It was definitely one fast week/weekend for me. I had a couple of meetings over the week which kind of got me out of the office doing things I don’t normally do at my desk. It was a change. On Friday, Joel, Kathy and I attended a classical pianist concert at Drake. Anna was supposed to go with Joel and me, but she was feeling under the weather so Kathy came along. The artiste was a pianist from Germany and he was spectacular. Technically brilliant and just did a wonderful job overall. I told Anna that she definitely missed a grand opportunity. She would have loved it considering she’s a piano teacher.
On Saturday, we went to the indoor farmers market located downtown – just a couple of block from my building. It was well attended, but certain parts were a little claustrophobic where people were crammed like sardines. Most of the vendors were at the downtown farmers market and there were a number of them who sold their wares specifically for the holiday season. We had a good time just window shopping. Anna’s band had another gig that evening so she had to set up while I got my laundry done.
Both of us went to Mass that evening. I was there because a colleague was going to make an announcement regarding some donations for his home country, Uganda. Jim wanted me to introduce him so people could make the connection. I guess a lot or rather more and more people from St. Kate’s are recognizing me. Samuel did a great job with the announcement so I’m sure there will be a lot of donations coming his way. I met up Kristi for dinner after Mass and I commented to her that we’ve not really met up for many months which is just so unlike us. A lot has happened with her and I’ve been updated with all her going on. She just cracks me up at times. After dinner I hung out at her house and chatted with her housemate, Mark whom I know through Brian. Then it was off to the bar where Anna’s band was performing. I could not believe how packed it was and the only place available was towards the back, but Anna did see me so that was good. Brian met up with me at the bar later that evening and we chatted too. It was weird chatting with Kristi and Brian the same evening, but not together. They are amicable to one another, but things definitely aren’t what it used to be which is sad. Anna was pooped after the band got done playing and we called it a night probably close to 2:30AM which is late for my books.
I went to Mass the next day since the 2nd Sunday group was responsible for the music. We did a fine job and after that it was off to work for me. For some reason or another, I was really hungry so I ended up eating a ton for dinner. Not to worry, I did not deprive any residents of their food. I pretty much ate the leftover from lunch and had some dinner which was spaghetti. Overall it was a quiet night which is always a good thing. I did have one resident in distress because she was having a conversation with her deceased brother who was getting her to do things she did not want and was making her extremely frustrated. Just another day at the facility. Nothing unusual which sounds really weird, but it is.
Thanksgiving is Thursday and I’ll be coordinating the meal delivery at one of the area Hy-Vee then instead of heading to Joel and Kathy’s for dinner, we were all invited to someone else’s house. She used to be a former nun, and he a former priest and they’ve been married a number of years now. She’s a foodie like me so I love chatting with her because we can always talk about food. It should be a very relaxing Thanksgiving afternoon and evening. Charlene’s birthday is on Thanksgiving Day this year so I’ll probably end up dropping by her house too.
That’s all the news for this time.
Monday, November 24, 2008
Monday, November 17, 2008
One month anniversary
So, Anna and I celebrated our one month anniversary this past weekend. I know you’re all probably thinking what’s the big deal? Well, any small anniversary should be celebrated and I’m all for any reason to dress up and to go out for a nice meal.
Thursday was kind of a long day because we had the annual all staff in-service that lasted three hours on the evening when I would normally have off. It was fine and I learned some stuff.
Dan Schuster, my priest friend spent the weekend in DM. He came as part of his annual dinner with his fraternity brothers. John, Carola, Anna and I had breakfast with him on Saturday morning. He’s doing well and is definitely enjoying the priesthood. In so many ways, he’s the same old Dan and that’s kind of what you want. You don’t really want someone to change just because they are not a priest. Later that morning, Anna and I watched the latest Bond flick which was pretty good. After watching dramas the past weekends, it was a nice change to watch an action movie. We then got dressed and headed to Mass before going out for dinner. We ate my favorite French restaurant that I’ve not been to for a long time. I usually go there for special occasions and a one month anniversary is a special occasion. The food was excellent as always. I actually had two entrée. The first was split between Anna and I so I consider it an appetizer. It was rabbit meat which was classically prepared and it was oh so good. Anna likes ravioli and that’s what she had. I’m not a fan of it so I ended up with Guinea Fowl which taste very similar to chicken. They baked the fowl and when it came out, the skin was crispy and it was served on top of a risotto. An excellent meal, I must say. We both had desserts which was very good also. What a wonderful way to celebrate a one month anniversary!
After dinner, we went to the DM Symphony where they showed some Bugs Bunny cartoons and the symphony played classical music to the cartoons. It was an amazing experience. The program is called Bugs Bunny on Broadway and it’s been shown/performed all around the country and the world. It even had a three week sold out performance at the Sydney Opera House. Since there were cartoons, a good number of kids were in attendance and you could tell they had a blast. I loved seeing the boys all dressed up in their mini suits and girls in beautiful gowns and dresses. John, Anna and I got to sit together which was great. Talk about a great way to end the evening. I asked Anna if she wanted to do anything after the symphony and she said she was tired so we pretty much called it a night.
I met up with my friend, Alyssa from the Twin Cities on Sunday morning. She was driving back from Kansas City after attending a wedding and she decided to look me up. We had a good time catching up with one another. It’s been more than a year since we got in touch with one another. Dan celebrated Mass that morning and it so many ways, he came full circle because Drake was pretty much where he started discerning his call to priesthood. Now that he’s ordained, he came back to where it all began to celebrate Mass. People were happy to see him and I know he was happy to see a good number of people too.
There was nothing else too eventful the rest of Sunday. Work at the facility was pretty quiet which was nice. I don’t have too much going on this week/weekend. The facility has its holiday party tomorrow evening and I’ll go if my colleague at the facility is not planning on going. Our young adults will have dinner at one couple’s home and on Friday, Joel and I will be going to a classical concert at Drake. The artist is a pianist who is supposed to be really good. We shall see.
Thursday was kind of a long day because we had the annual all staff in-service that lasted three hours on the evening when I would normally have off. It was fine and I learned some stuff.
Dan Schuster, my priest friend spent the weekend in DM. He came as part of his annual dinner with his fraternity brothers. John, Carola, Anna and I had breakfast with him on Saturday morning. He’s doing well and is definitely enjoying the priesthood. In so many ways, he’s the same old Dan and that’s kind of what you want. You don’t really want someone to change just because they are not a priest. Later that morning, Anna and I watched the latest Bond flick which was pretty good. After watching dramas the past weekends, it was a nice change to watch an action movie. We then got dressed and headed to Mass before going out for dinner. We ate my favorite French restaurant that I’ve not been to for a long time. I usually go there for special occasions and a one month anniversary is a special occasion. The food was excellent as always. I actually had two entrée. The first was split between Anna and I so I consider it an appetizer. It was rabbit meat which was classically prepared and it was oh so good. Anna likes ravioli and that’s what she had. I’m not a fan of it so I ended up with Guinea Fowl which taste very similar to chicken. They baked the fowl and when it came out, the skin was crispy and it was served on top of a risotto. An excellent meal, I must say. We both had desserts which was very good also. What a wonderful way to celebrate a one month anniversary!
After dinner, we went to the DM Symphony where they showed some Bugs Bunny cartoons and the symphony played classical music to the cartoons. It was an amazing experience. The program is called Bugs Bunny on Broadway and it’s been shown/performed all around the country and the world. It even had a three week sold out performance at the Sydney Opera House. Since there were cartoons, a good number of kids were in attendance and you could tell they had a blast. I loved seeing the boys all dressed up in their mini suits and girls in beautiful gowns and dresses. John, Anna and I got to sit together which was great. Talk about a great way to end the evening. I asked Anna if she wanted to do anything after the symphony and she said she was tired so we pretty much called it a night.
I met up with my friend, Alyssa from the Twin Cities on Sunday morning. She was driving back from Kansas City after attending a wedding and she decided to look me up. We had a good time catching up with one another. It’s been more than a year since we got in touch with one another. Dan celebrated Mass that morning and it so many ways, he came full circle because Drake was pretty much where he started discerning his call to priesthood. Now that he’s ordained, he came back to where it all began to celebrate Mass. People were happy to see him and I know he was happy to see a good number of people too.
There was nothing else too eventful the rest of Sunday. Work at the facility was pretty quiet which was nice. I don’t have too much going on this week/weekend. The facility has its holiday party tomorrow evening and I’ll go if my colleague at the facility is not planning on going. Our young adults will have dinner at one couple’s home and on Friday, Joel and I will be going to a classical concert at Drake. The artist is a pianist who is supposed to be really good. We shall see.
Monday, November 10, 2008
A fantabulous weekend.
Well, we got our first snow on Friday. There was no accumulation, but rest assured it was snow that was falling down. It’s unseasonably cold for this time of the year so who knows what this coming winter will be like. I think it’s supposed to get to more normal weather by the end of the week. There was a staff meeting on Thursday which did not go as late as I thought so that was a nice surprise. We now have a psychiatrist who comes to the meetings and it’s been very helpful to hear his take on some of the mental illnesses the residents are dealing with.
We had new documentation to work with on Friday so it made for a longer night at the facility. I thought I had needed to work until midnight but that was not to be the case. Anna and I had plans to listen to this performer at one of the local bars, but by the time I got off work, I was pretty darn tired. She graciously said it was OK and that we would just not do anything that night.
On Saturday, I accompanied her grocery shopping which was pretty fun actually. It was more fun because I got to drive her sports car with a stick shift. I’m so proud that I can still shift gears and drive a stick shift without a problem. I told Anna that she’s probably seen the last time she drove a car and she has no problems with that. I just love driving her car. Before we went for lunch, I met up with some of her friends from a scrapbooking group. They are all very nice people. At the same time, I can’t for the life of me understand how people can scrapbook for hours on end. We watched the movie “Secret Life of Bees” which was a very good movie. The movie is based on the bestseller by Sue Monk Kid and I’ve been told it’s an amazing read. I may just have to grab a copy to read myself. Saturday evening was the annual St. Kate’s fundraiser/auction for the students to go to El Salvador. Both Anna and I donated stuff so it was only right that we were there. She had donated a package of Mary Kay products and I donated my Malaysian dinner. A number of the “power players” were not there which meant that the fundraiser was not going to raise that much money. I ended up donating two Malaysian meals for $500 each which was not a bad deal. I know both couples that won the bid so it’ll be a good evening for sure. After the auction we were both pretty much pooped so we just watched a movie at her place. It was a captivating drama entitled, “Fracture” starring Anthony Hopkins and Ryan Gosseling.
On Sunday, we both got to sleep in since we went to Mass the evening before. I made it to church in time to lead the RCIA group. It’s hard to believe that there’s just a couple of weeks left before they move on to the next stage in the process. I must say that it’s been a good group overall. I got to leave the facility earlier because I was headed up to Ames for a concert by the Jerusalem Symphony. Talk about a powerful concert. The first two pieces they played were by Jewish composers and after the intermission, they played Aaron Copeland’s Symphony #3 which has the infamous piece, “Fanfare for the Common Man”. Talk about getting the chills listening to that piece live! It was such a wonderful evening and we all gave them a standing ovation. They more than deserved it in my books.
That’s how the week and weekend went. This coming weekend, Anna, John and I will be listening to the DM Symphony play tunes from Bugs Bunny while on the screen they will be showing a number of Bugs Bunny cartoon. I’m sure it’ll be a fun evening for all in attendance.
We had new documentation to work with on Friday so it made for a longer night at the facility. I thought I had needed to work until midnight but that was not to be the case. Anna and I had plans to listen to this performer at one of the local bars, but by the time I got off work, I was pretty darn tired. She graciously said it was OK and that we would just not do anything that night.
On Saturday, I accompanied her grocery shopping which was pretty fun actually. It was more fun because I got to drive her sports car with a stick shift. I’m so proud that I can still shift gears and drive a stick shift without a problem. I told Anna that she’s probably seen the last time she drove a car and she has no problems with that. I just love driving her car. Before we went for lunch, I met up with some of her friends from a scrapbooking group. They are all very nice people. At the same time, I can’t for the life of me understand how people can scrapbook for hours on end. We watched the movie “Secret Life of Bees” which was a very good movie. The movie is based on the bestseller by Sue Monk Kid and I’ve been told it’s an amazing read. I may just have to grab a copy to read myself. Saturday evening was the annual St. Kate’s fundraiser/auction for the students to go to El Salvador. Both Anna and I donated stuff so it was only right that we were there. She had donated a package of Mary Kay products and I donated my Malaysian dinner. A number of the “power players” were not there which meant that the fundraiser was not going to raise that much money. I ended up donating two Malaysian meals for $500 each which was not a bad deal. I know both couples that won the bid so it’ll be a good evening for sure. After the auction we were both pretty much pooped so we just watched a movie at her place. It was a captivating drama entitled, “Fracture” starring Anthony Hopkins and Ryan Gosseling.
On Sunday, we both got to sleep in since we went to Mass the evening before. I made it to church in time to lead the RCIA group. It’s hard to believe that there’s just a couple of weeks left before they move on to the next stage in the process. I must say that it’s been a good group overall. I got to leave the facility earlier because I was headed up to Ames for a concert by the Jerusalem Symphony. Talk about a powerful concert. The first two pieces they played were by Jewish composers and after the intermission, they played Aaron Copeland’s Symphony #3 which has the infamous piece, “Fanfare for the Common Man”. Talk about getting the chills listening to that piece live! It was such a wonderful evening and we all gave them a standing ovation. They more than deserved it in my books.
That’s how the week and weekend went. This coming weekend, Anna, John and I will be listening to the DM Symphony play tunes from Bugs Bunny while on the screen they will be showing a number of Bugs Bunny cartoon. I’m sure it’ll be a fun evening for all in attendance.
Tuesday, November 4, 2008
This day in history.
I just got done listening to President elect Barrack Obama's speech and I could not help but feel inspired by what he said. Having lived in the USA for a good eleven years, I would have to say that this is the first time I've felt excited about the future of America and what it holds. In four years, I'll be applying to become a citizen and words cannot describe how excited I am for the future of this country. Change is coming not just for US citizens, but for people the world over.
From an outsider's standpoint, I've felt that America has been in a rut for quite some time and after his victory today, I truly feel deep down that things will be different and I'm proud that I'll be sticking around to be part of it. Whether it's work related or in my daily life, I just feel that things are going to look up.
My hope and prayer for Obama in the coming years is to never lose sight of where he came from and for the promises he made.
It's going to be one heck of a ride!
From an outsider's standpoint, I've felt that America has been in a rut for quite some time and after his victory today, I truly feel deep down that things will be different and I'm proud that I'll be sticking around to be part of it. Whether it's work related or in my daily life, I just feel that things are going to look up.
My hope and prayer for Obama in the coming years is to never lose sight of where he came from and for the promises he made.
It's going to be one heck of a ride!
Monday, November 3, 2008
Talk about a fun and relaxing weekend.
Before I forget, I should remind everyone that we turned our clocks back an hour so that means Malaysia is a good fourteen hours ahead and I think Australia would be seventeen. That’s more of an FYI for all of you.
So, on Thursday, the young adults group went out for dinner at Skips Restaurant which is an amazing local, mom and pop restaurant that’s been around for ages. The menu is not overwhelming and everything they do there is wonderful. I was amazed by the number of people from the group who have never been there before. Everyone in the group thoroughly enjoyed their meal. I also let them know that Ann and I are dating and they all commented that we make such a cute couple. Not sure what I should make of that comment! I’m guessing it’s a good thing. Those who have known us for some time said that it does not come as a surprise.
I really did not do a whole lot on Friday especially because Anna was out of town. She was an accompanist for some students who were involved in a competition at a college two hours north of DM. I did get my laundry done which was good.
On Saturday, John and I had breakfast. It’s been some time since I’ve seen John so that was good to catch up with him. We had breakfast at the Gateway Market West which opened not too long ago. I’ve been to the original Gateway Market, but not the one out west. It’s pretty much the same stuff and they continue to have amazing breakfasts. When we were done, we walked around Costco and I got myself some contact lens solutions and Lactaid for my lactose intolerance. Anna came back at around 11:30AM and she had lunch before I accompanied her shopping for some 70s clothing. That night, her band had a gig at a bar and since they play a lot of 70s music, they were to dress up since it was Halloween. We ended up at this funky shop in Valley Junction and all their clothes were 70s clothing. It’s kind of like a thrift shop. Anna ended up renting the clothing and she definitely looked pretty funny in her outfit. I motored over to Ann’s place to help with some yard work. The weather was immaculate so it made working outside so much easier. After dinner we just sat and chatted and it was wonderful as always. This was the first time Ann and I met up after Anna and I started dating so needless to say, she had a lot of questions for me. I had to leave at 10:30PM because I told Anna I would see her band play later that night. A couple of friends were already at the bar and I sat with them. They kept harassing me that it was cool to be dating someone who belonged in a band, and a rather popular local band. I got a kick out of a couple of news people who were in attendance they were definitely roadies with the band! Anna plays the trombone and keyboard and I had a great time listening to them. They were done by 1AM and she was pooped.
On Sunday I did not work at the facility which gave me a whole afternoon and evening off. Anna’s sister, Gretchen whom I know from my Drake years was coming into DM so we met up with her for lunch. Gretchen is such a cool cat. She was in town to attend a training since she would be volunteering as a lawyer at the voting sites for tomorrow’s election. After lunch, Anna and I watched the movie, “Fireproof” and it had gotten rave reviews from those who saw it. I was excited to see it. Now, the movie itself was good, BUT I could have done without the whole push towards Jesus Christ being the only salvation etc. I had no idea that the movie had a very significant Christian theme to it. Oh well. By no means was it a bad movie, I just wished they had toned down the reference to Christianity a little. The connection to Christianity could be why a lot of people related to it. Trust me, there were quite a lot of sniffling going on during the movie.
I called it a night extremely early and that surprised Anna tremendously. I guess it had to do with the fact that the night before I had trouble sleeping and probably had at the most four hours of sleep. That’s not a good thing.
That’s the news from me. This Saturday, St. Kate’s is having its annual fundraiser/auction to send the students to El Salvador. Anna and I will be going since we had a lot of fun last year. I need to be there because I had donated a Malaysian dinner and some people would like to bid, but would also like to know what type of meal they would be getting.
So, on Thursday, the young adults group went out for dinner at Skips Restaurant which is an amazing local, mom and pop restaurant that’s been around for ages. The menu is not overwhelming and everything they do there is wonderful. I was amazed by the number of people from the group who have never been there before. Everyone in the group thoroughly enjoyed their meal. I also let them know that Ann and I are dating and they all commented that we make such a cute couple. Not sure what I should make of that comment! I’m guessing it’s a good thing. Those who have known us for some time said that it does not come as a surprise.
I really did not do a whole lot on Friday especially because Anna was out of town. She was an accompanist for some students who were involved in a competition at a college two hours north of DM. I did get my laundry done which was good.
On Saturday, John and I had breakfast. It’s been some time since I’ve seen John so that was good to catch up with him. We had breakfast at the Gateway Market West which opened not too long ago. I’ve been to the original Gateway Market, but not the one out west. It’s pretty much the same stuff and they continue to have amazing breakfasts. When we were done, we walked around Costco and I got myself some contact lens solutions and Lactaid for my lactose intolerance. Anna came back at around 11:30AM and she had lunch before I accompanied her shopping for some 70s clothing. That night, her band had a gig at a bar and since they play a lot of 70s music, they were to dress up since it was Halloween. We ended up at this funky shop in Valley Junction and all their clothes were 70s clothing. It’s kind of like a thrift shop. Anna ended up renting the clothing and she definitely looked pretty funny in her outfit. I motored over to Ann’s place to help with some yard work. The weather was immaculate so it made working outside so much easier. After dinner we just sat and chatted and it was wonderful as always. This was the first time Ann and I met up after Anna and I started dating so needless to say, she had a lot of questions for me. I had to leave at 10:30PM because I told Anna I would see her band play later that night. A couple of friends were already at the bar and I sat with them. They kept harassing me that it was cool to be dating someone who belonged in a band, and a rather popular local band. I got a kick out of a couple of news people who were in attendance they were definitely roadies with the band! Anna plays the trombone and keyboard and I had a great time listening to them. They were done by 1AM and she was pooped.
On Sunday I did not work at the facility which gave me a whole afternoon and evening off. Anna’s sister, Gretchen whom I know from my Drake years was coming into DM so we met up with her for lunch. Gretchen is such a cool cat. She was in town to attend a training since she would be volunteering as a lawyer at the voting sites for tomorrow’s election. After lunch, Anna and I watched the movie, “Fireproof” and it had gotten rave reviews from those who saw it. I was excited to see it. Now, the movie itself was good, BUT I could have done without the whole push towards Jesus Christ being the only salvation etc. I had no idea that the movie had a very significant Christian theme to it. Oh well. By no means was it a bad movie, I just wished they had toned down the reference to Christianity a little. The connection to Christianity could be why a lot of people related to it. Trust me, there were quite a lot of sniffling going on during the movie.
I called it a night extremely early and that surprised Anna tremendously. I guess it had to do with the fact that the night before I had trouble sleeping and probably had at the most four hours of sleep. That’s not a good thing.
That’s the news from me. This Saturday, St. Kate’s is having its annual fundraiser/auction to send the students to El Salvador. Anna and I will be going since we had a lot of fun last year. I need to be there because I had donated a Malaysian dinner and some people would like to bid, but would also like to know what type of meal they would be getting.
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