I was raised in the Catholic Church.
Up until my 5th grade year when we moved to Kansas, my sisters and I attended private schools.
Our parents took us to Church every Sunday.
Well let me clarify that.
Our parents “dropped us off” at church every Sunday!
As we prayed, confessed, communed, knelt, stood, and knelt again…
They were enjoying coffee and bagels and reading the Sunday paper.
When we moved to Switzerland there were only minor changes to this routine.
Our mass was in Latin and they munched on croissants!
Ironically, once settled in the Bible belt itself, they stopped sending us to Church all together.
Maybe they thought that the strong Christian values we were surrounded with in this small Midwestern town would be enough to sustain our good morals and virtues.
More likely though, it was the fact that not only was a good bagel nonexistent in this town, but the newspaper got delivered to their door.
There was no longer a compelling reason for them to leave the house on Sunday mornings!
After all… we three kids had all celebrated our First Holy Communions, been Confirmed and had a total of 37 years of catechism classes between us.
We’d indeed been churched!
Now ask me what I know about the Bible.
Stunned, awkward silence.
“Nada” would not be an over-exaggeration.
Oh I’ve tried.
I’ve got the King James Version, the New International Version, the 365 Day bible and the Bible for Women.
I have more books on Spirituality then I do Rachel Ray cookbooks.
Those, I can handle.
But the Bible…
It intimidates me, frustrates me, bores me and gives me an extreme headache from its tiny little font.
That said...it keeps drawing me back to it.
I want to know it, I want to understand it, I want to read it.
But I can’t do it alone.
I’ve failed too many times that way.
So bring in the cavalry...
AKA: Bible Study for Dummies.
This is a small group of friends we’ve put together who feel similar to the way I do.
Suffice it to say, we’re all Biblically challenged.
Our leader, who was not brought up in the church as a youngster is no dummy!
She has studied the Bible for the last 11 years.
She knows it, she understands it, and she lives it.
She too is presented with a big challenge…the rest of us!
Last night, at our first meeting, we learned that both the Old and New Testament were written over a period of 1500 years, with 400 years of silence between them.
Whew!
That alleviates some pressure.
If it took that long to write it, with so many authors…
It’s clearly not an easy read!
But maybe I can get through it with a little help from my friends.
So here I go.
But hey…if you’ve read it…don’t spoil the ending for me!
I want to find it out for myself.
(Come on…that was a joke!!!)
Thursday, June 8, 2006
Thursday, June 1, 2006
So Long Indy…
We’re leaving you on a high note.
Mike took Nicky and I to the Indy 500 on Sunday.
It was everything I ever heard it was and probably even more.
I had trepidations about going.
It’s hot, it’s loud, it’s long, I don’t do public bathrooms and I hate to sweat.
I’m sure Mike was thrilled to have me as his date!
Nick was coming off of a violent stomach virus and we were none too sure he could go the distance.
But we both persevered!
Not knowing what the parking situation would be,
Mike drove us within a few blocks of the racetrack.
We parked in an elementary school for 20 bucks which was going directly to the PTO for the kids.
We were barely out of the parking lot when a young entrepreneur came by on a 4-wheeler with a makeshift flatbed trailer behind it offering us a ride to the entry gate for a mere tip.
Deal…on we climbed for what turned out to be one hell of a ride!
Fans along the way were high-fiving and raising their ice cold beers to us.
People were cheering for the kid and his entrepreneurial spirit.
I was happy for the lift on this hot and sunny day,
As for Nick…hell, this might as well have been the oval racetrack itself, it couldn’t possibly get any better than this!
And then it did.
Right before we started to ascend the grandstands to our seats, past Indy pace cars were parading celebrities at different stages of their careers around the oval track.
20 feet away from us was “Hurley” from “Lost”, the TV show.
Nick is a huge “Lost” fan and is particularly crazy about Hurley.
The kid was vibrating!
Next up was Gene Simmons from the band Kiss.
I swear our eyes met just as he stuck out his world famous tongue with the seemingly jointed curl at the end and I was the one vibrating.
Sad but true.
Next up was Pat O’Brien from “The Insider”…
Admittedly an anti-climactic moment for both Nick and myself!
What an odd threesome at a cocktail party I thought.
We climbed to our seats which were right past turn 4 and so we could see all of turn 3 and the straightaway to the start/finish line.
They were high enough up that the noise wasn’t too bad and the view spectacular.
We were welcomed by the “locals” with incredible enthusiasm.
Most of these people had been sitting in their same seats for the last 20 years.
One kid, Jessie was celebrating his 30th birthday by sharing his ice cold beers and passing around his beer bong.
Mike and I showed rare restraint.
Jesse told us that his Dad, who was sitting a few seats down from him, has been to every race since the early 60’s only missing 1969 when he was fighting in Nam.
That’s quite a legacy.
The common denominator with most everyone we befriended was family.
The Indianapolis 500 is a family tradition starting with the racers themselves.
Marco Andretti and his father Michael finished 2nd and 3rd in one of the most exciting finishes in Indy history.
San Hornish Jr. propelled passed Marco and beat him to the checkered flag by .0635 seconds.
That’s 12 inches over a course of 500 miles, truly and incredible ending even for a non-race fan.
I guess it’s only fitting that we leave this town on race weekend.
We happened to move here last June, the same weekend that NASCAR’s Brickyard 400 was taking place.
And now we buckle up for our own 500 mile race…
Indianapolis to Overland Park.
Racing around the oval track I’m sure is a rush.
But man…I’m looking forward to the straightaway we call I-70.
The one that’s taking us home.
Mike took Nicky and I to the Indy 500 on Sunday.
It was everything I ever heard it was and probably even more.
I had trepidations about going.
It’s hot, it’s loud, it’s long, I don’t do public bathrooms and I hate to sweat.
I’m sure Mike was thrilled to have me as his date!
Nick was coming off of a violent stomach virus and we were none too sure he could go the distance.
But we both persevered!
Not knowing what the parking situation would be,
Mike drove us within a few blocks of the racetrack.
We parked in an elementary school for 20 bucks which was going directly to the PTO for the kids.
We were barely out of the parking lot when a young entrepreneur came by on a 4-wheeler with a makeshift flatbed trailer behind it offering us a ride to the entry gate for a mere tip.
Deal…on we climbed for what turned out to be one hell of a ride!
Fans along the way were high-fiving and raising their ice cold beers to us.
People were cheering for the kid and his entrepreneurial spirit.
I was happy for the lift on this hot and sunny day,
As for Nick…hell, this might as well have been the oval racetrack itself, it couldn’t possibly get any better than this!
And then it did.
Right before we started to ascend the grandstands to our seats, past Indy pace cars were parading celebrities at different stages of their careers around the oval track.
20 feet away from us was “Hurley” from “Lost”, the TV show.
Nick is a huge “Lost” fan and is particularly crazy about Hurley.
The kid was vibrating!
Next up was Gene Simmons from the band Kiss.
I swear our eyes met just as he stuck out his world famous tongue with the seemingly jointed curl at the end and I was the one vibrating.
Sad but true.
Next up was Pat O’Brien from “The Insider”…
Admittedly an anti-climactic moment for both Nick and myself!
What an odd threesome at a cocktail party I thought.
We climbed to our seats which were right past turn 4 and so we could see all of turn 3 and the straightaway to the start/finish line.
They were high enough up that the noise wasn’t too bad and the view spectacular.
We were welcomed by the “locals” with incredible enthusiasm.
Most of these people had been sitting in their same seats for the last 20 years.
One kid, Jessie was celebrating his 30th birthday by sharing his ice cold beers and passing around his beer bong.
Mike and I showed rare restraint.
Jesse told us that his Dad, who was sitting a few seats down from him, has been to every race since the early 60’s only missing 1969 when he was fighting in Nam.
That’s quite a legacy.
The common denominator with most everyone we befriended was family.
The Indianapolis 500 is a family tradition starting with the racers themselves.
Marco Andretti and his father Michael finished 2nd and 3rd in one of the most exciting finishes in Indy history.
San Hornish Jr. propelled passed Marco and beat him to the checkered flag by .0635 seconds.
That’s 12 inches over a course of 500 miles, truly and incredible ending even for a non-race fan.
I guess it’s only fitting that we leave this town on race weekend.
We happened to move here last June, the same weekend that NASCAR’s Brickyard 400 was taking place.
And now we buckle up for our own 500 mile race…
Indianapolis to Overland Park.
Racing around the oval track I’m sure is a rush.
But man…I’m looking forward to the straightaway we call I-70.
The one that’s taking us home.
Friday, May 26, 2006
The Wait is Over…
The work begins!
Today we (I), move the few belongings we have here in the crappy corporate apartment to Mom’s house for a week.
Tomorrow we drive to Indy to meet the packers/movers who won’t actually be there until Tuesday.
Yep…we screwed up!
We’ve known for 92 days (I checked them off the calendar daily!) that we could get back into the house Memorial Day weekend.
You’d think we would have remembered to schedule the movers!
So that gives us a couple of free days to catch up with the few friends we made in India-No-Place.
Sunday we’ve got tickies to the big race…vroom, vroom.
Monday…a cookout at Ned and Josie’s.
Tuesday they pack up the house.
And Wednesday we hit I-70 West for the final time! (God willing)
This time next week, our 2 year journey will be over.
We’ll be home!
I’ve got a hot date with the Cable Guy June 3rd.
Until then I’ll be offline no doubt accumulating some good blogging material.
Week’s like we’ve got coming up don’t usually go smoothly!
I hope yours does…
See you in a week!
Today we (I), move the few belongings we have here in the crappy corporate apartment to Mom’s house for a week.
Tomorrow we drive to Indy to meet the packers/movers who won’t actually be there until Tuesday.
Yep…we screwed up!
We’ve known for 92 days (I checked them off the calendar daily!) that we could get back into the house Memorial Day weekend.
You’d think we would have remembered to schedule the movers!
So that gives us a couple of free days to catch up with the few friends we made in India-No-Place.
Sunday we’ve got tickies to the big race…vroom, vroom.
Monday…a cookout at Ned and Josie’s.
Tuesday they pack up the house.
And Wednesday we hit I-70 West for the final time! (God willing)
This time next week, our 2 year journey will be over.
We’ll be home!
I’ve got a hot date with the Cable Guy June 3rd.
Until then I’ll be offline no doubt accumulating some good blogging material.
Week’s like we’ve got coming up don’t usually go smoothly!
I hope yours does…
See you in a week!
Thursday, May 25, 2006
Life As We Know It…
We are only into the 5th game of Nick’s baseball season and we’ve already lost an integral part of his uniform.
His shirt!!!
How does this happen?
Socks I can understand.
I actually anticipated losing a sock so I bought 2 pair.
But his shirt???
Holy crap!
I’ve got until 5:30 this afternoon to come up with a new one.
Did I mention it’s “moving day” today?
We need to be out of the crappy corporate apartment by tomorrow.
But I’ll be busy trying to find a baseball shirt. (Maybe I packed it?)
And oh yeah…today is our anniversary…15 years!
Mike said to me late last night in a panic…
“Don’t give me my card in the morning Chrissy; let’s wait till I get home.”
Translation: He doesn’t have one yet!
I was happy for the head’s up though.
Hopefully I can pick one up for him between stops at one of the 17 sporting goods stores I’ll be at today looking for a new baseball shirt!
Yep…15 years ago today, Mike and I made all sorts of promises to each other.
Exotic anniversary trips, expensive jewels, perfect children.
Instead we will be spending the evening taking separate cars to the ballgame so we can each take a shift.
Dinner will be every man for himself.
And the only Jewels involved will be the ones Nick tucks in to his brand new jock strap!
So Mikey…
If you had it all to do all over again…
Forget it.
Don’t answer that.
Happy anniversary baby!
His shirt!!!
How does this happen?
Socks I can understand.
I actually anticipated losing a sock so I bought 2 pair.
But his shirt???
Holy crap!
I’ve got until 5:30 this afternoon to come up with a new one.
Did I mention it’s “moving day” today?
We need to be out of the crappy corporate apartment by tomorrow.
But I’ll be busy trying to find a baseball shirt. (Maybe I packed it?)
And oh yeah…today is our anniversary…15 years!
Mike said to me late last night in a panic…
“Don’t give me my card in the morning Chrissy; let’s wait till I get home.”
Translation: He doesn’t have one yet!
I was happy for the head’s up though.
Hopefully I can pick one up for him between stops at one of the 17 sporting goods stores I’ll be at today looking for a new baseball shirt!
Yep…15 years ago today, Mike and I made all sorts of promises to each other.
Exotic anniversary trips, expensive jewels, perfect children.
Instead we will be spending the evening taking separate cars to the ballgame so we can each take a shift.
Dinner will be every man for himself.
And the only Jewels involved will be the ones Nick tucks in to his brand new jock strap!
So Mikey…
If you had it all to do all over again…
Forget it.
Don’t answer that.
Happy anniversary baby!
Tuesday, May 23, 2006
Gone Hollywood
I needed a new pair of shades.
To me…this is a major purchase.
I don’t wear cheap sunglasses.
Now I’m no fashionista but…
Even I pay enough attention to know that “Jackie O is Back!”
Finally!
I LOVE big sunglasses.
My small face with its ample nose loves big sunglasses.
I’m in sunglass heaven!
I had it narrowed down to two pair.
The woman at the counter was very matronly looking,
I didn’t think I’d be looking to her for the tie breaking vote.
More out of courtesy, I asked which pair she preferred, pointing out that one may be a bit too “jazzy” for me.
She said, “Honey. I’m battling lung cancer for the second time. I’m in the middle of chemotherapy treatments so if you ask me…choose Jazzy…always go for the Jazz. Life’s too short not to.”
Sold.
Jackie O would be proud!
To me…this is a major purchase.
I don’t wear cheap sunglasses.
Now I’m no fashionista but…
Even I pay enough attention to know that “Jackie O is Back!”
Finally!
I LOVE big sunglasses.
My small face with its ample nose loves big sunglasses.
I’m in sunglass heaven!
I had it narrowed down to two pair.
The woman at the counter was very matronly looking,
I didn’t think I’d be looking to her for the tie breaking vote.
More out of courtesy, I asked which pair she preferred, pointing out that one may be a bit too “jazzy” for me.
She said, “Honey. I’m battling lung cancer for the second time. I’m in the middle of chemotherapy treatments so if you ask me…choose Jazzy…always go for the Jazz. Life’s too short not to.”
Sold.
Jackie O would be proud!
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