Everyone Needs a Break Sometimes...

...And this one was very much needed. I don't remember being that tired after the first four weeks (five counting training) of Totus Tuus last year. But boy was I exhausted this time around.

To be honest, I was able to kick some of the weariness as the week went on and I looked more and more forward to traveling up to the Chicago area to see some of my friends from college. Even though it's only been a month and a half since I've graduated, it seemed like it had been forever since we last met.

I drove straight from Springfield to Flanagan, where I had dinner with Austin's family. We then drove up to Downer's Grove, dropped my car off at Maggie's, and finished the drive to Libertyville, where we crashed for the night with Dan! We visited some place called the Island for a drink and I'm pretty sure I fell asleep during a movie when we returned home.

The next day we bummed around Libertyville. Later that day, we ended up in Naperville, where Dana was so nice as to invite us for dinner and a pool party. Dinner was delicious, but the company was what I truly missed. I was SHOCKED when everyone showed up...it was literally everyone that I was hoping to see during my trip up to Chicago (with the exception of Claire and Tim, who I saw earlier that day during Mass at Marytown). It was like a dream come true. It was so great being back together for one more meal before we all part ways for the school year.

After a night of awesomeness, Komo, Austin, Maggie, and I retired back in Downer's Grove. After Komo left the next afternoon, the happy couple and I wandered around the DG area and had a very nice dinner. We spent most of the night drinking strawberry daiquiris and playing Trivial Pursuit (that's right...and it was awesome). This is why I love my friends. I then fell asleep (again) during a movie.

After a great weekend, I drove home to visit family. Now, after visiting a few high school friends and spending a very restful few days at home, I'm armed and ready to start another four weeks of Totus Tuus!

I love my friends.

P.S. I'm sorry most of the posts this summer haven't been terribly interesting or cleverly worded...my method the past few posts has definitely been word-vomit until my mind is purged and don't try to spice it up at all. I'll see if I can work on that.

Totus Tuus Parish #4: St. John Vianney, Sherman

Whew! It's been a couple of weeks since I've posted. You can attribute that to the fact that I was pretty tired during our fourth week of...catechizing those kids!!

After having distanced myself from the work by a week, let's see how much of a memory I can produce of that wonderful time spent in Sherman.

First off, the church was beautiful (especially for a 1960s construction), as you can see for yourself:

As it turns out, the pastor of the parish is also the Vicar General of our diocese, so it was also great to get to know him a little bit. He's an incredibly busy man, but he managed to clear his schedule and spend some time with us!!
The beginning of the week was a little shaky, with a somewhat low turnout of the jr. high/high school kids. But by the end of the week, the numbers for both the daytime program and nighttime program grew, and I managed to get over my initial tiredness and be there for the kids! Totus Tuus...not halfus tuus; something frequently said to remind ourselves that the kids and families we encounter deserve more.

Final thought for this (not-so-well-put-together) post: something by St. John Vianney that was written on the side of the church.