An Explosive Past

We all have regrets.

Moments from our past we wish had never happened.

For some of us those moments were played out in front of a large audience. An audience with a good memory.

I suspected that I was meeting a former member of my "audience" when a visitor to our Ward approached me at the end of Sacrament meeting which I had just conducted.

Sister visitor: Hi. Are you the son of John and Madge Thomas?
Me: Yes (cringe! where is this going)
Sister visitor: I think you blew up our mailbox
Me: Uh..

What do you say to that?

I could enjoy the moment and share my true feelings: "Oh yeah I remember that. It was awesome. Especially all the mail that shredded and floated down like snow. Oh man those were the good ole days."

Or I could play the pious young man who has reformed his ways. "Oh Sister I am so sorry. I am so glad to see you again so I could tell you how sorry I am. You have no idea how much angst my misdeed caused me. Thank you for being so understanding."

What did I do?

I just ignored the comment.


But it has got me thinking. Wouldn't it be ironic if your mailbox was blown up again 25 years to the day after the first time?

Might just make people think long and hard about what childhood stories they want to relive with me!

14 Days of Bliss

This year we stayed at Balboa Island longer than most years - a whole two weeks. Granted I was still working, but I did sneak out for lunch and early afternoons so it still felt like vacation.

The island has become such a tradition for our family that just driving over the bridge puts a smile on everyones face as we relax and anticipate all the fun.

A few of my favorites.

The Scooter Brigade - the kids all bring their scooters and race around the island in a pack. I am sure there are a few unhappy people who must scramble to protect their toes when the unruly Thomas kids come helter skelter down the board walk. This picture is with a few Moffat cousins that live nearby and came for a visit.



The Arcade - We purposefully didn't keep track of how much money we spent at the arcade this year because it was way too much. When you play most of the games you get tickets back that can be redeemed for prizes. Even Ryan would demand more "money" so he could keep playing.


Ice Cream at "Dad's" - Every night we took a walk that ended up at the true original ice cream place on the island. Believe it or not by the end the adults were actually a little tired of ice cream. Here we are again with cousins who came to visit.


The Ferry - At least once a day we had to take the Ferry across to Newport Beach. The kids loved the novelty of getting around on a boat.




Beach time - The weather wasn't too warm this time but we still made it to the beach. Now that Ryan (2) is older we can actually relax a little. Here is Mindy with her brother on the beach at Newport.


Family Time - but my favorite was taking walks with just our little family and wondering where in the heck all these kids came from.


I am already looking forward to next year.

The Politics of "Morning"

Each morning during our 2 week stay on Balboa Island I would rise early and jog around the boardwalk which circled the island.


And each morning I passed any number of people out on the boardwalk. Dog walkers. Coffee getters. Young mothers with a small child that woke up early. Girlfriends chatting. Old men. East Coast visitors that were awake and didn't know what else to do.

As you can see from the above picture the boardwalk isn't all that wide and it is only about 2 1/2 miles around. So if you do several laps you are going to see some of the same people over and over.

As I would encounter someone coming the other direction I had a couple of choices. I could try and avoid eye contact, which takes some thought and effort, I could look at them but not say anything, also awkward to do over and over, or I could acknowledge them in some way.

So I decided to try and say "morning" to everyone.

Soon it became a game. Especially the ones who avoided eye contact with me. I would remember them and the next time I passed them I would do something, like veer towards them, to see if they would look at me so I could say "morning".

There are some crusty people out there who just don't want any human interaction in the morning. I eventually got most people to respond. But there were a couple of folks who I saw every morning and they never once looked at me.

Somewhere out there is another blog that has a post that goes something like this:

"Our Visit to Balboa Island"

Every morning I tried to take a walk and enjoy the peace and quiet. But I was hounded by some "special needs" man who ran around waving and saying "morning" to everyone. The West Coast can be so annoying.

Mr. Darcy vs. Mr. Willis

For the past couple of nights we have been indulging in a nightly ritual while here at the beach house. We get the kids to bed then Mindy, her sister and I curl up to watch some of Pride & Prejudice. The old 6 hour BBC version with Colin Firth.


Mindy and her sister escape into the arms of Mr. Darcy and I envision a good verbal spar with Lizzy. Just me hanging with the girls watching some good ole romantic Jane Austin.

Seemed innocent enough.

Then yesterday (Sunday) I found myself again surrounded by girls. Lots of them. Our entire Young Womens. I was sitting in on a lesson which happened to be "Appreciating the Cultural Arts".

For the first half of the lesson I had nothing to contribute as they talked about music, for which I have absolutely no talent and limited appreciation except for music that they should probably not be listening to. But just as I was about to be lulled to sleep by the constant chattering in the room the topic changed to literature and then quickly to Jane Austen.

I perked up as hand after hand shot up to eagerly share love and appreciation for Miss Austen and then the conversation turned to Pride & Prejudice. Now I was wide awake and on the edge of my seat. The energy in the room was palpable. This was nothing like the "Men's" meetings. This was unbridled sharing of feelings, with no fear.

Before I knew it my hand was in the air and I had shared with the whole room how I was in the middle of watching Pride & Prejudice and loved all Jane Austen. We bonded in that moment as they all nodded in approval.

But there is a price to pay when we blurt out the secrets deep in our hearts. (remember High School Musical?)

Today I got a call from a couple of friends. This was the conversation:

Friend: Dude what are you doing?
Me: What do you mean?
Friend: I mean my daughter came home and wants me to watch Pride & Prejudice with her. She said you said you watched it. So what are you doing?
Me: Oh yeah. I guess I might have...Well it's not that bad you know...
Friend: Dude you are so messed up. Knock it off.

Anyone want to go to Die Hard IV?

Oops

It was only my third time conducting Sunday meetings.

I'm still a little nervous and bewildered that I am up there.

This Sunday when it was time to begin signing the hymn to prepare for the Sacrament I looked over and noticed that the Sacrament table was empty!

The young men responsible for preparing the Sacrament had just recently returned from scout camp and had forgotten to coordinate who was going to be in charge of preparing.

So as I stood up we made a quick change of plans. I asked the youth speakers to go ahead and give their talks while a very embarrassed Young Mens leadership prepared the Sacrament. The youth speakers were a little shaken with the sudden change of plans but they did great. After they sat down we then proceeded with the Sacrament.

I have never been in a meeting where the Sacrament wasn't ready. I have seen it cut close, but they always made it.

The first of many stories I'm sure.

Fireworks With The Proleteriat

Several years ago Mindy discovered a way to watch a great fireworks show and avoid many of the hassles - mainly traffic.

How she stumbled upon this little secret is a whole story unto itself. But suffice it to say that I spent that 4th of July in Manila, Philippines eating dinner at a Thai restaurant with two guys, one from Ireland and the other from Portugal.

So Mindy, left alone with no invitations had to improvise and improvise she did. While trying to get close to a major fireworks show at the local community college, she ended up in the parking lot of a nearby Target and noticed everyone pulling out their beach chairs, right there on the asphalt, to watch the show.

So here we are years later in one of the most beautiful cities in the world. Where do we chose to go see the fireworks? Del Mar? La Jolla? San Diego Bay? Sea World?

No you can find us hanging in the Target parking lot.


And come to think of it not just any Target. It happens to be in the area of San Diego referred to as Manila Mesa (instead of Mira Mesa) on account of all the Filipinos.

Now that's what we call full circle.