Another fourth?

....Most of my days start by waking up. This isn't always a good thing. My fourth started by staying up until I couldn't stand up and crashing around 6am. I don't really recall what I was doing up until 6am. Typing something to somebody. Probably droning on about health and how America doesn't care about the poison we eat and we sit here wondering why people empty semi auto's into other people. Poison body poison mind...bla bla bla...I'll save it for another blog.

I did wake up on the fourth. I think it was a good thing. Although I could have slept 'till the fifth. I woke up around 10am. "Four hours, I know I know." I say to myself. This is after doing the same thing almost all week. Busy day too. Of course there's the fourth of July stuff where you sit around, light off fire works and bar-b-q. Relaxing.....Not my family. We like to suffer. All eight of us have to go out of town to celebrate.

I don't know how many of you have kids....wuzat? Just one? Multiply that by six! Woo hooo!! An entire day of running after a 3 year old, a 5 year old, and a 9 year old with downs who doesn't look smart but just try to catch his flying butt when he decides he likes cars again. Ya.....So we all get up and run around the house doing all the things we should have done the day before. All of us speeding in opposite directions at warp 9 looking for the other shoe, the other sock, underwear, toothbrush, "batteries for my gameboy!!!" and "Dad!! da Lijah gimme' da green twain, um an, um, an, I take it wiff?!!!

I step out of my bedroom...in a matter of seconds I've got a screaming Joseph in one arm, one puppy on a leash that's rapped around my ankle, and I'm attempting to threaten my 12 year old in a way that will make him stop trying to kill the 5 year old.....without breaking any laws. So an hour later I'm half ready. I sit down at the computer to get caught up on band stuff. Aha, a note...in my writing.....upside down....."Record in Inman with band today....bring kick." Ah yes.

Today I go to Inman...well, what that said. So I remind Amy who already knows. The plan is to drop me off on the way to Sterling. Later it's more like scratch plan A and call Wade for a ride cause huge surprise we're running late again. So Wade picks me up at my place and we head out to Inman to record some songs so we can send them off to the master of mix and production Tony Palicios.

It wasn't bad. It was my first time recording anything on an electric drum set. I know you drummers out there understand what I'm sayin'. Parts of the thing wouldn't work half the time. Nobody could hear me so we were all off beat and everything was so slow that day. Take a song you like to jump around to and slow it down to half speed. It will make you sleep. It was cool not to have to set up and tear down though.

So we get done there and I'm on the road to Sterling with my singer Shawn who is good enough to give me a lift out of his way. So we're tokn'....I don't know how I got on my martial arts speech but I was on it for fifteen minutes or so until I notice Shawn is looking a little uncomfortable. Must have been something I said. Was is the aspects of hand to hand, the mind exercises, or the assassination theory.....anywayz we changed the subject real quick. About that time I notice the sky is gone.

We're driving into these clouds that are the color of dark evil and I start bugin' him to turn off the mp3's and turn the radio on because If there's a tornado I want to hear about it so I can run like a little sissy for fear of becoming funnel food! Now it's raining pretty good....starting to hail...and I'm wondering about the shield configuration on this tiny Ford gas saver thing we're zipping down the highway in. By the time we get to Sterling it's commin' down like mad. Like God was unleashing cosmic destruction! I'm thinkin' maybe too many people prayed for rain before spring.

Shawn is now driving using his sonar which is issued to each rock singer. He must have been because I couldn't see anything and we're still hummin' along at 65. I'm trying to tell him how to get to a place that he's never been that I can't see now. So we get there thanx to Shawn's super powers. I grab the bag with my double kick in it and my symbol bag. I thank Shawn for the ride and tell him to drive safe thinking later that he'll probably be ok.

I take a deep breath and get ready to swim. I'm out of the car door and inside the back door of the old farm house where my inlaws live inside 5 seconds...and I'm soaked to the bone. There's a loud crash of thunder as I burst through the door to see all 20 of them holding hands around the dining room table right in the middle of prayer. I hear Leroy goin'...."two or more are gathered in your name...." Jenny, my sister inlaw says, "Look! Jesus is here!" then Chris my bro. inlaw says, "Did you walk here?!"

I drop my bags thankful to be out of the rain when someone says, "Since you're already wet you can go get the food." The food was located 50 yards from the house in the back of what use to be a garage. I took off my brand new walmart special skate shoes, put on some huge rubber boots and went back out in the rain. I found the food in a fridge where it was nice and dry. So we ate and had cake...well, some of us had cake.

Then it was out front to set off fire works in the rain. By then it was down to a sprinkle. I taught all the kids all the stupid things people do on the 4Th. Then I told them, "Hey, don't do this stuff!" So I figure we're good. After that me and David, my other bro. inlaw, talked outside until the mosquitoes ate half the meat off my legs. Then is was muddn' on the four wheeler in the dark.

It was a good time. As I drove the family home I thought to myself, Such a nice......."I left my clothes hangin' in the bathroom at your moms!" So I had to turn around and go back to get them. I pull up and my mother inlaw is waiting to hand them out the door. And away we went. Of course this time I wasn't lucky enough to get passed the gas station without two or three people ranting..."I need to pee!!!" 45 minutes later we're home.

I'm unloading bodies from the back seat of the burban. 40lbs is alot when it's asleep. It's like the little sucker gains weight every time he passes out. As I carried my youngest inside he said, "Dad, are we in Kansas now?" I'm like, "Where have you been?" Then he grabs another hand full of chest hair through my shirt and says, "I not fall down." And we all go inside to sleep in the disaster we made this morning.