3 Weeks Worth Of Catch-Up(Ketchup?)

Once again, it's been about 3 weeks since my last entry. The reasons are the same; lack of a title, lack of comments from others on recent entries, etc.

As everyone knows by now, "my" Red Sox WON THE WORLD SERIES! No, that's not a typo, a misprint, a fantasy, or a hallucination, it REALLY HAPPENED! And, they gave the Yankees the WORST COLLAPSE IN MLB POSTSEASON HISTORY en route to the Series, where they SWEPT THE HEAVILY FAVORED CARDINALS and, thus, avenged '67 & '46 as well.

This all happened about 10 days ago, and I still don't know what to make of, or how to feel about, it. Yes, I'm definitely very happy, especially after having lived thru '78, '86, & '03. But it's also very true that what "they" write about the hardluck nature of the "cursed" Red Sox and all their infamously Sisyphean postseason failures is a BIG part of the identity of that team - and of it's fans. Finally being able to exhale, celebrate, and let our hair grow back in is quite an adjustment.

I kinda wish Rebekah were old enough to understand what was happening when they won. But, then again, even if she were old enough to understand it, she could never begin to comprehend the significance of it. I mean, none of the "baggage" that makes this so significant is in her memory, something similar to the second MLB game she was AT being a no-hitter(also true).

But we'll still get her a Bosox '04 WORLD CHAMPS T-shirt. Even tho we'll have to get her a Youth Small, cuz they don't make them in anything smaller. I really wish they did, especially since I think a Bosox '04 World Champs onezie would just be SOOO CUUUTE. But they don't.

And, yes, the buying of the Bosox '04 World Champs Ts _is_ still in future tense. We haven't yet bought any '04 MLB postseason Ts. Not for the Bosox ALWC, nor the AL Champs, nor the World Champs. Not even the NLWest Champs Dodgers Ts that we want to get for Tim & Jen as "gag" Christmas gifts. And that's cuz we haven't had the money, and still don't.

Between being out of work for her thumb cut and then for her seizure, Kat worked less than 3 days in October. Yes, we'll get disability and accident insurance for both, but things are still verytight moneywise.

Looking back at it, I prolly should have tried to work at least some shifts @Vanguard in October, especially with Kat's being home to watch Rebekah(which was the main "roadblock" initially). But we'll be ok "anyway"; live and learn.

I may still do a medical study, if I can find one that'll fit around our schedule and isn't too "risky". I'll have to look into that and see what's out there.

We're not complaining(or fighting), and we're getting by ok. Aldi's has been a major blessing, and most of what we've bought or spent money on in the past 2-3 weeks has been food; almost all of it. Kat won't get anything close to a full paycheck for another 10 days, and that's already "claimed" by rent and various other bills, so we've still a ways to go. No complaints, this is just how it is and where we're "at" right now.

In another baseball note, we found out about a month or so ago that "our" Wilmington Blue Rocks will be a Red Sox affiliate next season(and in '06 too)! This has me very excited and looking forward to going to their games next season even more than I already was, and that's going some.

I'm getting more involved at church. The first Game Night, this past Friday night, went very well. So well that we're going to have them twice a month, rather than the origional plan of monthly. We decided to make it a church activity, rather than a community outreach, and I definitely think it was the right move.

I've also started a Yahoo group for the church. I talked with Randy about it yesterday, and he ok'd it. He said that he eventually wants to get a website going for the church, and I think that's a very good idea. But, between the links, calendar, photos, files, and database sections, a Yahoo group is something like a "website for dummies" anyway.

I've been watching the CCOB services online lately and really getting a lot out of them. I still have my doubts as to whether I'd want us to be going there(or if I'd be comfortable there) if we lived in that area, but that's pretty much a moot and/or irrelevant question anyway, since we don't and I doubt we ever will. But, whether or not we'd go there if we lived there, I'm still getting a lot out of the messages I've been watching online from there.

Billy Graham's got a crusade planned for Madison Square Garden in June '05. I doubt that we'll be able to go to any of it, and I also doubt that CBC will be able to take an active part in supporting it(aside from prayer and maybe a contribution), but it'd still be neat to go up for a day or so of it if we could.

It's almost hard to believe that both of the Billy Graham crusades I've been to and been involved with were over a decade ago! As usually seems to be the case with distant memories, they seem more recent than that in some ways, yet longer ago than that in others.

Rebekah continues to grow and change so quickly! We''ve already got so many pictures of her that hardly look like her now.

I really want to get dates on all our pictures asap, cuz it's already hard to remember exact dates for some of them(or even close to exact, in some cases). I also want to get all the pictures we've got on our puter backed up with copies of those pix on disks.

Mom & Dad came down to visit last Saturday. Overall, it went fairly well, and I was even able to speak up when I disagreed with what Dad was saying without getting overly loud or causing a "stir" any of the(few, but multiple) times it was appropriate.

Kat has Christmas weekend off from work, and Mom's not expecting the Brattins in NJ for Christmas, so we plan to go up to EB for Christmas this year. It'll be Rebekah's 2nd Christmas, her 1st in NJ, and our first one up there in quite a few years. I'm not even sure when our last NJ Christmas was, it's been so long.

Of course, 2 weeks after Christmas is Rebekah's(2nd) birthday. I checked with Randy yesterday, and he ok'd us using the church(basement/auditorium & kitchen) for her birthday party. Fortunately, January 8th is a Saturday this year, so we'll get to have her party ON her birthday!

We're not doing much of anything for Thanksgiving tho. Kat's got Thanksgiving off, but just THE DAY of it, so we're not going anywhere. I'm sure we'll still have a nice relaxing day tho.