Enjoy reading about a lengthy day in the life of Theology teacher, Mr. Van Diest, on October 8th, 2024!
5:45 Wake up and get ready for the day.
6:15 Wake up my kids, make Augustine a fried egg, and lay out the kids’ clothes. Our mornings are usually pretty enjoyable and stress-free.
6:55 Load the car and leave home. Cecilia requests we listen to “Frodo story” in the car. She makes me so proud!
7:00 Drop off Dominic at daycare. I get snot on my shirt because he is a toddler. Such is life.
7:10 Drop off Cecilia and Augustine at Holy Spirit. They fight about who gets to scan the door. Goodbye hugs have recently turned into who can tackle Dad while he’s not looking. Luckily I’m stronger than a 6 and 3 year old.
7:25 Arrive at O’G. Change my shirt. I usually chat about life, theology, classes, or football with Cleary and Ahrens. Cleary is home sick today, so Ahrens has to suffice.
7:40 Morning Prayer in the chapel. Praying the Liturgy of the Hours, I have found, is the most concrete thing that I can do, other than Mass, to keep me connected to Jesus Christ and His Church.
8:05 Classes begin. In Jesus & the Scriptures today we are discussing Jacob and Esau. Jacob the trickster gets tricked, “what goes around comes back around,” as the great poet Justin Timberlake once said.
9:55 Prep Period, during which I pop into the chapel to change the candle, work on some grading, and work on some football-related things. Chloe comes into my classroom and asks me to do this, which means she obviously procrastinated and I’m the only sucker she could find willing to do it on last-minute notice.
10:45 Lunch. But honestly, who eats lunch this early? It is way too early for lunch. I do not eat.
11:40 Afternoon teaching. Rinse and repeat.
2:30 Frosh Activity, where I tell freshmen to be quiet and study, but then get roped into yet another conversation about why Bagel Boy is good, but drastically overrated. Can we all just please admit that it is not some sort of revelation in cuisine, but is just a pretty decent bagel with good ingredients on it?
3:20 I rush out of the building today to pick up my son, Augustine, from school.
4:15 JV football game at O’G vs. Jefferson. The guys play really well. A couple of defensive touchdowns highlight a 35-14 victory for the Knights. During the game, Augustine only tried to run on the field once, and Atley let him sit on the trainer cart, which made his entire week.
6:30 Augustine and I pick up Cecilia from the Holy Spirit atrium (Catechesis of the Good Shepherd). She is excited to tell me about the prayer cards they made today.
7:00 Dinner with the family. My wife, Marah, made a really good hearty soup (it is the season, finally). We ask the kids about their days.
7:30 Get kids ready for bed, which includes but is not limited to: brushing teeth, putting on pajamas, laying out clothes for the next day, throwing objects at one’s sister, pretending to be a pack of puppy dogs who do not understand english, and bedtime prayers.
8:00 A little time catching up with my wife and discussing our week before she heads to bed (she’s pregnant with baby #4 and gets tired quickly in this phase).
9:00 Evening Prayer in the basement prayer room.
9:15 I turn on Monday Night Football for a bit while I watch some O’G football film on my laptop. I spend part of my time watching the JV game from earlier today and sharing that video with the team, and then look at Washington’s varsity film (the team we play this upcoming Friday).
10:30 Get ready for bed and try to sleep, but keep thinking about the 2011 Packers. Greatest team to not win a Super Bowl ever. Alas.
