I Know What Fire Tastes Like

I spent this last week in Orlando, FL for a Christian Retailers trade show. I was there to help promote get the WORD out clothing co. with my dear friends and company owners, Robb & Marie Jackson. It is ALWAYS a blast whenever we get together. We all have the same sense of humor, the same deep rooted faith and the same desires to see get the WORD out become everything that we believe it was meant to be.

The first opportunity that allowed us an evening of casual/no obligations dining was Wednesday night. Having previously been there, I recommended that we dine at Tijuana Flats, a local fast/casual restaurant whose claim to fame is their "hot bar".

The "hot bar" consists of about 12 different hot sauces varying in flavor and intensity. On the milder side, you will find "Sissy Sauces" including my personal favorite, "Slap My SWEET Ass And Call Me Sally Sweet". It is the perfect blend of spice and sweetness. It's yummy!

On the extreme opposite are "Death Wish Sauces". I've never ventured to that side of the hot bar, knowing full well that the intensity would be a little over the top for my comfort level.

Somehow in the middle of dinner, my brother in law, Justin, brought over the hottest sauce available. Looking back, I may have mentioned that "hot" doesn't bother me so much as "onion-ish" flavoring. And I may have inadvertently let the words, "Sure, I'll try it," pass through my lips.

As I grabbed a chip and began to thoroughly dip it in the sauce, I noticed that Marie also grabbed a chip and dipped it in the sauce as well. She didn't quite get the same amount on her chip as I did, but the fact that she was traveling down this road of stupidity with me says a lot about her character and loyalty. My sista wasn't going to let me do this alone. So we counted down and on "one", popped our sauce covered chips into our mouths.

Now, you'd think that common sense would have some sort of bearing in my life. I'd like to think that I'm somewhat intelligent. For Pete's sake, I use to write in programming code; I'm not an idiot... on most days, that is. On this particular day, all common sense and intelligence not only left my brain, but also wiped their fingerprints on the way out. You see, I figured that if I was going to truly experience this "Death Wish" sauce, I would need to roll the contents around in my mouth so as to insure complete coverage of the roof, cheeks and tongue before swallowing. So, that is just what I did.

The initial wave of intensity wasn't so bad. It was hot, spicy and intense...but tolerable. And just as I opened my mouth to say so, it hit me. Passing air through my mouth...the simple act of breathing intensified the sauce to an indescribable level. Ten seconds in, the insides of my mouth literally feel like they are ON FIRE. Beads of sweat formed not only on my upper lip and forehead, but also on my scalp. A white fog seemed to have settled around my eyes...could it be the smoke coming from my mouth? And as if they were in a tunnel, I hear Robb, Justin and Jessica laughing hysterically at both Marie and I. At this point, I look over to Marie only to see her sticking her tongue into a cup of ice water. Great idea!! I grab a cup myself and as I lower my head downward, streams of snot come gushing out of my nose.

Once I manage to mop up that lovely mess, I begin to alternate between dipping my tongue and lips into the cup of ice water and wiping the insides of my mouth with napkins. I could give a flying fart about how I look to others in the restaurant and the scene that we are making. The pain is FOR REAL. Unfortunately, neither the napkins nor ice water really help to alleviate the pain. It would seem that time would be the only antidote.

Justin coaches us through the traumatic event with giggles all the while. "Stay with it...enjoy the endorphin rush...stay with it." I'm thinking that I will strangle him when this is all said and done.

Within 5 minutes, I believe we were both able to regain our composure. The pain had subsided enough to allow us to act in a manner which wouldn't warrant a call to the psych ward.

I don't regret the experience. And the fact that Marie stepped up alongside made it even more of an experience. Hey, we bonded in a way that few will ever understand. Never mind the fact that the bonding occurred over a sauce in the same "Death Wish" category as "Ass Reaper" and "Colon Blow".

Ah...good times....good times, indeed.

I'm back

I can't tell you how good I feel right now. I've been traveling for the last three weeks and am finally back at home. My first day back, I slept until 4:00 pm, if that is any indication of how exhausted I was. But now I feel recharged. I've had a couple of days to recoup and am getting back into the everyday life tasks around here. One of which includes my blogging. So, allow me to rejoin you. Right now, I am sitting on my overstuffed couch and tapping away at the keys on my laptop while I sip on my 2nd concoction of Starbucks Liqueur and 2%. And just to top off this nice atmosphere, let me tell you that Prince's new joints are currently tickling my eardrums (not his best work). Even so, I tell you; life is good right about now.

When I last posted here on my blog, I was off to Cincinnati to help some friends do a show. To make a long story short, one show turned into two which turned into an added trip to Phoenix to help out with reprinting most of their gear. Anyway, the second show was on the outskirts of Minneapolis, so you know I was on the verge of a major orgasm the whole time. For those of you who don't know, Prince lives in a small town outside of Minneapolis. Yeah, when we drove through his hometown, it took every ounce of self restriction to not drive straight to Paisley Park and plant myself there until my little obsession showed up. Had the family not been with me, I'm sure I would have at least driven by to take some pictures. Next year, for sure!

Anyway, I'm glad to be back home...but am a bit bummed that my work with them (GTWO) is over for now. My friends, the Jacksons, who I do all these shows with...they are good people. We share the same sense of humor, values and interests. They are just fun people to hang with and every time we get together, it's a blast. No matter if we're just hanging out to have some fun or if we're busting our tails working...it's all good. Needless to say, I wish that we could get together more often.

While I was away during these three weeks, my youngest son Keegan turned two. I honestly can't believe that he's two already. It just seems like yesterday when I was holding him in my arms in amazement that we had a 3rd boy. And while I enjoyed hanging out with my friends during these last three weeks, I honestly think the best part about being away was the fact that during one of those weeks, I slept with Keegan in my bed every night. Normally, he puts himself to sleep in his crib. But while we were in Phoenix, I laid down with him every night until he dozed off to sleep.

I don't know exactly how to explain the feelings that I got as I watched him fall asleep. He would inevitably fight it with all his strength until his eyes could no longer stay open. They would close and then re-open once he realized that they were closed....then they would close again for a longer lapse of time. Then followed the body twitches and his eyes would again re-open. Usually, the whole time he was falling asleep, he would say, "Mommy.......what doin?" And in time, that question would cease and he would slip off into his night's slumber.

I don't know...I think most parents who watch their children fall off to sleep know what I'm talking about. It's just a beautiful sight to see....not because you are exhausted or wanting them to get their much needed rest. There is just something about watching your child sleep that reaches inside of you and calls for your attention to their innocence and your responsibility as their parent. And I guess it's been a while since I've seen Keegan fall asleep like that. Now that he's two, I know that the opportunities to watch him doze off are getting fewer and fewer, which is why it really was the highlight of my time away. But that shouldn't be of any surprise. My boys are usually the highlight of my days whether I'm here at home or traveling across the country.

I am glad to be back home though. It feels good to sleep in my own bed once again.

Happenings

Since I don't want to let too much more time pass before I enter another post, here goes....

The boys (Jason & Dallas) and I will be boarding a flight tomorrow for Cincinnatti. We're meeting up with Robb & Marie to do a show. I have been promising them for about a year now that this summer, they could come to another one of the shows that they do. I'm not sure what other shows we will be able to make before the school year starts again, so this is really their only chance. Anyway, it should be a great way to spend 4th of July. It's a 3 day Christian Concert festival at Kings Island. We did this show last year and had a blast. It's always hard work, but a fun time. So that is how I will spend this year's 4th. Unfortunately, Kenny couldn't get the time off from work. So he'll stay back with Keegan and hang out here.

Baseball for Jason is finally over, at least until the Fall. They lost their last tournament game Saturday. It would be a stretch to say that it was a close game, but it really wasn't. Their team barely showed up to play. I think that they lost interest since the games were constantly being postponed due to rain. That combined with a lack of practice was just enough rust to put them on the losing end. So be it...I'm actually glad to have the rest of the summer free so that we can travel around for some much needed friend & family time. I just feel bad for the kids who really do love playing baseball. They very much wanted to win so that they could continue on in tournament play. I guess there is always next year.

Let's see...what else.....oh, I'm proud to say that I'm back in the gym and once again on my quest to lose the extra 25 pounds that I've been carrying around for about 3 years now. I've actually talked a friend and her husband into leaving their gym and joining the gym that Kenny and I go to so that I have a workout partner. It has seemed to help. Knowing that I am being held accountable for showing up does motivate me to get out of bed on time and get down there. Anyway, we've been at it for about 3 weeks now. Of course I haven't seen the scale move any. However, my body fat is down 1%. (I started at 33%, yes...33%.) So that's a good thing I suppose. And the fact that I can keep up for the most part makes me feel somewhat decent considering that I've got 9 years on my workout buddy. I actually appreciate the fact that she is in much better shape than I am. It gives me something to strive for. I don't like working out with people who don't push themselves at the gym...so it's a good thing that she's always a step ahead of me. I like the motivation to catch up to her and I imagine that with that attitude, eventually I will start to lose some weight and more body fat.

I guess that's about it. I think I'll check out for now and head off to watch one of my Netflix selections.

Not In Kansas Anymore

I was looking forward to getting away by myself for the weekend. No kids, no husband; just me and my thoughts. It would be a good time to catch up on some web work that I have drastically fallen behind on. Most importantly, it was a chance to get a much needed break away from everything. Such was the plan when I boarded the plane to Phoenix on Friday.


Robb & Marie asked me a couple of months ago to come out and help cover a show for them in Phoenix while they were away in Missouri at another show. I pretty much jump at every chance to help them do a show since I really do enjoy the work. It's hard physical work, but I love it. Anyway, the show was slated for Saturday...just a one day show. That gave me plenty of down time to work on their website and some of my pictures that I need to get ordered.

After I got settled in at Robb & Marie's house Friday afternoon, I tackled the website. I'd like to say that I got a lot done, but I didn't. This PHP language is not as straightforward as HTML. And I hate coming in and editing something that I didn't write myself. It's almost easier to just start from scratch, which is the idea that I'm toying with right now. Anyway, my intentions of knocking out a lot of work on the website didn't come to pass as I had hoped they would. I spent much of Friday afternoon and evening taking 1 step forward and 2 steps back. But hey, it was still productive considering the learning experience.


Saturday was the day of the show. Considering that I was in Phoenix, I was prepared for the heat. I knew it would be a scorcher. I had heard earlier that they were expecting triple digits. So I was very pleased to find that the pop up tents that we brought along provided much more shade than the flimsy tents that the show's promoter had offered. Score one for us....not only would we benefit personally by having extra shade, it would most likely bring in more customers as the heat drove them to find refuge.


After laboring for 3 short hours to get our store set up, DJ and I patted ourselves on the back for a job well done. It actually looked like we knew what we were doing. And so, right on time, the gates opened and the concert-goers began to populate the stadium. We were expecting about 3,500 people; a small show by some standards, but more than enough to hopefully clear out the inventory so as to make room for the new line.

Traffic into our booth seemed pretty steady. As DJ began airbrushing tatoos onto young kids, I manned the register and helped out on the floor. It appeared as though the day would be seamless...until.


One of our customers had mentioned that it looked like rain was heading our way. So, I poked my head out of the tent to take a look at what was behind us. I was not expecting what I saw.


It was almost as if there was a was a distinct line that seperated the blue sky from the black clouds that were heading our way. There was no transitional grey color....just blue sky and then black sky.


I pulled DJ out so that he could see what I was looking at and we both decided that the best thing to do would be to bring the outside gear inside the tents to protect them from the inevitable rain. Just as we got that completed, we glanced again at the sky only to find that the black color had turned to brown and we were in the direct path of a dust storm.


No sooner had that realization hit us when the actual dust storm did too.


Along with DJ and several customers, I grabbed a tent support pole hoping that the strength of the storm was not greater than ours. However, once the aluminum support poles on the roof began to twist and rip apart, I knew that we would lose the battle.

At one point, the torn aluminum poles came very close to impaling our customers. That was quickly followed by grid panel lined with clothes falling at the legs of another customer who was desperately trying to help us keep everything together. It was then that we told everyone to drop their poles and let the storm have its way. There was absolutely no sense in taking the risk of injury for articles of clothes.

Yet, those who helped us did not abandon us at all. Instead, everyone teamed up to pile the clothing in the center of what use to be our store while others broke down the remaining support poles and gathered the tent material. I was moved by the amount of help that we received. People were getting sand blasted by the 51 mph winds, yet still determined to not abandon us.

After the dust settled, no pun intended, I chuckled to myself at the thought of what it must have looked like from the outside. Here were several of us, basically holding onto a parachute hoping beyond hope that the wind would not move us or destroy anything. That obviously wasn't meant to be.

While other vendors packed up and went home, we decided to stick it out. We no longer had tents or anything that resembled a store front. But we made do with what we had.

I wish I could say that business wise, it was a good day....but I don't believe that to be true. Out of the 3,500 expected concert-goers, I'd be surprised if there were more than 500 total.

However, deep down I know that the gear that we sold is bound to speak volumes to people. And even if one person has their life altered even in the slightest after wearing or reading an article of clothing that we sold on Saturday, it will all have been worth it.