This past weekend I went with our high school youth group to the Franciscan University of Steubenville's youth conference. I woke up Friday morning and gave myself PLENTY of time to get ready. To have some leisurely time to put things together and puts around the rectory getting things in order when I realized . . .
I could not find it anywhere. I went through the whole house, offices, and garage. Nothing, nothing, nothing. I borrowed our youth minister's phone started walking about calling myself hoping that I could hear a ring. Still no sign. So I start thinking back, "When was the last time I remember having my phone?" We had a very small bon-fire/meeting at the rectory late on Thursday night and those to be at the meeting texted and said they were on their way.
The phone was nowhere around where we had the fire. But I remember having the phone in my shirt pocket (or so I thought I remembered) and perhaps when we walked Sebastian it fell out of my pocket when I stopped to pick up his . . . you know.
So the kids, by this time waiting for ME to get going to Steubenville, spread out in in the field looking for my phone.
I took one last trip to the rectory and heard my phone coming out of the garage behind a trash can. Fortunately my youth director kept calling and calling. I must have placed the phone in the cup holder of a collapsible chair, folded it up, put it in the carrying bag, and threw it behind the trash cans in the garage. THANK YOU ST. ANTHONY.
After that fiasco we were on our way. We get there and drop off our kids at the university. Then I went to a hotel. I love kids, I love the retreat, but I am a recluse by nature and need desperately some alone time and so indulge in this little extravagance. Unfortunately the university is high on a hill and the hotel is at the bottom. It didn't seem too bad the first day.
By the third day the lack of sleep and blistering heat made the climb seem a hundred times worse.
There was time for fun and games. Nice, calm, relaxing games like frisbee. "Wanna play frisbee?" the kids ask. "Sure. Sounds like fun." Until you realize they mean tackle frisbee.
Most if time priests are hearing confessions in the university chapel - about 8 hours on Saturday alone. At the end of the weekend they estimated that we had heard about 900 confessions!
We got home about 3:00 on Sunday (aka Father's Day.) Having had very little sleep I struggled staying awake until an appropriately late hour so that I wouldn't wake up at 1:00AM unable to fall asleep again.
One of the things I thought to do was grill up a steak that had been sitting in the freezer for 6 months for myself to celebrate Father's Day and keep myself awake. So I started setting things up on the loggia when I realized I had locked myself out of the rectory.
I eventually got in and was able to start grilling. Unfortunately I fell asleep.
Fortunately we had left over hamburgers also in the freezer. They were good and Sebastian enjoyed his burnt steak bone.
The weekend was finally over. It was exhausting but so very worth it. I just wish there had been a break between that and the Pandomania Bible Camp that started this morning. . .
2 comments:
Too funny, Father! And familiar... the phone and keys and lack of sleep and all that, I mean.
My husband and son were both at Franciscan this weekend at the conference. Since the boy is a faithful follower of your blog, he kept his eyes peeled for you the entire weekend but never spotted you. I'm not sure, but he might have been trying to get you to autograph one of your famous Monday Diary drawings. :)
At any rate, they both had a wonderful time but the age difference told when it came to sleep deprivation. The 14-year old ran on high speed adrenaline all weekend and the 40-year old... well, he struggled. :)
Oh my gosh Fr. V. Welcome to Older age and you are so much younger than I am!!! Just wait, I am finding that 10:00pm is almost a memory.
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