In Search of...3 parties, 2 friends, 1 decent picture and a partridge in a pear tree

Okay, so obviously my blogging consistency needs to be worked on! But here I am nevertheless, with a week's worth of adventures to tell you about.

Normally I would catch up on politics for the week, but we're still at war, healthcare's a mess, and Tiger Woods' sex life is none of my business, so there you have it. And by the way, anyone who is thinking that Tiger Woods' sex life is their business, seriously needs to get a life. And ditto for all the broadcast "journalists" covering him day and night. It's none of our business. Neither was John Edwards, Bill Clinton, or any of the other men who have cheated. Well, except for Eliot Spitzer because he actually broke a few laws, but even him - not really my concern and very cruel to the families of these men. So I've been boycotting news this week.

Anyway, a week ago Sunday found me getting pictures taken for a new song I wrote that will be available soon on iTunes and Amazon. As with most people who aren't Victoria's Secret models, it can be a little stressful trying to get that perfect shot - you know, the one where you look ten years younger and twenty pounds thinner. So there we were, my buddy Ronny and me, shooting pictures in a couple of locations that Ronny, a serious photographer, had scouted out ahead of time.

Here are the top 2 things you don't want to hear your photographer say to you on the way to your photo shoot -

1. "We gotta shoot this fast because I don't know how long we have before the military sees us and chases us out of here."
AND
2. "Don't worry about the snakes - it's too cold for them to be out here this time of year."

That kind of sums up my Sunday morning of a week ago. We were trying to shoot somewhere that would capture the essence of the title of the song Stronger in the Broken Places. So if you notice when looking at the picture a slight air of concern on my face - it's probably the snakes, which Ronny also very helpfully pointed out were poisonous.

That brings me to the next part of my day - resinging my vocal.

Twas the night before Thanksgiving
And that's when I heard
Distortion on the vocal
In many a word.
So I sang and re-sang it
'Til I was tired and spent
And soon you can buy it
For 99 cents!

Amazon actually has it up already, but iTunes takes a little longer, so I will send out a mass email when it's available on iTunes.

By the end of the week, I was attending Christmas parties on Music Row here in Nashville. The proper term might be "crashing" Christmas parties, but why split hairs? What I learned by going to these parties is that in tough economic times people serve ham.

Two parties and one Christmas breakfast later - and yes, there was sausage at the breakfast in keeping with the whole swine theme - I was one open house away from done with my outside holiday festivities. That's when I got the news that my friend Amy's mother died.

And so yesterday I found myself on a plane bound for Chicago, being greeted by my friend Alisa and spending time with her before going to Amy's mom's funeral. It was a long and exhausting, but a beautiful day filled with love and memories and gratitude for the people in my life.

Days like yesterday are a roller coaster of emotions. One minute you're crying and the next you're laughing, if only to remind yourself that life goes on. If it were a joke, it would start off something like this - "Two Jews walk into a Lutheran funeral..."

As Alisa and I moved out of the way for the rest of the people in our aisle to go take communion, I noticed a note in the written program that said they offered a gluten-free communion wafer upon request. I thought gluten would be the least of everyone's worries since they were all drinking out of the same chalice during flu season, but maybe that's just me. Plus, God being God and all, maybe those taking communion would be spared the flu anyway. I don't know, but these were my musings during communion, and they kept me from crying for a few minutes longer.

As I returned to Nashville late last night, I thought about what the bible says about faith, hope, and love being the only things abiding for eternity, how the rest of it is gone but for those three things. And so in this festive and holy time of year, I wish you all those three things - faith that abides during both the good and the bad times, hope that sustains you through any circumstance, and love that carries you through this life and into the next.

Peace and blessings to you all, and thanks for stopping by. Please tell your friends.