December 5, 2005

  • Christmas Decorating Time

    We usually start our Christmas decorating right after Thanksgiving but this year we waited another week so the dust could settle from having a house full of people.  I also thought it might be a good idea to wait until my brother had headed back to Iraq so he would not have the pulls on his heart strings that are associated with the season.  Our mother made Christmas a very special time each and every year of our lives.  One of her many hobbies was painting ceramics.  There are many brown and black ceramic hound dogs that she painted curled up in a ball laying on the floor in the homes of friends and family.

     

    Over the years she painted many ceramic houses and shops for a Christmas village that would be set up in the dining room.  The display was spread out over two eight foot tables and included a working skating rink, a choo-choo train and everything you would expect in a quaint mountain village at Christmas time.  It was always a lot of work to set up but it was worth it to her so her grandchildren could ooh and aaah at the detail in each piece.

     

    As for our house, we have divided the tasks up the same for the last 24 years.  My job has been to put the lights on the tree and decorate the outside of the house.  We graduated from live trees to an artificial one around 10 years ago.  I would wrap each and every limb with strand after strand of lights and the better half would put on the ornaments.  Thank you Walmart for making my job easier by providing a tree last year that you take out of the box and plug in.  Lights, Tree, Action and my job inside is done.

     

    We have accumulated many strands of lights for the outside of the house over the years which has added to the “fun” that me and the boys have had.  Each year the chore of putting up the lights outside has become more and more how can I say this, NOT FUN!!!  I have struggled with my attitude about this and found myself wanting to procrastinate which led to the lights getting up later and later in the year.

     

    This year as the youngest J and I were dragging our bottoms outdoors last Saturday and  he said “Dad, we aren’t going to put the lights up around the tree trunks this year are we?”.  I have dreaded that part of the job each and every year.  We would wrap 6 or 7 trees with 15 or 20 strands of lights as high up as 15 or 20 feet.  When it came time to take those lights down each year, I was tempted to take a machete and cut them off.

     

    I realized that his level of frustration with that task was equal to mine.  I thought about his question for a minute or so and asked myself, “self, who is putting up the lights outside the house?” .  My answer to myself that it was my son and I.  I made a decision that has not come back to bite me yet and declared, “We are not going to wrap the trees this year”.  There was so much freedom in making this statement that I leapt with joy.  Jay got a smile on his face and said “YES”.  All of a sudden the job of putting up the lights outside became something we actually wanted to do.

     

    You see, we were wrapping the trees because the better half liked it.  We both decided that if “Mom” wanted lights around the trees that she could put them up herself.  Not in an “in your face” way, but in a polite one. 

     

    We used only white lights this year and the yard is amazing.  Cyndie bought an angel and a white tree for the yard after the holidays last year and they look great along side the rain deer we have had for some time now.

     

    I learned a great lesson last weekend that bleeds over into each aspect of my life.  If I am having trouble getting motivated about something I have to do to, simply ask myself what is it about the task that I am not wanting to do and evaluate the value of said task in the overall project.  Funny thing is that I told this story to a manager at work and he said that he loves wrapping lights around trees.

     

    When we ran out of time on Saturday, we had done more than we have in many years.  And to think that we still have 3 tubs full of lights that could still be put up.  We may put up some more before Christmas but there are enough up right now so that you could go out into my next door neighbor’s yard and read a book by the light coming from my yard.

December 1, 2005

  • R&R Over and Done

    So my brother is on his way back to Iraq and our household is quiet again.  We got to spend a quantity of quality time together and he got to spend the same with his daughters.  This visit back in the states was the best yet for him and the family as well.  We had lunch yesterday before I took him to the airport and now my heart is sad that he is gone but I am relieved he is headed back to work.


     


    The best thing about this visit is that he did what he said he was going to do when he said he was going to do it.  This may not sound like much but it really is.  He finished his motorcycle training class, got his license and rode his bike straight and sober.  Again, this may not sound like anything substantial but for Johnny, it says a lot.  Being in Iraq for 18 months has given him a chance to do some major growing.  He went to church with us both Sundays he was here and even put some money in the collection plate on his own with no coaxing whatsoever.


     


    God really has his heart and the two daughters he has state side have made a difference in his life.  I am so glad to be of service to him while he is serving our country by supporting the troops in Iraq.


     


    Nuff said. 

November 27, 2005

  • “Lost”, I’m Hooked

    The oldest J and his wife bought Christmas presents while they were at our house for Thanksgiving.  They gave the better half the first season of Lost.  She had already watched the first season on a bootlegged version that the middle J borrowed from a friend.  There are 24 episodes in the first season.
     
    We sat and watched the first 9 episodes yesterday.  I was laying low getting over a sinus infection and the time was well spent.  We stopped watching after 10 pm last night when sensory overload kicked in.  This series is well written and the acting is amazing.
     
    John and I took a ride through the subdivision on our bikes.  He did a great job.  He made the turns in his lane and stopped like a champ.  He goes to get his license tomorrow.

November 25, 2005

  • Long Time No Post

    So much has happened since my last post.  We have had a household full of people since John arrived last Thursday and the oldest J with his better half in tow arrived Saturday morning.  John had Betty Ann and Shelia sleep over on Saturday night so they could go with him to church Sunday.  Valerie was a lifesaver since she works as a Nanny.  She bathed the girls and got them ready for bed.  She read to them until she could get John in to read as well.  The girls had a blast.  Sunday morning John announced that he got 2 hours of sleep the entire night.  Even with the short amount of sleep, he was still a sport with the girls on Sunday.

     

    We had another candidate for Worship Minister lead our worship Sunday morning and Cyndie and I took them out to eat afterwards.  The leaders interviewed him and his wife Saturday night.  Everyone is feeling really good about this guy.  He may be the one for our church.

     

    John finished his 2 day motorcycle training class on Wednesday.  The weather was awesome for him both days.  I picked him up for lunch on Tuesday and he went with someone from his course on Wednesday.  Even though he rented a Blazer, I took him to the class.  He was talking as if he would blow off the course and go get his daughters instead of spending the 2 days in the class.  Since he was unsure as to how to find the address to the company providing the course, I decided to take him both days.  That way he got there on time and didn’t back out at the last minute.

     

    I finally got him onto his motorcycle today.  He still doesn’t have his license yet but Monday is the soonest he can go get it.  We just tooled around the subdivision for approximately 30 minutes.  I lead the way on my Kawasaki and he followed on his Suzuki.  He did great.  He made the turns great and did not turn the bike over once.  He is now hooked.  He told me that he now understands the draw to the two wheeled machines.  His bike is awesome and is a perfect fit for him.

     

    He did Thanksgiving at our sister Becky’s house with his girls and our step-mom Linda.  We drove to College Station and had a blast with our in laws and Cyndie’s Sister’s family.  I have been under the weather with allergies the last few days so she drove us to their house.  I started feeling much better when the clariden kicked in.  Once we got there, I took a nap before we pigged out.  I sure enjoy visiting with the in laws.  We watched the Cowboys get creamed and then came home.

     

    We were planning to go to the races tomorrow but with the prediction of rain, we have nixed those plans.  Besides, John wants to ride his bike around the subdivision as much as possible.  The chance of rain is scattered so we will do whatever we can to log some miles on our bikes.

     

    In other events that occurred this week, our leader meeting went as good as possible.  We created a chronological list of events that have occurred over the last 5 years in the life of our church.  It was a powerful exercise.  When we were done, the map we had showed more than we could have imagined.  We have been through a ringer over and over and over for the past 2 years.  From this, we identified items we need to pray over.  We were all glad we had gone through the exercise and refreshed by the possibilities that are laid out in front of us.

November 19, 2005

  • Simple Things

     

    After a great day filled with awesome things, the day wraps up.  I got a letter from our cellular carrier last week offering a free phone with the activation of another number on our account.  My step-mom was wanting a cell phone so I called the number to receive the Motorola phone that was offered on the flyer.  I called the number and the very first thing they told me was that they were out of the Motorola phone but that another phone of “similar” value was still available.  Since I was planning on getting a phone for Linda, I proceeded with the sales pitch.

     

    After going through the pitch, I agreed to receive the “similar” phone from the offer and have them send me the phone.  The sales person proceeded to try to sell me accessories for the phone that I did not need over and over.  I finally announced that I would deny the offer if another attempt to sell me anything occurred.  He said that the final thing he wanted to “offer” me was insurance on all of my phones for X amount of money.  I declined and told him to ship me the phone.

     

    I got the phone today.  The instructions said to make sure to accept the terms of the agreement before calling the phone number to activate the phone.  It also stated that the terms of the agreement would be shipped out around 3 days from the time I received the phone.  So I get the phone 3 days before I will receive the terms of the agreement that I am to accept before activating the phone.  That makes sense.  The flyer also stated that if I did not receive the terms within 3 days that I could go to a web site to review the terms of the agreement.

     

    I made it clear to the telemarketer that I wanted the new phone to be activated on my existing account as an additional phone for $9.95 per month.  I went to the website to review the terms of the agreement and it showed the monthly fee as $69.95!!!  I called the “customer service” number that was available within 30 days of activation and was told that I would actually be on the “9.95″ plan once I activate the phone.  So I had to agree to activate the phone on a plan that showed $69.95 before I could see that I would actually be paying $9.95 per month.  I was in a catch 22.  The customer service representative told me that I had to agree to the terms of service posted on the website before I could see that I would actually see that I would only pay $9.95 for the additional line.

     

    I told her that I could not accept the terms of the agreement and that I needed another option before I activated the phone.  She said that I could go into one of their stores to get the assurance of what I was sold.

     

    I went into one of the stores with the phone that was supposedly “comparable” to the Motorola phone.  The comparable phone was a piece of junk.

     

    The representative at the store was so helpful.  I decided that if I was going to activate another phone with a 2 year agreement when it was a piece of junk that I wanted to make the 2 year agreement worth while and upgrade to a nicer phone.

     

    Making a long story not so long, I bought a Motorola Razor phone.  I put the better half’s sim card in the Razor and will now give the middle J her good Motorola picture phone and take his phone and put the new sim card in it to give to my step-mom.  Sounds complex but it is not.  The wife gets a cool new phone and the middle son gets an upgrade from the phone he has been using for 6 months or so and my step-mom gets a cell phone for the first time in her life.

     

    I just love technology.  When I was buying the new Razor phone I resisted telling the sales person that I was selling cell phones before she was born.  That was back in 1983 when the cheapest “car” phone was selling for $3500.  I was selling them to oil company executives and they were a hot potato.  The finest “portable” cell phones weighed only 2 pounds at the time.  I had a leather shoulder holster custom made for the first Mitsubishi portable cell phone on the market.  It was about as big as a VCR tape and was the coolest thing on the market.  I would walk into the office of a big whig to sell him a car phone and have someone call me while I was there.  Stopping the sale to answer the phone that I pulled from the holster made a sale every time.  What a long way we have come to everyone and their sister carrying a cell phone in their pocket.

     

    Just to think where we will be in a few years.  Man!!!

November 18, 2005

  • My brother John is here for his 4th R&R from his job in Iraq.  I picked him up at the airport yesterday and we shopped for his motorcycle gear, picked up the youngest J from school, had Mexican food, visited his daughters and he started his motorcycle and sat in the driveway.

     

    He was surprised at the size of the motorcycle.  His eyes almost bugged out of his head when he saw it.  Since he had been traveling for almost 2 days and had some equilibrium issues, he decided to wait before taking the bike out for a spin.  We didn’t find a motorcycle jacket that would fit him at any of the places we visited yesterday.  I just got off the phone with him and he was successful in finding what he wanted at a Suzuki shop in Conroe.

     

    We had breakfast this morning at IHOP and then went to the car rental place to get his cage (that is motorcycle talk for a car or truck).  They had a Chevy Blazer that fit the ticket.  He is now styling in a maroon Blazer that has all the power he needs as well as the space for 2 car seats for his girls.

     

    While visiting his daughters last night, as he was rolling around on the floor giggling with them, his X mentioned that he could take the girls on his own after Shelia’s birthday this Saturday.  He has had to have our sister with him when he has taken them in the past.  This opens up the opportunities he has to be with the girls during his R&R.  He was thrilled to hear her say that because he was expecting to have to take legal action to get her to agree to the terms of the divorce that allowed this.

     

    We are off to a great 12 days to enjoy his company and to make some memories.  Memaw would be proud.

November 14, 2005

  • Can it get any better?

     

    We lost our first and only playoff game for the season Friday night.  The better half and I drove to Huntsville to watch the game and have dinner with our middle J.  Our primary mission was to see Jacob and enjoy his company and the game was just an excuse to do so.  The middle J was in Brenham for his Region Choir weekend so the band had to do their last performance of the season without him.  Our team really did not deserve to make it to the playoffs this year but somehow they did.  Losing the first game was evidence of that.

     

    We went to the Region concert in Brenham Saturday night.  Listening to these choirs sing is just another bonus of being the parent of a gifted musical child.  All three of our boys have graced our lives by making it to the Region choir level.

     

    As I was watching the choir perform, I noticed that the youngest J was watching the director throughout each entire song.  He had all of the music memorized.  He was one of only a hand full of the 250 students on stage that was doing this.  He has a great chance of achieving a place in the State Choir this year.

     

    Yesterday was as awesome as Saturday.  I got do some cool stuff at church but the coolest was performing a baby dedication in our second service.  The family had twins after 5 years of infertility struggles.  I made it through the entire ceremony without shedding a tear.  I love charging parents with raising their children in the Lord.  I also charge the people of the church with providing a safe haven for the children to see Jesus living in their lives.

     

    We finally got the web building tool launched here at my company and the first site is for our choir.  Everyone is so excited that we now have a tool to communicate important information to the choir parents.  The coolest thing about the site is how easy it is to update the information.  Not to mention that it took less than an hour to put all of the content in place and launch.  The site is here.  We are going to customize the site this week but we decided to go ahead and launch it sooner rather than later so parents could start using it as their one stop place for choir information.

November 11, 2005

  • Double Bonus

     

    On the way to the “Super Half Time” event with all of the bands in our school district I get a garbled cell phone call from my sister.  Being just like her brother, sister in law and ultimately her mom, she was chaperoning for her youngest son Jonathan’s Jr. High band.  She had been talking to another chaperone who happened to be Jonathan’s math teacher.  This lady mentioned to Becky that her dad who had been a band director was coming to see her son perform in the event.  Becky asked her where her Dad had worked and she said Mc Arthur High School.  Becky said “no way!!, your dad isn’t Ralph Rameriz is he?”  She said “yes”.

     

    Between the garbled sounds coming from my excited sister, I was able to decipher what I wrote above.  When we arrived at the stadium I called her back and got more of the story.  Becky spoke to the chaperone again and got that Ralph and his wife were to arrive sometime just before York Jr. High performed.  I told her to tell the chaperone to tell Ralph to come to section F because I had seats saved for him.  The stadium was almost full by this time and I was elated that I was going to get to see him.

     

    Ralph was the High School Band director when I started the 5th grade.  He came over to our elementary school to start the band program.  Since my mom had played the clarinet in the band, I was encouraged to play.  I decided on the sax and we rented a used horn for me to play.  The first day Ralph came over to teach us, he noticed that only one of us had chosen the trombone.  He picked up the trombone and started to get down.  He cranked out some awesome blues style music that brought tears to my eyes.  I went home and told my parents that I had changed my mind and wanted to play the trombone.

     

    There was another student in my class that played the trumpet.  His name was Ildefonzo Flores.  He and I went all the way through High School in the same bands and he was giftedness with the trumpet.  That is a story for another day.

     

    I was in a canoeing explorer post in High School.  Right after I graduated from High School, Ralph invited me to go with him on a trip down the Guadeloupe River with a group of teachers.  He wanted an ace to be in the canoe with him and we had a blast together.

     

    I spotted Ralph right after York left the field and just as Oak Ridge High School took it.  We had seats at the top of the stadium so we could get the best view of the marching.  I headed down the stairs to meet he and his wife to escort them to their seats.

     

    The first thing out of Ralph’s mouth after he smiled, greeted me and hugged me was “I am so sorry to hear that your Mom died.”  My Mom drove a school bus and was the lead driver on all of the band trips.  Her and Ralph were good friends because of this and both of them enjoyed a good laugh.  They had the same sense of humor and enjoyed what they did.  Mom could turn and park a school bus on a dime and Ralph loved working with kids and was gifted with music.

     

    Ralph and Karen sat with us and watched the rest of the program and then we sat in the stands until no one else was in the stadium.

     

    In all these years of being a band parent I have often thought of and spoken of him and the difference he made in my life.  More than a few times I have thought about looking him up and inviting him to see my children march, especially when the middle J was drum major.

     

    Since the youngest J is wishy washy about whether he will be in band again his senior year, this may have been the last time Ralph would have been able to see one of the Lowrys march.  I could not have orchestrated a better evening filled with memories from the past as well as new memories made in the present.

     

    The whole evening made me remember that memories are made whether we are intentional about them or not.  Mom always said, “making memories” as she did things with our children.  She was an ace at making memories that made you smile.

     

    I exchanged phone numbers with Ralph and I now have a new long time member of my family to make memories with.

November 10, 2005

  • Today, music from 35 years ago.  Yes, Chicago II came out in 1970 and 25 or 6 to 4 was and still is a hit.  If you have ever been to a high school foot ball game, chances are the band played this song in the stands.

     

    Tonight we get to go see all of the bands in our district perform their half time shows back to back.  Super Half Time is what this event is dubbed.  Even the Jr. High Schools get to go out on the field and play some music.  Our youngest J does not see the point of doing their show one last time on a school night and we have told him over and over that they are not doing it for themselves but for the parents.  The Jr. High students get a kick out of performing on the field.

     

    Tomorrow night we go to Huntsville for a High School football game in the Sam Houston State University stadium.  Our team is playing A&M Consolidated High School.  Then, Saturday night we get to go to Brenham to watch the youngest J perform in the All-Region Choir.

     

    Another slow weekend ahead, I look forward to the rest.

November 9, 2005

  • A new day 


    Something made me pluck the Chicago II CD from the storage rack in our game room as I was heading out the door this morning.  Chicago was my favorite group in the 70’s.  Being in band I enjoyed instrumental groups more than the hard rock groups that were up and coming at the time.  So my entire collection of 8 tracks, albums and cassettes were made up of Chicago and Blood Sweat and Tears.  I lived a sheltered life when it came to music.


    I recorded my favorite songs on cassettes and played them on the band bus every week headed to the football games.  One tape in particular had Colour my World recorded 3 times in a row.  Over and over that song set the mood for all within 3 seats of the back row which is where I always sat.  My portable cassette player with it’s little 3 inch speaker cranked to the hilt was jammin’ and everyone loved it.

    I still have some of my favorites on vinyl and they sound so much better than the digitally formatted sterile CDs of today.  I noticed this sterile sound when playing Feeling Stronger Every Day on my CD player.  I remembered the song being much richer in tone so I played it on my antique turn table and played it on the CD player simultaneously and there was hands down no comparison.  Yes there were scratches and pops on the album but the quality of the sound quality was much richer.


    Maybe something got lost when they were digitally formatting the analog tapes over to CD, I dunno.  Still and yet, listening to Chicago II did something to me even though it was from the CD, cool what music can do to change the outlook of most anything even when things are going good.


    With that said, Colour My World will be on my site for a few days and then something else by Chicago will replace it.