Good Morning, I hope this finds you well. I’m on my way to Merridee’s but decided to stop at the car wash to have Jennifer’s car cleaned. We have so many bikes and toys and pieces of gear in our garage that the car won’t fit so it sits outside in the elements all winter ruining the paint. My kids think the inside is a trashcan so the interior is a mess as well. I’d normally clean it myself but this seemed like a job for professionals. I actually enjoy washing cars. It makes me feel like a teenager again. I used to work as a lot-boy at my Dad’s car dealership when I was a kid. It was my first and last real job. I would catch a ride with him to work in the morning and spend all day in the sun washing and polishing the new cars and listening to music on my Walkman. With my first paycheck I asked Dad to take me to Service Merchandise to buy a $50 Sony headset radio, the model with the radio built right into the headphones. I spent seven hours a day listening to the best mix of 90s music getting a suntan. After work I’d jump in the pool to get clean and refreshed. I didn’t shower much in the summer. I always felt like the chlorine was enough to bleach away anything I’d picked up. Jennifer makes the kids shower after a long swim to get the chlorine off of their bodies. I will never understand this line of thinking. Last spring I installed a “shower” on our back patio so we could just rinse off in our bathing suits before we went inside. Jennifer doesn’t like when I call it a shower because it’s really a garden hose that’s run around the house, under the garage door, and connected to the hot water in the garage sink. On the shower end is a hose extender (the one you use to water hanging plants) that’s bracketed to the rain gutter. It works though, and it’s lovely on a cool night under the stars. I’m sure the neighbors think so.

I had a meeting about you this week. It was with Brody and Randy, the guys that take care of our Internet sites. As usual it was an education. As I’ve mentioned before, Jennifer and I picked the worst possible time to move to Africa as far as technology is concerned. While we were away (Fall 2006- Spring 2007) things moved on right past us and we had to come home and relearn how people connect. We’re getting there but still need help. Turns out that my Mom isn’t the only one who reads these posts. Brody says that I should send him everything that I’ve been writing – record reviews, songs, devotionals, stuff about the kids, anything – and he will post it. Merridee’s Mondays will still be my official weekly blog, but there will be stuff coming mid-week as well. Here’s the deal though… For this to work we need to be able to communicate. So send me your thoughts and comments and I’ll write you back. And, as I promised before, I won’t use this as a forum for personal gain, trying to sell you stuff.

So here’s how this will work for the time being. Merridee’s Mondays (written from my favorite bakery in Franklin) will be my normal Monday blog. “Hey Mom” posts will be stuff during the week that I’d normally tell Mom that you might like to know as well; stuff about the kids and our friends, etc. Everything else will come as a special report. I still haven’t figured out a clever name for them yet.

Talk soon-
Jeromy