The great thing about life is that strange and wonderful opportunities have a way of presenting themselves when you least expect them, and if you choose to take advantage at the time, you can find yourself experiencing really awesome things, even if it’s only for posterity. When D was in fourth grade, he became involved in the school play. A fourth grade teacher (not his) headed up the production each year and, for an elementary school, it was always quite elaborate. That year, the kids were putting on a play called “The Elephant’s Child”, by Rudyard Kipling. He signed up to stay after school for practice several days per week,…
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Finally, Our Eagle Scout’s Court of Honor!
Many of you have followed our son’s journey to Eagle Scout, including the details of his Eagle project, which was the landscaping in the front yard of our temple. You know he finally officially earned the rank of Eagle on August 12th. That’s actually when the celebration begins. We had to plan his Court of Honor, the ceremony during which he is presented with his badge, awards, certificates and other goodies, and where he can be recognized personally by friends and family. After a couple of months full of preparations like invitations, letters to dignitaries, script-preparing, and of course, a special scrapbook, the festivities took place yesterday at our temple,…
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Nearly Wordless Monday
I am totally wiped out from the weekend, I have a really bad cold, and I have to work today, so I’m just posting a sneak peek of my next post (which will hopefully magically appear here by tomorrow morning!). Happy Monday, everyone!
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Bat Mitzvah Snapshots
I did a post after Yom Kippur a couple of months ago that contained a couple of mental snapshots from the day. Today, the person who stood up on the bimah and gave the announcements and guidelines for today’s service mentioned that, except for the official photographer who the family hired to capture the day, those who were there for worship services were not allowed to use cameras (of course I knew that already), but should instead capture memories of the service mentally, for keeps. Naturally I’ve done this all along, but it suddenly occurred to me that when I don’t have a camera, I really am good at taking…
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Honored To Honor.
I found out from a friend just a couple of days ago that Naperville was the home of a week-long display of flags on Rotary Hill in the middle of downtown. It was called the “Healing Field of Honor”, and it was put on by the Colonial Flag Company in conjunction with local sponsors. The purpose? To honor our military. Flags and yellow tags were “sold” (to raise funds for a local VA hospital), and people wrote all kinds of messages on them. The 2009 eight-foot flagpoles were set up in incredibly straight rows that completely covered the hill, which is used during other parts of the year as a…
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Luckily, I Didn’t Have To Die Trying.
Last December, I bought my own domain. (That’s such a geeky thing, isn’t it?) I wanted a website that sort of rolled the information about my book, my various blogs, and all of my other “online presences” under one umbrella. I wanted something that looked professional, simple, clean. I wanted to do it myself. That’s right: I wanted to create my own website. From scratch. I’m pretty adept at working with html coding within my Blogger account right here, so why couldn’t I learn more of it? No reason. Jim bought me one of those “HTML for Dummies” books, and I bought one with CSS stuff in it (hang on,…
- Amazing People, Best Thing Ever, Blessings, Friends, I'm Apparently Old., My Sister Has Mad Skillz, Proud Moments, We Are An Awesome Couple
The Best Thing Is? It Goes Both Ways.
You have my heartAnd we’ll never be worlds apartMaybe in magazinesBut you’ll still be my star Baby cause in the darkYou can’t see shiny carsAnd that’s when you need me thereWith you I’ll always shareBecause When the sun shines, we’ll shine togetherTold you I’ll be here foreverSaid I’ll always be a friendTook an oath, I’m a stick it out till the end Now that it’s raining more than everKnow that we’ll still have each otherYou can stand under my umbrellaYou can stand under my umbrella (Ella ella, eh eh eh)Under my umbrella(Ella ella, eh eh eh)Under my umbrella(Ella ella, eh eh eh)Under my umbrella(Ella ella, eh eh eh, eh eh…
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Stopping To Enjoy the Flowers
I wanted to give you a photo update of my son’s Boy Scout Eagle project (at our temple), because this week it just looks spectacular and I remembered that I never updated on the blog after the first day of completion! I thought it looked totally amazing on the day the installation was complete, especially because before, there was nothing in the temple’s front yard except for grass. See? Nice, huh? Over the past few months (It was *just* springtime when this was all done!), we’ve been taking pictures at various stages of growth and bloom; I want to do something with the various photos for his recognition ceremony in…
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I Made It Out Alive! (or, Surgery Is Fun Again!)
Not that there was any doubt really, but if you read my post over at Rock and Drool yesterday, you know that I had some high anxiety about the dental surgery I had yesterday. As it turns out, I do indeed have strong mental abilities and was able to avoid another mid-procedure panic attack. But I’ll start at the beginning. I got up yesterday morning at the normal time and did a little freeweight workout, then took the dog for a walk. By that time, Jim and the kids were gone for the day and I left myself very little time to shower before I had to leave for Dr.…
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An Advanced Moment of Profundity
Note: This post is part of Fatherhood Friday at Dad Blogs, where all the cool kids are hanging out. (Moms are welcome over there!) I *might* even have a column called “Teen Angst” there. Welcome to my visitors from DB; thanks for stopping in! I have written about the younger boy in terms of his teenaged moodiness, comparing it to frogs and John Belushi. The teenaged hormones in general? Well, they can suck it. However, I am pleased to report that in our house, it seems we have turned a corner. Michigan J. Frog-style regressions are few and far between these days, and it seems like we are starting to…