It isn’t always great, there are certainly the downsides.  Here are a few.

My wife works nights, so sometimes I end up taking both girls to church by myself.  One time this summer I was at a church business meeting, and things weren’t going too well.   Allison screamed and screamed as soon as I sat down, and someone came over and took Mandy to help me out.   Allison kept being difficult, and soon I was in the bathroom changing her diaper.

As soon as I pulled off her diaper, she peed on my hand.

I didn’t handle that too well.  And being on one of those plastic fold-down changing stations, it ran all over and soaked her dress.  Of course, I had no other clothes for her either.

So I wrapped her in a blanket and that’s the way she went home.

Cappuccino Mom thought I should tell you that story.

Just a few weeks ago we were together with some other families from church at one of their houses, and we were sitting innocently at the table after dinner.  Cappuccino Mom’s young son walked up to her holding up his hand, and in alarm she asked “What is on your hand!”

That’s when the sinking feeling began for me.   Some quick checking found that Mandy had pooped her diaper, and in fact pooped it right off.   THEN she stepped in it and started tracking it over the living room carpet.  The little boy evidently started playing in it before going to show his mom.

Something like that would be bad enough happening at your own house, but doing it in someone else’s brings it to a whole new level.

A proud evening for us all.

Allison is getting bigger and more active all the time.

And Mandy loves to “help” with the dishwasher.   Hopefully her enthusiasm for it will continue many years.

Here are the girls with their Mommy and Great-Great-Aunt Naomi.

One night I was working on the computer and suddenly I realized I heard a lot of paper rustling.  I looked to my left, and this is what I saw:

Download audio file (the_empty_tomb_says_it_all.mp3)

As part of the prize package, they put together a professional demo of the song (player above).  And check out who the quartet vocalists were!

Baritone Vocals: Johnny Minick
Tenor Vocals: Jimmy Fortune
Lead Vocals: Paul Lancaster
Bass Vocals: Mike Allen

Pretty cool.

Here’s Garment of Praise singing it:

Download audio file (The_Tomb_Says_It_All.mp3)

Nice job Daryl.

GOP has a couple of brand new recordings out, available on Gladsongs.com.

Don’t call me English.  I’m American.

Anyway, the whole Amish thing had my eyes open wide in wonder for awhile, but I’ve learned quite a lot about Amishness since then.   I’ve come to enjoy the incongruities.

Like seeing a horse and buggy pulling a boat and trailer.   Or exchanging emails with an Amishman.  Or even finding a “Mr. and Mrs. Smith” dvd on an Amishman’s desk!

And today I had an Amishman tell me “You da man!”

It was Randy Shelnut, Stewart Vernado, Jeff Stice, Scott Inman, and one other guy.  I was just ahead of them, so I opened the door for Randy Shelnut as we went in.  They’re in town for the big multi-piano thing.  I was actually delivering the programs for the show.

It wasn’t very fair, because I was working and they were going in to eat.  I thought after I left, I should have told them to try the ham.   Bummer, I didn’t think of it in time.

I always did like Randy Shelnut and Scott Inman, the least I could have done was recommend the ham.

And hey, I like that header pic.  ITF is in it!

But By, where is the link to ITF?

Then last weekend I flew out by myself for my Grandpa’s funeral.   I don’t like flying anymore, it used to be fun but those days are long gone.

The girls charmed everyone.  Both of them are quick to smile, even at a stranger, and they won over the stewardesses, nearby passengers, airport people, everybody in about half a second.

I discovered last weekend that I don’t generate nearly as much attention flying by myself!

They started a Youtube channel and asked about some promo material from us, so I gave them a video from several years ago when we sang at the Inspirations’ Singing in the Smokies.

My buddy Pete’s solo album (which I recorded) is also available there.

This got me thinking about days gone by when I used to was a singer.  There is one rule you soon learn as a singer, and that is:  “It’s always hot on stage.”    Always.  My future sister-in-law’s brother got married last Saturday, and my brother-in-law (her fiance) said how ferociously hot it was standing up front.  I could have told him that from my seat way in the back.

It’s always smoking hot up front.  A singer just has to get used to it.   The only time I remember being cold when we sang (and there’s a chance I’m forgetting another time or two), was once at a graveside service in the winter.  That’s wasn’t hot, that was freezing, and it was very hard to sing!  Of course that wasn’t up on a stage either.

So over the years of traveling and singing, I did get used to it to a certain degree.  That didn’t keep me from complaining, of course, but I got to where I could handle it pretty well. As an aside, we sang at a small church in Virginia one time and for the first few songs of the night I could hardly believe it. It was cool and wondrously comfortable on stage! Then I saw the guy go back to the thermostat, and that was the end of that. I talked to him later and he said he was getting complaints about it being so cold. Figures.

Anyway, so at the Singing in the Smokies ‘04 (from which the above video was taken), this should have been no big deal, right?  Oh my goodness, not a chance.  Now this is an outdoor event, and it was so hot that day I couldn’t believe it.  Of course we were buttoned up to our earlobes in our singin’ suits, and it was just about more than I could take.

Then we took the stage, and it was ten degrees hotter up there!   The stage was lined with bright lights, they may have been heat lamps I’m pretty sure, and I don’t know when I’ve experienced such heat.

So just remember, if you ever become a singer, you have to deal with the heat onstage.

But Mandy wouldn’t cooperate.

Here’s one of the girls and their cousins.

This is what Mandy does when you try to take a picture of her.

But the other day I was coming home from work and saw Fish-on-a-Stick version 2!    And it was only 1 mile south of the original Fish-on-a-Stick.

Is that what I think it is?

How strange.

There’s no way this could have happened by accident.

Some high-society lady in Hoosierville is walking around lopsided.