Wow, it’s been a while huh? Now that we have that settled, let’s move along.

I’ve been kicked out of my house for 2 hours by my wife. My (our) dog also suffered the same fate. She, however, is in the back yard of our more than generous neighbors. Why am I banned from my house you ask? Simple. It’s because of three dice. Well, there’s a little more to it than that. Twelve women and three dice. It’s a game that Bethany has recently become involved with. Bunco people. I don’t know anything about it other than what I’ve mentioned. I haven’t even read the link I’m sending you to. I just trust the masses at Wikipedia. All I know is that because of Bunco, I’m stuck in Panera with nothing to do except wonder how awesome “The Office” was tonight.

One of the things that is never discussed or that you never think about when buying a home is how your neighbors feel about Christmas decorations. Do they love them, hate them? Are they ok if kept simple or what? I guess you don’t ask these questions because Christmas is so short lived and all in all it’s really not important. However, I do feel I should comment on the tremendous amount of comic relief everytime I walk out of my front door after the sun goes down. It all hit me last night. No, I’m not talking about a realization here…I mean light rays. I was driving home from a surprise birthday party and as I turned the corner on my street I saw what looked to be a very red….VERY red tree 2 doors down from my house. This is an older couple. I’ve seen them walk…they’re not agile. At least, not enough to scale a Bradford Pear (may those trees burn in hell) and string lights. Amazing! Bethany said they also have a blue bush to go with the red tree. Good stuff. But THAT was just the appetizer. Oh yes my friends. For I had not yet discovered what awaited me directly across the street from our house. You have your typical glowing candy canes lighting the pathway to the front door. The colored light archway over said door. Some clored strands in the monkey grass and white lights hanging from the gutters. And who can forget the tiny reindeer in the front yard slowly, but decisively, turning his head left to right. “Do you like standing in the front yard Mr. Reindeer?” “No” he says. You could be reading this thinking, wow that’s pretty cool. Or perhaps you think this is the opposite of cool. Wherever you are, I need you to stop for just a second. Because I have yet to tell you about the best, most awesome bit of Christmas yard art that I’ve ever shared a street with. On the far right corner of the house stands a very large…..7ft?….green….glowing….Santa dressed…..Grinch. Oh yes. I have never laughed so hard by myself. I am going to love seeing this thing every evening. And to add to the story, during the day, it’s deflated and lying face down in their front yard. For some reason, even that made me laugh this morning. I love living next to the Griswalds.

I thought you might be interested in giving to this wonderful cause. I’m writing my check right now…let’s see, how do you write zero in tongues?

Tonight Bethany and I are camping out by the front door. It’s only for a little while until the trick and/or treating subsides. So far we’ve had many characters come to our door. Of recent note was a kid dressed as a gangster. He didn’t like the peanut butter cups I was giving him and asked for a fast break instead. I obliged but there was something in me that wanted to give him some dental floss and say “good day”. I could never do that though. So, in between kids I’m blogging and Bethany is doing grades. Hang on, we have a drive by. Ok, just gave candy to the Grim Reaper.

We went to Kroger tonight to pick up a few groceries. We left Bailey (our golden retriever) in the back yard. This was a big deal because last week I left her in the back yard and she decided it would be a perfect time to dig up some new grass I had planted. It was the closest I’ve ever been to giving her away. I left her outside in the rain and came in to finish some work with my headphones on. I prayed for hail. Do you remember Turner and Hooch? “Give me hail God. Hail the size of softballs.” Funny scene. Anyway, a friend told me a while ago that if you want to stop your dog from digging in a spot you just put some of their poop where they like to dig. It really works but I didn’t want to put it in my grass because it doesn’t facilitate good grass growth. It would if Bailey were a vegetarian. But I caved and put her poop all over the spot she’d dug up. So far so good.

So we get back home from Kroger and Bailey is in the back corner of the yard. I notice that my grass is still in tact so I’m happy. But I also notice that she’s not really reacting to my presence. As I get closer she starts walking to me with something in her mouth. I can’t quite tell what it is, but the closer she comes I start to make out tiny feet and a tail that looked like it used to be quite bushy. It was, in fact, a squirrel. I was stunned. I couldn’t do anything but laugh. Hang on kids. I went inside to compose myself and Bailey proudly dropped her gift by the back door. I got the shovel, scooped it up and put in a bag for the trash; not before I got a picture of her first kill though. I told I was proud of her. She done good.

I led music at a church in Huntsville this past weekend. The folks at Southwood Presbyterian Church have become good friends of mine over the last few years. I’ve done a lot of work with their youth group. Sunday was my first experience with the entire congregation. Great people. I’m going to be back there a couple times next month to help out while they look for a new music leader.

Last night we had a couple friends over and cooked dinner for them. I made carrot soup. It is quite tasty. It has apples, carrots, onions, garlic, chicken broth, white wine and cumin in it. You cook it then blend it all together for an orangey treat. It was very fitting considering the time of year. Tonight will be our first Halloween in our new home. We have the candy all prepared.

Ok, time to get to work. But before I do, you should definitely check this out. I pity the fool!