Went back to Monterey Church today... and the speaker started her closing prayer with, "Hey Dad..." Never heard that before. Hrm... it sounds blasphemous, and yet... that's probably how people felt when Jesus first uttered the words, "Our Father..."
Two months after my highest high of crushing the Pecha Kucha... I was asked to present it to the Executive Leadership Team by my VP. He meant well... to get me out in front of senior leaders. And he was trying to showcase some of this organization's contributions. But as the day drew near... the number of attendees started to dwindle. From 15-20... down to 10... down to 4... down to 2. Really, it was 1, because my VP heard it already.
And I so royally bombed.
Not my fault.
It was the worst of worse situation... to a point where the one person audience harnessed all his politeness.. listened... got up... and left. My VP felt so bad he texted me and apologized.
I had a feeling this was gonna happen and it really is no hair off my back. But still... doesn't feel good to be humbled this way.
Was wrapping up a meeting and HR called. They never call... they IM you first. Something was up.
After an afternoon of swirl with some assumptions and expectations... Got another call. This time during dinner and on my personal cell. This time instead of HR, was my VP.
"I've got some bad news to deliver."
(No. No no no!! Don't say it.)
"XXXXX has past away."
(NO!!!! This can't be real!!!!).
In my mind... I thought that person may have had a stroke... maybe a mild heart attack. Something that happens when you're around your late 40's / early 50's... and it just happens. But you get better after a health scare and things get back to normal.
I was shocked.
Just last week.. we were in meetings together. We broke bread. We even went out to dinner to talk about vacation... kids... life outside of work. Ironically... this person even mentioned that their heart rate has been going up and needed to check it out.
I was shocked. I didn't know how to act. Gave my family a hug. Cherish who I have. I knelt down... said a prayer for the family. Who knows what they're going through.
Then I texted my colleagues and friends, telling them if they want to talk, I'm here to listen.
Then I went for a walk. I needed to "do something." And about 0.25 mile into my walk... I looked up at the blue sky. And uncontrollably uttered the words, "Thanks, XXXXX."
Will wait till more details to come while continuing to process.
After about 3 months... I finally make it back to New Orleans. The flight was.... odd.
Sat in front of a family with a young toddler and a newborn. I was kinda glad that it was me. I wouldn't have minded any noise or crying. Let me bear that cross.
Ironically... another dad sat next to me. I know he was a dad cuz I saw his wall paper on his phone. As we started to roll to take off... the todder behind the middle seat started kicking the chair. Uncontrollably. I thought, "The parents will do something, right?" But they didn't. Didn't hear a peep. And the kicking continued. Not sure what I would've done... even as patient as I am... I don't know if I can stand constant kicking of the chair. And the dude finally said, in an annoyed yet polite way, "Can you please stop the kicking? Thank you."
Not bad. Forceful, but had the decency to say "please" and "thank you." I know parents can't control everything... but that was definitely something they could've controlled.
Then as we landed.... the lady and the toddler got up and crowded in the aisle way. They were rarin' to get out of the plane. Slowly... the people in front of us got up row by row... left then right. And the mom and the toddler showed NO SIGNS of yielding. The same dad whispered, somewhat loudly, to me, "So much for airplane etiquette." I didn't know what to say. Again... this was something the parents could control. But it's a 2 year old that's been cramped up for 4.5 hours. She wanted to stretch her legs. I simply shrugged and said, "It's alright. Whatever."
Then it got to the folks in front of us... the mom and toddler didn't even yield to them. They sped and ran. I slowly waited till they were done. Then I wailed till the folks on the other side of the aisle got up and left. Then I got up.... I looked at the dad who had the newborn in his hands. His wife and daughter ditched them. I told him, "Go ahead." So he can catch up with this family. And he so nobly said, "No.. it's ok. You go." And I replied... "No.. you go." And he said, "Nah.. it's ok." I didn't want to fight him and further delay our deboarding. I guess the loud whisper worked. But to what end????
Anyhoo... finally got to the car. Texted my colleague I won't join them for dinner and I made a stop at Pesces. Ahhhh... home sweet home.
Got the gumbo... which was extremely salty. Will probably avoid it next time.
Day 2 of the Norcal Tournament…. And the boys were clearly hitting their stride. They went back to their original rotation, with SW as setting and Rishab as middle. We didn’t have any problems with the 1st set of the 1st match…. Playing a team that we’ve always played and never lost to. We were up comfortably and needed one more point to win…. When SW decided to showboat (or play up) and served a topper to the top of the net. Much to the dismay of all the parents, “Why!?!??!?!” Luckily… that one little mishap didn’t turn into bad happenings. We ended up beating Aspire Ninja handily… which goes to show how much the team has improved.
But in the finals of the Bronze bracket… after winning the 1st set
without breaking a set… everyone started fooling around. The Coach played with the lineup to let other
players play. And after it went back and
forth… back and forth… it started looking like this might not go our way. One of the bystander parents even said, “Looks
like this might go to 3.” For some
reason, we just couldn’t pull away.
Until… we finally did. We were up
by 3… and had all the momentum. Then…
one of the players decided to showboat, like SW did, and serve a topper. His serve not only didn’t make it over the
net… it actually hit one of our own players.
No worries. We were still up by
2. And then… things started
unraveling. One point after another… we
kept messing up. Simple, stupid
mistakes. The momentum… suddenly
swung. Even after a couple of couldn’t
stop the avalanche. 23-25. Lost the 2nd set.
No worries… we were clearly the better team. We just need to hunker down and play like we played in the first set. We got this. For the 3rd set… set went with our “3rd set rotation – where we go 5:1.” And within a blink of an eye… we were down 0-8. Horrible passes. Miscommunication between SW and the middle. Ill-advised plays. Everyone was just going the wrong way. We eventually tied it at 11-11 and thinking… our experience can take us over the hill. Not this time. Not with the showboating. Not with the series of bad and missed-calls from the refs. The deck was stacked against us… the final score was 11-15. One of the worst losses of this team’s history. Almost as bad as being up 10-0 against MVVC and throwing it. This was worst. This was against a clearly worse team. It was painful… it sucked…. And the boys had to wear it. May it be a lesson learned in life… foot on the neck. Strike first. Strike hard. No mercy.
After 3 years of teaching ESL… I wrapped up… what is seemingly the last class I will ever teach. At least the last class I’ll teach as a full time ESL teacher at SJCAC. The traffic gets worse and worse. And now that the kids aren’t serving in Tutoring… it makes it hard for me to go solo. Add on the fact that Joyce has given me an unwritten quota of what I can do with my “spare” time… the time has come to invest in New Vine and no longer SJ.
These past three years have been humbling, challenging, and rewarding. I was able to serve together with N and SW… for a short time. A lot of times, those 45 minute drives ended up being naps for them. I can’t express the joy I have when I share a different bible verse each week… and see the students’ face light up when they feel the encouragement of God’s words. I’ve been graced by the presence and efforts of many of the pillars of SJCAC. Seeing how many of them have served in ESL for years if not decades… and they continue to bring it, week after week, year after year. I am saddened to see some of our students come and go… some disappear because of jobs. But more recently, they disappear for other reasons.
Oh geez… easily one of the worst worship experience ever. I blame myself for not practicing on my edrums at home. I blame myself for not knowing 6/8. I blame myself for trying to do too much. I blame the lack of chemistry this team has with each other. It was so bad… I couldn’t bring myself to listen to it again. Let’s hope this is rock bottom.
SW's team scrimmaged UVA today and he opted to play lib. It was.... new.
He has the instincts but not the skills. He knows where to go but not what to do. He knows the basics but doesn't have the experience. It simply doesn't fit.
His teammate that took over setting. Same way.
The team did not do well, overall.
Parents are asking... "Why isn't SW setting?"
One of the perks of going to King’s is getting done with school earlier than most. Last year, we went camping at Tahoe with the Tat’s and Yu’s. I still have the bug from being outdoors, but knowing the family aren’t quite the outdoorsy type… decided to try glamping. I typed in Grok, “Best Bay Area glamping” and was recommended to go to Wildhaven Sonoma. A short 2 hour drive… with a fully furnished cabin with AC, heater, power, queen sized mattressed bed… community shower with hot water, propane grills, and individual camp fires. There was also a private access to the Russian River – which we didn’t take advantage of.
