1-11=-1 and other fun things

This past weekend, Marcus, the St. Gregory's youth director, invited us over for dinner on Friday night. We enjoyed a nice dinner of pasta and vegetables and conversation over some white wine. After dinner we played a marathon of a poker game that I eventually won (I am terrible at poker for those of you who didn't already know that.) We obviously did not play for money because no one in the room makes enough money to do that :-)

On Saturday, I enjoyed a quiet morning at home while Greg was at work and the girls were on a boat cruise with Evie's job at SAIL (Southeast Alaska Independent Living.) It was really weird having several hours of complete quiet but I took the time to do some laundry, clean the kitchen (it was my week to do that), write some letters and enjoy some relaxation time after a long week at work. We had a pretty relaxing afternoon as well and after dinner we played this card game called "hand and foot" that Evie taught us. We ended the night playing some cards, my housemates enjoying some local beers (I wasn't feeling too well so I stuck to tea), and watching The Office. The weather was pretty chilly and raw on Sunday so after enjoying some french toast and heading over to mass, we spent the afternoon watching the Bourne Identity. Natalie is now hooked and anxiously awaiting her chance to catch the last two chapters of the series.

For our community night, we headed over to the video store and enjoyed some arcade games that they have in a back room. I forgot how much fun pinball is! Afterward, we headed over to the house that we are house sitting for the next 2 weeks. The owners have gone on a hunting trip and have left us to care for their 2 cats, chickens, rooster, and ducks! The girls agreed to stay at the house for the first night and after spending a few hours there playing cards, I realized that I will not be able to stay over there because my allergies were flaring up pretty good.

On Monday, following a beautiful day in Sitka and a fun night working childcare at the shelter, we all headed over to the new house for Spirituality night. Before we could hang out with Jesus, however, we had to collect the 7 chicks who had been let out earlier in the day from their pen. The 7 of them had assembled themselves on top of the owners' compost bin and did not want to move. After some coaxing (both verbal and physical), the chicks all were back in their proper place and I felt like the Cesar Millan of chickens. I was responsible for spirituality night this week and after Greg's wonderful reflection involving the book Matthew's Meadow last week, I decided to use a reflection exercise that I had participated in and led many times at Holy Cross called life graphs. Essentially everyone is given a blank piece of paper and a pen or marker and reflects on the events in their life that have been important, influential and that have shaped them into who they are today. We focus on both the positive and negative experiences because it is important to note that everything that we experience is integral in molding the people we are and hope to become. I closed by reciting St. Ignatius' prayer of Generosity and I think that the reflection went really well. I really enjoyed learning more about where each of my housemates is coming from and enjoyed reflecting on what events and people have helped to mold me and sharing that with my housemates.