ANOTHER UPDATE FROM LOT(L)

Here’s what’s been going on in NOLA recently…

I resumed my pursuit of that elusive Master of Theology degree. I’ll be taking two classes this summer, on Saturdays from 8 am until 5 pm., and two classes each semester through the fall of 2009. My first class on Liturgy and Sacraments began last Saturday. To prepare for this “reading intensive” class, our instructor sent out the course syllabus 5 weeks in advance to everyone who had pre-registered last semester. This was to provide ample time to read the assignments. Guess what? Since I didn’t attend last semester, and I only registered a week before class started, I didn’t get the syllabus until 6 days before class started, putting me a full 4 weeks behind everyone else!!

Every evening last week was spent trying to complete the assigned readings for the first class. By 1 am Saturday morning I was still short, but decided to bite the bullet and get some sleep. I hit the sheets at 1:15, only to be roused out of bed at 1:30 by footsteps running up and down our alley between ours and the neighbor’s house, and a loud voice shouting, “Come out with your hands up!!”.

Turns out the creep who’s been burglarizing garages throughout Algiers for the past several months decided to hit our back shed but was seen and reported by one of our neighbors. The police quickly responded and found him coming down the alley with my chain saw in hand. Apparently he dropped the chain saw and ducked under the house.

Anyway, to make a long story short, the police blanketed the neighborhood and scoured our yard and those of our neighbors but never caught the “perp”. They finally left our street at 4:30 am. So now I had about 1 ½ hours to get some sleep before having to get up and get ready for class. Let me tell you right now, I’m WAY TOO OLD for that sh_t!! I think I pretty much drifted through the day (although I never fell asleep, thank God!).

When I got home at 5:30 you can bet I was ready for bed. BUT… we had already RSVP’d to attend the 50th birthday celebration for the wife of a good friend Saturday evening, so off we went. I finally made it to bed around 11 pm Saturday night. Geez, I’m getting tired just reliving this as I write it down!

Switching gears, the garage is essentially finished! The automatic door was installed last Thursday and works great. There’s a minor issue with the concrete lip that helps to seal the door when closed, but that shouldn’t be any problem.

We also bit the bullet and had the pool drained, cleaned and refilled. Of course, just like the last time it now has a leak. You can’t win for losing where that pool is concerned. Still, we’ve been keeping it “topped off” and KenEllie, Linda, DLG and the kids have been enjoying it.

H2/H2GF are visiting H1/DIL1. They left NOLA Friday evening and return tomorrow. We’re busy missing them and can’t wait for their return.

And speaking of KenEllie, Ellie is recovering nicely from surgery to correct a carpal tunnel problem. We’re happy to see her sans cast.

Fr. John Capuci has returned to Boston after 7 years in the Big Easy as shepherd of the flock at The Center of Jesus the Lord. We will certainly miss him, but eagerly await the appointment of a replacement.

That’s about it for now. Take care, God bless!!