Time flies when one is having fun.... I was "talking" to another Mod and realized that I should probably update my own thread for a change rather than commenting on everyone else's... and had to search... and search ... and search... My last post was before Easter!
So..... Hmmmmm .... where to start....
A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away... No, that's not right... <snort>
Since Easter, not TOO many changes have happened.... COVID still controls a vast part of daily life although, with the German population averaging about 60% fully immunized (myself included) some things are beginning to relax a bit and some restrictions are being lifted for those who have been vaccinated or are recovered.
R and I have been to a couple of concerts in the past month and that was really nice to get out. We also went to a REAL restaurant and celebrated our 2 year "anniversary" last week. It's not the first time we've managed to go out but it is still rare enough that it was a big deal.
I'm not quite sure how to refer to R's kids since we are not married so they aren't Step Kids but they are more than just "her kids" as they and I have a really good relationship. In German there is a term "Vize" like "substitute" but that isn't it either because they are NOT substitutes for my own kids so.... The reason I am thinking about this is that they do (particularly RD20 - R's D20?) play a pretty prominent role in life as we now know it... Na ja, RD20 lives at home and is studying Physics while RS18 is in a town about 90 minutes south and going through a practical school for watchmaking (yes, there are still people who do that in Europe). Anyway, D20 was visiting her BF and was gone for a few weeks. She came back the other evening and calmly announced that they (she and BFs parents) had to take BF to the hospital because he had a high fever and was really sick... turns out he has/had Mono...
He got it from her.... and she had also apparently given it to her brother (RS18) who spent several days travelling around Europe while ill... At least not as bad as RD20's BF.... Never a dull moment in our house....
My S14 is in the middle of his first relationship explosion with a girl in his class whose mom at first was happy but now wants her daughter to go after the boy with more money...
so he's taking that pretty hard.... GF's home life is NOT good - there is alcohol and other issues there... and he was staying a lot more with xW2 because GF lived around the corner... Now that that seems to be on ice for the present, he is coming to us again more often.
D11 is still having mom's anxiety projected on her so she shows up every 2nd weekend but is no loner reporting back to mom every few hours so that is an improvement too....
R, D11, S14, and I went on our vacation this summer to Turkey on the Aegean Coast for 2 weeks and it was really wonderful... NOT a huge touristy town and we had a great time together. The older ones stayed at home and took care of the dog and got Mono evidently as that seems to be the right time frame for the incubation to break out and both RD20 and RS18 were sick with the "normal" mono symptoms...
Other than that Mrs. Lincoln, how was the play?
Seriously though, as far as my life is concerned, as I was saying earlier, R and I have just celebrated 2 years and it has been an interesting ride. Each of us has triggers although, honestly, I think some of mine might be a bit fresher than hers as she has had a couple of TR's between but was divorced for about 14 years before we got together... One of my triggers got whacked over the weekend (had NOTHING to do with R directly) because xW2 sent me a note saying that we "needed to talk about the kids" which I knew meant that she wanted to talk about money. THAT was a massive trigger for me because every time MLCxW1 wanted to "talk about the kid" meant that I was going to get taken to the cleaners. R and I talked a fair amount about it and to be honest, sometimes she was supportive of xW2's position (NOT helpful but it was reasonable) and sometimes mine. In the end, MLCxW2 and I talked and, yes, she DID want money but was quite reasonable about it and actually left it up to me to decide. The whole thing revolves around D11 in that, in the agreement, the kids were to be 50/50 between us and the costs as well. Well, because D11 is scared of her own shadow (thanks to mom's anxiety projection) D11 is, like I said, with me 2 days of 14 so the costs for her mom are higher than she expected. We came to a reasonable agreement that is also temporary.... Later, I thanked R for talking me off the ledge as I was really running down the rabbit hole before hand and it helped MLCxW2 and I to have a reasonable conversation...
I am preaching about once per month now (so regularly) and have been invited to appear before a specific formation committee in January to see where the process will go from here so that is kind of exciting. Last Sunday, the readings were one of those that no Pastor/Priest/Preacher I know really likes - the "Chop it off" reading from Mark... so I had to come up with something on that theme and I think I did OK. S14 went with me and was immediately drafted into service as an Acolyte. The priest was over the moon happy that he had a full Acolyte Team on the altar for the first time since he has been here (yeah, he started just when the COVID Pandemic was in full swing). In addition, we are doing something that not too many other churches in Europe are doing at the moment and that is we are truly Hybrid with in-person worship in the church combined with an on-line community that stretches to the US, India, and Finnland. They participate as well, sometimes doing readings, reading the prayers, etc so it is a real 2-way service and not just a Webcast. That has been a real challenge to implement on a shoestring budget but it has worked so far.....
Not a whole lot else to report at the moment. Life continues and all is well in the Bear's Den!
Thread 37 - Blended, not stirred
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