Reminiscing and Confused

When I was a kid, my brothers and I would torture the boy-scouts during their meetings. Their meeting place was a metal roofed pavilion and was down a pretty steep embankment with a gravel drive. We always loathed them because parents and scout leaders would park in the parking lot across the alley from their entrance (no parking available next to the pavilion itself).

 

Savinelli – Estella

That’s right, this might be my newest pipe, but it’s taken forever for me to finally get it cleaned up and a picture posted.

 

Three Days Past The New Year

I’m really hoping that this year will be fulfilling to the point of overflowing. My family has grown with the addition of two great children we are fostering. My wife is closing the door to a company she’s been with for seven years. It’s been a bumpy, great, and interesting ride for her, but she’s had enough of the changes the company has made. Many of them aren’t for the better. She’s going to stay at home to take care of the kids and work to organize our home and home-life. There are many positives to this major change, so I think it’ll benefit not only my wife, but our whole family.

 

Fatherhood Sobriety Check

There’s been a lot going on since my last adoption/foster care update. I thought I got a taste of what it’s like to be a father, but in reality, I was kidding myself. The children we were hoping to come live with us ended up going back to their biological mother. It was a total flip from what anyone thought would happen, but hey, that’s the legal system for you. We’re just hoping that bio-mom cleaned up and placed enough stability for herself that she can care for her children.

 

A Glimpse At Fatherhood

It is a scary concept when you’re facing fatherhood in the face. I haven’t updated my blog on our adoption process for various reasons. One of them being that legally, I have to be careful of what and how much I share. Yes, our homestudy has been approved. We’ve asked about children and haven’t heard anything in return from the state case workers. But there is a sibling group  of two who we’re hoping and praying will become our children. Their case is kind of unique, yet it seems to be rather normal. Maybe it’s just unique from my perspective, I don’t know.

 

Underage Marriage

When we think of traditional values, we never really think about legally marrying through arranged marriages anymore. In fact, in our society today, marrying an underage person is considered sick and illegal. I’m not arguing the point at all. I think we’ve come a long way from arranged marriages and the problems that arise from them. I’m thankful that our parents cannot just arrange who we will love, or how our lives will be led for monetary purposes.

Recently, my wife showed me a site that did the unthinkable. Marryourdaughter.orgwas created. However, when we read the testimonials, it sounded like a bunch of trailer trash morons thinking they were wealthier and privileged more than they really were. I thought about blogging about this when I first saw it, but there were my own convictions in bringing more attention to a sick site like this. Now, I’m sure there are those sick bastards that haven’t been caught on NBC’s Dateline show to catch pedophiles that would jump at a chance like this. I’m just glad that it’s a hoax. Yes, that’s right, it’s not real. However, the site was created for some really awesome reasons. You can read the Newsweek article here to find out more. I can only imagine how many Conventional Christians got bent out of shape because of the arranged marriages being linked to Christianity as a tradition. Not totally true, but then again, many things, wrong or right, have been done in God’s name.

Maybe it is time that we put our foot down on some of these ridiculous laws that create loop holes for children to wed. I don’t know, but I do think it’s amazing how creative this whole set up was and how easily Mr. Ordover sucked people into the hoax.

One of the biggest things for bringing issues like this to the forefront of our minds is to remember not to go overboard with legislation. This is just my opinion, but I think prosecutors and the government can, will, and have gone overboard finding children themselves guilty. Ruining a young person’s life before it really gets started and labelling them as a sex offender for something minor. Don’t get me wrong, rape is rape. But where is the line drawn?

Just more to think about now that this particular hoax has been revealed. Look for Mr. Ordover’s official letter soon.

Later.

 

Tattoos & The World I Live In

In this time and place, tattoos are everywhere. It’s common to see them on just about everyone we meet who are in their twenties and thirties. My wife has three herself and I have one. The one tattoo that is emblazoned on my skin is a tribute. It’s a remembrance of a man who meant the world to me. The man who instilled a set of morals that has shaped and haunted me as I grew into the man I am today. My grandfather, a distinguished man, a stand up man, a comical man, and a compassionate man, who loved his family and always strived to do what was best for all of us. My grandmother was just as equal as he was and many times superceded this man who I looked up to so much.