Can't Get A Break

Even on my birthday I can't catch a break! All I wanted to do was blow out my candles. Four little faces show up and not only blow out the candles but probably deposited a huge amount of kid spit all over the icing! As if that wasn't bad enough, they ate most of the cake too. What they didn't eat they left on the chairs and floor. Aren't kids really cute?

And The Beat Goes On

Thirty-eight years ago right now I was a single man. I knew the night would not bring much sleep and I was right. I just laid awake and had short naps because all I could think about was my wedding tomorrow. We planned for that for over 2 years and suddenly it was our time. Thinking back it seems that those two years were longer than the following 38! Where has the time gone? What an adventure! Who in their right mind has 7 kids? I think the key word there is "right". Neither one of us is really mentally OK. But that old saying has come true for us. You know the one about grandchildren being the reward for putting up with your rotten kids!

We have really been blessed in our marriage. There have been a minimum amount of emergencies in our lives and the lives of our kids. Except for an occasional bunch of stitches, broken bones and a surgery here and there things have pretty tame. For the most part, we all have enjoyed good health (not counting hearts).

I think all young couples getting married have stars in their eyes. That's the way it should be. But 38 years later, in this moment of reflection, the stars still twinkle. I look forward to the next 38 years with my bride (hopefully, 35 of them will be in NC).

Coming To A Close

Today is April 27, 2008. That probably does not mean anything special to most of you but what that means to me is I have exactly 10 days of teaching left before our latest batch of senior pagans leaves St. Joes. That's right, all of you at Freehold Boro HS and Immaculata HS, this boy just goes to work after that to schmooze! It is fitting because the last day of school for the seniors is my birthday. Doesn't get any better than that!

The Pope Sends His Love

It was a beautiful morning. Sun shining, blue sky, warm with a cool breeze. I went to St. Joes to await the arrival of the bus which would bring 55 of us to the St. Joseph Seminary at Dunwoodie, NY to see the Pope interact with the youth of the area parishes. Everything was great but we had one hitch. One young girl forgot her identification so we had to leave her behind. Security would be tight and she would not have been admitted without it. We gave her ample time to go home to get it but she never came back.

What a shame. This is a once in a lifetime chance for most people. We got on our way and arrived at Yonkers Race Track about 1 hour and 15 minutes later. That was where they were parking the busses. We were shuttled to the seminary after chanting and taunting other dioceses who had less of a turnout and after being interviewed by various reporters and tv commentators. When we finally arrived it was about 11:15. The day's activities were to begin at noon. It was mostly loud Christian rap and various types of popular Christian music. After about an hour and a half my head exploded! Then it came time to get lunch which was provided. Our whole group went up to the vendor's area and found the lines to be really long but that was the only option. We actually waited on line for 2 hours and 40 minutes in the hot son only to find out that the first step in getting food was to be handed a cardboard tray. Once we got the tray we went onto the food line and waited another 40 minutes to get a hamburger which was certainly used the previous night as a hockey puck in the playoff games. Unfortunately, this was the only place they had water so many of our group was getting a little dizzy and dehydrated because the sun was pretty warm and the water was hard to come by. We were not permitted to bring anything in. This helped time pass though and around 5:30PM (after spending time in a hospital tent with one of the girls in my charge) the Pope finally arrived. This is when everything turned around. The Pope spoke directly to the teens with warmth and was genuinely connected with them. The teenage girls said, "he is so cute. I just want to hug him". The guys said, "he is a really cool guy". Never thought of the Pope as cute and cool but there you have it from the mouth of babes.. More later

Does She Float?

Did you ever see the bit on Letterman, "Does it float?" Well we caught Kenyon looking at Maeve and that began to worry all of us at the Baptism.

We caught him just in time and made sure he did not do it. (I think she would have floated, do you?)

Snatched from Satan

On March 29 this beautiful young child was carried into St. Augustine Church as a little pagan baby. Because of the extreme holiness of the minister and the miracle of the water this little girl was snatched from the snares of Satan! The ultimate condition and disposition of the other four people in the picture is still in question. I simply cannot vouch for any of them.

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