Talk Like a Pirate Day!

I know me dear brother, Rose is talkin' like a true pirate today. I'd bet me last dubloon that his wee lass Jasmine is talkin' proper today too.

Ifin' any o y'all wish ta plunder and loot, comon' o'er ta me house to play me Pirate Games!

Worry Time

My dad (Papa Pansy) went into the hospital Saturday night. The doctor said it looks like cancer and drained six liters of fluid from him. He is feeling much better, they have sent the fluid to the lab to be analyzed and he is supposed to go home today. We should get the results back from the lab in a couple of days.

Please say a prayer, meditate, send positive thought waves or whatever you do for his speedy recovery and for strength.

Summer Ending Update

Seeing as it is mid September and the summer is almost technically over (with the Autumnal Equinox) I figured I really ought to run down everything that happened this summer:

JUNE
- Star graduated from 8th grade at Santa Maria del Popolo. *Orchid played bells for the ceremony
*Star won the President's Award (from the President of the US). There were only two students who won.
*Star read the Reading at mass
- Star and I went to Washington D.C. for her 8th grade trip. She was one of four students who laid a wreath on the tomb of the Unknown Soldier.
- Star went to summer school for her state required Health class (she was the star pupil)
- Star's 14th birthday!

JULY
- Star, Orchid, Tulip and I got passes for our park district pool and we tried to go as often as we could
- Orchid got contact lenses (she's almost as blind as her sister Star).
- The Owasippe Trip

AUGUST
- A new flower blooms! On 4 August 2008 my brother, Ginger and his wife Holly added a new bud to accompany Lilac and Geranium. Let's call him PETUNIA!
- We added another flower, sort of, by marriage. Marigold married Apple Blossom. We never thought we'd see the day when Marigold got married. We all had a blast.

- Star
*Started High School (gasp)! She loves her teachers and classes
*Started Volleyball at school. She's on the Frosh B team (takes after her old man on the B team), but she has Volleyball as a specific gym class so maybe next year she'll move up.
*Isn't playing clarinet anymore. She had a good run there, from 4th to 8th grade.

- Orchid
*Started 7th grade. Just one more year to go. She's doing very well so far and has a great attitude toward school.
*Signed up for Track but switched to Volleyball. She dropped out of band, but says she'll keep up her flute. Let's hope she can.
*She's not going to be in Girl Scouts anymore herself, but she's going to be helping Tulip's Girl Scout Troop

- Tulip
*Started 2nd grade, but she still has the same teacher. We loved that teacher last year so this should be another good year for her.
*Still in Girl Scouts and still loves it

EARLY SEPTEMBER
- Bushia (aw heck, she doesn't need a flower name) went into the hospital. She's 88 and very weak, but she is home now and recovering.

- Star is now sharing her wisdom and holy graces with younger Orthodox youth by helping out as an Assistant Sunday School teacher
- Tulip started Sunday School and Greek School (actually tonight is her first night)
- Star has moved up to full fledged GOYA (Greek Orthodox Youth Assoc.) and has left poor Orchid in Jr. GOYA.
- I'm going to be starting adult Greek school on Thursday nights. Cross your fingers for me.

Owasippe Report

This is my report on our trip, last week, to Owasippe Scout Reservation. Owasippe is the oldest Scout Reservation in the country, established in 1911 and is in danger of being sold off.

So, here is what we did. If I missed anything and you were there, please leave me a comment or send me an email.

Sunday
o Left at 11:30 (much later than planned)
o Orientation
Signed up for
· Ice cream social - good do again
· Sailing
· Wall climbing
· COPE - Good do again
· Paintball - they want to do again
· Carmel apples
o No swim check
o Kids went to Pizza Hut for dinner with Pansy and Begonia while Gardenia and I cleaned
o Next year leave earlier so we can swim check and see Wolverine's opening campfire (Jonquil did go and said it was great)

Monday
o Swim tests and Adult swim on the :45s
o I intended to do hikes at 9:00, but never made it (Monday I had to do low COPE and pay for all our stuff) Juniper did go everyday I think.

Tuesday
o Our Anniversary
o Sailing winded out - rest of the week full
o Went to get Monster Shakes
o Wall climbing at night

Wednesday
o Anniversary dinner at Lakeview Inn Resort (very nice)
o Hike with Tulip to the Quaking Bogs
o Paintball

Thursday
o High COPE
Sweet Pea made it as far as me, but when he fell off he said, "I'm going down bad. This is going to be ugly." He fell and hung up by his ankle while the girl on his belay shot up in the air.
Lavender went all the way
Star went all the way, but she sat down on the last obstacle and slide along on her butt.
I made it to half way through the third thing (trapezes, I made it up the rope ladder, across the log and across the cable with the dangling ropes). I had to stop because I just didn't have the hand/arm strength.
Jonquil went all the way.
o Went to Ishnala for ice cream
o Went to museum and the old man there said that Owasippe's Grave is only 20 minutes down the Red trail. I sent him a copy of the '83 Carlen staff photo (on Monday after)
o Star Hike - Tulip had to leave early to go to the bathroom and because she was scared. Jonquil gave the stories of the stars.

Friday
o Gardenia, Daffodil, Juniper, Cathy and I went to the Quaking Bogs (went to Turtle Valley first by mistake)
o Mile Swim for Carnation and me. I finished (12:50 - 13:40) and kept swimming with Carnation until she finished at about 14:30 (about 1.5 miles for me)
o Closing campfire. Gardenia said we would come back next year. Orchid cried that night because they might sell Owasippe
o Flower Family Pot Luck
o Christmas in July
Christmas breakfast from the staff and it was only 1/2 a banana, OR 1/4 an orange, OR 1/6 and apple with one donut

Saturday
o Packed up
o Went to Ad Center Trading Post (I got a mug and a hat, Tulip got a walking stick and Orchid got a shirt, Star didn't go in with us)
o Went to Owasippe's Grave. It's very up and down hills and took us 40 minutes (I timed it, with me carrying Tulip for about 1/5th the way).
o Didn't eat breakfast
o Went to Ishnala for ice cream
o Ate at Pita Place in Muskegon

Next year
o I will do Channel Swim
o Flower Family Mile Swim club
o Flower Family will do Christmas Breakfast
o Bring boat

From 29 May 08

I was writing this and I never got around to finishing it. Here is what I had:

"I've actually been dieing to write this, but I haven't had time. I've got a lot to tell you, but first I want to mention that I'm at the Greek Consulate right now with Yarrow and Peony. Cool huh? They needed to get some paperwork done so I offered to drive them downtown. It's a long wait so I thought I'd type this out now. There's no WiFi here so I'll post it later.

The big news is the Junior Olympics. Last Saturday we went to SS Constantine and Helen (Gardenia's Alma mater is Kores, the grade school there and we got married there, btw) in Palos Hills. We got there for the opening ceremony, but volleyball didn't start until 4:30pm. That was good, because when we arrived I still wasn't sure we had a team (I had had one practice and only my girls and another pair of sisters showed).

We met the other pair of sisters and we had six. The only trouble was the four not mine had never played volleyball before. I had brought a ball so we spent all day getting to know each other and hitting the ball around.

We ended up winning the game! The girls really worked well together well and helped each other alot. They're all great girls and I'm very proud of them.

The second round was Sunday afternoon (to give us all a chance to go to church I'm sure, but only Star, Rose and I took advantage of that opportunity). We showed up and got mown down by a team full of High School volleyball players. The thing that surprised me the most was that I wasn't at all unhappy that we lost, I was sad that we couldn't play anymore. The girls were that great.

Now we will get away from sports, but stay with the Greeks."

I don't remember what I was going to write next, but the report up until then was very good and exciting (to me at least). I wrote all the green text on my PDA. I love having the opportunity to do that (although it is a bit of a pain because my fingers are too big and the keyboard is only virtual).

I didn't mention it in this post, but I was the coach for that team. Both Star and Orchid played on the team and Tulip made herself the team nurse.

Quick Update

This is going to be a quick update because I have been long absent from this site and I have a major change.

I have moved to a new shift and now work mornings and get off at 1430.

I will make more posts, some even backdated, I promise.

Mowing the Lawn and the Olympics

The last couple of weeks it has been raining every time I have intended to mow the lawn for the first time this year. Finally, last Saturday I went out, between showers and did it.

There were two problems with this, one: the grass was very wet so it wouldn't go into the bag; and B: it got dark by the time I was finishing so I couldn't see where I was going mostly.

The end result, after more than an hour and a half was a poorly mown lawn. It, of course, didn't rain from that point until Monday. I went out and mowed it again, twice! It looks really nice now, but that is what prompted the latest poll about lawn mowers.

On to the Olympics, no, not the trouble in Tibet or other protests, but the "real" Olympics, the important one, Junior Olympics.

The Greek Orthodox Metropolis of Chicago holds a Junior Olympics every year. Every year my girls sign up for volleyball and every year our church can't field a volleyball team. This year I asked if it was lack of players or lack of a coach.

Guess who the coach is now? You got it on the first try. I'm now the volleyball coach for our church, Ascension of Our Lord. The Junior Olympics are Memorial Day weekend at Saints (abbreviated SS) Constantine and Helen in Palos Hills (where Gardenia and I got married).