no more bedhead

Our instruction to the kiddies was "No one gets up before 7:30". I considered us very lucky as I didn't hear stirrings until 7:00. Then, at 7:30 we were greeted by Reveille, as played by Beenie on his cornet!!

Well, if that didn't get us out of bed, albeit doubled over in laughter, I don't know what would. I made my way downstairs while the kids waited patiently impatiently at the top of the stairs. See, I have the most important job of the morning - making coffee. I then let the dog out, turned on the Christmas tree, and took a picture of the living room - the "before" shot.

The kids were finally let free, and it was like firing a gun at the starting line of a race! The distant sound of the elephant stampede, as four sets of feet pounded their way down the stairs. There were looks of confusion as the kids didn't see what they expected Santa to bring them, but the big, red-attired guy knew what he was doing as always.

Munchkin got her own Fisher Price dollhouse, complete with people and furniture - including Hillary Clinton on a campaign stop.

Stewie got a real drum set. Candy apple red, just like Neal Peart's! He spent the rest of the day doing his best Ginger Baker impression!


Keke got a real guitar. She strummed away to her heart's content, and started to cop the true "folk singer" attitude with her siblings. Now we need to get her the Jewel songbook!

Beenie had written a letter to Santa that he left with his stocking that had some requests for stuff. Unfortunately, as we had been watching the NORAD coverage of Santa's flight, the big guy had left the pole several hours before Beenie left the note, so instead he got a camera. I think that was okay, because he had been asking for one for about the last two years!


After "opening" our stockings, we settled in for a nice breakfast of Ellen's homemade Tea Ring!! Yum!! Of course, nothing better with that than the "good" orange juice - out of the box rather than the can (boy, do we know how to live!!!). Then it was back to the presents. We spent the rest of the morning opening gifts from the relatives and each other. It was a good time. I think each kid got stuff that they weren't expecting, as well as some things that they had asked for.

Ellen got the fifth Harry Potter movie, which Keke had been dying to give to her. (Of course she was dying to give it to her so that she could watch it, but still it's the thought...) She also got the Jim Shore angel that she had wanted for so long, and the best ever -> tickets to see Richard Thompson!!

A couple of stories go along with those. The Jim Shore angel is something that Ellen has mentioned that she wanted for quite some time. It is a very specific one, as we're not really "Jim Shore people". I had it all planned out that I was going to get it for her, and I even told my mother of my plan when we were visiting her this summer. Well, fall rolled around, and I went to order the angel, but I couldn't remember which one it was. I knew it was a "peace" angel, but it turned out that there was more than one!! Oh, no!! So for a little over a month I was in a panic, not knowing how to bring Jim Shore up in conversation without tipping my hand. Ah, but patience always prevails. We went out to a Christmas party, and after it was over, she wanted to go to the mall. Normally I would bitch and moan about that, but that night she dragged me over to the Jim Shore display and casually mentioned which one she wanted. Yay!! Next day - online - ordered.

Richard Thompson is one of Ellen's most favorite musicians. However, she has never seen him perform live. Through one twist of fate or another, it hasn't happened. One time in Washington, she was offered free tickets but couldn't go because her parents were coming into town that evening. We had tickets to see him with David Wilcox a couple of days before Beenie's due date, but he showed up two weeks early, so we didn't get to see him then either. A couple of time we found out he was playing after the show had already happened. This time, I heard that he was coming to town, and I ordered the tickets. A few days before Christmas (after I already had the tix in hand), Ellen said that tickets to the show would be a great present. Yep. I knew that. And they were. Now, just keep your fingers crossed that we'll get there.

As for my Christmas, the good news is I don't have to update my del.icio.us wishlist. I got some slippers and sleep pants and a shirt and some books. Beenie got me a great lotus seed bracelet. Keke got me a wash mitt that she thought was very silly and would make me laugh. Stewie got me a LED light keyring, that I now have attached to a jump drive.

All in all, it was a good Christmas. Until about 10:00pm. That's when Ellen and I were enjoying some alone time with a movie and a couple glasses of wine. That, too, was good until we heard Stewie calling. Ellen went up and quickly called for me. Stewie was covered head to toe in vomit, as was his bed. I was there for moral support. I don't do vomit. I'm more likely to add to than to help with. We (and by we I mean Ellen) got him cleaned up and set up on the couch, and I went up to bed. A few minutes later Keke came out of her room and downstairs complaining of not feeling well. Yep. More vomit. We got her squared away, then Beenie started. It wasn't exactly the "happy ending" to Christmas we were expecting.

We got everyone nursed back to health by the evening of the 26th, then it was my turn. I was out of commission overnight on the 26th, and into the afternoon of the 27th. I was getting ready for bed when Ellen decided that we all looked like we were having so much fun that she should get in on it, too. So she was out of commission all day yesterday. I think everyone is over it now, but it sure made for a crappy vacation week.

And that, kids, is the story of our Christmas 2007. Merry Christmas to all, and to all a good night!

Now that Bill Parcells (nickname: The Big Tuna), has been named VP of the Miami NFL team (the Dolphins), isn't there a Dolphin-Tuna joke out there somewhere? Unfortunately, it's eluding me.

Ellen and I have a number of prints on the walls in our bedroom. Tonight Stewie was in there with me and he was asking me questions about some of them. One of them is a picture of the lighthouse at Neil's Harbour, in Nova Scotia, where Ellen and I went on our honeymoon. This is the conversation that ensued:

Me: Mommy and I have been there. We visited that lighthouse.

Stewie: Were we there?

Me: No, it was right after mommy and I got married.

Stewie: But where were we?

Me: You weren't born yet.

Stewie: But where were we?

Me: Waiting to be born.

Stewie: Where is that?

Me: I don't know. The place where babies are before they are born.

Stewie: The dentist's office?

1. They don't use a litter box.


2. They leave poop bombs in the yard.


3. I'm going to have to clean up poop bombs in the yard.


4. They need room to run


5. You can't leave them for the weekend with a big pile of food and know that they'll be fine


6. I'm going to end up taking care of it.


7. We already have 4 kids, 3 cats, and 2 adults crammed into a tiny house


8. I'm going to end up taking care of it.


9. We already had to put a cat on prozac for anxiety disorders, what will this do to her?


10. I'm going to end up taking care of it, I just know it

So the deal is that the dog got dumped by the mother of one of the parents at the school. So the story goes, she took her kid and the dog out in their van, and made the kid open the door and dump the dog out. It made its way to school where it sat in Ellen's room all day. Now it's ours. I'm glad it has a good home, compared to the one it came from, but dammit, I don't want another animal to take care of.

I'm sure that in the long run everything will be fine, and he will be a nice addition to the family, and we'll get all those logistical details worked out, but I don't like change!

So, I guess the dog's okay. The kids are going nuts and everyone wants to play with him and take him out for a walk. I hope that lasts. He's a pretty good dog so far. He likes to play tug-of-war with his rope chew toy, and he is full of energy. He goes, goes, goes, then crashes and sleeps. Then the cycle repeats.


I am resigned to my fate, but I will try to make the best of it. At least he's cute. (And yes, he does open his eyes.)

web zen's list for today is photography zen

i would like to draw your attention to

postcard polaroid

flickrvision

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The best blog posting I've seen in a while (from An Entirely Other Day):

Sometimes parenthood seems like an eighteen year Kobayashi Maru.

Here's the original post.

What a weekend! Call me weird, but I look forward to Diocesan Convention each year. It's a great time to see people who I may not have seen in, well, a year. It's time to come together as a diocese and celebrate all the work that we do, and, as far as I see it, a time to see how we can better do that work together.

This was my fifth convention. I started out going by myself, then Ellen came with me, then the kids started coming, too. There is a wonderful children's program each year, and they have blast! This is my first year away from Trinity Commons. It was held at Sawmill Creek Resort, mostly as a response to the people from the western end of the diocese who complain, rightly, that driving to Cleveland can be a hassle. The downside was that is was a very expensive convention. We opted not to go to the banquet (about $200 for our family of 6), or get the continental breakfast ($66), or the boxed lunch ($62). Fortunately, Ellen and I both were volunteering so we were given boxed lunches, and we brought sandwiches for the kids. And, as a "staff" person, I was given a room, where Beenie and I stayed Friday night, while Ellen and the other kids went back to her folks house (about 45 minutes away).

Complaining aside, it was still a great weekend. I had to be there on Thursday as we needed to rehearse the "show" after the a/v company got everything set up. It was fun watching them work to hang the lights and get the screens and mics set up. I used to do that in college and after, and it was like old times. Once Martha got there and we got everything squared away it was 10:00 pm.

Friday morning I needed to be there a 8:30 and we finished up our "run-through" by lunch time. Convention started at 1:00, and (at least from my perspective) everything went great!! During the course of the two day convention, only one "weirdness" happened - when a powerpoint presentation decided to advance itself at a rate of about 3 slides per second! Fortunately we were able to stop it and reset it before the speaker said "As you'll see on the slide...". Phew!

The Convention Eucharist was Saturday morning and Beenie had been asked to read the Old Testament Lesson. Since he and I were the only ones from the family there, and I had work to do to get ready for day two, he was pretty much on his own. I saw him talking to staff members, and getting his assigned seat, and hooking up with some of our friends from another parish, who agreed to keep an eye on him. However, no fear, he did an awesome job!!!

The other highlight of the weekend was the election for General Convention Deputy. The General Convention is a meeting of representatives from all the dioceses that make up the Episcopal Church. They meet once every three years. The last one was in Columbus. The next one, in 2009, is in Anaheim, California. Each diocese, in addition to its bishops, is allowed 4 clergy deputies, and 4 lay deputies. We elected ours this weekend. We had 10 lay people running for the 4 positions!

The exciting news is that I was elected to be one of those deputies!!! It took three ballots (two ballots to elect the other 3), but I'm in. I'll be serving with Sam, Sue, and Stephen. Although my name doesn't begin with S, I think it will be okay. Actually, us, combined with Alan, Brian, Gay, and Conrad (our clergy deputies) are a really good deputation. I expect to learn a lot, and to have a great time doing it!!

So, our rallying cry for the rest of the weekend has been "We're going to Anaheim!!!" While the diocese will be paying my way out there, we plan to take the kids (another awesome kids program) and stay a few extra days to do Disneyland, and other SoCal attractions. I think we will all have an amazing time! And Ellen is going to volunteer to help with the kids program, so maybe she'll have her way paid, too!

I know I've used a lot of exclamation points in this post. I am very excited, but I do recognize the responsibility that I just signed up for/had thrust upon me. I've heard that two dioceses have already submitted legislation to repeal B033, and by the time that the convention convenes, the 2008 Lambeth Meeting will have happened. It should be an interesting convention, and I am looking forward to jumping into church politics with both feet.

In other news from the weekend, Tracey was not elected Bishop of Chicago. I'm sad, for both her and the church, but as I've said before, she will be a great bishop, and she will find that perfect fit eventually.

Here's the answer from Tracey Lind, given during a "walkabout" in the Diocese of Chicago:

"In light of recent events some of you may be wondering why I am still standing for election. I trusted the spirit of this discernment process and I pray that you will do the same and that together all of us will see where the heart of God leads us."

For those of you who were wondering about the fallout I mentioned in this post.

The news article reporting on the walkabout is here.

I've only seen her once since the HOB meeting. I told her that I would keep her in my prayers. Her response: "Please."

The Boston Red Sox are World Series Champs!!!!!

It was a great series. They defeated the Colorado Rockies four games to none to win their second World Series in 4 years. Growing up, I never thought I'd see them win one, and now they've won two. In 2004 I was convinced right up to the last out that they were going to blow it. This year I was a little more sure of the team.

They played the Cleveland Indians in the League Championship Series, and were down 3 games to 1. They came back and won 3 in a row to move on,and looked good doing it. Then they won four from Colorado. (In 2004 they were down 3-0 to the Yankees, and came back to win 4 in a row, then 4 in a row over St. Louis. But they had a history of blowing it at the last minute, and in the most agonizing fashion.) Which team is better? I don't know. I don't care. The Sawx win again!!!!

I grew up in New England as a Sox fan. I spent many an afternoon (and a good number of evenings) at Fenway Park. I will always thank my aunt and grandfather for that. One of my best memories of my childhood is being up at my grandparent's house while Grandpa Ford watched the ballgame. He would sit in his 'La-Z-Boy' and nothing would move him until the game was over. He was 17 when the Red Sox won it in 1918. I don't know if he was a Sox fan then, and I wish that they had been able to win it again before he died.

You can talk about the difference in the team over the years, and how money is now buying World Series Championships - the "Yankee-fication" of the Red Sox - and I may at some point. I may reminisce about meeting the players, going to Fenway, etc. But right now I'm going to enjoy the moment.

And wear my uniform shirt proudly tomorrow.

Ladies and Gentlemen, for your listening pleasure, Bono on voice and Edge on banjo! May we present - Vertigo!

Beenie drew this the other day. He explains it as "the guy thinks he's going to get married, and the girl is thinking she is not (oh, heck)".

Was watching CSI tonight and was intrigued by the song at the close. I love Kate Bush, and I thought this version of Running Up That Hill was great. And very dark. Even better.



The group is Placebo. I know absolutely nothing about them, but I think I need to hear some more. Is it just me, or do they remind you of the group from the 80's, The Bolshoi? Darker, but similar. Hmmm....

So, I'm talking with a couple of people one night about a week ago, and I'm telling them about our crazy cat. The cat who likes to pee on the furniture. Yeah. I tell them that I'm at about my wits end, and that Ellen is taking her to the vet the next day. I joke that I'm willing to try anything, but I draw the line at the kitty therapist.

Note to self - be careful what you wish for.

The cat comes home from the vet with a diagnosis of Generalized Anxiety Disorder. The (possible) solution - kitty prozac. Great. In thinking about all we're going to have to do to give the cat her drugs we entertain the possiblity that it would be easier for us to take the Prozac, then we won't care where she pees.

So the prozac (or whatever its name really is) arrived today. Turns out it's a liquid. Even better [can you hear the sarcasm dripping here]. Now we have to hold the cat down and squirt liquid into its mouth. All the while it's scratching and clawing to get away.

How is that for ironic? Giving the cat the medicine for GAD might actually be making the GAD worse. Or maybe it just is making it worse for me.

[Edit: 10/8 - Here's a picture of the cat in question. Pre-prozac (and pre-peeing) ]

Last night, Keke lost another tooth. She put it under her pillow, and the tooth fairy brought her fifty cents. Unbeknownst to me, she brought that money to school and made a purchase. What did she buy?

Candy.

It's been a strange week. The Episcopal House of Bishops met this week in New Orleans to "craft a response" to the demands of the Primates of the Anglican Communion who met in Dar es Salaam in March. Basically the primates said, "Say you won't have any more gay bishops, or we'll kick you out of our club. Oh, and while we're at it, we want to have the final word over what you do." Fortunately to the latter request, the executive council of the Episcopal Church said at their meeting in June, "Uh...no. We will not have a group of primates peeking over Katherine's shoulder at every turn."

Some background: At General Convention in 2006, on the last day, in an attempt to make some sort of response as requested by the Windsor Report, the Presiding Bishop and the PB-elect went before the deputies and asked for their support on resolution B033. B033 says :

"...this Convention therefore call upon Standing Committees and bishops with jurisdiction to exercise restraint by not consenting to the consecration of any candidate to the episcopate whose manner of life presents a challenge to the wider church and will lead to further strains on communion."

There was some fierce debate, but also a sense of urgency to make some sort of statement before the close of convention. Ultimately, the resolution was approved (Lay: 72 yes, 21 no, 7 divided; Clerical: 75 yes, 24 no, 4 divided). Since then there has been some debate about what B033 actually says.

On one hand, some say that it means that standing committees and bishops will not consent to the election of a gay or lesbian person as bishop.

On the other hand, some say that it is up to the standing committees and bishops to discern for themselves, mentioning the "exercise restraint" wording as being flexible.

On the third hand, some question what exactly is meant by "manner of life presents a challenge".

So, at the Primate's meeting in Dar es Salaam they decided to ask the bishops for clarification. Then there was the implied threat. I guess it wasn't so implied. Here's what was asked for(read the whole document here):

In particular, the Primates request, through the Presiding Bishop, that the House of Bishops of The Episcopal Church
1. make an unequivocal common covenant that the bishops will not authorise any Rite of Blessing for same-sex unions in their dioceses or through General Convention (cf TWR, §143, 144); and
2. confirm that the passing of Resolution B033 of the 75th General Convention means that a candidate for episcopal orders living in a same-sex union shall not receive the necessary consent (cf TWR, §134);
unless some new consensus on these matters emerges across the Communion (cf TWR, §134).

The Primates request that the answer of the House of Bishops is conveyed to the Primates by the Presiding Bishop by 30th September 2007.
If the reassurances requested of the House of Bishops cannot in good conscience be given, the relationship between The Episcopal Church and the Anglican Communion as a whole remains damaged at best, and this has consequences for the full participation of the Church in the life of the Communion.

So, that's where we stood going into this week.

And, here's what came out of this week (full text here):

We reconfirm that resolution B033 of General Convention 2006 (The Election Of Bishops) calls upon bishops with jurisdiction and Standing Committees "to exercise restraint by not consenting to the consecration of any candidate to the episcopate whose manner of life presents a challenge to the wider church and will lead to further strains on communion." (...The House acknowledges that non-celibate gay and lesbian persons are included among those to whom B033 pertains.)

We pledge as a body not to authorize public rites for the blessing of same-sex unions.

and then, a couple of paragraphs later:

We proclaim the Gospel that in Christ all God's children, including gay and lesbian persons, are full and equal participants in the life of Christ's Church.

So, which is it? Full and equal, or not?

I'm not really sure where that leaves us. I guess Susan Russell said it best:

...while they[the bishops] "stood firm" against turning the clock back they utterly failed to move the church forward.

But, then (and in keeping with the Susan Russell references), I cried to read these comments.

I guess I was hoping for a strong statement, and I didn't get it. This is causing a sense of turmoil inside me. Saturday Mark will be at our Mission Summit, and hopefully he will have a chance to address some of these issues. He will also be doing an episcopal visit at our parish on Sunday, so again there's the chance to hear what he has to say.

After B033 passed, I felt the same way I do now, perhaps not as strongly. Mark was able to address the issues around its passage and I was able to trust in the process again. I hope that he can do the same this time, although I'm beginning to believe that General Convention may have to step in and take the bold move on these issues. We'll see.

Why am I so worked up about this? My friend Tracey is one of the candidates to be the next Bishop of Chicago. She is actively gay and partnered and very open about her sexuality. She is also a tremendous leader. The church will be worse off if she is not elected bishop (whether or not Chicago is the best fit, I don't know, but she should be a bishop somewhere).

Now Tracey is faced with a dilemma. The bishops have all but stated outright that if you are gay or lesbian, and you are elected bishop, we will not consent to your election. Assuming that Chicago elects Tracey, it would appear that she wouldn't receive consent, thus making her a scapegoat to the demands of the overseas bishops. If she withdraws her name, she capitulates voluntarily to those demands, and admits defeat. If she remains in the process, she risks accusations of "shoving it in the face" of the House of Bishops. And her election is too far away from GC2009 to have the convention consent. It seems like a no win situation.

But, if it's a no-win situation for Tracey, it's even more of a no-win for the Church. And I think that is what has me more upset than anything.

Ahoy, me scurvy dogs! Here be more treasure pilfered from the good ship Internet.

Pirate Joke:

A pirate walks into a bar wearing a paper towel on his head. He sits down at the bar and orders some dirty rum.

The bartender asks, "Why are you wearing a paper towel?"

"Arrr..." says the pirate. "I've got a bounty on me head!"

Wil Wheaton be in the piratin' spirit here.

When ye be havin' 'nuff o'the seas, an' be lookin' for a way to be refreshed (arr... not like that...of the spirit'l type) get yer mates together and cel'brate wi' th' Pirate Eucharist.

All ye scurvy dogs be known that Scowlin' Seamus Jones be me new pirate name. You be findin' your'n here.

Until the next time we be seein' ye on the high seas, be keepin' yer hat on, yer hook sharrrp, and yer leg free o' the termites.

Scowlin' Seamus Jones

Avast, today be International Talk Like a Pirate Day. We be celebratin' every September 19th. So, grab your grog an' your favorite wench, an' party wi' all the lubbers that be in your sights.

That be an order, from Cap'n Bill.

Our local Giant Eagle is now carrying Dunkin' Donuts coffee!!! There is no better coffee, and we look forward to our trip east each year if for no other reason than Dunkin' Donuts coffee.

Thank you Giant Eagle, thank you!!!!

It's the first day of school. Beenie and Keke are at school. Munchkin is napping. Stewie wants me to play house.

My first assignment - pretend clean.

Great. Like I don't have to do that in real life.

We went to the mall today. So, I present, for your viewing enjoyment, Robin Sparkles!!!

We (Ellen, Bubba, the kids, and me) went to the Main Street Creamery tonight after dinner. Everyone got a cone of their favorite flavor (or at least their favorite today). Keke’s raspberry sherbet fell off of her cone right after she got outside to sit down. She got a replacement, but the original was still sitting on the bricks by the leg of the table, melting. She decided that it looked like a little brain that was lying on the ground with blood dripping off of it. Nice.

While we were sitting there, a fire truck went by and stopped in front of the seed company. It didn’t have its lights and sirens on, didn’t seem to be in much of a hurry, and after a while it rumbled on down the street. We didn’t think much of it, finished our ice creams and started to make our way back to Granny’s house.

As we approached her house, we could see the fire truck down at the end of the street. At first it seemed like nothing, but then we noticed a cadre of firefighters, in gear, walking around the truck as it was slowly backing up the street. As one of them passed by he told us that they were checking the pressure on the hydrants. There is a hydrant in the yard next to Granny’s house, so we stopped to watch them work. I had my camera with me, so I started taking pictures. As I was shooting, one of the firefighters came over and told me that in addition to checking pressures, they also had to check volumes.

The firefighters hooked a hose up from the hydrant to the truck, and then another from the truck that just pointed down the street. They attached a nozzle to the end of that one. When they were ready they turned on the hydrant and the first hose sprang to life. Then they allowed the water to continue on into the second hose. There were two firefighters holding the end with the nozzle and what amazed me was how fast the water filled the hose (instantaneously, it seemed), and how much pressure there must have been. The rapidly filling hose knocked both firefighters forward half a step. One of the other firefighters told me that the pressure in the hydrant was 125psi.

The nozzle was opened and water sprayed down the street in front of Granny’s house. The three older kids ran down to a tree right where the water was being sprayed so they could see better. One firefighter asked me if they should try to spray them, and I said to go for it. Unfortunately, the kids came back just at that point. So, instead, the firefighter asked me if I wanted to take a picture of the kids on the hose line!

Beenie went first and was absolutely thrilled with getting to hold the hose while it was turned on. He commented that he didn’t realize how heavy the hose actually is. Keke and Stewie didn’t want to get in there, but we finally coaxed them into at least having their pictures taken with the firefighters. When we were done, Beenie asked if they would show him how to turn the hose on. He jumped back in and the Lieutenant guided him as Beenie turned the firehose on and then off!


Beenie announced that he now wants to be a firefighter in addition to all the other things he wants to be when he grows up. Great-grandma will be happy to hear that. As the firefighters were packing up the truck, the Lieutenant brought over beenie babies for each of the kids (including Munchkin), so they all have a souvenir to go along with an amazing memory.

It was hard shopping in all the cool clothing and gift stores with all four kids along for the ride, so last night after dinner Ellen and I went back to Hyannis. It was a lot more crowded on the streets than I was expecting, and there were way more families with kids in strollers than I thought there would be. It did, however, remind me of being back in the city and that was nice. I miss the city.

Anyway, we ended up at Seventh Heaven where Ellen bought a really cool skirt. It wraps, sari-style, and kind of shimmers back and forth between red and green. It was really difficult to find a top to go with it, due to that color shift, but she did. We also went to Tibetan Mandala where I bought another shirt to go with the ones I bought last year. And I bought another set of prayer beads - rudrashka beads.

We also had to go to the joke shop. Beenie bought a joy buzzer at another store, but it was a cheap plastic one that broke before we got home. We decided to replace it for him. We found a nice metal one that should last a little longer. Keke also wanted to buy some plastic dog poop, but when we were looking for it earlier in the day she couldn't find just what she was looking for. We found her a nice looking one (is that the right way to describe it?), and picked that up for her. Stewie was having a great time looking around, and couldn't settle on anything he wanted, so we got him a couple of little plastic rats that he had been showing me earlier in the day.

The kids aren't up yet, but I hope they will enjoy them. And Ellen and I had a nice time wandering around the street of Hyannis, just the two of us.

Another good day of fun yesterday. Granny took all of us on a Duckmobile ride in Hyannis. The premise is simple:

• climb aboard a Vietnam-era amphibious vehicle (painted blue and yellow)
• ride around the streets of Hyannis quacking at people (let's practice - "QUACK. QUACK. QUACK." Very good.)
• drive into Hyannis Harbor and motor around looking at the ginormous boats, and houses that back up on the water (I'm soooo jealous.)
• listen to the tour guide point out (a few) interesting places and facts, but mostly just go through her goofy patter.

It was a great time! My favorite story was when we passed St. Francis Xavier Church - "the Kennedy Family Church" - we were told it was a "no quack" zone. Apparently, they were going by one day and decided to quack at what they thought was a wedding. Turned out to be a funeral. Whoops. The church asked them to refrain from quacking in the future. I don't know if the story is true or not, but it sounds plausible, and it one of those stories that I want to be true.


At the end of the ride, Auntie Marilyn bought all the kids "duck whistles". When you blow on them they make a quacking noise. For the rest of the day, that's all you could hear from the kids. We did have to set two rules:

1. No quacking in stores (except maybe the joke shop)
2. No quacking if the car is moving.

After the Duckmobile trip, we wandered around Main Street for a while. Stopped at McGee's for ice cream. (If you're ever in Hyannis they have great ice cream, portions, and cost. Check them out.) We went to Tibetan Mandala, Seventh Heaven, and Sun Celeste, but the highlight (?) was taking the kids to the joke shop. (I believe it is actually The Joke Shoppe.) Beenie bought the whoopie cushion that he has had his heart set on for quite a while.

Beenie is becoming quite the prankster. He used invisible tape to tape open the sprayer attached to the sink, so when you turned the water on you got sprayed. Caught Auntie Marilyn. Great fun was had by all!

I know I haven't been blogging since we got here. I frankly haven't had the time. But last night we did something really fun and exciting that we had never done before. We went crabbing.

My dad's cousin Betty has been taking her grandkids crabbing for the last ten years or so. Since our kids are of an age where they would enjoy doing this, Betty volunteered to show us what to do. We went to Grey's Beach on the north shore of Yarmouth. Mom brought raw chicken legs, Betty brought twine, and we brought a bucket. After tying the chicken on a long piece of string, the kids would drop it off the boardwalk into the water and wait.

After a not-so-long wait, the crabs would attempt to eat the chicken, and the kids could just lift the chicken out of the water with the crabs attached. Sometimes the crabs were smart enough to let go as they were lifted up, but some were dumb enough to hang on for the whole ride. Those ended up in the bucket.



Beenie and Keke seemed to enjoy it the most. Keke found a great place and had tons of crabs on her chicken, although a lot of them she released before they got to the bucket. Stewie was intrigued, but lost interest quickly and wandered off down the boardwalk. Munchkin freaked out with the crabs so close, but she did regain her composure and enjoyed our time there.



As people passed by, many of them stopped to see what we were doing. The little kids were fascinated by the crabs in the bucket, the parents were interested in showing the kids the crabs, and the grandparents all wanted to know how we were doing it so they could take their grandkids. Beenie proved to be the perfect "tour guide", as he would explain everything to everybody. He would also pick the crabs up to show the little kids. It was like he had been doing it for years.

The kids ended up catching 42 crabs which were a tasty treat released back into the marsh when we left.

As a bonus, we were there for sunset. There weren't too many low level clouds that would have made it spectacular, but it was very nice nonetheless.

If you are ever on Cape Cod and need your Volkswagen serviced, run, don’t walk, to Tracy Volkswagen in Hyannis. This is the best service department of any VW dealer I’ve been to. Granted, this is only the fourth (fifth if you count the one in Connecticut who couldn’t get me in while I was on vacation a couple of years ago). But still, how many dealers do you usually end up dealing with?


We have been having a problem in our van. There has been a hissing noise coming from under the steering column, that stops when you step on the brakes. We decided that we better have that checked before we started driving all over New England this summer. I called to try to get an appointment with our nearby dealer and the only time they could get it in was when Ellen would already be in Vermont with the car. Since I didn’t know for sure when she was coming home, or what our schedule looked like, I decided to call again after she returned.

While in Vermont, the “check brakes” light came on. A year ago, Kevin, at Midas, said to expect it pretty soon, so I guess we were lucky it lasted so long. I called to make an appointment and was told I had to speak to one person in particular, but after two calls where he was unavailable to take my call, I left a message for him to call me. Still waiting.

I called Grammy & Grampy’s VW dealer, even though they are 40 minutes away. I was able to get the car in the day before we were to leave for vacation. They told me that I needed new front brake pads and rotors, rear brake pads and rotors, and a new brake booster (a broken vacuum hose was causing the hissing noise). Unfortunately, he said, they didn’t have any of the parts, and they were nowhere in the state of Ohio. Mmmkay. So, after $76 to not fix the car, I went home weighing my options.

I decided to call Tracy Volkswagen. I explained that I was in Ohio, but that the next day I would be in Cape Cod, and could they do the repairs that my local garage had told me needed to be done. The service tech was very nice, telling me that they could easily get me in the following week, but she would have me talk to the parts department to make sure they could get the parts I needed. Parts said that they had all the brake components in stock, but they would have to order the brake booster and it would be in in two days.

After ordering all the necessary parts, I got transferred back to service where I got voice mail. I left a message saying that I needed to schedule the service, then I pounded back out of the voice mail and ended up talking with another service person, who cheerfully scheduled a time for Tuesday morning.

Less than half an hour later, I got a call from the original service person in response to my voice mail message!

When I brought the car in this morning, the service person asked me if I needed a ride anywhere! I was absolutely floored because the garage where we bought the car (cough...Dave Walter VW...cough...in Akron...cough) insists that I drop the car off for service (so I don’t rush her technicians by sitting in the lobby reading a book) and if I need to get anywhere I can rent a car from them. Just to be sure I didn’t have excessive ear wax, I double checked, and yes, I could get a ride wherever I needed to go (within reason).

While we were at the cottage I checked the messages on our answering machine at home. There was a message from Tracy VW reminding me that I had a service appointment this morning. When the car was ready they called the cottage and left a message with Mom. Then they called our cell phone to tell us that they had called the cottage and left a message with mom.

When we picked the car up it had been washed, including all the brake dust on the wheels.

All of this may be “standard service”, and may be what is supposed to happen at all VW garages, but I can tell you from experience that it doesn’t. And if I know I have a significant repair that can wait until I get to Hyannis, Tracy Volkswagen has my business.

Well, we made it. And my sanity is still somewhat intact. We piled the kids in the car at 6:45 this morning and hit the road for Cape Cod. Fifteen hours later we arrived.

The trip usually takes 13 hours, if you drive by yourself. Add the kids (and many more potty stops) and it goes up to 14 hours. Today we hit unexpected traffic in Connecticut that added another hour. The traffic backup wouldn't have been so bad if it had come early in the trip, but at the back end when nerves are starting to get frayed it really stunk. Of course the problem really was the rain. It rained or was overcast for the entire trip (except for two minutes of sun in Massachusetts) so the kids couldn't get out of the car and run around at rest stops. Everyone was a little squirrelly by the time we arrived.

But...we made it. A week+ of fun in the sun (I hope), followed by a week in CT, then "back to the grind".

"Doctor, I've got a steering wheel in my pants, and it's driving me nuts!"

Thank you. Drive safely. Don't forget to tip your waitress.

About 50 minutes into my drive home from work, I am greeted by a billboard, half of which is a picture of His Holiness the Dalai Lama.

No matter what kind of day I've had, or how tired I am (especially during that drive), I look up at that picture and am filled with a sense of peace. A smile breaks out involuntarily, and I can feel my body relax. I've taken to slowing down and craning my neck around to see it in the morning, too.

Appropriately, I know that someday it will be gone. In the meantime, I look forward to being greeted by HH the Dalai Lama each day.

Since I missed their performance - here is Spinal Tap performing "Big Bottom" at LiveEarth. The first 1:40 is spent introducing the plethora of bass players joining them!



And here is Madonna's performance of "Hey You". Watch it before MSN pulls it off YouTube!



And just in case, here's a link to the video for the song (what is being projected in the background.)

I was getting stuff ready to take Beenie to camp this morning and I was listening to Weekend Edition Sunday. They were doing a piece on an artist named Mocean Worker. The music was great, yet vaguely familiar. Turns out he's the guy who did the song "Chicka Boom Boom Boom" a couple years back. (What's that called when a bunch of disparate things all come together and gel in your psyche? Synchronicity? Serendipity? Help me out!) And how cool is this - he skipped his senior prom to hang out in the studio with Miles Davis!!

His new song is "Shake Ya Boogie". Watch it. It's fantastic!!



Now check out these sites:
(if you hold ctrl when you click, you can open a new window, and still enjoy the music!)
NPR's Story about MoWo
MoWo's website
MoWo's MySpace page

Confidential to my lovely wife:

This is our first time apart on our anniversary, and even though I'm not big on celebrating holidays, birthdays, etc., I do wish we could spend it together. The day is less than an hour old, yet I miss you bunches.

I love you.

(Now quit the screwed up face look, and just enjoy the sentiment! Sheesh!)

It's 7/7/7, and there is a big concert series going on today. It's called Live Earth, and it consists of concerts in nine cities on seven continents. The idea is to raise awareness about global warming. I think it is a great thing to do, even if the tv coverage is crap. There has been no major network coverage until tonight, and the "hosts" on Bravo are a couple of freakin' idiots!! The stuff they're showing is just okay. You see a song or two, then the idiots come back on and blabber about stuff. Then the cycle repeats.

Now, before you get all over me, yes, I know it's all available on the intertubes, and presumably better. But, and Ellen may find this hard to believe, I don't have the time today to just sit around in front of the computer. So there. And speaking of freakin' idiots, I don't want to keep sitting here listening to Cameron Diaz lecture me on how she is so "eco-friendly" because she drives a hybrid car and turns the water off when she shaves her legs. Give me a break. Get Darryl Hannah back out here and we can listen to someone who is really making a difference! (She has lived off the power grid for 15 years, and drives a car powered by used french fry oil.)

A couple of things that I should point out, though. LiveEarth.org is the website for the event, and there is a lot of good information there. The one thing I missed that I would have liked to see was the performance from Antarctica. A group of scientists have a "garage band" called Nunatak, and they performed via satellite at Wembley Stadium in London to represent the seventh continent. Hopefully they'll post a video of their performance on their website.

I'm also sick of seeing the same performers and songs over and over again. If I have to watch Keith Urban or Garth Brooks and Trisha Yearwood one more time I'm going to scream!!

And I never saw Spinal Tap.

OTOH, they can keep playing Madonna performing her new song, "Hey You", which she wrote for this event, over and over again. I think it's a good song, and it shows some initiative on the part of the performer.

This was supposed to be a post talking about how we are all supposed to pull together to stop global warming before it's too late, and what a wonderful idea that President Al Gore had to bring people together (rather than drive them apart as Shrub does). It ended up being another rant. Sorry.

Go make a difference. Do what you can. Every little bit helps.

And remember today is the halfway point for the Millennium Development Goals (links here, here, and here). Goal #7 is Ensure Environmental Sustainability, so LiveEarth dovetails nicely with that. Be Green. It's good for all of us.

(7/8/07 - I found a list on the LiveEarth website of good suggestions of how to make a difference, so I'm passing it along here.)

Today Ellen took Keke, Stewie, and Munchkin to Vermont for a week. They left this morning. Early. They are going up for a memorial service for Ellen's aunt and uncle who passed away over the winter. It's going to be a big party at Gram's old house where all the cousins are getting together. It's great when everyone is gathered and I am sorry that I will not be able to be there. Not to mention that I have to miss a trip to Vermont (I heart Vermont).

I am not going because Beenie has to to go to scout camp next week. So I am driving him there and picking him up before Ellen and the other kids even get home. This has its advantages for me, as I get to go in to work and work at home without being bothered. I also get to hang out by myself for a few days. I love my family very much, but I have this real need to be alone every once in a while. Hopefully this will get that out of my system for a while!

Another cool thing is that overlap time between when Ellen left, and I have to take Beenie to camp. We get to hang out, just the two of us, for a couple of days. That's pretty great, as Beenie is getting older, and is fun to just hang with. As a matter of fact, tonight we got to sit around and watch the season premiere of Doctor Who on the SciFi channel. They ran the first two episodes of season 3 back to back. It was great!!! I think David Tennant is a better Doctor than Christoper Eccleston was, and I thought he was fantastic! Can't wait 'til next Friday!

I met with Laurie, from the Diocese of Western New York today. To simplify things, I drove to Erie, PA, and she met me there (from Buffalo). Mary, at the Diocese of Northwestern Pennsylvania was kind enough to allow us to use their offices (and their wireless network) so that we could discuss the scope of the project.

As you may remember, I am designing a new website for DioWNY. Laurie and I met to discuss what she is looking for, what I can do, and how we can make it all happen. It is going to be a challenging project. Laurie is asking me to do things in Joomla that I haven't done before. This is good, because it will stretch me and refine my skills. I'm looking forward to it and terrified by it at the same time.

Also, we decided that we will probably go with a hosting company that will give us a portion of a server and an operating system, and we will have to load whatever programs and applications we want to use. What that means for me is (probably) that I will have to load Apache, MySQL, and php, in addition to a webmail application, a mailing list application, and a control panel. I am very excited to do this, although it means a lot more work on my part to get going, and a commitment after we're done, to maintain the system. I am willing to give it a shot, if Laurie is willing to give me a try. She actually knows a priest who hosts with this company, so she is going to hook us up so I can ask some questions.

While we were at the Diocese of NWPA, we met their bishop-elect. His name is Sean Rowe, and he's 33 years old. He seems pretty cool. Of course, when I was 33 I had no idea what I wanted to do with my life. (One could argue that I still have no idea!)

Anyway, it was a good day, but long.

What a great day!

Beenie had baseball practice tonight, and while we were there a hot air balloon truck came out onto the outfield and started unloading their basket and folded up balloon. By the time practice was over, they had it all stretched out and were starting to fill it with air. We went over to watch and I saw a guy holding a rope that was attached to the top of the balloon. Intrigued, I went to ask him what he was doing. He said that there is a "valve" in the top of the balloon (although valve may be an understatement - it looked like someone sliced off the very top of the balloon). His job is to pull on the rope to hold the fabric "plug" in place while it is inflated. When it is full, he ties the end of the rope to the basket, then when the pilot wants to land he "pulls the plug" and the balloon comes down.

An interesting thing he told me that I didn't know was that they first fill the balloon with cold air, using a fan, and then when it is mostly inflated they turn on the burners to heat the air. I always assumed that it was hot air from the get-go. Learn somethin' new every day!

The other thing that was really cool is that Beenie, Keke, and I went out back tonight to watch the International Space Station and the Space Shuttle Atlantis pass overhead. They had been docked, then undocked Tuesday (I think), and we had a chance to see them pass by really close together last night. Unfortunately it was too cloudy. Fortunately for us, the shuttle didn't land today as planned, so we got to see them go by tonight. They each took about 3 minutes to cross the sky, the ISS first, followed about a minute later by the shuttle. It was cool because they were both going across the sky at the same time.

Of course, since today is the longest day of the year, we were cutting it close as to whether it would be dark enough to see them, but it just was. Suddenly, a spot of light appeared out of an indigo sky, and crossed from the NW to the ESE. The ISS was pretty bright, with the shuttle a little dimmer. It was neat!!

Edit (11:19pm): The weatherman on the news just said that the ISS and Atlantis were travelling at 17,500 mph!!

So I'm having this problem. I'm trying to find solutions for incorporating a mailing list into a website. I'm looking at ones that allow mail to be "pushed" out to a subscription list, and also at ones that allow recipients to view the archives and/or respond to the email and have it sent to the whole list. Most people refer to this as a "listserv" (although "listserv" is actually a copyrighted brand name, like Band-Aid for adhesive bandages). I'm looking at three different websites where I can apply this technology.

One is my parish's website, where we want to use it to send our newsletter, and have an archive of past issues. Being able to password protect the archives would be helpful.

Another is our diocesan site where I have been asked to set up a "listserv" for clergy, but don't have more specifics than that. I think it would be helpful if we could have archives, and the ability to set up more, different lists as we identified the need.

The third is the other diocesan website that I'm working on. They currently have a series of "listservs" in their site, but we are going to be rewriting the entire site, and switching hosts. I will admit that I don't yet know if this is a key issue that we need to deal with or not, but I want to be prepared with some possible solutions when that discussion happens.

The problem I'm having is with the hosting companies. Our parish is on a shared host and the TOS states a limit of 400 emails/hour. That should be plenty for the parish's needs, but I can't find any information about whether we are allowed to use those programs. I guess (and I probably will) just install one and see what happens.

The diocesan site is self-hosted so my options are theoretically unlimited, except that the way the servers are configured is a little weird. My first thought for the diocese was Mailman, but it uses Python and the webserver doesn't have python installed. We haven't checked the mail server yet, but it seems like many things are just cobbled together, so I'm not holding my breath.

The other diocese is looking for a host, so I'm trying to determine which company will allow us to do what we want. The question is - do they want a shared hosting environment, or are they willing to pony up for a dedicated server (or at least a virtual private server)?

So that's where I am, sitting here knocking my head on the desk while gigabytes, terrabytes, phps, mailer-daemons, cgi-bins, terms of service, underselling, crontabs, and streaming audio swirl around looking for a place to land.

If you have any thoughts on: Dreamhost, SiteGround, Rochen, Slicehost, or even something different, please let me know. Please. (Or your experiences with Dada, phpList, or Mailman.)

Ellen has a fantastic opportunity this week. She has been asked to help with Peer Ministry Training in our diocese. Peer ministers are high-school aged kids who feel called to help their friends in all manner of spiritual counseling. (Sometimes it's easier to talk with someone your own age.) You have to apply to the program, and the costs are pretty steep. But, you spend a week at our Camp & Conference Center where you are given the tools to do this job effectively. Ellen is one of those trainers this week.

What that means on the home front is that I am home alone for a week. Well, not exactly alone. Ellen took Stewie and Munchkin, and I have Beenie and Keke with me. The only concern we had was that this is the second week of my "real job". Fortunately, Martha said I could bring the kids with me. We did that on Monday.

I was frankly afraid that the kids were going to be bored out of their skulls just sitting around the office all day, but we went in to work on Monday and it proved not to be the case. One of the big bribes, though, was "If you're good, we'll have lunch at the Cafe". Needless to say, lunch was good!

I had meetings for a good chunk of the day. The first was about an hour, in my office, so we had to find a place where the kids could play and not be too disturbing. The second was a meeting of the Episcopal Community Services Development Council. This one was in a conference room, lasted about two hours, and included a visit from the bishop. Except for one bathroom break, I don't think any of us even heard the kids for the entire time!

The only glitch in the whole day was that after the kids were so good at ECSF, they had to let a little of that pent-up energy out. Once we were back in the office I had to "shut them down" once, and we had one major beverage spill (an escaping energy issue). But overall they were really good the rest of the day and I actually got some work done.

The down-side to splitting up the family like this is that it really messes up people's routines. Even though everyone got up early to go in to work, the kids were up until midnight (when I went to bed). The problem is that Keke doesn't want to sleep in her room by herself, Beenie wants to sleep in his room, but will sleep on the floor in Keke's room if she sleeps on the floor too. Keke readily agrees to that, but then decides she would rather sleep in her bed. Since she is in her bed, Beenie decides that he will go back to his room. Rather than have no one in the room with her, Keke will move to Beenie's floor. After that there is no telling who will be where! Monday night Keke ended up in Beenie's bed (where she compained that he kept rolling over on her!), and last night she ended up in my bed (where she is less of a bed hog than her mother!). So, everyone's schedule is a little out of whack, but we're having a good time, surviving, and yes, I'm feeding the kids and getting the dishes done! I've not quite reverted to bachelor days.

A couple of weeks ago Beenie announced out of the blue that he wanted to play baseball. Fortunately I remembered that he had brought home a flyer a couple of weeks earlier about the YMCA's baseball program that is being held in June and July. I was particularly interested in this program because it is a non-competitive league where the coaches pitch. This is the last year Beenie can be in it because of the age limits. I figured this was the best setting for him to learn some of the skills of the game without the pressure of winning.

We got him signed up and his first practice was tonight. He did a good job. He's actually pretty decent with many of the skills, and he had a great time! Oddly, whenever we play baseball in the backyard he hits left-handed. Tonight, when they did batting practice, he stepped to the plate right-handed. He did fine, but it surprised me. I asked him about it afterward and he said "That's how I bat. I did it at the batting cages." (He went to the batting cages with his scout troop.) He did fine, but I was a little surprised.

I hope he has a good time playing!

I have a problem with my knee. Not that I just don't like it, I mean a real, physical problem.

About five years ago I went to an orthopedist to see why my knee was making a popping and clicking noise when I stood up. It didn't hurt, but I didn't think it was supposed to be making noise. He agreed. Actually, he said that it was due to a tear in my meniscus, and that it wouldn't get better, it would only get worse. His suggestion was to come back when there was pain, and he could do arthroscopic surgery to fix it.

Four years later (Spring 06) it started hurting so bad that I could hardly walk. I went back to the doctor (and naturally by the time I went back it had stopped hurting, so no matter how hard he twisted, pushed, poked, and prodded, there was no pain). He said it was up to me. I decided to have it repaired, and we got the date for surgery all set and we were ready to go. As we got closer to the date of surgery, it became apparent that there would be no one to take care of the kids, so I had to cancel the surgery.

This was okay, until now. Usually when my knee hurts I describe the pain as "like someone is taking a metal rod and trying to run it through my knee". For the last two days that description has changed. Now it is "like someone is trying to run a metal rod through my knee from the inside". Odd sensation.

Maybe I should do something about it.

I am officially employed. My title is "Technology Consultant" and I am working for the Episcopal Diocese of Ohio. My job is basically to work on the diocesan website, looking at things like layout/design, information structure, databases, etc. , but I also am doing various and sundry things that need to be done that relate to web activity.

Today is my first contract day, although Monday will really be my first day in the office. I was in for a couple of hours one other day, just to familiarize myself with my surroundings, and get a feel for what I needed to do there (as opposed to what I could do from home). I was there for a meeting yesterday and got my "key fob" so I can let myself in and out of the offices and, more importantly, the parking lot.

The best part of this job is that I can do a lot of it from home. I intend to use the summer to go in to the office a couple of days a week, as there are things I can only do there, and I'm more productive there! The position is a three month contract for up to 20 hours per week, so I will still have time to spend summer vacation with my family.

And then, when it rains, it pours. I got a call today from my new boss, Martha, who said that the Diocese of Western New York was looking at redesigning their website, and probably using the same CMS that we are using, and had some questions that she thought might be another consulting job for me. I called them, we talked for quite a while, and it looks like I have another job helping them with design and setup of their site. They are in Buffalo, so my commute will be a little longer!! Actually, I will probably have to go up there once, but the rest of the time I will be able to access what I need remotely.

Perhaps this is the start of something?

Tonight was the last week of the season. For Keke that meant one more game. For Beenie and me that meant the Tournament. If we beat the orange team, the ones who beat us 4-0 recently, we would be playing in the championship game against the grey team who we've never beaten, ever.

We came out well, and played hard and the score was tied 0-0 at the half. As usual, the second half proved to be our undoing. Twice the orange team got behind our defense and had a three-on-one with the goalie. Twice they scored. Final score 2-0.

The good news was that it was one of those games where the kids left it all on the field. They had nothing to be ashamed of - they played hard and came up with the short end of the stick. That happens.

Coach Dina and I gathered them around after the game and handed out certificates and medals that had each players name on them. They were pretty cool (Dina found them and did all the work, I just handed them out). The best part was after we let everyone go, a few of the players came up to us to thank us for coaching, and several parents told us how much they appreciated everything we had done during the season - that their kids had had a great time! That made me feel really good.

Oh, the orange team and the grey team ended the championship game in a tie. They were scoreless at the end of regulation, then went through one full round of a shootout and ended tied 1-1. The league director talked to the coaches and they agreed to leave it as a tie. Cool.

Keke's game was good. Because we lost, I got to watch more of hers than usual. She told me that she had been playing defense for a while and had taken all of the throw ins. I think she had a great time playing. At least I hope she did.

Today was Stephanie's last day (see this post), and it was a very sad day. But ironically, a day also full of joy. I saw it as the farewell to our beloved rector, leader, and friend, but also a day to begin looking to the future and the possibilities that are in store for both the church and Stephanie.

When Stephanie announced that she was leaving I was doing okay with it. Maybe I was in a state of shock/denial. I was doing fine until the next day when I was at the diocesan offices and saw Mark in the parking lot. He came over and asked me how things were going (just conversationally) and I told him "Okay. No, not really. Stephanie told us she's leaving." As I said that the tears started. Mark put his hand on my shoulder to comfort me while we talked and noted that my reaction was a great testament to Stephanie's ministry.

I was doing okay today until during her sermon she said, "My ministry here is complete." Then the tears started welling up again. And again during the peace, and again at communion. It wasn't an easy day for anyone.

Pentecost seemed to be the perfect time for this, though. The day when Jesus sent the disciples out into the world without him, knowing that they were equipped to complete their ministry. We will be moving on without our spiritual leader, equipped to complete the next phase of our ministry.

It was a really nice service. The last part of the gospel was done in a number of different languages simultaneously - including Mom using American Sign Language. All the hymns and songs were ones that had been played at Stephanie's ordination. The service concluded with the Liturgy for Ending a Pastoral Relationship. Stephanie returned the Bible, Prayer Book, and sacraments that had been given to her when she began her ministry here. After the service was over, she was presented with a number of gifts from the congregation- including chocolate and prayers! And this was all followed with a luncheon in her honor, where a DVD was playing that showed pictures from the whole time she had been at the church set to music. It was really nice.

The parish looked fabulous today with balloons everywhere, packed with people, and that real connectedness between parishioners. It was nice. I wish every day was like this (except without the rector leaving part!)

Even though I will still maintain contact with Stephanie (we were friends before she was my pastor), it will still be a challenge to finish working through some of the issues we were working on alone. I will miss being able to talk with her about anything, controversial or not, and not necessarily agreeing, but having a lively (even heated) discussion and walking out of the room not only still friends, but closer together for our differences. I will miss the genuine love she shows for all of us at the parish, for my kids, for my family. I trust we will all be just fine in the long run.

Be good, my friend.

Today was a very cool day! We went to an event called "A Day Out with Thomas", which was a train ride where the train was pulled by Thomas the Tank Engine. Additionally, there was an area where the kids could go to see and do other Thomas related things, like get Thomas tattoos, see Sir Topham Hatt, watch a magic show, run through a maze. It was pretty neat!

Stewie(4) has been excited about it since the day we told him we were going to do it. He has had a calendar by his bed and we've been crossing off days and counting down for almost a month. I thought his head was going to explode today he was so happy. Even Beenie said he didn't think he was going to have a good time, that he was too old for it, but that he really enjoyed himself.

It was nice also because my mom is here visiting, and she got to come with us and do some fun stuff with the grandkids. (I think she had a great time, too!)

I don't know whose team that was on the field tonight. It wasn't our regular team. They didn't play well at all. They didn't play like a team - there was hardly any passing, no working together, poor ball control, and a lot of standing around in la-la land. I can understand being a little rusty, but when the coaches tell you what to do to get the game going again, you should at least try to do that. It was as if someone had put up a wall between me and Dina and the players. They didn't listen to either one of us. Needless to say, we lost 4-0. It was so obvious that we weren't playing well that a parent from the other team asked me what was wrong, because we are the only team that usually beats them! Maybe it's because it's loco day?

In Keke's game, she had a blast, as always! She even almost scored a goal. Dribbled all the way up the field, and got blocked at the last minute. Aarrgh.

Today is "loco day" at school. It's a day where the kids are to wear goofy clothes, such as things that don't match, turned backwards, inside out, two different socks, etc. Keke really got into the spirith of it with plaids and stripes, two different socks, two different shoes, and general goofiness. Beenie decided to wear his shoes on the wrong feet (he wears black Crocs). He also decided not to brush his hair, so his two flyaway hairs stayed that way. His comment - "I'm pushing this to the max!"

Yep, he's a wildman.

It was our toughest game to date. The grey team has been together for several years - the players all come back to the same coach year after year. I suspect that they all go to the same church and so have grown up with each other, too. So they haven't lost a single game in probably four years. This wouldn't be so bad if they were so cocky about it. They have a history of pushing, kicking, and taunting that seems to be overlooked by the refs. Oh well, what doesn't kill you makes you stronger, right?

Our team (Beenie's team) did great. The grey team scored in the first minute, we countered at 9, and they didn't score again until near the end of the half. Final score 5-1, grey. However, I was very proud of our team. They played their hearts out. Left it all on the field, as they say. We played our best, and came up short, and that's okay.

The best part of the evening's festivities was that Keke's game was at 5:45 and Beenie's game was at 7:00. I got to watch Keke's game for more than a glance here and there. She is really good, and looks like she is having a blast, too! She is good at both offense and defense, but better at offense. She's okay in the goal, but if she were on my team I'd have her up front. And I'd tell her to be more aggressive!

I was having a problem with one of the photo-sharing services I use today. It was about lunchtime, so I figured I'd get the kids fed and I would have a couple of minutes to talk with customer service about the problem. During the course of getting the problem corrected I had to clear my cache and delete my cookies. We got the problem fixed, but the deletions affected another application, so I decided that I would fix that while I had everything up on the screen.

Since this fix didn't involve a telephone call, I thought I could make myself a sandwich and eat it while I worked on the new problem. I got out the bread and set it on the counter next to the computer. I then jumped right in to troubleshooting.

A few minutes later I was feeling a little hungry, so I picked up my sandwich and started eating it. You may have noticed in the above paragraph that I hadn't actually put anything between the pieces of bread. Oops.

The scary part of this story is not that I forgot to finish making the sandwich, but that it actually took me two bites before I realized it!

I am such a dope.

It was a long day of soccer. Beenie had a double header, and I think Keke's game went on about twice as long as it was supposed to. I didn't know if Beenie was actually going to have a game, because most of the other team (and their coaches) didn't show up until 5:45, which was the time we were supposed to start. But they made it, we gave them a couple of minutes to warm up, and then played the game.

Our team did great. The final score was 5-1, us. But the most important thing was that our guys played like a team! There were no ball hogs, there was a lot of passing, there was excellent defense...It was a great effort!! Our second game (on 10 minutes rest) was almost as good. We still played like a team, but everyone was tired. We let two goals in before we got our wind back, then we scored twice and the game ended in a 2-2 tie. I think if we had played another five minutes, we might have taken this one. That's okay. I'll take a 1-1-1 record. The most important part is that the kids are having a great time.

I didn't get to see as much of Keke's game as I wanted to. But what I saw was great! Her league is more instructional than competitive, so the coaches are on the field with the players, explaining what to do. Some parents call it "cluster ball"! Keke does a really nice job. She played some defense, and has a really strong foot. And, of course, she's having a blast.

As Beenie and I were walking off the field at the end of the day, he looked at me and said "Thanks for being a good soccer coach. And thanks for being a good dad." I guess that's why I do it. I hope I always remember that.

Ellen was away with the youth group. I was home alone with the kids. KeKe (an old 6) walks into the room and says...wait for it..."I really need a bra."

Oh Lord, not today. Not me. Not now.

Ah, but she continues..."I really need a coconut bra."

I turn around from what I'm working on to find her standing there in a crepe paper hula skirt and nothing else. Oh. Well, that's a little better. At least we don't have to go into topics that I'm woefully unprepared for. Regular bras, no. Coconut bras, I can handle.

Since I was in the middle of something I couldn't really do anything for her, and I didn't happen to have a coconut bra handy, so KeKe went off to try to remedy the situation on her own. A few minutes later, after some coloring and cutting, she returned holding a piece of paper that looked like brown eyeglasses on her chest. Happy, she went off to attempt to measure her back for the strap. She estimated 39 inches. Right.

Fast forward through more paper, crayons, tape and glue, and Keke was not happy with the result. By this time I had finished what I was doing, so we got out the scissors, string, and a piece of cardboard. I cut out two circles and added some string. I had to use a twisty tie in the front to make it easy to get on and off, and voila, Keke has her own coconut bra!


I am great or what?

How pathetic am I? I'm sitting outside on the porch with the kids, trying to get a little work done while they play, when the phone rings. I've got the portable phone with me so that's not a problem. However, it was someone from the museum who wanted to leave a message for Ellen. I took the message, but I don't have anything to write on. My solution?

I emailed her.

Instead of walking the 10 steps inside to find a piece of paper, it seemed like the easier option.

So now the question is - which makes me a bigger geek: that I emailed my wife a phone message, or that I am blogging about it?

Well, this sucks. Stephanie is leaving.

Her husband, Hugh, has been in England for work for the better part of the past year. Stephanie had to make a choice - stay at church, or go with him. They decided that she would stay at church, and Hugh's company would fly her over to see him once a month. The vestry decided that it would be a good idea to allow her to do this, rather than have her leave. It hasn't been easy for anyone, but it beat the alternative (for us, at least).

Hugh's time in England is up soon and he'll be returning to the states Stephanie announced today that he is coming home, but his company is not bringing him back to the local office. Instead they are assigning him to an office that is about 12 hours away. (She can't say where yet, until the official announcement is made.) She has decided that instead of trying to continue in a long-distance relationship, she will be leaving our church and going to be with him. Her last day will be the day of Pentecost (May 27).

Her announcement, at the end of the service, was like being punched in the gut. It took the wind out of everyone's sails, and there was a lot of crying and hugging (but nothing like it will be on the 27th). Stephanie couldn't make it through her announcement without breaking down. Everyone is very upset as she is most beloved by the congregation. But as Jerre said, "Well, we know she doesn't want to leave us."

I know we will be okay. It's just that first bit of news that catches you off guard. It's like the Kubler-Ross model of death acceptance. We're in the denial stage right now, but I'm sure we'll get to acceptance very soon. I think it will provide this church with the opportunity to really see what it is made of. It's a good bunch of people. As I said last fall, "Stephanie is the reason I started coming to this church, but she is not the reason I'm staying. It's the people."

While sad, I really am excited. For Stephanie it's the opportunity to be reunited with her husband. For the parish it's an opportunity to look toward the future. We can either meet it kicking and screaming, or with a sense of vision. I think I know which one we will choose!