It's been a long time since I've rock and rolled...

Sorry to have been gone so long.

So much has been going on, I will try not to leave anything out. Actually, for the first time, I made an outline of what I am going to write in this post...LOL. Michelle thinks I am a freak. She's not the first person to share that view.

Obviously, I was glad for exams to finally get over. Whew. I had so much work to do the last couple of weeks, I thought I was gonna go insane. Anyway, it is now over.

One of the highlights of the semester was the field trip my Ecumenism class took over to Christian Brothers University on the night of our exam. Our actual "exam" was a series of three papers we wrote, so the field trip was more for fun and dialogue than anything else. The professor is a member of the Brothers of the Christian Schools religious order (abbreviated FSB), which is affiliated with the Roman Catholic Church. The mission of the FSB is service through education to the poor. Here in Memphis, they run the Christian Brothers University and Christian Brothers High School. There are about 20 other universities around the country under their care. The Brothers live in community at CBU, and have taken the vows of poverty, chastity, and obedience. So, on our field trip we spent an evening with the Brothers in their community. First, we worshiped with them in their chapel, which was really neat. That was the first English-speaking RCC mass I had ever been to, and it was great. I really enjoyed listening to the liturgy, and following the movements of the priest. After worship, we repaired to their lounge, where we relaxed and hung out for a while. Since they're Catholic, I will leave it your imagination what "hanging out in a lounge" might mean...LOL. After that, we had dinner, then we had a round-table discussion for a couple of hours. All in all, it was a super night.

My New Testament final was kind of strange, in that it was much easier than I thought it would be. Still, it was friggin' hard. My theology final was kind of strange in that I was the first person finished. That never happens. In fact, when the professor said that we were welcome to stay the entire three hours, and the one person who does each semester usually makes an "A", I remarked, "Is that a necessary condition, or just a sufficient condition? If it's sufficient, I can chill all night." He just kind of chuckled.

The day after my last exam, I woke up at my normal time, about 4:30 AM. I fixed a bowl of cereal, and watched some Sportscenter. Then I realized the absurdity of my being awake, and then went back to bed until 10:30 that morning. That felt good. We cleaned up the place a little that afternoon, since Michelle's parents and brother were coming in to town the next day.

It was nice having them in town for a while. Her dad and I installed the car seat bases in each car, we hung some pictures in the nursery, fixed the hall closet door, and replaced the door to the second bathroom (it had to come off when we got the new washer and dryer). We may have re-shingled the roof also...LOL. We went to Whole Hog Cafe for lunch to have some BBQ, and it was great as always. After lunch, we went shopping at Target. Or, I should say that the women went shopping at Target, and the men went to the golf shop next door to hit some putts on the putting green. Once we got done with that, we went to Target to find the ladies. They were almost done, so we got out of there pretty quick.

My new job at the church is going really well. Actually, it's going better than I ever could have imagined. It's a great place to be.

I enjoy reading books that challenge my views, and this week I have been reading a book called, "God is Not Good: How Religion Poisons Everything", by Christopher Hitchens. It is certainly challenging, but I am working through the author's arguments, most of which are ad hominem fallacies. Not so hard to do that.

On my sister Jessica's recommendation, I recently got the newest CD from The Strokes. I listened to it a couple of times today, and I was kind of disappointed. Mostly because they sound exactly like The Killers. The Killers is one of my favorite newer bands, but I don't need a clone. Grr. I also recently got a couple of Green Day's older CD's, "Warning" and "Dookie". Good stuff. I also bought the John Mayer Trio's "Try!", and Johnny Lang's "Turn Around". "Try!" is as good as advertised; I am glad I finally got it. I have not listened to the Lang CD yet. The impetus that motivated me to buy all this music was the fact that BMG, for reasons unbeknownst to me, is giving me all kinds of free CD's. I hadn't bought anything from them in a couple of years, but I checked my account last week and found that I was due a bunch of free music. So, I am cashing in. Cool.

Back in the spring, I noticed that when I was umpiring, I was having some trouble picking up the ball off the bat. I didn't have any problems behind the plate, just seeing the ball off the bat while working the bases. Lately, I also noticed that I have been bumping into things. So, I made an appointment with an eye doctor for earlier today. While my vision is still 20/20, I have an astigmatism, which is blurring my vision. Astigmatism is where some of the light entering the eye does not reach all the way to the back, while some of the light does. In my case, the light entering vertically is not getting all the way to where it needs to be. So, the light waves are not focused as well as they should be. The end result was a prescription for glasses and contacts. I tried a bunch to insert the contacts, but still have not gotten it figured out. After I left the doctor's office, I went shopping for some glasses.

I am kind of bummed about the whole deal, but in reality I am fortunate to have gone this long with no problems.

We have an appointment with the OB-GYN on Friday. We will get a new ultrasound, which is exciting. What is not exciting is that the baby is still breech and gives no indication that he might want to turn around. If he is still breech toward the end, we will most likely schedule a C-section. So, we will see what happens. Regardless, the due date is June 28, which is fast approaching. I am not quite into full-on freak-out mode, but I am close...LOL.

I hope everyone is doing well. Peace...