Attending the Gay Pride Parade with dear old dad

As this title implies, I did attend a gay pride parade with my dad this weekend. I invited other people to go but my dad was the only one interested and available. This was actually my second time at the gay pride parade, though the first time with my dad.

I went once with friends after our Sunday night church service before my parents moved to this side of town. If memory serves me right, I was accompanied by Jocelyn, Neha, David Ray and a shy guy from our church named Matt Whitfill. The parade is pretty amusing. That year, Matt Whitfill just stood behind us and giggled. I think he was a bit nervous. David Ray, on the other hand, was very confident of his heterosexuality. He cheered and waved quite a bit in order to obtain some of the goodies being thrown from the floats. Inexplicably he had his eye on a larger than average strand of rainbow mardi gras beads and was determined to get them. He cheered and danced around. But the bearer of the beads told him he would have to do a lot more than that to get those beads. Eek!

A group of old lesbians came by and apparently one took a liking to Jocelyn. Jocelyn's arms were open wide as she was clapping. A grey haired lesbian mistook the open arms for a hug invitation and went in for the kill. Jocelyn was confused by the hug at first but then shrugged and went with it. It was good times and we came away with an assortment of free rainbow colored trinkets including a rainbow gallery furniture shirt, which my grandpa later wore.

This year's parade was good although there was sometimes too much down time between floats. I expected to see some people I know. A large number of my store's patrons are gay as well as current and former employees. Also I have learned from myspace that a disconcerting amount of girls I played with or against in basketball through the years are now playing for that team. Unfortunately I did not see anyone I knew. There were just too many people to be able to really see. My dad's favorite float- Lesbians over 70 was not in the parade this year. They did have lesbians over 50 but that wasn't good enough for my dad. There were some guys dressed like take-out Chinese food. They looked pretty cool.

I managed to snag a decent amount of free condoms. I don't have any use for them other than as water balloons. They do make some amazing water balloons. You should definitely give it a try. I also got something called a dental dam, which I had learned about in sex ed in high school. My dad didn't know what it was and wanted me to explain it to him. Eek! I refused. If you are wondering what it is, look it up on the internet, cuz I am not typing it.

My dad was almost flirting with the ladies next to us. I think not having my mom by his side meade my dad feel a little vulnerable. It didn't help when a guy in the parade who was around my dad's age instead of throwing a beaded necklace, handed it to my dad with a knowing look. My dad immediately gave the beads to the girls standing next to him.

Overall it was a lovely parade and you all missed out. I will be posting pics soon.

South Padre Summary

Last weekend my family went to South Padre and I haven't gotten a chance to write about it yet. Well, here I go.

My family has been going to South Padre almost every summer for the last 15 or so years. My dad is a lawyer and there is a law conference there every year. My favorite times there were when I was in high school and we rented a big 3 bedroom condo on the beach. I got to bring friends and along with Andrew, we had the time of our lives. We'd boogie board all day and hang out. I have so many great memories from then.

This time we stayed at the Raddison and had some nice beach and pool time. There is a shrimp boil every year with kareoke. Somehow I convinced Shella to get up and sing Gansta's Paradise with me. It was pretty hilarious. Two white girls rapping. The crowd was more into oldies like "Girls Just Want to Have Fun." Only the younger crowd seemed to understand the full humor of the situation. I still don't have my emotions turned on so it was no big deal for me but I was proud of Shella for having the guts to go for it.

This was my first family South Padre trip without my brother. It was a little weird. His wife came as his representative. I think we were all in a bit of a weird mood because we missed Andrew. I know his time in Iraq has made me want to make the most of our time together when he gets back. Family time just doesn't seem like family time wihout him.

We've decided that it would be too hard to do a traditional Christmas while Andrew is in Iraq. Last year was just really difficult. There is talk of going on a cruise or to Costa Rica. I think I could manage to have a good time in Costa Rica. I hope it works out.

Matt Laskey is engaged to a Kirk

I just found out that my dear friend, Matt Laskey asked our fellow YWAMer, Bethany Kirk to be his wife. Matt is one of my best guy friends. We were part of a team to New Zealand, served on staff in Maui together and then led a team to Bangladesh and Thailand. I am so excited for him. I think he and Bethany will be very happy together. This is another wedding I cannot miss. Matt is like a brother to me and I really enjoy Bethany as well. It looks like it will be in Toronto, so I will get to see my Ywam best friend, Amy. Yay!

I have to tell of the funny thing that happened when Matt proposed. When he told me the following story, I almost soiled myself. Here is a little background that is good to know in order to understand the full humor of the situation-
Amy and Bethany's dads are brothers and they have the same last name- Kirk. When Amy left Maui, Bethany took over her cell phone.

So, Matt borrows Bethany's phone and dials "Dad." He asks if he is speaking to Mr. Kirk. After confirming that he is, they participate in a little small talk. Matt can't wait any longer and asks Mr. Kirk if he can marry his daughter. Mr. Kirk says, "I do have a single daughter but I think you are looking for Bethany's dad." It turns out Matt had accidentally asked Amy's dad if he could marry her. So funny!! Finally Matt got the right Barry Kirk and permission was granted. This will make a great family story for years to come.

Camp- A little late

I just got back from my family vacation to South Padre but I never really wrote about my week at Young Life camp in North Carolina. So, I am going to write about that first and hopefully I will make time to write about Padre in the near future.

Camp was a great week for me. I had joked to several of my friends that I was going to meet the love of my life there. This did not happen. The funny thing is that I made the same claim when I went with fellow Maui staff members to a YWAM gathering on the big island. Right before we left for that, I got sick and lost my voice. I ended up only talking to people I knew so I wouldn't have to explain my weird puberty voice. Just like that time, I got sick and lost my voice before this trip. God continually reinforces my belief that He has a sense of humor.

I did, like the last time I went to camp, develop a mini-crush on the guys who did the program there. There is just something about guys who can be genuinely funny and make fools of themselves for the amusement of teenagers. I love guys who love Jesus and can make me laugh. Unfortunately for me, all the program guys were happily married. Young Life camp always puts on a great program. They even did a parody of the OK Go video with the guys treadmill dancing. It was very well done. My kids didn't fully appreciate it since it's not really the kind of music that they listen to.

Last time I went to camp, I knew I was going to Maui soon so I wouldn't get much more time with my girls after camp. This time I knew I would be able to be physically there for the next year. Camp is such a great time to get to know them better. I am excited about next year. There are lots of fun things to do at camp but my favorite part was hanging out with the girls. They are so much fun! I impressed them with my knowledge of rap music.

One night in the cabin, some of the girls who have incredible voices, were singing various soul tunes by Beyonce, Mary J. Blige, etc. When one of the songs ended, I asked if they could sing "Big Bootie Hoes." They died laughing. They definitely didn't expect that to come out of my mouth. It was awesome!

The week was great for my relationship with God. Before camp I was in the bad habit of spending too much time thinking about fun memories and people from my past or imagining fun events and milestones in my future. At camp, I was really in the moment. That's a much healthier way to live. I also made God my default setting. What that means is that I thought about Him when I had time to think instead of thinking about other random less important things. I want to continue to live like that.

Back from Camp

I spent the last week in North Carolina at Windy Gap, a Young Life camp there. It was fun, relaxing, and spiritually rejuvinating. It also involved two 20 hour bus rides. So, instead of writing about it now, I am going to chill and sleep. I will try to write soon.