I LIVE HERE

Re-Post from December 31, 2009

HAPPY NEW YEAR! 2011

Frequently, in getting to know blogger-Peeps, 

I wonder, "Where do you live? What does 

your house look like? Your yard?"  

This is where steveroni lives...

WHERE DO YOU LIVE?

And I am so ever grateful to have a place to live. I do know what it is, to stand in the cold at midnight, snow swirling about howling winds. And I am there shivering with runny nose, fever, wet feet in soggy socks and shoes, feeling OH! so sorry for myself--you know the drill--"Nobody loves me...nobody cares!" I wish I had a hat.



Yeah, right. Boo-hoo-hoo! It is snowing so hard, several inches have accumulated while I'm standing there waiting for a bus--hopefully, heated. My ears are freezing, and my fingers also. If only I had a hat. "Achoo!"


Must remember to get my violin out of hock, and see if these fingers will still do the thing. Where did I leave that hat?



NOTE: I had pawned  my violin (worth $950 at the time) for $5...to buy a quart of "good" vodka. Two weeks later they wanted $17 for it's retrieval. The vodka, with my system of rationing, had lasted seven hours.


Ten more years of this kind of life brought me to my knees--literally--in 1974. I have not had a drink since. My gratitude is ongoing, characterized by activity in the groups of Alcoholics Anonymous. There I found, in twelve steps, a way of life...which makes life worth living.


Many of you Peeps are friends who I never have met, and probably will not experience that face-to-face joy of meeting. But I love you--ALL of you. And as we trudge this road of happy destiny, this road of Poems, Paintings, Music, Love and SOBRIETY, I am humbled. God has granted me SO many gifts, temporal, spiritual, and certainly not the least...YOU Peeps, who I cherish. And I now own eight hats!



Love.
Steve E


HAPPY NEW YEAR!


(See you in 2011)

 A corner of the Bach Yard of D-G (Daughter-Girl) 

with one of three dogs, her German Shepherd, 

age 7-months--chasing a ball.  

This IS a place of PEACE!

LAST INSTALLMENT

of 4,000-mile scooter trip
EXCEPT FOR BITS AND PIECES now and then

This final visit of my Trip 2010 is happening at the home of DG. This is where I began nearly three weeks ago. There is much love in this house..."DG" is "Daughter-Girl". She let me know that "DG" could mean "Dear God", or the preferred "Dear Goddess"--TWO big grins!

DG just told me that recently in her (yes, spacious!) backyard she picked up a dead baby animal, and DG cried as she carried it in her palm to the burial area. It turned out the dead baby animal was "playing 'possom". In fact the dead animal WAS a baby 'possom! Now the 'possom is a "protected animal" in this yard!

She has a plastic pool for the animals' (3 dogs and assorted critters) swimming pleasure.  In the water is sitting a large chunk of concrete block. DG explains this is for stranded frogs, who would drown in time, of exhaustion--trying to escape their wave-frenzied "sea", a two-meter diametered piece of bowl-shaped plastic.grows weeds

This is the same girl who has cultivated a garden of weeds--milkweeds--to keep a home for her friendly Monarch Butterflies, who flutter-by her yard to their milkweed universe OFTEN.

Before I leave you from DG's 'estate', there is one more significant reason one could never NOT like being here. I was taught this morning how to make use of a French Press (coffee maker). Oh, how simple life can be, when one knows H.O.W.  Now that I am making my own coffee, there is a sudden shortage of the bean in this house.
 
One thought before checking out tonight...

How 'awfully' LOVELY to be welcomed into the home of your daughter, when behind all that is my past: chaos, misunderstanding, hurt, powerlessness, deprivation, paranoia, fear, and dread. 

We are friends, we are daughter-and-Poppa, we are...LOVE! Thanks to the God-given program of Alcoholics Anonymous and the Twelve Steps.

Enough from me today--any day.
I am sober today.
Let's enjoy PEACE this Labor Day weekend.

--Steve

SOME SERIOUS SHIT

WARNING: THE FOLLOWING 

IS ABOUT MY EXPERIENCES 

IN ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS

WHAT? NO UMBRELLA?

During my earliest memory--about age 5-8--Grown-up Peeps would ask me questions like, "What do you want to be when you grow up, young man?" Oh how I hated that condescending-sounded question! I mean, they didn't give a rat's ass about "what I wanted to be", right? RIGHT! So I began to make up things they wanted to hear, like "I want to be a farmer" (like my father) or, "I want to play violin in the Symphony!"

The old joke here is;
Kid: "I want to grow up and be a musician".
Response: "Well, son you can't do both!"

DEFINITELY I do not recall saying--or thinking--"I want to grow up and be a drunk and sleep under a bridge, and eat out of McDonald's dumpsters, and puke a lot, and die all alone of sclerosis while laying frozen in a snowbank!" 

Sometimes I would say what I REALLY wanted to be my career...psychologist or psychiatrist. Even at that early age, I felt in myself a special gift for "helping" people sort things out in their lives. Not MY life, understand...please! But I wished to "direct" the lives of others...hmmmmmm? Some bad vibes there?...

So, I played the violin--in symphony orchestras, in cabarets, on street corners, on boats, on airplanes (twice), in String Trios and Quartets, in recording studios, on the beaches of SW Florida, in churches, in Men's Toilet Rooms, for weddings, for funerals, for Christmas midnight masses...

Many years have swept by in hindsighted warp-speed. Today I find myself--not unusual at all in recovery programs like Alcoholics Anonymous--with several new Peeps to sponsor...which means three men asked me to be their sponsor, AND I became willing to let God use me to help them stay sober. 

It is a full life, allowing my time to be taken up by the needs of others. It is satisfying, fulfilling, rewarding.

The reason I am uniquely qualified to be of help, to peeps in real deep-shit trouble is because I have been where they are...I had completely clothed myself in utter chaos, even long since my last drink. Several times! 

Staying sober (not drinking alcohol) did not, nor does not guarantee a happy, joyous, free life. Staying sober is simply the beginning. For me it was a prerequisite. Becoming honest, open-minded and WILLING was then necessary. Next came surrender, action, complete change--prayer to some form of Higher Power (my choice)--as requisites.

And THAT is what I guide Peeps through, this 'simple' maze of twelve steps, to somewhat stressless peace, serenity, calmness of spirit, and a sober, happy and satisfyingly productive life. 

The reason--again--how I am qualified for this new (volunteer) job, is that I myself did everything WRONG! And learned the hard way. Many Peeps have forgiven and forgotten...one or two have not. God will sort that all out in time.

One of my personal needs is spiritual help to grant me patience, tolerance and calm understanding to allow other Peeps the RIGHT TO BE WRONG! I heard those words at my second AA meeting, more than 36 years ago.

And so, in a way, these three peeps I met this week, have entrusted their lives to...who, ME? OMG! Already I feel sorry for them who have asked me to be their sponsor, their guide through the program of AA. But I shall not back away from this responsibility, because it keeps ME sober, you know?

In fact, that is more than half of the whole idea--grin!

--steveroni

STEPS ARE THE WAY TO THE NEXT FLOOR

YEAH, I'M SERIOUS!


Peeps, this will be a "serious" posting (yeah, right!). Every morning I slide out of bed and on my knees ask God to let me know His will for me today...and give me the power to carry it out. Well, this morning I really meant those words, "Show me" and then "Help me". Within about 15 minutes He showed me. Armed now with the realization of what I must do, I waited for the power. Some of it I could muster up from His Gift, but I found it lacking...His power for me.

Then I realized the "acceptance" part of my program. Every gift must have two elements, a Giver and a Taker.  If I hand you a book, and you do not take (accept) it, there is just NO gift. Period. So it is with this program of Alcoholics Anonymous, and God--Who gave it to me. For it to work, I must take it--and use it, work it.

At my 7 AM meeting, a person who NEVER is up that early sat next to me, could see that I was NOT as I (of course!) had answered, "OK!"  And he suggested the Power I sought was in an INVENTORY, preferably Step FOUR!  OK I said, then, "How come YOU know what I need to hear?" He answered, "Because I'm sitting in a mess of it myself, right now".  How good is God to give me (us both) a good laugh this early morning. And I sure needed it!

And, whenever I am in deep shit thinking, there is certainly another (others?) in their own mess! And THAT is God helping us, one to another, mutually and sometimes tenderly showing us the answer we need--and actually, want!

The answer, the solution, is not necessarily an AA "exclusive" LOL! Already God was at work in my emails at 5 AM, using a blogger to send me a message which was so "right on"--as help to one (me) who had a curtain blocking his view of life-on-life's-terms...in other words, ACCEPTANCE!

Another topic:
Enough of this. BERT, the cat I rescued 12 years ago is curled up around my feet, I cannot even move from the computer.  Ya know what else?  Bert has been sober for 12 years!

Be sober with me today, Peeps!
Love ya, Peeps!
Peace to ya, Peeps!

THE LAST RANT TONIGHT

RANT...OR DIE!

RANT: NUMBER 2
A "CHIP" MOMENT

Recently I witnessed a "chip" moment when, in our area, we give out a chip for continuous sobriety time. To do or not do this is a group-by-group decision, and not my rant. My Coin is a reminder--in my pocket always--of where I came from, and the fantastic trip to where I am now!

The following, however, really pissed me off. The "chip person" held up the one-day-to-one-week chip, asking for whoever might qualify, and wish to be recognized as a "new or returning" member. When nobody came up, the chip-guy almost whispered, "If anyone wishes a 24-hour chip, and is too shy to come up and get one, see me after the meeting, and I'll give it to you in private." If I had been a female newcomer attending I might have wondered WHAT he was wanting to give me "in private"....

In My Opinion, some reasons for someone new being asked up front to receive a "Desire" chip, is to inject a small dose of humility right off the bat; to let others see who is new; to allow the new person to feel a part of, rather than--you know--apart from; to get accustomed to the feel of coming away from the "back wall, to the front of the room"--which is a real achievement for many of us.

I believe we in AA sometimes thwart the initial growth and therefore the staying power of new people, by lining the bed of the newcomer with a feather mattress.

Really, I LOVE new people, as do you bloggers. I shall NEVER forget the first morning after I was "introduced" to this online group of bloggers with a link to my new blog on "ONE'S" blog. A whole long list of 12 comments appeared welcoming me to the "group", and how welcomed I DID feel! Have I ever thanked you for that? Every one of those "welcomers" is still here (12 of you) except for a lady named Ann P., sober about 35 years now, age 76--does anyone know her URL? If so, please get it to me. Thanks!

A wondrous thing about the fellowship of Alcoholics Anonymous. I can keep making mistakes, keep screwing up, making amends, F**king up again and again--and STAY SOBER all the while! How about that? I've heard it called "the process"...and I'm in that process, now and forever. Amen.

Peace and LOVE,
Steve E

DO WE HAVE A CHOICE?

SOMETIMES WE MUST MAKE HARD CHOICES

NOTE: I want you all to know, this is an especially happy day for me. I got to chat with, laugh with, and enjoy for the first time, someone who seems like an old friend (well, not OLD old!)--steveroni

PRAY FOR A GIRL NAMED "N"

A girl "N", who has been trying to 'stay' sober--well, it turns out she is not really trying too hard, in my opinion. She has been 'trying' for about 22 years. I'm trying to decide what trying means, in many of these cases where someone claims to be trying to stay sober.

My own history of early sobriety in Alcoholics Anonymous did not know or use the word 'trying'. It was rather a history of doing things--and don't give me this crap about "We are human BEINGS, not human DOINGS!" (I 'tried' that once and got nowhere! I even chanted: "Hmmmm!... Hmmmm!...Hmmmm"!)

If I'm not DOING anything in AA, I'm not GOING anywhere in sobriety, peace, happiness, self-fulfillment, being loving and helpful to and for others. I saw others "not doing things". They only seemed to place themselves in that revolving door...or on the downward-hurtling elevator, spiraling into an unhappy life of loneliness, sometimes into that bottomless pit of chaos, sickness, and premature death.

N says often that she wants to stay sober. She claims our famous "...all that's required is a desire to stop drinking..." as her mantra. And she desires to stop, each and every day. Well, so did I have that desire--many times each day--BEFORE I was pulled into the room of my very first meeting. My desire immediately changed to a commitment, to not drink, to come back next week, and to read the Big Book. And I became true to that promise to myself.

I did not really WANT to "not drink"--hell, I wanted to drink so badly that you could take one of the fingers off my right hand..for a quart of vodka, and that is truth! Only thing which kept me from drinking was that I might honor my commitment--"don't drink, and come back next week", they said. (I was a bartender six nights and "did AA" on my night off.)

And so the hours became days, which soon were weeks, which merged into months, which added themselves up to years, and here I am, still honoring my commitment to me, One-Day-At-A-Time! And now I go to meetings (and blogospheres) where I feel welcome, at home, respected, appreciated and supported. I hang around in AA recovery places--on or off-line--where I might be of some help to someone now and then, and where--as in the TV CHEERS--everyone knows my name. Actually, I do not really need "everyone to know my name", it just sounded cute to me to write that! -grin!

I sponsor three people right now, one 23-year long-timer (I see him at meetings), one short-timer (he calls), and one four-year guy who is in Chicago at this time. But boy!, do I have some stories about people God has sent me with whom to work...in years past. Some good blog material...

This has been so far a positively wonderful ride, and there's no reason to get off the bus now, since I finally have an idea where it is headed.

As someone reminded me on the telephone tonight, "God does not need my help, but He DOES ask my cooperation."

Please pray for N. She does not have many more shots at this thing. Thank you.

May the God within you, and the God within me, help us to share what we have with one another, in true love of the spirit.

Sincerely,
Steve E

I'm Comfortably Stupid

THIS IS CALLED A "HEAD COLD"??

COMFORT FOOD... OR
COMFORTABLE FOOD

When we were kids and got sick, we were served the welcome "Chicken Noodle Soup" with lots of vegs, lots of chicken, lots of noodles, lots of salt, and lots of smell. It smelled so good, cooking half the morning (enough, of course, for four children, Mom and Pop, and six hired hands, and a live-in maid, assorted dogs, cats, goats, and whoever else wandered through the yard, neighbors included. And don't forget the "leftovers" for tomoorow!

Well, the BESTEST chicken noodle soup hereabouts comes from a restaurant called PERKINS. I'm sure it's a national chain. I'm not recommending anyone go there for dinner, because recommending an eatery is a dangerous undertaking. However, if ANYONE you know has a cold, get a quart or two of their c.n. soup, take it home, and you will be L.O.V.E.D.

Anna surprised me with that today, and WOW! I am sure a lucky guy to have found her about 20 years ago. She was sober only 3-4 years then, and didn't make much sense -BIG GRIN. That's how she came to marry ME. She said, one brightly lit, sunny Sunday afternoon, after a meeting--we really did not know each other-- she said, "We Have To Talk". (The four deadliest words know to man.)

NOTE: I always acted real 'cool' back then! Single and rarin to go! Even today, I wake up at 4:30AM like that sometimes (NOT SINGLE!!!), but by 11:30, I'm wiped out for a couple hours.

Another present she brought home was one of PERKINS Chocolate Eclairs, stuffed full of that wonderfully creamy-yellow stuff--NO, not butter, guys! And the chocolate on top of these whoppers, is at least quarter-inch thickness. Napkin is essential! And I keep forgetting that the slower I eat this thing, the longer it will last...one day I'll learn! Anyway, if I had to choose my "final meal..."

ANOTHER TOPIC:

Really I don't know if its my "cold", or if it's growing "old", but occasionally I'm known to send an Email to someone--which was meant for someone ELSE. I'm certain that had never happened to anyone reading this...NEVER? Is that true? Have I finally found my "uniqueness" here? Always wanted to be (and for years, thought I was) UNIQUE -grin.

Anywaysss, if this should happen to you, please respond, so I can un-baffle your baffleness. Thanks for understanding. Be thankful you're not my wife--who has to deal with this bad-memory crapola frequently during a given day.

Recently I even called her by the name of one of my ex-wives! How would YOU deal with that? Since we're both Gemini, we seemed to work it out, but I have my secret, lingering doubt...still.

So often, when I look at my blog to edit, it reads like a Seinfeld scene, all about nothing. And yet, if I were not sober, and VERY grateful, I would not even BE here. You bloggers--and people like you--have shown me the way, and I'm still learning, day-by-day!

Going to bed early tonight. Let's all stay sober today NMW (No Matter What!)

Tomorrow--God willing--I'll meet with a new guy at a Starbucks at 9AM and got to a 9:30 meeting nearby. You pray-ers might remember him when you do it. Thanks!
Love, Steve E.

WENT OUT OR STAYED OUT?

"Come with me...have a drink, friend..."

"EVERY DAY IS CHRISTMAS!
EVERY NIGHT IS NEW YEARS' EVE!"

Why Oh Why do people drink more around holiday/Holy-Day time. Is it like a reprieve from sanity? It's like a "Get out of jail FREE" card, which often turns into a "Go back to jail" card.

Literally, every time I turn around these days, I'm confronted with a new wet one, or a returning wet one. And they seem to gravitate towards steveroni. I do not hold up a sign, "Pick me!" I do not EVER respond when a chairperson asks, "Whoever is willing to be a sponsor, please raise your hand..." Yet, when a beginner or returnee walks into the room , they invariably find the chair next to me, and claim it for their own.

This past week one day, at a 5:30PM meeting , it was time for my third cup of coffee. And in walked J, a guy I'd seen each morning for about 30 mornings during September. He had not 'been around' lately, and the smell, as he walked into the big room, well...it changed. He sat nearby, and when he spotted me, he immediately moved over and slid into the vacant chair next to moi. Well, I could smell the strong odor of alcohol, and as I was trying to decide what brand of cheap vodka he had been drinking, he gushed out s few words: Hello, Schtefe, yu 'member me, J?

Yep, I remembered.

I figured, "I'll show this guy how to stay sober if it kills me." Instead, J showed ME a few things. He was unaware that anything he said might have had an affect on me that afternoon, but here is the very short of it, what happened.

J started crying after we went outside so he could smoke (they all smoke, it seems). He told me he stopped going to meetings because everything seemed to be working OK in his life. Got his good job back, his wife acted happy (key word "acted"?), the police had ended the stakeout on his house, you get the picture...things were looking up for J. Up until that very morning. J felt so good, that a little celebration was called for, just a simple pint (only 16 oz., sheeesh!) of cheap vodka, no big deal, for a fellow who was used to nearly two quarts per day, just for maintenance.

He told me "All I had was one F***ing PINT, for God's sake! One lousy F***ing pint, and it ruined the rest of my whole life. I drank one little pint, and my wife left me, my boss fired me, the police are trying to nail my butt to a cot in the jail, this (AA Club) is the only place I could come, and be welcomed. Among more tears, he said to me, "Don't let it happen to you, Steve. Also, I need a sponsor."

Four days later, this afternoon, at the 5:30 meeting J was outside the hall. My sponsor was the guest speaker at this meeting, and J chose to spend his time with the "real winners" sitting outside. (WARNING! A "Steve" Judgment coming:) These people regularly choose to not attend meetings...and so goes another short story of another drunk, who is being offered--again--the gift of sobriety, and who seems to be spurning it. I'm certain God will take good care of J. My father, who was sightless, said many times, "God watches over drunks, and blind people".

But God just maybe will not keep J out of jail one more time....God insists that I, and everyone else, including J, cooperate--even if only a little bit--with His gifts, in order to achieve one day their fulfillment.

steveroni prays now that active and inactive drunks everywhere find and accept that inner peace which IS available, if we only embrace a few simple principles, follow a few simple rules. These Steps will lead to a complete psychic change, which is my/our goal. I hope that word "COMPLETE" was copied!

PHOTO CREDIT

GIFTS AND MORE GIFTS!

Gifts freely given...and freely received

ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS
THE GIFT?

Alcoholics Anonymous has been for me--these second 17 years--like one forever Santa Clause. The gifts just keep pouring onto a pile, I use them, and then I give them away. And then more gifts arrive for me to use and enjoy, and again, give away. And the beat goes on...

When we were very young (before my first pint of wine!) my mother would have us gather and pack up our toys. We piled them into the car and took all the "good-conditioned" ones to a poor family downtown. Then, Santa would come and give us whole new bags full of stuff.

Well, AA is quite the same to me. I give, I get (but I do NOT give JUST to get!). Giving is fun, as is "getting". Which brings me to a -grin- sober thought. Alcoholics Anonymous is always giving stuff: Twelve Steps, Traditions, Peace, Love, Serenity, yes, even Happiness and, of course, Friends, New relationships with family, Confidence, and finally the best gift, a Friendship with a Higher Power. For me, God--that IS His name--right? I can talk to Him, it's just like talking to a buddy.

Or I can content myself by just BEing in His Presence, with not a single thought in my head to mar our momentary Union. Like I might sit on a park bench with a loved one, not a word passing between us...just love!

However, as well and often as these gifts are offered, they are not really gifts unless I accept them. Although I did not know it at the time...God offered to me AA and the Twelve Steps--which is a nice gift--but WAIT! It is not a gift until I take it (and use it?). If I give to you a book, but you do not reach out and grab it with your hand, there is no gift. The old saying: "It takes two to Tango".

Shakespeare, in Merchant of Venice, has his character say, in the "Quality of Mercy" speech "A gift is twice blest--in him that gives and him that takes." I love that line, for it explains to me why so many of us don't "make it" here in Alcoholics Anonymous. We did not accept the offered gift. A gift cannot by it's very nature, cannot be "blest" only once. It is not God's fault, or AA's fault.

Yet we say things like "AA didn't work for me", as if AA is a hired hand on the farm. Well, I'm here to tell whoever cares to read it: "AA DID work for me", because we worked together--key words "we" and "together". So my last drink was the night before my first AA meeting, and that was 34 years ago, March 18, 1974.

Of all the gifts I've received from this program, the only one I really OWN is that date, my sobriety date. Everything else is borrowed, like at the library. I take it out, and I bring it back, for someone else to use. I believe all life is such.

That's enuff out of me today.
gift-a-roni

FIRST 24 HOURS--- WHO? ME?

NOW! Finally, I know what is meant by "cleaning my clock!"
They meant Steps 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, and TEN!
Holy God, if I had known that....well......??

FIRST TWENTY-FOUR HOURS SOBER!

I am Soooo tired tonight, and have a plateful tomorrow Sat., I am going to cheat. But if I announce it, is that cheating? ("I did not have sex with that woman...")

So I'm posting the URL to my 9th day of blogging with you beautiful people in hope that someone may read, and enjoy, and maybe even identify with it. That is my prayer tonight. Also I pray for you ALL, even Michael Patrick--well, I'll mention his name first and get him out of the way, as un-Christian as that may sound. The remainder of youse guys, I wish to keep in my thoughts, as I drift off to sleep.......

If you go here, remember that I DID blog this in mid July 2008. I still love you all, as I did then...I did not realize I was so filled with love that long ago. Peace.

blog-a-roni

IS GOD WORKING?

Picture yesterday was posted in error.
Above is the boat we have chartered for our
7-night Gratitude Cruise through the Caribbean

GOD IS WORKING,

EVEN AS WE ARE NOT!

Sugden Theater is the name of a playhouse in downtown Naples. Groups such as The Naples Players produce theatrical presentations throughout the year. It is one outlet for retired, and/or visiting actors and actresses, dancers, singers, etc., to perform. In Naples however, it a far cry from "typical" small-town theater. The shows here are first-rate in the small-town, resort category.

I have long wanted to see if I could still cut the mustard in an orchestra pit, but the opportunity just never happened. This afternoon I received a call. They need a violinist to "fill in" for this Saturday night performance. The caller even told me that I was at the bottom of his list of available players. -grin-

In the past, at such a remark, I would have already been "busy"--yeah, busy sitting at home blogging! Or watching TV, or riding my bike. But, you know, I was 'inspired' to recognize the caller's honesty. It was almost as if (this might be stretching it!) it was God Calling, to say, "I'm sending you a chance to play this show, get back in the swing of playing with others, under a conductor. Do your best, and We'll take it from there."

So, tonight (Thursday) I attended the performance, and sat in the orchestra pit next to the violinist I'll be replacing. Sort of like "Show-and-tell"?? Try to understand the next paragraph, in the light of someone learning how to play the music--like I did tonight--just by listening to the orchestra, and taking notes.

This reminds me SO much of a Charlie Brown "Peanuts" comic strip: Charlie's uncle wants to learn how to play the violin, so he goes to a concert, to see how the violinists DO it. He goes home, only to find that he cannot even play one note. When Charlie asks, "What is he going to do?" The answer: Oh, he's going back next week, and try it again, but this time he'll sit real close, up front!"

It is like a newly sober woman or man, sitting at meetings, never working the steps, never getting a sponsor, never making coffee, or setting up chairs and tables, never sharing...in other words, not practicing our beautiful program, yet expecting the result to be a happy and peaceful sobriety. It just ain't gonna work that-a-way.

Anyway guys, say a little prayer for me--I'll have to get Prayer-Girl on it also. These shows last several weeks each, and so playing a few throughout a given year COULD pay for the October 2009 Eighth Annual Fall GRATITUDE CRUISE!*

mustard-cutting-a-roni

*In case ya missed yesterday's blog,
we're sailing Sunday on the Freedom of the Seas,
(as of now) the largest passenger liner afloat.
Day after tomorrow we'll board for the 2008
Seventh Annual Fall Gratitude Cruise