I have received so many good wishes from people in person, over the phone, and over facebook.  I am so thankful for all of the people in my life who have taken the time to wish me well on another successful 25th year of life.

I tend to be a reflective person during times like these, and I can’t help but really appreciate all that has happened these past 365 days.  My coworker BD even commented this week that I have “come a long way” since this time last year.  Boy, is she right.  Things tend to work themselves out over the course of time and over my last (gasp!) 34 years of life I have never really followed a direct route on the journey of life.  College, the seminary, law enforcement, back to education, back to religious life…everything certainly has a reason for happening….cliche time!  I suppose my life has never followed any logical progression and I am so happy that is the case – I would most definitely not have the perspective I hold today had I not traversed an alternative path.

Relationships gained and lost.  Jobs begun and homes bought and sold.  I would not undo it for the world, pain included.  I have so much to be thankful for on my birthday.  This morning, LC woke me with the tune of “Happy Birthday” and presented me with a slew of gifts.  Later today I am going to the Kennedy Center to see him perform in his first concert of the year.  Afterward we have dinner reservations a La Perla in Georgetown.  It is going to be a nice day complete with awesome weather!  Tomorrow, he and I are both taking off from work and he is treating me to a spa treatment with an 80 minute massage to start.  Let the pampering begin!

Today I am very thankful for the gift of life and all the blessings it has brought me.

So, a day of surprises…let’s see how it goes!  I am so excited!

I remember growing up and stores magically transformed overnight for the day after Thanksgiving – Christmas wonderlands popping up all over the place where just a few hours prior turkeys and gourds were abundant.  Now all I see is a blurred transition between and in a few cases co-celebration of Halloween and Thanksgiving.  Christmas somehow got pushed into the mix and what took place this year was a HalloGivingMas celebration where Santa is wearing a pilgrim’s outfit and dropping pumpkins down people’s chimneys.  How special is that!

Well, the good thing is that I got great bargains at Pottery Barn!  A silver lining during this most festive of times…

First, it has been a while since I taught 5 classes through the day in addition to doing the principal-ish things I have to do during the day.  When I was a principal in NY, I taught 1 class a day which was a Middle School Spanish class and that was sometimes tough with the unscheduled events that fill a principal’s day.  But this P.E. time was refreshing in that I had a wonderful time with the students.

We began each class with a jog from the school, around the block, and to the recreation center we use for P.E. and recess activities.  A few calisthenics and each class was ready to play.  Younger students were treated to a series of relay races (get tired! get tired! get tired!) and the older students absolutely LOVED kickball.  Yes, a good old fashioned game of kickball.

We jogged back after class and went back into the school for the rest of the day.  It was a success…and I was able to get some administrative work done, including lunch supervision, through the day.  I was exhausted at the end of the day, but feeling as if I got two major things accomplished:  allowing my teachers to have a planning period, and getting a workout in during the day so I did not have to go to the gym after work!

Yesterday I had an opportunity to visit with a community in New Jersey to witness and participate in the celebration of three new deacons added to the Catholic Church. It was a lovely opportunity (I’ve been using the word ‘lovely’ quite often recently…don’t know why) to see a friend, MRB, who I last saw as I was on staff at The Catholic University of America here in DC back in 2001. MRB is a transitional deacon to be ordained to the priesthood some time in December. He currently serves as Chancellor of his diocese, a pretty big position if you ask me! I was also able to meet up with a few bishops with whom I have only spoken on the phone – that was fun! This weekend offered me an opportunity to network and even meet some local Baltimore clergy who came down for the celebration. It was fun!

Making the drive back yesterday, I thought of my own pending ordination to the Catholic Priesthood next Sunday, October 4th, on the Feast of Saint Francis. My family is driving down for that and we will have many clergy coming in from around the country to celebrate…but over 11 years as a Franciscan Friar makes this date even more special. As I look to another Franciscan community that is more inclusive and will soon hopefully be admitted to full membership, I now turn back once again to my Franciscan roots as a source of strength and identity. This week will be one of preparations and prayer as I move closer to ordinations – something I thought was once impossible having left the Roman church in 2004. A short time after that I found the Independent Catholic Movement, a community of hundreds of thousands of people around the world who are Catholic but look to the church as an inclusive and welcoming community, free of restrictions on those who wish to participate and join in membership. We are not a restrictive community, but one that embraces. As I look to the local American Catholics for support in ministry and service to others, I will look to the future of the Church as it is now unfolding. A future of hope and optimism, free of barriers to love and free of institutional discrimination.

But, first, I have to move the couch.

The month of August, as quickly as it passed, ushers in a new school year and last week was our first week of school, complete with the extended day.  I do have to say that the additional hour attached at the end of the day has been kicking everyone in the tail – it just is a long day, plain and simple.  Sure, I can sugarcoat it by saying that we now have more time on task with the students, but it doesn’t materialize that way.  Lunch gets longer, other non-instructional activities are introduced to the school day, I am even tempted to state that there is less time on task with an extended day than we had last year with one hour less.  Time will tell, but the early reports from the polls are in!

Sitting here at home, in my pajamas on a cold and rainy morning, the coffee cup ever full and steaming on my left – this is a great day!  Yesterday LC and I biked a total of 39 miles from the condo to Mount Vernon.  Essentially, I am extremely sore and can barely walk.  So sitting is doing me just fine right now.  I can’t complain, I do have the best mate who fills my coffee cup if needed and has been very gracious in helping….err, enabling me…this morning.  I should be ready for school tomorrow if only a bit sore.  Luckily we biked yesterday and had perfect weather.  The bike trip was originally scheduled for today and we would have been rained out.  The luck of the gods has been on our side!

So I will continue to sit here in the office as LC reviews a case for work.  The tippity-tap of our computers will be the background music of the day, I suppose, as my body heals.  Not bad for a day off!  And, yes, I’m back!

As the plants rapidly grew, they began devouring everything living in their path. The townspeople grew frightened; who or what would save them from their eminent doom? Finally, the town’s elder remember Hugh, a woodcutter who lived on the outskirts of town. Frantically, the townspeople penned a desperate plea for help, tied it to the leg of a pigeon, and directed the bird toward Hugh’s cabin.

Meanwhile, outside of town, Hugh had received the note from the townspeople, and realizing they were in grave danger, set forth to do what he needed to do. He honed his mightiest axe to razor-sharpness, grabbed his hat, and off he went.

Chopping his way through the dense vines, he single-handedly destroyed the carnivorous plants one by one, until all were destroyed. Then he set out to rid the village of the evil friars, chasing them out of town. The town was saved!!! The people rejoiced and knighted Hugh for his brave and timely efforts to save the village!!!

And the moral of the story is:

Hugh, and only Hugh, can prevent florist friars.

The following morning, as sore as we were, was not a day of rest even though it was the Sabbath, after all!  Instead, we took part in a 6-hour whitewater rafting journey through class 4 and 5 waves.  If you don’t know what that means, well let me explain.  According to the International Scale of River Difficulty, Class 4 waves are: long rapids; waves high, irregular; dangerous rocks; boiling eddies; best passages difficult to scout; scouting mandatory first time; powerful and precise maneuvering required. Demands expert boatman and excellent boat and good quality equipment.  Class 5 waves are: exceedingly difficult, long and violent rapids, following each other almost without interruption; riverbed extremely obstructed; big drops; violent current; very steep gradient; close study essential but often difficult. Requires best person, boat, and outfit suited to the situation. All possible precautions must be taken.

LC was thrown out of the boat twice and had to be “rescued” where we basically meet him at the end of the rapid where the water is calmer and he ends up floating, trying to stay above the water and away from sharp rocks under the current.  We grab him and pull him back into the boat and paddle to the next rapid.  It was a blast!  Yours truly did not get thrown over…I had done this once before in New Mexico and fell in love with wahitewater then.  It took LC to get me back out on the rapids and it was a tremendously exciting day!

We had 7 people total in the 14-foot raft, including our rafting guide.  The rest of the boat were good ol’ boys from North Carolina, and we were all about the same ages which made it fun.  More photos from LC’s waterproof camera are coming soon!  Here I am mountain biking…