and get my guitar parts down. I'm putting the song at the end of a compilation CD of love songs that I made for her. I miss the old-fashioned mixtape. It was more of a labor of love. You had to craft each side and determine just how much time you had to fill before it cut off on you. Oh well...
Well, I think that about does it.