It’s Alvernia!

Well, after many college visits, meetings with lacrosse coaches, and researching schools, Erik has decided to commit to Alvernia University in Reading, PA.

Erik applied to many colleges – Alderson Broaddus (WV), Alvernia (PA), Arcadia (PA), Bryn Athyn (PA), Mississippi State, and Wilkes (PA) – and was accepted by every school, mostly because his grades have always been very high. We didn’t visit Mississippi State or Wilkes, but visited every other school. Arcadia was close by, but everyone there used their personal pronouns. That was a deal-breaker for him. Alderson was a little too far for him, and it came down to Bryn Athyn and Alvernia.

In the end, Erik wanted to go away to school, so Alvernia was the best choice. The university is only an hour and a half away from home, so we can get him if he wants to come home for the weekend. We both loved the campus and the atmosphere there, and hopefully he’ll have a much better college experience than Kyle had.

Another Road Trip

Today Erik and I are hitting the open road. We’re visiting Alvernia University in Reading, PA, to attend the “Accepted Students Day” where we’ll tour the school and see what they have to offer. Erik has applied to a handful of schools – Alderson Broaddus, Transylvania, Wilkes, Arcadia, Alvernia, and Bryn Athyn College, and has been accepted to every one.

Since it’s getting late in the game, we’re running around to the schools he hasn’t seen. Today, it’s Alvernia, and tomorrow it’s Arcadia, which is only about a twenty-minute drive.

Hopefully, Erik will make his decision soon, and maybe we’ll be able to talk to the lacrosse coaches of these schools while we’re there. I’ll have posts up all weekend, but I’m not sure how often I’ll be on.

Wish us luck!

Little Drummer Girl

This story is a little old, as we received the invitation in December, but we didn’t want to post about it until we were sure Princess P was selected. Julia has been playing for her elementary school band for three yeas now. She is a drummer, following in the footsteps of Erik, was also played the drums.

In December, we received this email from Princess P’s band teacher, and thought it was great news.

Good morning,

I am reaching out to see if Julia would be interested in joining the 2022 Northeastern Honor Band. Julia is an exceptional musician and leader, so I think she would do very well in this ensemble.

This year, the teachers are simply nominating students instead of a formal audition process. However, we cannot guarantee that all students who are nominated will be admitted. Participating in this honor band includes a registration fee of $25, three rehearsals, and the final concert in Springfield, PA. If you are not able to attend all the rehearsals and the concert, you cannot participate in this ensemble. I have listed more information below this email.

Please let me know if Julia would be interested and able to participate in this honor band! My nominations are due December 23rd, so you have plenty of time to decide.

Have a great day,
Mr. Roberts

Princess P jumped at the chance to participate, even after the Archdiocese changed the event to a virtual concert. Julia will record her drumming and it will be combined with the music of the other band members. This is the second time she was nominated, and she had a great time previously.

The girl has a lot of talent – dance, art, music – and I have no idea where she gets it.

Happy Birthday Kevin!

Today is my youngest son’s 14th birthday.

Kevin has always been a fairly brilliant kid. When he was a toddler, he went into Mrs. Earp’s Facebook site, wrote and posted the word, “poop,” and sent it to her followers. Around the same time, he was messing with the computer, and changed the volume button to read “Kevin.” It took me quite a while to find out how the change it back.

Kevin really likes reading – especially Reader’s Digest – and watches a lot of YouTube. Some of it is stupid stuff, but most of his viewing has to do with computers. It there is something wrong with our computer, the boy can fix it – quickly and efficiently.

As I posted before, he was accepted to a suburban prep school, but he decided to go to a Philly Catholic school instead, because they gave him a $28,000 scholarship – $7,000 for each year. I think all my kids are intelligent, and they are, but Kevin is just a notch higher than the others. I’m sure he’ll crush high school, and it he decides to go to college, he’ll probably crush that, too.

Happy birthday, Kevin. We love you.

Happy Birthday, Erik!

Continuing the Earp family’s three birthdays in six days extravaganza, today is my middle son’s 18th birthday. Erik, here with his godfather Bill, was one year old when I first started blogging in 2005.

It seemed like the little kid with the naturally curly hair would never grow up, and now he is old enough to drive a car. How the hell did that happen?

Now, he’s weighing if he wants to go to college and play lacrosse, or look at a trade school. We’ll support him in whatever he chooses.

In the meantime, we’ll just enjoy his birthday and hope it’s a happy one.

Happy birthday, Erik!

(The Olympic Babe O’ The Day will be posted at 4pm.)

The Gloves Are Off

So Thursday was not a good day. Julia had to come home early from school after she had a minor issue – it was nothing, she’s fine – and after we made sure she was a-okay, Kevin came up to me and said a classmate took his belt and started punching him in the face in the school bathroom.

I stopped in my tracks, and replied, “WHAT?!” Kevin has had trouble with bullies a few times previously, but this is the first time he was physically attacked. Apparently this prick started punching Kevin in the face, and Kevin fought back, albeit meekly.

When I asked him why he didn’t destroy this POS with his karate training, he said, “I didn’t want to get into trouble.” So he basically let this kid beat him up, because he was afraid the school would discipline him. Worse still, this asshole was bragging about the fight in class in front of Kevin’s classmates.

Furious, I told him we aren’t paying all this Krav maga money for him to sit by while people attack you. So, I decided to give him my blessing. “If this happens again, you fight him as hard as you can, and you don’t stop until the threat is over. Use your throws to slam him onto the floor and keep him down until an adult arrives.”

I didn’t think this would be an issue in a Catholic school, because I’d assume the useless teachers there would keep an eye out for violence. I will say this, though; if Kevin is attacked again, I’m suing the administration, the teachers, and the Archdiocese. I’m going to make it my mission in life.

Happy 21st Birthday, Kyle!

Today is my oldest son’s 21st birthday, and as usual, I will be missing it because of work. It’s sobering to believe he is already twenty-one, because it seems like yesterday he was a preemie in the hospital with a monitor the size of a VCR.

Kyle has always been a good student, and his teachers – at least in grade school – loved him. Kyle never acted out, never gave them grief, and always did his work. He bitched about it, but he did it.

He was – and still is – a very good athlete, exceling in our neighborhood’s street hockey leagues (Kyle was a goalie), soccer (also a goalie) and lacrosse (midfield and face-off). Both his grades and his sports acumen got him noticed by three colleges, and he decided to attend the University of Dallas…

Pope Francis Puts Out A Good Take

While I am a Catholic, I have never been a fan of Woke Pope Francis. Yes, I realize he is the Pope and yes I realize I should afford him some modicum of respect, but his wokeness really gets on my nerves. However, he did speak out about families deciding to not have children, and it was one of the first things he ever said where I was in agreement.

During a general audience at the Vatican, he said: “Today … we see a form of selfishness. We see that some people do not want to have a child. Sometimes they have one, and that’s it, but they have dogs and cats that take the place of children. This may make people laugh but it is a reality.”

Pet keeping was “a denial of fatherhood and motherhood and diminishes us, takes away our humanity”, he said. The consequence was that “civilisation grows old without humanity because we lose the richness of fatherhood and motherhood, and it is the country that suffers”.

I mentioned this story because Dennis Prager responded to some dolt CNN writer who claimed not having children will help the environment. Prager expanded on a great point. “I think leftists shouldn’t have children,” and suggested less leftists in America would be a good thing. I absolutely agree.

Acting! Genius! Thank You!

So we spent Christmas Eve Mass at our parish this year because my brother-in-law’s family was fighting off a cold. We usually go to their church in Abington, but this year the family and my mother-in-law went to BVM. Well, we were kind of forced to go because Princess P was performing in the Christmas Eve Tableau.

Julia was in inkeeper – holding the “No Vacancy” sign above – as the readers told the story of Christmas. She did a good job, but she was also stuck on the cold steps of the altar for a while, and said afterward it was really uncomfortable.

Our pastor is great with Mass – we’re usually in and out in thirty minutes or your communion is free. The mass began at 4pm and we were out before 5pm. How he pulled that off with the mass, the tableau, and everything else is beyond me, but it was a heartfelt, yet quick service.

The last time we went to our church for Christmas Eve, there was a brawl. Two idiot parents had a fistfight at the end of mass, with them both toppling over the pew. It was nice to see the lack of fisticuffs this year. It would have been impolite for me to shoot people in church.

Your Mission, Should You Accept It…

You may remember back in October when Erik and I went to his first college recruitment visit. Alderson Broaddus University in Philippi, West Virginia came at Erik very early on, asking him to be a part of their lacrosse team.

The trip was a nice one, the campus is gorgeous, and there are less students at the university than there are at Erik’s high school. Erik enjoyed the trip and seemed to like the campus. The coach was great and the students seemed generally friendly.

As I was driving to work yesterday, Erik sent me a text that he was officially accepted to Alderson Broaddus!

Erik’s still not one hundred percent sure he wants to go to college, but he is very happy his top choice wants him there. I think the trepidation is from Kyle’s less-than-stellar year at Dallas, but I know Erik is certainly smart enough to well at AB.

We’re all very proud of him.