no more bedhead

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?