Church Volleyball Part 2: A Confession

Awhile back I posted about church volleyball and how it brings out people's true colors. A few months ago, although I played, I was more an observer of this social exercise. Today, I write a confession. No longer am I an innocent observer, calmly noticing the bad attitudes, the bossiness, and the down-right unchristian behavior. Yesterday I advanced to psychopathic, evil volleyball person. Ironically this transformation will probably earn me some respect from fellow church volleyball players and possibly a position of leadership...I'm not real sure how the power structure shakes down at our church, but I suspect that a good deal of it is decided in sand in front of a net.

First of all I should state that my team stunk! Individually we actually had some powerful players but as a team we kind of fell apart. There is a reason I'm not into team athletics. I actually had to talk myself down from a really bad attitude. I told Chris afterward that one particular individual on our team who I'd never even met before kept missing the ball--this person asked me a question, and I was so disgusted with his playing that I couldn't even look him in the eye to answer. WWJD? Jesus would have lovingly told him to go practice his bloopers somewhere else and not on his team. I'm almost certain of that.

Baby McKean

My sister-in-law requested an update on our little one. I don't have much to report other than the fact that he or she appears to be growing just fine...according to my pant size. I'll be 4 months along this coming Friday--but look about 6 months if you ask me. My morning sickness has mostly gone (thank you, God!).

My last visit was about a week and a half ago. The nurse had me step on the scale and weigh and fortunately for me it's in kilograms. So, I wasn't even in triple digits yet! Can you believe that? Actually, I've gained more than I'm supposed to (but, I'm not telling how much) and when my midwife came into the room after the nurse, she told me there was a woman out in the hall that wanted to talk to me. I told the midwife I didn't want to talk to the out-in-the-hall-lady. I assumed I was about to get a lecture for being such a glutton. The midwife thought that was pretty funny.

The lady wanted me to be a part of some medical study. My mom went with me to the appointment, and this lady told me it was a good thing I brought my mom--you had to have a guardian consent for you if you were under age. I will be 30 in November. How embarrassing.

We have an ultrasound scheduled for the middle of October to find out the sex of the baby (yes, I am one of those people that cannot wait) and to make sure all his organs are developing properly.

So, what do you think, Carrie? Boy or girl? I'm curious to know what your guess is. Or anyone else's for that matter. Unless you're like Chris and refuse to play this game.

BTW: Hannah has already decided on names. It differs daily but the three I've heard most often are: La Su, La Gu, and La Lu. All said with Chinese accents. Chris has a picture somewhere of Hannah pretending to be me...with a pillow under her night gown. It's pretty cute. If I can find it I'll post it soon.

Fish Stories

Chris needed a break from work, so we took 4 days off and made a trip to beautiful Cuchara, Colorado. We didn't do much other than eat and relax. Chris wanted to fish (I think because it is supposed to be a relaxing sport (I use the term "sport" loosely). I've never seen my honey fish before. He spent all of two hours casting his line in and then had enough. His temperament is more suited to climbing mountains and sports where you are highly prone to injuries, I think. He did catch one trout, but it was too small to be of much use--and, I wasn't going to let him kill it, so what choice did he have but to throw it back in? We had a picnic and walked around Bear Lake (what a rip-off, there were no bears!).

Some friends of ours live in Cuchara (aren't we lucky?), and even though they were tied up with a group of golfers, we were able to spend some time with the Harnley's, their daughter, Maury, and her absolute chunk of a son, Jaden. I have never seen a child as large as Jaden. And, what a ham bone! He entertained us for hours. Mainly by faking injuries so he could get some attention and a kiss from his mom. I don't know how you can manage to hurt your wrist and shoulder just by sitting in a chair, but he managed nicely. He appears to be a quick healer, though.

I was feeling energetic enough to go on a hike Sunday. We traveled about 7 miles and met with quite a few hunters who had spotted bears, but we, unfortunately, didn't see any. One of the hunters we met camped up in the mountains for the entire deer/elk hunting season (a whole month). I didn't get too close to him because you can't smell all that good if you shower once a week. He was very friendly, I think it gets a bit lonely up there with nothing but your bow and arrow to talk to.

It is always difficult to leave Colorado, no matter how sedentary you've become while visiting. I grew up traveling to that beautiful state and hope that I always get to enjoy it at least once a year.

Oh, Miss Hannah!

We spent Labor Day weekend in Pampa/Amarillo, TX with my in-laws, my grandparents and my brother, David, and his wife, Christine. And Grizzly, their adorable puppy that already loves his Aunt Jane more than anyone. Mainly because she fed him a corn cob, and he got to puke all over his grandmother’s house—what dog wouldn’t like that?
A weekend recap would not be complete without at least one story about Hannah. Hannah took to David as soon as he came over on Saturday, and she had his undivided attention for some time. A few of us were in the living room, Hannah on his lap, being teased and loving every moment of it. Majaunta asked David if he would like some tea. He said yes, but when she came back into the living room and evidently interrupted a David/Hannah moment, Miss Hannah was not too pleased. She very casually said to her mom, "why don't you go make the tea now?" I don't think that went over too well because Majaunta raised her eyebrows (this is a warning sign in the McKean family--I get it all the time from my husband, and it means things are not going to go well for you unless you can make the eyebrows go back down again). Majaunta asked Hannah what she said, probably hoping she’d misunderstood. Hannah, still smug in the adoration of David repeated a bit more forcefully, "Make the tea now!" Majaunta told her they were going to have a little talk. Hannah is quite sensitive and doesn't like to be scolded in front of people; it embarrasses her. She jumped off of David's lap and pointed to the kitchen and told her mom, "Lets talk in there."