Closed For ReMOODeling!

Closed for reMOODeling! Of course, you know I wallpaper with home-made dry humor and paint with colorful hope. Not the opposite, right? PIMP LOL. You know?  Dry paint and colorful humor? And, then reupholster with faith. To hit the nail on the head, I can say that I like to find hope and humor and see God in everything. And, without hammering any one in particular, I was noticing how moody some people are depending on the furnishings in their life.  And I'm not just talkin' sofas and chairs.  Maybe a throne?  Right? We sometimes think we are kings and queens compared to everyone else.  So, if your life needs a lil’ remodeling? Think about reupholstering that mood. You know? New stuffing?  Faith. That’s the stuff remoodeling is made of. Besides, moods come n’ go and are a dime a dozen. That's why so many people change them so fast. But with faith as your stuffing? You’ll be sittin’ in comfort.  His…  See Him in the beautiful and the not so beautiful. Talk about reMOODeling!  This remoodel will last forever.  What's your true colors?   Trace

A Brush With The Law!

I was fixing to open up the garage like I always do on cool days when I hang wash, but someone must be having a brush with the law cuz there are cops surrounding and combing the woods and brush right in front of my house. Think I'll keep the house closed up for now.  The only combing and brushing I want around here?  Is on my hair.  This reminded of last year at this exact week. I got locked out of my house in a red velvet housecoat and had to climb up through a window I had just opened before hanging wash. Cops came by and thought I was breaking in.  Seriously!  Maybe they are back looking for the lady in the red velvet Santa outfit! PIMP LOL.  Have a fun day!  After you comb and brush your hair.  Stay safe!  Thank a cop today!  Oh!  I didn't do a visual photo, so here is my mind photo:  Imagine please...I see a giant brush running through the brush with the cops right behind him...whilst I am standing in the background in a red velvet housecoat combing and brushing my hair...safe!  See it? PIMP LOL!  Trace

Eye Candy, Ear Candy and Heart Candy! Sa-weet! Music For The Soul!

Sa-weet! So, the sound wasn’t so sweet or loud enuff at this gig we just did (old equipment, not old sound guys), & someone came up and said, “at least you all looked good up there”. PIMP LOL! No matter what, we always give it all we got! Always! Now, coming from an older young singer/musician, sometimes trying to be eye candy ain't easy and ain’t always sweet if the ear candy isn’t being tasted (heard)! Know what I mean? Oh!  And, at the beginning as we were warming up & practicing (you know, humming a few bars and waving to people?), it was like being in a parade! Waving and throwing out a few “candy bars”? Umm…ear candy bars? PIMP LOL. Anyway, yes, we musicians wanna make a connection. We HAVE to be ear candy, maybe even WANT to be eye candy, but DESIRE to be heart candy! Music finds its way in through the ears & eyes, but finds you out in the heart & soul! Sa-we-e-e-eet! Music & candy... These both amp you up. But, only music, a gift from God, can amp up the soul!  Soul long... Trace

Wild Turkey And Turkey Scraps

Years ago I got off of Wild Turkey…cold turkey!  It was gobbling me up.  I don’t act like such a turkey anymore. Well, not much! PIMP LOL. Got something you are struggling with? It IS possible to overcome.  Don’t let anything gobble you up. Take your turkey to God.  Nothing’s too wild, man!  You’ll be thankful and it‘s not even Thanksgiving, yet.  What?  Yep! We can be thankful any old day!  Being thankful for all the lil’ things every day helps you see God in everyday. Being thankful makes you wanna give. And giving makes you wanna be thankful, and I’m not talkin’ turkey. If I was? I’d say, “Don’t be a turkey and only see God when we’re together on Sundays at church. You’ll miss out on the other stuff…ing! So will everyone around you. Have fun joining together with family and friends to be thankful.  Don’t scrap with any turkeys.  Some are just full of it! Stuffing, I mean."  Oh! My photo?  A turkey made from scraps…  Of metal! PIMP LOL.  I am so very thankful for all of you that give me your time as gifts for our music and writings, etc.  Also, of course the story is all mine, but the photo is from a very cool artist name Rem Brent!  This is his piece made from all farm machinery scraps!   So, I did the word, he did the bird!  PIMP LOL.       Trace

PAN or PLAN? My 2¢ From My 2¢ Throne!

PAN or PLAN!  My 2¢ From My  2¢ Throne!  So, we pan for our future.  You know?  Always searching for gold?  But, do we plan for our eternity?  Streets of gold instead of seats of gold? You know? The money throne? Yes, I like money. Makes life plan-able, but not always pan-able. Everything doesn’t always pan out…even with money.  Maybe even because of money. You know the old saying “money can buy anything”?  Well? Not everything! Imagine that. Well, that’s my 2¢ comin’ from my 2¢ throne! It's not made of gold, but I feel like gold when I sit in it! And, I sometimes find 2 cents in it.  You'd be surprised how much "2 cents" comes from my chair.  The kind that comes outta my mouth and the kind that "puts food in the mouth"! Just sayin'!  Well, that’s all I got.  No, really that’s all I got.  In my mind, in my chair and in my wallet. What’s in yours? PIMP LOL.  Stop by my other stories and  also at our band website where we have a free download of our original Christmas song and more.  Take a chance.  It might pan out!  Here you go: http://basicband.biz/. Make it your biz to stop by our basic band biz!   Trace

From One Sheep To Another: No "Baa" Humbug!

As one of the sheep IN the pasture, (as opposed to "put out to pasture"), I’m reminded that we are lovingly comforted and cared for with a staff!  And,  sometimes a rod. What? Ewe herd me! Life can get wooly and we wander, but we know the God of Wonders!  So, as we flock together these holidays, we can be thankful in all comforts. The home ones AND the “keep us in line” ones!  No “baa” humbug! For He is our comforter, our Shepherd!  I won’t pull the wool over your eyes and it’s not shear genius. Just a mutton for truth and fun!  I mean, a glutton!  Have a fun week and don’t forget to stop by our band website for our free Christmas song and visit while you're there. http://basicband.biz/fr_basicmusicroom.cfm.      Love ewe each and thank you for stopping by my place.    Trace

Event Staff or Event Stiff

So, I was thinking I could wear this shirt every day. I mean, I don’t know about you, but there’s always an event going on around here! In a good way! And, not to be mistaken for the “Event Stiff”! PIMP LOL. NO sir!  Every event is fun for me. Oh! And, there was a time when I could wear this shirt and people thought I was actually an “Event Staff. As in a stick type staff? PIMP LOL TNT.  I am so very thankful to God that I gained weight and am alive.  Now, that’s an Event! Every day!  Whatever the event?  Have fun!  Be thankful for the little events and eventually you’ll see God in all events.  I was going to say "have an eventful weekend", but I will up it to "have an eventful life"!     Trace

When Life Gives you Doo-Doo? Cut The Crap And Make Do...

This morning, before I started cleaning, someone was giving me a hard time. You know? A load of doo-doo! So, I decided to tell them to cut the crap. They were just kidding around, but it got me thinking… When life gives you a load of doo-doo, cut it! Yep! Cut the crap! In half. Doo/Doo. That leaves you with 2 choices. Um…giving someone else half of it, OR… Make do & make do. You know? Try twice as hard to make do with a loving, gracious heart when life gives you a load of doo. You’d be surprised how much you grow. Just look at how beautiful & gracious a rose is when it is surrounded by crap. Spread it around. Love, I mean. And, yes that is a load of loving crap on the shovel! PIMP LOL.  As I finally got into my cleaning, I got another story idea.  My mind really works double time when I'm cleaning.   I figured I'd be safe from my life stories while I was cleaning and takin’ care o’ business! But! It’s only 11:00 and my day is really sucking! What? Yep!  Well, my vacuum is really sucking. Me?  Well, I'm laughing & speechless, which is when I write.  Why?  Well, I changed the bag on my vacuum and started using the handtool attachment in the bathroom and it sucked so hard that my decorations on the wall got sucked into it. PIMP LOL. They're safely back up and I did come up with a better look, though maybe there are a few less feathers and flowers! PIMP LOL. Just goes to show that when things suck? You have the opportunity to re-create and have fun, instead of getting sucked in. Can't wait to see what else sucks today! Think outta the bag!  Okay!  I'm on a roll with 3 statuses about cleaning. No really! On a roll! Toilet Paper rolls. This is 1 of my fave gifts from my brother, Troy, and his wife, Dawn many moons ago. Anyways, it is a CD/Photo Holder, but I have decided to change it up and use it in the bathroom cuz it fits perfect in the corner & holds 4 TP rolls exact fit and it looks pretty. Just removed the photos from the slots in front and put in cloth to match bathroom. For the next many moons, if you are in my house and looking for TP? Look in the CD holder in the bathroom. If you’re looking’ for music? Look in the music room. Or the bathroom! PIMP LOL.  Now, you get the many moons joke?    Trace

Minimize Your words, “Organ”ize Your Heart!

So, I’m cleaning out my closet. Cuz for me? Minimizing is a must for organizing! Anyway, I moved on to my window sills while listening to a friend on the phone who was in a fight with their spouse. So, bam! My brain combined it all and came up with a “knock knock” joke about my two friends. We’ll call them Window & Shutter. It seems they had a bad argument and they weren’t on speaking terms! So, here goes the joke about the situation between them. Knock, knock? Who's there? Shutter! Shutter who? I shutter at the thought of facing Window today! If I don't open up and air things out? It could be curtains for me! PIMP LOL. So, clean out your closet, get ridda the junk! Then, open a window and air things out! Minimize your words, “organ”ize your heart.  You know? priorities and all!  Oh!  And, my shutter friend? Well, he says that he will shutter if there's clutter, so back to work for me.  We love what we treasure.  But, mostly we should treasure what we love.  Okay, so, that leads me to another true story:  Some kids were hangin' 'round our street as we're leaving the other evening. They looked just like the “Our Gang” kids. My girl was driving and wanted to turn around. Said she's worried about her laptop and all our valuables and treasures getting stolen. I laughed and said that our valuables aren’t that um...valuable. They're all old & worn out. In fact, in my head, I can see the Cops taking these boys away to jail after robbing our home. They get there & the judge says, “we can only charge them with Entering, instead of “Breaking & Entering”. Seems the Glenn’s have admitted in court that everything in their house is already broke. PIMP LOL. What you treasure? Is what you love! Our treasure? Was in the car! Have a fresh afternoon!   Treasure it!   Trace

Don't Get Ticked. Tock About It! You Know What I'm Tockin' 'bout!

Every year I turn our clocks during the afternoon of the “turn clocks” night, just like…umm…clockwork. PIMP LOL.  It's my thing.  It happens automatically. Habit.  You know?  Habits CAN be good things! So, this past  Saturday, I automatically went around and turned the clocks without thinking. Only, I was at the wrong time of year.  Guess I really wasn’t thinking, because for the first time ever? I turned them all forward an hour. But, I had no idea, yet. Yep!  So, around eight o'clock that night, Sam, for the first time ever, decided unbeknownst to me, to go around and turn them “back”, also. So, later, it’s time to watch football and I said, “Wow!  Something’s wrong or they must have decided to do the same thing I do on these stations and turn the clocks cuz they all match ours?” Then, Sam says, “Ummm…but, they should be off an hour because I turned them all back”.  By this time, I’m laughing and I says, “Well, I remember now…I turned them all forward! Oops!”  And? Like clockwork, we were right back at square one. So, I went around and fixed all the clocks…again! Got me thinking that this is just how we are when it’s time to make a decision. Before moving forward or backing up a step out of habit? Consult your heart and your God. Oh! And your spouse? In any case?  If you don’t talk or pray? You may wind up going in opposite directions or cleaning each others clocks.  Ahhh…  Communication…  Takes time, but it’s worth every second.  Keep you from going ‘round in circles.  PIMP LOL. Get into the habit of communication just like turning the clocks.  It comes in handy! Communication takes two...hands just like a clock...so don't get tick'd.  Tock about it!  Okay! I better stop to keep everyone from getting “tick"d. “Tock” to you later.  The photos?  Three of my fav clocks. The first is a clock I made when I was about twenty.  Ceramics. The other two are my fav outside clock and pocket watch (not mine).  One last thought?  I love that song by Bonnie Raitt, "Let's Give "em Something Ta Talk About".  Have a lovely day.    Trace

Tooting Your Own Horn? Don't Blow It!

My girl is home sick today and I am too, but I am being mama and nurse, which I love, even when I'm sick.  Serving and loving when you don't expect anything back, is good stuff. My medicine.  And, I need lots of it.  So, I’ve been doing a lot of thinking… ‘bout giving and serving. Only in secret.  Between only you and God. Without comparison to anyone.  Whether it’s cash at church instead of a check, doing something at home or work or school to help someone. Or a neighbor. Like give a child your full attention. Smile at someone in the grocery store. Sometimes, it’s not doing something that is giving. Am I right?  Like not complaining or not whining when things are really something to whine about. And, trust me?  This has been a year to whine about for me.  Wah!  Can’t help it.  I’m transparent! Okay, you get it. There have been times when I could give much and there have been times when $20 was all I had for the week and gave it for the weak.  Not out of having to, but wanting to. There have been times when I am able to share talents and gifts and my life. And, sometimes? All I have is just time. But, your presence is your best present you can present to someone! PIMP LOL.  Anyways, we know how good it feels to give money or talents publicly and be thanked and it is a good feeling. Encouragement is good. But, wouldn’t it be nice to know people care about you because they just love you and not because of money or things?  Granted, some people might seem to love you less when it appears you are not giving or you have nothing to give.  But, that’s not really love, is it? Just sometimes, to me, it feels like we are blowing horns prior because we want to be announced or feel like we have to. Giving when there’s no drum roll or dun-da-da-dun…you know? Giving when you don’t get anything back, except knowing that God knows. Yes, it is very hard, but it is something that changes our very character and heart of giving over time. Give in secret.  Yes! Like the song by Andy Park says: “In the secret” IS a quiet place! But, it’s then you can hear God…loud and clear.   Shhh…  Can you hear His Smile?  You know, if we always give only after tooting our horns? It may seem like we’re blowing it out the wrong end.  Just sayin’.  Or we have it down to an art.  Where we toot our horn so much that we toot our horn without blowing it!  PIMP LOL.  And, I’m talkin’ for all of us.  So, give it up. And give. In the secret...in the quiet place. Same place we give our prayers. Sounds like a good place to me. Right?  So, like the SuperTramp song says?  “Give A little Bit”! OR! Give a lot. But, give in secret, sometimes.  It’ll blow you away without you blowing any horns.   Have a fun day.  And, don't you ever think I don't never feel like tootin' my own horn.  Toot toot!  Trace

Life Can Get Hairy! Don't Wig Out!

While vacuuming, I was thinking how I used to think a lot of my mom’s rules were wiggy.  That is, until I had a few teenagers.  Like the rule of brushing your hair in the bathroom ONLY and cleaning out the brush every day.  Wow.  Now, that one seemed wiggy back then.  Alotta work, but, now?  Well, let’s just say I could make a wig with all the hair that wasn’t in the bathroom because of not being “wiggy” like my mom. So, now I am getting jiggy with getting wiggy. You diggy?  Life can get hairy.  So, remember mama’s rules, daddy’s rules and God’s rules.  They all got good ones.  And, guess what? They’re not doing it just to be mean, after all.  PIMP LOL.  Wow!  There always for our benefit.  Ahhh…  Rules and love!  Great combo.  You won’t wig out with that.  I can dig it!   Hope your day is not a hairy one!   Don't give anyone the brush off.  Except your own head...and in the bathroom!  Please!  PIMP LOL.       Trace

Tomato Soup For The Soul & Hammin' And Cheesin' It Up For The Brain

I made my creamy Tomato Soup and Grilled Ham & Cheese sandwiches for supper. Comfort food for the body.  Course, I can’t have it anymore, but it gives me comfort making it.  Yes, I would love to devour it myself, but since I can't, I will make it and they will enjoy it!  And, I will enjoy that they enjoy it! PIMP LOL.  And, after?  A lil’ family time, bible study, music and humor. I call that my "Grilled Hammin’ It up & Being Cheesy Tomato Soup For The Soul".  Later?  Some comfort food or Tomato Soup & Grilled Ham 'n Cheese for the brain. Turning my brain off and turning the Samsung  TV brain on.  Although most of the time?  It’s brain dead, judging by what comes on it! Right? Between the sleazy shows and uncreative commercials, it's usually video games or Netflix for us when it comes to the TV use.  Or lots of times?  Just skip right to the music room.  But, tonight, need a rest, so gonna see if Community or Parks or Office is decently laughable.  As in clean!  I like the creativity in those shows when they stay clean. Then, gonna sleep with the comfort of knowing that no matter how much I get grilled, ham it up or get cheesy? He loves me and is in control. Ahhh… G’night!  You also have a comfortable night...   Trace

Skittles, Princes And The Right One

So, my girl wanted to hear about the boys in my life and the impression each one left on me.  I scrambled for humor because the only love I want her to have right now is for Skittles and God. So, I said, “Let’s see…there were 2 Bills.  And they both left me with, umm…well? Bills!  There was a  Rob. He stole my heart. You know robbed? There was a Mark? Left his mark on the same heart that Rob later stole. There was a John.  He always had to go to the bathroom at those important moments. You know? The john? A guy named Chuck.  Every time he walked “up” to see me?  He got sick.  Upchuck?  Jake?  Yep!  He always acted Jakey! PIMPLOL.  Well, I was teasing with her, but I believe she knew what I meant.  Waiting and trusting God for the right one, the Prince Charming, is a hard thing to do, but a good thing.  Waiting for the right answer in anything is.  The Right One knows...and cares.  Yes, I am married and He's a prince, but I found my Prince, my Prince Of Peace, a few years before I got married!    Find your Prince of Peace before you find your Prince Charming.  Life is not always charming, but He always offers peace in the charming and uncharming...  Have a fun, sweet day.  Eat some Skittles all you princes and princesses!  PIMP LOL.  Trace

Blessings And Tangerines

So, this cooler weather got me thinking ‘bout Christmas, and then stockings over the fireplace.  In Pennsylvania, we used to get tangerines in our stockings. We thought the tangerines were so cool and tasty.  A sweet gift.  Which got me thinking about blessings. Blessings are the tangible and intangible favors of God. Or, in the stockings over the fireplace case?  The tangerinable and intangerinable favors of God.  PIMP LOL.  You know?  The tangerine itself being the tangible or tangerinable.  And, the joy of seeing it and eating it?  Well, that’s the intangible, or intangerinable favor of God.  If we realize that ALL our tangibles are from God, only given for us to manage, because we certainly can’t take it with us?  Well, then all the intangibles become incredibly way more tangible…to our spirit!  Like a tangerine?  We gotta peel back the tangible to get to the untangible.  PIMP LOL.  Have a sweet day of blessings…tangerinable and intangerinable.     Trace