*sigh* Kobe

WARNING: Contains basketball content.

Watching tonight's San Antonio/LA game after a 12-hour day of church office work and meetings, I have to grudgingly admit that that Kobe Bryant guy can really play. It's a delight to watch him elevate the level of his play tonight – now that it's against another team than Toronto (and his 81 points).

Yes, I was an intrigued fan at the start of his career; yes, his ego turned me off soon after; yes, his Colorado rape allegations diminished his star in my eyes; yes, I was glad to see his Lakers fall to Detroit; yes, I was glad to see Shaq succeed without him; but, damn!, he can really play.

Although, speaking of "Memories of Kobe", I'm now hungry for barbeque.

Booger Alert

For the past few nights, Kai has woken up coughing during the night. (So much so that he threw up, prompting mid-night laundry a few nights ago).

So when he called out in distress tonight, I rushed in wondering what awaited. He wailed with dismay, "I got a booger!" So with a kleenex I wiped his nose, but he wearily insisted, "No! You have to pull it!" I dispatched the offending nasal impediment post haste and he's settled back down again.

I guess this counts as "other duties as determined by the supervisor" in the job description of Fatherhood. Mmmm ... pulling boogers.

Blog burst

It was high time I got around to finishing the half-started blog posts over the past week and a half. Hence the huge catch-up update (so much that I had to adjust the blog settings to display more than a week, lest the new posts get shunted off to the "Older Post" link).

My life is still blog-worthy, at least in my mind. It's just not very prompt.

Tummy Trouble

Not sure what it is, but my stomach's been upset for most of the day. Haven't eaten too much or stayed vertical for an extended perioed of time (but I did manage to make some guacamole this afternoon) and I'll be heading to the "sick bed" in the guest room/home office tonight. Happy Victoria Day.

May Long Weekend

Being in my line of work, "long weekend" means very little. So it was at church this morning that someone commented on the cool, rainy weather and said how nice it was to not be camping. That's one thing you can count on about Sunday worship: not getting rained on. (Here's hoping I haven't jinxed anything!)

The afternoon yielded the typical post-church crash, some barbequed salmon steaks and asparagus, more skipping and Kai's newest word (to replace his embargoed "cookie/kooky"): "yummy".

High on the Hog

This is one way to meet the neighbours: climb on their motorcycles!

Anyone want to buy a Honda Goldwing? We know where one could be had.

Bye, Cookie!

Kai’s newest affectation has worn thin. His constant call of “cookie” is no longer welcome in our household. It’s not so much the word itself, but his tone is rather impertinent and mischievous. So we're telling him to stop? Are we making too much of this? Are we forgetting that he's still a 2-year old (practically 3)? Maybe, but he does need to learn about limits (to our patience, namely) and not being so sassy.

At the risk of scolding one child and praising another (although not at the expense of the other), Reiko is skipping along with ease and acumen. Reaching 25 in her consecutive skip count, she's also mastered a few backwards skips too.

Squashed

Yesterday, after a hiatus of 8 years, I picked up my squash racquet in earnest. After playing (and losing) a number of games with my friend Pat, I noted that the grip on my racquet was sloughing off merely from my grasp. I could blame this equipment malfunction for the losses were not the discrepancy in skill and strategy so glaring.

The upshot is that after an hour-and-a-half of squash yesterday, my butt and quads are achy and I'm moving slowly. Kai was glad to have his "guitar" back.

Got Milk?

Kai is ready for a "Got Milk?" commercial shoot. He's also ready for a haircut.

Kick Off

Rei's sports career began tonight as scarlet-clad The Accelerators dropped a "close" one to The Backyardigans. She wasn't pushy enough to get at the ball but did manage a kick or two while running amid the pack.

Mother's Day 2008

It was a crafty Mother's Day for Shelley. Long live popsicle sticks and glue!

Sombre Homecoming

I went home for the funeral for the father of one of my high school friends, who was also a pillar of the church. Despite getting to the church early, I still had to park a fair distance down the road. It was a bit surreal to think that the last time I saw my friend in that church (I think) was for her wedding.

Amid a crowded sanctuary, I tried to reconnect names and faces; it was a bit difficult with the passage of intervening years and complicated by the fact that people weren't sitting where they usually would be sitting. I felt rather self-conscious about handing out business cards during the reception, but it was the easiest way to pass along my contact info to those who want to know.

"Hi, Cookie!"

You can imagine the past week was getting reacquainted with my family after being away. The kids were happily clingy to their Dad (who is sans Mohawk now, figuring that Kai would have wanted one too) until they were certain he wasn't going anywhere else for a while.

Kai has taken to calling people "Cookie". We're not sure of its origin or meaning, but our best guess is that it's a term of endearment seeing as he likes cookies so much. Unless he's saying "kooky" which would be less nice.

Reiko has become obsessed with skipping/jump rope and in the span of a few days worked her way from fumbling the rope to a few consecutive skips on-the-spot and a series of running skips. Soccer is next.

Physician Heal Thyself

Ouch. It hurts to walk. Too much "hockey" yesterday. While many from the conference headed to New York City (one such person being a roommate looking to buy a guitar), those of us that remained embarked on a mini-pub crawl with supper at Winberie's (only because the wait line was too long at Triumph Brew Pub) and further beverages at the reputed Triumph microbrewery.

As for the closing day of the conference, what is it about needy pastors and leaders? Particular to this week, I heard far too much self-disclosure about matters that really should remain private from leaders and facilitators of workshops and sessions. Yes, I understand that much rapport and trust can be built quickly by sharing personal vulnerabilities (and I am fully upfront and open in my preaching), but I did not pay hundred of dollars to sit in a group therapy session for other participants or leaders.

While I could complain about the uninspiring and lacklustre worship services or the rigidly male imagery of God and church, I'll take with me new thoughts and ideas about the emergent church and scholarly insight into the book of Acts. I'll return home with a couple more theological books that I might actually get around to reading.