Edwin Soto's Blog

Oh hey there, Ash Wednesday… I didn’t even see you coming!  What do you mean it was on the calendar? Wow, I didn’t even notice. Sorry.

I became Catholic on my own accord at 15 years old. I went to church religiously [ha!], and joined RCIA and did my communion shortly after.  Since then I go through spells of dedication and then spells of laziness.  Before the age of 15, I was plenty versed on the Christian Bible and Jesus’ trials throughout Lent.  When I became Catholic, it was the first time that I started to understand Jesus’ role in my life and my religious beliefs, and for once, Lent.

I apologize if I start to offend either non-Catholics, or heck, practicing Catholics for that matter – but I feel like I’ve needed to say this for a long time: giving up chocolate is not Lenten sacrifice.  At least, not for an adult. If I were 11, I could see how that would be a big deal. Don’t get me wrong, there are bigger fish to fry and I don’t sit here and pretend like I’m perfect by any means – until today I hadn’t gone to church in 3 months. I just somehow doubt that when Jesus was going through the most difficult times in His life, he was thinking “I hope when they remember this moment, they’ll give up eating candy for 40 days”.

From wikipedia: Lent is a time of sacrifice for Jesus. The traditional purpose of Lent is the preparation of the believer — through prayer, repentance, almsgiving and self-denial.

So for me, this is Lent. The self sacrificing, loving, repenting, and preparation of Easter. So before you decide that giving up chocolate is enough… I hope that there’s some self reflection involved.

I’m not perfect, and this Lenten season, I’ll be ensuring that I talk to God for (at least) 40 days. I’ve been self sacrificing and repenting since I became a Vegan – I need to continue to let it drive me to be thankful for the life I have, my health, my family, His love, and all the things He created. At first it was giving up meat and dairy as a sacrifice, but He has shown me through abstaining from these things, I was giving back to Him. Giving love back to His world. It becomes a bit clearer every day what my role is on His Earth. I want to become a better person and “giving up” meat and dairy is a good way to start to give back. It’s made me remember that deep down inside I want to be a better Dad, husband, colleague, supervisor, but mostly a better human being.

I pray that I can learn how to strive to do that over the next 40 days.

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Ever since, well – what I’m labeling as my “coming out” post, I have had some of the most interesting conversations with individuals.  I’ve found that with every minute I talk about my new eating habits, I actually get people to listen. People have questions, and I don’t have all the answers, but I do have 4 weeks of personal experience. In some circles I’ve been straggling around with, I’d be practically an expert in Animal-less eating. (more…)

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I never thought that I would be sharing this with the general public as such a topic can be considered somewhat personal for me.  You should know that I don’t really believe in New Year’s resolutions since we all know how a day like today (Feb 1st) is usually the day when people realize they’ve already given up on them. I do believe in “don’t make excuses” type of attitude as a way to live your everyday life. I think that if you want to do something, don’t let anything stop you. For those of you looking to lose some weight or get into exercise, keep a healthy diet, or heck, pick up the guitar, ask yourself what’s stopping you.  Ok now with that out of the way, allow me to share with you the journey I’ve been on over the past couple of months. (more…)

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Ever heard of Nursemaid’s Elbow? If you’re not a parent or a physician, probably not. Even if you are a parent, it only occurs in some 15% of children typically ages 2-4.  In a nutshell, your radius (bone in the forearm) gets disjointed from the ligament that holds it to your elbow. You can see where it can slip out of the ligament in the illustration shown.  Eventually, when you’re in your teens, you really cannot get this injury anymore.

This has happened to EJ 3 times, the last of which was last Monday (playing Flag Football).  We took him to the medical center where the doctor performed x-rays, just in case.  We found no cracks or fractures, so painfully, EJ had to get his arm flexed to place the bone back in place.

Typically, it takes about 2 or 3 days to be fully recovered, but here we were 3 days later and he was still in pain.  Time to go to the orthopedic specialist.

Jeesely put on her best concerned mommy face and took him there this morning. Turns out that this time, he cracked cartilage by said elbow. So get out your permanent markers, because for 2 weeks and 2 weeks only EJ will be showcasing his glorious light blue cast:

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IF YOU CAN HEAR ME, I BEG FOR AN ANSWER:

Are there any more honest mechanics out there?

I know that they exist, so why can’t I find one? I need a hookup. While some of this comes from me being really frustrated over the latest car issues, this seems to rear its grotesque head way too often for my liking.

Do I really have to regret going on vacation for my son’s 6th birthday? I can’t go to Applebee’s and enjoy a burger anymore?

I’m starting to wonder if I should keep 2-3K in the bank just for car repairs. What’s the use of pumping so much money into vehicles that will probably end up costing you more than you paid for it? It seems like everyone goes through this. I  think it’s time for me to fight back!

I’ve been thinking hard about , actual solutions. Ways for the every (wo)man to stand up to these thieves in jumpsuits with monkey wrenches.

Bribe a mechanic

Does this seem so far fetched? We all have something to offer right? I feel like just waking in to the nearest dealership service center with a card that says ‘Call Me’ to the brightest looking grease monkey.  I will give free tech support of equal value to anyone that wants to deal with my car, present or future. I don’t know what else I could offer (seriously, get your mind out of the gutter) but I’m willing to be reasonable.

Befriend a mechanic

Honestly, this is probably where I’m headed. My buddy Mike is moving closer to me and we recently reconnected on Facebook (of course). So why not hook up your mechanic friend with money, you pay for the parts and pay him labor. It will be cheaper and everyone wins. Also, you know your buddy isn’t going to try to screw you over to make a few extra dollars (well, at least you hope not and it’s not as likely).

Become a hobbyist mechanic

When the other two really aren’t an option, why not take it up as a hobby? I consider myself to be an awful handyperson. However, I do know how to use Google. As a matter of fact, with Google’s help, I fixed my bathtub when my landlord just kept ignoring my phone calls (which reminds me that I need to fix my toilet too). I’m a pretty mean Lego constructor and I follow directions fairly well on those hard to read Ikea instructions (seriously, what is that little stick figure dude doing?)

All I would need to do is figure out what one of these is, and I’m set! right?!

Anyone else got some suggestions?

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I’m excited to get on the road this Friday to my first ever trip to Disney. This actually would be the first time I’ll be in Florida for more than just a layover. This will be our first real family vacation without any hidden agendas. Just out to have some fun. We’ll be driving from Pennsylvania to Florida with some good friends. I’ve been told that adults end up becoming children there in sunny Orlando, so it’s something to look forward to. Here are some of the activities that we have planned:

• Midnight stop over at South of the Border (Dillon, SC)
• 7 day passes to the parks
• Birthday dinner for EJ at the T-Rex cafe.
• Possible Mets spring training game for EJ’s birthday.

There are probably some others that I’m forgetting (our wives are doing most of the planning!)

Any suggestions out there?

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