"Do these pants make me look fat?"

So tonight in CRE, one of the things we talked about was the Story of the Rich Young Man. The theme for the day was "Morality is not easy" and i felt the story was a good fit. We got to talking about the Ten Commandments and more specifically, "Thou shalt not bear false witness". I said that this pertains to even the littlest and seemingly smallest questions. I asked if anyone has asked them, "Do these pants make me look fat?"

I gave them two possible responses to this tough dilemma

1." You're beautiful no matter what"
2. "I am not an expert in the question you are asking."

Before you pick up your pitchforks to hunt me down, know that we talked about a lot of other things: being a Catholic is a challenge in today's society, "it is our choices that show who we truly are far more than our abilities", St. Peter being crucified upside down, my college application story, LOST, we acted out the Prisoner's Dilemma from The Dark Knight (unfortunately the citizens decided to blow up the criminals this time-but there was a twist: the bomb was on their boat), and "come to me who are weary and burdened...". so i wasn't corrupting too many of the guys' minds. yet.

Score and Name

Tae and I just finished playing touch football with two 7th graders from a local Catholic grade school.

1. What do you think the score was?
2. What would our team name be?

T-ball

I played tennis this morning with an 83 year-old parishioner who used to play at Villanova in his prime. He was giving me tips the whole time, though he didn't move more than 2 feet in the hour we played. Later as we were playing another older man named Archie joined us. The kindly old Chinese man told me after playing: 'you have good fastball'. I'm assuming he was talking about my forehand.

Laskey and Isaac, consider this fair warning that my game will be radically improved after playing with the elderly. Beware.

The Wedding Coordinator

I would just like to congratulate Meli Barber for being fantastic at her job. My high school friend's wedding yesterday went very smoothly mostly because of her. Isaac, you'd better hope she's available for your big day.

Indianapolis was lovely. Echo house Indy is huge and confusing. I got lost inside.

Echo SPFL is famous.

Here it is... the article that was on the COVER of the St. Petersburg edition of the Florida Catholic newspaper. (How embarrassing...) Enjoy! :)

'Echo' is real-life class for theology grad students

Solution to bug problems

Fort Worth House, I have a solution to your bug problems...

Get Tae for a housemate, or possibly another guy might work.

Here's how it works:

Sarah sees a HUGE bug; she screams. Gen comes running, looks at it, and screams. Tae comes to the rescue, squishes the bug, and even throws it away in his trash can.

Problems solved. It's that easy.

Some Quotes that Brighten My Life

"Once you go Asian, you don't go Caucasian"-Mike Rose our neighbor at Oktoberfest

Ginny the Volunteer Secretary: Tae, do you play any sports?
Me: Well, I like to play football and basketball. Oh and beach volleyball in the summer.
Ginny: Oh, with the girls in their bikinis?
Me: Um no. they're wearing regular clothes.
Ginny: The girls in the Olympics wear bikinis.
Me: yeah, they wear them to move faster. the clothes slow them down.
ginny: i think that's my problem in life. im wearing too many clothes that slow me down.

No one in our parish knows Ginny's age-she's covered her tracks real well and hunted down all the records and deleted them all. Our assoc pastor wants to find out her age and thus taunts her with comments like

"ginny's been around since christopher columbus did his first communion"

i got on the bandwagon with comments like

"hey ginny, did you ever go on a date with this guy?"-while pointing to a picture of Thomas Edison

she only says to fr. bob-"he's been hanging around you too much". gotta love parish life.

Live blogging (or as close as we can get)

Announcing:

There will be live Echo blogging tonight for The Office season premiere. Please feel free to leave questions, comments, and concerns--including the most recent Emmy shaft-session.

Happy blogging!

The Award for Most Creatures in their house goes to...

Fort Worth!

A gecko, a few roaches and waterbugs, ants, and now a mouse. Oh goody. Seriously, where is our guy roommate!?!

Tonight Angela and I prayed Night Prayer and we were on the floor in our prayer room (one of the first bedrooms on first floor). We were just chatting and all of a sudden she stammers out "a mouse!" We both screamed and I clamored on top of a chair. We had no idea if it went into my room or the guest room right next door. Thankfully Angela is brave and she went into my room first. Well, I haven't quite cleaned my room fully, so there were quite a few objects on the floor. We looked around those first and by the desk and behind and under my night stand. I looked on the side of my bed (against the wall) and saw mouse turds. Great. We weren't seeing anything so we almost gave up and were going to search the other room when all of a sudden I moved a folded blanket that was between my bed and the night stand and it came scurrying out. It ran towards my desk, went behind there, then behind the door, and finally ran out of the room. I was on top of my bed (I didn't really leave that spot when looking for the thing) and Angela was in the hallway. We were both screaming our lungs out (my throat is a little sore because of it). He scampered into the prayer room and Angela closed the door. We put a towel by the crack on the bottom (since I guess those things can squeeze through small places). We forgot the light was on so banged on the door to make some noise then quickly opened it up and shut it off.

We went upstairs to tell Paola about it. She thought we were watching TV and making noise b/c of that! Nope, sorry, not this time! Angela and I came down and put another towel in front of the door to secure our captive while Paola sent an e-mail to our diocesan director. We had to check to see if there were any other mice under my bed (I have a wooden box and the backside is open b/c there should be drawers there, which we believe we found tonight). Angela and I had a plan of action in case there were more... I grabbed some stuff I would need for tonight/tomorrow and put it out of the room. If we saw any we were going to trap them in my room for the night. I wasn't thrilled with the idea, but we had to do what we had to do. We moved my bed and Angela looked under there with a flashlight. To our relief there wasn't a single living animal. She then vacuumed up two of the mouse droppings but decided we should put some in a bag in case the pest control wants them (to learn more about the mouse?). We believe my room is clear, but I still have my tennis shoes on and was quite jumpy at first. I've finally let myself take Isaac's would-be advice and calmed down.

Don't y'all wish you could have as much fun with creatures as we do here? I couldn't even tell you the last time I've screamed so much!

Oh man, I'm in second place

I entered this contest hosted by Blue-Gray Sky called Pick Six, and I am in second place after a month of games. Second place out of thousands (or at least what seems like thousands). Check out the Pick Six standings. I'm fifth from the top with 98 total points. Or you can look all the way to the right and you will see that echocinco.blogspot.com is the first blog listed.

Get it, get it.

"Can I help with anything?"

So... I can't quite follow up an amazing news article about Jerry, but I have a fun story. Tonight the Fort Worth house went to eat at the house of the Director of Youth, Young Adult, and Campus Ministry for the Diocese of Ft Worth. He and his wife also invited 3 other young adults who are on the young adult council for the diocese, who Angela and I had met before. And we had met Chris, who works as webmaster for the diocese, a few besides that. Kevin and his wife, Nikki, hosted a lovely meal and we had some great conversations. We heard a lot about the early life of Kevin and Nikki, which was really cute. They just celebrated their 20th wedding anniversary. Anyway, back to the actual story.

We were all done with our meal and dessert and coffee, and Chris had left (rather, went outside with Kevin and they chatted by his car for awhile, which up north we call a good 'ol Midwestern good bye). Angela asked if she could help with anything, and Nikki said "no, I will take care of it." And she was pretty persistent about that. I was still sitting down and Angela comes over and tries to take a glass and goes "just a little bit!" but I told her "no, sit down!" She restrained herself for awhile, but then, despite what the hostess said, started cleaning up! She's pretty funny that way. I guess it runs in her blood. So, if y'all want to have us over for dinner, don't worry about cleaning because Angela will take care of it for you! =) "Can I help with anything?" is Angela's favorite line. Love you, girl!

Baumbach Visits Wisconsin, Leaves Impressed

MILWAUKEE (AP) -- Dr. Gerard Baumbach, director of the University of Notre Dame's Echo Program, told Milwaukee House residents that he was thrilled with their community during the first of his annual house visits Monday.

"Congratulations to you," Baumbach said to Echoites Thomas J. Action, Izzie Garcia and Mike Laskey. "When I see what you've done here, my heart sings."

Baumbach spent Monday night touring the Milwaukee home, and was particularly struck by the house's prayer room, large deck, and official mascot, Poko the goose. After the tour, the impressed Baumbach treated the three men to an upscale dinner at Brookfield's North Star American Bistro, joking that he would take the residents of Peoria to Burger King Wednesday night to save funds.

Baumbach spent Monday afternoon and all day Tuesday touring the Echo parishes in the area, meeting with apprentices, mentors, and apprentices and mentors, and occasionally breaking into spontaneous prayer.

Baumbach has been visiting parishes to get a sense of what he calls their "climate and culture" for the past five years, after spending a quarter-century in catechetical publishing. "No two parishes are identical," he said. Due to time restrictions, Headless Clown researchers were unable to complete a full survey of American Catholic parishes to verify this claim.

"It was really nice to see Jer-Bear," one house member said, on the condition of anonymity. "I especially liked the free dinner, and he brought along a box of chocolates from the South Bend Chocolate Company. Those were delicious."

Fish and Chips?

I don't know if y'all got an email about this or not, but the more spoiled members of Indy House are currently on pilgrimage in the Holy Land. They're keeping a blog of the adventure, so check it out if you get the chance!

http://archindy.org/175th/blog/

(My title line is a reference to my favorite comment on it so far. You can find the comment in the "Humor" podcast.)

"Pop quiz, Hotshot!"

So I'm being a jerk and giving my class a pop quiz today. Gotta love the power. Let's see how you guys do.(bonus credit and love if you get what movie my title line comes from)

1. ____________________ is the Patron Saint of Theologians. Theology

means _____________________ of God.

2. Who is not a Church Father? Warning: there may be more than one.

a) St. Jerome
b) St. Peter
c) St. Ambrose of Milan
d) Blair Waldorf

3. Pope Gregory the Great invented Gregorian Chant. TRUE or FALSE?

4. Complete the Quote: “Our heart is ________________ till it __________ in Thee.”

5. What does it mean to be inclusive rather than exclusive?




6. What time does class begin? ___________________(6:30)

7. Learning about morality is good for me and my education. T/F?

8. Life is like…
a) A box of chocolates
b) Grand adventure story
c) A game of baseball/football/basketball/field hockey/(insert sport here)
d) All of the Above
e) None of the Above
BONUS: What does A.D. stand for and mean?

"We're going to pray two rosaries..."

Today was the first day of Christian Formation classes at St. James. I came in early and helped out with managing the traffic, greeting families, and answering the phone. Today was actually the first day I answered the phone: "Christian Formation Office, this is Isaac". It was awesome. But the big part was that it was the first time as a catechist, well, in a narrow sense.

I have a 10th grade class of youth who are willing to learn and who are good kids. I think that it'll be a really good year. I look forward to our future meetings together.

Some of the highlights include opening with prayer by saying, "We're going to pray two rosaries and the follow it up with another prayer service at the end of class." The look on their faces was hilarious. Of course, after I told them that this was not going to be the case, they seemed a little more relaxed. But we did start class with a prayer. I want to try and show them different icons/crosses/holy cards, so today was St. Francis' cross, which I don't know the name, but I'm sure one of you awesome people know it off the top of your head. So I led the prayer of St. Francis' prayer before the crucifix. It's a very good and simple prayer. Just like St. Francis.

Que mas? Oh, a big thanks to JP for icebreakers. I used beach ball interrogation which everyone seemed to enjoy. That went over well. Did the human knot. And asked the epic question "if your faith were an animal, what kind of animal would it be and why?" Thank you ND Vision for helping me with that one. [aside/shameless plug (especially for you Midwest folks): I highly recommend you to look at the Vision stuff and talk to your youth minister about potentially getting a group out there. Contact Lenny for more info].

Overall, a good experience and I hope that many more good things will come from it. Class was pretty short today and we were also competing with the Packers vs. Cowboys game (which the 'Boys won, get it, get it). I have 2nd grade on Tuesday and then RCIA starts up next week. I also went to training for SVdP society. It was amazing. If any of you are still looking for things to do in your parish, I would recommend checking out your local conference. A lot of good work is done through St. Vincent de Paul.

Anything else? Oh yea, Golden Tate = ridiculous. He cannot be stopped. If only he played offensive line, defensive line, and and receiver...

Oh yea, Jerry is visiting Monday. Get jealous. Just kidding. No, but seriously, it should be cool.

You're in my prayers Echo Cinco. Enjoy your week.

Today was Picture Day!!!

So today was picture day at IHM school which meant that my favorite ladies and I had to go take a picture. Thankfully I dressed somewhat decent because I forgot that it was picture day. Claire, who is our coordinator for religious ed, said i looked just fine and asked if i read GQ.

i then waited in line with a bunch of 5th graders to take my picture and saw how the kids were playing in the gym. i asked terry my mentor if i could peace out of work today and just go play. she said no. when i was taking my picture, the lady said she would make me look GQ.

i was walking by the cafeteria when i got introduced to the ladies who work there. i jokingly asked if i could have a free lunch to which they said yes. of course me being me, i couldn't turn down a free lunch. after making 500 copies of some handout and stuffing envelopes, i went to the cafeteria for my pizza sticks, gushers, and orange juice.

here's where it gets interesting. i found an empty table to have lunch by myself when the entire kindgergarten class came over to sit at my table. they told me their names and showed off their lunches and lunchboxes. they were all dressed up because it was picture day-a fact that they reminded me of like 50 times.

so i asked some of the guys if they like batman to which they said yes. the girls said they hated batman because he is a boy. one girl told me she likes princesses. i asked them if they liked any disney princesses. the girls' favorite was ariel because they like swimming.

then they proceeded to ask how old i am. here were some of the guesses: 100, 300, 80, 9, 7, 8, 90, 50, 0 and 1000. i thought about saying yes to one of those numbers but i didn't think it was right to lie.

since they figured out i was fun to talk to, they then eased up and started getting rowdy. one girl told me i was a freezer so i should go eat my lunch and play in the freezer. she ordered me to stick my whole body into the icemachine. i tried and failed. she then told me i was a ear, a door, and a closet.

after this, the kids started getting violent as they said they were going to kill me. i was "scared" by the threats and asked the teacher aide for help. the violence then manifested in a game of thumb war(i lost) and a game of rock, paper, scissors. based on which moves they did before, i basically figured out what move they were going to do next for them to win. i lost all my games except one.

they decided to add another move to the game: knife. the knife means you cut off the hands of the person playing. that one was used a lot to beat me. when they 'chopped off" my hands, i hid them in my sleeves and then had them "regrow". no big.

it was time for them to go so they said bye. i got an ice-cream out of the whole deal. i plan on going back again. it was the best lunch i had in a long time.

p.s. one of the girls asked i had kids. i had to laugh.

p.s.s. i told our associate pastor that i had lunch with 8th graders. he asked me i i had them read The City of God or Aquinas' Summa Theologica.

p.s.s.s. the volunteer secretary is now "mad" that i had lunch with the younger crowd rather than her.

p.s.s.s.s. they are now thinking of having me catechize 1st graders instead of 8th.

An actual conversation from this morning

Setting: A Bible study that I may be facilitating, in which I am the youngest member by AT LEAST 40 years

Woman (W): So what's your name again?
Meli (M): Meli
W: what?
M: Meli. It rhymes with Kelly.
W: Is that your real name?
M: Yes- It's short for "Melissa"
W: Well good heavens! Why don't you just go by Melissa then? It's such a lovely name
M:...
W: Do you not like Melissa? I can't imagine!
M: Not particularly..
W: Well, what's your middle name then?
M: [hesitantly] Ann
W: [incredulously] And you don't like that either? But Ann was Mary's mother! How can you not like Ann?
M:...

Disappointment

I'd been so excited for the season premiere of The Office that I convinced myself that it was happening tonight.

Well, it's not and I'm devasted. 

Looks like I get to spend the evening with the smooth devotional stylings of Prof. Nathan Mitchell.

Question: Who marries first?

More of a poll really. Add your answers in the comment section.

Who marries first: Jim and Pam on The Office, or Dezzie and me?

Our heart is restless...

Tonight was the first night of CRE at Immaculate Heart of Mary parish so a big day for me and the fellow ladies in the office. The kids were a lot smaller than I remember being when I was in 8th grade. Anyway, I introduced myself and then asked them what school they went to, what their favorite movie/TV show/music/food was, and what issue interested them the most. here are some of the responses

Movie: I Am Legend, The Devil Wears Prada ( a guy said this; i was shocked), Moonstruck
TV shows: The Hills
Food: Pizza, crabs
Issues: "I don't know." was the most popular response followed by "Politics"

So we went over the syllabus which I spent weeks on and they will probably lose tonight and when they saw how many movie clips that were on there; they got stoked. Some of the movies I am using are Anchorman, Superman Returns, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, Mean Girls (many screams of joy from the girls on this one), and Big Fish. One girl asked how did Harry Potter relate to Problem of Evil or Capital Punishment. Oh is she in for a treat. I told them I expected participation and for thinking reflectively and that they were smarter and knew more than they probably thought they did.

I mistakenly let them go outside for the break which I didnt know we werent supposed to do. But hey now the kids think I am "cool" haha.

I started the real lesson by asking them if they knew anything about St. Augustine (of course). Little did I know that I would learn some things like

1) Ah-gus-teen sounds prettier than A-gust-tin
2) Kids love trivia: they wanted to remind them who the Church Fathers were, what Theology means (Study of God), and what A.D. stood for

*Memorable Moment of the Night #1: One of the kids asked if Pope Gregory the Great was the guy who thought of Gregorian Chant. I thought I died and went to haven.

I had them read the opening paragraph of The Confessions which they responded with "it's complicated." true that. i just wanted to emphasize that "our heart is restless until it rests in thee" which was the theme of the day: journeying with God. I drew the circle of life with arrows going in multiple directions which represented sin.

*Memorable Moment of the Night #2: The same kid analyzed the quote really well to mean that sin makes us restless until we can finally reach God. I have a future Augustinian scholar on my hands

*Memorable Moment of the Night #3: One of the kids asked if we could ever come back from going off in a different direction which prompted a discussion of hell. I told them it wasn't a place where God sends you but a place that one chooses by separating from God (thank you C.S. Lewis and Professor Cavadini)

Back to class, I asked them to write about what they wanted their life stories to be like, what they wanted their jobs to be, or what their life story was like now. I emphasized that our lives are journeys with God as my companion. This led to ...

*Memorable Moment of the Night #4: One guy said that he wanted to be someone who taught people how to be nice. That alone probably made me signing up for ECHO worth it.

Finally, we prayed together in thanks and that God would grant us wisdom and knowledge. Overall, I thought it was a successful first class. The kids talked out of turn somewhat and the parent in the class commented on that. In fact, it was the only thing she really commented on. But hey, I figure kids will be kids and ruling with an iron fist isn't always the best. Hopefully it just keeps getting better and the kids get more into it.

P.S. There was a guy from the Catholic newspaper who came to take pictures of me in class while teaching. I hope there's some of me doing my best Cavadini-like poses.

One, Mystical, Dysfunctional and Beautiful

The parish: a bazaar of personalities.

There's the volunteer they call "the Diva" who rubbed the sleeve of my shirt between her fingers and said, "oh I like this...I like textures," and then proceeded to comment on the "texture" of all the outfits in the room. (Including Fr. Joe's pants, which she didn't approve of because they were too "boring").

And this woman gets along pretty well with my youth minister from Philadelphia who loves leopard print. Leopard print chairs welcome you into her office. Leopard print & pink work themselves into her daily wardrobe. She spent thirty minutes once trying to show me the leopard background of the youth ministry myspace. Today I found a coffee mug in the sink which was, go figure, also leopard print.

I met an old man last week who came in with a rose for me and the other women in my office. Within five minutes of meeting me, he had shared his epic of marrying an ex-nun and becoming Catholic.

I called a family to ask for volunteers last week, and it was the same deal- a guy picked up who was kind of a strange character, and within a few minutes, I heard a heartfelt story of his struggles and his process of conversion.

Tonight I went to a RCIA meeting. It was the first one of the year. The candidates are moving from the stage of inquiry to catechumenate. Several of the candidates were very old, but still wanted to go through this seven-month process to enter the Church. One guy said his wife is Catholic and that he has been married for 34 years, but is just now ready to enter the Church. The woman next to me was from Goa and grew up in Uganda. She was married for six days at 21 when she had to leave for the United States as a refugee and now she's at Holy Family as a sponsor.

I'm not sure what I'm going for here... I guess I just wanted to express how overwhelmed I am by the simultaneous eccentricity and depth of parish life. The parish is a hub of life changing events- the mass, baptisms, weddings, funerals, quiet moments of conversion. It's also the hub of the normalcy and dysfunctionality of every day life.

They go hand-in-hand, somehow. And it's beautiful.

Life gets busy...

...especially when it is your birthday week. Holy smokes batman, we did a lot last week; or so it seems! So for my birthday the girls got me the day off of work, and at first I had no idea. After a communion service at Paola's parish we were touring the area and I asked how we were doing on time, since I had to get into work (mind you, I hadn't been there they day before either due to a Youth Ministry lunch network thing I went to). Before a quick breakfast from the drive-thru at Starbucks they told me that I wasn't going in to work, they planned it all out with Alice! So, they blindfolded me and took me to the zoo. It was slightly rainy, but that means that there wasn't a huge crowd, so it was a great day! We took a break for lunch and they took me to the Macaroni Grill (where I had never been before) and all of our mentors met us there! It was quite a surprise. I was also sang to in Italian (the Happy Birthday song) and got a huge piece of chocolate cake. On full stomachs we went back to the zoo!

On Friday we went to GrapeFest, the wine festival in Grapevine. Boy was it hot that day! So we got sweaty and tired quickly, but overall it was a great day. We browsed the vendors, saw a grape stomping competition, and Angela and I sampled just a small glass of Texan wine, which was delicious. The actual wine sampling event was expensive: $18 a person. On our stipend, no thank you! At a grocery store we can buy 3 bottles of wine for that much! Katie, there is an idea for a hobby - becoming a wine connoisseur! We saw some guy talk about the basics of wine tasting, and he said he got started by simply drinking wine! I'm sure there is literature you can read too. Maybe start with a big jug of Carlo. ;)

I need a hobby...

Forget finding a husband! I need a hobby. In a recent phone conversation with a good friend of mine I was gently told that I need a hobby. She suggested scrapbooking, but I argued that scrapbooking is too expensive and I'm too much of a perfectionist for it to be at all relaxing. We then decided on building boats inside of bottles... although, those are probably expensive too. But hey -- I'll just make all of my Christmas presents this year! :)

Any good hobby suggestions? My sister is mailing me the first Twilight book -- apparently I "NEED" to read it. I'm open to any & all suggestions -- unless you suggest that I catch up on the class lectures & readings. That would be an unacceptable hobby suggestion.

My Car

I purchased my car in April for slightly under what Kelly Blue Book recommended. Sure, it's ten years old, but I thought it was a good deal-  it's sporty, spacious and gets decent gas mileage. Most importantly, it was going to get me from MA to IN to SPFL.

Well, it did. And, don't worry, it still runs... for now. 2 weeks ago it broke down and I took it to sears to get fixed. The battery was dead and the starter was broken. They fixed for the modest sum of... one paycheck. ouch. It came back from Sears with a check engine light that wasn't on before it went to Sears (now, in all fairness, the engine wasn't even running when it actually arrived at Sears, so I suppose it was improved). It turns out there's something wrong with the ignition. Hot.

Hot is right. Well, the AC has never worked since I got the vehicle. Of course, I didn't notice during Spring in Massachusetts. But I noticed pretty soon after I'd crossed the Mason-Dixon Line on my way down to Oh-So-Sunny St. Pete. I've been getting by just fine with the vent and the windows down. A  little sweat never hurt anyone (well, except when it does). But today my AC/Heater controls started smoking on my way home from work today. Needless to say, I was a little confused about why there was smoke coming from my dashboard console area. So, since I couldn't pull over in the traffic, I turned off the radio and fan. After I turned off the fan, the smoking stopped and so did any hope of getting air in my car during a rainstorm. The air controls are now completely functionless. 

I mean, it's an old car, I guess this stuff happens. But, really, smoke? Yikes.

I'm Waiting...

The Headless Clown is on the Move!

Over the past couple days, the Headless Clown has traveled over a thousand miles to a new home: from Fort Worth, Texas to Wilmington, DE. We are happy to welcome Mr. Clown into our home.

I came home from grocery shopping this evening and found the clown sitting on my desk...why does he always end up on My stuff!? I had one clue before I got to my bedroom, however, because there was a half empty box sitting in the kitchen with a random clown's hat in it. Good try Jonathan...next time, hide the evidence!

I'm sorry to inform you that the clown is going to need some reconstructive surgery to his face soon. Also, Fort Worth, what did you do to his foot that he used to be holding? He really misses it! So either it is lost in our house already, or Mr. Clown forgot it before he took off on his long journey. Please check his old home for his missing foot.

P.S. - Mike, with the arrival of the Clown, the room you were going to stay in this weekend is now taken. Please see the link below for alternative housing options. http://hotel-guides.us/delaware/de-hotels.html

They say it's yer birthday...

Happy Birthday Lisa!

Hope you have a great day!

And the Winner is...(just in case you didn't check your e-mail)

Dear friends,

a big thank you from D-House for participating in our little trivia contest. we hope that it was as fun for you trying to figure out the answers as it was for us to make it. the correct answers are

1) I prayed the rosary everyday to get into college: Tae
2) I thought about joining the Naval Academy: Sarah
3) I thought about entering a college theater program: Gen
4) I only applied to one college: J-Lew

So the grand prize winner is....

None of you.

While some of you got 1 right, 3 right or decided to be smarta$$ses (i'm looking at you indy house and more specifically swaim and wilcox), none of the houses got all 4 completely correct. the one that people universally missed was question #1: i , tae kang, prayed the rosary everyday to get into college. what? you guys don't think i'm holy or something? sheesh. i'm hurt. just kidding...(i'm actually crying inside)

its actually a pretty good story so if you're interested i will tell it to you.

Just a bit more information

the most popular answers were
1) Sarah
2) Tae
3) Gen
4) J-Lew

We will decide on who to award the prize soon enough. Thank you for participating in D-House Trivia. Look for something else fun in the mail soon from Wilmington-"A Place to be Somebody"

Peace,

Tae
Sarah
Gen
Jon

Congrats goes to...

...the Fort Worth House for having the best football team in the National Football League.

Go Cowboys.

P.S.: Please get me a ticket! :)

P.S.S.: Did you really think that I was going to give away any trivia answers? Sorry 'bout it!

No Dating History Mentioned Here

I had to give a formal introduction to my parish this weekend at a total of 5 Masses including 4 straight this morning from 7:30 to 1. After Mass, I was bombarded with handshakes, good wishes, some invitations over for a meal, babies, some ND alums, and a couple "so how do you think the Irish looked yesterday?" just two mentions of buell which was surprising. all in all i feel ready to campaign for my future presidency. like isaac, i decided to post my introduction.

Good morning! My name is Tae Kang and I am the new Associate for Religious Education. For the next two years, I will be serving as a member of the ECHO program which is the catechetical initiative from the University of Notre Dame. The one and only Terry Gerlach is my mentor as she keeps a watchful eye over me and rules our office with an iron fist. Just kidding terry! don't fire me just yet!

this past may i graduated from the University of Notre Dame with my degre in Theology and I am excited to continue my theological studies here at this beautiful parish. One of my heroes is St. Thomas Aquinas who once said it is "better to illuminate than merely to shine. To deliver contemplated truths to others rather than merely to contemplate." I chose to join the ECHO program because after four years of academic study (and spending a lot of my mom's money); I wanted to serve the Church in a more direct way. Not only did I want to see the practical implications of what I learned about, but I wanted to share what I learned at Notre Dame and a semester in Rome with others. this year i will get to do that as I will be teaching 8th grade religious education, helping out with the RCIA and Confirmation programs, working on catechist formation with the school and religious education teachers as well as serving as a lector and EM at this parish.

I am originally from Los Angeles so you can see that I am just bouncing around the country and I could not be happier than to be placed on the east coast and more specifically the first state-especially with the weather we had this weekend. Being from LA, I do not have a favorite NFL team, thus making my allegiances available to the highest bidder. Eagles fans, the bidding will begin after this Mass starting at $200 (side note: someone offered me $50 to be a redskin fan. i was tempted to take it)

Speaking of events going on after Mass, we have a table prepared for you to sign up to serve this community as a catechist or as a catechist aide. Do not think that you are incapable of catechizing because you have never done it before or because you do not have Ph.D. in theology. remember that Moses once said that he wasn't a good speaker-and he turned out alright. This community needs your passion, effort, and example to continue to do Christ's work. I hope that you will join me in this wonderful and life-giving ministry. Overall, I have really enjoying being and working here thus far. I look forward with great enthusiasm to meeting you and serving this parish and school. Thank you very much and God bless.

SO that's that. while unlike Isaac i did not mention any engagements, i do have a new "girlfriend". yeah you read that right

Teens and Canoes

Today I went on a canoe trip for the high school youth of St. Andrew. Angela came along too since she loves outdoorsy stuff. There were 7 youth and 5 chaperons. I guess a bunch dropped, but it was good since we ended up not taking the bus! We went for 7 miles down the Brazos River near Glen Rose, TX. We made two stops for food and rest and swimming. Going down that river today was an awesome experience! It was beautiful and at some points very peaceful. At first I was a little nervous for going because I had never been canoeing down a river before, but I never flipped and had a great time! Though my arms and shoulders are going to pay for it tomorrow... oofda.

The best part was simply getting to know the teens who went. We had youth in all four high school grades from at least 4 different high schools. Some knew each other from other events, but for those they didn't know they were very welcoming and very respectful. I was so impressed by them! And they definitely want to be involved in youth group activities. Some of them have had a rough life growing up and one kid's story was particularly inspiring.
Ok, I'm exhausted and need to get to bed before midnight. Long day at the parish tomorrow with RCIA and the Ministry Fair.

Brits and teens!

(now it works!) Here is a great website that just launched today! A British group created the site for young teens. It is worth a look at, especially if you are involved in YM or if you have a YM to pass it on to.

Congrats to the hard-core ND football fans! 1-0!

Everyone from Cali is an actor, right?

Sooo... we went to Disney yesterday and Anthony was chosen to participate as an extra in the Indiana Jones show. Unfortunately, the blog will not let me upload the video... BUT Facebook let me upload it. So y'all should head over to Facebook and watch the video! Try this link. If it doesn't work, just go to my profile & you should be able to get to it. My apologies to anyone who doesn't use Facebook. (But I think everyone HAS a profile now... right?)

Enjoy the video!

You should also know that Anthony and I were matching the entire day. It was terribly embarrassing! We didn't see each other until I got to his parish -- jeans and THE EXACT SAME COLOR shirt. Thank you, Old Navy, for making that color red this season. It only took about a half hour before one of the middle schoolers asked if we were married. Cute. Here's some evidence of our matching-ness (while in line for our 2nd Tower of Terror experience of the day):

Ask for a Cup of Water and Get Yelled At

After a productive morning of speech writing and g-chatting for the first time, I decided to go out for lunch to Boston Market. While waiting for my lunch, I realized that the cashier did not give me a cup for a drink. The lady who was ordering was kinda just standing around and asking questions so I went up and politely interrupted and asked the cashier if I was supposed to get a drink. It was then the customer and her man proceeded to berate me by yelling, "excuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuseeeeeeeeeeee meeeeeeeee!? whooo do youuu think you aree?! she's waiting on me! get back in line!" then her man yelled "get back in line son! get back in line!" so i apologize and she responds, "you better be sorry!" i then get behind her and she being the lady she is goes "give the man his cup". i turn it down but being the generous woman she is says "no take the cup!"

so overall it was a pretty crappy lunch. i felt bad for the cashier for having to deal with this so i apologize to her for the awkwardness. she said, "its cool. she didnt have to act like that." when i came back to the office, i recounted the experience and the ladies here gave me a hug. then they added, "we're huggers here. you better get used to it." i am never leaving the office for lunch again.

i guess ill do the Isaac thing to do and post my introduction later.

Living Your Strengths

At Saint Barnabas, everyone on staff gets a copy of this book called "Living your strengths" and takes a test to find our top five signature themes and strengths.

After scoring off the charts as an ISFJ and personality 2 in the enneagram, I wasn't at all surprised to learn that my top theme is empathy.

And anyone who has played monopoly with me won't be surprised to learn that that "competition" was at the very bottom of the list...

Hilarious

Check it out:
http://garfieldminusgarfield.net/post/47320782

Walter OR How to Remove a Lizard from Your House without Killing It

We made a new friend today. His name is Walter. He's about 3 inches long (maybe 2.8 inches now...). He showed up in our sink today -- scared the crap out of me! Anthony chased him right into the garbage disposal! Oops! No worries -- we didn't turn it on.

About 15 minutes later, Ellen went into the kitchen to make some grilled cheese, and she met Walter. So Anthony decided to give the chase another try, this time going after him with a cup & a piece of paper. Anthony caught him on the kitchen window (and almost forgot his clever idea of using the paper once he got Walter into the cup). Luckily he only lost a small piece of his tail (Walter, not Anthony), and he has been safely relocated to his proper home -- OUTSIDE.

Here Come The Irish...

So the start of the 2008 Notre Dame Football Season is upon us this weekend as the Fighting Irish play the San Diego State Aztecs. Hopefully, the Irish can bounce back from last year's debacle and have a great season. I guess I speak for all ND fans when I say that what I love most about ND football is the rich history and tradition it represents. It possesses a unique mystique that is hard to express in words. It's something I love and I want to share that love with you my dear friends. Thus, I posted a couple videos that I think help capture the special-ness that is ND Football.

Notre Dame vs Florida State 1993 NBC Intro: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cipJq3ZHuuQ

2005 Notre Dame highlights (Charlie Weis' first year): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jEfCrzvQUUQ

"Pass Right": http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F4PL5sWFc0k

and here's one of my favorite speeches ever courtesy of Lou Holtz, National Championship winning coach. he gave this speech before the 1988 season in which Notre Dame won its "latest" chamionship. it captures everything i believe about what ND football is about. give it a read-its pretty phenomenal.
Father Sorin said it best in 1842, "I've raised Our Lady aloft so that men will know without asking, why we have succeeded here. All they have to do is look high on the Golden Dome and they will find the answer." When we do what is right, we bring glory and honor to Notre Dame. When we win in football, we help this university. To reach your potential, you must learn to love this university. Put your faith, confidence and belief in Jesus. That is what this university is all about. It's your decision, but I firmly believe that Our Lady on the Dome will watch out for you. Spend some time at the Grotto, and you'll discover that this school is special. There is a special mystique about it. You are special for being here, a student at Notre Dame.

There are millions of people that live and die with Notre Dame Football. There are an awful lot of Catholics and non-Catholics, Irishmen and non-Irishmen, successful and less fortunate people that follow the University of Notre Dame “and you should feel a sense of obligation to them. They follow Notre Dame Football because it is synonymous with success. I really look forward to this season and working with you. We are going to be positive, and we are going to have fun in what we do.

I want you to pay very close attention to what I am going to say, because I don't want any misunderstandings about how I feel. I'm here to win football games for the University of Notre Dame. Not some of our games, and not most of our games; I'm here to win ALL of our games. Every doggone one of them! We aren't here to come close. We are here to win every single football game we ever play at the University of Notre Dame from this point forward. I want you to be the best, the very best, in all areas of your life. I want you to be the best student that you can be; I want you to be the best person you can be; and I want you to be the best football player you can be. The only reason a person should exist is to be the best he can.

To play at Notre Dame is to seek perfection. I'm basically a perfectionist. I've heard all the reasons why you can't reach perfection. I want to tell you something. We are either going to reach it, or we're going to come so close that the average person won't know the difference. To strive for perfection means you've got to be totally dedicated. It can't be an occasional thing - it's got to be a total dedication in everything that you do. If you don't have total dedication to perfection in your life, then I believe your attitude toward life is flawed. Perfection at Notre Dame will not only be demanded, it will be expected.

I don't ever expect to lose another football game as long as I'm at Notre Dame, and I sure don't expect to lose one this year. I expect to see a perfect football team, because that's going to be the criteria to evaluate it. A loss is absolutely disastrous. You cannot give me one reason in this world why we should ever lose a football game at Notre Dame - not a one! There is no reason we should ever lose another football game at Notre Dame, and we aren't going to. Less than perfection is a personal embarrassment to me, to you and to this university. For us to ever represent the University of Notre Dame with less than perfection is totally inconsistent with our goals, our objectives and our beliefs."

- Lou Holtz/February, 1988

A day for the history books

Today, September 4th, 2008, is the first day since moving to Wisconsin that I've worn jeans and a sweatshirt. Check out the current weather, during the day mind you.So while you may be enjoying the beach in the pleasant 75 degree heat, or bonding over a nice two hour hike in the local park, the Pride of Pleasant Street, the Brookfield Three, are living la vida loca, or living the crazy life for those who don't speak Spanish. We are experiencing December in Texas. Jealous?

Coldest state...hottest Governer

For the record, D-house was impressed with Palin's speech tonight. So sassy!

...and Tae has a MAJOR crush, even clapping with the crowd during her speech :)

In which Meli plays monopoloy and does not end up as collateral damage

After I lost horribly in monopoly on Monday, we tried a new strategy. Swaim and I tag-teamed. I played the beginning of the game- the initial property buying, rent collecting part. And then when he got off the phone, he took over the game and handled all the trading / house buying / etc.

In the end our team pulled off a decisive victory.

Success.

SPFL goes to the beach... FINALLY!

Yep! That's right... we FINALLY made it to the beach. And what better way to appreciate the beach than to go see a beautiful sunset over the Gulf?

So here you go... some pictures of our little adventure. (More pictures can be found on Facebook.)

Roomie picture:

Echo Man goes swimming!!
SPFL @ the beach.
Soooo pretty....

My introduction (and yours?)

This past weekend I introduced myself to my parish at all the Masses (5pm Saturday, 8:15am, & 10:15am Sunday). I also wrote a little thing for the bulletin. You can access the St. James bulletin if you're that interested.
But my verbal introduction was far more interesting and, dare I say (dare I post!), blogworthy:
Hi. My name is Isaac Garcia and I will be here at St. James serving you for the next two years, for better or for worse. My official title is “Catechetical Apprentice”, which basically means that I’ll be learning while I’m serving. Sue Devine-Simon is my mentor for the next couple of years, so if you want to contact me or if you have any extra Packer tickets, please talk to her.
A little bit about me. I am the third of five children which makes me the middle child. After surviving 18 years in the Texas heat in my birthplace Austin, I decided to head to the much cooler Midwest for college and enrolled at the University of Notre Dame in Indiana. In addition to earning my theology degree, God sent me a wife – well a wife to be. I proposed to my longtime girlfriend on Thanksgiving of this past year – November 22nd, 2007, at approximately 1:15pm, but who’s keeping track, right? And now the longtime girlfriend will be the longtime fiancée, as we look forward to our wedding date sometime in 2010. Don’t ask me when, but it’ll happen.
We graduated together this past May and now I’m here at St. James as part of the Echo program, which is a two-year service program run by Notre Dame with an education aspect too. Echo doesn’t actually stand for anything, but Echo is the English translation of the Greek word catechesis. So I will be echoing the faith, so to speak.
Just a little about the program: I took classes this past summer and will more next summer. When I’m done with Echo, I’ll have a MA in Theology from Notre Dame. And I’m living with two other men who are doing what I do here at St. Dominic’s in Brookfield and St. Agnes in Butler. In total there are 17 of us in my class year doing this around the country. I could go on forever, because I love the program, but I don’t want to bore you with the details.
Now I’m here. While I don’t have everything set in stone as far as how I’ll be echoing, I do know I’ll be a 2nd and 10th grade teacher and will be on the RCIA team. But I’m sure you’ll be seeing me around. I’ll be around after Mass, for instance.
I hope that I can get to know you and that you can get to know more over these next two years. I look forward to serving and learning from you and the entire St. James community. Thank you.
------
So how are you introducing yourself at your parish? I'm interested to know.

Gustav!

We are definitely getting some rain from Gustav. I think we'll get more from the actual "tropical storm" tonight and tomorrow. Looking at the radar for Texas is amazing, the storm still looks like a hurricane, though it is on land now.

So is anyone else bored? I seriously have nothing to do... I finished the class readings we had to have done from last week and I'll watch the lecture later on tonight. I also did a "lesson plan," or rather, finished it from earlier. Youth Ministry stuff doesn't start until Sept 14th. I was supposed to meet with my mentor today, but she's been kind of busy or just not in her office. It is 3:20 now and I'll probably leave in 10 minutes. I have a great meal planned for tonight =)

By your powers combined...

Somehow Swaim and started talking about Captain Planet yesterday.

I love captain planet.

I'm not even joking. I had captain planet actions figures when I was a kid. The water girl, Gi was my favorite; I think I watched that show every day.

Swaim told me that some of his ND friends hadn't been allowed to watch Captain Planet because of one episode about population control in which the PSA told kids, "Remember, if you have a family, keep it small!"

So I looked the episode up on YouTube and found it.

So we watched it as a community activity. It was probably the best community activity ever. Ever.



For your enjoyment, part one can be found here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sNEoHy-TH2c

Almost Fab

In a different Echo musical experience. D-house went hiking today (see Echo man post) and had the pleasure of running across this Beatles cover band playing in the state park: Almost Fab. Feel free to take a listen!

By the way, I believe that there are a few house(s) out there who have not yet posted. This is a safe place, we welcome all posts as random and often as possible!

Bagpipes

A certain shorter than average roommate of mine is outside playing the bagpipes as discreetly as possible.

Considering the the instrument, there's nothing discreet about it.

It's absolutely amazing.

Echo Man Goes for a Hike