Monday, December 20, 2010
A tale of two dinners.
Our development office is one of the busiest groups on campus this time of year, handling the volume of Christmas mail and end of the year donations coming in. But we always take a break to celebrate with some holiday spirit together. For lunch we gathered for our Christmas Potluck, with all kinds of delicious and wonderful creations. Kory, the director of development, thanked everyone at the gathering for their dedication.
Some people like to take part in the Secret Santa, and have exchanged little gifts in secret for a few weeks. Most folks already had a good idea who had their name, but today the names of those Secret Santa’s were revealed. Then we had a few door prizes to draw names for, which is always good fun.
This evening brought all the SCJs (members of my religious community) to our house for hors d’oeuvres and conversation. For those who work in the parishes full-time, Christmas on a Saturday affords little chance for a break, so we made the time together tonight. We welcomed Fr. Vincent from Indonesia, who will help for a while as he improves his English. He is lively, extroverted and excited about working on the reservation. After our social we went to Al’s Oasis (a local landmark) for supper.
Today, Fr. Anthony and I met with the head of maintenance to take a look at carpet samples. Since we got the church structure stabilized, with a new roof to prevent leaking or dripping, it’s now time to get some new carpet. The Our Lady of the Sioux Chapel carpet is over 20-years-old and with so many little Native American feet tracking in mud and snow over the years, it is worn and in need of replacement. I myself, am not good with artsy or visual items, so I defer to others for their advice. But, they wanted to ask my opinion anyway.
This afternoon our High School students came together in the Recreational Room and found out who had been selected to go on our Germany exchange program next June. D’Kera was still at basketball practice, so I didn’t see her reaction, but Trinity had the biggest grin I’ve ever seen. They will work these next months with their chaperon to prepare.
Fun and Future…How grand is THAT..? And all,with ease and skill. ONLY at St. Jo’s..!
Hugs and Prayers to All..
Mia and Bob
What a great gift to com just at Christmas: To be named an exchange student to Germany!
And all the gatherings sound lovely too. Pot luck dinners always are extremely tasty and the companionship makes the food even tastier!