7/16/2006 - Camps & Coughs with a Purpose
I'll just get right to the point here.  The last month & a half has been like a blur or more a state of disorientation.  A good one but nonetheless, busy.  We all have dreams in us, whether in the arts or business or medicine or maybe just to be a good parent or to really help someone out in a significant way.  I guess my dream has always been to do music full-time and by doing what I was born to do, in turn I could most effectively help/serve/extend love & truth to someone else.  So all this hard work on the EP and all these shows is all with that in mind.  Anyhow, my ramblings just mean that everything leading up to the CD Release and then shortly afterwards has been non-stop, but I guess that's great news...it means we're on the path doing what we're supposed to be doing.  It also means there's the struggle not to lose sight of why we do this or what's most important no matter what great things you receive or experience.  Ugh... :)

The EP is finally done and now I'm just basically selling it at shows, on this website, and at any local Wendy's you'd like to meet me at.  (I'm only half-kidding.)  The CD Release in Dallas went amazing.  I think it was one of our best shows, and you guys freakin' packed the place out.  It was really humbling, really special.  But ever since that moment I've been gone traveling with some of the guys that play with me, doing music for youth camps.  So much fun, so many weird stories.  So as a recap (I know you're excited), here's to the summer camps so far and the details that fell in-between:

--I had my first wreck ever.  Minor "external" damages, huge internal damages.  My latest rental car they gave me?  A Buick!  I didn't know much about Buicks before this, but people keep calling me grandma (Philip says, "Grammie, can I have some butterscotch.")  Anyhow, my friend Kel says all the cool kids drive them in China...so take that Dallas!
--The first camp we did I like to fondly say was held in the "armpit of Texas."  I'm sure these are great people, but it seems like they've been out in the middle of nowhere for too long.  The band would try to be creative every night after we finished playing so one time we went into the woods nearby to explore.  The discovery: a giant possum, a burned down house, and a noose still hanging in the tree!  My favorite memory, though, was finding out they locked the gates every night at 11pm so you couldn't leave if you needed to which leads me to my next point...
--I got sick right before that camp.  I had a throat infection and then in the middle of it I got a bad cold.  But at this place the nurse was never around, and then I couldn't leave to get medicine one night.  I felt like death and that leads to my next point...(it just gets better)
--I got back from the armpit camp and had to leave the next day at 8am with friends for a camp in TN.  They called me a druggie as I loaded the van with my giant bag of medicine and supplements.  And then I became a vampire.  It took about 13 hours to get where we were going, and I think I slept for 11.  There were a few people on the bus who I'd never met before so Chase kept telling them I was certifiably-crazy.  Your's is coming, mister.  :)
--This camp in TN was pretty nice.  It was in a national park by the lake so I was excited.  The food they served us, however, was tough... we called it brown-carb city.  There ARE carbs that are good for you...not these, people.  And they never served fruit or vegetables.  Our bodies were hurting.  :)
--With a week off, I finished watching the NBA Finals (our city was so excited about the Mavericks...it was like bonding with your community or something.)  They lost the series on my birthday but that's ok...ice cream cake and the Mavs...you can't beat it.
--So off to another camp but this time it was for 4-6th grade.  I loved the kids...it was a little more challenging with the adults.  Chase came out with me and during the week we did this funny song called "Gorilla, Man, Gun."  We normally do it with older students, and the word "butt" is in it.  No harm in general but I guess the adults didn't like it.  You could see some of them freaking out in the back, arms waving and all to stop saying "butt".  Pretty funny...
--After this camp is when I finally started to feel better.  But then I went to Six Flags with my friend Jimmy, who had a free ticket for me (yeah!)  Ok, I'm a roller-coaster freak, but something happened to me that day I can't explain.  I must've gotten dehydrated though Jimmy made me ride the Titan twice in a row so maybe it's HIS fault.  I ended up throwing up 3 times at the park.  I took some motion sickness medicine, but that made me drowsy and I started laughing a lot for no reason.  Oh man, Jimmy was such a long-suffering friend that day.

And that's the summer so far...it's definitely purposeful, doing what you love to do (and hilarious, apparently).  I do have a priceless birthday party to share about, but I'll save that for the next random entry.