Packed Day

I want to have a little reminder as to the life
I am leaving behind ... full time work, base line
to base line, just in case I get 'bored' someday:

Gary's schedule for Sunday, Apr 27, 2008
(as it actually happened)

7AM - alarm clock; snooze until 7:20. Handled a couple fires on e-mail.
9AM - leave for the church - ran into a few ppl & chatted upcoming events;
picked up communion and altar pack
10AM - celebrate televised Mass @ nursing home; around 15 residents.
11AM - to the grocery store to pick up lunch and youth group items for tonight
11:30 - back to the office to prep for tonight's talk: Theology of the Body for Teens
Review using the new TOB DVD ... my angle: 'personal testimonies.'
12:30 - Holiday Bowling Lanes with Special Needs Families. Met an engaging young
man with autism who knew everything about guitars. He also rolled 4 strikes. Also
met a family who just moved here from Fairfax, VA, our initial destination. Reason for the
move: pace of life. Bingo.
2PM - back to the office to prep more of tonight's talk. Picked 2 new praise songs: Freedom
Reigns and Enough. Keyed out songs and practiced on newly strung guitar. New angle for tonight: 'the questions we have.'
3PM - listened to 8 Confirmation Candidate 'Homilies' as part of their prep. So inspired about how a young lady tied in her scripture passage on perseverance with her own time in a Russian orphanage. Another young man spoke like a seasoned pastor. I'm a better Catholic now because of those 13 year-olds.
5PM - back to the office for the finishing touches on tonight's talk. new angle: 'reasons for our hope.' Combining personal testimonies and the questions we have. Cleaned up youth room, ordered the pizza and practiced the main points/video cues/flow of the evening. Reminded Father to join us @ 8:30. I think I'm ready.
6:30PM - joined a rather evangelical Catholic youth and his 'searching' friend for Mass. The friend was able to follow along with our hymnal. I wanted to say so much. I let the Spirit do the talking. She sang the songs so well that I thought she was raised Catholic. Turns out she can read music. Yet another 'brilliant' move by the Church: write out the music.
7:30PM - back down to the youth room for our evening gathering. So many faces I haven't seen in a while; some I had never seen before. Gotta make them feel welcomed. Testimonies. Songs. Prayer. Questions. Videos. Father. More questions. Basketball tournament announcement. Eating Cracker Jacks & Pizza. Closing prayer. Meeting with more teens and adults. Showing the ultrasound of the new Guevara 'peanut.' Short meeting with adult team.
Called home on the way: Mad's asleep, but her parents are holding down the fort. Money.
10PM - finally home and for some reason my legs are exhausted. Luci just hugs me for a while.
Lijah wants me to read a book. I pretend to be sleeping. He hits me. I read the book. Mad and Lij are asleep first. I fall asleep trying to get highlights of the Piston's game. But the NFL draft and baseball dominate. It's a little past 11.

Just in case I ever get 'bored.'