A Very Busy Month

May has been and will continue to be quite the busy month for me.  Here is a little look at the place I've been and the things I've done.

Let's start at the very beginning.  (A very good place to start.)  Our last day of class was Thursday, May 5, which ended with a final Mass where the Schola sang the Franz Biebl Ave Maria which we had been preparing since at least Spring Break.  After Mass those of us who were completing Pre Theology were given a certificate of completion. 

Two guys I will miss the most, we survived two years together

The next day was cleaning and move out day.  Instead, I went to see Captain America: Civil War with my good friend from UNT.  My brief review: it's the best movie of the MCU.  That night I was given two tickets to the Mariners/Astros game.  I could not pass up free tickets, especially since they were in the Club Level and I had never been there before.  It was a pretty exciting experience.  Outside of a bases loaded triple in the seventh, Fister pitched well to even his record at 3-3.  Correa went 3-3 with a home run, and we got to see Marwin Gonzalez's first non-solo home run.

I was back at the stadium the next day.  I had planned for a while to bring my dad as his birthday present, plus I wanted to get the Dallas Keuchel bobblehead.  Keuchel actually pitched decently, though he gave up solo home runs in the first two innings to Robinson Cano and Kyle Seager (both lefties).  The Astros tied it when Valbuena (finally) hit his first home run of the year in the bottom of the ninth to send it to extra innings.  Cano ended it with his second home run of the game in the tenth.  It was another in a long line of losses the Astros should have won.

Pictured: losing pitcher

The next week was full of packing for the move.  I also got rid of a bunch of stuff, including all of my notes from graduate school and my dissertation.  It was surprising how easy that was.  I able to have dinner with some good friends Monday night.  Then on Friday I went down to Clear Lake to hang out with my friend again and go back to Space Center Houston one last time.  Of course it's different now, especially with that giant (fake) space shuttle on the 747.  It was a cool tour, and it's always great to be reminded of how large/small the shuttle was.  (Large overall, tiny in the living space.)

The early part of the next week included a fair amount of packing again.  Then, my first big adventure.  On Thursday, I headed up to Bryan/College Station to see my brother and family.  After lunch with him, I headed over to Texas A&M for one last look around.  Unforunately it was raining fairly hard, so I pretty much cut it down to the Memorial Student Center, the Academic Building, and Kyle Field.  I even snuck into the 12th Man Foundation part of the Zone of Kyle Field.  I walked around like I knew what was doing, and found a door open to a hallway that looked like it headed somewhere near the field but was too chicken to find out more.

That night, we were able to go to Blue Bell Park to see the #2 Aggies take on the #6 Rebels in the final homestand of the season.  It was my first trip to the recently renovated field, and we all had a good time.  The Ags scored in the bottom of the first and the Rebels tied it in the second, then it was solid pitching and a horrible strike zone by the ump.  But the Aggies prevailed, scoring 5 runs in the 6th inning.  There just might be some young Aggies here yet.

Friday I had a good day beginning with taking my niece and nephew to get donuts before school.  After a little down time with my brother, I drove up to Dallas where I was staying the night at Holy Trinity Seminary.  The power was out when I got there, but that allowed me to spend some time talking with a couple of seminarians from Galveston-Houston, reading, and a little nap.  I grabbed a quick dinner at Smashburger (my first time, it was ok), then back to the seminary to watch the Astros lose to the Rangers in their spacious TV lounge.  Saturday was the big day: going to the Fort Worth Priestly Ordination.  St. Patrick's Cathedral is quite beautiful.  While vesting in the sacristy, I was amazed to look up and see a stained glass window of my favorite saint Maximilian Kolbe.  What a treat!  The ordination was a moving experience (actually my first priest ordination).  I knew I was going to have to drive down to Houston after it, so I was hoping to see my friend and get his first blessing quickly at the reception.  I was worried by the number of people, but I realized they were all waiting in line for food, so I went right up to his table.  I was greatly blessed when he stopped everything to bless me first!  Again, it was a great experience.

I came back on Saturday so that I could go to the Astros game on Sunday with my sister and nephew, probably our last chance to do so together in Houston.  The final score was terrible (9-2 and another sweep), but we had a good time together, even if he got all jacked up on cotton candy.

Now I'm starting off another very busy week, with a trip to Brownsville in store before I move up to Madison for good.  I'll have to give an update as everything progresses.

Last Things

This week has been another round of "lasts."  Last class.  Last test.  Last Mass.  Last meal.  Last goodbye.  I've had quite a few of these in my life, so you'd think I'd be good at them, but alas.  Sometimes you don't know quite what to say or how to say it until it's too late.  And the looming problem is always: when will I see you again?

This goodbye has been especially bittersweet.  In my two years at St. Mary's, I have met a number of great people and had some very good times.  But I also am looking forward to what the future holds.  But I also will miss some good friends.  But I will make more.

As much as I complained, and we all do, St. Mary's was my home for two years.  For every thing that bugged me, there were many more that made up for them. 

There are always too many people to say goodbye to, so I always miss some.  There are always some things that I wanted to do, either for the first time or one more time, but I run out of time.

As I prepare to drive away from St. Mary's one last time, I cannot help but have these mixed feelings of missing but looking forward.  There is always that part that worries about the unknown future and wants to plant heels in the comfortable past.  But I trust in God, and I know whatever He has planned for me will be worth it.  I just have to put the effort forward to say my best goodbyes and hope I leave as much an impression on others as they do on me.

Thank you, St. Mary's.