No Cords Attached!

Tami's New iPhone

The Boltes have their first iPhone... well Tami does. I am still faithfully using a company-provided BlackBerry. Since Mother's Day, Tami has been on this new iPhone adventure. Now let me clarify about Mother's Day. It really wasn't an outright MD gift. She actually "needed" a new phone anyway. But, it's like "killing two birds with one stone", right? Get Tami a cool MD gift AND replace her worn out phone at the same time. I also remember her telling me many years ago after I gave her a truly wonderful gift with a cord attached, "Don't ever get me another gift with a cord attached!". I don't remember exactly what it was, but I'm guessing it was something like a waffle iron, curling iron, or electric drill... So, even though the new iPhone 4 needs a cord to be recharged, she hasn't complained ...so far.
Here's the thing. When Tami had her old cell phone, it didn't do much more than call people. It was internet-capable, but not very user-friendly. It did have different basic features like speed dialing and a phone directory (contacts list), but she rarely used any of them. She would actually memorize the numbers of her most frequent calls and dial them manually.... who does that!?! Now Tami has this fully loaded, state of the art, user-friendly smart phone that she is struggling to learn. I mean it's like going from that dial-up internet connection to our super fast, home wireless connection....you can never go back.

Tami & Lauren using "Facetime"

But I'll give her credit, she is trying. Even though I've had to show her some things multiple times, she is getting the hang of it. She's using Facebook, Voice Mail, Text Messaging, Facetime, and even playing a few games. She LOVES "Words with Friends". It's a kind-of Scrabble game. She's actually getting a little obsessive with it. "We" were playing each other at midnight the other night...
So here's to learning new things. Here's to Mother's Day gifts that keep on giving. Here's to keeping up with the latest technology. Here's to my wife who never gives up. By the way, she hasn't beaten me in the Words with Friends yet... she's so obsessive!

Hey Lyla!

It won't be long now! Soon we'll meet and I'll get to see and hold you for the first time. Frankly I don't know much about you yet....other than you weigh about 7.5 pounds so far, have chubby cheeks, will have the name of Lyla Grace Windsor, and have a big sister named Savannah Hope.
But by the same token, you don't know much about me either. So let me give you some inside information. I'm really good looking, have lots or hair, abs of steel (I'll explain what abs are when you're older), find joy in interior decorating, don't watch much ESPN, and hate sweets. You'll learn more about me once you arrive and we can spend some time together. But, for now, those are the key points...
I'm looking forward to your arrival in less than two weeks. But I do have a favor to ask. I'll be out of town from May 22-24, visiting Washington DC. So if it's not asking too much, could you show your pretty face either before or after that time? Now I know your Mom wants your birthday to be ASAP, but don't let her influence you. Take your time...just not too much time. Your sister was born near Sydney, Australia. You'll be born in Huntsville, Alabama. I really appreciate you arriving a bit closer to our home. It'll be a much shorter trip to the hospital for us.
It appears that everything is ready for your grand entrance. There have been showers (you know, gifts, games, and stuff), many wardrobe purchases, lots of new diapers piling up, several doctor visits, and overnight bags packed. All we need is you!
Someday when you get to read this, I hope you'll realize how much we anticipated your arrival and how much we loved you already. So until we meet face-to-face, simply know that your Granddaddy may joke around sometimes, but not when it comes to how much he cares for and loves his grandchildren... Love you Miss Lyla... See ya soon!

Merry Christmas!

Check this out! using only iPads & iPhones... Cool!

What To Do?

What to do on a day off....? I have a vacation day today, Friday, and next Monday. Four days of prime time opportunity in North Alabama. What to do??? Frankly I enjoy just relaxing and resting. Usually I don't get to do much of that. But, on the other hand, Tami doesn't want to just sit around and do nothing. So, I should "do" something that she will enjoy but that also is "relaxing and restful".

Here are the ideas on the table:

1) Go to Stem & Stein tonight to hear a friend perform
2) Go to a high school football game
3) Take the dog with us on a hiking trail across Green Mountain
4) Go tailgating with friends at the Auburn / LSU game
5) Prepare for leading the Young Adults on Monday night by studying Luke 13
6) Visit the Nashville zoo with Savannah
7) Catch up on chores around the house that need to be completed
8) Post to my blog about things to do on my vacation days...

I suppose I will do several of the above after it's all said & done. No matter what we choose, I just hope to spend some quality time with my lovely wife and get a chance to recharge the batteries.
It's a beautiful day in North Alabama - I'm sure I will maximize the opportunities...

Using Twitter....

Hey... I'm tweeting now. Follow me @jimbolte

Thanks to you all...

This is post #100...

It's a good time for me to hang up the blog... it's been a bit over one year...

Thanks for reading and checking in.

As of today, Thinking Out Loud has had 10,073 hits.... Wow! Never thought that would ever happen.

It's been great reading some of your comments on my blog. Thank you all...

Many regards..... Jim

My Favorite Verse

My Bible...

Being a logical-thinker is a big part of my make-up. Sometimes I don't realize how much it plays into my day-to-day judgement and discernment - but it does. Tami will even tell you that, at times, I'm obnoxiously logical. Where God gave me a full measure of logic, I often come up short regarding compassion. Whereas Tami is gifted in the compassion-arena & tends to be more free-spirited and risky, I am "Mr. Conservative" for the most part. I wrote about this in August of 2009.

Here's an example.... while reading my Bible last night before going to bed, I asked myself, "What really is my favorite Bible verse?" If you look at my Bible you'll see that I have hundreds of verses underlined and starred. There are so many that are so meaningful and that have instructed and helped me for decades... But which is my favorite...?

Maybe you'll be surprised. Here it is:

John 14

25 I am telling you these things now while I am still with you. 26 But when the Father sends the Advocate as my representative—that is, the Holy Spirit—he will teach you everything and will remind you of everything I have told you.
27 "I am leaving you with a gift—peace of mind and heart. And the peace I give is a gift the world cannot give. So don't be troubled or afraid.

John 14:26 (NIV)

OK... not so inspiring, right? It's this part, though, that means so much to me:

"the Holy Spirit - he will teach you everything and remind you of everything I have told you."

Since becoming a young Christian many years ago, I had always struggled with the question of how did the writers of the Bible get the facts straight? How did they record actual quotes from everyone, including Jesus? They didn't have iPads, Post-it-Notes, Google Blogger, or smart phones to capture the actual comments or events. I've always had this very logical & practical question. (...told you I was too logical...) Then I came across this verse, John 14:26, where Jesus is speaking to his disciples - telling them that he will send the Holy Spirit, once Jesus departs, and the Holy Spirit will remind them of everything! That's it! That made logical sense to me. This one verse really tied it all together for me. Too logical, right! Anyway, it has always been a very important verse for me. The Bible, God's Word, gets it done for me. It's the best way to know and learn more about the character of God...it's the best way to know the best example to follow - Jesus. He's who I want to be more like... that's my journey in life... be more like Christ... I'm trying... be patient with me...

As I post this page to my blog, I realize it is my 99th post - in just over 1 year. I've enjoyed writing and expressing some of my thoughts as I've been "thinking out loud". I hope to print the posts in book-form and keep it for years to come. I might get a kick out of reading some of this thinking in the future. Thanks for reading...

Oil-free & Sunny...

A Self Portrait

Last weekend we spent our anniversary at Sandestin, FL. We didn't know at the time what we were heading into.... the weather forecast was 60% chance of rain everyday, and the BP oil situation was even more concerning. On top of that, the day before we left, our car had a puncture in a side wall of one of the front tires. We were waffling between driving our convertible and our Toyota Sequoia. It was the convertible that had the flat... that almost made the decision for us.... after all, we expected rain each day....

View From Our Condo

Well, the flat was fixed by 8 AM departure day, so we decided to take it - solely by faith that the weather would cooperate. Turns out that we were able to "go topless" for the duration of the trip except from Huntsville to Birmingham. I think we actually got more sun while in the car than we did at the beach.... We used a lot of sunscreen while in the front seats of our red IS 250C. It was a great trip down and back as we travelled over back roads for most of the trip.

The beach was beautiful! No sign of any oil... although everyone was talking about it and the crowds were definitely down. We didn't wait anywhere when we went out to eat. We did hear that one hour west of us, small signs of oil were showing up on the beaches. It was just a matter of time...

Oil-free & Sunny

It was a very well deserved relaxing time for both of us. We have each been busy doing a plethora of things for everyone else, so it was great to spend quality time on us. The weather cooperated grandly. Tami got burned.... she always does. And I enjoyed simply spending time with my lovely bride of 28 years. On our way back from Sandestin, Tami had to drop me off at the Birmingham airport so I could fly to CVG for meetings the following morning. I arrived at my hotel about midnight.... back to the real world....

Caitlin - A Girl with Taste...

Check out one of the most impressive web sites I've seen in a while...

You'll love reading it as much as I love tasting it!

Thanks Cait!

28 Years!

Twenty-eight years today! Tami & I have been married for 28 years! Add the five years we were together before that, and you get 33 years of pure bliss... well, almost pure bliss...

This year we decided to escape to the beach for a few days to remember and reflect and relax. We don't get much free time to do any of those very often.

We each remember different details from our past years together. As you get older, I guess that happens. Of course we remember some of the same things too, but between the two of us, we can put a pretty good picture back together. She's the one for me and always has been!

I started this blog one year ago to the day. My first post was the day after our anniversary last year. You can read it here. Tami won't get her 28 roses while we are at the beach, but they might be waiting for her when she arrives home... the tradition continues... I love you Tam.