j-lou gives love to the marin foundation

well if it is not bad enough that evan is struggling in kindergarten... still in not out so that is a good thing. than my beloved trojans have to play like the care bears and loose to the frickin beavers.... this all could be pushing me off a cliff sooner than later. but great friends like andy marin from the marin foundation get me involved in stuff that matters and reminds me why i am roaming around socal like a mad man these days challenging conservative urban churches to rethink their perspective on creating dialogue with the glbt community.

i grew up in la habra as many of you know and that is not the greatest place to grow up with a perspective of anything but a negative stereotype of people dealing with glbt issues... throw up the churches i landed in and you have pretty much someone not to open to dilogue with people in the glbt community. it was about two years ago that i first met andy marin and it was through a number of phone calls and than he spoke at the 2007 UYWI conference for me. i was a little nervous, but from that day forward we have been working together on projects in one way or the other. this has led to the formation of a coalition and an ongoing duscussion here in socal on the issue... i could try to explain here but jump over to andrews blog and see what he has to say. it is a privilege to walk and do bridge building with andrew and the team. we are moving forward to the next few events that i will talk about here on october 8 and the big training day on novemeber 15.

you always have a different perspective toward issues when you have a relationship to give the conversation context. early this year before this conversation and coalition was formed. i was introduced and would say became friends with a few people in glbt community. i was a little nervous, but always enjoyed the time me and my friend hung out with her sisters. i think that experience also prepared me to better understand how to join the conversation.

j-lou very frustrated

it seems the evan situation continues on and on... last week had a meeting with principal, vice principal, speech therapist, school shrink, school nurse, teacher and his mother. wow. we came to no solution... the group was split on what to do. i know he takes awhile to adjust to new places and tomm will be the official two week of being in school. i see how frustrated he is ... i feel like the teacher has given up on him. i know i have no idea how to figure out what is going on in that little head of his... he sometimes just does not know how to communicate what he feels. i think he sometimes thinks the world is against him too. that just kills me. the little guy has been through a lot and i know and you know that he is also the sweetest little guy in the world. if anyone spends a little time with him they see how big his heart is... so if you can say a little prayer for the evanator it would be much appreciated... cuz really i have no idea what to do ... i know i will never give up on him that is for sure. peace.

one stressful week... one needed weekend

well evan's life in kindergarten has begun and it is not going all that well. he is pretty much driving his teacher crazy like... i had a parent teacher meeting already, spent time in the classroom with him, and he has been i think to the principals office like 2 or 3 times. he has spent a whole 8 days there. his teachers wants him out, but that is just not going to happen, because i know he can do it. but the teacher is even stressing me out with the way she treats him and i think i am going to push him to another class... than his mother and me do not see eye to eye on just about anything and throw this into the mix. you have to love stress, anxiety and lack of sleep. i can just hope that maybe i will loose some weight. lol.

well the weekend went much better because of my love for sports. my stress reliever is kades soccer team... the alhambra broncos and they played at 145 pm on saturday. we got down 2-0 but fought back and took the lead 3-2 on two amazing plays by kade to set up brian for two goals. i had to tell kade that an assist is just as important and valuable as a goal. kade is 7 and playing with 8-9 year olds and is playing great. the other coach told he was yelling at his players for someone to stop kade because he was killing them. evan also played in the morning and had a great time. he is having a little more fun playing soccer this year than last.

i moved my self from soccer field... picked up kurtis to watch the trojans destroy ohio state 35-3. they just dismantled the buckeyes. i than spent sunday at my favorite lounge watching football all day with nfl ticket, poker, cigars and the boys. i so needed it and now this morning evan heads back to school... oh oh oh. lets see how this week goes... it is busy at work with some key things so lets see how this week goes.

Pray for Johnny

i got a phone call a little while ago that my friend johnny lost his mom. he lost his uncle earlier in the year. i just ask that you guys pray for him and his family. johnny is truly so much more than a friend i see him as a brother and my heart hurts for him. i may be headed to arizona with him soon for the service. it is so hard to know what to say at times like this, but i really hope to spend sometime this weekend with him, his wife and his beautiful daughter.

Our First Week of Soccer

i dont think i have been this tired after a weekend in a long time. my weekend started with a great practice with kades soccer team the broncos on friday night. kade, evan and i woke up at about 630 am on saturday and hit the soccer fields that had us going until about 430. i posted some pics from the day... my camera died before the broncos game...and it was great. we fell down 0-2 early, but played great the rest of the game for a 5-2 victory. the parents were impressed with the team and the one 7 year old kade played great and even almost scored. i was one proud dad. i will get some pics of them next week. i hope you all enjoy the pics of the little 4 year olds out there for the first day of soccer. i have to post a picture of garret soon... he does the cha cha everytime he scores. so all of this to say i was exhausted, but it was all worth it.

Life is Crazy

From British Soccer Camp

well i have been in hiatus on my blog, but life is going a little bit ... i would say a lot crazy. i am in the process of selling my house, so me and my boys will be packing up soon and not sure right where we will land, but probably in alhambra. i have too many reasons for selling my house, so i am not going to list them. i have been back and forth on it for awhile but somethings kind have forced my hand. the good thing is that i am not upside down or anything.

i am also coaching three yes count them three soccer teams in alhambra... i have all of the 4 year olds and that would include my son evan. he is have a lot of fun. i also have a 6 and 7 year old team that kade was suppose to play on, but he is not. so one team with none of my kids. i have two of kades friends on the team and one dad is the assistant and will help alot. the next team is of 8 and 9 year old and my son kade who is 7. so he is running with the big boys and doing great. this team practices twice a week and the other two just once. so needless to say i have a crazy soocer life and the games start on saturday!!! the last team is my pride and joy. i think they have a good shot. so i am selling my house... coaching way too much soccer... and work is super busy. i have a few really big events coming up and some great stuff with carver middle school in south central is on the horizon.

i pretty much have no life outside that to speak off and it all keeps me tired but i am enjoying the time with my boys... and evan starts school tomorrow which should be exciting!! i will have to update you all on the evanator and see if public school can handle him.

i left some new pics of a soccer camp the boys were in last week too! i hope everyone enjoys.