So, I’ve finished two weeks at Butler now and it’s starting to really feel like home. I’m getting to know the students better and am truly enjoying my time with my mentor, Fr. Jeff. I’ve had my first women’s ministry meetings, which were GREAT! I mean, I’m no Julia Rooney, but I think I pull in at a decent second. My community is doing great and although some might say we’re still in the honeymoon stage, I think it’s going to be a great two years. Plus, the people we live with from the LaLanne program from UDayton are pretty cool, too.
It took me a while to decide just what to do for WM, but I finally decided on the books Spiritual Freedom by Fr. Dave Pivonka for the freshmen and Having a Mary Heart in a Martha World for the upperclass women. I think that these books adequately reflect the issues that the women are dealing with at this point in their lives and the women seemed to enjoy the introductory nights. The upperclass women’s ministry felt so comfortable, it was almost like being back at UD. I think that I will greatly value these opportunities for working with the women of Butler-- they’re such amazing women. One of them, who I am really enjoying getting to know (she kind of reminds me of Meeri), is just a livewire and very wise. She spent the summer on an organic farm in Ireland, so I have joked that I want to be her when I grow up. But all of these women are just wonderful—so filled with beauty and grace, it’s a pleasure to work and pray with them.
Anyways, things have been more or less boring. I mean, not really boring, but there’s not a real story to tell other than the epic tale of fail from last night (I’m not even exaggerating…). We’re working on getting into a rhythm. We’ve watched a lot of movies, played Disney Scene-It and that’s just about it.
So, the epic tale of fail: I didn’t want to cook. This is always a bad sign, so I should have known better than to move forward and make plans, but alas…. My mom had given me a gift card to PF Changs and so I offered to take Amy for dinner (who wants to eat fancy Chinese food alone?). The nearest one is like 10-15 minutes from the house, which isn’t too bad, so I thought we’d just go there. Well, that’s downtown next to the stadium and there was a game, so there wasn’t any parking. So, not wanting to give up, we drove another twenty minutes to the next nearest one, which is way at the Northern end of Indy. There, we found a line so long that after spending about ten minutes in line to get our names on the list, the lady told us that there was an hour and twenty minute wait. She wasn’t very nice, either, which I didn’t appreciate (there are ways to deal with customers and rudeness is not one of them). So, we didn’t stay (the gift card is still unused). Now, at this point, we’re 30 minutes from home and HUNGRY and we’re looking around for a place to eat. Now, because I’m gluten and lactose intolerant, we have to be careful about where we go to eat. Amy was feeling Chinese food and there was another Chinese place across the road, so I decided to call the restaurant and ask about their gf options. I got some lady who barely spoke English, which for a normal person is a sign of a great Chinese place, but not so great when you’re allergic to freaking everything. I asked if they had food without gluten and the lady thought I said glue, so she assured me that there was no glue in their food. I tried to communicate my questions with her, but finally gave up, said thank you, and hung up. We ended up eating at Outback, but they didn’t have the gf bun and fries that had made me so excited in South Bend, so although Amy and I had fun sitting and talking and sort of watching the Irish football game on the tv, it wasn’t the exciting dining experience I had been looking forward to when we left home. Fortunately, the waitress was really nice and friendly and the food was delish and the company was pretty great. Finally, having fed ourselves reasonably well, we left the restaurant and drove homeward. I had my GPS, so we didn’t get lost, but because we had gone SO far from home in search of PF Changs, we came home from the completely opposite direction from which we had come (and from which we were used to coming). We ended up on the street that takes us to our street, but then James (the GPS) took us down another street and then had us turn on a street that he thought went through to Churchman but in fact led into a forest. So, after barely missing the trees, we turned around in some creepy driveway and finally, after much nervousness, made it safely home. It was an adventure for sure.
Now, I’m avoiding my homework while tackling everything else on my to-do list. Sometime tonight I’m going to watch a new episode of Dr. Who! This new season is just blowing my mind… it’s so great.
Anyways, I hope that updates you all for now!
K.
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