Hugh's Birthday!!! Yeah!!!!


So, my man Hugh is 44 today! Wow! What an amazing thing! And how many amazing things has he done in those short 44 years? I would love to sit on the back porch of my house with him and talk for hours!!! I would love that! Oh the things I would learn! He is my hero.
I imagine he is sitting in his apartment celebrating that birthday. Just for today, he is wearing his Hughman Super Hero cape, eating homemade cookies and drinking the Hughman superhero elixir of life... (With an umbrella of course).
He might have even risked giving away his mild mannered alter ego by marching himself to the dog park in that same cape.
You never know with that Hugh. And hiding underneath the superhero cape, you are sure to find a pirate tattoo of some sort, I just know it! ARRGGG!
If you don't know Hugh, you should. We all should.
He is one of the best writers I know. He can make you laugh, cry, and think so hard your head hurts, all in one blog. He has a way of looking at the world that I love.

Hugh is a teenager trapped in a 44 year old body that is for sure!
He is the class clown in the chat room. (I am certainly the most serious one there.)
He can also channel a teenage girl in no time flat. Hugh also knows all the cool kid popular culture references, and even is daring enough to make up his own.... Hula Boola... totes brill for sure!
Hugh is so cool, his favorite color is black... who else is cool enough to say that?... oh, and lime green! Now that is coolness personified!!! Hugh is so cool that his favorite food is not the normal, "Mexican, Italian" crap. Oh no. That Hugh loves him some sushi.
The best thing about Hugh is his enormous heart! It is brimming with love for everyone he meets, and lots he may never meet.
So, I have asked Hugh lots of questions lately, and he has kindly put up with them all... but I have a few more questions for him in the form of a song that I heard today... (I couldn't help but think of him!)
Lyrics have been changed a bit to fit... please forgive me!

To be that good, it must be taxin’
No such thing as satisfaction
You’re makin’ things happen while I’m relaxin’
Like a Sunday afternoon
My dad used to tell me I was lazy
I got dance moves like Patrick Swayze
I’m the left over turkey for the world’s mayonnaisey
The star next to the moon

Now I know I’m just here to amuse you
And I don’t mean to abuse you
But if I could just use you one time

Tell me what it’s like
To be the queen of it all
The Neiman Marcus of the Mall
And tell me what it’s like to be the one and only
All American Hugh


Every now and then I get to the kneelin’
To thank him for it all
But you probably got some inside connection
So many numbers that you gotta rolodex them
So much muscle that you never gotta flex them
To catch you when you fall

And I know I’m just here to amuse you
And I don’t mean to confuse you
But if I could just use you one more time

Tell me what it’s like to be the house on the hill
The number one diet pill
And tell me what it’s like to be the one and only
All American Hugh


And I know you’re not here to amuse me
But you sure know how to confuse me
So if I could just ask you once again

To tell me what it’s like to be a star on the rise
A breakfast cereal prize
And tell me what it’s like to be the one and only
All American Hugh
The All American Hugh
The all amazing crazy Hugh...



The thing is, Hughman IS the all American. He is the breakfast cereal prize...the bee's knees, THE HULA BOOLA!!!
I love you Hughman! Happy birthday!
Here is your zoom song.

The president of your fan club...
Susiederk.

:)

it is almost midnight my time, which means it is almost Hugh's b-day!
Look for a blog to take this space very soon...
my ode to the hughman.
Susie

The kids are coming in... The rains may have washed them out of Louisiana and Mississippi, but Texas has wrapped its big texas size arms around them and said, come on! We will teach your children. We will love them and support them as we do our own. So they came today. By the dozens into our classrooms. All with parents who said the same exact words, "we lost everything... Please take care of my child." And we did. And will will continue to...


I guess that is the best I can do right now for the world...

Just Stuff.....

I guess about six years ago, the Circle of Friends were all gathered in Mullin, Texas for our annual New Years Eve gathering. We spent some time doing the usual heart-felt but cheesy toasts, to one another, to friends far away, to... blah blah blah. Then the question came up..."what was the best thing about this past year?" As we went around the table, lots of things were mentioned... new cars, new computers, new stuff. Then it was BT (the older and wiser member of the CoF) who spoke up and said, "you know, all of those things that you mentioned, the computer, the car... they are all great things... but they are just stuff. We need to spend time thinking about our year and whom we loved and how we touched other people's lives. Stuff comes and goes, but our friendships, that is what really matters in the world." Boy, were we feeling stupid.


Tonight, I came home griping about the master’s class I enrolled in. I griped about people I work with, I griped about my headache and my hungry belly and the coming of a head cold. I griped and griped and griped, and then I turned on CNN. I sat and stared at the devastation of it all. How stupid had I just been? I got to come home to medicine, a warm bed, the smell of cooking food, a roof over my head, and most importantly, my husband who loves me and listens to me gripe about my petty crap.
I watched the news and realized it wasn't just the "stuff" that people were worried about...it was their relationships with others. It was their family members and their friends. It was the important things that they worried about. And it made me feel sick to my stomach.
I pray tonight for forgiveness for being so petty in time of crisis. I pray for the people who have been affected by Katrina. I pray that they will find comfort with friends and family, as they sort through the "stuff" of their lives. I pray that we can all gain perspective, just like BT tried to impart that New Years Eve. I pray that those precious children of God will be able to rebuild and gain strength and hope. I just pray. I hope you will too.

Another Birthday... These never end!!!

Seems like when I started this, I didn't realize what I was getting myself into. EVERYONE I know has a birthday coming up. This birthday thing may last a while friends. Bear with me.

I was telling someone the other day that this past year, I have managed to get to know three people who are going to seminary, and like about a million ministers. I need to be hanging out in seedier places for sure! So, I have learned something from all of this... ministers are people too. They have issues just like the rest of us.
They have bad days and days when they are tired and grumpy and frustrated with the world. They worry about finances and jobs and the world just as much as the rest of us.
Some days are good and they love their jobs. Other days, they would like to scream, curse and run away as fast as they can. hmmm. Sound familiar?

So, this person who is celebrating a birthday on Friday is someone I only know through chat and her blog, but she is someone who has made me really realize that preachers are people too.
You need to meet her... I promise you would like her. Her name is rev stacey and she has a blog here...

Ok, Stacey is a first year minister and she is still in her 20s. She lives in New York somewhere in the boonies... too far away from civilization to be able to order pizza delivery. She lives with an enormous, I mean gigantic dog. She is going through life one day at a time in her job. She loves it some days, hates it other days, but mostly, I think she is just trying to get by... and listen to God the best way she knows how. I think she is worth getting to know. I know that in the real world, in real life, she and I could be friends... or else she might sick that gigantic dog on me!!!

Stacey, here is your zoom song... enjoy!