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Closing out 2006
Yes, this post had been a long time coming. I'm almost done with my grading for the fall semester. The Christmas tree is up and there are stockings hanging above our faux chimney (hung with care, mind you). It's been a fun couple months since my last blog.
At the end of the month I got to do a talk at my hometown diocese of Steubenville, OH (shout out to all the steubenvillians). It was cool, but I had to drive 2 and a half hours to the gig! What's with that? I've done gigs in Pittsburgh that were closer. Anyway, it was still fun. The diocesan paper described me as an "employee of Franciscan University". I'm a professor now, dang nabit! It's hard to get respect from the home folks.
I started November with an AMAZING trip to Universal Studios, FL with my son Kolbe. For those of you who don't know, once a child turns 6 I take them on a weekend trip somewhere, just the two of us. I hope to continue that every three years until they are 18. But we'll see how the budget looks to keep that up. When John was 6, we wen't to the Star Wars Convention. He'll be 9 next year, and we're already talking about Space Camp!
Kolbe wanted to go to the "Super Hero Theme Park". Universal Studio has an "Island of Adventure" dedicated to the Marvel Super Heroes, so off we went. It is a pretty cool place. We also liked the Jurassic Park section, but didn't go on any of the rides because they were too scary. But they had a killer play place that you could climb around. We topped off the trip with a football game in Tampa with my Mom and Dad. It was an awesome weekend that I am very thankful for.
Hello to all the folks in Columbus, OH that I saw at the "Jesus Jams" rally there. I was incredibly impressed by the spiritual level of the folks there. I talked about truth and ethical relativism. Not your basic talk, but that's what they asked me for! It went over really well, and I was honored to be there.
Thanksgiving was great. My family all comes to Steubenville to eat my wife's cooking (she is an amazing cook). Jennie, my sister Kim, her boyfriend Bob, and me all did a 5K Turkey Trot in a town near by. It was cold, and had a redicioulsy step hill at the end of it. I did it in 26 minutes so I felt pretty good about that. Then we ate the day away. Great job, Jennie!
After that, as we headed into December, Jennie and I went to Las Vegas. Not for pleasure, mind you- there was an adult conference sponsored by the National Federation of Catholic Youth Ministry. There are some cool things about Vegas, but there is also a lot of sadness there. People plugged into slot machines, flyers for prostitution everywhere... really negative vibe. The bishop of LV asked this group to have their convention there because he would like to see more of a Catholic presence in Vegas, and I can see why.
But it wasn't all sad. There was one ray of hope on the Vegas Strip, and that was at the Las Vegas Hilton, home of "Star Trek: the Experience". It was so freakin' cool! A friend of mine gave me free tickets to the Klingon Encounter and the Borg 4-D Adventure. We ate at Quark's Bar a few times while we were there. It was awesome.
Also, "Decaf" as officallly born! Chris and I performed "Hand Motions In Heaven" to a crowd of 2,000 youth ministers. It was a huge hit. We also recorded the song and put it on a CD single, which we'll figure out how to get on the web at some point. But if you want to hear the song and see the performance, our friend Kyle (thank you!) put a video of it on You Tube. Just go to www.youtube.com, and search for "decaf hand motions". You won't regret it.
Came back to finish up the school year, and did a quick trip to Baltimore to do a night with 6-10 graders at St. Louis parish. Hello to all who were there! It was great to share the message with you. Sorry the sound system had so many troubles, or I would have played you more music!
And now I'm supposed to be grading, but I thought I'd blog instead :) I'm going to Boston in a few days, and then to AZ at the end of the month for a young adults conference there. I hope everyone has a Merry Christmas, and I'll check in with the New Year!
At the end of the month I got to do a talk at my hometown diocese of Steubenville, OH (shout out to all the steubenvillians). It was cool, but I had to drive 2 and a half hours to the gig! What's with that? I've done gigs in Pittsburgh that were closer. Anyway, it was still fun. The diocesan paper described me as an "employee of Franciscan University". I'm a professor now, dang nabit! It's hard to get respect from the home folks.
I started November with an AMAZING trip to Universal Studios, FL with my son Kolbe. For those of you who don't know, once a child turns 6 I take them on a weekend trip somewhere, just the two of us. I hope to continue that every three years until they are 18. But we'll see how the budget looks to keep that up. When John was 6, we wen't to the Star Wars Convention. He'll be 9 next year, and we're already talking about Space Camp!
Kolbe wanted to go to the "Super Hero Theme Park". Universal Studio has an "Island of Adventure" dedicated to the Marvel Super Heroes, so off we went. It is a pretty cool place. We also liked the Jurassic Park section, but didn't go on any of the rides because they were too scary. But they had a killer play place that you could climb around. We topped off the trip with a football game in Tampa with my Mom and Dad. It was an awesome weekend that I am very thankful for.Hello to all the folks in Columbus, OH that I saw at the "Jesus Jams" rally there. I was incredibly impressed by the spiritual level of the folks there. I talked about truth and ethical relativism. Not your basic talk, but that's what they asked me for! It went over really well, and I was honored to be there.
Thanksgiving was great. My family all comes to Steubenville to eat my wife's cooking (she is an amazing cook). Jennie, my sister Kim, her boyfriend Bob, and me all did a 5K Turkey Trot in a town near by. It was cold, and had a redicioulsy step hill at the end of it. I did it in 26 minutes so I felt pretty good about that. Then we ate the day away. Great job, Jennie!After that, as we headed into December, Jennie and I went to Las Vegas. Not for pleasure, mind you- there was an adult conference sponsored by the National Federation of Catholic Youth Ministry. There are some cool things about Vegas, but there is also a lot of sadness there. People plugged into slot machines, flyers for prostitution everywhere... really negative vibe. The bishop of LV asked this group to have their convention there because he would like to see more of a Catholic presence in Vegas, and I can see why.
But it wasn't all sad. There was one ray of hope on the Vegas Strip, and that was at the Las Vegas Hilton, home of "Star Trek: the Experience". It was so freakin' cool! A friend of mine gave me free tickets to the Klingon Encounter and the Borg 4-D Adventure. We ate at Quark's Bar a few times while we were there. It was awesome.Also, "Decaf" as officallly born! Chris and I performed "Hand Motions In Heaven" to a crowd of 2,000 youth ministers. It was a huge hit. We also recorded the song and put it on a CD single, which we'll figure out how to get on the web at some point. But if you want to hear the song and see the performance, our friend Kyle (thank you!) put a video of it on You Tube. Just go to www.youtube.com, and search for "decaf hand motions". You won't regret it.
Came back to finish up the school year, and did a quick trip to Baltimore to do a night with 6-10 graders at St. Louis parish. Hello to all who were there! It was great to share the message with you. Sorry the sound system had so many troubles, or I would have played you more music!
And now I'm supposed to be grading, but I thought I'd blog instead :) I'm going to Boston in a few days, and then to AZ at the end of the month for a young adults conference there. I hope everyone has a Merry Christmas, and I'll check in with the New Year!
posted by bobrice | 5:06 AM
3 Comments:
just wanted to say that I still read your blog...even if I don't comment much...so keep writing
Also, it's still weird to hear about your athletic adventures...what ever happened to your typical quote: "We'll be playing frisbee on Sunday...and by "we" I mean "you all", because I will be inside the house where it is air conditioned"
later,
Karsten
I love the idea of taking a father-child trip every 3 years, and I've never heard that before... it seems like a great way to make sure that each child gets one-on-one time with dad. Thanks for the sharing that.
FOR THE RECORD I LOVE HAND MOTIONS IN HEAVEN WHEN I SAW THAT(on youtube) I ACTULLY SENT IT TO SO MANY PEOPLE AND NOW WE WILL BE SITTIN IN CHURCH AND IF WE SEE ONE OF US THAT IS SAD OR LOOKS DOWN IN THE DUMPS AND WE GET EYE CONTACT WITH THEM... I KNOW THIS SOUNDS WRONG... BUT WE KIND OF DO THE HAND MOTIONS AND IT ALWAYS GETS A SMILE ON OUR FACES. I LOVE YOU BOB KEEP UP THE GREAT WORK.
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