roll them cases out and lift them amps....

now playing: joe walsh "help me through the night"



i have to go back and check to see if that's a james gang tune, or if it's one of joes' solo pieces. the version in the mp3 player is from hell freezes over, with all those amazing backing vocals.

i remember saying to blake and wendy that joe should sing lead on every song, because it'd mean that you'd get those amazing, pretty maids all in a row harmonies on every song....they didn't share my enthusiasm for the idea, though.


so we all made the trek to justin's house last night, at one time or another...everyone seems to like it. i was ready to go ahead and do the deal on the spot, but i told the kids they had 24 hours to think about it, and i wanted to honor my word. there's a huge garage, two floors...the basement is all i had hoped it would be (save for the panelling), and there's an attic that runs the length of the house.

in other words, storage of all the crap that we're currently tripping over is not going to be an issue. the kitchen is large enough that more than one person at a time can actually occupy it, and the laundry area is separate from the rest of the basement (turn one way at the bottom of the stairs for laundry, the other way for the rest of the basement...seriously cool.)

so....long story short - barring a serious objection from one of my offspring, it looks as though i'll be doing what i said i would not do again under any circumstances until i was ready to leave berks county - moving.

jayda wants the basement or the attic - the attic is pretty much uninhabitable, and i've already claimed the lions' share of the basement...although it remains to be seen how that'll pan out...the time for serious discussion and planning is ahead of us, where all that's concerned...i do think, though, that i'll probably take up both rooms - between housing seventy-plus stringed instruments and setting up the studio. the good news is that the drums can come home...i was surprised to find a kit set up in justin's basement when we went to look at the house last night.

unusual...to have this sense of excitement and dread at the same time. it looks, though, like it's time to start saving boxes again.

i got a laugh out of jayda, when she walked in and declared that she already lived there...apparently the layout is very similar to the layout at her mothers' house...i could see what she meant in a lot of ways - the dining room, converted to additional living space - the angle of the stairs - the bedroom layout upstairs...it was kinda comical.

justin, though...i'm gonna be sad to see him go. last night, we ended up hanging out with him and theresa for a long time after we'd gone through the house, and i got this sense of having really only just met someone that i'd had the potential to have been closer to if there'd been more of an opportunity...kinda like having met your potential best friend on the last day of school. i kinda feel like i let an opportunity pass to have gotten to know him better, in all this time that he's been an acquaintance.

the upside is that he has no choice but to stay in touch.



ok...so where do i start?

so much to do....