musings

Last night, Ted Wells died as a result of a long fight against a brain tumor. May his soul dwell with the blessed.

On Sunday, Anastasia's cousin Mallory got married to a nice young man named Keegan Kucko. No, it's not pronounced "Kooko", but "Koosko." I think that will take some getting used to. The wedding was grand and the reception was grander. I ate more food off the kiddie table than off the adult table. They had hot dogs, lemonade, cheezpuffs, and otter pops (which is Popretto spelled backwards) on the kiddie table. Why would I want some average chicken when I can get a hot dog with cheezpuffs? That was the best idea I've ever seen for a wedding reception.

Mallory got everything she wanted for the wedding, except a photo booth. But to her credit (and to her parents' credit, since they raised her), she wasn't snooty about anything. Kudos (and Kuckos, I guess) to the Dyal family for a great day.


As Luke was leaving his grandparents' house tonight, he started to say goodbye to everyone. "Goodnight, Ike! Goodnight, Mare-Mare! Goodnight, Yia-Yia!" Then it got good: "Goodnight, wall! Goodnight, tree!" So I started egging him on by pointing stuff out. As planned, he repeated it. "Goodnight, chainsaw! Goodnight, basement! Goodnight, gass!" (grass). It caused great hilarity.

Hannah is finally a cranky baby. Well, she only had 1 bad day, so we won't complain. Yet.

Luke remains a crazy 2yr old. He was playing with his Godsister, Megan, when they decided that it is a good idea to pick up pea gravel and put it in their hair. Then he complained about "bugs" in his hair. What a goober.

I am busy revamping the little red prayerbook at the church. Before the summer is over, I hope to have version 2.1 done with added prayers and corrected formatting & punctuation throughout. Hopefully it will get done so I can take a couple copies to some friends at St. Tikhon's.

Day Camp (Vacation Bible School) has started here at St. John's, so that means two things: #1) tournament time is almost here for softball; #2) Summer is almost over. The rain will come when August arrives, and we'll be back in PA before we blink. My wife requested that we stay here for the remaining two years of seminary. What are the odds that I can telecommute to class, and wake up at 2am for televised services at the monastery? Not good, huh?

Here is a link to an interesting article in a Toledo newspaper about the Antiochian Archdiocese scandal. I appreciate Bishop MARK's candor. For those who know him well, they will agree that he is a good man who values and practices honesty. I think you will see this if you read the article.
http://www.toledoblade.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20090713/NEWS16/907130324

Finally, ESPN is running auctions this week to support the "Jimmie V. Cancer Research Foundation." If you have 11 spare minutes, follow this link to listen to his speech given in 1993, shortly before Jimmie Valvano died of cancerous tumors. His famous line, "Don't give up, don't ever give up" is used in many inspirational speeches given to cancer patients. This is worth it. Trust me.
Jimmie V speech