It's official! We closed on our house yesterday and were given the keys today! I'm really excited! Thus I'm using a lot of exclamation points!

We picked up LED chandelier bulbs as most of the ones in them were burned out, I want to save money, and I don't want to replace them for another decade (I had to get as high as my ladder could extend for the ones in the living room). It's quite impressive that 8 LED bulbs use as much wattage as just one of the bulbs that was in there before.

I also changed out the locks to the main house. I had planned on getting more done today, but everything was taking longer than I planned (which should be my motto). Unfortunately, I was surprised by an extra set of exterior locks that I needed to replace, so I still need one more set to change out both of the garage doors as well. Changing the locks is just a sensible precaution, but we also know that the previous owners rented out the place and had at least one set of keys that they did not give to us as they were able to remove a some items yesterday without getting the keys from our realtor.

I had hoped to deal with the main garage doors as well. However, I still need to figure out how to reset the garage door openers and then reprogram the remotes. Currently, one of the doors doesn't have a remote and the openers themselves (although in great condition) are quite old, making my knowledge of how to make these changes to modern openers rather useless.

Tomorrow, Janelle and I are picking up a U-Haul and loading as much as we can before spending our last night at the rental. Saturday morning, we are packing up the beds and other major items and doing the main push of our move.

I probably won't be posting for the next couple of days. Hopefully, we will have Internet at the new house on Monday, but there is always a chance that a problem might crop up, so there may be a lack of posts from me for even longer.

While I know that the move is going to be exhausting (and has already brought out a bit of creative language on my part), I'm still thrilled that this is finally happening! ​

Easter Sunday:  Today we celebrate the rising of Jesus Christ from the dead.  In the past few days, I've seen a number of posts from people mocking this idea.  From zombie Jesus cartoons to Japanese anime, people have spent a great deal of effort looking for ways to discredit this central idea of the Christian faith.  Because it is an unbelievable idea.

God dies?  In doing so, He stops death?  But we've seen death.  People still die.  How can we reconcile this?  The idea goes against all of our senses and against the logic of our minds.  Is it not more reasonable to believe that this idea is part of a massive denial that we have developed to avoid the horrific idea of death?

Wow.  I really can't answer my own questions.  I struggle with these very concepts regularly, and I wish that I had better answers.  I certainly don't have any proof or amazing revelation that will turn the mind of the unbeliever.  This may sound backwards, but a large part of my faith comes from the fact that this concept is so unbelievable.  There are many religions that have the death and rebirth of a god as a part of their tradition.  But Jesus' story is different.  His story is about God dying and rising for us, for the people who abused Him, who abandoned Him, and who continue to deny Him.  His death was the ultimate expression of His love.  This act fulfilled numerous prophecies throughout the Old Testament, shining light on God's law and word and showing us the simple truth: that God is Love.  We can feel that love any time that we want.

It's hard to tell how much of the presence of God that I have felt is truly God rather than my own active imagination, but I've come to recognize Him in my life.  When I was younger, I hoped for the trumpets of heaven and signs that came from the stars and shook the earth.  Now, I've come to realize that God is best heard in the quiet moments of our lives.  Like the earth itself, God's presence is so vast that we can't fully comprehend it.  Still it is so intimate that He takes the time to speak with us and listen to us at any moment.

I feel nothing but sadness for those who mock this day, and I pity those for whom Easter is nothing more than an excuse to try to enter a sugar coma.  I can't prove that Jesus died and lives, but I know it, no matter how unbelievable it sounds.

Today is the feast day of Saint Dismas, the "good thief" and patron saint of thieves and criminals (among others).  It's his feast day because the 25th of March is the traditional date given for the day that he died: the day of the Crucifixion.  Today is also Good Friday, the day that the Catholic Church (and most Christians following Western practices) traditionally celebrates as the day of the Crucifixion.  These two celebrations coinciding on the day only happens a couple times a century.  The last time it happened was 2005.  After today, it won't happen again until 2157 (unless there is some major change to our calendar between now and then).

I'm not saying that there's anything mystical about this arrangement--time, after all, is a human-made construct.  I don't think any magical portals or hidden tombs will be opening due to this rare alignment (although that could make for a cool Davinci Code-esque story).  I just noticed this coincidence and decided to share it.

You're welcome.

This has been a rollercoaster week.  Our evenings have been busy.  The Triduum began today.  My grandfather is on hospice and is in his final days, for which my parents are driving to Minnesota tomorrow.  We found out today that we are closing on our new home next week Wednesday (as long as nothing falls through).  

I'm feeling relief, stress, grief, and jubilation all at once.

For over the past month, we've been going through the process of negotiating both the purchase of and the loan for the property that we've been referring to as Weird House.  We knew that we were getting close to closing, but today we were officially informed that we have an appointment to do so on Wednesday (after school).  There is a lot to be said about this experience, but I do not have the energy at the moment ... I must have used it up on my victory yawps.  

My grandfather has been in poor health for some time, but is now at the point that my parents were told he only has days left.  My thoughts and feelings on this are also too complex for the time of night.

Today's Holy Thursday mass gave anyone who wanted to the opportunity to wash the feet of any other willing person.  I was amused both my the antics of Connor and Janelle as she washed his feet and one of my students as he ran away from his mother when she obviously suggested something similar.  Despite a few hiccups (several made by me), I thought it was a nice service.

For the first time in decades (since I worked at Target), I have to work on Good Friday.  Our Lady of Perpetual Help doesn't have a noon service, but instead holds one at 7pm, so I didn't take steps to take the day off, but now I'm second-guessing my decision.  I will have to see how I feel about this after tomorrow night to know how I really feel about it, and whether I might take off the day in future years.

​It's been a busy week.

I had a pretty amusing post (at least, in my estimation) that I had spent a while working on when I accidentally hit a button that refreshed the webpage and erased all of the writing.  I really don't feel like to trying to recreate it.  Please just chuckle and gently shake your head as though I had written something particularly foolish or witty.  

I had forgotten until yesterday that we had an evening activity at our school today.  Parents with 6th graders were invited to bring their children to the middle school to help them get acquainted with the building and the staff.  It was a fairly simple affair.  There was an opening assembly where some basic information was given and then the families were free to roam the halls, talk with teachers, and just familiarize themselves with the place.  As teachers, all we had to do was stand at the assembly and then later stand in the hall outside our rooms.

I had a blast.

I like greeting people and giving them a friendly face.  While some people might say that I'm just practicing to be a store greeter (and they might be right), I think that there really is something about giving and receiving warm greeting even if from a stranger.  Like many of the teachers around me, I invited parents and future students to come into my room, try out the desks, and ask questions.  I watched apprehension wash away from a number of faces tonight.

I also saw a surprising number of familiar faces.  Several were from church, but some were from our bus stop.  I even ran into my former realtor.  The event reminded me of both how small this community is and how many positive relationships I have already developed since last August.  From the looks of it, I'm going to enjoy next school year even more.

Despite receiving about six inches of snow on the first day of spring, the roads have already largely cleared today and our driveway is turning more into a large puddle and less like an ice rink.  We reached a high of at least 50 degrees today with the forecast suggesting that there will be more of the same for the next several days.  As I walked into the post office after work (and crossfit), I didn't feel as conspicuous for wearing my shorts as I have the past few months.

Although I am normally a fan of snow, I'm hoping that this melt will continue.  I'm partly blaming the shoveling I did yesterday for the pain in my hip last night and today (although, in honesty, it had been bugging me before I went out to shovel), and I'd rather that my next shoveling experience be at my own house (... I think I said that last time, too ...).  Mostly, I'm hoping the track will be clear (if not dry) by April 4th when our track season starts.  Track has a short season up here, and I 'd like the kids to get as much practice in before our first meet (See that?  I'm already thinking coach thoughts!).

Thanks to the Equinox as well as the tilt and curve of the Earth, we are now getting more sunlight each day than anyone south of us.  It's an invigorating feeling.  Hopefully, it won't be long before things have melted enough for nature to come back into bloom. 

I hadn't given a lot of thought to Saint Dismas, the patron saint of thieves and criminals (among many others), before today's homily.  The "good thief" in today's Gospel reading goes against many of our expectations when it comes to God as the stern judge, the giver of law, and the ultimate retribution.  In short, St. Dismas shows that even a flawed person such as myself is forever loved unconditionally by God.

Jesus was crucified between two thieves.  One (traditionally known as Gestas) scorned and mocked Jesus, but I feel that it was a way for him to hide his fear.  I believe that he even secretly hoped that Jesus could save all of them from their horrific death.  Still, the other thief (St. Dismas) chastised his fellow thief and then requested, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingly power.”

The importance of what follows next in this scene is as much what Jesus doesn't say as what He does say.  Jesus doesn't ask Dismas if he's been baptized.  He doesn't tell Dismas that he needs to be born again.  He doesn't ask for Dismas' denomination or if he has gone to confession.  He doesn't ask how often Dismas has gone to temple.  He doesn't say, "Well, you've already admitted to being a criminal, so obviously you're going to need some time in Purgatory."

No.  How does Jesus answer this condemned criminal?  “Truly I say to you,” Jesus replies, “today you will be with Me in Paradise.”

"Today."  

The rituals and conditions that our religions give us are for our own comfort and preparation.  Don't get me wrong, I value and support the mass, sacraments, and traditions of my Catholic faith; however, they were given to me by God to help me live a better life, not due to some contractual obligation that I have to fulfill before being admitted to heaven.  That's not who God is; God is love, unconditional limitless love.  St. Dismas is proof of that.

Starting the first week of April, I will be coaching hurdles for our middle school track team.  While I've been studying some materials to prepare me for this role, it's still well outside of my comfort zone.  Among the things that I've been concerned about is what to wear.

Although I've been assured that my normal school attire is perfectly acceptable for the job, my plan is to go through some of the exercises with the students (although not the hurdles themselves ... I don't want a hospital visit).  Thus, I would need to wear something that I could exercise in, but also survive the various conditions that present themselves in the great outdoors.  For this reason, the shorts and t-shirts that I wear for my crossfit workouts won't--ahem--work out.

I also don't have much in the way of sweatpants or sweatshirts as wearing them tends to make me feel underdressed rather than comfortable.  As I will need to get over my prejudice in this case, I stopped by the local Freddy's today to pick up some outdoor workout clothes.  Thankfully, they seem to be replacing the workout section of clothing (usually associated with New Year's resolutions) in favor of summer swimwear (seriously).  Not only are sweatpants etc. on clearance, the clearance prices are another 50% off.

I took a bit of a chance on my original set of purchases (as I wasn't going to the fitting room while I had the three boys with me) and decided against getting my usual extra large size in favor of just getting the clothes in large.  I am pleased to say that it was an easy gamble.  The large size not only fit, but with some room to spare (although I'm not quite daring enough to pick up mediums).  This is quite a relief as a couple of years ago, I had been afraid that I would need to move up to XX Large.  

Well, now that clothes are out of the way, I just need to worry about the other ... hurdles ... that I need to face in this new coaching position.