Vatican II

Vatican II

This was an off week for me and due to the fact we slid chemo back one day for Halloween, my schedule was still a bit off.  My normal “feeling pretty good” weekend of was slightly lower than normal.  I managed to get through it all with a packed weekend of kids and adult fun.

Friday night we took the kids to a restaurant with a huge back area to play.  I love our neighbors and friend’s attitudes.  We try to find places where the kids can run around and chase lightning bugs, get creative, and get dirty.  It’s working.  They play well together, get super sweaty and chase bugs, etc., kind of like when we were kids.  Unplanned activity, meaning no structured play, in my opinion leads to more creativity.  The kids are forced to figure out group dynamics, get along, and come up with inclusive games.  They do and they play well together.  I’m not sure how much this is still done, but I think very important developmentally for them as well as how to find their place in the herd.

Saturday night we scheduled big adult’s night out to celebrate a handful of birthday parties.  Nita’s birthday along with three other neighbors inspired 25 of us to descend on a hip part of Austin where we had dinner and then drinks at a club afterwards.  Now in fairness, I don’t remember the last time I went clubbing.  When we got there, I looked around and things certainly have changed.  Apparently renting a hookah is a thing at bars now (if you are reading this aloud to someone else, please annunciate hookah for them) come to think of it, there may have been hookers there too.  But by 11PM I was wiped out and we took a ride service home.  I slept until 10AM the following day (thank you mom for taking the kids).  It probably didn’t help that I was up early that morning and then popped over to my friend Hal’s man cave to watch Texas A&M obliterate their chances at the football playoffs.  But that is another story.

Connor is taking religious education classes right now.  He’s learning the path he needs for his first communion and confession (reconciliation). He is enjoying his classes and is actually applying his newfound knowledge in funny ways around the home.  I am dying to give you an example, but would more than likely lose half of my audience, so suffice to say, he’s doing well. Another thing I learned (and should have known) is that Vatican II changed the sacrament of “the last rites” to “the anointing of the sick.”  Now I figured that was just a name change with the same concept.  However, it applies to people with terminal illnesses who aren’t immediately on the way out.  So technically I could take advantage of this sacrament and see if we could perhaps start that miracle train.  It certainly couldn’t hurt…right Father Bill?

My sweet daughter Josephine turned 6 on Thursday.  Nita and I blew up some balloons and put up streamers after they went to bed.  She woke up to a fun festive breakfast and was all smiles throughout the day.  I then went from work to her school and had lunch with her.  Again, she was surprised to see me and tickled that I brought her some cheesecake (her favorite) to snack on.  It was a big hit as she sat on the stage and watched her friends watching her get some love and attention.  I brought a candle and a lighter and we did a super quick light and blow out so we wouldn’t get in trouble.  Shhhh, don’t tell anyone.

The tournament is going extremely well.  The dinner menu was finalized and the auction items have been rolling in.  We currently have about 65K in item value for the event…not including the raffle.  Speaking of the raffle, we figured out how we’re going to use it.  Going back to the sacraments, there is one for sure that I am fairly certain I will not be able to attend.  According to the statistics and other factors, it is a safe assumption that I won’t be around for Josephine or Connor’s weddings.  So Nita and I decided that we’ll use the raffle from the “ladies” auction to fund Josie’s wedding and the raffle from the “dudes” auction to fund Connor’s honeymoon.  So when the time comes and they are wondering how they are going to pay for those events, either Nita or our executor will be able to say, “Your dad (or mom and dad – hopefully not) took care of this when he was still with us.  He promised he’d take care of you even when he was gone and here you go.  Enjoy your day(s).”

Later that evening we met some friends out for dinner and Josephine was again serenaded over a sparkler candle and a cup of ice cream.  She really did enjoy her day and I loved being involved in so many parts of it.  While we were at dinner I ran into several of my dear friends from the neighborhood.  I got a lot of hugs and well wishes.  One of the most touching things that was said to me was, “If God listens to me pray at all, you are going to be okay.”  We were both nearly moved to tears.

So Connor’s birthday party will be Sunday at the Military Forces Museum.  He adores Camp Mabry and all the cool regalia. Prior to his party there is a WW2 reenactment battle where the kids will have front row seating as some German tanks are forced to retreat by some American tanks and a bomber.  There are explosions, guys running and jumping into foxholes, etc.  Basically, a big pile of awesome for 2^nd graders.  We’ll then hop over to Mayfield park to have cake with the peacocks.

This year marks the first year we won’t have the famous petting zoo free-for-all party.  I was told by quite a few adults how much they would miss it.  Honestly, I do to.  Not solely for the convenience of combining the two birthdays into one event; but I really do like petting all those ducks, pigs, chickens, and goats.  They usually also bring a baby donkey and those guys are just adorable. So things change, the kids are growing up and making independent decisions.  That is okay, actually that is great. 

I am confident that now each one is at a stage in their development where some of my lessons have sunken in, but most importantly that I won’t be forgotten.  I put together a slide show and had a lot of pictures doing things with the children.  I showed it to the kids and Josie said, “Dad we sure have done a lot of stuff together!”  I hope there is room and time for a few more things.  But I’m thankful for the time I’ve been given, and regret the time I squandered.  I’m here now and certainly do not take that for granted.  Have a wonderful day everyone.  Hope to see you soon. TeamMarco@austin.rr.com