Monday Musings

Having survived a couple of weeks of time away from Tampa, there are a series of random thoughts running through my head this morning as I attempt to write. Since none of them seem to be worthy of an entire post, I'll just share them all- shotgun style! Enjoy!

• It occurred to me over the weekend that we have now lived in this house in Tampa for over 8 years. That's the longest I've lived anywhere since moving out of my parent's home all those years ago. Counting our previous time in Tampa (2001-2006) we've been here a long time now. For Will, Tampa is certainly home. I'm still trying to decide...
• It was good to spend time with Marilyn's family over the past 2 weeks. There were lots of laughs and lots of stories, along with fond memories of her dad. There were also some tense moments and reminders that being a family is not always easy...or fun. And we experienced first hand with her brother-in-law that Alzheimer's is a terrible, horrible disease. Prayers for Bill (and Marilyn's sister Carol) are appreciated.
• One month from today we will be at Ocean Isle, NC hanging out on the beach with some our favorite people in the world. And it can't get here soon enough!
• A couple of other prayer requests for you. Ashley Goad is currently in Uganda doing mission work, and my friend Lisa Moran continues to struggle in her battle with cancer. Prayer matters.
• If you know me you know that I believe everyone is entitled to their own beliefs and opinions, just as I am entitled to mine. But I need to announce an exception. If you believe that Donald Trump and that thing on his head should be our next President, we have a big problem. BIG!

• Following up on that, I really miss Jon Stewart. Already.
• Following up on that, but not as much as I missed Lisa Jewett while we were gone!
• I've been re-reading my book Even Better Than Before, this time without trying to do rewrites as I go. And you know what? I really like it. It has a greater emotional depth than I remembered. It's almost like the characters are real people to me. Oh wait... :)  If you want a copy shoot me an e-mail at youthguy07@aol.com and I'll make sure you get one! 
• When I was a kid my very favorite comic books featured The Fantastic Four. I loved the 2005 movie and thought they captured well the spirit I remembered from those old days. I never understood why others disliked those first 2 movies so much; and understand even less why this new one strayed so far from the comics on purpose. I have not seen it; I WILL not see it. I hope it tanks so badly that FOX will relinquish the rights and let them go back to Marvel Studios where they belong. Will and I dream of seeing a scene with the real Human Torch (Chris Evans) and Captain America (also Chris Evans) side by side!
• Traffic continues to be at an all-time high here on the blog, with all 7 of my recent Beach Boys posts now having over 1000 views and several others nearing that milestone number. Thank you for reading!
• Will moves into his new apartment in Orlando on August 22nd. The countdown is on and it's real. His new adventure at UCF awaits!
• The 6th anniversary of this blog is rapidly approaching- August 26th. What a long strange trip it's been...

I hope you found my musings to be worthwhile and at least somewhat amusing! Have a wonderful Monday and a blessed week!