My First Wind Storm
Topic: CPE '04

Well I witnessed my first wind storm. Luckily I was not in it, though I was told not to open my mouth during one unless I want to be swallowing mouth-fulls of dirt. It was cool to see from the 8th floor of the hospital. It happened last night when I was on call. Light posts, trees, signs, etc. were blowing around in the wind as loose garbage tumbled by. It was an interesting sight to see. People here in Lubbock must be used to them because the traffic did not stop or even decrease. Everybody just keep going about their business. Mother nature even gave me a light show during the wind storm. Lightning would light up the whole sky and for a brief second I could see as if it was high noon. Even on a rare occassion, a bolt would strike the ground. I stared for about twenty minutes in wonder at the marvel I was witnessing and, of which, no one seemed to take notice. Those poor blokes.

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For those of you enamored with my life and wonder if different things happened, like for instance...hypathetically speaking...not that anyone has asked proving either my exciting life claims or that there is little going on in this person's life that they are living vicariously through mine (Courtney Kana)...okay continueing with this completely hypathetical question of "So, did you have that funnel cake?? :)"

The answer to this is...unfortunately no. The July 4th festivities didn't start around here until 7pm and by the time 7 rolled around I didn't feel like going out there. My tastesbuds still have yet to forgive me.

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Lastly, just in case you haven't noticed but if you would like you can comment on my blogs by clicking the link ("post your comment") below the correct blog entry; however, know this, I have final veto power...so if you write complete dull and boring comments...poof it will disapear faster than you can audibly and correctly pronounce "&%*$(#(%&." :-)

At Long Last...My Myers-Briggs Personality
Topic: CPE '04

After being corrected by my ISFJ friend about my personality type, I figured I would put to rest your anticipation and confusion since everyone knows that, "ESPJ is not a Myers-Briggs combination." So for the great number of people who knew this bit of information and were miffed about it, my true Myers-Briggs Personality Type is...drum roll please, "ddddddddddddd"...ESFP. What does this mean you ask? Well, according to Myers-Briggs it stands for and the Preference Clarity (Slight, Moderate, Clear, Very Clear):

E - Extroversion - Very Clear
S - Sensing - Clear
F - Feeling - Very Clear
P* - Perceiving - Slight

* The questionnaire instrument labeled me an ESfJ, but J only slight. After a morning of exercises that will help clarify this personality type, I realized that I actually lean toward the P side.

People with this personality type (ESFP) are generally:

Outgoing, friendly, and accepting. Exuberant lovers of life, people, and material comforts. Enjoy working with others to make things happen. Bring common sense and a realistic approach to work, and make work fun. Flexible and spontaneous, adapt readily to new people and environments. Learn best by trying a new skill with other people.


So I hope that this has lived up to the anticipation you have had waiting to learn my personality type. Maybe you have learned something new about me or only found out what you already knew. Well, now you know, and knowing is half the battle...GI Joe.

Weekend in Amarillo
Topic: CPE '04

This is the long awaited blog about my weekend trip to Amarillo...okay no one has been looking for it, but still here it is.

Earthman and I went to Amarillo the first weekend we arrived in Lubbock. We had no premonitions for the weekend and just let it happen. We met up with my friend, Leigh Ann, and saw what Amarillo had to offer. The first was a jeep tour through Paladuro Cannon, the second largest cannon in the United States.

Next on the list was a little vandalism--keying cars. We went to see what some artist with more money than he knows what to do with did. He only did what you would have done if you were in his shoes. He bought ten early model Cadillacs and buried half way in the ground standing them up vertically on the nose. He even invites people to paint them up, but without a can of spray paint we resorted to keying the cars and scratching our names in the multiple layers of paint. After climbing on the cars for a picture op we headed to our last event.

The last stop on our tour of Amarillo brought us to The Big Texan, a restaurant that offers a 72 ounce steak for free if you eat it the roll, salad, and side in one hour; otherwise, it costs $60. The steak didn't appear at all threatening as I look down upon it sitting on the plate before me. I started thinking, "I can do this," but then realized that I didn't want to and decided that the closest I would get to the steak was peering at it in the display case. The real reason we were at this restaurant was for the menu that had a coupon for a free belt buckle from Cavendar's Boot City with the purchase of anything. Wanting a straw hat, I went straight to the back and found the hat I wanted, which would give me the free belt buckle. Only then was my trip complete and I could then return home with a feeling of completion.

July 4th Weekend
Topic: CPE '04

Fr. Brendon's "check-up trip" went according to plan--he didn't find out about the summer skeletons. :-) Fr. Brendan came, ate, drank, and had a good time. He left earlier than we (Earthman and I) had originally thought he would. The evening started with drinks at the bishop's house with the bishop as the bartender. It was kind of like the joke with the pope as the limo driver. The bishop pulled out his hardware puzzles to stump us as we "tied one on."--What a great combination: booze and mind teaser puzzles, both of which are mind numbing in their own way.--We soon left for The 50 Yard Line even without having figured out all the puzzles. I guess alcohol causes one's attention span to shorten or one's threshold of giving up to lower. I was given the opportunity to drive Fr. Brendan to the restaurant and answer all of his questions about the CPE program and my experiences. I hope I gave the correct answers. The meal was as expected...a very good steak and filling sides...and the blueberry muffenettes. I know, I know, the carbs...oh the horror! The evening ended in the same room that it began, but the entertainment differed.--Remember we are now with the bishop so keep your thoughts chaste.--The final entertainment of the evening was watching the Lubbock News with the bishop. Now you must realize this is Lubbock not Houston; the news entails endless talk about the dry weather or the rain that flooded the drainless streets. Fr. Brendan and Fr. Rodney left for Midland after finding out the Astros lost.

This weekend will bring very little excitement, maybe a visit downtown to the 4th Festivities. Fr. Clint also will be in town late tonight for the night as he "needs a place to stay on his way elsewhere." I just may have to eat a "white trash" snack...a funnel cake.

My First Solo
Topic: CPE '04

"Page 1"

Today is my day off after being on call all last nigt...well back up at least. Yesterday at about 1700 (military time, which we use at the hospital, for 5pm) I was called up from the bench. I would not ride the pine tonight. Come to find out the primary person on call, Ben, was finishing up a call and had received two more, one of which was reason why I was called into the game. Before all was said and done, Ben got one more call but was able to answer it himself. This call was my first death that I would deal with solo, and I was nervous as to how it would go, how the family would react. Everything went like clockwork and the family did not show much emotion except for their mournful attitudes. I was lucky from what Ben tells me, because "death calls" don't always go so smoothly. As a matter of fact, we can plan on it being a very bumpy ride, which we must hang on for the duration and hope the car does not become derailed. I count myself blessed to have had such a smooth first "death call."

"Page 2"

Fr. Brendan Cahill, the rector of St. Mary's Seminary, and Fr. Rodney White, a priest friend of mine, are headed to Lubbock from Midland as I type this. It is a much anticipated visit, because Fr. Brendan is coming up north to see how Michael Earthman and I are holding up. Either this was the excuse to come see his friend Fr. Rodney or coming to see Fr. Rodney was the excuse to come check up on Michael and I. I will allow you to decide which is the excuse.

Also, Fr. Clint will be coming through town Saturday night and will stay with us at the bishop's house.--Oh, I didn't tell you that's where I am staying did I. Well after many months of anxiety and biting our nails to the nub, Michael and I procured, by the grace of God, the two extra rooms at Bishop Placedo's house.--Father will only be spending the night and will leave Sunday. I don't know if this is just a stop on the way or a disguised check up on Earthman because Fr. Clint is the vocation director for Galveston-Houston.

Other than this, I don't have any major plans for this weekend, which just happens to be July 4th weekend.

"Page 3"

Something peculiar about Lubbock:

They must think Taco Bueno is great Mexican food. For about two weeks, a new Taco Bueno that had opened up was dangerously busy from open to close. I say "dangerously," because there normally would be cars lined up two and three deep (as much though as six or seven) in the turning lane wanting to turn into this fine Mexican eatery. They would hinder the oncoming cars from turning into a gas station, the movie theater, and another Mexican eatery. Michael and I continue to wonder about the mystery that is the grand opening of Taco Bueno. I shall see how Lubbock responds to another Taco Bueno grand opening just down the street from Sugar Brown's where I get my coffee and update this very blog.

"Page 4"

I still forgot to bring my Myers-Briggs personality type write up. But it is coming soon. Stay tuned!


This is Michael Rother...Good day.

Let's See What the Stars Have to Say
Topic: CPE '04

Tonight, Jerry, a co-worker at CMC, invited a group of us out to go view the stars through his telescope. I have to be honest, I was not that stoked to go star gazing, because my previous experiences were at the hand of my low powered telescope that I barely saw the moon through. His telescope and knowledge of the stars was much more advanced than mine. He even had a computer--basically a LED readout--that let him know exactly how to tilt the telescope to see different things in the sky, i.e. Jupiter, stars, star clusters, the Milky Way, Galaxies, and nebuli (Is that the plural of nebula?). I learned quite abit that night...this was expected because when it comes to the stars, my knowledge slate is basically empty. I knew that most of the white things in the night sky were stars and some were planets. In addition, some stars have been grouped together to form figure two of which I know: the big dipper and the little dipper. The first thing I learned that night was the constellation that is my sign--Scorpio...if you believe in that sort of thing. We could see this and the Milky Way with the naked eye, though we did later look at different clusters of stars in the Milky Way. The first thing we looked at through the telescope was Jupiter and could see it in good detail--the lines and all. I have provided pictures I found on the internet that are pretty close to the view we got. The night was well worth it. So next time you are outside look up at the stars, because I just maybe looking at the very star too, and maybe even through my friend's telescope. :-)

Riding my Bike on Scrub-day After my First On-Call Overnighter
Topic: CPE '04

Today I got to finally ride my bike to the hospital. Being my normal self, I was running late and had to hurry, but made it there with plenty of time to spare. For those of you worried about my sweat factor...don't worry. There is a shower that I can use after I make it to the hospital. After work today, I purchased the most comfortable clothes...scrubs. I now look like I officially work at a hospital.

Also, last week I survived another first...my first over night on call. Being back-up the on call situation pretty much entails sleeping over at the hospital. I only get called if a second call comes in for a chaplain when the primary on-call chaplain is answering the first. This is the first time since I was a little kid playing under my hospital bed that I have stayed in a hospital overnight. It gets eerily quiet at night, I am glad I didn't decide to watch a horror flick that takes place in a hospital. I would have freaked.

In other news...I am an ESPJ...I think. More on this as the story unfolds...or should I say after I go home and get the paper again so that I can explain it.

The Beginning of a New Experience...CPE
Topic: CPE '04

I decided to venture out far from home one more summer after last summers treck to Cuernavaca, Morelos, Mexico. This summer however I went to the country north of us...North Texas. I am spending the summer again with Michael Earthman (of Houston), but this time in Lubbock learning, hands on, what it is to be a hospital chaplain. I have accepted a position at Convenant Medical Center (CMC) a just recently merged hospital between St. Mary's and Methodist. However, St. Mary's has retained its Catholicity and "converted" Methodist hospital to Catholicism if you can call it a conversion. I am enjoying the overall experience and like Lubbock, especially the lack of humidity. The city reminds me a great deal of B-CS, though it still is NOT the heaven that B-CS is.

During the program I make regular rounds to assigned floor and visit the patients, family, and staff there. My assigned floor end up being slightly providential...rehab. I feel that I am many times visiting with my future. Every patient that I visit who had their knee replaced, makes me think about a probable eventual experience that I will have. Overall, though, the patients express a positive attitude to what they are going through despite the pain. Many, as a matter of fact, work harder than the physical therapists expect, because they are physically capable and desire to go home as quickly as possible...I only hope that I can be similar when my time comes.

Furthermore, my supervisors are very open to allowing me to experience everything possible that a hospital offers. As a matter of fact, they encourage me to take advantage of these things. For example, Thursday, I was able to observe a Coloscapy (sp)--not a Colonoscopy, but close. I wasn't sure how I would react to seeing someone's insides, but I was surprisingly okay and actually intrigued. I was lucky to have a nurse available to answer my questions when he wasn't running around the O.R. doing things for the doctors performing the surgery. I enjoyed this experience so much I plan on requesting to observe another one. In addition to this, some time in the near future I will also get to observe an autopsy, not for morbid sake, but purely for the experience...really.

My 2nd Year of Theology
Topic: Theology II '03 - '04

My Second Year of Theology in a "nut shell."

This blog will have to take care of all last school year. Even though this is the case, the blog will still be short because the year can primarily be summed up in one sentence.

My busiest year was so full of term papers that if the energy gained from burning the paper I used last year could provide days of electricity for a small town.

That being said, the highlights of the year begin with last October when I was instituted Acolyte. I am now a "professional server at Mass." My ministry for the year was at St. Charles Borromeo Catholic Church with the Spanish youth group, Grupo Juvenil, Luz de Vida. And finally, as things come in threes, the third highlight of the year was my mission trip to Honduras for Spring Break. I met many beautiful people full of love and joy that I could not help but receive God's goodness from these people however simple they were.

Now that you now about my last year from this short and concise statement, won't you be able to sleep better tonight?


August 28, 2003 - Memorial of St. Augustine

Today marks the final day of the first week of my second year of theology. It went by pretty fast and rather uneventful except for feverishly taking notes using a friend's PDA because mine is having a minor repair. I feel like I am back in elementary school though, because all but one class are in the same class. The teachers change rooms but we don't. Today was rather special because I met a man who knows a living Saint, with a captial "S," meaning that he is in Heaven with our Lord as you read this. The Saint is St. Maximilian Kolbe. This priest gave the homily for today's Mass that was dedicated to St. Maximilian's devotion to the Blessed Mother. It was quite good and informative of this Saint's life.

Other things that happened this week since I returned to the seminary for the new semester have been getting and installing a DVD/CD+RW into my computer...now I can watch my movies on my computer without having to always go to the tv room down stairs.

Lastly, today also marks the beginning of the "Conscious Celebacy" Workshop where we will learn how to empty our "lebido buckets." It looks to be an interesting Thursday through Saturday of bucket emptying.

Rockets Viewing Party
Topic: Theology II '03 - '04

"And heeeeeeerrrrrrreeesss yyyyooouuuurrr chammmmpionnnn, MMMMMMMMMichaell RRRRRRRRRRRRooootherrr!"

"So Michael, how did you do it?"

"Hot! Hot! Hot! Beer! <*GULP, GULP, GULP!*> WHOOP!...Well, <*burp*> it was a team effort. I knew I had the support of my friends and that got me in the wing eating zone and I don't know what happened to me...I just became a machine." *GULP!*

"Well, it was definitely exciting watching you...I mean you just shoved the wing in your mouth and in one pull the bone came out clean. It was just amazing! I have seen only one other guy eat wings like that."

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Tonight was a Rocket's viewing party at which I entered a wing eating contest. Going agaist two formidable opponents, I knew I had my work cut out for me. We were each given a basket of 14 inferno wings (the hottest style wings) and 90 seconds with which to eat as many as we could. Time ended, I looked down and saw two left in my basket and wondered how well my adversaries did. One to my right had four left, but the one across from me also had two left. Thoughts and nerves of an "overtime" dual were quickly calmed when a Rocket's Power Dancer picked up both of our boneyards and commented how the other guy's bones still had a great deal of meat, but mine were clean...thanks mom for teaching me how to clean chicken bones. The power dancer seemed impressed with my eating ability. Being named victorious I was given a basketball autographed by the 2003-2004 Houston Rockets. I proudly strutted back to my table and I quickly reached for the beer, lemons, and sugar packets to put out the flames on my lips and tongue. Then I had to return to reality and get back to the seminary to study for classes tomorrow.