Sing a Song

I usually listen to a Christian radio station when I'm driving. While on my way to work today, I heard part of a sermon about Joshua and Jericho.

I walked into the office singing, "Joshua Fought the Battle of Jericho, Jericho, Jericho; Joshua fought the Battle of Jericho, and the walls came tumbling down."

I think some of my work colleagues heard me. Maybe they even enjoyed it.

We all need to sing. It's good for the soul.

A Football Opera

The Rockets are playing in a basketball "Classic" this week. Dad and I will watch as many games as we can; it depends on online streaming. They won last night — quite handily!

After last night's Rockets game was over, Dad turned on Monday Night Football. He enjoys watching the ManningCast when Peyton and Eli are doing their simultaneous broadcast. Last night they had Dolphins quarterback Tua Tagovailoa as a guest.

I only watched a couple minutes of the ManningCast, but it happened to be when Tua played "Tears in Heaven" on the guitar! The game was still going on, so Peyton sang (I use the term loosely) to describe the plays that were happening. It was so catchy that this morning I found myself singing, "The Bengals jumped off-sides...."

🎸🏈😉

Happy Easter!

Our church added a Saturday evening service this weekend, so Lew and I attended that last night.

This morning Dad and I watched a livestream of Kim and Joe participating in their church's Easter choir. (Joe was the director and Kim was a "directee.")  We enjoyed being able to sit in Maine and watch their service taking place in Illinois. 

I visited with Mom late morning. I played one of the songs from Kim and Joe's choir. Then we watched some of the dog show and some cornhole. 

Dad, Lew, and I went to Debbie's for an Easter luncheon. It was a lovely time and we all ate far too much.

HE IS RISEN!

HE IS RISEN INDEED!

Singing With Mom

On more days than not, Mom and I recite the 23rd Psalm, which she memorized as a little girl. Then we sing a few songs, usually Jesus Loves Me, The B-I-B-L-E, and He's Got the Whole World in His Hands. One of our verses, with Mom singing my name:

He's got Mary Lou and

Tracy

in His Hands

He's got Mary Lou and

Tracy

in His Hands

He's got Mary Lou and

Tracy

in His Hands

He's got the Whole World in His Hands!

As I'm leaving at the end of my daily visit we sing the following:

Tomorrow,

tomorrow,

I'll see you

tomorrow.

It's only a DAY

... A —

... WAY!

Sometimes Dad even joins us on the Annie song!

It's Mom's Birthday!

Dad, Lew, and I sang "Happy Birthday" to Mom while we stood outside her window this afternoon. We were on the phone with her, so she was able to hear us quite well.

She told me she got birthday gifts from some of the people at the center. She said she had cake, although I'm not sure if it was birthday cake.

I dropped off a gift for her on Thursday morning, but they haven't given it to her yet. They wait at least 48 hours before bringing new items to a resident. Plus, it's the weekend, so fewer staff are working. Hopefully they'll get the gift to her tomorrow.

The gift? A framed drawing of a cardinal! The drawing was done by my friend Shae. (My contribution is the frame. 😏)  I took the picture below before I added the frame. I hope Mom will enjoy it!

Christmas Eve

Lew and I just returned home from our church's Christmas Eve service. It ended with the singing of Silent Night by candlelight. (We held real candles, not the battery-operated ones.) Our pastor delivered a great message of the Gospel and why the birth of Jesus matters.... It really is Good News!

Lew and I will spend tomorrow morning with Matt, Emily, Eli, Adam, Wayne, and hopefully Sarah, Rylie, and new baby Ryker. We will then come home for a few minutes to get ready for our afternoon outing, which will be at Debbie & Glen's house. My parents will be heading down there, too. (It's a long trip... about a 30-second drive!) Josh and Zack are both home from college, so it will be fun to hang out with them for a bit.

Although it will be a busy Christmas day, we are blessed to be spending it with family..

Merry Christmas to all, and to all a Good Night!

A Time to Sing

Lew and I attended the first choir rehearsal at our church tonight.

It has been over five years since we sang in a choir on a regular basis, and boy, could I tell!  My vocal muscles are not in shape. I'm not even sure if we have vocal muscles or not, but whatever they are — cords, I guess — they are not used to singing for 90+ minutes straight.

So this week, as I am out and about, I will be softly singing to myself... when appropriate... probably not at work... I want happy office mates!

Do Re Mi

Lew and I are going to be in the Christmas Choir at our new church! We went to an orientation session on Tuesday. Regular rehearsals will start on Tuesday next week.

Lew has already started listening to the music. I have not, so I am already a slacker, ha ha! At least we will be using our music for the performances; I am glad we don't have to memorize it.

It has been a while since we have sung on a regular basis, so this could be really interesting as far as our vocal stamina is concerned....

It will be fun. 🎵

The Game That Might Not End

Lew rode his motorcycle to its new owner's home early Saturday evening. The Red Sox had a late afternoon game against the Yankees that day, and the game was almost over when Lew left.

Oh, wait.... I need to change that last part.... it appeared the game was almost over when Lew left.

The Red Sox were ahead 1-0 going into the top of the 9th inning. The Yankee's lead-off batter hit a homerun to tie up the game. The Red Sox ended up losing seven innings later. Lew had been home for quite a while by then.

For the past couple days I have been singing a song in my head about the nature of baseball. The tune is to The Song That Never Ends, with the lyrics adapted by me:

This is the game that might not end. It could go on and on, my friend. Baseball fans started watching it, aware of what it was. They knew they could be watching it forever just because.... This is the game that might not end. It could go on and on, my friend. Baseball fans started watching it, aware of what it was. They knew they could be watching it forever just because.... This is the game that might not end. It could go on and on, my friend. Baseball fans started watching it, aware of what it was. They knew they could be watching it forever just because.... This is the game that might not end. It could go on and on, my friend. Baseball fans started watching it, aware of what it was. They knew they could be watching it forever just because.... This is the game that might not end. It could go on and on, my friend. Baseball fans started watching it, aware of what it was. They knew they could be watching it forever just because.... This is the game that might not end. It could go on and on, my friend. Baseball fans started watching it, aware of what it was. They knew they could be watching it forever just because.... This is the game that might not end. It could go on and on, my friend. Baseball fans started watching it, aware of what it was. They knew they could be watching it forever just because.... This is the game that might not end.... 

Well, you get the point.

Another Groundhog Day

Punxsutawney Phil saw his shadow this morning. I guess that means another six weeks of winter. Sigh....

Posting late because I put in a long day at work. Got lots done, so tomorrow won't be quite as crazy.  :)

I've been humming "I Got You Babe" as I've wandered around the house tonight. Film buffs will understand why!

Good night!

The Final Season

Every year Lew and I contemplate whether we want to watch American Idol. It is a rather large time commitment, even with our method of fast-forwarding through a lot of the banter and the commercials.

We decided to watch this year because the show is in its final season. (Why not, right?)

The season premiered this week, and we are in the midst of watching the pertinent parts of the program. By "pertinent" I mean the singing and the judges' post-audition comments.

I think we will get through four hours of programming in about three hours. And the three hours includes a few breaks to take care of laundry and writing this blog post.

Do re mi fa sol la ti do.... Back to the program I go.

Into the Woods . . . Yes!

The Woods are just trees.

The trees are just wood.

I sort of hate to ask it,

But do you have a basket?

I have been singing the above lyrics from Into the Woods since Friday! Lew and I went to see the movie that day, and I must say that I enjoyed it immensely. Lew liked it, too!

 

I was introduced to Into the Woods when I worked at Sterling College. The theater department did it for the Homecoming musical one year – 1990, I think. I saw all three of the performances, after which I bought the original Broadway cast CD (and eventually a DVD). I love this musical, so I was really excited when I heard about the new movie. Although the movie is not exactly the same as the stage version (a few things were left out), it stays pretty true to the show.

 

Go see it!

 

(PostScript: The above lyrics are sung by Little Red Riding Hood while she is taking all of the baker's yummy goods. Little Red is on her way "into the Woods to Grandmother's house.")

Fun With Family and Friends

My first "Summary Saturday" post.... Woohoo!

On Tuesday night I went to the beach with our house church group. (Lew stayed home to nurse his achy foot.) It was quite windy on the beach, but we stayed long enough to eat ice cream and watch kids play.

Adam eating -- and wearing -- his ice cream.

Eli had a great time playing in the sand.

 

Yesterday Lew and I joined Glen, Debbie, and the boys for an Independence Day cookout. We rode up with them to their family camp on Little Sebago Lake. Glen's parents, his sister, and my Aunt Debbie were also there. Lew and Zack went swimming. Lew was excited to try out his new dive mask and snorkel.

Zack (left) with his 6'2", 205-pound uncle.

 

We stopped in to see Matt, Eli, and Adam after breakfast this morning. (Emily was out with her mom and brother.) Eli wanted me to play "hide and seek" with him, so I did. Question: Is "hide and seek" supposed to be tiring? I was pooped afterward!

There is lots more fun ahead for us, because Lew is on vacation this coming week. Woohoo! It's time to once again sing The Vacation Song :

We're on vacation!
We're on vacation!
We're on vacation!
Everybody sing The Vacation Song!

My Super Bowl Highlights

Favorite Food.  The nachos that Lew made.  (See yesterday's post.)

Favorite Moment.  The National Anthem.  A beautiful, respectful performance by Renee Fleming.

Favorite Commercial.  Budweiser Super Bowl XLVIII Commercial -- "A Hero's Welcome"
(Although I still won't be purchasing any beer.)

Favorite Part of the Half-Time Show.  The end.

Best Wearing of Fur.  Joe Namath.  He ticked PETA off.

Funniest Moment.  Joe Namath.  He was too early with the coin toss.  (The referee should have gotten the heads/tails call before handing Joe the coin, but it's still way more fun to blame it on Broadway Joe.)

Best Competition of the Night.  My friend's office pool.  (She won the fourth quarter!)  I was closely following her Facebook comments.  Much more interesting than the football game.

Favorite Joke.  (Paraphrase of something I saw on Twitter).
When asked, "What did you watch after the Super Bowl was over?"
he replied, "The second half."

And Here We Go Again

Lew and I didn't watch American Idol last year for a couple reasons. I was disappointed with the winner two seasons ago, so I wanted to take a year off. Plus we weren't "taken" with a couple of the judges that were on last year.

But this year we like all three of the judges, so we decided to give it a go.

Tonight marks our return. Yes, I know the show started on Wednesday, but Lew and I have our own view on How to Watch American Idol. (Click on the link to learn our method.)

Let's do this.

Our Babysitting Gig

Lew and I got to babysit Eli and Adam tonight unsupervised! Matt and Emily dropped them off at our house with specific care instructions, all of which we carried out perfectly.... Well, almost! :)

Here are some photos for your viewing pleasure.

How Adam started the evening.

Grampa and Eli contemplate the benefits of ravioli.

Adam eventually woke up.

Eli brought Jerry his cat toys, one by one.

Busy Eli has an audience.

Eli and Tia take a selfie.

Tia singing to Adam.

Reprise: The Vacation Song

Weather has not been great today, so we had a leisurely morning.

Lew supplemented our breakfast with some items from Mr. Bagel.

I threw in a couple loads of laundry.

I played some Candy Crush.  (Yes, I have succumbed to participating in this madness.  I'm up to Level 39.)

Lew made a peanut butter and jelly sandwich for my lunch.

We went to visit Verlie.

Now I'm waiting for my last load of laundry to finish drying.

I am also waiting for my dinner.  Dad is picking up food at Wendy's.

Lew has his Fantasy Football draft tonight, so I will have a leisurely evening while singing:

We're on vacation!
We're on vacation!
We're on vacation!
Everybody sing The Vacation Song!

Vacation!

Tonight marks the beginning of Lew's final vacation week for the summer. He doesn't need to go to work again until the day after Labor Day! Hooray!

I will be posting this coming week, but keep in mind that....

We're on vacation!

And I will be singing The Vacation Song!

The "Pre" All-Star Game

The Major League Baseball All-Star Game is being played tonight at Citi Field, home ballpark of the Mets, in Flushing, New York.

Lew and I just watched Fox's pregame festivities. The rest of my post will be my comments on that coverage.

The introduction was a take-off on the Saturday Night Live intro. I was surprised, because SNL is on NBC (not Fox).

We enjoyed the comical piece with Kevin James. We have seen quite a few episodes of King of Queens, so it was fun to see him.

Joe Torre's mini-documentary on the history of baseball in New York kept our attention.

Joe Buck's interview with Mariano Rivera was okay. (During the interview, I was wishing that Rivera had played for the Red Sox. I like him.)

I always enjoy the player introductions, but the best part tonight was what followed: People Magazine's "Tribute for Heroes". It was very touching to see the players present flags to the military veterans.

The worst part? The National Anthem. (I am referring to the vocalist's rendition, not the song itself.) Please sing this song as it's written!

Tom Seaver threw out the first pitch. He knew folks were hoping he'd throw from the rubber. So he pretended he was going to, but then he moved in closer. He was pretty funny.

Two innings of the game have already been played! Time to wrap up this post and watch. :)

Experiencing "Blessings"

As I continue to recover from "the plague" (feeling a little better today), I find myself humming Laura Story's song "Blessings."

Before Laura sang this song at the concert on Friday, she spoke of her husband's battle with a brain tumor. I, of course, began to think of Suzy. By the end of the song, I was more than a little teary-eyed.

I wasn't the only one there with wet eyes. It's a powerful song.

The audience was singing along for most of it.

Well, all of it.

Ordinarily this would annoy me because I would prefer to hear just the artist. But this time was quite different. It was the sweetness of the atmosphere. The Spirit's presence. Haunting, in the most beautiful sense of the word....

I really can't fully describe it.

But I'm so glad I experienced it.

(Postscript: Barry's blog post of a week ago, Defining 'Holy', quotes a few lines from "Blessings.")

(Post-postscript: To hear this powerfully-moving song, click on the following YouTube link: Laura Story - Blessings.)