This past weekend, we made a quick trip up to Vegas for the opening weekend of March Madness. And while the tourney didn’t seem like it lived up to the normal level of madness in the first two rounds, being in Vegas made up for it. As it was my first real trip up there, I got the guided tour from the Vegas veterans and checked out all the local hot spots… at least most of them. We stayed at the MGM Grand, which was a pretty sweet place…

While we were there, we got to walk all around the Strip… checking out New York, New York, The Bellagio, The Venitian, and The Monte Carlo – which had a great little Brew Pub where we watched a lot of basketball on their 3 large projection screens and countless plasmas hug all over the place… below, you can see two of the larger screens…

While I could’ve definitely done without the smokers that seemed to be everywhere, especially in the casinos that you have to walk through to get to just about anywhere, it was a good time… at least they couldn’t smoke in the restaurants. I do have to say that it really made me miss Austin and the smoking bans just about everywhere, but it was a really fun experience.

We ate a lot, and it wasn’t cheap, especially at Emeril’s restaurant… but it was some good food. We rode the monorail, watched more games in Barry Manilow’s converted performance theater in the Hilton that they turned into a March Madness HQ… and even hit up Jay-Z’s 40-40 club to catch a few games on the true 16 foot by 9 foot HD screen with our feet propped up as we sat in couches on tiers like theater seats…

And then on our last night there, we went up to the top of the Eiffel Tower at the Paris Hotel, and took in the Bellagio water show from 460 feet above the strip… it was an amazing view…

All in all, it was a good time… and while my bracket is the worst it has been in years, I didn’t really care that much because watching the games in Vegas with the guys was worth it.

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The other night I came across yet another in a growing line of country music songs that hit me right where I live. The fact that I stumbled across it just a few minutes after having gone through hours of the old Super 8 homes movies I wrote about last time probably helped to increase my sensitivity to the words of You’re Gonna Miss This by Trace Adkins. (Listen) The chorus goes like this:

You’re gonna miss this
You’re gonna want this back
You’re gonna wish these days hadn’t gone by so fast
These are some good times
So take a good look around
You may not know it now
But you’re gonna miss this

click here for the complete lyrics

Lately I’ve been thinking about just how much joy in life I don’t fully grasp because I am always looking forward to the next milestone down the road. If you’re anything like me, you couldn’t even begin to count the number of times your words or thoughts have begun with the phrase “I can’t wait until…” or “things will be so much better when…” But the truth of the matter is that while it may be fun to look down the road to what we think will be better days, so often it steals the fullness of the joy we can experience from today. As I’ve told Corissa before, one day, today will be the good ‘ol days that we’ll miss.

A perfect example is my work from home / stay at home dad status. Sure there are frustrating days when I think “I can’t wait until Allison and Peyton are in school so I can have my days back and be more productive” – Notice how that last thought started with the dreaded “I can’t wait until…” phrase. But the truth is, I am going to miss these days. I am so blessed to have this time with my baby girl, and I know that one day I will miss her constantly wanting my attention and wanting to climb in my lap while I’m trying to type an important email. And as mind numbing as they sometimes are, I’m gonna miss snuggling with her on the couch watching My Friends Tigger and Poo, Little Einsteins, or Beauty and the Beast for the 34th time this week. As Trace said, “these are some good times, so take a good look around. I may not know it now, but I am going to miss this.”

Just think how much happier we would all be if we lived in today and stopped looking forward to tomorrow so much. For one thing, we never know just how many more tomorrows God still has in store for us… and even if I have another 70 years ahead of me, I don’t want to spend any of them wishing that I had taken a little more time to enjoy the ones gone by before they were just memories.

I have to say, stuff like this is why I love country music. It’s just like Jeff Foxworthy said at the CMT Awards, “it’s about the things in life that really matter” You should click here to read his comments, they are definitely worth the read.

My hope for myself – and for you – is that we will recognize just how blessed today is. Even with whatever challenges we may be facing, today is a blessing… and at the risk of repeating myself, these are the words that I want to remember and add to the roster of words I want to live my life by:

These are some good times
So take a good look around
You may not know it now
But you’re gonna miss this

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