| « | March 2005 | » | ||||
 |
||||||
| S | M | T | W | T | F | S |
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | ||
| 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 |
| 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 |
| 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | 26 |
| 27 | 28 | 29 | 30 | 31 | ||
On a serous note, the Catholic seniors of Shiner, TX prayerfully portrayed the passion of Christ this evening by semi-acting out the stations of the cross. It was very thought provoking for me as I felt like one of the crowd that watched Jesus carry the cross down the roads and up the hill to the place where he was crucified. I was and am very proud of our seniors!
a-ok
This trip was taken a few weeks past. I was hoping to add pictures to it before I posted it, but I have not gotten the pictures from my fellow trip takers. They took the pictures I didn?t?to be explained later.
This past Spring Break I was privileged to accompany two of my buddy seminarians and a Spiritual Director at the Seminary to the white mountains of Colorado. Though the pact was the famous saying, ?What happens (insert where you are located) stays (insert where you are located.? Therefore, what happened on Spring Break, for the greater part, will stay on Spring Break. Not that we did anything that produced skeletons in the closet?or at least big ones?but that I either cannot remember or don?t want to type every single detail down, plus you probably wouldn?t want to read it all. But I digress?
We started on the long trip Friday night, late of course because of me. Once we were on the road you could smell the excitement in the air as Fr. Ivan and Vincent spoke of their skiing expertise and David and I (both rookies) talked a lot of smack?in fun of course, but again I can only speak for myself. After a stop off in Santa Fe, NM where we stayed in one of Vince?s parishioner?s other house for a couple of day, we completed our trip in Keystone, CO, but not before a desire to alter our course for ?Las Vegas? was trampled. Our (mainly David?s and mine) first day on the slopes (bunny that is, small hill, inexperienced skiers, bratty kids skiing circles around these skiers), was spent learning the ropes to hopefully later conquer the greens. We decided to play around on the skis before our class started?BIG MISTAKE?I almost died of exhaustion due to poor form. Once the lessons started the correct form was learned which made everything so much easier. Two two-hour lessons back-to-back, and I did fine until we went to the top of the hill and I did the rookie stop all the way down?falling. No matter how much of a wedge I did, my 300+ pound frame still shot down the hill like a missile without coordinates?a jet at Mach 3 without a joystick...you get my drift. My butt and my legs were so sore that I barely made it to the rental place to return my skis and pick up my shoes. The three block walk back to the lodge was grueling.
With the learning day behind us, we decide to get a little more comfortable with three to four runs down the bunny slope before braving the whole mountain on the greens. The ride up there was pleasant and exciting as I sat in anticipation for the ski down. It was fun until the burn returned to my legs, probably about 15 minutes into the downhill run. This is when I started falling again because I just to have an excuse to sit down?oops I fell again. What pissed me off more than anything were the same bratty kids were skiing circles around me on this hill too and without poles or anything. I wanted to give them one of my poles, but not for their use or comfort. I will let you figure this one out. About half way to three quarters of the way down my legs burned so much I was roasting marshmallows and making s?mores on them. Fr. Ivan realized this and as I sat in the snow wanting to go on but not having the drive nor the strength, he asked the ski patrol to come pick me up and bring me down the mountain. By this time, Vince had done skied down, went back up and skied back down to me. But in hind sight I say who is the sucker, because I got an exhilarating snowmobile ride down the hill (and that?s all it was?and chaste I might add, which is why I can add this part of the story) by a cure little blonde number?grrroooowwwl. I was the envy of the other three guys, I just know it. After one day?s rest, we set out for the 24 hour non-stop trek home from Keystone, CO to Shiner, TX for me and Houston, TX for the other three. I had a blast, as you are suppose to have during Spring Break and no one ended up in the hospital. All in all it was a successful trip.
I hope to add a few pics later.
Today I heard a most interesting Nigerian adage:
"The inquisitive monkey gets a bullet in the face."
Upon here this from one of my classmates in the seminary, we all busted out laughing more from the strange sound of the phrase to our ears than the meaning, because we didn't have a clue as to its meaning. Sitting here now, I can't even remember the context in which he used it. Anywho, I just thought I would share this with you...maybe you think it is funny, maybe you don't or maybe you understand its meaning or maybe not...I just offer it for your edification.
I just received the picture from the St. Paul Prom when the students and two former students of A&M sawed Varsity's horns off. I thought I would share it with you.
sad
Where's the sweet? William was full of it. I am talking about the parting of the basketball season. I feel not sweetness about it. I write this blog after an upseting 5 point loss to Trinity Christian in San Antonio. I didn't know that I would take the loss or the end of basketball season this bad, but I have. It is a feeling I don't think can be fully understood until you have coach a whole season, grown close to the team, and truly have faith in the teams potential. Anyway, my sorrow is only for the end of the season. I am very proud of the girls. They played their hearts out all season and did what we asked of them even changing positions mid-season or playing two different positions during the same game depending on the lin-up that was in the game. The girls stepped up to the plate and gave so much to the team. And for all of this, I have nothing but an abundance of pride.
I hope that the teams sticks together. We will an intergral part of the team at point guard to graduation, however the other four starters were sophomores, so we foreseeably have another two years with them. As a matter of fact the whole team minus our one senior point guard was comprised of juniors or below. Next year should be exciting to watch. By this last game different players have stepped forward almost as specialists in different areas: stealing, rebounding, driving to the basket, and defense. We even saw the glimpse of a possible three point specialist our last two games, who shot 3 for 3 from beyond the arc (two of them coming in the playoff loss).
My sadness increases as I realize that I will not be here to watch the girls play next season. But alas my calling to be a priest leads me back to the seminary to complete my formation, though I will do it with a heavy heart.
I will stop here before my eyes become Niagra Falls.
As you may have gathered from the hint in the title, but in addition to Vanilla Ice's song the boys basketball team went further into music history and proceeded to sing Devo's "Whip it." This further extended my shock.
quizzical
People always say, "History repeats itself." Though I have seen the truth to this statement, I never would have believed what it to repeat itself as it has. The St. Paul Prom and last night's return trip from Brenham for the girl's and boy's basketball teams are proof. I couldn't believe my ears at the prom when I heard over the DJ's speakers the once popular lyrics, "Ice, Ice, baby, too cold, too cold..." I dismissed it as the DJ merely playing this past hit for nestalgia's sake. But my original thoughts were affirmed when I heard the boys team in the back of the bus rapping the whole song, not missing one word. -- (I should know, because sadly enough I still know the song.) -- As I conversed with a Sophomore on the girl's team about the song, I found out that it had become popular again and so much so that it is NOW HER RING TONE! Who woulda thunk it: Vanilla Ice resurected from his lyrical grave. All I can say to that is, Wow.
silly
I came across these games online and thought you might like to give them a try. I can't get enough of them, and try to out do my score endlessly.
How far can you walk in a drunken stupor. I've staggered 57 meters.
http://www.funny-games.biz/home-run.html
For those Coona**es out there. How far can you chunk a t'r. I done did it 443.42.
http://www.funny-games.biz/tyre-toss.html
Without letting your mind go in the gutter, how fast can you play this game. Last night I approached 300 mph, believe it or not. It was like 276 or something like that.
http://www.funny-games.biz/spank-monkey.html
What you would like to do in the office to waste time before work gets out, but don't want to paper wads all over your office. Now you can throw paper at the waste basket endlessly with no clean-up necesary. My best is 10.
http://www.funny-games.biz/paper-toss.html
I will update my scores on this entry if I beat them. Post your scores by clicking the link below that says "post your comments." I look forward to see how you far against me and all those millions who read this blog.
party time!
I was invited to go to the St. Paul Prom, and no not as a date, but by the Junior Class. And yes, the prom was early this year, with an appropriate them: Madi Gras. I knew this was going to be a different my high school proms when Father Bob asked me to take his Mass kit and his chasuble to the KC Hall where the prom was being held. This prom actually started with a Mass, and then a catered meal by a local caterer who happens to be the school maintenance man. Andy is a jack-of-all-trades kind of guy. Anyway, the dance didn't start until the dinner was over, which by the way was served by the freshman class. Once the music started it was a typical high school dance...no one got up to dance until about an hour into the dj's set. Being the polka town that Shiner is, of course there were a few polkas played among the country, rock, and hip-hop. I don't mean a country song that doubles as a polka song to dance to, but actual bonafide polka songs. I thought I had seen it all when a teacher grabbed Andy the caterer to lead the grand march. Yes I said the grand march, which until then I had only seen at wedding receptions. For those who aren't familiar to what a grand march is; I will explain it briefly. In a nut shell it is a couple's conga line. One couple leads the other couples around the dance floor weaving here and there, then making a bridge all pass under to continue the bridge for the other couples. And at times, the lead couple even splits up to lead their particular gender around the dance floor to meet with their original partner on the other side of the floor. Unless you've been in one, you can't know how much fun they are. I did, however, end up going danceless, unless you count sawing Varsity's horns off dancing. Yes they actually played the Aggie War Hymn and all the future Aggies sang the song, to a degree, with the two Former Students--myself and the spouse of a coach. When the students linked up I couldn't help myself but run up and join them. It was great to see their Aggie spirit. However, being politically sensitive, the dj also played "I've Been Working on the Railroad" for the t-sips that were present. The evening ended up being very enjoyable, even if I was dateless.
Many things have happened since I last wrote. I will spare you a long blog and give you a few highlights. Christmas came quickly and I joined my pastor for the marathon of Masses starting Friday evening at 5:00pm and ending Sunday morning at 10:30am seven Masses in all; however, I took a short cut, which skipped me passed the Saturday vigil Mass and the Sunday 7:30 morning Mass. No sooner did Christmas come and go, the New Year had started and I had to report to the seminary for our week long silent retreat. I suffered through...prayerfull attended the retreat without saying a word to anyone until the end. Some may find that surprising, but it is true...honest. January saw much of what happened before. 
Basketball season continued and we have seen great success on the court at 2nd in our district. Also dealing with the sport of basketball: I have started playing basketball with the youth of the parish. So far, we have had a good showing of youth of both the public and Catholic schools. January 22, my niece/Goddaughter Brenna Elizabeth Rother was baptized in the Faith. This past Thursday a friend came down and we made a pilgrimage to the Spoetzl Brewery where the nectar of the gods is brewed...Shiner Beer. Being the special people that we are, we were even given a behind the scenes tour. It was awesome! And lastly, tonight, January 29, we showed our appreciation for our beloved pastor on his birthday, by having a pot luck dinner. The seniors and I even put on a skit that dramatized a funny event in the life of Father Bob.
