archie taking the gang for a ride

Okay. I need to talk about something really important. This may come as a shock to some of you, but it's something I've been thinking about and reflecting on a lot lately, and I feel that I really need to get this off my chest because I value our (mostly one-sided) correspondence and believe that, especially where this is concerned, I just need to be honest with you. Okay. So here goes.

I LOVE THE JONAS BROTHERS. I know. I know! They're so ridiculous! But have you SEEN their TV show? (Thank you, Netflix!) Honest to goodness, I challenge you to watch one episode of it and not tell me that it's super hilarious! Seriously! It might be one of my favorite shows ever! AND don't tell me you can't listen to one of their albums without tapping your foot to those unbelievably catchy beatz! And I think you should also know that talking about the Jonas Brothers makes me use exclamation points in excess! So YES! Hate me if you want! I DON'T CARE!

So now that THAT'S out of the way, I feel much better. Phew! On to other exciting things in my life.

Well. It's snowing. Again. Two weekends ago (February 5-8, because I'm counting Monday in there), we had something around two and a half feet of snow within the span of about four days...which, because of the hills and other factors I haven't quite figured out yet, resulted in a week where most school districts in the Burgh called off school for FOUR DAYS IN A ROW. What?!

We (me and five of my kids) were supposed to be going on a ski retreat with another parish on the weekend of the 5th to the 7th, but we had to cancel it because of snow. How funny is that?! Of course, the decision to cancel was made after driving two and a half hours...in the snow...in a coach bus...but apparently the place we were trying to get to already had over a foot of snow and we most definitely would have been spending the night in a snowbank. No gracias! But I ended up going skiing that weekend anyway with four of the five kids--after the roads had been cleared well enough to get up to the mountain. I messed my knee up pretty badly and broke my glasses on my last run, which was awesome...but a broken pair of glasses is nothing that some Gorilla Glue can't fix! Now if only Gorilla Glue could get rid of this wicked limp. Oh well! I'm sure that when I walk around in public, people just assume I got in a fight with a ninja...which kind of makes it worth it, when you really think about it.

I just found out that one of my favorite bands (other than the JONAS BROTHERS!) is coming out with a new album this year! That's right, The Weepies! Oh boy oh boy oh boy, I can't WAIT! It's like my soul is doing the "I'm-going-to-pee-my-pants" dance (you know the one)!

Yesterday was a fun day in Youth Ministry World. Several kids, adult chaperones, and I attended the Lovewalk for the Poor, which is basically an annual event sponsored by the Diocese of Pittsburgh that happens around Valentine's Day. It's a chance for youth to collect donations for a few local Pittsburgh outreach programs and gain a tiny bit of perspective about issues of hunger and homelessness. There were hundreds and hundreds of young people there, which is always exciting to see. We had Mass with the Bishop and then walked as a giant group for a little ways before dropping off our donations at a truck along the route and dispersing to return home. We came back to St. T's, had some pizza, and then the chaperones left and I played a few rounds of Deaf Karaoke* with the kids. Let me tell you, that game never gets old! I was only expecting to stick around the youth room until 6:00 at the latest...but then it was 7:45 and the last of the kids were trickling out. Oh, it was so fun!

*Deaf Karaoke is a game where you pick a song on an iPod (preferably one you know the majority of the words to), put the ears in, turn up the volume as loud as you possibly can, and ROCK OUT. The reason it's so awesome is that you can't hear yourself sing at all, but no one in your audience can really hear the music in your ears. Basically, it's a smashingly wonderful way to make a complete and utter FOOL of yourself. Perfect for parties or when randomly sitting around with a bunch of high schoolers, and the only supplies you really need are iPods and the ears for them! YEAH!

Okay, that's it for now. Sorry about the big gap between the last post and this one...not that it's a huge deal, I just forgot about the blog for a little while there. Love you, miss you, blah blah blah!

PS: I was just thinking about what would happen if I stuck my hand in the garbage disposal and it somehow turned on accidentally. Is that disturbing? Yes. Yes it is.