From 3 to 2

Little J graduated from his preschool type daycare recently and began a "summer camp" program at the school he will be attending this fall. It's our hopes that it eases his way into Kindergarten with a bit of a head start in the new territory. Problem is, he now hangs out with the big kids and thinks he can do everything they do. Fridays are bike riding days and obviously it would have been tragic to send him off to summer camp on three wheels. So here he is ready to graduate to two wheels. It's going to be an ambitious week to get rid of those training wheels by Friday.

Beaches and Swings

Oh poor us. We spent the weekend in Carmel-by-the-Sea. My boss is such a kind and generous person he let us stay in his little get-a-way place (which happens to be bigger than my every-day place). We had two perfect weather beach days. Anyone who knows anything about Carmel-by-the-Sea knows what good luck that is. There was one small thunderstorm, maybe 5 minutes long, just enough to help put out the fires that happened in the area.

Little J wants to move in with the boss. For these things especially...



The Swing ....

The Beach

Stop to Smell The Roses

In the early 1970's Dad started a Rose Garden at the Community Church of Monterey Peninsula. He moved on to many other churches and left roses here and there. Here's a photo from the Annual May Rose Garden tea in 1994. Dad always liked to visit his old gardens. I am sure he would be pleased to see that today the garden at CCMP still thrives, almost 40 years later. I'm betting this just a small sample of a Dad's rose legacy.

Mission Blue

It's been a year since my dear friend passed away. Her daughter and I spent the day doing all her favorite things... we started off with the Big Duchess of teas, played every Flambeau tune that's ever been recorded, visited her old neighborhood, climbed to the top of the city on our windy mission, and finished off with chili dogs and hot fudge sundaes at Fentons.

A day of memories, mixed emotions and final goodbyes to a dear dear friend and mother. We miss ya, Micky. You're free to fly with the butterflies now.

"Come to the quiet place where your soul is refreshed, your mind is soothed and your heart is restored. Linger with Him and He will give you peace. "

Reviving Uptown... and others

Once in a while the preacher's kid syndrome emerges in mysterious ways and I post an entry that might seem to be a bit sacrilegious (not to be confused with sacreligious or sacrilicious as defined at urbandictionary.com). I figure Dad always had a good sense of humor, including when it came to his profession, so my minor little quirks aren't meant to be offensive to anyone. In the interest of being an equal opportunity blog, it's time to balance out these little indiscretions...

A few months ago I decided it would be appropriate for Little J to experience a bit of religious education. I have to admit that part of this decision could be based on the guilt that comes from taking my own children to church only a couple of times in their entire upbringing. I further admit that those infrequent visits came about only because we often visited Dad and occasionally those visits happened on a weekend. Church attendance was a mandatory event within that territory if we wanted to please Grandpa.

Over the last few years Lil' sis and I did our 2 step church routine, attending Christmas and Easter services at several churches in the area. When I looked back at those visits, I figured First Presbyterian Church of Oakland would be a good fit for Little J, mostly because of the wide diversity of the congregation. What I have since discovered is that it is a good fit for me also.

In hopes of connecting with the revitalized neighborhood that surrounds this church, especially the 20-40 year old generation, Rev. Stokes has started a new weblog, Reviving Uptown. I'm hoping he experiences a huge success in these efforts.

Save my seat next Sunday, sort of halfway down the aisle, on the left side please.