Someone asked me a few days ago what I was reading.

When I began to think about it, I realized I am currently "reading" (in quotes because some of it is on computer, some of it is audio) an amazing number of books - probably too many to read all at once. I should probably try to finish off some of them and get them off the list.

Of course, if I do that, I'll probably just start new ones. Sigh. Too many books, too little time.

Currently, Jan and I are reading three books together, plus two more occasionally.

Yesterday, we went to the big Christ United Methodist Church again; I like that place for two reasons; first is that I know and like Michael, their music guy. He does a very good job with the music there. And second, it's a church that seems the best compromise between what I'm looking for, what Jan's looking for, and what Grace is looking for.

Please excuse me if I go on a bit about my granddaughter, Katie.

I spent some time with her yesterday, and it's an amazing blessing to watch her joy as she experiences this world, and her glee as she conquers each new task.

I had the weirdest dream early this morning.

I was asleep in a strange bed, alone. There was an air conditioner vent high up in the wall at the foot of the bed.

I looked, and there was a LARGE snake coming out of the vent. It was a cream-gold color and it had a bony ridge-hood over its eyes.

I had one of those paralyzed-in-a-dream moments, then began kicking my feet under the sheets to keep it off of me. It flashed in my mind that this was a "Gabon Viper" (whatever that is), then I woke up.

Last Wednesday, I drove 2 1/2 hours south to Gulfport, to attend the funeral of Steve Burnett, a friend of mine.

Funerals are always a sad occasion, but this one was particularly poignant, for two reasons. First, Steve was only 54 years old, and second, he was a significant presence in my life.

Taken Too Young!

When is one NOT too young to go home to the Lord? Steve had a beautiful family, wife, five children, and two grandchildren, but should have been looking forward to decades more of enjoying these delights of life.

Last week, we went out to eat at a local Cracker Barrel restaurant.

We do this occasionally, because some folks in our house like the food there, because going out to eat means no one has to fix the dinner or wash the dishes, and because they like to buy a loaf of the Cracker Barrel sourdough bread to bring home.

Our dog, Bert, is no longer with us.

Monday, taking Bert on his final trip to the vet, is all a blur.

On Sunday, the day before, he was VERY lethargic, and getting him up to go outside was a major effort, I had to pull rather hard on his leash to get him to get up. On Monday, he was even worse.

I had an early morning retinologist appointment, which went as well as could be expected, BTW, but as soon as we got back, we knew we had to take him in to the vet, probably for the final time.

Many of you who read this already know I direct a community band, the Mississippi Community Symphonic Band. (The band's home page is here.)

Of course being as how we are a concert band, we put on concerts.

Last night we put on our oh, about thirty second concert since we got started, nearly six years ago.

We must be doing something right, because we regularly put more than 80 people on the stage and have audiences of 500 or more.

We went out to eat tonight.

Jan and I took our granddaughter, Katie, out for a "field trip" today, so Katie's Mom and Dad could have a day to relax, and maybe get a it of a date.

They enjoyed it, taking a picnic to the lakefront.

On the way to pick up Katie, we noticed an old restaurant that had closed was now a new restaurant, "Rotisserie."

Please pardon me as I brag a bit on my granddaughter.

Katherine Grace (Katie) is just under sixteen months old. She's beginning to learn that words exist, and they actually might mean something; and she's also learning a few element of sign language.

You can just see the wheels turning in her head as she puts new ideas and concepts together, and tests her comprehension of what she's learning.

Tonight, while Chad (Katie's dad)was on the way home from Pensacola, where he was helping a friend move back to Jackson, we went out to eat and took Sarah (Mommy) and Katie.

It's been "movie week" this week here in Mississippi. I've been to see FOUR movies this week - more than I went to see in any six month period in the last two years, I think. At least, in theaters. If you're interested, read on!

Christmas Day, 2009.

It's been a wonderful Christmas Day, with six family members in the house, a fire in the fireplace, a bit of a nip in the air outside, bright sunshine to celebrate the joy of the day, and many gifts and other things for which to be thankful.

But a small cloud hovers in the corner of the room.

Our dog, Bert, who has been with us for nearly sixteen years, seems to be on his last legs.

Granted, sixteen years is a long life for a dog, but it's also a long time for the beastie to grow roots in the family.

My Latest Car Dealer Experience.

Everyone has nightmare tales about if they ever have to go face-to-face with any kind of car dealer. Frequently, these are about used car dealers, but I gotta tell ya, new car dealers can be just as much of a challenge.

Let me share this one with you. Maybe it'll help save you some money somewhere down the road.

We recently came to a season in our lives where it was time for us to get a new car. I won't go into all the why's of that here.

Fleas. Ugh.

Pesky critters, and not good for our health, our comfort, or our peace of mind.

Our old dog, Bert, has been pretty much flea-free for most of his life, thanks to new advances in anti-flea medications. But recently, he's been scratching more.

We put it down to just the season and his skin allergies, which happen periodically.

However, when we (that's the "royal we," meaning Jan) gave him a bath recently, we discovered he had a bad case of fleas.

Ugh.

This morning I'm going to be working on my website-business website some more. This time, I think I'll be working with Javascript. If you're not into techno-geek-stuff, you might want to skip this posting. GRIN! But I'm going to try to explain the code-level mechanics of how websites work so most anyone can understand it. Let me know if I succeeded.

Remember back when you were in the eighth grade, and you found certain things hilarious that you're "too grown-up" to laugh about today? If you're at all like me, somewhere deep inside (or maybe not so deep?) you still want to laugh at those things, and still get a big hoot when you read about them.

On Sunday, Oct 18, we went to church at Daniel and Shelley's church again, All Nations Fellowship.

We go there each time we visit them in Tulsa, and it's a very interesting, non-denominational Christian church.

Their praise team (this Sunday) consisted of a drummer, Daniel on bass guitar, an acoustic and an electric guitar, Shelley on keyboard, and two (or was it three?) female singers without instruments. Shelley and all they guys on all the guitars also sang.

It was time to visit Tulsa. I mean, one can only go so long before one has to visit an out of town daughter, right?

Jan and I left at oh-dark-thirty on Thursday morning and arrived in Tulsa before 2:15 PM for a nice visit with Daniel and Shelley, and their dog, Zoe.

The rest of Thursday was a relax and visit time, and Friday we just nattered about, went geocaching, ate, and visited.

However, on Saturday, Shelley had grand plans for us.

This posting is to give more detail to something I alluded to in an earlier posting - your first takeoff in an afterburner-powered jet. Well, you wish.