Friday Aug. 26
We started off the school day with Mass for 1st through 8th grade. I got the honor of holding onto the clicker for the projector for our music teacher. It came as no surprise to me that I would mess up a few times and my students laughed at me a little. The music teacher kept the students awake with very lively music and even a little clapping towards the end. During the Liturgy of the Eucharist (that is after the homily and offertory for those of you that might not know), our priest asked all of the children at the school to come up and join him on the altar. The sisters had told me he does this from time to time and then when it actually happened, I was a bit horrified because then I realized how many children, especially little ones, would be up there. The students behaved well but I'm not sure how many of them were really paying attention. After Mass, we went on with our normal school day. Both grades took a reading assessment before lunch and then I actually got to teach a Math lesson that I think the students might have retained. Tomorrow will tell when I get their homework. They had music and computers before it so I had a little time to prepare and use a few manipulatives like I had been hoping. The day was over before I knew it. I didn't do much that evening. I was pretty wiped out and ended up going to bed a little after 9.
Saturday
I woke up that morning and went on a run at the park. I was sad when I arrived to discover I would have to pay a dollar. Needless to say I won't be driving there on the weekends again. Hoping to be able to walk there with the roommates or find a new place to run on the weekends. After a good run, I showered and ate because Patricia and I had to go hunt for uniform shirts for school. Sister Kathy had given us money to go buy them so we went to a few Salvation Armies, Target, and Ross. I ended up with 5 shirts and a pair of dress pants with the money they gave us which was good. The shirts are getting embroidered so we had to be careful with how they looked. After a long afternoon of shopping, Amanda and I decided to lay low for the evening so we found a movie and hung out for the night. We got our washer and dryer on Friday so I also started doing laundry and we came to discover our dryer is not the greatest and talks a few rounds to actually dry our clothes. I talked to a few people on the phone and found out some previous possible plans are happening....I AM GOING TO HARRY POTTER WORLD!!! In case you could not tell, I am extremely excited about this. My friend Andy had mentioned several months ago when I told him I was moving to Florida that he might be going over Labor Day weekend with guys at his law school. I wasn't sure if that was an invite at the time but had kept it in mind. He mentioned it to me again last weekend when I saw him and said I was more than welcome to join if they got plans finalized. When he called yesterday to say that Universal was "a go", I immediately said I was there! If you did not know, I really like Harry Potter. I have to give the credit of my liking of Harry Potter to my Aunt Melody since it was her that bought me the first 2 books for Christmas in 5th grade. The cost will definitely be all my "play money" for the next few months but it's totally worth it! I will be counting down everyday this week. I also found out I will get to see my Aunt Michelle in mid-September as well! Very excited to see a face from home!
Sunday
I wanted to wake up and run this morning but decided to sleep a little longer until it was time to get ready for Mass. Amanda and I went to a church about 5 minutes away. There was very pretty stained glass and the music was very lively and upbeat but everyone seemed dead. There was no participation and it seemed people wanted to get in and get out. The readings and Gospel were read fast, everyone flooded up for Communion as fast as they could with no order, and then as soon as the priest left after the last song, everyone was out. I want to find a church that I can feel at home at and sadly, this parish was not it. It made my heart so sad that everyone there seemed so spiritually dead. I will definitely be saying prayers for everyone that attends there that they feel awakened. After we got back, I spent the afternoon and evening grading and writing lesson plans. I definitely felt a little overwhelmed again because I have no schedule to go off of yet so fingers crossed I wrote long enough lessons for tomorrow. We were always told to overplan anyway. I took a break for a little bit and napped and now I'm up and running again, ready to finish the rest of my lessons.
I finished my first week of school and have been here in Florida for almost a month now. I can't believe it. This week I hope to get the teaching situation cleared up, go running at least 3 times, and maybe go to adoration or daily Mass at another parish. Then Friday, I head to Orlando!! Hopefully my weekday life becomes more exciting soon so I can have more to write about.
I am going to end on one of the readings from today that I really enjoyed. It was a good reminder that I need to do what God wants me to do and not what I want to do. Romans 12:1-2 says, "I urge you brothers and sisters, by the mercy of God, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God, your spiritual worship. Do not conform yourself to this age but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and pleasing and perfect."
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