1. Are you superstitious about Friday the 13th? I am not. And so far today, nothing bad has happened. Knock on wood. (See, it’s funny ’cause….)

2. I got an e-mail this morning saying that my priest from college, Fr. Jim, was being named Monsignor! (If you don’t know, Monsignor is an honorary title given to priests by the Pope). Fr. Jim is a wonderful man and was the priest who heard my first confession, confirmed me and gave me my first Eucharist when I converted almost 5 years ago (!). He completely deserves this honor as he is a great leader of a thriving University parish. Congrats Fr. Jim!

3. My friend Carrie and I have found a place to live and are slowly starting to move in (as in, I have brought over one carload of things.) This is of course wonderful news, but is also a little sad because I have really enjoyed my current living situation and I am sad to leave it.

4. I have a “real” blog post in my head, I hope to be able to work on it this weekend.

5. Last night turned out way differently than I thought, and I thought I would share the story. Originally I was to have a meeting at 5 and then go to the local high school performance of Peter Pan (one of our teens is in it). I got to the school a little before 7 and saw that one of our other teens was an usher. He told me that the doors to the theater would open at 7. I stood in the hall and met up with some other church folks. A little after 7, I heard someone say they were having some technical difficulties. We continued to stand. (in the midst of this, there was a small medical emergency for someone in line that required the fire dept. to come out, but they are ok). At about 7:35 or so, the director came out and announced that the light board had “melted” and they only had two options: 1 – do the play with all lights up, meaning cutting a lot of special effects, or 2 – let everyone swap tickets for another performance/get their money back and they would add a performance. Since I can’t go any other time, I got my money back and then Wally and Charlene came over to visit. The night ended well, but it was bizarre.

6. It’s 9:01am and already today, two people have told me that I made them giggle. I like that word.

7. Weekend plans: Go to parent’s house tonight, Lauren’s wedding shower tomorrow (yay!), LT Coffee House Sat night, Mass and Life Night on Sunday, and hopefully finding some time on Sunday to move some more stuff in. What are you up to this weekend?

Something Beautiful by Newsboys

I didn’t do this last week because I got busy and forgot. But never fear, 7 Quick Takes is back this week!

1. This morning before work I got to go meet sweet Elisabeth Grace, the newborn baby of my friends Joseph and Melanie. Ellie is their second daughter and is just as precious as her big sister Molly. It was wonderful to sit and visit with Joseph and Melanie and to hold Ellie. What a great way to start the morning!

2. Tuesday nights are fast becoming a favorite of mine. A group of about 12 of us young adults are meeting every Tuesday to participate in our Diocesan-wide program, Why Catholic? (well, it’s not that our diocese created it, it’s just that everyone in our diocese is participating). We have dinner together and then our discussions. It’s wonderful to get to know these people better and we have lots of laughs and fun. Plus, we have some amazing food.

3. This week I had the opportunity to speak at two different RCIA classes and share my story. It was really nice to share and to also see that others related from my experience. Hard to believe it was only 4-5 years ago that all that was going on!

4. I’m on a podcast! Well, I will be on a podcast when it gets posted. My friends Brian, Abby and Kevin have a bi-weekly podcast (well, close to bi-weekly) called “What Would Jesus Podcast” that is about Catholic young adults in North Texas (really ANY Catholic young adult, they just happen to live in North Texas so that’s the reference point). Since Brian and Abby and I went to the Young Adult Retreat a month ago (that I mention here and here), we decided to do a podcast about it. Brian is editing it and hopefully it will go up soon. You can find their podcast on iTunes or at Brian’s site, ComicEarth.com I’ll update when it’s up there. It will be episode #6, but all of them are good. I’m actually referenced on the first episode because I was at Brian’s house when they were recording.

5. It’s happened again. I got the creative bug. We’ll see if my two new projects turn out like they are in my head. If so, I’ll share. If not, then oh well.

6. Tomorrow is my third class in School of Lay Ministry. It’s actually my second to attend because of Fall Retreat, but I heard the audio recordings of October’s class, so it’s like I was there. Tomorrow is 6 hours of Theology. I am excited!

7. If you haven’t seen The Boyfriend Quiz that my high school girls came up with, you should. It’s hilarious.

(click on the picture above and visit Jen at ConversionDiary.com to read more 7 Quick Takes!)

Last week in WOW (Women of Wisdom), the girls were discussing a friends potential boyfriend and started saying that they would “have to approve” of him. I asked them what were they looking for when “approving” a friends boyfriend. They discussed different standards. I encouraged them to write these down. This week, they did, however, it isn’t quite as elegant as when they said it. I would like to make it known that I suggested that some of these be phrased differently, but in true teenager-style, they did not listen to me.

I also made the point that they should hold themselves to these standards.

The good news is that if they (and the boys they are interested in) do this honestly, we can expect a convent full of nuns in a few years. Here it is:

THE BOYFRIEND QUIZ

1. Does he believe in God?
2. What is the age difference between the two?
3. What are his boundaries?
4. Does he respect all life and people?
5. What are his grades like?
6. Can he cook?
7. What is his hygiene routine like?
8. Does he keep his room clean?
9. What are his relationships with parents/family like?
10. What are his friends like?
11. Does he drink/smoke/do drugs? Then drive after?
12. What are his goals in life? How will he make them happen?
13. Will he keep past relationships in the past?
14. Are his thoughts, words, and actions appropriate?

15. How does he feel about PDA?
16. Is his language appropriate?
17. What are his talents?
18. What is his relationship with God like?
19. Does he gossip? If yes, what about?
20. Would he put you in a bad situation at a party or anything?

21. What are his morals and values?
22. Would he defend your dignity and his and everyones?
23. Does he love you for you?
24. Would he ever try to change you?
25. Must be pro-life. He is? Ok…..good.

The end. <3 WOW

***********

#19 kills me. and led to this discussion:

Me: “Maggie, on #19, why did you put “if yes, what about?” Isn’t that gossiping?”
Maggie: “Well, he could gossip about things that aren’t people. Like animals. Or global warming.”

Did you hear about the ozone layer? Shhhhh. It’s a secret.

I love you girls.

Forever Yours by Popple

Ok, I’ve heard it all. All the bad stuff soda does for you. And I haven’t cared. (FYI, I am from Texas. We call all soda the nickname for Coca-Cola. All of it. Even though I hardly ever drink Coca-Cola products, it is still called that. However, to avoid confusion and hopefully avoid weird Google searches, I will call it soda.)

But lately, I’ve been working on a list of things that I want to do in 2010 (more on that later). And one of the items was to go a whole month and not drink any soda. As I looked over that requirement, I decided to give it a try early. Since November was next up, it seemed as good as any of time to do this.

Full disclosure, I forgot it was November on Sunday and had some soda. But since Monday, nothing. Since these are my rules, I deem this slip ok.

So what will I be drinking this month? Mostly what I will have is stuff I already drink, it will just replace the soda when I did drink that:

- Coffee (all doctored up)
- Milk (a favorite)
- Water (hardly a favorite. I need to have it flavored.)
- Peach tea (new favorite)

I’ve never been a fan of tea, but I do enjoy Peach tea. This is encouraging me to try others. We’ll see how that goes. The hardest time will probably be Wednesday/Sunday night’s when the team goes to Applebee’s and I usually order a Diet Pepsi. I have noticed that the Bee’s has Mango Iced Tea, so I’ll try that next time. Now I have to get the waitstaff accustomed to my new drink order. Yes, we go often enough that multiple waiters know my drink order. I think I’m up to 6 waiters knowing me. No, I am not ashamed.

Actually, that reminds me of a pretty funny story. Down in College Station, there is a chicken place (Laine’s? Layne’s? Someone help me!) that is popular. When Rudi and I went to visit Rachel and Marcel, we had lunch there with Marcel and he told us about a kid named Ben. Ben ate their all the time, and even set a record for number of times eating there in a month. He always ordered the same dinner and a Dr Pepper (cause he is brilliant!). For Lent, he decided to give up Dr Pepper. The staff at Laine’s/Layne’s/whatever posted a sign behind the counter that read:

“Ben has given up Dr Pepper for Lent. Please serve him water.”

Now that is talent.

P.S. I may not have gotten 100% of the details right on that. But I am close.

We Delight by Caedmon’s Call

Ok, to be fair upfront, yesterday was an awesome day. However, a wonderful day was nearly ruined – and that is what I would like to share.

So, yesterday was the annual World Youth Day at Six Flags. It is an event where the Catholic teens of the Diocese of Dallas and the Diocese of Fort Worth go to Six Flags Over Texas (the original and still best). We have a day of fun and it ends with Mass at the Music Mill Amphitheater, con-celebrated by both Bishops and a lot of priests. And 7,000 teenagers. It is a blast.

This was my third year to go and every year, it’s the same thing. We meet Sunday morning, drive down to Arlington, ride rides, play games, celebrate Mass, and go home. On our way home, we stop at Sonic and arrive back at the church between 8 and 8:30pm.

Yesterday, it all started out the same. We met up in the morning, drove down to Arlington, rode some rides, played some games, and celebrated Mass. Then we tried to go home. But there was something different about this year.

The Dallas Cowboys now play in their new stadium in Arlington. One block away from Six Flags. And on this particular day, they just happened to be playing a game there with a kickoff time of 3:15pm. So, at 6:30ish, when we were leaving mass and heading to the parking lot, the game was ending and the fans were headed to the parking lot. So, what happens when 90,000 people try to leave Cowboys Stadium and 7,000 people try to leave Six Flags at the same time and try to access the same two highways?

You wait.

A semi-accurate run-down of our ride home:

7:14pm: My van is loaded up with myself and 6 teenagers. I start the van and head out of my spot.

7:15pm: Get in line to exit parking lot.

7:45pm: Leave parking lot and turn onto Road to Six Flags Drive. (not a typo. 30 minutes just to leave the parking lot. Most of that was standstill.)

8:05pm: Turn onto South-bound Hwy 360 and U-turn to go north.

8:26pm: Get on ramp for North-bound Hwy 360. (again, not a typo. It took 20 minutes to go through the light at the exit before I could get to the ramp.)

8:32pm: Leave the City of Arlington

9:07pm: Arrive in South Denton (it took as much time to drive to Denton from Arlington as it did to leave the parking lot)

But my night was not over. Because the traffic was such a mess, our multitude of cars got split up. And I had to wait at the church (a) for Caity, who I was taking home, and (b) to make sure all the kids got picked up. So the rest of my night went like this:

9:07pm: arrive at the church, unload.

9:09pm: Wait for cars

9:15pm: Tell Kendall she can go get food (she was waiting for her brother)

9:21pm: Call Caity and find out she just got something to eat and will be at church in 5 minutes.

9:23pm: Call Kendall and ask her to get me some food as well.

9:27pm: Caity arrives at church; more kids leave

9:32pm: Kendall’s brother arrives at church; more kids leave

9:40pm: Kendall comes back and brings me food, takes her brother home. Carrie, Shelby, Caity and I are waiting for our last teen, Kaytlin, to be picked up.

9:43pm: We realize that Kaytlin’s ride is another teen…who has decided to stop at Dairy Queen across town before picking her up. Sigh.

9:58pm: Kaytlin gets picked up. Of course, by now it is pouring rain, so Carrie and Shelby take me and Caity to the van and we jump in and head home.

I love World Youth Day. I just hope that next year, the Cowboys are playing an away game.

Savior of My Universe by All Star United

Yesterday I told you about the results for my StregthsFinder test. Today, some reflection:

Interestingly enough, after reading my descriptions and discussion with some people at my table at the retreat, I realized something: I often see my strengths as a burden on others. I feel that I am taking something away from someone when I volunteer to head up an event or plan something. I never think about the fact that there is probably someone in the room thinking, “Oh thank goodness Holly took that!”

It reminded me of the 4th grade. We did a “yearbook” project (see, the fascination began early!) and we had several committees. One of them was called “Predictions.” They had the job of predicting what each 4th grader would be doing in the year 2010 (by the way, this should be a hoot to look at at my elementary reunion next year). We had country music singers, librarians, professional football players, comedians, etc. What did they predict for me?

Boss.

Yep. Not “Magazine Editor” or “CEO of Bank of America,” just “Boss.” For a long time I’ve looked at that as an insult. The fact that the best thing they could come up with for me was “Boss” made me think that, well, I was bossy. But I realized while talking about my strengths that while there is the possibility I was bossy and annoying in elementary school, maybe what my classmates saw in me was my ability to lead and organize and plan and problem-solve and relate to others and think rationally – all the things you want your boss to do. The reason it wasn’t any more specific was because they saw that no matter what I did, I would be a good leader for it.

Conversely, I can think of a time when I wasn’t a good leader. It had nothing to do with lack of skill or ability. It had everything to do with huge emotional, physical, spiritual, and mental stresses weighing on me. Reflecting on that time, I realize that’s why it’s so important to keep my life balanced and in check. My strengths can only carry me so far. If I as a person am not doing well, my strengths can’t compensate for it. They can’t override my system – at least not for a long time.

What I am working on now is pushing back those feelings and thoughts I get of  “stop taking away from others.” We all have strengths. Right now, the only real “team” I work with is our youth ministry team. We all have gifts and we are all only at our best when we are each able to use our gifts. While I need to be careful and not overshadow anyone, I also need to stop thinking that I am “robbing” anyone of anything by using my strengths.

***

On a side note, something I found fascinating: you have a 1 in 250,000 chance of meeting someone with the same Top 5 strengths as you. You have a 1 in 3 million chance of meeting someone with the same Top 5 in the same order as you. Is that not AWESOME??? (p.s. I need to go fact check those numbers…sheet is in the car. But I’m pretty sure they are right).