Wonderful Weekend

So my mother came to visit this past weekend. It was a great time and very productive. She brought a whole bunch of gifts for Beckett as well as a some orphanage gifts. Very nice. One of the books she brought is A Child's Book of Art. I love it. This is the kind of children's book I can get behind.

Also, thanks to some inspiration at my soccer game (we won!), she purchased a fancy Radio Flyer Tricycle that allows parents to take control. In some circumstances it can replace a stroller...like on a walk in the park, or a trip to the Big Dam Bridge.

Beckett has clothes! We also got a whole mess of clothing from Jess' mother and my mother. Thanks!

Lastly...Beckett's room is probably 85% complete. My mother added some much needed inspiration and effort that brought the room project home. Photos of the completed room are here: http://picasaweb.google.com/JJOHNSTONMYERS/BeckettSRoom?pli=1

Terrific Weekend. I'll address the comments on the previous post tomorrow. It seems there are some things to discuss.

Soccer 2007?

Soccer season 2007 started today. We've got some new blood on the team and I think they'll bring us more victories. As luck would have it, I rolled my ankle late in the second half so I'm a bit gimpy. I don't plan to visit a doctor and hope to be well by next Sunday. I'll take it one day at a time. (Is there any other way?)

The photo with this post (me in yellow) is a fun action shot from the summer of 1984.

In other news...

Someone was questioning my use of the word "Shalom." It's a great word that means "peace" but is also used as a greeting or farewell. And...its use is not limited to practitioners of a specific religion. (Yes...Munkee Girl I know you know all this.)

As for conversion...not at this point. While I've met the rabbi and find her to be a wonderful person, if I was to pursue Judiasm, I would first talk to my Godmother.

Since I'm talking about religion, I went to church on Saturday night. It was a short, odd service that made me not want to go again. Jess was playing bells in the bell choir (and no, not the reason I don't want to go back). It was a casual, Saturday night service at a local Methodist church. Now, I was brought up within the Methodist faith (with a brief stint at a private Lutheran school). I was struck with how evangelical this pastor was. It put me off a bit. I'm not used to Methodist ministers asking for "Amens!" and "Praise the Lords!" from the congeregation (though to be fair the call and response has a rich religious tradition). I also found out that the minister is newer and actually runs the "contemporary" service so that explained a lot. No, what bothered me was the simple fact that his sermon was a sham. It was a 15-minute advertisement for some new movie called "Amazing Grace." Sure, it sounds like a fine subject for a movie (abolition of slavery in England) and there's a religious connection with the author of the song "Amazing Grace," but I don't go to church for movie reviews or commercialism. I was not pleased.

That said, I'll give their more traditional service a shot.

After the Fall

Okay...so I'm wearing a hat in this photo while in the previous one I was clearly not. The point is that I eventually got past the slide fear and learned to enjoy slides. Hell, I'm backwards in this photo.

Shalom!

So I've been scanning photos again. Back in December my mother gave me a box of photos tp go through and scan. I'll post some here and also out on my web album area.

This was taken by my Godfather, Warren Lepley ina park that not longer exists in the Plaza section of Kansas City, cicra 1980. He died a number of years ago but I'll never forget him. He had a kind of raspy voice and was, to a 5 year old, very cool. It was clear he didn't like kids too much but made every effort to be a great role model. I know that I'm a better person because of the impact he and my Godmother had on my mother and me. If I can be a parent in a manner such as his, I should be okay. The other fascinating, and very 1970s, thing about my Godparents was their super-cool giant round waterbed. To me it was a toy. I just wanted to play on it and make waves.

As you can see in the photo, I've got a little bit of terror in my eyes. See...when I was younger I was a bit impulsive. I climbed the slide thinking it would be no problem at all. Then the reality of the height caused me great concern. Warren, knowing this was a great learning opportunity, wouldn't let me climb back down. It was gravity or life atop the slide. As you can see, the platform was quite small. My solution: stretch as far as I could so that the trip down would be short. Still, even with logic on my side...what's a kid to do.

I've got a photo of the resolution that I'll post in a day or two.