I am very much enjoying this whole blogging thing. I do not claim to be the best writer, but I hope that over time, my writing will improve. It is heartening to hear that people are actually reading the blog; I have mentioned in the previous posts that mine is not the most developed sense of self-esteem (though, at least one person at church said they were unaware of this particular aspect of who I am). I really appreciate it that people care enough to come to the blog; several people told me they LOOKED at my blog, but had not read it yet, but intend to do so. For whatever your reason, thank you for coming to my blog (reading optional); I hope you’ll continue to come back.
I do apologize for not writing yesterday, but truly, there is not much to report and, as usual, the weekend was busy. I went and participated in a demonstration at the karate school in the morning and early afternoon. I helped MaryBeth prepare for the last meeting of her Coming of Age class; a celebratory dinner. After dinner, we decided to take advantage of having a babysitter and went to a movie for a little R&R (I mean, the last couple of weeks have had a bit of stress, so we thought it wise to take some time to unwind and enjoy some mindless fun). We went and saw the second National Treasure movie. It was fun; it won’t win any Oscars, but it entertained us for a couple of hours.
A little more about the COA course, in case some of you are interested (if not, skip to the next paragraph). The course (as run at our church) has weekly meetings for the better part of 9 months. It’s a huge time commitment on the part of the teachers, the youth participants and their families, and the adult mentors. The nice thing about Unitarian Universalism is that each person is allowed to choose what they believe (UUism is non creedal and non-dogmatic). So the COA class is designed to help young people to begin on the journey of defining what THEY believe (as opposed to telling them what they, as a member of a faith community, believe because of that membership.
Other celebrations that occurred today (though, without our presence) was the Bat Mitzvah of my second cousin (I think my cousin’s daughter is my second cousin, but in truth, they typically refer to me as Uncle Merle, anyway). She is a wonderfully bright young girl whom, I am sorry to say, I have not had nearly as much time to get to know as I would prefer. I wish her all the best and look forward to getting to see her and her family soon.
That brings up a final thought for this blog: family and proximity. I often find myself envious of friends and colleagues who have family members nearby. I know that growing up, my family and I went to my grandmother’s for dinner every Friday, and while I think it might get challenging to visit with ANY of my relatives that often, it would be nice to see family members more often than we do now. My closest family is down in Sarasota and MaryBeth’s is in Cincinnati. Most of my family, though, is centered in the northeast, so when there are family get togethers, 9 times out of 10, we (the ‘Georgia Hamburgers’ that fly up for the gathering (which makes perfect sense — there are 5 of us, compared to 12 of the others, just considering my Mom, my sister, and my two brothers and their families, not to mention my extended family on my father and step-mother’s side). The end result, though, is that my kids really do not know their aunts, uncles, and cousins very well, and for that, I am sad. I will say, though, that if anything, my current situation has improved communication between my siblings and me; I hope that continues!
Lastly, I want to wish all the Mother’s out there (Mom, Arlene, Elaine, Peggy, Marjorie, Susan (Dineyburger), Ele, Susan (Henryburger), Barbie, Lynn, & Nancy) a very happy Mother’s Day.
Tomorrow is the big day and I will be sure to blog when I know SOMETHING.
Until then…
Merle
Tags: Bibbity Bobbity Boo, church, Family, Main, Merle, The Martial Arts, Theology/Philosophy by Merle
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