Chronicles of Cody

Cody eating home-made ravioli's at grandma's house.

Cody with some of his cousins and brothers, as well as Angee (Brian's girlfriend) and Jerry (RoseAnn's boyfriend).Everyone agrees, they count as family.

Cody is our sullen one.We like to say he can't help it..he was sort-of born wearing that look. Those who get to know him, learn that he has a huge heart for those less fortunate,can be very funny, unusually loyal and has learned to balance an extremely competitive nature with playfulness. (this, however, is supposed to be a secret). So, just who is this kid?

I thought I could start with some of his passions.

First of all. Soccer. Cody is living, breathing, sleeping soccer at this time of his life. He wants to push himself to see how far he can go "in the soccer world". (Is that vague enough?) He is playing with his second team since the Fall and working with two trainers. So..Mondays and Wednesdays..he trains..Tuesdays and Thursdays he practices and trains. Friday's are usually games (along with some of his practicing/training days) and Saturdays hold more games or practice. Sundays? He recovers before starting all over again.

This is Cody's 11th year playing soccer, but his first year as a goalie. He had gotten very comfortable at mid-field. After a little hesitation in the beginning,Cody discovered that he can be more aggressive as goalie than just about anywhere else on the field. He is loving it!

So..maybe passions is a short-list...although he recently re-discovered his guitar, and continues to spend hours plotting stories for computer games.

We are trying to put a little balance into Cody's soccer/family life. Cody has returned to studying Latin prayers verses translations of biographies of assassins. The prayers are a little more managable. He is working through St. Martin's Guide to writing, reading Tao Te Ching for co-op and plugging along in math. He is cursing himself for involving himself (yet again) in Odyssey. Insisting he will never do it again. He says this every year at this time.

Finally, he has recently joined Venturers. They are planning to do some ropes courses and scuba diving locally for the short-term. For the long-term they have narrowed down their adventures to either gold-mining in Colorado for a month or scuba-diving in Belize. He has "respectfully declined" any leadership positions with this group.

As for service? Well..he is continuing to lead the Boys and Girls Club city-wide paper recycling program. and helps tutor at the Club one day a week.

Cody's next big interest these days has been micro-financing with non-profit organizations such as Kiva (Keeva?). He has found that he can loan money to , say, a fisherman in Lebanon..and see his money put to use. He insists this is far more gratifying than letting his money sit in a bank and earn $10 a year in interest.

Cody continues his advocacy/awareness-raising on the genocide in Darfur and offering family support to local refugees on a weekly basis. (grocery shopping, playing with children, tutoring, etc.)

I forgot. This has become a request. (who knew?)

Weekly Menu:

Mon: Potato chip chicken, broccoli/cauliflower/potato/cheese stuff, fried okra, biscuits

Tues: stir fry veggies with rice

Wed: ribs, mashed potatoes, corn-on-the-cob, biscuits again

Thurs: chicken and dumplings, salad

Friday: pizza again:)

Saturday: veggie chilli and Wild Game Dinner at the church

Sunday: church pot-luck