I wrote this on Monday, sent it home on Tuesday, and I am finally posting this on Tuesday night. My, how time flies…

I’m planning to start a pool on the birth of TMBCitW, and the award would be BlogMad credits. I have some credits set aside, leftover from a gift from prying1, (I’ve been thinking about this for a while now…) and I figured that could be the base of the prize pool.

Here’s what I’ve got figured out so far: I will publish the doctor’s statement of how far along TMBWitW is, as of a certain date. Entries would “cost” 5 BlogMad credits, with three going into the first place prize pot, and two going into the second prize pot. If you don’t belong to BlogMad, then you could join, surf a bit, and save up the credits you needed. The entries would consist of a credit transfer to my account, with an accompanying note as to the date and time block for the birth. Five credits would reserve a half hour block, the blocks would start and end on the hour/half hour. First come, first served, and in the event two people file for the same block the timestamp would determine who gets it.

What do you think? Would you get in on the action?

If I get a favorable reaction, I’ll put the contest up on September 12, 2006, with the evening posting. Be forewarned: I plan on doing a lot of BlogMad surfing in the ensuing weeks, to see how many people I can get into the pool…

My beautiful wife bought me an early Christmas/Birthday present, since she said she was going to be really busy around then. Can’t imagine what with. Anyway – I am now the proud owner of a Yamaha bass, Crate amp, and assorted accessories. WooHoo! Mah own git-tar! Now I can return the borrowed equipment and play on my own. It has a sweet, mellow tone – and I haven’t put the new strings on it yet, it still has the factory strings! Can’t wait to run the fatties on that body…

Hmm, that almost sounded wrong…

So! In the spirit of the giving, Merry Christmas! May God bless you and yours until you just don’t know what to do with any more blessings!

Two things: the first is from an e-mail that TMBWitW sent to our circle at church. She says it much better than I could hope to:

Well, it has now been 3 weeks since my mom arrived at Sunrise Medical Center in Las Vegas.

Thank you ALL for your continued love, support, and prayers. God has truly blessed me with ALL OF YOU!

The second one I just had to share with you, if for no other reason than the weekend is here and let’s end on an upbeat, shall we?

Prescott (AZ): A Yavapai County sheriff’s deputy patrolling a senior housing development outside Prescott on Wednesday spotted a 5-foot-tall marijuana plant growing between two driveways.

Deputy Justin Dwyer got out, identified the plant and interviewed the residents, spokewoman Susan Quayle said. They told the deputy they thought the plant was “just an attractive weed, and they had been watering it.” Quayle said it appeared the plant was growing wild and probably sprouted from a stray seed.

Where to begin?

… they thought the plant was “just an attractive weed, and they had been watering it.” …

Think about the ages of the residents … think about how tall it had grown … I’ll bet it was an attractive “weed.”

… probably sprouted from a stray seed. …

And just where did that seed come from? How long does it take a plant, regularly watered, to grow to five feet? How long has it been since a sheriff’s deputy patrolled that area?

Have a good weekend. If you are on the front lines, keep your head down and your courage up. God bless you all, and we’ll see you next week.

Go here. Buy a shirt. While you are at it, grab the logo above and freely spread it around while pointing people to the web site.

Thank you, and God bless you all!

o-bli-vee-uts: n., persons who are oblivious to their surroundings, and oblivious to the fact they are oblivious; usually accompanied by sense of being the center, and sole occupant, of the entire universe. Very similar to Darwin Award Candidate.

I was at the first major intersection I traverse on my commute this morning, headed south, waiting for the light to change. The north and south turn lanes got their arrow, and the cars in those lanes moved out, in a surprisingly organized manner (considering I am in Phoenix, Arizona). At this point, the obliviot makes her appearance. She started crossing the street from east to west on the south side of the intersection.

The lights turned green for the north-south traffic. Since there was an obstruction, the northbound cars did not move. The southbound lanes (remember, we are in Phoenix, where nothing stops the green light drag race) took off like a shot, crossing the five lanes on the crossroad. Obliviot suddenly stopped walking, in the northbound turn lane, because she sensed impending doom.

Having started her illegal foray across the street, she stood in the crosswalk at the turn lane (I will give her credit for using the crosswalk) watching in amazement as the southbound drivers flew past her. Obviously, we were supposed to stop, and allow her to finish crossing unimpeded. None of us did. I watched in the rear view mirror as she waited for the last of the southbound traffic to clear, and she sprinted across the remaining lanes, only to start sprinting across the eastbound lanes, crossing the street to the north, just as the east/west traffic got their green lights. At that point, I was too far down the street to be able to pick her out in the mirror without loosing concentration on my task at hand; that is, driving in Phoenix.

I do not know if she survived her street crossing foray, but she needs to learn that the people here do not stop for random street crossers like they do in her country of origin. At least, I am assuming they do that in her country of origin; otherwise why would she cross like that? It’s not a natural action, that’s for sure – very much against the whole “survival” circuit that kicks on in the brain. Well, for some people it does.

God bless you all, please drive safely, and look both ways before crossing the street when you have the appropriate clearance/light/walk sign.

Ten tons of gravel in the backyard – done. Surprisingly enough, I am not nearly as sore as I was last week, with only three tons moved. Maybe I should be physically active more often…

Saturday night’s rehearsal went pretty well – I was handed a new piece of music, and did not mess it up too badly. TMBWitW and her best friend and their “Momma” were cracking up because I apparently had a perplexed/lost look on my face most of the time. Yeah, thanks for the moral support, honey. Nothing more helpful than your lifemate rolling in the aisle as you are trying to play…

Friday night, TMBWitW and our adopted parents (T&S) went to a concert at Celebrity Theatre. It’s a “theatre in the round” type of set up, only the stage rotates, ever so slowly and gently, as the artist is performing. The opening act was Mark Schultz, who was worth the cost of admission alone, in my opinion. He did a lot of his best stuff, including “Remember Me” and “Letters From War” – a song which I love and cannot listen to at the same time. When the stage started rotating, Mark stopped playing and said “Do we have to do that?” Turns out he gets motion sickness. He was adapting pretty well, until after three rotations the stage started going the other way. He stopped again, in the middle of the song, and said “Wow. That’s fantastic.” I don’t think he meant it.

The main act was Phillips, Craig, and Dean. I hadn’t been to one of their concerts in some time; actually, since a Christmas program that the choir I was in at the time sponsored and they sang the front. They’ve been together for 16 years, and still harmonize like nobody’s business. About halfway through the concert, TMBWitW (she’s pregnant, you know…) said she wasn’t feeling well, so we bid T&S good night and went on home.

Sunday was very relaxing. After church, I sat down and watched the race, and enjoyed watching Matt Kenseth pretty much dominate the race after Dale Jr. had a bobble in the pits. Jeff Gordon was charging, but just didn’t have enough for Matt.

That was my weekend. How was yours? Sorry I don’t write much anymore. I miss the interaction, and can only get on the home computer when TMBWitW doesn’t have homework or a paper to write. Did I mention she is working on her Bachelor’s in Accounting? Yup, full time job, full time student, and soon to be a mommy. Quite the dedication, I tell you.

Mom update: Early this morning, she had a cardiac arrest. The medical types (I’m losing faith in doctors right at the moment, bear with me) finally read the notes sent to them (two weeks ago, when she arrived in Vegas), and started treating the lesions on her liver. Oh, and to “reduce the stress” they sedated her – the stress is what triggered the CA, and the only reason she is still with us is because her husband didn’t want to leave her alone – so at 3:00 this morning, she spasmed and started bleeding form her mouth. He hollered for the nurse, she came running in, started CPR (or whatever they’re calling it now) and the nurse called a Code 99, resulting in a roomful of medical staff doing their best to keep her alive. Now that she is stabilized and in the ICU again, they are treating her problems. Thank you all for your prayers, and if you could continue, we would appreciate it.

God bless you all, and stay safe. Gawfer, I hope you and Mrs. Gawfer had a very boring flight home.