What a Weekend!

Well, the weekend is all over. It was filled with quite a lot of stuff... I had all three kids at home with me.. On Saturday morning they did their long lost tradition of waking me up on Saturday morning and climbing into my quee sized bed. There we planned the rest of the day....and simply had a blast.

The girls cooked a splendid breakfast. They actually spoiled the old guy here. Then we all loaded up and headed to shop at Target. Lovey joined us...and I kept a respectful distance, but y'all will be pleased to know that I was very kind and pleasant to her.

From there we headed home for a brief nap...and then headed out to where the birthday celebration was to be. It was interesting to be a part of this family gathering and to watch the drama unfold. Lovey and her sisters staid true-to-form by being in control of everything and driving folks crazy in the process. One of Lovey's sisters is viewed as simply crazy. She drinks...pops pills....and wrecks cars. On top of this, her husband (who I suspect is part of my family), has supposedly hit her on occasion out of frustration.

This is the gossip...

But I'm not sure of the truth.

Drunk sister purchased her mother an Apple NANO....and a SONY boombox for it to play in. The only problem is that Grandma has no computer or an ITunes account to manage the content. So all this fancy stuff is just a waste...and Grandma didn't need or want it. Drunk sister overruled her family and bought it for her anyway.

This is keeping with the fine O'Lovey tradition of when buy presents for people....do get what they want....but always get what you want them to have. I always hated that.

Sunday morning we all went to Grandma's church....and it was stressful for me. It was filled with all those church people I have posted about. The ones that view me as one step below a dung beetles feast. But they honored Lovey...and the fact that she was blessing them with her presence.

We then spent some of the afternoon at Grandma's...and then I had to take one of my daughters to Baltimore to catch her flight back home to Nashville.

It was amazing at all the comments and digs that I heard while sitting as a guest. I'm sure it all troubles Grandma...but what can we do? It's clear that there is serious dysfunction in the family....but as I have said...I always try to put the FUN in dysFUNctional living!

Happy Birthday--2

What a great day! I've received a number of emails....cards in the mail.....and telephone greetings. Thanks to all of you for remembering me...and for your words of kindness. They are very much appreciated.

But that's not why I posted about my birthday today....

I suppose what it comes down to is the fact that I have a reason to celebrate. I survived the year and I am looking forward to the coming weeks, months and years to see what good things come my way! I am so thankful. You will never know.

It seems like the long dark night has passed.

Finally, for this post I want to end with a funny thing that happened last night that I meant to post before, but since I write these things early in the morning at the office before the day goes crazy...I can be somewhat incoherant. So I forgot this.

While driving to my daughter's college yesterday and my wife and I were talking about the overall shallowness of her family not contacting me....and the fact that the pastoral staff hadn't bothered to contact me, a song came on the radio that I hadn't really focused on. It hit the nail on the head...and further affirmed me. (Please note...that I'm no longer bitter about all this....but in some warped way I can see some humor in it.)

The song is from the latest JoDee Messina album, Delicious Surprise. This is the same album that contains the song, "My Give A Damn's Busted" another fun song!

This one's called simply, "Where Were You?" I hope no one ever has to say this to me after they've gone through a storm.

Where Were You?

It's good to see you come 'round, it's been a while
Sure is nice to see your smile
Yah I'm doing better now, thought about
Callin' you a hundred times
Oh I had left a couple messages
And I never heard a word from you
Not one

Chorus:
Where were you when I needed somebody
Where were you when the walls started caving in
I was waiting for someone to save me
When I was coming unglued
Where were you

A lot of things got pretty bad pretty fast
I never thought you'd turn your back
You left me out there all alone hanging on
I just have to deal with that

Oh I can count on you when everything is easy
But when the going gets tough
I guess not
Repeat chorus

I had to find my own way
Now that I've made it through

It's not a whiny or sad song...but comes on very forceful and with a tinge of attitude. I guess that describes me and where I am at the moment -- with a tinge of attitude.

Time to celebrate!