I had every intention of sleeping in this Independence Day morning, but as I lay in bed from 6-6:30 a million last-minute tasks for the trip ran through my head. I got up. I decided to go to Wal-Mart for some new sports socks. Not surprisingly, there weren’t many people at Wal-Mart at 7:30 on a holiday morning. I did run into Nadine Hopkins, owner of our local AM radio stations — she’s already been up and working this morning.

After making my purchases, I stopped at the McDonalds inside Wal-Mart for breakfast, and managed to spill a full cup of diet Dr. Pepper all over the place. One of the crew members saw me do it, and she was so sweet and understanding about it.

On my way back home from Wal-Mart, I got a cell phone call from our team leader, Frank Schroer. Frank was on his way — you guessed it — to Wal-Mart. Of course, the Wal-Mart he frequents is right on the Interstate in Kimball, so it might be a little busier on a holiday weekend morning.

This time tomorrow, I’ll be in the air between Nashville and Houston.