Preparations for Radiohead

This is a big week for me.  For all of the Stewarts, in fact.  Keisha's brother Travis graduates from the US Marines Friday, and she and her family are going to his graduation.  Parris Island is a 15-hr drive from Stewartland.  That means that Keisha and Avonlea are fifteen hours away from me.  And when I go to St. Louis on Friday they'll be even farther.

This is the longest I've been apart from my daughter.  I must confess, I miss her.  Quite so, in fact.  She's recently learned how to snarl her nose, and it's the cutest thing I've ever seen.  And she's been laughing and talking/screaming a lot here lately, too, just learning about her voice and how to work it, I guess.  I asked her if she would remember me when she left.  Keisha says she will.  I don't know.  Who really knows how a babies mind works?  Are they existentialists?  I do think she'll break out a gummy, two-toothed smile when she sees me on Saturday.

Avonlea's not the only person I miss, though.  Keisha's gone away, too, as I've said.  And while I don't worry about my wife forgetting my face or my existence, I still can't help but miss my friend as she's away.  It reinforces the blessing that I'm thankful that I don't have a job where I have to travel very often.  These absences aren't ideal.

Meanwhile, life goes on at super speed.  They left last night.  Soon after I was at the tennis courts, trying out a newly strung racket at 8:00pm in Greenville.  My first game of the year.  Fun, that, albeit extremely windy and slightly chilly out.  Wednesday's are always busy, and I'm up and going from 5:30 in the morning until after 9:00 in the post meridian.  And tomorrow night I've got a mentee coming over and we're gonna play some Borderlands for a bit, maybe enjoy a Papa Murphy's pizza.  Then he'll go home and another group o' friends will come over and we're gonna work on some music.  I've been in a songwriting kick, and I'd like to try and see what we can come up with.  It'll be a late night, I'm sure.  And then Friday....

Friday is Radiohead Day.  It's a special day, for certain.  So special that I took a vacation day on Friday, that way I can get to St. Louis in plenty of time.  My buddy Adam told me to bring my discs and we'd hit up his favorite disc golf course, so that should be fun, as the day promises sunshine and warmth.  And that night we'll be at the arena and in awe of Thom Yorke and the gang.  Needless to say, I'm rather excited.

For the trip I'm trying to decide which audiobook to "read."  Keeping with the Manifesto and the library's offerings, I'm limited.  I'm choosing between Catch-22, Stardust, The Dragon Reborn, or The Magicians.   I've not read any of them before, but this seems like a great opportunity to get the jump on one.  But if you look at my sidebar, at the "Currently Reading" widget, you'll notice that I don't necessarily need another book added to the list.

One final note.  We're trying to increase our Coffee Talk ministry, and one thing we've done is created a website (here) as a platform to work with.  I'm a contributor to the site, a blogmaster and general updater.  The site is fresh and brand new, and it was fun crafting.  If you'd like, check it out and let me know what you think.  Any problems with the site?  Any issues at all?

Happy Wednesday!