Today I celebrated my 31st birthday. The
Shane Battier birthday (he
wears #31). Aside from the deluge of facebook well-wishes (thank
you!!),
the day itself was wonderfully ordinary. I woke up to Annie's wake-up
noises from down the hall. Bek heard me getting up and wished me a
quick happy birthday, with Jude sleeping soundly on her chest. I
dressed Annie and after a lazy morning of cuddle-time with Mommy, Annie
led the mosey into the kitchen for breakfast.
After breakfast, Annie and I went off to the park down the
street. We stripped off our sweaters and undershirts once we got there
because the South Texas weather was winning over any wishful thinking we
had about how it's "supposed" to be late fall. Slides and swings and
the tunnel. Then the short walk back home.
Bek had laid out presents on the dining room table while we were
out at the park. Cards from family, a CD from Bek's folks, and 12
old-style foam dinosaur capsules from Annie. We had some errands to be
on to, but we stopped to watch the Plesiosaur break through his plastic
capsule confines, though of course we had no idea until afterwards that
it was the Plesiosaur we were watching.
Then Annie and I
strapped into the car, off to Walmart for a yarn needle I needed in order to
finish off Bek's belated birthday present, a scarf I've spent the better
part of two weeks learning how to knit. Annie and I were only
moderately distracted, picking up some Lil' Smokies and crescent rolls
for Thanksgiving Day morning and some ice cream for today. The lady at
the check out asked if the girl behind me was my daughter. I said,
"yes," realizing only then that Annie had taken to walking four steps or
so behind me. The lady smiled and said she looked like me; I stared
back blankly, without knowing it, wondering to myself how a bearded man
could look like a sweet two-year old girl. Sensing this, the lady said,
"the mannerisms - it's uncanny," to which I can only apologize to my
daughter.
We got home for lunch and feasted on leftovers. Chicken,
broccoli, and potatoes for me. Annie had rice and beans with "extras,"
and I think Bek had a cornbread, veggie mix. Then the nap.
While Annie was napping, I did my best to scratch out the sermon
thoughts that had been patiently waiting in my notes, readings, and
dreams until now. I have this frustrating recurring dream that hits on
Wednesday nights of weeks in which I haven't yet begun the print copy
of my sermon. In the dream, my preparation time is over and it's me and
the people and the moment to preach, but I don't have any notes. This
time, even in the course of my dream, I was able to articulate two or three
surprisingly lucid sermon points that, without notes, I would be
able to "ad-lib" around. Incredibly, the dream countered by taking me
back to the house to pick up a key (for what, I don't know), at which
time someone parked behind my dream-car, blocking me in the house,
semi-prepared, still unable to preach. I get it, Unconscious Self - I
need to write out my notes. So finally today, I did.
After sermons and naps, Bek and I got snacks for the kids, I
showered, and we went for a walk. The first with our double stroller.
3,500 aerobic steps on my new pedometer. Good stuff all around.
Then time for dinner: rib-eyes with mushrooms, mashed potatoes,
and salad with mandarin oranges. And a mighty fine beer Dr. Baker left
with us the last time he was here. I talked with my mom on the phone
while I grilled, only knocking the phone off the grill one time. Bek
hit dinner out of the park. Her pumpkin pie - with the chicken pie
crust - was a stellar finish.
Showers and stories, always a
blur, and finally this moment of quiet just now. A thankful moment for
days like these and opportunities to watch foam dinosaurs, scratch out
sermon notes, grill peppered steaks, and share God's love with my family
and friends. What a gift. Here's to the year of Shane Battier.
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| The great dino capsule experiment. |
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| Here we go! |
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| Just like that. |
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| Adding hotter water. |
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| Stalling. |
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| Still stalling. |
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| "Did you see that?" "No? Me neither." |
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| Manually accelerating the process. |
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| Tada! |
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| Bek's birthday scarf. |
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| Birthday dinner. |
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| Life and Limb, a fine collaborative brew project by Dogfish Head and Sierra Nevada. |
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| Pumpkin pie! |
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| The moment of truth. |
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| Victory. |
Anyway,
knitting lends itself to contemplation, so I shouldn't be surprised by
the connections and lessons it's tried to teach me (already), but I am.
Here are some of them:
