Itch that

That's what I taking for my allergic reaction to Sulfa. Anyone out there know what it's called? Or at least it's Chemical makeup? If you get it right, I might give you a prize.

Waking up in the middle of the night with itchy, swollen hands is not fun. The phrase "go big or go home" obviously wasn't crafted for situations where hands swell up.

And taking Benadryl right before teaching 2nd grade made the class interesting, for sure.

I am posting this so I no longer have to look at that disgusting spider when I check the blog. I love these dogs (Lab-retriever mix!)

Arachnophobia, anyone?

This is our new house pet, Tobey.



Enough said.

Perhaps useful for parish work (at times)

Bringing Back Chivalry One DRE at a time

Last week, the members of D-House went on a retreat with the DREs of the Diocese of Wilmington at a hotel in Ocean City, MD. It was a beautiful and relaxing couple of days drinking tea, catching up on life and the kids, oh and praying the Scriptures. Anyway, you can probably guess the female to male ratio in attendance and that plays a role in these next two stories here.

1) On the last night, a group of us went out to dinner at a local restaurant. This group consisted of 13 DREs....and myself. While we are out to dinner, this man grabs the back of my chair and says in a gruff voice, "Are all of these women yours?" I jokingly respond, "Why yes they are!" The table bursts out laughing and he goes, "Wow. What a lucky guy. Keep it up." Then he walks away. One of the DREs turns to me and says, "He's a Knight of Columbus." Ha. Weird.

2) After the final presentations of Thursday night, a group of us go to the hotel bar to discuss theology over a couple drinks. This group only consisted of 8 DREs...and myself. Someone is playing the piano, people form dancing lines, tambourines are shaken and drums are drummed-all in all a good time. While we are just chilling at the table, one of the DREs says, "Tae, you got to protect me from that guy over there. He's really creeping us out." Turns out that there was this older gentleman there who was checking out the DREs at our table. He comes over to me and asks if all of these women are "mine"-to which I respond yes. I ask him if I could get him a drink and he says, "I only want to know one thing! How did you get all these beautiful women? Especially that redhead! She's amazing". I simply replied, "Luck. God is good I guess. " He asks me for my name and I tell him. He goes, "Tang? Big Daddy Tang!!!" All of us are laughing about my new nickname but before he can say any more ludicrous things about the ladies (or at least to them)-I send him away bewildered on how I can be surrounded by such beautiful women.

A Day in the Park with Meli Barber

Hey everyone! Check this out. The Peoria house was blessed with a visit from our very own Meli Barber a couple weekends ago. It was a jolly good time. Some of the highlights included going to the park where they have a giant zen garden and making zen echo man, learning guitar, and enjoying vegetarian camaraderie. Miss you all!

Crossing Generations

Yesterday I met a guy. It was during the soup and sandwich lunch our church has every Wednesday during Lent after the 11am Mass (which only happens during Lent). This guy was really kind and sweet. And turns out he is an alum from Notre Dame! He is part of the class of 1944. Awesome, huh!? He is 87 years old. And it turns out that he was the executive director for Catholic Charities of the Fort Worth Diocese. So this guy, Clem Constantine, is quite a big deal! I bet he has many leather-bound books and his house smells like rich mahogany. It was neat talking with him. There are so many Notre Dame connections down here, it's ridiculous!

On a side note, as I was leaving the cathedral today an older woman asked me what the top of my shirt said (on the back, since my hair was in the way). I told her, "Forming Leaders, Serving the Church." So I got to explain to her a bit about the Echo program and how I want to go into youth ministry afterward. She said her parish needs a youth minister, they don't have one at all. Maybe there will be a job opening next year!