Food to Match

Denver is a very happening place. There's almost always some sort of event or festival going on somewhere in metro Denver. My family and I have been to a few of them and I am always surprised when the food doesn't match the event. For instance, a couple years ago on my birthday, we went to the Oktoberfest in downtown. We don't drink, so we certainly weren't there for the beer. I was looking forward to some German food. Nope! There was only one booth that had schnitzel and brats. Everything else was funnel cakes, hamburgers, Thai, Mexican. Everything but German. I was disappointed. For our 12th anniversary, we went to the Denver Dragon Boat Festival. I'm thinking..."Mmmmm...Asian food." Not really. Funnel cakes, burritos, hotdogs, and mostly American fare. Only one booth had Asian food. A couple weeks ago, we went to the Celtic Festival. I'm looking for Haggis, Shepherd's Pie, Fish and Chips, and Bangers and Mash. Nope. Jamba Juice, Funnel Cake, Brats/Dogs, and ice cream. The closest we got to Celtic cuisine were some flavored almonds sold by an actual Scottish man (complete with accent). They were yummy, but not what I was hoping for. So, here's what I'm proposing, Denver. Why not have the food match the event? If you have a German festival, have German food! Asian festival? How about Asian food? Celtic? How about Celtic themed food booths? It makes sense to me. But, it's one of Denver's quirks, I guess. At least they all got one thing right....Funnel Cake! Even if it's not Asian, German, or Celtic....it still rocks!

A Tap, Tap, Tapping (Music in my Head)

I've had pretty severe tendonitis since April of this year. Anti-inflamatory medication is the only thing that allowed me to get through the Cry for Mercy Reunion Concert. Before I took the medicine, I could only play guitar for about 5 minutes before I couldn't stand the pain any more. But, I couldn't explain how I got it. It's in my left elbow. I'm right handed. So, it's not a computer mouse usage issue. It could possibly be a keyboard issue, but I don't really type that much. I use the mouse far more than I type. I don't play guitar long enough at a time for this to be an issue. So, what could it be? The other day it finally occurred to me what is probably causing my tendonitis.

I constantly have music in my head. Whether it's a song I just heard, or a song that just pops into my head, or a song that I'm just making up, I've always got music floating around in my head. My physiological response to this music in my head is that I tap my fingers. I do this all the time. I tap them on each other when I'm walking. I tap them on my desk or leg. I tap on Joi when we are sitting together or holding hands. I tap all the time. It's not a loud and annoying tapping. It's usually pretty soft and almost not noticeable at all. Usually at night when we are watching TV and Joi and I are snuggling she'll ask me..."What song do you have in your head?" and then it occurs to me that I'm tapping or pressing my fingers again to some song floating in my noggin. I think this is the best explanation as to why I have tendonitis. I've been conscious of it the last couple of days and when I notice myself doing it, I stop immediately. I'm hoping that the rest will reduce the irritation in my elbow.

The music in my head has other implications. I went to the dentist the other day and they asked me if I grind my teeth at night because my front teeth are becoming flat. I told them that I used to do it as a kid, but that my wife hasn't complained about it before. So, I assume that I don't do it anymore. Believe me, she'd hear it if I still did it. She sleeps like a ninja (asleep, but always on the brink of awake). Then one day I realized that I tap my top and bottom front teeth together to the song in my head. That must be why my teeth are flattening. So, I've tried to be conscious of that, too. I've tried my best to stop doing that.

It's amazing how these little physical nuances due to the music in my brain is causing this kind of havoc to my body. If only I could get the music to stop once in a while.

Celebrating Gage

Saturday was my son Gage's birthday, so we spent the day celebrating him. We woke up that morning and Joi made cinnamon rolls upon Gage's request. We let him open a present from Grandma Jan. Then we got ready and went to Gavin's first football game (he had a 15 yard run as a running back...not too bad for his first game). We went home after the game and Gage opened the rest of his gifts from us, Papa and Granny, and Tia. Then, we went to Armadillo Restaurant for yummy Mexican Food, again at Gage's request. After our tummy's were full, we were off to the Denver Zoo for an afternoon of animal watching. What a great place for an animal lover like Gage! The bears were very active that day, which was nice. Quite a few other animals seemed to be sleeping or not visible at all. But, Gage didn't seem to notice and had a wonderful time. Afterward, it was off to home for Gage's favorite meal, Meat, Rice, and Gravy. Uncle Dale joined us. Then we sang to him and presented him with his birthday cake. While eating cake and ice cream, we watched Soul Surfer. It was a good day and I enjoyed celebrating Gage. He is such a wonderful boy. He's very kind, loving, compassionate, and forgiving. He's easy going and loves people. He loves music and stuffed animals. In fact, most of his gifts were stuffed animals to add to his collection. I love that boy of mine and I am blessed to be his father. Love you, Gagers!

Loving my Kindle

I've owned a Kindle for five days now. I'm loving it. I immediately charged it and started reading the electronic manual that comes pre-loaded. On the second day, I loaded it with a few free books from Amazon and a book that I've been wanting to read called "Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children" by Ransom Riggs. Every day when I ride the bus I read a little more of that book. It's a good book so far and completely engrossing. But, I am in love with my Kindle. Here's why.

It's small and easy to handle. I like that I can hold it with one hand and read it while I stand in line waiting for the bus. The case I have allows me to hold it with one hand due to a cool strap on the back and I can easily turn the pages using my thumb. It's great.

I love the dictionary function. The Kindle comes loaded with two dictionaries. When you don't know a word in a book yo are reading, you can move your cursor to the word and it will define it for you. Awesome! I expect my vocabulary to increase exponentially now.

I read more. I'm not always looking ahead to see how long the chapter is before I read on. I just read and it's causing me to read far more as a result. Plus, the technology is so cool, it's hard to put it down.

I like the e-ink and the screen. It's easy on the eyes and you don't have to worry about sun glare. Plus, you can make the font larger if you need to.

It can read to me. I sometimes get car sick when reading in a moving vehicle. I don't have any problems in the morning (no idea why), but mostly in the afternoons. If I wanted to keep reading, I could plug in my ear phones and let the Kindle read to me...while keeping my eyes on the road. The electronic voice isn't like listening to an audio book voiced by an actor, but it's still pretty cool. I haven't used this yet because part of me feels like not reading it myself is cheating. But, I like that it's there if I'm feeling particularly queasy one day.

It saves space. I don't have to buy paper books anymore and clutter my already overflowing bookshelves.

Library's are getting on board. I read an article that 11,000 library's across the country are letting you borrow e-books just like other books. Awesome. There are some books that I don't necessarily want to own and I just want to try it on for size. This would be perfect.

Complaints? Only a few and none of them are about the Kindle itself. I wish the e-books were cheaper. With no materials or hardly any production costs, it should be far cheaper than the paper-back or hard cover version, but in many cases, it is only a couple of dollars cheaper. Why is this? It just doesn't make any sense to me, except that maybe publishers are greedy.

If you read a lot and are low on book space, I highly recommend the Kindle. I'm loving mine.

The Life of a Pack Rat: Part Two

Okay, so I am a recovering pack rat. I'm doing my best to downsize and consolidate. However, the biggest struggle I have is this; how do I get rid of nostalgic items? What do I mean by nostalgic items? I've got a HUGE storage bin full of mementos from my childhood. Some of it I saved. Some of it my Mom or Dad gave me after having saved it for many years. What do I do with this stuff? Will my kids want it someday? Should I just toss it and never look back? Also, as a Daddy, I want to keep everything my boys give me. But, should I? I have a "Daddy Box" but it's already filled with drawings, letters, art, etc. I can't fit much more in it. For my birthday, Garrison wrote "Happy Birthday, Dad" across a 2 x 4 piece of pine and scotch taped some sticks on it. Should I keep it? If so, I'm not sure where I'd put it. I'm all for consolidating, but I tend to balk when it comes to things that have sentimental value. What should I do? Suggestions?

The Life of a Pack Rat (or How do I Simplify When I Want to Keep Everything)

Hello. My name is Chris and I'm a pack rat. Since childhood, I've collected things. When I was younger, I collected stamps, exotic beer bottles, antique Coke and Dr. Pepper bottles, toys, relics from nature, vinyl records, and many, many other things. Occasionally, my Mom would go through my room when I was younger and consolidate while I was at school. I'd come home to a clean and organized room. My fascination with an organized room coupled with my short term memory struggles caused me to forget about whatever collection had gone missing. But, I'd start new collections. As I grew, the collections changed, but the pack rat within me remained the same. I'd collect letters from people, photos, autographed books, musical instruments, and lots of other things. You'd think that with the multiple moves that I performed through the years that I would force myself to consolidate and simplify. Instead, I'd just pack more boxes. Then I married Joi. She is, by choice and by nature, a minimalist. She simplifies. God knew what he was doing when he joined us together. At first, she tolerated my clutter with only occasional complaints about "all my stuff". But, as the years went on and we added new people to our family, she urged me to consolidate. I would, but I'd always hold on to more than I needed. I'd give away these three books, while insisting that I had to have these 400 other books. Once or twice a year we'd have a consolidation day and I'd go through more stuff.  Once or twice a year I'd feel like super-cleaning and organizing anyway...so it worked out nicely. Joi is smart enough to know when I'm going through my "let's organize" phase and she capitalizes on those moments. I don't have any bitterness. I know my pack rat tendencies are a problem.

Then something happened. For the first time in my life and the first time as a married couple with children, we moved more than an hour away. We moved out of state. Eighteen hours away. Moving out of state can be a pricey endeavor. The less you have, the cheaper it is to move. So, we consolidated. It was painful for me. But, we got rid of so much. We narrowed our stuff down to the bare essentials. Although, truth be told, I probably still took too much. Once in Colorado, we moved another three times. Each time, we consolidated a little more. Our current humble home near Denver is only 1200 square feet on a good day, so you feel it when you have too much stuff. Occasionally, we've consolidated and simplified just to keep our sanity. Also, I've realized that I've raised pack-rat children who like to collect things. Garrison keeps his knife collection in a locked box for safety and because I think he likes to look at his collection as a set of holy relics. Gage loves stuffed animals, so his bed is literally teaming with mickeys, bears, penguins, and other assorted livestock. Gavin likes small trinkets, but he stuffs them in every cubby hole in the headboard of his bed. Plus, all three boys like to make things. We are always throwing away stick contractions stuck together with duct tape. Usually, they are swords forged out of pine scraps or other weapons of war. After a while, they get broken during a heated battle and are found rotting in a corner of their room. So, we toss them. But, they are like bunnies. New ones always appear.

With the realization that we will need to stay in our humble abode for another year or more before we'll have enough saved to buy a home has awakened a new yearning to simplify with Joi and I. Yes, I'm actually on board. We do need to simplify. One of the creative ways Joi helped me with this was to buy me an Amazon Kindle. That way, I'd stop buying and keeping books that sit triple stacked on our minimal shelves. I hear that the Kindle can hold thousands of books all in that little electronic shell. Now that's consolidation! The problem that we are having is this; what else can we get rid of? We've simplified and consolidated so many times, we don't have much stuff left. But, it still feels cluttered and cramped. So, where do we go from here? How do we organize such a small space, so that we have optimal room while keeping the bare essentials that we need to keep? The boys already have a bunk bed that Garrison and Gage sleep on. We plan to get Gavin a loft bed so that we can utilize the space under his bed and make their room appear larger. But, what else can we do? Does anyone have any other ideas on how to simplify, consolidate, and create space where none exists?

I used to be a pack-rat. Now, I may be reformed. Recovering.

Hello, my name is Chris and I'm a recovering pack-rat.

Birthday Festivities

I had a very nice day with my family yesterday celebrating my birthday. I woke up at 7:15am. I was hoping to sleep in, but my adult body thinks that 7:15am is sleeping in. Oh well. My family immediately showered me with birthday wishes and presents. Joi had decorated the living room with black streamers (my request) and balloons. I got an Amazon Kindle and a case from my family, Mom, and Sister. Thanks, I love it. Also, Joi bought me a massage that I can't use until November, but it gives me something to look forward to. Plus, it's 90 minutes...which sounds awesome. My Dad got me an Amazon gift card, which will come in very handy so that I can load up my Kindle with books. I love Amazon gift cards! My beautiful wife made me an Egg McMuffin for breakfast, while I scanned through all of the birthday wishes posted on Facebook for me. Thanks, everyone. Afterward, we showered and got ready for the day and I played with my new Kindle. We were going to go to Texas Roadhouse for lunch, but we found out that it doesn't open until 4pm. So, we went to Olive Garden instead. I had a very good Roasted Mushroom and Sun Dried Tomato Pasta dish. Mmmmmm.....yum! Then we went up to Lair O' The Bear Open Space Park in the mountains (about 10 minutes from our home) and did a very beautiful hike through canyons and near Bear Creek. It was very nice to get outside and walk off all of that pasta. When we got back, Joi pre-made some dinner items and I sorted through more Facebook Birthday wishes from friends and family. And...I played with my Kindle some more. Then we picked up the Wakefield kids and took them and our boys to Gymnastics and Football practice at a local recreation center. It was fun to watch Gage do gymnastics, since his practices are usually during the day while I'm at work. When we got home, Joi prepared Green Chile Chicken Enchiladas, Spanish Rice, and beans for dinner. It was very good! Then afterward, we had homemade Blackberry Pie and Ice Cream for dessert and watched "A Night in Casablanca" with the Marx Brothers on Netflix. We put the kids to bed and Joi and I snuggled up to watch a "Monk" episode on Netflix before we drifted off to sleep. It was a very nice day. Relaxing, fun, and spent with people I love dearly.

Turn...turn...turn

Sorry, in advance, for the shameless plug. My birthday is on Monday. I will be turning 39. It's hard to believe. This will be the last year of my 30's. I remember when I was 15 and my Dad turned 33 years old. That was the last time I really paid attention to his age. In fact, he'll be happy to know that, mentally, for me, he's stuck at 33 years old. But, I remember thinking that he was old at 33. And here I am...six years older than that. Do I feel old? No, not really. Other than occasional aches and pains that I didn't have ten years ago (Stinkin' Tendonitis), I still feel pretty young. But, 39? Really? Where did the time go? It's amazing. So, this Monday, I'll be taking the day off and my family will be spoiling me (as they always do) for my birthday. Joi's going to make me an Egg McMuffin for breakfast, going to Texas Road House for lunch, and then Joi's awesome Green Chile Chicken Enchilada's for Dinner. Awesome. Also, I was thinking of driving the family up to "Lair O' the Bear" park in the mountains and maybe doing a little hiking along Bear Creek sometime in the day. It's free and it's outside in nature. Should be a fun day. Next year, for my 40th, we will be having an 80's themed party. 80's music, karaoke, costumes, 80's movies, and 80's food (whatever that is). I'm looking forward to it. For those of you in California, start saving your money for a trip out here. It will be a blast and you're all invited. How often does one turn 40, after all? In fact, my Dad is still 33 years old. So, he never made it to 40 (at least in my mind). But, here I am at the doorway of 39 years old. I think I'll go in and stay for a while. At least a year.

Old Prayer List

I made a prayer list sometime eight or nine years ago. I had it on my Palm Pilot and would periodically open the document and pray through the list for my wife, son (at the time there was only one), family members, non-christian family/friends, etc. Flash-forward to the present. Joi and I were talking the other day about praying more together and revamping our nightly prayer with our boys before they go to bed. I remembered that old prayer list and looked for it to find some ideas about how to specifically pray for my wife and boys. I found it today and looked through it. It was interesting to see how things have changed in that amount of time. Some non-Christian friends/family that I prayed for are now Christians. Other Christian family/friends are not following the Lord any longer. At the time I only had one son, so all of my prayers for him were specific to him only. Now, I have three sons. But, the same prayer requests still apply. God helped me conquer some of the prayer requests that I prayed for myself back then. Others I still need prayer for. Some of the people I prayed for are no longer with us on this earth. Some are in heaven. Some...only God knows for sure. It's amazing how much changes in that amount of time. I wonder sometimes how much difference prayer actually makes. It's not doubt or a lack of faith. It's just that I can't always see the direct result of my prayers. So, sometimes, I wonder. God knows. That's good enough for me. In the meantime, I will continue to work on my prayer life and will do my best to pray for those I love.

This Blog Smells

I am big on scents. I enjoy them. I love particular scents like summer rain hitting hot pavement, Christmas baking, rose or flowery perfumes, play-doh, a new book, onions being sauteed, baby powder, the inside of a new guitar case, coffee, and cocoanut shampoo...just to name a few. But, what intrigues me is when a scent is closely tied in to a memory. For instance, today I washed out my Eco-friendly water bottle at work and I used the Palmolive Dish Soap that they have in the community kitchen. As soon as I poured some Palmolive into my bottle and ran some water over it, I was instantly transported into my Grandmother's kitchen where I used to help her do the dishes. She often used Palmolive Dish Soap and now that scent is forever tied to her memory. I have the same scented memory flashbacks of my Grandfather whenever I smell a certain type of cigarette, or gasoline and oil, or a dusty garage. I don't know if everyone does this or if it's just someone like me who enjoys scents so much. Well, with a nose like mine, I'm bound to be into scents, right? Anyway, I digress. It's fun when these scented flashbacks hit and you can spend a moment recollecting the circumstances or people who have engrained themselves into that scented memory. I wonder what my scent will be. Will my kids remember me when they smell Obsession? Or the inside of a guitar case? Or homemade chicken and noodles? I don't know. But, I'm sure there will be some scent that is associated with my memory. I am big on scents. I enjoy them.

The Transition Was Sudden

We left on Friday for a holiday-weekend trip to Durango to visit my Dad and Step-Mom. When we left it was hot, the pool in our complex was open, we ran the air conditioner on a daily basis, and it just felt like summer. We arrived back last night and it was noticeably cooler and it was raining. We opened the windows and didn't even have to turn on the air conditioner. This morning, it was raining and expected to only hit 64 degrees as a high. The pool is now closed for the winter (Labor day is the last day for pool use). The boys are starting their fall extra-curricular activities starting today. Gavin is in flag football. Gage will be trying gymnastics (wrestling was canceled). They will all be involved in "Modern Day Knights" at a local church. This all starts today. Summer is definitely over and fall has begun. It's not expected to get any higher than the 70's for most of this week. The transition was sudden. It was summer when we left and now it's fall. It's a little weird. But, I welcome it. I like fall. I like the changing of the leaves. The cooler weather. The smell of firewood in the air. I like that it gets darker earlier. I like that we'll be celebrating Thanksgiving and Christmas before we know it. While sudden change is not my favorite thing in the world, I liked this one.

Copeland Boys Sing "A Hard Days Night"

You know my boys are being raised right! Here they are performing "A Hard Days Night" by the Beatles. Enjoy!!