I would put a picture of the "Chris Sligh Band" up, but I didn't have a digital camera back then...

I think Wednesdays wear me out. This morning I woke up very tired, and so I didn't get out of bed until 9:15. My friend Jon says my life is ridiculous, and I guess he's right. First things first, so I took a shower and then took Lucy on a walk. I've been working on my technique of getting her to walk without pulling on her, and things have been improving. She tends to get distracted by anything on the ground other than dirt, grass, or concrete. I've actually read some Jack Russell forums for fun, and I'm pretty sure that there is ultimately nothing I can do about this.

When I got back I gave Lucy a quick bath (she got a little muddy), and then tidied up around the house a little. I also started tonight's dinner. I was planning on grilling on my miniature Weber grill, and so I went ahead and marinated the steaks. I think what I do is more like a rub I guess...there is some liquid involved though, it's just that I made it up and so I don't know which it is...you decide:

Anyways, after that I made lunch and then got to putting heads on my blue sparkly snare...that's right, I paid it off and was finally able to get it out of the closet and start using it. I took a few pictures, but I want to record a quick clip of it, so I will wait for that to post any of them.

By the time I was done with that I had to go to work, so I put Lucy in the sunroom and took off. Actually, right before I did that I burned songs from "The Summer Set" onto a CD to listen to in the car. Kristi's got the Ipod, and I keep forgetting to charge the Zune, which meant I needed a CD. I have been getting into The Summer Set more and more. Sometimes I feel guilty because they are so "teeny-bopper" (as my wife would say), but I've always known I'm a sucker for anything pop, and their songs are just so catchy and downright good. I enjoy the individual parts a great deal too, which I guess is mostly production.

On that musical note, I am a little stressed because there are quite a few CD's I would like to purchase this month, but that would mean severely cutting back on lunches out. The first one I want to buy is obviously the "Jesus Culture" one. Also important is the new "Fiction Family" CD. We've already established on this blog that Jon Foreman is pretty much my hero, and along those lines I typically love anything musical he does, and the thought of a Nickel Creek/Switchfoot duo makes me extremely excited. The other CD I am excited about comes out next week and is from "A Day to Remember." Warning: if you do not enjoy intense music, it is best that you skip that link. Kristi for instance is not a fan of anything in their genre. I on the other hand don't typically get into screaming, but some bands are just so good that I can appreciate what they do. Another similar band which I love that comes to mind is Blindside, although they have evolved into a slightly more tame type of sound. Underoath is another great band in that genre that is also Christian, but they are so intense sometimes that it is a little scary. You know who loves bands like that? Daniel Peek:

Also on a musical note, I found out this morning from my friend Tim Wadsworth...
...that Chris Sligh wrote Rascal Flatts new single, "Here Comes Goodbye." How cool is that? I always did think Chris's greatest talent was his songwriting ability. In case you are unaware of the connection, Daniel, Tim, Joseph, and I used to play with Chris in the "Chris Sligh Band," and then I also played in "Half Past Forever for a little while. It's fun for me to be able to say that I played in his band for several years...come to think of it, it's probably my influence that got him where he is...right.

So where was I? Oh yeah, work. I spent most of the day cleaning up and rearranging today...not really my favorite things to do, but someone's got to do them. Orchestra weeks aren't my favorite from a logistical standpoint because it is so much work to set up the stage and so much harder to mix. I know from a musical and congregational standpoint it is awesome though, so I try to keep everything in perspective. I left work right before 5, which was nice. Thursday seems to be the day I can consistently leave on time with my new schedule.

When I got home I got started on dinner. I put the potatoes in the oven and cleaned up the grill. I have grilled many times before, but always on a gas grill, so I called a few people for advice and read some instruction on Google. When it was time I put the charcoal in the grill and lit the pieces. I waited about 20 minutes like everything said, and the briquettes looked ashed over, so I went ahead and spread them out and put the lid on, letting it heat up for a few minutes before starting the grilling. Unfortunately something went wrong. When I started grilling the steaks, they just weren't cooking. I left them on for like 8 minutes, and it wasn't really going anywhere. I don't know if I let the charcoal burn too long, not long enough, didn't have the vents set right, or what. I was pretty frustrated, especially since my cooking has taken a serious downturn as of late. I ended up finishing the steaks on the trusty George Foreman. Everything tasted wonderful, but I am pretty frustrated that I didn't do the grilling thing correctly. I will have to try again next week.

After dinner Kristi and I cleaned. Kristi was doing some laundry and noticed the washer leaking onto the floor. This obviously did not seem good, so I looked up on Google (man, what would I do without it?) what to do, and learned how to take the cover off and watch for leaks...so that's what I did:



We never did see a big leak, and think that it might even be that the machine gets too full with too big of a load and spills over some. I'm not really sure, but we'll keep an eye on it.

After all of that we watched some TV, and then I did some homework. I haven't really studied for Sociology yet, and my first test is next week, so I'd better get on that. Story of my life with online classes.

Tomorrow should be a good day. I work in the morning, but then should have an enjoyable free evening afterwards. I think we might go see a movie or something. Mostly I'm excited about going out to eat for dinner...maybe we can go to Oriental House!

You know, I almost didn't write this post, but I'm glad I did...it turned out pretty well...