Many many blogworthy things

Chaos
Pistons
Laundry
Baby boy
Alvin
Chris
Marie
Upper Room Retreat

Chaos
The team has evolved. It’s always fun to try and keep a good thing the same. But you can’t always do that. I believe it is possible to keep a good philosophy. Good philosophies have longevity. We have a lot of new players. Great people type of players. Egos aren’t too big. It just feels different because it’s not the same personnel on the field as the beginning. I love playing with these guys and it’s awesome to see our growth. The level of soccer is so much higher than it used to be. We almost forfeited our last game because I communicated poorly the time schedule. But we picked up a few people and won 6-2. It’s actually been quite a year so far. The stats are a little bit cool. We’ve won 3 of the last 4 indoor championships. We’ve played every week since the first of the year and I think we’ve only lost 4 games max. We made it to the semi-finals last outdoor session. A tie for the deepest we’ve ever been in the playoffs. We lost 2-1 in the last 10 seconds. The Finals… right on the verge of destiny… speaking of….

Pistons
The team has evolved. It’s always fun to try and keep a good thing the same. But you can’t always do that. I believe it is possible to keep a good philosophy. Good philosophies have longevity.
I’m just so proud of them. They fought and they fought until the very end. They gave Detroit a very very special gift. Out of thirty teams, the Pistons gave their city something to cheer about deep into June. All the way to the point where they couldn’t give any more. They were inspiring and tough. What more are you looking for in a basketball team? Back-to-back championships? Whatever. They’ve given me back-to-back damn inspiring seasons. They make me want to be inspiring and tough. They make me want to fight. Fight! All the way to the end! Until the last whistle sounds. Until the last buzzer buzzes. We fight. We owe it to the integrity of the game, we strive for it so we can look ourselves in the mirror and say, “I gave it all I had.” If you can say that, smile and walk away, because not everyone can say that. From Rip, I learn that preparation is paramount and it’s important to master something and not just be okay at everything. From Billups, I learn calm under fire. From the team, I learn to win and lose with character and integrity. I hope a sleeping bear has awakened for next season.

Laundry
When do you do your laundry? Kimmie has a great idea. I’ll try and implement it.

Baby boy
Isaiah is a very little boy. He thinks the way you get off of couches is to dive headfirst, then somebody grabs your leg right before you hit the ground with your face, then you put out your arms and do a somersault to your back. That’s how you get off of a couch. Me, I just put my feet on the floor and stand up. Isaiah, he dives head first. He love to say, “bah”, and “mama” and “dada” could refer to anything. Sometimes mom, sometimes dad.

Alvin
He walked and is 5 credits from his bachelors in information technologies. When you’re the man, you’re the man. I look forward to hang with him more when he has less to do.

Chris
One of my best friends has left. He left last Sunday. Chris is one of the kindest, most caring, most amazing friends you could ever have. I cry when I think about him being gone. I’m so happy he’s living a dream, but I’m so so sad he’s left Michigan.

Marie
Marie is traveling down the path of being a Sister of Life. Check out sistersoflife.org.
This has been one of the most amazing internal discernment processes I’ve ever witnessed. Holy cow this is a big step and I think God is totally leading her where she’s supposed to be.

Upper Room Retreat
Ever since Isaiah was born, Annalisa and I haven’t been praying at night before we go to sleep. We said we would start again after the NBA playoffs. It just so happened the first annual Upper Room Retreat fell on the weekend after the last day of playoffs. Perfect. The experience was a wonderful journey into deeper relationship with Christ. We are using the retreat as a new jumping off point into strengthening our bond with Jesus. The retreat went as follows:
Upper Room Retreat
The Year of the Eucharist
Attendees – Items to Bring:
Eric – Materials for crafts, games, video camera *I brought the video camera but we didn’t actually take any video, I brought Boggle, Connect Four, Chess, Cranium, but we didn’t end up playing. We stamped candles for crafts and that went really well. A little complex though.
Annalisa – groceries, cooking supplies, smores, snacks * Annalisa did an amazing job of feeding us this weekend – breakfast, lunch, and dinner on Saturday with snacks worked out to about $19/person.
Tom – Beer bread for special dinner * This bread was delicious and Tom made it before dinner.
Aileen – Wine for special dinner *Two buck chuck from Aileen was awesome with the meal.
Gary – Projector, songs *G is always money when it comes to leading worship through song. Make sure to bring connectors for outlets with no ground.
Mads – music supplies * The Guevara’s car was packed with music equipment. Gonna get tougher with 2 kids.
J – bongos, percussion instruments for everyone. * J brought bongos, shakers, clavs, guairo…fun
Alvin – Beer, Mike’s, mixed drinks * Al got the Molson Ice for Chris, Mike’s for me… no mixed drinks
Chris - Digital Camera * Chris got some sweet shots I’m sure
Ariel – Footfall,, prayer copies, * Ariel did an awesome job printing the prayer copies to keep everyone on the same page for prayer.
Marie – Journals, * Marie brought folders for everyone to keep their loose papers and journals for everyone to take notes during their talks. Ariel and Marie also passed out beautiful crosses and keychains and medallions…
*People will be reimbursed for their costs… If you think it costs too much, talk to Eric or Ariel…
When:
Friday, June 23rd – Sunday, June 25th
Where:
Ann Arbor Retreat House - Marie, please provide directions.... *Bread of Life Retreat House – 4910 Dixboro Road, Ann Arbor, MI
Costs:
Venue - $25/person, $40/couple
Priest - $120 – Adoration, Confession, Mass, Benediction
Food - $19/person – Saturday: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner, Snacks
*~$400 donated
Bottom Line: Everyone pays $40 each

Agenda
Friday
7pm – Arrive at Retreat House – Pass out journals, start overall game, Liturgy of Hours * Didn’t have an overall game, started prayer well, Annalisa needed time to acclimate to kitchen, we had a packed blazer that barely fit everything
7:30pm – Dinner – Ariel * Ariel had family issues, Marie picked up Dominos
8:30pm – Talk 1 – Eric * This went okay. Need more facts and figures.
10pm – Quiet Time
10:30pm – Bonfire/beer/guitar/songs * Arrivals ran late, so dinner ran late, so my talk ran late, so this was skipped and Quiet time led right to sleep
Midnight – sleep early because big day tomorrow and we can stay up later tomorrow
Saturday
7am – Leaders Prayer/Morning Prayer * No air conditioning with 95 degree weather. Well water. Smart to bring fans.
7:30am – Breakfast/Rosary
8:30am – Praise and Worship/Talk 2 – Gary * Marie and Gary switched because her talk went better into Mass.
10am – Quiet Time
10:30am – Priest – Adoration/Confession/Mass/Benediction
Noon – Day Prayer/Lunch * they provided a nice hearty soup for lunch and Annalisa added extras like fruit and bread
1pm – Praise and Worship/Talk 3 – Marie * Gary talk. Mass ran late. So lunch ran late. So talk ran late, so there was not much quiet time and crafts started around 4:30pm.
2:30pm – Quiet Time
3pm – Crafts and Song * Hard to get people started on candles but went really well.
5pm – Start to Cook * Annalisa did a good job having lists of what she wanted pairs of people to do to get dinner ready. Unbelieveable spread. Paiella, Pork tenderloin with mango, white mousse with nutella in filo dough.
6pm – Dinner * Annalisa’s such a good cook she makes us look like good cooks. Like Bird and the Celtics.
7pm – Praise and Worship/Talk 4 – Ariel * since everything ran late I don’t think this started ‘til about 8:30pm
8:30pm – Quiet Time
9pm – Praise and Worship
9:30pm – Sharing/Bonfire/Games/Beer * lots of bugs, projected words on the house/didn’t work, sang praise songs around fire with G’s binders
??? – Sleep * slept around 2am?
Sunday
7:45am – Morning Prayer
8am – Continental Breakfast * bagels/fruit/granola bars/juice boxes
10:30am – Leave for Christ the King
Brunch and Bye-byes… (sniff)