personal

Some people's addictions show up right on their faces - or their midsections . . . I stepped on the scale 9 years ago today, at the doctors office, because the bathroom scale I had at my house would no longer register my weight. The number was astronomical. At my heaviest, i weighed around 380 lbs. That's roughly half the backstreet boys.I don't blame anyone or anything except myself. My son had some issues when he was first born, and my wife thinks I was depressed because of that - so that manifested itself in eating. I love to eat.…

Our #2 turns 5 today. He was born here in Birmingham at Brookwood, and delivered by the best OB in Birmingham - before she moved to St Vincent's (we followed her there for our #3).Anyway - Drew turns 5 today.These are a few pics that were taken at the beginning of the school year LAST year - apparently they were bringing the kids out into the hall - and standing them in front of the flowers, and saying "one, two, three " . . . but whenever they got to "three" drew would strike a pose - and so we…

I posted Drake's story last year. I'm gonna post it again.He was born at 6:01, on a Friday - June 15, 2001. This was after 30 hours of labor, 3 doctors, 5 nurses . . . and then she pushed for 3 hours. They were about ready to do a C-section when the doc saw the head.He came out grey . . . and not breathing. Mandy's uterus wasn't clamping back down, and she was losing so much blood that they were going to transfuse her. They hit the red button on the wall, and my parents, and brothers and…

Emails to a music minister could be good copy for a book. But every once in a while - I get something encouraging, and in this case - really funny. My choir members will get a kick out of it . . . I DO have permission from the author of this email to post this - although I've removed his name.As a point of clarification - I mentioned last week in choir that tenors were "man-made" but basses were "God-made," in that - as a guy - you can generally not stretch your range lower - whatever your "low"…

And they all work harder than any piano students I know. I'm the toughest teacher I know - I was taught how to teach by the toughest teacher I know. My students arrive for piano lessons at 7AM - before school starts. They have to practice more, and have to do things that regular piano lessons wouldn't require. They've got to WANT to learn piano to take from me - which is why i only teach 4 students.Anyway - this guy is unbelievable. He's been taking from me for 3.5 years (started in the 1st grade) - and he's now…

Happy birthday to Drennen. We made the name up (or stole it from a church family's last name) because #3 was a glorious surprise and we were out of "Dr" names with Drake and Drew. (we didn't like Drip, or Dreyfus, or Dremel) So happy birthday to michael drennen . . . you're crazier than numbers 1 and 2 combined!