Honor Flight

There's no way I can put in to words how amazing the people who organize and support the Honor Flights are.
A nice send off, a great welcome in DC, the memorials, an off the hook reception back in Chicago. I am speechless.



















Chicago Fire and Police are on hand to greet the plane...

A lesson here and there...

Today is Laura's first full day of Nursing school. We have the three kids here and decided to take a little walk uptown to the candy store.







On the way we passed a small hill and Kim decided that today was the day to teach the kids about hill rolling. After demonstrating it herself she helped Olive and Amelia. It won't be long before their hill rolling skills are honed.











We then stopped into the store where Kim used to work for a little play time. Elle loaded her diaper and Kim's old boss sure enough had a spare, perfect. On Kim's trip to the dumpster to make a deposit, she saw a kids bed frame with "free" sign on it by the Catholic charities office. Once again just what we needed.





We have an adorable little candy store in town so we figured it's time to jack our grand kids up on sugar before Laura gets here.













Time to walk home...
Sometimes when things are hard, taking time out to teach wee ones how to roll down a hill is just the thing you need to remind you of the important things in life.

A cautious post...

There's a realistic fear of posting thoughts and feelings that anyone can read.
So how to say things without sounding like a bitter person, I'm not sure.
I think the issue is how to deal with the fact that my own Church that I've been a part of for the past 21 years let me go. To be fair, the job was only supposed to go through April but the campus pastor liked what was happening so I was asked to stay on only to be let go a month later. It was all very corporate. "We like you, We couldn't have been more happy with what you've done but your last check is on the 15th". When you get fired from a corporation, it's simple you are not supposed to keep going to that building and hang out with the employees. A Church firing is a whole different ball game. Now I go to Church and am not a part of what's going on and then I see the peeps that made the decision to let me go. How do I not take that personally? Being in a church situation, am I allowed to gripe? Am I not seeing the bigger picture? Am I supposed to just accept it and hang around like nothing happened? I'm very confused right now.
Part of my thought process was hoping that this would be a vehicle to get me out of the bar. I have been praying for that for a long time so to have it taken away and actually have to ask for more shifts flinging drinks, makes for a grumpy Doug.
I am trying to be faithful and I want to vent but feel like I don't have the right. I am trying to stay "up" for Kim but I have to admit I want to scream at times.
There's another sobering reality. I can't really hang at the new campus. When I took over, it would have been awkward having my predecessor there diluting any authority. I need to step back and let the new guy do his thing. There are five services at the main campus but with my increased bar hours I can't play there either. All our other campuses are too far away to really contribute so there's not much for me to do now.
A very odd situation to be in. The folks in my band have been incredibly supportive and we are playing one of our remote campuses this coming week so I am very excited about that.
So there it is...
I am trying to get out of my funk but I'm not sure how to to that.
I'll bounce back, be patient.

"The Band"

So I thought I'd throw out another positive post...
A band called Drops of Jordan have been playing with us for a while.
Great people.
They have asked me to part of the fun. I readily agreed.

Dave Rice - Keys/Vox
Donna Rice - Lead Vox
Al Novak - Electric Guitar
Jerome Walker - Bass
John Scarzone - Lead Vox
Jessie Scarzone - Lead Vox
David Powell - Drums
Doug White - Acoustic Guitar

Everyone sings lead vox?....Yup, they switch off and cover harmonies when not singing lead, very cool indeed.
We've been practicing every Monday night and I have to say it's been a blast.
Here's an original

Speak to Me

Facial Hair...

I have some things I want to write about but I'm not sure how to put my feelings in print without me sounding like angry old man so I'm putting it together in my mind.

UNTIL THEN!!!

My facial hair Yoda (i.e. Mark Aubry) was able to grow a full beard by third grade. It's always been a toy for him. I have not been able to join in the fun until recently. I decided to see how long I could grow my Goat...
This was about as long as I could take it.



Soon after this picture I was eating cereal in the family room holding the bowl beneath me. After I was finished I realized my beard was wet and had been hanging in my milk for most of my breakfast. I trimmed it 2 minutes later.
I have no idea how the men of the Civil War era were even able to eat at all...

I'll save Donna Mo a trip to the comment page.
From Donna: "It was about time! Gross"

More to come.

Orlando Show...

My old friend Jim from Tri-Marq took me on another Red Prairie show.
One thing I know is Tri-Marq produces one heck of a show. They are meticulous on how the show looks and sounds, how the client is treated and how the crew is treated. One thing that makes this show look good is the use of white sheer panels that with the use of back and front lighting, the Lighting Director can change the vibe of the show simply with light.





Larry Miller (actor/comedian) was brought in to entertain the crowd one night. Funny guy but pretty nice to boot. I had to watch the show from my camera position.





Another thing that sets Tri-Marq apart is the quality of the crew.
I am in awe watching the lead techs work their craft. Colin (lead audio), Glen (lead video) and Ian ( Lighting Director) know their craft.
Jim and Chris treat us very well with comfortable rooms, great food and plentiful drink.



A good show...
A dedicated crew...
Amazing gear...
That all makes for a great experience.

What, no yellow sprinkles?

Okay, so she really didn't notice...

Tonight we celebrated Amelia's fourth birthday. The festivities started off around mid afternoon with Mealz getting her first ride in the two seater while Meema baked the requested birthday cake. A round, tall chocolate cake with white frosting, pink, purple, blue and yellow sprinkles. Topped off with four pink and white twisted candles.
the only thing we didn't have? Yup, the yellow sprinkles. Jim grilled some burgers to perfection then it was cake time. We sang to Amelia and she blew out the candles. We then hear Olive, "what about me?" so we lit the candles again and let her blow them out. Since it was Amelia's birthday we lit the candle one more time for her to blow out again. She stood there just waiting, we were all confused until Kim figured out we had to sing again, so we did.
I sure love my family...