Over the years, my family and I have occasionally eaten at IHOP on Sundays after church. IHOP isn’t the only restaurant like this where we eat on Sundays. Most of the time, we eat at home on Sundays. But this story takes place at a time when we were eating at IHOP more often. …
Author Archives: elvisgumby
Writing Every Other Day
When I wrote Every Other Day, I started with the idea of doing a blues tune that would be similar to B. B. King’s “Every Day I Have the Blues”. I was playing around with the idea that white people can’t have the blues. Or at least that white people can’t play or sing the blues. …
Statement of Faith
My wife, children and I lived in middle Tennessee for three years in a small town called Livingston. My youngest daughter was born while we lived there. We attended the First Methodist Church in the middle of town. Early in our time there, I joined their choir. I quickly became of their go to people for …
My First Year of Band
I have always been musically inclined. My mom was a piano teacher when I was born and continued to teach music throughout much of my childhood. Naturally, we had a piano in the house. I learned to play piano by listening to my mother teaching her students. While I can read music, I play primarily …
More Dirty Santa
In a previous post, I’ve talked about playing Dirty Santa at a Christmas party. I suggest that you look at this previous post if you don’t know the rules of the game. The Dirty Santa game became a staple of our department Christmas parties. Each year we would push the limits even more on what …
Dirty Santa
In previous posts, I have talked about Christmas gifts at work. “Dirty Santa” gift swaps became a staple of the department Christmas parties we had several years back. For those of you unfamiliar with how these swaps work, the rules are simple. Each person brings a wrapped gift. There is usually a targeted dollar amount for …
I’ll Be Home For Christmas
In my previous blog post, I talked about Christmas traditions. I mentioned going to my grandfather’s house on Christmas Eve. I didn’t make it to his house for this event the last year he was alive. It wasn’t for lack of trying.
Christmas Traditions
Our family Christmas traditions have changed over the years. Ever since I was a child, my family would always go to my mother’s parents’ house on Christmas Eve. This tradition continued until my grandfather died. The last 3 years he was alive, I lived about 4 hours away from my grandfather. My wife and I …
Mr. Potato Head for Christmas
When I a kid, I had a Mr. Potato Head. This was the second generation of these toys. When they were first introduced, they had a body parts that you would attach to an actual potato. By the time I got mine, they provided you with a plastic potato with holes in it that limited …
Goop and Girl Scout Cookies
My wife and I lived in an apartment when we were first married. I had graduated college and she was in her last year. I had graduated from a school in another town and a good friend named Mike that I had gone to school with was in one of my wife’s classes. Mike was …