"There's a lot of hurry up and wait. But it gives you time to write a song." ~ John Legend, singer and songwriter

By the time most of you read today's edition, the wife and I will not be rising or arriving anywhere close to Phoenix, but, we will be on our way to our very brief vacation, here on this Wednesday, November 1, 2017. (That was supposed to be a backhanded play on the late Glen Campbell's hit, 'By the I Get to Phoenix, for those too sleepy or too young to catch it on the fly.) The wife told me she was beginning to get excited about our trip. I do have that on my list. Getting excited about our trip. I think I have it scheduled for this morning. That would be 'just in time' planning. I have been to a certain extent otherwise occupied of late. We continue to work on settling mom's and dad's affairs requiring some forth and back with the lawyer lady. We also are readying the process to support the sale of the house and property there in Louisiana and that too requires preparation and coordination. I think we are up to twelve events for the Santa Enterprise and that too takes some scheduling. Oh yeah, I almost forgot. I also mostly have a full-time job to do each day. That might be debatable by some of my contemporaries in the workplace, but, I do attempt to be as useful as I can. I find myself more and more doling out commentary and advice as I grow older. This often results in a combination of grunts and glassy-eyed responses on the part of those I am advising. They mostly endure it out of respect for the 'white hair'.

I have done my best to pre-arrange all of the details as much as possible. Pre-checked our baggage, check. Pre-checked in and printed out the boarding passes, check. Pre-registered for our rental car, check. Validated our hotel reservations, check. They allow this all to be done online, but, often you still have to deal with whatever additional steps that come up on the way. The key is to not worry about it. Enjoy the experience. Oh yeah. I forgot this one. And, don't forget to have a nice day. You do know I am only joking. And, yes, I am aware of the biblical admonition about saying something and then adding that I was only joking. "Like a madman who throws firebrands, arrows, and death, Is the man who deceives his neighbor, And says, 'I was only joking!'" (Proverbs 26:18-19) Surely I wasn't even near this particular warning. Just messing around. I am glad to be traveling with the wife of my youth. I can say that one without hesitation since we are coming up on 53 years of matrimony. I didn't throw in the 'holy' qualifier because we both are saved and on our way to heaven but we can demonstrate from time to time the fallen part of our nature. I have a Bible verse from Proverbs for that one too, "Let your fountain be blessed, And rejoice with the wife of your youth." (Chapter 5, Verse 18) If I have the means, I will keep everyone posted on our progress of our excursion.

I do appreciate those of you who take the time to keep up with my daily writings. I am thankful to God that I can still scribble out something onto the electronic page each day. Yep. I do consider it to be a blessing. I know almost better than anyone how that every day is not a winner. How do I know that? I actually read them too. I leave you today with a prayer that God will watch over us all and especially this messed up nation we are experiencing these days. Until next time, y'all take care, y'all hear? I hope to meet again soon here at the electronic connection place. Amen. ....More later.