What I did this weekend: Saturday we took the kids to Myrtle Beach. We went out on the beach for about 2 hours and Nikki and I got substantially sunburned. The kids, however, are fine – we lathered them up with SPF 50. This morning was a great morning of worship, including a great sermon, my last Sunday of teaching what has been a fantastic Sunday School class, and the chance to take communion… twice. Tonight we had our final congregational gathering for our church’s mission and vision study, which brought up some great and intriguing conversations at all the tables. As a bonus, the fish was AWESOME. I feel like I ate an entire school of flounder.

How I’m feeling right now (physically): Sunburned and tired. Not a good combination. Also, my ears are ringing a bit, but I think it’s because Noah cried for about 2 solid hours this afternoon. You’d think after three kids I’d know how to get a baby to stop crying, but apparently he just wanted his mommy.

How I’m feeling right now (emotionally): Confident.

How I’m feeling right now (spiritually): Renewed.

To Do this week: I’m in the stages of planning the ’09-’10 school year. This week I’m finalizing dates for several events, sending out postcards to new members, and working on a bit of programming for the Fall.

Book I’m in the midst of: Just finished (tonight, actually) Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. I’ll start the next one as soon as the postman delivers it from Amazon. I know, I know – sound the dork alarm. I’ve also been puttering along in You Are Not Alone by Shirley Perich, which for me is extremely hard to read given the way it’s written. It’s 144 pages and 27 chapters. You do the math – short chapters, and it’s written in a goofy font on fake notebook paper, complete with the occasional faux highlighter mark. The message is pretty good, but my eyes hurt reading it.

Music I’m currently listening to: I’m still hooked on The Classic Crime’s The Silver Cord. This makes three weeks running. Think I need some new music? See my previous blog posting.

What I’m dreading this week: Paying all my “first of the month” bills.

What I’m really excited about this week: The Stanley Cup finals (as I type this, the Pens are up in game 2, 1-0, but down 1-0 in the series) – I LOVE hockey! Also, this Thursday, Braden graduates from preschool, and that will be the highlight of my week. I do wish, however, that his cap and gown were not Duke blue.

Oops – the Red Wings just scored. Make it 1-1. Blah.

This little gem of a blog post has been sitting in my drafts folder since January or so, and I kept adding to it and then deleting it at the risk of alienating anyone. But it’s ready to go now, so enjoy, and please comment.

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I used to be a little bit of a fan of country music. I’ve never been really into it, but it used to be ok to me. Tolerable. I mean, I grew up with my parents listening to it. But in retrospect, I do admire a lot about older country music.

I remember seeing people like Conway Twitty, Johnny Cash, and others getting up with their guitar and singing on an old show called “Hee Haw.” It wasn’t so much that they were brilliant musicians (though you may think they were, and that’s perfectly ok – I choose no sides on this topic). It was the simple fact that they were actually singing about something that meant something to them – not something that was written for them or something that contained none of their own inspiration. You’ll never hear a George Jones song about getting a barbecue stain on his T-shirt, or a Conway Twitty record containing 13 songs about how cool it was to be in high school. No, these guys were the real “cowboys.” Not the guys who sing about hunting yet have never hunted, or even played “Duck Hunt,” for that matter.

That being said, I think this is common in a lot of music across most genres today. People seemed to have stopped singing about real life anymore. I fell into this trap as a solo musician years back, and know how easy it is to just write what people will like instead of heartfelt, original songs. These days it’s all about being a rock star. And I don’t think that’s how it was ever meant to be, although it’s dangerously hard not to fall right into that state of mind.

So if you would, please suggest some “real” music to me. Music that is authentic & genuine, inspired (not necessarily inspiring, but to each his or her own), and meaningful.

Oh, and please don’t suggest Yanni.

What I did this weekend: The highlight of the weekend was Saturday night’s trip to Fayettenam, watching the Pens game at Buffalo Wild Wings. We never get someone to watch all three kids, so it was very special. Today is Mother’s Day, so I tried to make Nikki happy and realize how important she is to our family and to my sanity.

How I’m feeling right now (physically): Sleepy.

How I’m feeling right now (emotionally): A bit down, but good – all things considered.

How I’m feeling right now (spiritually): Impatient – I feel like I need answers right now.

To Do this week: One week from tonight is the final youth meeting of the school year, so I’ll be finishing up programming for that. Also, our children’s play is this week and I’m directing/playing the music/just about everything else, so that’s going to take a lot of prep and planning.

Book I’m in the midst of: I’ve been puttering along in a few different books, namely “The Best Question Ever” (which I’ve read before, but I’m doing a study on it, so I need a refresher) by Andy Stanley, and I’m also reading excerpts from some of the works of Deitreich Bonhoffer.

Music I’m currently listening to: The Classic Crime – The Silver Cord. I can’t get enough.

What I’m dreading this week: The stress involved with the children’s play.

What I’m really excited about this week: The season finales of The Office and Hell’s Kitchen (on the same night, at the same time), the continuation of NHL playoff hockey, and thus my beard growth. Also, I’m looking forward to getting a replacement debit card in the mail so I can stop using Nikki’s – another story entirely.

Six years ago, I was still in a state of shock. I had no idea what I was going to do when I became a dad. It was a pretty frightening thing to think about, if I ever let myself stop and think about it. Nikki was in the early stages of pregnancy, which had its own set of new and stressful aspects. When Braden was born in February of 2004, I finally got that feeling that everyone talks about when you have your first child. It was amazing.

So with that little preface, this week I’ve been hit with three things that have made me start to face the realization that my little boy is growing up. The first thing was that this past Monday, he had his first tee ball game. It made me so proud as a parent to watch him out there doing something he loved doing, and doing it well. To see the focus in his eyes, to see how much he was putting into it, made me gush with pride. But this is still something I wasn’t quite ready for yet.

Yesterday I decided I’d order the Kindergarten series of the Hooked on Phonics reading program. I decided to let Braden try out the demo that’s available online while we wait for the real thing to come in the mail. To my shock, once he was done with the lesson, he read his first book. It was called “Cat.” The words were simple: “Cat. Rat. Cat can tap rat. Cat Ran. Rat ran, Cat ran. WAP! Cat sat on Rat.” But to look at his face, to see his desire to get it right – I got a bit choked up.

Finally, I pulled out my calendar this morning to check the daily schedule, and was reminded that this Friday is when we have to take Braden to register for – get ready for this – kindergarten. I mean, the kid’s starting real school in the Fall. I found out that he’ll be in the graduating class of 2022, a full 23 years after I graduated high school.

I’ve heard countless times that you have to just face the fact that they’re going to grow up eventually, but should one really be concerned with that when they’re only 5 years old? I always thought I wouldn’t need to worry about that until it was time for the kids to go to college, but I’m finding that it’s affecting me right now. But I have to say – I’m incredibly proud of my son. I love his carefree lifestyle, his desire to learn, and the fact that he tells me he loves me so many times that I could never forget it.

I don’t want to discount either of my other two kids. Riley is now unable to be contained – she has figured out how to climb out of her playpen, so the only two things we have that will keep her at bay are her crib and her high chair, but I fully expect her to circumvent both of those in the near future. She is still daddy’s girl, though, and I don’t even want to think about what I’m going to be like when she turns 13.

Noah is so sweet and innocent, and looking at him this morning, I started to think about how he’s the last child I get to raise. I don’t think I’m the best dad in the world, but when that big toothless smile shows up every time I look at him, I feel like he wants to tell me that I am.

So, if you haven’t guessed, I love being a parent. I’m starting to realize, though, that parenting comes with a price – your kids eventually grow up. It’s funny how something I heard all my life (“Just wait until you have kids…”) has finally caught up with me. Boy, were those people right.