The Lord works in mysterious ways, and we are Exhibit A. We have so many things going against us being cool.
- Both in our thirties. Cool Mum is 30, and I’m the oldest that Jesus ever got, 33.
- Have a toddler and are expecting our second bouncing, pooping baby boy in the near future.
- My latest attempt at redefining myself with a cool hairstyle ended like my attempt to pass the ’skipping’ portion of the kindergarten curriculum: a miserable failure. (I was told that I was ‘galloping’. Well, sorry that I really looked up to horses when I was younger. Mr. Ed had a profound impact on my life.)
- We feel that the purchase of new underwear is cause for celebration.
But despite the mountain of evidence against us, we feel the coolest yet. Much like the redemptive qualities of The Island on LOST, Manhattan is redeeming our past offences against coolhood. In a city known for rude neighbors and service with a scowl, we are reaching new levels of coolness (as least in our minds).
Since moving to the Cool Duplex, we’ve been able to connect with people more than we ever have. Each week, our place hosts a rhythm of family dinners, playgroups, bible studies, spontaneous meals with friends, and LOST-watching parties, all with a refreshing variety of New Yorkers: established residents, newbies, singles, marrieds, all hailing from various parts of America and the world.
Many churches preach about community and many of us desire it. We feel blessed and pretty cool to be living in the middle of it. Thank you, Lord.
And even if we’re not any cooler than before, or even less so, there’s no denying that this is so cool, it’s ridiculous:
Sunglasses, plus cap from another country worn sideways, equals a strollerful of cool
I had a good feeling about Saturday. I even proclaimed that it would be an “awesome” day on Twitter before I even got out of bed. The day did not disappoint, and I only left our apartment for 30 minutes.
On Saturday mornings, I meet with a few guys to talk about the week and life with God. I went to the store to get some breakfast ingredients and, on my way back, rescued the sweet ride featured in the last post from an eternity in an out-of-state landfill. The guys came over and we devoured chocolate chip pancakes and bacon. More importantly, we had good talk to invest further in our friendship.
A couple of hours after they left, we hosted a few friends for a BBQ. It was 70º and clear, quite fitting for the first day of spring. We slowly dined on burgers, chicken, couscous, guac and chips, and lots of ice cream on our backyard deck. We enjoyed the fine company of our friends whom we haven’t seen in months and friends of friends that we were meeting for the first time.
After they left, CM wondered jokingly who would be coming over next. If the day’s fellowship ended there, it would have been a success. Then with the uncanny timing of a sitcom, one of our roommates walked in with a friend that we are still getting to know. We were happy to hand her some BBQ chicken and fun conversation. And while we were talking, new neighbors from upstairs rang our doorbell, asking about the best groceries in the neighborhood. They came in, and we showed them around.
For some, a quiet weekend to yourself is refreshing. For us, refreshment is found in connecting with people. It’s reinforcing the bonds of community, and it’s why we moved into a converted 3-bedroom with roommates. In New York, it’s possible to live a lifetime among 8 million neighbors and feel desperately alone. We’re trying to fight that feeling with our evenings and weekends.
Saturday was an awesome day. We can’t wait to see what the next one brings.
For our 8 years of wedded bliss, Cool Mum and I have always been Thanksgiving visitors. Either with our families in Florida or strangers (now friends) last year in NYC. This year, we’re hosting our very first Thanksgiving – if I can get get off the computer and go buy a turkey. Just kidding, we’re all sorts of prepared, having bought everything we need from the store before it closed last night.
Just as the first Thanksgiving was a melding of cultures, the first Cool Thanksgiving will be a multicultural event (minus the taking of land and relocation to reservations). The nations of Puerto Rico, the Dominican Republic, Japan, and the Philippines will be represented, along with the European melting pot that is Cool Mum. To the right is the feast that will feed us later today. For our Japanese friends, this is their first American Thanksgiving. At least we can say that there’s nowhere to go but up for their future Thanksgivings.
The feature of the feast is Slow Cooker Turkey Breast. Last night, I picked out a frozen turkey breast with gravy at the surprisingly chill grocery store (lots of people have left NYC for the holiday). I was afraid that it might not thaw in time, but I thawed it in the sink with no problem. This morning, I put the turkey breast and gravy in the crock pot, and it should be all done by 3:00. I took a lot of liberty with the recipe, like stirring onion soup mix in with the gravy. But onion soup mix is like the type O negative of ingredients, and slow-cooking is nearly foolproof.
The sides will include stuffing that I’m still debating when to put in the turkey breast, peas, corn, and sweet potatoes with cinnamon and brown sugar. To drink, we have Coca-Cola beverages, like Coca-Cola (and nothing else), sugar-free Hawaiian punch, and tap water with ice. Dessert will be a fresh-baked, long-frozen Sara Lee pumpkin pie and Fla-Vor-Ice.
This Thanksgiving meal would probably bring Paula Deen to tears, but we’re not sweating it. We’re just looking forward to spending good time with our friends and thanking God for everything He’s done, which is every good thing in our lives.
The Cool Fam wishes you a Happy Thanksgiving! What are you doing today?
We have finally 'met' our Cool Compassion Project sponsored child! You can, too. photo: chappyphoto
continued...For me, becoming a Christian was a time of faith, discovery, and really dumb decisions. photo: striatic
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