My friends think I'm crazy because I saw the Invisible Children...

In an effort to further procrastinate the complete demolition of my bathroom I will tell you about the past week and how great and wonderful it was...a bit crazy and hectic, but wonderful. I'll talk about the bathroom some other time, when we are getting along better. I think I'll even go so far as to talk about the past few weeks....

Brad & April Weekend
For the first time since we've lived in Wilmington Brad Daniels came for visit. It was great fun as we caught up on old and new times, played Loaded Questions (not for the timid or faint of heart), made delicious herbal teas, AWC fresh roasted Costa Rican Herbazu, and bountiful breakfasts for out friends. For some reason I have always loved making big breakfasts...We had a great time making fun of the fact that Brad works for Pat Robertson. Having April is always a delight as she brings a good humor to our home.

the many faces of Bradalicious...and Jordan's fiance was out of town so he spent the day with us too...he was like a puppy from a broken home...it was sad.


April like to cut strawberries...


Cooking fun with chef Jada...




Performance Weekend

The Mid-Atlantic Invisible Children Road crew came to Wilmington last Thursday, showed some media, and spoke with college students at Kenan Auditorium on the UNCW campus. They had a great turnout and I finally got to meet and talk face to face with the voice behind the phone. I'd been trying to help Jennifer Welsh set up premieres on campus and at the Connection Cafe for this two day period since around December I think. Turned out a bunch of other people were doing the same thing which was good but no one bothered to tell me until the last minute. So feeling a bit nervous I let it go and everything turned out great.

I'm learning to let go of things though it is difficult...like my hair...




...Anyways, they entered into some good dialog at their two showings and shared their hearts and passion for getting motivated and getting involved. Friday was the busy day though. I got off of work early thanks to my wonderful boss Bill at AValive and met up with the IC crew, my good friend Evan Vetter (who I've been working with to provide music and showings of his Congocast documentary), and Braddigan (who just happened to be in town for a show as well). We stuffed ourselves silly at Flaming Amy's Burrito Barn and had a great time exchanging stories, visions, hearts, directions, and life in general. It was a really uplifting and encouraging moment now that I think back on it. Getting to see so many people that I've gotten involved with coming together and meeting one another with similar hearts and visions was pretty rad. After lunch I took Brad and the guys down to Wrightsville with every wetsuit I could dig up and my friend James Connolley's softtop collection from his surfcamp. It was really funny watching Rey and Tiago try and squeeze into my old suits. They got them on though, and we eventually got in the water. They were so stoked to be in the ocean!! One could tell they were focusing pretty hard on just staying on their boards, but regardless of the wind and current they all caught a couple waves and had fun. I gave my friends in the lineup a little heads up and "keep an eye on these guys for me," type of gesture. They all kind of chuckled but let Paul, Rey, and Tiago drift harmlessly by. Thirty minuted later I saw them again dragging their oversized boards up the beach against the wind. Brad, unfortunately never made it as he worked on his itinerary for Nicaragua leaving the next day.

Later that night after showers and such we congregated back at Kenan Auditorium for sound check. A new friend and brother, Josh Eddings, is heading up a chapter of the Manna Project here at UNCW, and is who put the whole Braddigan show together. Brad and I had discussed possibly collaborating on a few of his songs and so I had my whole barrage of instruments with me. As we set up and ran through of few, I was honored when he asked me to open with a few of my own songs. Of course I left my guitar at home...I had every other bizarre instrument...but not my guitar...Jada came to my rescue as always and dropped it off with a beautiful smile and peck on the lips, then left and went to some sort of craft party. We had a great time playing that night! I only played about 3 or 4 tunes and then Brad and the guys freaking rocked out then gave a captivating slideshow of La Chureca. Brad had some pretty moving words for all of us that night challenging our worldly way of thinking. I think everyone there had a great time and got a lot of love and motivation out of it.

Some shots my buddy Theo Milosevich took...






The IC Crew showed up towards the end and we all hung out for awhile and talked after the show. They ended up staying at our house that night because Jenn was feeling a bit sick. I made tea, we prayed and had a wonderful breakfast together the next morning. We prayed again and sent them west to Raleigh to check Jenn into the doctor and do some more screenings. They were a great group of kids living out their faith in a totally real way. It was really refreshing to see that.


Occy and the Invisible Children...Oi mate!!

They are such great kids!!!

I guess it's back to the bathroom for me while Jada babysits her cousin's daughters and his wife births their first son. I hope I didn't spoil the surprise. I'm never the first to know anything so it's kinda weird not being able to tell anyone. Oh well...looks like bagpipes and birthdays on the horizon...


Jada debates with Lizzy whether it will be a boy or a girl while Ava could care less because regardless she will be the middle child and she's pissed!

Spring Rising

It's the day before Easter and due to be the most gorgeous day of the week. J is still in bed and I am finishing up my first bowl-sized cup of tea for the morning. We are continuing our Easter tradition of fasting from sun up today until sun up tomorrow when we will celebrate the risen Christ and the true meaning of breakfast in ways that IHOP cannot imagine. I suppose telling folks about our new tradition is technically a scriptural no-no, but I am frequently torn because I would love to invite others to join us. Last year we fasted with D and April and D's friend Jamie and the feeling of solidarity and shared meaning was lovely in my mind. I enjoyed the thought that we were all experiencing the day together and yet in our own unique ways--a mini God analogy right there. And since, between J's evangelical background and my amalgamation of Catholicism and hippie-like Spiritualism we are technically in a multi-religious relationship, forming new traditions has become an important bonding/coping mechanism. I threw coping in there because I am the nostalgic one that still craves my annual fix of incense and palm fronds.

Alas.

All that being said, staying busy today is the name of the game and it's a perfect day for playing in the garden. I'd like to hunt down some pink camellias having satisfied myself that the camellias in the college boys' yard didn't die after the past year's drought and confirmed neglect. J did start a rain barrel project which I am excited about, but I plan on using that for my vegetable garden and continuing with my personal conviction not to water landscaping. Right now that works perfectly because we have no landscaping to speak of. Our master plan goes as far as camellias.

Speaking of a master plan, J and I attended the home expo a few weeks back and managed to win $1000 in free flooring from (insert shameless plug here). Who knew something as fun as flooring could be such a disaster to agree upon? What will add resale value, feel good, be sustainable, add warmth, eliminate cleaning, fit our budget, and match anything we decide to do in the future? Considering it is a wonder that I can even coordinate enough to dress myself in the morning (Can I hear an "Amen!" for 12 years of school uniforms?), I'm not sure how to satisfy all of the issues that need to be considered in this suddenly earth-shaking decision. At the root of it J and I are yuppie snobs with a miniature budget who shudder at the thought of laminate but can't afford bamboo. The worst kind, really. Right now it looks like Colonel Mustard in the kitchen with chocolate grout, and sand colored tile. I'm sure we'll keep you posted with all the scintillating details.

In the meantime, there is a bluebird couple expressing interest in the available real estate recently installed in our front yard. From the sound of their conversation I think he likes the fact that the roof is new, but she is unsure about the neighborhood. Perhaps some bright annuals and a few pink camellias will change her mind. I'm off to the greenhouse.

Steward of a House

I spent this afternoon mostly on my roof. Not because it's got a nice view of our surrounding neighbors backyards, which it does...but because I finally deemed it time to fix the shingles. It's an old house with a not sooo old roof, but I suppose it's old enough. You can watch some of the shingles flutter up when the wind gusts hard enough out of the west. Some of them you can't, because they're not there anymore hence today's home stewardship endeavor. I'm not entirely familiar with roofing, but I've seen some of the people who make a living at it and figured I could easily pick it up in a day thanks to google, and Home Depot. So aside from enjoying the passing clouds and occasional rooftop warmth when the sun peeked through...with aching ankles and knees...

















I replaced some weathered, worn and tattered pieces of shingles with new, solid, dependable ones. Now when I picked them out I knew they weren't the color of my roof...
...but my roof no longer looks as it did when it was brand new. They did not however look like the spots that had recently been patched right before purchasing the house, which could have been the original color. I had brought Jada along for the Home Depot trip which though I love and respect her opinions, I sometimes find more humor and/or frustration in them than seriousness. So when she said go with the Weathered Gray I thought "yeah that's great it'll look just like our old gray weathered roof does now after years of southern climatic forces..."

So up I went with 50 pounds of shingles on my shoulder, a hammer, some roofing nails and a chisel (I don't apparently own a pry bar). It's a pretty easy process really for anyone who hasn't had the pleasure of grating their knuckles like mozzarella, scratching fiberglass splinters in between their fingers all day, and cleaning asphalt out from under your fingernails. You gently lift the shingles, pry up eight nails, remove the old, clean out the debris, replace with the new, and renail the eight nails. After my first patch I stood up carefully, inspected my handiwork, and like all good artists, began critiquing my work as well as the new color scheme I had unleashed on my roof.

Now I've always been a fan of plaid...


but something here just didn't seem right...I guess I just never thought of it as a style for my roof.

I'm still not convinced about the resale value as far as the house goes, but as long as it's still under my care, I will love it and care for it and repair damaged shingles with weathered gray ones until I run out. After that maybe I'll go pick out another color to add further to the shingle vomit that will cover my house in an effort to prevent replacing the whole thing. You could say I have a 20 year old, 2 year old, 1 day old roof...kinda like that Johnny Cash song about his car...

...at least I won't get water damage...right?

Ohio: The heart of my all

I can't claim the Derita family as blood, but since we've shared so much over the years neither can I deny how much my family loves them. Photography wunderkind Stephanie Derita was always a fun, smart, and beautiful little girl so it comes as no surprise that she is now a talented, gorgeous woman with an eye for the story behind the picture. The following are a few pictures she shot while visiting my family home in Ohio in the summer of 2007. I appreciate how she captured the corners of the place that make it dear to me and how each picture is both interesting in its appearance and weighty with story. Keep it up, Steph!

A journal Jason made (and signed) for my dad...



The type of thoughts you'll find on my parents' kitchen window sill...

















good food...










My godparents: Chip and Felicia



















Home, sweet home...