A Grownup week

This was a busy week. Monday was a Social Justice meeting, Wednesday was packing food boxes for Thanksgiving, Thursday and Friday I was in Chicago for a conference, Saturday we delivered the food boxes to families in the parish, and Sunday (today) is the closing Mass for our parish’s 75th anniversary celebration where I will do the readings, and then I’ll put on my tux and be the MC at the closing dinner dance this afternoon.

We have never done the food boxes on Saturday before, but we couldn’t do it today with all the other festivities going on. Saturday would have been fine, but it’s the day that funerals are conducted upstairs in the church. We work in the downstairs church and it can get noisy. This Saturday the parking lot was packed for the funeral of an eighteen year old college football player from our town who died suddenly this week. Knowing it would be an emotional day for the people upstairs, I told everyone to use their “inside voices”, and even to whisper to ensure we wouldn’t be a distraction for the mourners. I think it worked pretty well.

Thursday I flew to Chicago for the Recruiting Trends conference, where we learn what’s happening in college recruiting for the next year. I had executive board meetings all day, and then a reception that evening. It was good to see my friends again, though I am feeling a little burned out with the work of the organization. I took lots of great photos (if I do say so myself) at the reception and then the next day, my digital camera said “This card cannot be used”. I have to call the company to find out what that means. I hope I can recover those images. I purposely bought the best card on the market to prevent just this problem.

Friday we listened to the presenter talk about recruiting trends, had a nice lunch, and then went to a couple of workshops in the afternoon. The former director at my school was there to do a session and I went to his. It turned out to be very worthwhile.

I used Midway airport for this trip, because it’s a little smaller than O’Hare. I decided to take the train for two dollars instead of a forty dollar taxi. Both going in and going out, the hotel gave me bad directions, but I kept checking with other riders who straightened me out about transferring and crossing to the other platform—things the concierge had neglected to mention. I gave myself plenty of time to get lost and made it to the airport with time to spare.

After clearing security, I noticed these rocking chairs along the passage to the gate. They were ladder back rockers, colorfully decorated with tags on them telling who had done the work. I wasn’t sure you were even allowed to sit in them, they looked so nice, but then I realized that that’s what they were there for. So I bought a sandwich and found an empty one and had a nice relaxing time, listening to my iPod and writing a newsletter article. How civilized. It got me away from the cell phone blabbers and the crowded gate area. I loved it.