My entire office and co-workers look like a bus ran over them. Freshman retreat is this weekend and its been crazzzyyyy. There is just so much to much and so little time. Getting service, buses, faculty mentors and prayer services ready for 400 boys by Saturday is not the easiest thing to do. I spent the day making maniall envelopes, calling parents, organizing stuff for my co-worker and trying to catch myself up on work that I had seriously slacked on while trying to figure out this breakaway thing.
So I may work at a nice resonably weathly jesuit high school and not have the emoitonal stress of working with people that are on the margins of society, but working is definately draining and hard everyday. There is just to much to do and not enough time to get everything done. Whoever made the descision to put Karios, Magis, and Freshman retreat in the same week, take my advice, please dont do that again. Everyone is sick and looks like they got hit in the head by a 2x4. It took me til April to look like this last year lol....
Let me take you back to Monday afternoon....
So On Monday Eddie came over for a little pow-wow about Breakaway, since I was totally freakin out. We worked on it for a little and it quickly gave way to on of America's favorite past times: The BBQ, fully stocked with hamburgers, watermelon, and america's finest adult beverages.
Tuesday Morning I woke up with a little bit of fear in my heart, it was breakaway day. Although surprisingly all of my over planning paid off and it went off without a hitch. We got all the boys together in the morning, and headed out not before I had call three moms on the phone so that I could get verbal okays first and headed on our drving tour of Phoenix. It was really good having Eddie on the first one since he did about 35 last year, I was able to see how it was done and get comfortable with the idea and my job. We served lunch to 650 people, then Eddie and I had a break for about an hour while the boys hung clothes and sorted hangers. We all took a break in the chapel and did the examen and talked about the day, what we did, what we saw, what challenged us. We did a family pro-file activity where the kids were seperated into three groups and given the income and expenses of a working poor family and had to make a budget. It usually didnt work. Then some of the boys worked on the docks sorting through clothes while others played with kids in the dining room. I was with this one little boy who wanted to play patty cake, then hide and seek, well hide he did alright and for a good minute I though I actaully lost him since he ran into a room with a maze of cubicles.
I'm telling you I felt like the mamma duck. Me and my eleven sons. I think I found the newest form of birth control. Forget having people carry around baby dolls that do nothing, drive a bus full of 13 and 14 year old freshman boys around all day. It is definatly and experience. Twice I had to say, "You do realize I'm a teacher right,and I believe that comment was only midly offensive."
Eddie and I got back to the office, sat down at are desks and didnt move for like the next twenty minutes.
Wednesday I had to catch up on the work I had missed because I was out of the office all day on Tuesday. Then in the afternoon, I had to take 10 sophomores down to St. Agnes so they could tutor the students and complete there service project. I think this is going to be awesome! I love little kids, most of them are between 2nd and 4th grade. My favorite! I already had one kid give me a hug when I left and say he didnt want me to go home. Then when I said I would be back he was all excited and gave me another hug! Apparently everything I said about never wanting kids after my tuesday experience, went out the door on Wednesday when I was with the six year olds....
This weekend is Frosh Retreat, for which I am going to be at school at 8am on a saturday morning, and listen to speeches and talks all day before taking a group of boys to SVDP (Saint Vincent De Paul) for their service experience and driving out to the boondocks to do a prayer service and reflection for my freshman and their Big Brothers. Then I Have to be back there at 9am for mass sunday morning.
And Next Wednesday I leave for the Magis Retreat already....were has the time gone. Before you know it, it is going to be October already! Whoo Time sure flies when your in the Zona.
Its also getting to be that time of year where I am terribly homesick :(
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