CAPPMoms

Vanity

2007-03-22T09:16:00.000-05:00

So here I am, when I am supposed to be cleaning or do the millions of other things that need to be done on a daily basis, wondering if I should color my hair.

I am a young 30ish woman who is slowly being run over with the grays. Normally I'd be fine with that. In my vision of my older years, I saw myself as a hip, white, thin, active, short-haired gal like they show in the Dove commercials. Of course my qualifications for "older years" was not the 30s!

So I went out and bought two big boxes of hair coloring. I'm now a brown/gray, curly, bit-past-shoulder-length gal and I'm going to go blond, curly, bit-past-shoulder-length. I might even splurge and get a new hair style. But that's another day.

Wish me luck!

Prayers needed for Dom and Melanie....

2007-03-08T21:13:00.000-06:00

Melanie blogs here, and Dom blogs here. There is a huge bit of news that deserves your attention, and prayers over the weekend.

Melanie and Dom just lost a baby through miscarriage, and lab tests are giving them quite a scare for Melanie's health. They have to wait until Monday for conclusive results, which could be either a relief, or a tremendous blow to their hopes and dreams. Pray hard for them....

95 Books 95

2007-02-23T16:18:00.000-06:00

My uncle and aunt died and left a house full of books. Art, architecture, history, nonfiction (even a few mysteries). My cousins have sold the house and invited us to take what we want. I went out there today and came home with lots and lots of books. It was like Christmas and my birthday all at once. If you can imagine being turned loose in your local B&N to take home as many books as you want for free--that is what it was like. Bookmania!
Many beautiful BIG books about art and architecture. One of my cousins is an architect and they were all bookworms. My uncle read voraciously, especially as he got older and less mobile. History was his favorite subject and I got a few nice books and biographies for my husband and myself. Our older boy got a beautiful book about Vivaldi--lovely photographs of Venice. Even the little guy enjoyed a Time-Life book, "Primates".
I could not abandon these books. Some I had wanted for years. I never buy art books because they are too expensive. We all enjoy looking at them though.
A brief taste of what I got--two volumes of Philippe Aries " A History of Private Life", five issues of "Granta" (I could have taken all of them, there must have been a hundred, but I had no room in my car or my house for them),the collected stories of William Trevor, an Escoffier, "The Cake Bible" by Rose Birnbaum, biographies by Claire Tomalin, Antonia Fraser and Jenny Uglow (why are so many biographies written by women?), novels by Henry Green, Kingsley Amis, Ngaio Marsh and Ruth Rendell. A few gardening books for my husband, "Elizabeth and Essex" by Lytton Strachey. You can see what a good mixed bag it was!
Best of all...I spotted a slim, green cloth bound volume at the back of the shelf.It was called "The Coloured Lands" by G.K. Chesterton. My uncle's signature was on the first page. It was published in 1938--he probably would have been graduating high school then. It is a wonderful collection of fantasy stories and imaginative illustrations by GKC himself! I look forward to reading it. It seems to bring my uncle close to me in a way he wasn't when he was alive.
Now to tidy up the dining room for dinner, then a perfect orgy of reading!

Agoraphobia? Snow-o-phobia? or just plain laziness?

2007-02-15T08:24:00.000-06:00

My husband has been teasing me lately that I am turning into a housecat. It is true. I do a lot of running around during the day, but at night all I want to do is hang out, do a crossword puzzle, watch "Monk" with the big boy, read "The Magic Schoolbus" with the little guy, and drink tea. There are a lot of meetings I should be going to as a parent leader in my son's school. How much change we actually can effect, as parents, is a rant for a different place but the networking is valuable. It helps to show your face out there. Anyway yesterday was snow, ice, "wintry mix"--which always sounds to me like some kind of candy product. You know, starlight mints, red and green M&Ms, chocolate santas... I shoveled out a bit and Sir Edward put out plenty of salt. This morning it is sunny but very cold. My hair is soaking wet. I have nothing but decaf coffee in the house. B.Minor had an appointment at 9, not too far away. I went out and scraped the car and ran the defroster. Then...I felt I couldn't leave. I just want to stay home and keep warm. There were plenty of days in the past where I HAD to go out to work or school, trudging in the sleet to the bus, waiting on the corner, riding the ferry, trudging up Broadway. No doubt in the future I will be doing that again. So why not enjoy my flexibility now?
Off to help spin a spider web. We are getting hooked on spiders this week :)

Hooray, we can skate!

2007-02-14T10:46:00.000-06:00

The pond has frozen! Well over a week of sub-freezing temps has led to a good thick coat of ice on Allison's Pond. The Parks Dept, still cautious, has plastered "No Skating" signs around the periphery. But the locals are ignoring that....
B.Major and I were thrilled to be skating on real ice. Most years our skating has been confined to the skating rink at Clove Lakes. This is much more fun! We found two branches shaped roughly like hockey sticks, and a chunk of a log, for a puck. We got to scrimmage a bit. Quite a new experience. B.Major began to realize that playing hockey on the ice is a far different thing than playing it on a computer game. Yesterday both boys and I skated. Then a hike into the woods, over the frozen waterfall behind the cemetery, and up to Goodhue Lake. Both boys broke the edges of the ice and got full of mud. A good day!

Ice thoughts

2007-01-31T16:51:00.000-06:00

I was skating with my older son at our local ice rink. We arrived at the beginning of the session. The ice was like glass: freshly zambonie'd and as slippery as a mirror. It took him awhile to find his feet but soon he was gliding and swooping away in enjoyment.

I love to skate. I remember going to the small swampy pond near my house when I was a kid. Everyone hung out there. Even if you didn't have skates, you could slide around on the ice. We would stay til the sun finally sank and the cold grey air seeped into our fingers and toes. On Wednesdays (Catholic schools' half-day) we would go to the newly-opened rink, the same one I take my son to now. The plaza in front would be jammed with Catholic school kids. You'd see cousins, and kids you knew from playing basketball or scouts from other parishes. Clumps of girls would skate together, giggling and pointedly ignoring the boys who shouted and raced past, showing off.
Even there we felt the cold, despite the big "bubble" roof, but we could buy some hot chocolate (actually hot Swiss Miss) and burn our tongues while our mittened hands clumsily clutched the styrofoam cups.

The last time it was cold enough for long enough to skate on the pond near my house was four winters ago. I was heavily pregnant with my younger son and could not risk a fall. Ever since then I have longed to skate outside on a pond again. We are lucky to have the rink so convenient to our house, but there is something too close to being a hamster on a wheel...round and round, round and round....

Still, the last time we went to the rink, my son met up with a girl from his class. She talked to him for awhile and then on the ice, my son skated near (but not exactly with) her, and showed off some of his moves....it is nice to see that some things don't change. Even for seventh-graders.

Drowning in gush

2007-01-26T12:38:00.000-06:00

Oh dear, I hope it is not disrespectful of me, but I am not getting on with St.Therese too well. The style is very sentimental, gushy and too too sweet. Perhaps it is the translation.
For now I have switched back to Susan Howatch's Starbridge series--an astringent antidote to all that sugar.

Or maybe I should just save the Little Flower for a Lenten penance.

Let's Talk Books

2007-01-18T16:37:00.000-06:00

Every year I say I am going to do this: keep a list, annotated if possible, of the books I read. One reason this doesn't work for me is that I tend to go back and do comfort reading: re-reading old favorites in the tub before bedtime or when I am not feeling well. But I guess we could list new books that we read as we finish them. I see they do this on the 4real learning forums.

OK. The first book I finished this month was Christ the Lord: out of Egyptby Anne Rice. This book was terrific. It did a good job of portraying Jesus's early life from *his* point of view. CAn't wait for the next one. Anne Rice has an interesting conversion story which she touches on briefly as an afterword to the book.

Green for Dangera vintage mystery by Christiana Brand. This was a very atmospheric thriller about murder in the operating room of a British military hospital in WWII. The last page is a heartrending twist. (No peeking). My husband tells me it was a movie! I had no idea--wonder if I can get it on Netflix?

The newest Dick Francis....excellent as always. These are definitely comfort reading and you do learn interesting bits of information. This one was all about DNA testing. I remember one I read that was about meteorology, and there was a banking one too. Always worthwhile escape reading.

Now I am reading The Story of a Soul. I am ashamed to say I have never read it. It seems very sweet and accessible so I am reading it as training, so to speak, for my annual Lenten attack on St. Teresa of Avila's Interior Castle. For some reason I have never gotten too far into that one.

Late at night I have been re-re-reading The Complete Father Brown Stories in the huge Penguin paperback edition. Mine is falling apart and warped from the steam of my bathtub...nothing is more comforting than GKC.

So what are you reading?

Happy New Year!

2007-01-01T10:13:00.000-06:00

I would like to send greetings to all our readers, whoever you are, for a very Happy and Healthy New Year.

I hope 2007 brings all you hope for, blessings beyond your dreams, and if you have sorrows and troubles, I pray you'll easily be given the graces you need to handle them.

God bless!

Dear Pope Benedict,

2006-12-24T23:37:00.000-06:00

Next time the fourth Sunday of Advent falls on Christmas Eve, please make a ruling that it will be celebrated on December 17, giving us a full four weeks to prepare for Christmas.
That is the sort of motu proprio we mothers would really like to see!
Merry Christmas,
Love,
Eliz. Hatton

I miss...

2006-12-05T12:46:00.000-06:00

Selkie's blog. I know she's going for a degree, but I do miss checking in her world and I miss her way with a turn of phrase.

Hope the studies are going well, Jamie!

Happy Thanksgiving!

2006-11-22T13:55:00.000-06:00

There's much to grieve this year, but so much to be thankful for.

I'm off to bake a whole bunch of pies for our family gathering this year, but I wanted to take a minute to wish everyone a very Happy Thanksgiving!

May the things that delight you be many,
The things that annoy you be few.
May your joys ever increase daily,
And all sorrows stay far from you.

God bless!

Asking for prayers...

2006-11-08T04:53:00.000-06:00

It looks like we are losing the baby. Please pray for us. We go for an ultrasound this afternoon to see how things stand. This is heartbreaking. May God's will be done.... but even so, I am praying for a miracle for us............

Updated on 11/9/06. We lost our baby last night, but were able to hold the remains before burying them in a little private family service. So sad. But I do know that three of my children are waiting for me in heaven. Until we meet.... God bless you, little ones....

Shingles?!?!

2006-11-03T09:21:00.000-06:00

No, I don't mean the kind on the roof ;)

I wondered if the weird rash on my neck was shingles, and the doc confirmed it. Luckily, if I don't aggravate it and set it off, it's pretty bearable. I don't want to take anything for it, not at this stage in the first trimester.

While there, we did get to take a peek at the baby, and he/she (he?! I had a vivid dream about a boy) is a nice little round blob right where it oughtta be :) Now, if time could only speed up a bit, to get me past the point where my fears could ease. Ah well, it is a good lesson in patience and trust.

Happy Weekend everyone....

oooh, Fall!

2006-10-26T08:07:00.000-05:00

We had our outing to a pumpkin patch yesterday. It was great fun for all involved, including the part where all the kids but my friend's baby went on a second 10 minute hay ride, which gave the two of us a chance to roast some marshmallows over the fire pit and make s'mores, which we ate greedily before the kids came back. We did make some for them when they came back. However all that did add up to a major asthma attack for poor K3. We were up all night with breathing treatments and Motrin for fever. I guess it wasn't the brightest decision, but such fun was had with the hay stacks and the hay ride and the petting zoo and the wiener/marshmallow roasting.

So, today is all about washing and dusting and cleaning so K3's bedroom will be more allergen free than it was after we came home yesterday....

The kids painted the little pumpkins they received as part of their admission, which kept them very busy all afternoon once we came home. So, not all was lost!!

It's been a long, long time...

2006-10-16T12:42:00.000-05:00

hello readers, if there are any left. I've not posted in ages, because, well, frankly, I felt I had nothing to say!

But, I am popping in now out of lurkdom to ask prayers.

The DH and I have discovered to our utter delight and total surprise that we are expecting a new little CAPPlet! Thought those days were long gone, physically speaking, and had emotionally moved on to that next stage of life.

Guess we are getting one of those late-in-life bonus babies you hear about. Heck, my own mom was a late-in-life bonus baby! This is what happens when you are open to life, eh?!?!!

Could you all keep us in your prayers for a healthy pregnancy and a healthy baby?!

We surely appreciate it!!

What a Guy

2006-07-30T18:30:00.000-05:00

We got home last evening from an exhausting transcontinental trip. It was the best trip we have ever taken! But back here in Babylon it is hot and very humid. Naturally we have not replaced our airconditioners, taken out last fall when the windows were replaced. The boys are steaming. It is pretty sweaty around here.

Today my husband went to Lowes and took both boys with him. They bought lumber and "stuff" to brace the air conditioners when we put them back in. Tonight he will put back one unit in our bedroom, and boys can camp on the floor. He has been working on cutting and installing, while I made dinner and a delicious blueberry dessert (recipe on request) :) I have had time to catch up with my lists and check out my favorite blogs. My husband has had very little computer time since we got home. I truly appreciate it. My connections with my friends, including my online friends, is so precious to me...he understands that. I know, I am blessed.
Boy clamoring for dessert, must go.

The Grief of a Mother and Father

2006-07-09T13:57:00.000-05:00

I have read on Bettnet of a horrible tragedy that has happened to the Doman family. You may know Regina Doman as the author of the especially wonderful "Angel in the Waters" story, which you can read online here.

Their four year old son has died in an accident with the family vehicle, his name is Joshua Michael Doman, and you can see his sweet face here.

We all know, but never want to think about, how quickly lives can change in an instant when something like this happens. Our children, these gifts of God entrusted to us, could be called home at any time. None of us want to ever have to bury a child.

God grant them mercy and peace somehow in the depths of their sorrow, bless and help their family in the days ahead, and may they know that unnamed folks all around the world are keeping them wrapped in prayer.

Hug your children and hold them close.

Hurting

2006-06-24T08:53:00.000-05:00

What do you say to a child who asks "Mom, why does God let me be in pain?".

Background: my almost 8 year old daughter, Sally, toe-walks. She has an orthopedic problem, sadly passed down by her loving mother, of a short achilles tendon. This causes her feet to point downward. At some point, nearly all children toe-walk. With Sally, she started out walking on her toes at an early age and continued as she started school. Visits to doctors did nothing; if she was able to put her feet down, she was "okay".

Fast forward to 1st grade. The summer before, she was diagnosed with sensory integrative dysfunction. She was prescribed occupational therapy. Her therapist thought Sally's toe-walking could be a sensory issue so we put her on a sensory diet to no avail. She still toe-walked. We thought we'd get her checked out by a physical therapist to see if her toe-walking was a physical problem and we hit the jackpot. She had a number of problems with her feet and legs (which were then verified by an orthopedic surgeon) and we started her on physical therapy.

Since then, she's been placed in casts for 3.5 weeks, seen countless doctors, gone through physical therapy and home therapy for 1.5 years now and now she's in night splints. Which are VERY uncomfortable for her.

Which brings me to last night's conversation. Sally crying "Why does God let me be in pain? Why did He make me this way?" and me trying to console her but failing miserably. I even think the words "character" and "making you stronger" passed my lips but I don't think she understood. In her eyes, she prays for health, she prays for the ability to run like her friends, she prays for painless legs and God doesn't hear her. She says she talks to God but He doesn't answer. What does one say to such a child, one who has dark nights of the soul at such a young age?

First Holy Communion!

2006-04-30T19:48:00.000-05:00

Today my daughter made her First Holy Communion! Rejoice with us as she joins us in receiving OurLord in the Eucharist! God bless you, little one!

Alleluia! Alleluia!

2006-04-18T07:44:00.000-05:00

Did you get enough Alleluias this past weekend? I was enjoying them so much. It is true that absence makes the heart grow fonder! After an entire lent without them, the liturgies of the Triduum and Easter felt so joyous.

How was your Easter? Were your Masses beautiful? Did you have lovely family dinners? Did you feel the joy of the Risen Christ in your hearts? I know we did, for the most part. K3 was ill over the weekend which put a small damper on the celebrations, but he's on the way to recovery.

So, I wish you all a very happy Easter! Resurrexit Sicut Dixit, Alleluia!!

Spring is around the corner!

2006-03-11T16:58:00.000-06:00

We went to a dairy goat farm today. My husband had to work today, and that's not common on Saturdays, so I decided the children and I needed to find something interesting to do. We had read about a dairy goat farm not far from us, where they make delicious artisan cheeses. What a fun time we had! There were countless Mama Goats in the "maternity ward," as well as many, many new baby goats. It's birthing time, and we didn't even know it! We saw four newborn goats, just two hours old, as well as dozens of week old baby goats. They were just beautiful. I had no idea baby goats were so CUTE. We were able to pet them, and watch them being hand fed. They are taken from their mamas immediately :( but are hand-raised, so they're friendlier with humans. The babies were just so appealing. My 10 year old son was begging for a goat when we left. Alas, we don't live in an area that allows goats in our yard. However, it did get us thinking about our "next house." On a humorous note, my 10 year old also asked, "If our house burns down, can we move where we can get a goat?" Eek! I hope he didn't have ideas....

Anyway, it was a really nice way to spend the morning, reminding us of the cycle of life, and so on. One more thing; baby goats weigh 6-10 pounds at birth, much like human infants do! But they do seem to require a lot of attention and care at first, and I don't think it'd be easy to carry a baby goat in a sling. ;)

Delurking to ask for travel advice

2006-03-09T17:32:00.000-06:00

I have the opportunity to build up a little nest egg over the summer, and hope to take the family on a real, honest-to-goodness vacation in October.

Do you have any favorite family destinations? Favorite Packages? Great Hotels?

I think we'd need to stay in the US, I'm not up to going overseas just yet with my gang aged 9, 8 and 4... (when we go), and I'd love to do something with trains.

Can you comment back with your ideas?! Thanks!

What Sticks in Their Minds

2006-03-04T19:34:00.000-06:00

Today my older son and I visited this exhibition and noticed a painting across the room. It was called "Fertility" and showed a naked man and woman on either side of a tree. He got the Adam and Eve reference. Next to it was a lovely, more harmonious looking painting, again of a man and a woman (clothed this time), seemingly a farmer and his wife, on either side of a full, leafy tree. The woman held a basket of cherries before her. As I pointed out to my son, you could see she was pregnant, too. I asked him what he thought about this painting.

"It is like the Cherry Tree Carol. It is Mary and Joseph and he gave her cherries".

He remembered this from a CD we listen to at Christmastime. I always marvel about what sticks with them, and what they so easily forget.

Perhaps it is just that art and music has the power to touch their hearts and minds in a deep er way than I had realized.

A Blogging Break For Lent

2006-02-28T16:29:00.000-06:00

I'm going to try something that may be very difficult (gulp) this Lent.

I'm going offline, except for Sundays.

This could be kinda challenging. But, I think I am up for it. I'll try my best, and if I stumble, well, I'll try again!

Praying for a blessed Lent for all of you faithful readers :)

Tunnel Months

2006-02-14T11:51:00.000-06:00

I was stressing over whether and how to add a new therapeutic technique to our life to help our older son with social and communication deficits. This is a very interesting approach which is enormously time-consuming at the front end, but eventually would be incorporated "seamlessly" into our "lifestyle". It did seem promising from the research I'd studied. It would involve a lot of parent meetings, parent and kid meetings, videotaping and two visits a month to the "consultant", an hour away each way in local, metro-area traffic.

However I have a full plate right now. The challenge of steering our son through sixth grade is far more time consuming than I thought it would be. Keeping the younger guy happy is also a consideration. My husband and I have very little time for each other and that is worrisome to both of us.

I was talking to a wise older woman about this. She told me not to make any important life decisions during these "tunnel months"--January, February and March. When she was in the convent, those facing big decisions such as whether to leave, or to stay and take final vows were always told, "Wait til April". In the dark, cold winter no one has the energy to make such important decisions. One must try to maintain the balance one already has.

I see the sense of this. Right now we are getting through the days. Meals are cooked and served; clothes are washed and put away; bills get paid, homework gets done, and most days end without tears or fighting.

But it takes an enormous amount of energy from me. I think I will wait, hunker down in my tunnel, and wait til after Easter to change our program. When the days are longer, sunnier and warmer, I too will feel stronger. Then with God's help I will be able to discern the right path for our family.

Whew. I love it when the decision is made!

UPDATE: I have just been asked to start a chapter of a parent support group in my town, by the woman who runs the group in a neighboring state. This group was so helpful to me when I first started out. I know it would be a blessing to families around here, too. I was trying to decide whether I should tell her Yes or No...then I remembered, hey, we are still in the tunnel months. I guess I will tell her that I would like to do it but can't tell her definitely until April. It just seems as if I am meant to do this...but perhaps the answer is not Yes or No but Not Yet. Just musing here. Has anyone else ever prayed for guidance and been told "not yet"?

Quick prayer request

2006-02-06T10:11:00.000-06:00

Our puppy ingested something she shouldn't have, (a prescription NSAID) with a little help from K3. She's at the vet hospital now, but if her kidneys have failed, then she's in real trouble.

Could you throw up a quick one for our little furry friend, so new to our family (since the fall) but so beloved, esp. to all the kids? She's only 4 pounds, and about 5 months old, sweet as can be.

Oh, I hope she's OK.....

UPDATE: No kidney damage, just some real uncomfortable GI distress. Sigh. A nice big bill, a bland diet, and Milk of Mag. for the dog for 3 days. Whew! Between K3's putting a wooden train down his toilet (and a $150 plumber bill to pull the toilet and retrieve it) and now this vet bill, well... he's an expensive boy!

Looking for the Rainbows...

2006-02-01T11:08:00.000-06:00

So, I've been a little blue lately. Who doesn't get down from time to time? So I decided to make a list of the rainbows in the midst of the rain, to cheer myself up and turn the glum into gleam!

1. K3 throwing his arms around me and the DH, saying "I sure WUB you guys!"

2. Every morning when I let the dog out, I go out on the porch in the dawn's fresh air, and sit for a minute with my coffee, huddled in my robe on the deck, and offer my day to the Lord. The song "When Morning Fills the Skies" is often in my mind!

3. K2's dimples when she laughs that funny made up laugh of hers. We keep saying we're going to tape it and send it in to America's Funniest Home Videos, but never get to it.

4. K1 shyly telling me that she prayed for K2 and her upcoming First Holy Communion at a prayer service she was at, at our parish.

5. All 3 huddled in the big tub, up to their ears in bubble bath (one garden tub, two good squirts of body wash, turn on the jets), with a handful of suds on each little chin, so they look like little Santas, grinning from ear to ear.

6. The joys of sunsets... and the even greater joy of being able to call my folks, and holler "Sunset Alert" when they answer the phone, they holler back "OK", we all hang up and we both know we're looking at the same sunset. They call me, too :)

7. Our family abbreviation of 1-4-3, which stands for I LOVE YOU.... and the accompanying hand gesture of one finger up, then all four fingers up, then pulling down the index finger with the thumb to make only the last three fingers up, as a way of flashing the message across a room, or wherever you are unable to say it. Part two of this is when the kids have learned it, and struggle with making their fingers cooperate, and the smiles they have when they've mastered it. Part three is being on the unsolicited end of this hand signal from the kids. Part four is the little tid-bit of knowing that each of us, unbeknownst to the other, had that inscribed inside each other's wedding rings, along with the date. We discovered this at the wedding. We also gave each other the EXACT same Hallmark card on our wedding anniversary. Yes, the same peach envelope, the same card, everything. Great minds...

So, what about you? What are your Rainbows?!

I'm just tired...

2006-01-23T09:16:00.000-06:00

It was a rough weekend. There was a death in the family of close friends, and I was there within minutes of his death to be with his family in the aftermath. Until the police could verify that it was indeed a natural death (an old ill man on hospice), it was considered a crime scene, and we were all suspects. ("Ma'am, please give me your name, address, phone, social security number, eye color, height, weight, time of arrival, and don't leave until I say you can leave.") To see his big ol' dog try to lick his hand to get him to pet him was just, well, sadder than sad. She's slept on the floor facing the door in the front room every night since then, waiting for him to come back home.

Then on Saturday, what was supposed to be a fun family outing for a treat at 7-11 turned into a big fight. DH took the kids in for the icees, and, unbeknownst to me, left the gas pump nozzle in the tank, filling up the vehicle. I was reading in the car, as I wanted him to have the fun of shepherding 3 kids in and out of 7-11.

I'm not being snarky, we do this maybe once a week when he is at work, and I wanted to share it. So, cars were piling up in line at the pumps, so I decided to pull the car up to the front of the 7-11, not realizing the nozzle was still connected. I did that, and when DH came out, he was pretty upset about me pulling out. I felt like the world's BIGGEST idiot, having only tried to be a considerate person, and we ended up in a lovely argument that seemed to fester the rest of the weekend. I was reading when they went inside, and didn't hear anything, or feel anything to even know it was still connected, or that it dropped off when I pulled away. And I guess it could have been a huge tragedy, ie, fireballs, or whatever.... but still.

After Mass yesterday, a friend's baby was baptized. Again, what should have been nice, was in part ruined by the end of it all. Kid3 is only a little one, 4. Kid3 behaves like a 4 year old. I deal with it every day, it is my world. So, why is my DH incapable of managing it for even an hour without losing it? Tension was rising, and we went to eat after, and had to deal with a tired cranky hungry K3 then as well.

On to the ILs house, where I had to sit still and listen to the BILs go on and on with things that to the casual listener would mean nothing but to the principal players, would easily be interpreted as snarkiness. Even his mother threw in a snide remark that was unnecessary. I don't know why things have deteriorated into what they are now, but I do know that they are not very capable of having a calm conversation to discuss it and perhaps resolve it, so it is put up, or never show up. (Maybe that's my answer...)

And God forgive you if the children want to talk and laugh and be a part of the conversation when at Grandma and Grandpa's house. Children are NOT to be heard, but patted on the head as an acknowledgement of their presence on arrival, and then they are supposed to disappear. No wonder the kids don't enjoy visiting there. K3 even tells me "I no wanna go to that house." Sigh.

Supper was OK, but the kids were squirrelly by the end of the evening, so I just wanted them to go to bed, so that turned into another argument over what time bedtime was. Sleep could not come soon enough.

And now it is Monday AM. DH didn't hear his alarm, so I heard it and woke up, then the dog woke up, and then K3 woke up and came in, and then K1 came in while DH was in the shower, having lost a tooth in the night. And so my hopes of having a few minutes of quiet with a cup of coffee and a time for some prayer for patience didn't happen.

DH left his lunch here that I packed for him. K1 and K2 got in a big argument that escalated into shoving, and once I had the kids in, then out of the tub, the hot water tank was empty. So, here I sit, with a now-lukewarm cup of coffee, waiting for it to reheat.

I was blog surfing and saw some of the posts around the blogworld about yesterday's march to mark the Anniversary of Roe V. Wade..... the two mindsets are so incompatible that it isn't even funny. There is no way that there can ever be reconciliation between the two, IMHO. And to hear the rhetoric and see the pictures of the Pro Abortion side, well, it is sickening to me.

So, all in all, come Monday morning at 9am, I am just tired. The whole week is stretching out before me..... more of the same, with a funeral mixed in. So, if you read this, maybe throw one up my way, and I'm going to go hit the showers, and see if a change of venue will help with a change of outlook all around.

Our Lady of Guadalupe, pray for us!

Piano Lessons

2006-01-19T08:31:00.000-06:00

Ack! We are blessed to have a wonderful piano teacher who comes to our house for lessons for the kids, in exchange for a lower rate since she brings her very busy 1.5 year old boy, and a kindergartener. I watch them while she teaches piano to my kids.

But, it always sneaks up on me! Ack! It's 8:15 and Miss J will be here in 15 minutes and we're not dressed, and we haven't finished our theory, and no one has had breakfast, and....

You get the idea?! My oldest says "Mom, why aren't you able to remember these things?" It was said kindly, out of genuine curiosity about my somewhat frequent episodes of not remembering, and then a frantic rush to catch up or brush up or get there, or whatever.

Ah life. We keep getting handed moments for humility. I walked into choir practice last night, and could see my choir friends up in the front of church, to the side, where we rehearse and sit. One waved, and feeling silly, I waved back, using the hand gesture made famous by Julie Andrews in The Princess Diaries (think "Thank you for being here" and you'll have it.)

Then he waved back the same way, and we both shifted to the WristWristArmArm wave of the Miss America genre.... And then as I reached the front, I made my genuflection to the tabernacle, and looked behind it to our chapel, and saw.... it was full of the RCIA class, attending a lecture by our pastor on the workings of the Mass. Yup, and here comes that flaky cantor, TiaKay!

Humility. Given when we least expect it and when we most need it!

Random Junk

2006-01-18T08:22:00.000-06:00

Lots going on. Our homeschool is back in session. I tested the kids in reading with a very general test, and found that both of the bigger kids who are in 2nd and 3rd grade, are pretty easily reading on the 4th and 5th grade level. That's reassuring to me. Seems to me that without the external, regularly-appearing measures of progress like one gets in a school situation, a lot of HSers can begin to doubt their abilities and start to wonder if the kids really are learning. The third kidlet at 4 is so eager to do "schoolwork" every day, even Saturday and Sunday, that it's funny. He loves to trace whatever I'll print out using one of those dotted fonts; he has little books he loves to work in that ask him "which is different?" or "circle the yellow square", etc. He has his own little desk that I was able to snag from a sale at the local public school, that is just his size. Me, I continue to have moments where I bang my head in frustration, trying to motivate kids to do their work. Other times, we have golden "AHA!" moments where it is hugely evident that we're doing well. The big kids had a ball last night telling Daddy all about Benjamin Franklin (whose birthday was yesterday), and we all learned something!

DH has been fighting an ongoing bronchial thing for a couple of weeks. He sounds like Barry White when he talks, and poor guy, he laid awake and coughed for several nights with a dry hacking cough, until I treated him with some of the new Triaminic cough strips. They are made like those instantly dissolving breath strips that look like a thin film, and you put them on your tongue. So, last night, he had 2 cough strips and a Tylenol PM, and he got the best sleep of several weeks. Ahem, so did I ;)

We've signed onto CatechismClass.com and I've been very impressed with the site. Kids wanted to log on Sunday AM when we had some time before we had to go up to church, but you cannot do lessons on Sunday, even when you click on a previous day's lesson missed.

Yesterday was spent doing other schoolwork, then the kids went to a friend's house while I did some serious decluttering and tidying up. When you've got little kids, it seems impossible at times to make a dent in all the little bits of debris that find their way all over the house. I did a lot of picking up of small items in one room, then trekking into 4 other rooms to put all the little pieces of whatever where they belonged. And I can't seem to do things like this when the kids are here, on the level I managed to do yesterday, because they pull me away to do something, and I don't get back on track. I struggle with focus sometimes, so yesterday was an immeasureable blessing! Plus, it was the first time I'd been alone by myself here in the new house! So, I made a CD with a bunch of loud pounding music, and cranked it up to get me moving!

Pat Benatar, Cheap Trick, Rolling Stones, among others, really old stuff mostly, but it was fun to listen to!

We have to replace the stockade fence here at the house, so I had 3 different companies come out and give me estimates. Yikes. What a vacation we could take for the price of an installed stockade fence. But, DH works 50 hours a week, and it would take months for the two of us do this particular task on our own. We'd still be putting out plenty for new materials if it was DIY, and since we've got panels down between our yard and the neighbor, and we both have kids and pets, it has to be done now. Sigh. Ah the joys of homeownership, yes?!

We had an interesting experience this past weekend, when a friend's son was brought to the local synagogue for his Hebrew naming and a blessing. So, we attended the entire Shabat services (well, until I had to take my itchy 4 year old out after he had reached his limit, which to his credit, was about a hour's worth of sitting fairly quietly) as a family. I was very moved by the service; I liked the music and the readings, and the Rabbi was very personable too. He knew when to make light of the fact that the baby in question was fussy as all getout.... and the big sisters were crawling around being less than well behaved, and he hurried things up. My friend was embarrassed, but hey, they're kids, and they behave like, well, kids at times. And the cheesecake they had at the reception! Oh my! Easily 4" thick, and 14" across, topped with berries. I was drooling and looking for a plate when I realized my family had already left, so I didn't get a piece. I told my friend I'd happily come back as a guest to her Shabat services, if they'd have that cheesecake again!

I'm rambling. But I wanted to post something different now, not a cut and paste, or a quiz, or an article or link. I wanted to write about me and my life. Thanks for reading, if you made it this far. So, if you made it this far, let me know what you think! Comment away... but be kind! Have a great Wednesday.

So, What's Your Personality Type?!

2006-01-09T16:11:00.000-06:00

I found a fun online personality test and here are my results:

I am a SUPERVISOR:

Summary of Supervisors:
Bring order to their home and work life
Like to act on clear, achievable goals
Think of themselves as stable, practical and sociable
May be irritated when people don't follow procedures

What about you? I don't think of myself that way normally, but I did answer honestly and maybe this is a clearer reflection of what IS vs. what I'd like to be and say I am!

Though, honestly, the only part that is less than accurate, currently, is the bit about order in the home ;)

God Bless 'Em All

2005-12-23T13:00:00.000-06:00

I ran across this very moving post about one of our own in Iraq. As a church musician myself, I can't begin to imagine what Mass would be like under wartime conditions. God bless him, and all our troops this Christmas season.

Happy One Year Anniversary to the CAPP Moms Blog!

2005-12-20T18:02:00.000-06:00

Ack! How did I let our one year anniversary slip by? Last year on December 17, the CAPP Moms blog debuted via blogger.com. It's been an interesting year, becoming a part of St. Blog's, and finding our way and our space.

I know it is not New Year's yet, but I do have a resolution to post more next year. I want to be more consistent in my posting, so that our blog is someplace interesting to stop by, to read, to comment.

Thanks to all the readers, all 4,175 of you who have visited over the past year. Thanks to all those who have commented, who have blogrolled us.

God bless all of you!

Nice Catholic Boys

2005-12-15T18:34:00.000-06:00

One thing I am proud of is that since October, the boys and I have been saying a decade of the rosary every evening between baths and dinner (it was a desperate attempt to bring peace to our home during "arsenic hour"). They love it, the candle, the prayers, the statue of Mary nursing Jesus, the holy water...and they love having their own rosary beads.

The two-year-old has begun to join in with "howy Mawry, mudda a God, pway fo wus sinners" which would warm my heart...except I wish he would stop dangling his beads toward the floor and shouting, "We need more monkeys!"

Boys.

At MamaT's request...

2005-12-06T15:20:00.000-06:00

I'm sharing this fun idea!

If you read this, if your eyes are passing over this right now, even if we don't speak often, please post a comment with a COMPLETELY MADE UP AND FICTIONAL MEMORY OF YOU AND ME.

It can be anything you want--good or bad--BUT IT HAS TO BE FAKE.

When you're finished, post this paragraph on your blog and be surprised (or mortified) about what people DON'T ACTUALLY remember about you.

Here's my contribution to the fun!

Man, that was some time, the night we got arrested in Dallas for shoepolishing all the cars in the West End with "Habemus Papem" last year on April 19, when our new pope was elected! The excitement was just too much for us, I guess. Luckily, we called Smockmama, and she came downtown and bailed us out. Good luck next month when we go to trial. The good news is that I heard the judge overseeing our case is Catholic, so he might be lenient on us ;)

See ya in court! Viva El Papa!

Read the Blog? Not Read The Blog?

2005-12-03T15:28:00.000-06:00

Last week in the WSJ, there was an article about parents who keep track of their kids via their kids' blogs on xanga or livejournal or wherever. Some admitted they thought it was out and out spying but felt it was justified in this crazy world of creeps we live in. Others' kids knew their parents could see the blog, and posted accordingly, while other kids were scrupulously hiding their blogging from their parents.

So, do you read your kids' blogs? and their friends' blogs?

I'll admit, the babysitter logged onto her xanga here on my PC while babysitting to show my kids a picture she'd posted. That's fine, no problem with that. But it is a public website, and it was left on my computer, and I read it. It gives me a good insight into her world, and frankly, if she was into things when not around me that would cause me to question her ability to watch my kids in a safe and effective manner, than great, so be it.

From her xanga and its comments, I've been led to the xangas of other youths at the parish. For the record, I am in a position of authority (albeit non paid), so I feel like some sort of "mother hen" protective friend toward these kids. Most of them are just the usual teenage angst and drama; a couple are pretty scary. The scariest ones are the friends of the kids at church, who are not from the church. You can tell some of these kids are just FLOUNDERING. Some are cutting. Some are drinking and drugging. I don't see much about sex or random promiscuity, but there are hints of it.

So, I am curious to know what the parents in St. Blogs parish do, regarding their young folks and the internet.

Care to share?

TiaKay, usually a mama bear, sometimes the mother hen....

I need to get to Confession!

2005-11-25T22:54:00.000-06:00

I have missed mass for the last two Sundays, due to being unable to get out of bed for our usual 8 am mass. I have been dopey from taking medicine for this never-ending cold. And I did teach Sunday school both weeks, but then I couldn't get to a later mass...and the evening masses did not work out for me.

I feel dreadful about this. I was catechized just enough before Vatican II kicked in to feel that missing mass "with no good excuse" (i.e. sick nursing child, prostrating illness) is a mortal sin. Who talks about that nowadays? Still, I feel bad about neglecting my duty to God. If I was neglecting my mother, or my sisters, or my friends in a similar way I would feel just as bad. So tomorrow, I MUST get to confession....despite boys who need haircuts and errands to be run. I MUST. Spare a quick prayer for me, that I get there.

God has blessed me so much, I feel the least I can do is give thanks to him at mass once a week.

Giving Thanks

2005-11-23T19:59:00.000-06:00

So what are you thankful for?

Among many things, and in no particular order, I am thankful for:

1. My husband, my three children, my expected baby.
2. The security of employment, a roof over our heads, food on our table, more clothes than we need.
3. The graces I have known since coming home to the One, Holy and Apostolic Church.
4. The blessings of good friends, both cyber and in real life.
5. The unconditional love of my parents.

What's left of my cell phone

2005-11-14T16:27:00.000-06:00

Today I pulled an El Stupido.... and left my cell phone on my back bumper for a minute while I unloaded something. Of course, I forgot it was there. And when I drove off, it must have bounced off into a street I pulled onto that has a high traffic volume. When I missed it some time later, I borrowed a friend's phone, and dialed myself. Nope, didn't hear it ringing inside my vehicle. Didn't hear it ringing inside at the place where I was at this event. Last place to check was a now-locked chapel, but nope, wasn't there either. But, this time it rolled right to voice mail, and I thought "Oh, someone has taken my phone, and turned it off! Thief!"

Thinking back, though... I remembered where I had left it, then I remembered the driving onto the street. I went out to that street, and managed to find these pieces.

Sad, huh?

Change of plans

2005-11-10T07:39:00.000-06:00

Today, Dad had planned to take off from work so all of us could go to a homeschool educational event at a local venue.

However, K3's Godparents' mother died, so we have a change of plans. I'll be singing at the funeral, and all of us will attend.

So, plan B is we all get ready early, and we're going out to breakfast! Either Denny's or IHOP, or somesuch. I'm hoping to take the family out to the zoo later this afternoon if it warms up a bit, or to another local place where we have a membership.

We love it when Dad is home. Isn't it a shame that work interferes with the fun family things we'd love to do more often?!

Prostate or Prostrate?

2005-11-02T08:35:00.000-06:00

It's a lector's nightmare: that up in front of the entire assembly, you'll spit out the wrong word, and it will be one that is highly embarrassing.

I used to dread the reading from the OT about the bringing back of all the Philistine foreskins; I would think "forearm" so as to not giggle nervously.

So, did your lector (during yesterday's first reading from the Old Testament), say "prostate" or "prostrate"??!!

Bless her, I've BTDT myself!

Blog Search Engines?

2005-10-25T13:07:00.000-05:00

I was just remembering something I'd read somewhere in St. Blog's parish, so I wanted to do a google search on the subject. I couldn't find it. So, then I went to technorati and NOTHING came up at all. I tried some more, very rudimentary searches there, and it was a bust.

So, what search engines do you use to search blogs? What works? What doesn't work?

And apologies for the hiatus from blogging. I've been kinda down lately, and just haven't had the emotional energy to come to the site and blog.

But, I'm back now!

Family Advice

2005-10-17T07:08:00.000-05:00

What Sister said:
"You need to start praying Cardinal Cushing's prayer, "Slow Me Down, Lord". And you need to stop saying, "I should..." all the time. Just because you think others have it worse doesn't mean you can't grieve your own sorrows".

What Father said:
He spoke on yesterday's Gospel reading and told a story about Pope John Paul II meeting with the bishops and cardinals. They were all complaining how busy and stressed they were. The Pope said to them, "You need to take an hour a day to pray and to put God at the center of your lives". The bishops protested, saying how much they had to do, the pressures of their jobs, etc. The Pope listened and agreeed. "You're right. You are so busy and stressed, you need to take TWO hours a day for prayer before God". I got the point....

So I think I need to replace blogging and email time with prayer time. Maybe go to www.catholicexchange.com and pray and meditate over the daily scripture readings (daily Mass is not going to happen yet. Baby steps). Once I start putting God first, I will have more time for my family and other obligations, my friends and even my internet fun.

God bless.

SAHM vs Working Mom

2005-10-05T23:05:00.000-05:00

I have been struggling with this issue for nearly a year. Now that the kids are in school full-time, do I go back to work?

At one point, it seemed as though I would be the sole breadwinner for my family - which I was fine with. I mean, we do what we have to do for our families, and if one parent is out of work but the other can work, and she's willing to work, then she works.

But as it turned out, my husband did return to work full-time (one week before I was to embark on my return to the workforce) and I was relegated to remaining at home. Needless to say, after the buildup of finding a job, applying for a job, testing for a job, interviewing for a job - and then no job, I was very restless and unsatisfied.

Later in the summer, I did try to go back to work full-time. (I hardly told ANYONE about that.) I managed to work for a month. There were many reasons why I did not stay at the job, but it was very very hard to manage the kids, the house (which is on the market to be sold so it must always be spotless), the husband, my health, everything. I thought to myself, "Why am I putting everyone including myself through all of this upheaval if we don't have to be going through this?"

So I returned to staying at home, but this time I was quite satisfied with my choice. (I use the word "choice" very lightly here.)

But now I am feeling pressured to return to the workforce, at least part-time. I come from a family that has always prided itself on being productive. "You are your job" could very well have been my family motto. Grandpa's 92 and he's STILL working. My husband is trying hard to remain neutral ("I dont want to be the bad guy here."), but I see how his eyes light up with the thought of a little more income coming in; it certainly would alleviate some of the financial pressure off of him.

And I do feel guilty that I am home with time for myself now. I love having the time to myself. I can run errands without 2 kids in tow. I can go to the gym and have time to dedicate just for my own well-being! If the kids forget something at home, I can bring it to school on a second's notice. I can attend school Mass on Fridays and wave to my kids as they are seated. Bible study is starting up soon; I can join that (I'm not saying I will; I'm saying I can). I have quiet time to read a chapter in a book.

I relish staying at home. And yet, I feel this nagging sense of an obligation to reclaim my "economic power". It is humiliating to know that I don't count when it comes to getting a mortgage, that I can't get a credit card with no source of income (well, actually I probably can these days, ha ha), that I have to ask my husband if we're OK that I can withdraw money for personal purchases. I'm not talking about tampons; I'm referring more to something like a new winter coat costing $200.

I feel as though God has been testing me these past 3 years, ever since my husband (who was our sole source of income) lost his job due to an injury. I have prayed and prayed and prayed. At one point I was looking for a burning bush every time I went out driving. At first I thought that God wanted me to surrender my ambition, as I have a competative nature. So I did. But now I am thinking perhaps He wants me to dig deeper, that there is something more that I need - or that He wants me - to surrender to, and I haven't found that last piece of this puzzle yet.

The Urban Swing

2005-09-30T17:16:00.000-05:00

My older boy loves the poem "The Swing" by Robert Louis Stevenson. We spent many happy hours in playgrounds all over NYC. He still enjoys swinging; the therapists would say it provides necessary vestibular stimulation. He thinks it is just fun.

Now the little one enjoys the playground, too. I recite the poem to him, as I did to his brother, and he shrieks with delight as he goes higher and higher. I have often felt that though the poem paints a lovely word picture, it isn't really reflective of what the boys see as they swing. "Rivers and trees and cattle and all?" I don't think so. OK there are trees.

So today at the park I rewrote the poem for two city kids who love to swing.

How do you like to go up in the swing?
Up in the air so blue?
Oh I do think it's the pleasantest thing
Ever a child can do.

Up in the air and over the fence,
Where I can see so wide,
Children and trees and squirrels and all,
Monkey bars and the slide.

Till I look down on the ballfields green
Down on the dirt so brown,
Up in the air I go flying again!
Up in the air and down!

Can I Forgive Them?

2005-09-11T19:26:00.000-05:00

This is a hard post to write. Today is the fourth anniversary of the terrorist attack on the World Trade Center. Many, many people from my town were killed; some of them were acquaintances or friends of friends. Thankfully, we lost no one in our immediate family. My husband worked in 2 WTC, saw the first plane hit as he was walking up Broadway, and turned around and headed for home. He had survived the first attack in '93, so was taking no chances. As he rode home on the ferry, he saw the second tower collapse. He has never gotten over it. I too have a lot of survivor's guilt. Why was my husband spared, when so many other women lost theirs?

Anyway, today as I drove to Mass, I listened to the choir from Trinity Church sing "Ave Verum Corpus" from Mozart's Requiem. I listened to this for days after the towers fell. Trinity Church is right next door to the WTC site. Miraculously, it sustained no major damage and served as a respite place for the recovery workers. It is an Episcopal church. I hated to leave my car. The beautiful music sustained me, yet gave me a place to grieve. It was far better than any music I ever hear in our parish church. Still, I finally went in, to hear the word of God and receive His Body in Holy Communion. It troubled me that although our church has the true Body of Christ I am so easily seduced away by the more beautiful music of the Episcopal church. Yet years of training and struggle and faith got me past this. As I walked in I met a friend with her two daughters. My friend's husband died in a car accident two years ago. How hard it must be to mourn a private grief, on a day of public mourning.

But it was the readings which really knocked me out. The Lectionary, by some mysterious working of the Holy Spirit, called for readings on forgiveness today, of all days. The first words of the first reading, from Sirach, caused me to weep. "Wrath and anger are hateful things. Yet the sinner hugs them tight".

I feel nothing but wrath and anger towards the people who caused so much pain and destruction to the people of my city and my country. Yet again, the reading went on, "Forgive your neighbor's injury. Then, when you ask, your own sins will be forgiven" [from memory, sorry]. This is such a hard Scripture. Who can do this? As our pastor read the Gospel of Matthew, I echoed St.Peter's words in my heart:"Lord, how many times am I to forgive? Seven times?" And the answer came to me, as it did to him: "No, seventy times seven times".

By this point I was in floods. Other people were tearing up as well, or biting their lips, or looking down sadly. Today's readings touched our hearts. Our pastor spoke gently about forgiveness, first recounting an anecdote about his own family members' need to forgive a certain incident. Then he acknowledged how hard that is for our own human weakness. There is certainly no way we can forgive such atrocities without the grace of God.

I am not there yet. I need to pray for the grace to forgive. I feel God has forgiven me in confession, many times, for the sins I have committed. Yet I am not able to forgive the injury done by those terrorists. I pray the Lord's Prayer. I try to open myself to God's grace. I am having trouble with this. I am sharing these thoughts because they have become overwhelming to me. Please, of your charity, pray for me and for all who are "still" grieving. Pray that somehow we feel God's grace in our soul's to do this hard thing.

Happy New Year!

2005-09-09T14:08:00.000-05:00

Is it really "the most wonderful time of the year" as the Staples ad would have it? Everyone may have a different answer, but I love this time of year. I always think that the new year should begin in September, and not just because I am a school-supply junkie.

The change in the weather (mercifully, the humidity has plummetted while the temps are still in the pleasant low-80s) makes me hopeful and encourages me to stir my lazy stumps and get going on new, or even old projects.

House cleaning, decluttering and organizing, cooking for the freezer, baking again, now that the entire house does not feel like an oven---all of these activities seem possible again, even downright attractive. I have rejoined Flylady and am already seeing some real improvement in the comfort and order of our home.

I have signed up for a fitness class at the Y, and will be doing mom and tot swim with my young'un. We are savoring the pleasures of walking once again, looking forward to even cooler days ("sweater weather") and the beautiful fall colors on the trees. Best of all my spiritual life has picked up. I can actually focus on serious reading again, and can pray my Scriptural Rosary while nursing the little one down at night.

We look forward to family gatherings (a christening last week, an aunt's 50th jubilee as a Sister of Charity next week) and casual entertaining with friends. School has begun--a new adventure for our sixth-grader. Preliminary plans for Christmas are even underway. Life in general seems hopeful and full of promise.

Like a darker thread running through the warm fabric of these days, the memory of September 11, 2001 is a constant reminder of what we have lost, yet an opportunity to reflect on the blessings we have, especially our baby, born in 2003. So in a way, this is the "most wonderful time of the year" after all--like New Year's, Thanksgiving and Christmas rolled into one.

I wish you all the pleasures of this season.

They really are from Mars!

2005-09-02T16:26:00.000-05:00

We are visiting my husband's family in Mississipi (and we are all fine, thank God, we are way north of the devastation)and have been connnecting with some old friends.

Today we had lunch with my husband's oldest friend. I think of him as the Lynn-equivalent.Lynn is MY oldest friend; we lived two doors away from each other, we went all the way through high school together, our families and sibs are friends. Lynn lives 30 minutes away from me, but I see her about once a year. Right away we are able to pick up the threads and chat away, our shared history makin up for the lack of day-to-day intimacy we no longer have.

Anyway, Lynn-equivalent (LE) and my husband chatted away about an interesting redistricting case here in Mississippi. LE's firm was involved in representing one side or the other. I couldn't really participate because I bolted my pappardelle bolognese so I could take the 2.5 year old outside to run around.

Later I asked my husband, "What else did [LE] have to say?"
"We talked about redistricting and an economic development case he is working on".

"That's all?" I asked, disappointed.

LE has a colorful and complicated personal life and I was hoping to hear some inside info on how his second, surprising (and distressing, to us) marriage was going.

"Yep".

I was disgusted. Would Lynn and I sit around and talk about New Jersey politics for an hour, if we hadn't seen each other for six months? Phooey.

Praying for New Orleans and the Gulf coast...

2005-08-30T23:20:00.000-05:00

This is heartbreaking to watch, and I fear the worst is yet to come. God bless those folks.

I have found New Orleans info here.

Prenups--Grounds for annulment?

2005-08-25T15:56:00.000-05:00

OK, bear with me. This is something that I wondered about, years ago, when I worked as a law clerk to a matrimonial judge. Prenups (prenuptial agreements about property, inheritance, etc) were not a huge issue with most of the people in our court (where we live, it is a lot of cops/firemen married to nurses), but of course I had to study up on them.

Today in our local paper there was an article about them and it got me wondering again. From a purely legal standpoint, a prenup makes sense if each party brings substantial assets to the marriage, along with children from an earlier marriage, perhaps a family business or a prospective inheritance. If you look at marrriage as a business partnership--which the law to a great extent does--it would seem foolish NOT to have one.

But if you view marriage as a sacrament, might the existence of a prenup constitute some evidence that one or both parties was not fully committing themselves to a lifetime relationship? Is it a sort of holding back? a way of saying, I love you, and I want to be married to you, but I can envision circumstances where I may no longer feel that way, so I want to protect myself financially?

I have no idea what if anything Catholic counselors advise. The topic did not come up in our one-day Engaged Encounter, nor in our conversation with my parish priest.

It just struck me. Does anyone at all have any insights on this?

Whatcha Reading?!

2005-08-24T08:15:00.000-05:00

I'm making a quick-o trip to our local library as soon as it opens this morning, as I discovered on their webpage last night that a book I'd reserved has come in, and they are going to send it back today if I don't come get it. So, I'm going to drag the kids over to the library (can you imagine that I have offspring that don't love the library? what a genetic twist.... I digress).

So, I've got a few things on reserve..... The Color of Love looked interesting...

After years of living with a drunken and abusive husband, Cheek's mother separated from her husband in 1961 in Winston--Salem, North Carolina. She began a clandestine relationship with a black man, Cornelius Tucker, who was everything her husband was not. Ten-year-old Cheek was enlisted to keep the relationship secret, which they managed for the most part until his mother became pregnant and gave birth to a brown-skinned baby. In the face of rabid racial attitudes and Klan violence, Cheek's mother and Tucker remained steadfast. But his vengeful father and other family members testified against the mother in a custody case that carried the threat of prison for violating the state's anti-miscegenation law. From the perspective of a young boy, Cheek recalls the horrendous choices that were forced on his mother and his separation from a loving family. Cheek recalls the painful guilt his mother suffered and the seething hatred he felt for years. This is a powerful story of love and forgiveness in the context of racial hatred during a tumultuous time in the South.

I also have A Good Yarn by Debbie Macomber, a follow up to her first "yarn" book The Shop on Blossom Street. Slightly fluffy, but we need fluff in our lives.

I suggested a title to our local library system, so I was first on the reserve list for this book, The Friend Who Got Away, Twenty Women's True Life Tales of Friendships that Blew Up, Burned Out or Faded Away . I've had a couple of childhood friendships that blew up, a few college friendships that faded away....

That's all that is ready today.... I have a few more titles reserved that have not come in yet. When they are in, I'll post!

So, what are YOU reading?!

Pray Hard...

2005-08-21T22:38:00.000-05:00

Saw a story over on Happy Catholic that Julie D. shared about a family that needs serious prayers for their baby on the way. Please, click the link and storm heaven for this family.

Movie Repeat

2005-08-17T15:00:00.000-05:00

If you missed the JPII movie the other night, they'll replay it Sunday AM. Check the Hallmark channel website for the details!

Movie about John Paul II on Hallmark Channel, Monday, August 15

2005-08-14T09:14:00.000-05:00

I saw an ad for a movie tomorrow night on the Hallmark Channel about JPII..... so I searched for the Hallmark Channel website, and found out some more info.....

This has the information about the movie.

It looks interesting, and they quote some positive responses from the Vatican. So, I think I'll throw a tape in the VCR (no, we don't have TIVo), and see what the buzz is all about. Some of the photos of the young actor playing the priest who became Pope really remind me of our late Holy Father!

What Are Ya Looking For?

2005-08-09T11:54:00.000-05:00

I saw over on Two Sleepy Mommies that they did a post on the keywords that come up on their Stat Counting software, and it was pretty funny. So, I'm doing the same thing here!

Georg Ratzinger Well, I think you'll find him in Italy faster than you'll find him here (lol). But I'm sure they came here and found our post about The Pope and his cats, which mentions his brother.

Someone came the other day on a search for things related to Catholic Mothering. Well, they've hit the right spot!

How about assateague island state thong. Uh, I'm not sure what the last word entails, but I'll bet they hit Lady Hatton's post about going birding.

The last phrase that has come up is Dentyne Fire Offensive. Ugh. That was a post about a recent ad from Dentyne Gum that a lot of people found pretty rude. We direct you to One Million Dads for more info.

We've had other phrases come up in the keywords. Mostly it's funny, or innocuous. But, a couple of time we've found people searching for something very raunchy. By a weird juxtaposition of words that are also in one of our posts, they come to our site, which frankly, generates a great big "EWWWW" out of this blogger.

So, if you've come here looking for something rude or nasty, please: Go away! But if you are looking for bits and pieces on mothering and families and Catholicism and general oddities that float around the blogosphere, Welcome!

Welcome Home Space Shuttle Discovery!!!

2005-08-09T07:35:00.000-05:00

As space buffs, my DH and I have been avidly following the saga with the Discovery this past week or so.

Night before last, the kidlets were tucked in, and the nighttime routine included fervent prayers for their safe return. K2 wandered in very sleepy yesterday morning, and first thing she asked was if the astronauts came home safely.

So, this morning, since the return was at a fairly reasonable hour here in the heartland, we were able to tune in to a live feed from NASA and watch the whole thing. Oh, my heart was pounding as they began their re-entry!

Thank God (and we did, several times) they landed just fine. What a testament to the great minds at NASA who have managed to go to Plan B, then Plan C, then on and on as they've dealt with unexpected challenges, and yet still brought home the shuttle intact.

I pray that they are able to resume flights, and continue the space program. I think the science gained is valuable and contributes immensely to our progress as a society.

As a mom from an era when I as a female student was encouraged to only go as far as geometry, while the boys were shuttled into Trig and Calculus, I appreciate so much the contributions of the women astronauts to this mission.

Welcome Home, Discovery! And God bless you all.

Back....

2005-08-02T08:06:00.000-05:00

Well, the move is complete, and we are in the new house. It's really wonderful. It's bigger, but not too big. It's very pretty. We are enjoying the new space, but dadgumit, I still can't find the orange juice pitcher ;)

We also were quite busy with a Music project last week, culminating in a performance by the youth involved after the week's "camp". It was really fun, but required being up very early each morning and being gone a good chunk of the day.

So, this is really the first time I've experienced the mornings here in the new house. I'm seeing a bit of who leaves to go to work, whose cars stay in the drive. I'm seeing how the shadows of the morning sun fall in the front yard on the flower beds. I'm seeing how the kids' delight in going into the backyard is mixed with the "ewww" factor of wet dewy grass on their feet. All in all, this has been a wonderful move for our family, the stress of the move itself has eased a lot, and I can sense a greater family harmony than I could a year ago.

I keep repeating "new house, new habits", and slowly they are starting to happen. I'm the one in biggest need of new habits. I've managed to get all my shoes back to my closet every time, except for the time I left my sandals in the backyard by the trampoline, and the sprinkler system thoroughly soaked them overnight. Whoops. I'm managing to squeegee the shower walls each time, telling myself that a minute today will keep me from spending half an hour scrubbing calcium deposits from the glass. I've managed to plan out a week's menu, do the shopping, and (gasp) actually have dinner at home 3 nights in a row now!

The one worrisome thing about the new house is this: K1 and K2 are on the other side of the house from us, with a kitchen and laundry room in between. Both are typical sources of home fires. We have a security system that is monitored, so if the system goes off I have the comfort of knowing the fire department will be called. Still, I worry about what might happen if a fire breaks out, and it is between me and my kids. K3's room is over on the same side as the master bedroom, and not quite so far away (relatively speaking), which is good because of K3's age. Believe me, if K1 and K2 weren't the ages they were, I'd be most uncomfortable with this floor plan.

Yesterday, we stopped at a local firestation, and talked to the guys there about fire safety and picked up some good information brochures. We plan to sit down and complete a fire exit plan, and do a few fire drills with the kids. Scary stuff, but you have to do what you can, and then trust in the good Lord to keep you as safe as possible, you know?

So, today, we've decided to skip out on emptying boxes and go to our local zoo. Hoping to get there before it gets too hot, but I can assure you that if I wait for the kids to get dressed by themselves, it won't happen. So, I'll log off for now. Sorry for the hiatus, and I'm glad to be back ;)

Now I'm it!!

2005-07-21T11:19:00.000-05:00

Ten years ago: I was on a road trip with my parents, siblings and then-fiancé-now-husband. We drove all over the west coast and camped out in Yellowstone National Park on the top of a mountain where it hailed BIG time and rained buckets later. We then realized the importance of picking a camp spot that isn’t the lowest point – our tents were flooded and I ended up sharing my sleeping bag with my 15yo sister. We drove to Yosemite, spent time there (*gorgeous* place but too crowded), spent time in Colorado – my second home, and went to Vegas where I won some money on the poker slots while my fiancé sipped margaritas in the hotel pool. It was a two-week trip and I’d love to do it again. Memories were certainly made then.

Five years ago: I quit my job as a day care teacher as I found out I was pregnant with child #2 (wait, that was 6 years ago! Oh well, bear with me J). My then 10-month old daughter was in the infant room of the same day care I worked in. For the first time in 6 months, I was able to stay home with her instead of working. It was a godsend – I taught her sign language and we went for walks and spent time together. It was the last time it was just me and her, 9 months later we were joined by her little sister.

One year ago: in August, I found out I was pregnant. It was a shock; we considered ourselves “done” for the time as we had three girls and it was enough just handling those three. For a long time, I was very ambivalent about the pregnancy and, to be honest, I was quite angry with God (“We goofed up ONE time and we don’t get a pass?!”). It wasn’t until I saw the ultrasound picture (it was 4-D) when my ambivalence turned into maternal love. And it wasn’t until Mr. Sean was born, 13 hours into labor, 9 days “late” when I fell in love for the second time in my life.

Yesterday: We went to an amusement park with the kids. The local policeman’s union (FOP) sponsors a family outing and my father, being a retired cop, took all the kids and grandkids out. We packed a huge picnic lunch, cleaned up the stroller, packed our stuff, and went. The girls had a BLAST. I’ve noticed that Daughter #2 gets a thrill out of being a daredevil – on the large swings, she was the only child with her hands up and feet flapping in the wind. She was so disappointed that she couldn’t go on the big roller coasters and Daughter #1 was supremely disappointed that she wasn’t tall enough for the bumper cars. Poor baby, she has another two inches to grow before next year’s outing. Daughter #3 was content going on the little kiddie rides. This year I went on the Spinning Teacups with my two big girls and my 9yo niece. After they got their thrills with trying to make Mom sick :blech:, I gave them a ride they will remember for a long time. Let’s just say we had to prop them up when the ride stopped.

Tomorrow: We are going to take a day off. We’ve been talking of getting a swimming pool for our backyard for some time now and since the temps are supposed to be off the charts (100 degrees and up), it looks like the perfect time for some wet fun. Plus it’ll wear the kids out faster.

Five snacks I enjoy: well, before I had to eliminate dairy from my diet due to Mr. Sean’s dairy intolerance, it was anything with chocolate. Now I enjoy salsa with chips, pretzels, a cold Pepsi with Lemon slice, nachos (again, pre-Mr. Sean), and Swedish fish.

Five songs I know all the words to: You Give Love a Bad Name (Bon Jovi), Dead or Alive (Bon Jovi), Go Tell it on the Mountain (Christmas carol), I Need Love (LL Cool J), Soldier Boy (The Shirelles)

Five things I would do with $100 million: Adopt all of the children waiting in foster care and build a huge home for us all, travel, put some aside for my kids, buy my sister a house, invest

Five places I would escape to: my office, the library, school (college), my imagination, the Internet and my CAPP friends

Five bad habits: procrastinating, criticizing, not finishing projects I start, impatience with small children, temper

Five things I like doing: cuddling with my baby, reading to my girls, pretending to eat at my dd’s restaurant, reading by myself, having a kid-less conversation with my husband

Five things I'd never wear: fishnet stocking, animal prints, spike heels, belly-button shirts, and capris

Five TV shows I like: CSI, Survivor, Crossing Jordan, Pimp my Ride, Scooby Doo

Five biggest joys of the moment: successfully breastfeeding my son, relaxing enough to let my girls play in the office, having a clean sink, knowing my husband came home early today which means I will get to take a nap later, the summer sun

Five favorite toys: my computer in the office, my new computer in the kitchen (for the kids’ use), my digital camera, my PhotoSmart printer, and my hand-me-down scanner

Five new victims: My sister Dee, and…oh, I don’t know!! TiaKay took all the good ones! ;-)

Tag, I'm it!

2005-07-20T04:46:00.000-05:00

Jamie over at Selkie blog has tagged me with one of those memes going around the internet. Fun! I'll play!

Ten years ago: In 1995 I was preparing for my wedding. It was about this time that we realized the Tribunal for my now-husband's annulment (started before he ever met me) had left the affirmative decision on someone's desk for a signature who had decided to not come into the office the entire summer, and thus everything would be delayed. I was working at a local hospital, and preparing to start graduate school in the Fall. Signatures were obtained after I contacted my bishop, and we were married in the Winter.

Five years ago: In the summer of 2000 we flew with my parents to Virginia, then drove to Outer Banks NC to meet my brother and his wife and their newly adopted son from Russia. Memorable because we had a serious cultural clash on this vacation (we're an AP family, they are the "kids eat at 6 then to bed while we have cocktails and dinner with just adults" every night kind of family), and because one of my kids came down with a serious ear infection warranting a trip to the local medical clinic.

One year ago: I was preparing for our annual music production, and starting to realize the upcoming election was going to cause great division amongst an email group I'd been affiliated with for quite a few years. Turned out to be true; the nastiness grew to such a level that two spinoff lists have been created, and the original list is a pale shell of its former self.

Yesterday: Great stress and angst over a pending real estate deal. Looks like our move out of this house will happen on time, but the house we hope to move to won't. Not sure where we are going to live.... but it will work out!

Tomorrow: We should know if we get the new house on time or not, and DH is off work for the rest of the month!! Yay Vacation time!

Five snacks I enjoy: Chips and salsa, Tropical Trail Mix (WalMart brand), fresh blueberries, crunchy granola bars, cookies!

Five songs I know all the words to: Star Spangled Banner, Sent Forth By God's Blessing, How Great Thou Art, Salve Regina plainchant, Ave Maria plainchant

Five things I would do with $100 million: pay off the church loan anonymously, set up trust funds for the kids, travel, make a large donation to our local La Leche League, buy a convertible.

Five places I would escape to: The beach, the library, CAPP commune (We've talked for years about how nice it would be to all live close by so we could help each other and have playmates for the kids), Ireland, and ???

Five bad habits: nail biting, staying up too late reading, snacking too much between meals, neglecting my prayer, self-criticism.

Five things I like doing: Reading, Snuggling with my kids, sitting on the back porch with DH watching the kids play, singing with the radio, cantoring at funeral masses (favorite ministry)

Five things I'd never wear: A Tube Top, low rise jeans with a thong showing, Just about anything in an animal print, a bikini, a navel ring.

Five TV shows I like: CSI Miami, Local News, Unwrapped, Local on the 8s, ??

Five biggest joys of the moment: Seeing my kids curl up with a book, nursing my littlest one, being with my DH, a mealtime without an argument over food, phone calls from friends.

Five favorite toys: My sewing machines, my cell phone, my computer, Whatever book I'm currently reading, the car radio.

Five new victims: Let's see.... how about Julie at Happy Catholic, the other CAPPmoms (and you have to post a new entry, not a post in the comments!!), MamaT at Smockmamas, Alicia at Fructus Ventris, and a volunteer???

Three for joy?

2005-07-11T11:57:00.000-05:00

On Saturday my husband and I took the boys for a Bird Walk at the Liberty State Park. This is a waterfront park from which you can see the back of the Statue of Liberty. It is a wonderful place, marshes, woodlands and recreation areas as well. The rangers led a hike around the area.

At first we saw mostly starlings and robins; not terribly exciting. Later, though, crossing a bridge near the marsh we spotted three large birds winging across the sky. Everyone scanned the area with their binoculars. To our great delight there were THREE Great Blue Herons circling above the marsh, together.

Blue herons (Ardea herodias) are usually not spotted in groups. The rangers were extremely excited about this. I suggested that possibly the strong winds of the day before--our little taste of Tropical Storm Cindy--had caused them to come together like this. Whatever the reason, it was a very special experience for us. We see blue herons in parks and marshes near our home occasionally, and have seen many more on our vacations to Assateague Island. But to see three of the giant, powerful birds together, and so close....that was a first for us.

The boys seemed interested but not impressed. Our older boy is more interested in the works of man than of nature. "Listen, dad, can you hear that freight train whistle over by the Turnpike?" "Wow, I can see the Liberty Science Center building!" and finally, when the rest of the group had their field glasses trained on the herons, our son pulled at my hand excitedly. "Mom, just look at that huge blimp coming our way!" Thanks, Fuji :)

The little one carried his binoculars and imitated the others. He is already interested in birds. "Bye-bye birds" he waved as we left.

Altogether, a joyful day.

Help this guy with his survey!!

2005-07-08T15:07:00.000-05:00

Click below to help this fellow complete his survey on blogs!

Another tragedy

2005-07-07T17:50:00.000-05:00

It's so strange, to be occupied with something very pressing, and to have no idea what's going on in the world. I am a news junkie; I admit that. So imagine my surprise, after returning from some very important medical evaluations for my 10 year old, to learn that there were horrible attacks in London today! It was such a horrible shock. I had been so focused on the appointment for my son; it was something we'd scheduled late last winter. I was so relieved that today had finally arrived! And we had no idea what had happened until noon, mountain time.

My heart aches for the victims and their families. I am praying. It's so hard to know exactly what to do. It's so far away from where I am, and yet after what we've been through here in America, we have some idea of the pain those families are feeling. It's just such a fresh shock, having another brutal and senseless attack like this.

I'm stunned, really. And yet, it seems so silly and naive of me to be so startled and shocked. Things like this happen so often now. It's such a different world for our children.

Summer as a Child...

2005-06-29T16:38:00.000-05:00

As my children watch the umpteenth hour of television today, I have been thinking about what summers were like for me as a child. I can't remember a lot of detail when I was my childrens' age, six years-old and younger, but I do remember a bit. I know that we didn't watch television during the day, except maybe Sesame Street in the mornings on occasion, because in the late 60's and early 70's there wasn't 24-hour children's cable programming like there is now. My mother didn't play with us, she kept house, set out things for us to do, and took us to the library every couple of weeks. We played in the sprinklers, the wading pool and on the swingset. We lay bored and hot for hours on the back lawn. We probably played with neighborhood friends, and with the dog. I don't remember VBS, but I'm sure our church had it, and so we probably went. For our vacations, we would visit my grandmother and aunt in the extremely hot San Joaquin Valley, and we'd drive there in our Plymouth Valiant or Volkwagen Bug, both un-airconditioned. All this would sound utterly boring to my children, yet I remember counting the days until summer began, and mourning its end.

My children have the wading pool, the sprinklers, the swingset, yet they are only outside an hour or so a day. I have been much more lax with t.v. rules, since I've been dealing with first-trimester nausea and exhaustion, but I see the bad habits becoming entrenched. My son asks constantly if he can play computer games, and he's only 4! We do go to the library weekly, and will start swimming lessons in July, but I need to figure out a way to encourage my children to use their imaginations when they are bored, and to find things to do that don't require me to hover over them. I know the place to start is unplugging the television from the hours of 9-5, along with the computer.

I would welcome suggestions and ideas for making the summer bearable for a tired, pregnant mom, and three children, ages 20 months, 4 and 6 years old.

What a sad story...

2005-06-28T08:21:00.000-05:00

I have recently finished reading the book "White House Nannies" by Barbara Kline. I'd read about the book somewhere online in a blog, and found it in our local library system by checking the online catalog.

It was a pretty quick read, maybe one night's worth of reading. I routinely plow through books pretty quickly, and this was very easy to read.

However, it was also very difficult to read. The world she writes of is not unknown to me; I used to live in DC back in the 80's. As a young single woman, my cares were not about childcare or nannies or balancing work and family. However, I became close friends with a family through my parish with little children and took on the role of "big sister" and babysitter. I even went on a vacation with them with the understanding I could help with the kids, and they'd go out to dinner a couple of times alone.

May I just say that this is a very depressing experience of parenthood? I submit to you, that for all the influences and wealth (it ain't cheap to hire a nanny) and opportunities these children will have because of their family background, they suffer from a lack of influence by their parents. Sadly, they will probably never realize what they should have had, nor will the parents completely realize what they've lost.

These parents have traded the natural parent/child bond for their careers. I personally believe their priorities are very mixed up, and I feel very sorry for these children whose lives are managed by a succession of one nanny after another, instead of by their parents. The dysfunction present in some of these families is almost unbelievable, and yet you know it is true. We see the fruit of all this around us, in the children influenced by this upbringing, in the parents who see children as just another accessory in a "glamourous" life.

It makes me very grateful for my own upbringing, and convinces me that the choices I have made will have long reaching consequences for my own children. And it also makes me incredibly grateful that I didn't buy into the lifestyle I witnessed myself 20 years ago in DC.

Prayer Request...

2005-06-26T23:10:00.000-05:00

Jamie at Selkie blog could use your prayers...

The House Sold!

2005-06-21T11:40:00.000-05:00

Anyone who's read on CAPP moms for a while saw this post a bit ago when we first started seriously exploring the possibility of selling our house and moving...

Well, today we accepted an offer (a nice one!) on our house, and we'll move in mid July! It took one week and one day of being listed, 9 showings, and 2 offers ;)

Gulp!

And now I have to finish packing up the house (we emptied a lot of our stuff into either a storage unit or the trash can) and find our new home!

Won't you please keep us in your prayers?!

Ribbons for Milestones

2005-06-20T14:56:00.000-05:00

We have a backdoor that needs to be opened with a key, which we keep hanging on a hook by the door. The key has a green ribbon on it. It is all shredded and wearing to a thread, because it has been on that key for five years now. Before that, there was a baby-blue ribbon on it. Next week it will be replaced, probably by a dark blue ribbon.

What is with these ribbons? Well, when Declan, our older boy, was born, my husband discovered in himself a hitherto unsuspected cave man instinct. He felt he needed to protect the dwelling from any dangers, so he replaced the back door lock with a new, better one. Hence the need to hang up a key by the door. My husband's parents were visiting their first grandchild and my mother-in-law brought some Goody Supremes (I think they're called--chocolate, caramel and pecans, mmmm) and decorated them for the christening with light-blue ribbon. A charming and delicious idea. Hunting around for something to hang the key with I grabbed one of the ribbons and used that. It hung there for almost five years, getting thinner and shreddier...

When Declan was five we decided to keep him in his small, nurturing private preschool for "kindergarten" three days a week. At the end of the year I was delighted to find a lovely certificate, with sweet vignettes of little children doing kindergarten-type things, in the bottom of his backpack. This was his "Kindergarten Diploma". I called the director and thanked her for such a simple, fuss-free way to mark the transition. One of the things I love about this school is that they have stoutly resisted the trend towards escalation in all things at the preschool level. The children play with blocks and dolls instead of computers and have story books, not work books. We felt this was a perfect thing for Declan because he could never have tolerated the kind of "pomp and circumstance" that a kindergarten "graduation" would have entailed, thus avoiding a tearful, stressful day. The green ribbon which encircled this "diploma" replaced the baby ribbon on our key as our boy advanced from baby days to the world of school.

Now he is almost eleven, and finishing fifth grade. Around here that means it is time to move on to "intermediate school" with all the thrills and apprehensions belonging to that level. We are happy that he will be moving on to an excellent pilot program which seems perfectly geared to meet his needs. Yet it is bittersweet for us too, because when he left Kindergarten we had no idea what a rough journey we were in for. We have all grown in ways we could never have dreamed of. Many dreams have been left behind; others have changed, but we are looking towards the future with hope and confidence.

So next Tuesday I will pick Declan up from school at noon. We will proceed to his favorite pizza restaurant where we will join his grandparents and two favorite aunts for a celebratory lunch. Declan will receive a special gift tied with a dark blue ribbon, which I will tuck into my bag and take home to tie onto the back door key. We will watch this ribbon, too, grow thinner and shreddier as our son thrives and grows older, more mature and ready to move into the wider world.

Who knew all these thoughts and feelings could be evoked by a piece of thin, shreddy ribbon?

Books for the Graduate

2005-06-16T23:03:00.000-05:00

My niece has just graduated from high school and is headed to college. She is my godchild and I would like to make a bag of books for her. We were very close when she was little, and shared an interest in cats and reading. Then my son was born, she got older and more involved in school and sports, and we did not spend as much time together as I would have liked.

I want to give her some books for fun and some for meaningful reading. I know it is hopelessly old-fashioned to give graduates dictionaries or thesauruses these days. So I would welcome any of your suggestions for appropriate books.

This is what I have thought of, so far:

Kristin Lavransdatter, in the new translation: a good book for older teen girls, I think. Many of the situations are timeless (good girl attracted to bad boy, and the consequences)

Lucky Jim, so that she will take the often absurd antics of academics with a grain of humor

Buddenbrooks, just because I love it and it is a classic

For beach reading: Maeve Binchy's Firefly Summer, my favorite of her novels

Books for a bad day: Excellent Women. by Barbara Pym; some P.G.Wodehouse short stories;Lake Woebegone Days

and because I want to sneak a bit of "Catholic stuff" in there, some Father Brown mysteries.

This is all I can come up with after a stressful day. I would LOVE to hear what your suggestions are! Thanks.

so sick...

2005-06-16T20:01:00.000-05:00

and let me tell you, it is no picnic. I'm thinking it might be strep or mono or some other Gawdawful throat thing, which has spread to my eyes and my neck. I fell asleep last night without even telling anyone goodnight, I just disappeared into bed, much to my very-attached 3 year old's great sorrow. He was happy to be tucked in next to me, where he happily fell asleep without waking me.

But here's the dilemma, I have no physician. I am not established anywhere. I have the kids' pediatrician, the hubby has his own doc, but I haven't seen any sort of doc but an OB since before I started having kids *mumble mumble* years ago.

So tomorrow I'll start calling to see where I can get in quickly, and maybe get something to bring relief.

The lesson? For all my preaching to friends, and my nagging of DH until he called for his physical (what if you get sick? you'll have no one to call to see you without a 3 day wait unless you go to a freestanding clinic with a moonlighting doc), I didn't follow my own advice. So, learn from my suffering, get thee established with a regular health care provider that you can call when you are sick!

gack...

UPDATE: It's strep all right. Have a Z pack, a shot of steroids for the inflammation, and Advil for the aches and pains. Thank God for afterhours clinics and 24 hour pharmacies!

What's for Sunday Dinner?

2005-06-12T20:21:00.000-05:00

Why, this delicious recipe for Apricot Ginger Chicken from the Summa Mamas. I made it tonight for dinner and, wow, was it good! Fire up your grill and make it for the family...they'll love it!

Apricot-Ginger Chicken

2 green onions, chopped
1/2 cup apricot preserves
1/3 cup ketchup
2 tablespoons cider vinegar
1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon soy sauce
1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon grated, peeled fresh ginger
6 large chicken leg quarters (about 3 3/4 pounds)

Prepare grill. In small bowl, combine green onions, apricot preserves, ketchup, vinegar, soy sauce, and ginger.

Arrange chicken on grill over medium heat; grill until golden brown, about 5 minutes per side. Arrange chicken around perimeter of grill (where it is cooler); cover and grill until juices run clear when thickest part of chicken is pierced with knife, 25 to 30 minutes longer. During last 10 minutes, brush with apricot mixture. Makes 6 main-dish servings.

New Babies in St. Blog's Parish!!!!!

2005-06-07T23:31:00.000-05:00

oh, how SWEET they are!! Congratulations!!! and welcome to the world, little ones!

Two Weeks on the Road with Six Kids

2005-05-29T21:31:00.000-05:00

Sounds like the title of a movie, either a comedy or a horror movie, eh? :) Yes, as some of you may know, I just returned from a two week car trip to/from California with my children. My husband had to stay home -- work! We drove from CO through UT, AZ, NV, and ended up in Southern CA. We visited family for a week there, and headed to central CA to visit my father, before returning home on essentially the same route.

We learned a few things along the way. First of all, everything we packed that fit beautifully when we left, seemed to expand or multiply somehow, and repacking the car each time was nearly impossible! I have no idea how this happened, but it was quite a challenge! Second of all, my children who hate change, somehow managed sleeping in strange beds and waking up early to venture off to new locations on a nearly daily basis! We were in hotels the entire time, and the kids did GREAT. Whew! Very grateful for this.

I saw my siblings and their children for the first time in four years. That was amazing! They don't travel, due to their own personal difficulties and inabilities to go anywhere outside their own little personal bubbles (Southern CA). Ah well. It was still wonderful to see them all. I hadn't seen my father in two years, because he is disabled and unable to travel anymore. He used to visit us twice a year, but hasn't been able to come to our new house (two years this summer in our new state). He loves CO, and I'm so sad that he can't come to see us here! We are trying to convince him to move here -- in assisted living -- so we'll see what happens.

I spend today doing mountains of laundry, and generally feeling grateful to be home again. I love that it's not crowded where I live. I love that I can hear birds chirping outside my windows in the morning when I wake up. I love that I can see the mountains not far away. I love that after nearly 40 years of wanting to live here, I DO!!!!!!!!

Traveling is so much fun. I could live in my car and travel all the time. Well, I could if I had an unlimited cash supply, hahahaha. But my dream is to have an RV "someday" so we CAN travel more easily, and more often. I have no idea if we'll be able to manage this before the kids are grown, but I hope so. Does anyone know if there's a popup trailer that can sleep eight? That's what I'd like to get NOW! Hotels are pricey, especially since we need either two rooms, or a family suite. I don't want to pull a huge trailer, since we love going to the mountains. Driving a big RV wouldn't work either. I just hope we can find a way to travel more often now that my "baby" is more than a year and a half old.

Shamelessly Stolen from the Summa Mamas..

2005-05-21T09:43:00.000-05:00

Appetizer
Approximately how many hours per day do you spend watching television?
Maybe an hour? If that..

Soup
Which colors decorate your kitchen?
um, lessee.... the walls are a very pale pink, the floor is black and white tile, appliances are white, Great-Uncle Jim's heirloom china is atop the cabinets along the dish rail. Pink, Black, White?

Salad
Name 2 brand names you buy on a regular basis, and what do you like about them?
TAB! Yes, I adore the stuff..... and it is not because it is a diet soda, but because it has a distinctive taste, and there is NOTHING, I repeat, NOTHING as delightful as the first long draught of an ice cold (so cold it may form ice crystals when you open it!) TAB!

Altoids Gum, Peppermint Flavor. They have a BIG punch of flavor, and cover up my coffee breath!

Main Course
What is your biggest fear?
Something terrible happening to my husband or my children.

Dessert
If you could wake up tomorrow and find yourself in another location, where would you want to be?
Living on the beach, or very very near the beach

Bonus Birthday QuestionWhat's your favorite flavor of birthday cake?
Nostalgically, it has to be Cherry Chip, which is what my mother made me every year!

Booklist?

2005-05-19T20:23:00.000-05:00

I saw a book today about reading in Barnes and Noble. It was by the man who owns the Levenger company, which I have patronized for years. One of the things he suggested was keeping a list of books read. I have never done this. Then I realized that my son is doing this at school. (Mayor Bloomberg expects every school child to read 25 books per year). I am sure I am reading more than 25 books per year but I want to remember WHAT I have read, and why it was significant.

So I bought a lovely journal and started listing books for this month. Some books have a brief notation next to them ("Deadpan humor"--Anthony Powell's Venusberg). Some are old favorites which I re-read periodically (A Dance to the Music of Time by, yes again, Anthony Powell). And some are just current bestsellers (Alexander McCall Smith's In the Company of Cheerful Ladies, a very welcome birthday present).

Since this is a Catholic blog I will mention that I have obtained a copy of Salt of the Earth, which the Pope Benedict Study Group at yahoogroups is reading. I am halfway through the first chapter. I am riveted. Hope to finish it this weekend.

Anyone else want to share what they are reading?

This is a Must-Read if you are a parent, or pro-life, or if you just love the wonder of God's Creation

2005-05-18T10:23:00.000-05:00

This book is one of the most moving and beautifully written and illustrated books I've seen in a while. Kudos to Sophia Institute Press. You could give this as a gift to a newly-expecting couple or as a baby shower present. Give this to a new grandparent. Anyone who loves babies, will love this book. You can read the whole thing online, but I'll warn you - get a Kleenex.

Happy Birthday to my oldest girl!

2005-05-17T08:48:00.000-05:00

Today is your birthday! I love that you are still so excited by birthdays and presents and feeling special! You were my first, and I remember well the joy and excitement and true awe I felt when you were put into my arms! I wasn't expecting a girl, I thought you were a boy, so it was such a wonderful surprise (no, we did NOT peek during the ultrasound) to know you were YOU. God bless you always and keep you close to him! I love you! love, Mom

Funny you should mention barcodes...

2005-05-12T07:56:00.000-05:00

There's your link ;)

Sorry!

2005-05-11T13:22:00.000-05:00

CAPPMomsForgive the double post. I wrote it up and tried to view it, then I thought it was lost forever. So I rewrote it.
Bear with me while I am a blogging newbie! Thanks!

Time Warp in a Bookstore

2005-05-11T13:21:00.000-05:00

CAPPMomsToday I stopped by our last, local independent bookstore. It is owned and run by three generations of the same family. Besides the usual bestsellers, classics, exam review books, there is the occasional hidden treasure.

I spotted a copy of Barbara Pym's The Sweet Dove Died in the Harper Trophy edition. This is the same copy I have (with the yellowish-green cover); I bought it in the early 80's when I first discovered Pym. The book was marked "#3.95".

There was no bar code on it.

This book must have been sitting in the store for over twenty years.

Hey, when did bar codes come in anyway?

Time Warp in a Bookstore

2005-05-11T13:17:00.000-05:00

CAPPMomsToday I was able to stop by our last, local indie bookstore. It is a family-owned and run business. They sell all the usual bestsellers, classics, exam review books...and a few hidden gems.

Today I found a copy of Barbara Pym's "The Sweet Dove Died" in the Harper Trophy paperback edition. This is the same one I have. I bought it in the early 80's. This one was yellowed and marked "$3.95".

There was no bar code on it.

This book has to have been sitting there for over 20 years. When did bar codes come in, anyway?

Pride and Prejudice Characters?!

2005-05-10T14:47:00.000-05:00

OK, I confess that I get a real chuckle out of some of these quizzes. Thanks for your patience when I post my results! and I confess I edited the description below to correct the spelling of redeeming! LOL!

You are Jane Bennett. You are beautiful, good,
kind, and loving. You take care of everything,
love everything, and everybody loves you. You
think the best of everyone until it is too late
and then still believe that they have redeeming
qualities. On the one hand, you are wonderful.
On the other hand, get your head out of the
clouds, woman!!

Which Pride and Prejudice Character Are You?
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Happy Mother's Day!

2005-05-08T07:57:00.000-05:00

Wanted to pop in on this beautiful Sunday morning, and wish a very Happy Mother's Day to all the mothers out there, and to all who care for others as a mother would. God bless you!

Who Are You?

2005-05-07T08:31:00.000-05:00

Amy Welborn asks the question over at Open Book if all female Catholic Bloggers are Lady Cordelia Flyte, in this fun quiz, What Brideshead Revisited Character Are you? And lo and behold, I am too!

You are Lady Cordelia Flyte. You are loving and loyal. You're not a sentimental dowdy, however: you have a lively sense of humor and keen intellect.

What Brideshead Revisited character are you?
brought to you by Quizilla

eBay Boycott over, Eucharist sales now prohibited!

2005-05-03T08:42:00.000-05:00

Amazing what the power of numbers can do! I'm glad that eBay has come to its senses; it's too bad it took such an expression of public outrage by Catholics to effect this change; one would have hoped that the company would have realized how offensive this whole issue of selling the Eucharist was, and reacted to that. But, if it takes a punch to the solar plexis of the coporate bottom line by mass cancellations of eBay and Paypal accounts, so be it.

Abp. Chaput is right on the money, again.

2005-04-28T14:50:00.000-05:00

I sure like what I hear out of the Archbishop in Denver. He's got a great column out about the lack of any sort of "honeymoon" given to our new Pope, Benedict XVI. Here's a quick quote:

One of the lessons from last year that too many American Catholics still don’t want to face is that it’s OK to be Catholic in today’s public square as long as we don’t try to live our beliefs too seriously; as long as we’re suitably embarrassed by all those “primitive” Catholic teachings; as long as we shut up about abortion and other sensitive moral issues and allow ourselves to be tutored in the ways of “polite” secular culture by experts who have little or no respect for the Christian faith that guides our lives.

The reason Pope Benedict XVI will get no media honeymoon is simple. It’s the same
reason he instantly won the hearts of committed Catholics, worried the lukewarm
and angered the proud and disaffected. He actually believes that what Jesus Christ and His Church teach is true, and that the soul of the world depends on the Church’s
faithful witness.

As one columnist bitterly observed, “the cafeteria is now closed.” Of course, for believers, it was never open.

Read the whole column, it's well worth the click!

Congratulations to Jamie over on Selkie blog!

2005-04-28T13:50:00.000-05:00

Did you see this lovely bit of news?!?! Congratulations, and happy Babymoon! Can't wait to hear more, and learn the new little guy's name!

Benedict XVI, Lover of Cats

2005-04-22T14:15:00.000-05:00

What a wonderful story! This has come to me via email and I thought it was such a wonderful image of our new Holy Father! I'll admit to being a "dog person", but I'm like folks who are kind to animals!

When he was a cardinal, Pope Benedict XVI often delivered sermons at the German-language church in Campasanto Teutonico near St. Peter's Basilica, but his most heartfelt talks may have been the ones he gave after celebrating Mass. "I went with him once," said Konrad Baumgartner, the head of the theology department at Regensburg University. "Afterwards, he went into the old cemetery behind the church.

"It was full of cats, and when he went out, they all ran to him. They knew him and loved him. He stood there, petting some and talking to them, for quite a long time. He visited the cats whenever he visited the church. His love for cats is quite famous."

Although his public image is that of a stern enforcer of church doctrine, in Regensburg, where the 78-year-old pope came into his own as a theologian, those who know the man known as "God's Rottweiler" say his soft, human side has been ignored.

The pope loves cats, can't resist Christmas cookies and, three months ago, waxed on about how he dreamed of retiring from the hectic life at the

in fact, Ratzinger believes that instead of being divisive, Benedict will build bridges - "though there are limits."

He bridled at how some members of the English press have treated his brother. One paper ran a headline saying "From Hitler Youth to Papa Ratzi," but Ratzinger said all boys were forced to join the Hitler Youth and that his brother was never a Nazi.

"In our family, we were taught they were evil," he said.

His brother's interests included music, Ratzinger said. "He played the organ quite well, but he hasn't played for years now."

When he was younger, Benedict XVI hiked in the Tyrol mountains to relax. As he grew older and had less time and energy, he tended the magnolia tree outside his house, cleaned the fountain under the statue of Mary and thinned out the ivy.

Agnes Heindl has been Georg Ratzinger's housekeeper for 10 years, and she's come to know the new pope well.

She said she often drove then-Cardinal Ratzinger to his house after the brothers had shared Sunday dinner. His favorite foods were Weisswurst - the traditional white Bavarian sausage - and anything sweet. She said he's known for trying every type of Christmas cookie at a party.
"Oh, he could just talk about anything, really," she said. "He liked to talk about friends and how people he knew were doing. He's a very pleasant man to have a conversation with."

She clutched 16 Benedict roses, white, as she talked.

"Maybe if I can't get the flowers to him, someone will take a picture of them, and he'll see that we're thinking of him," she said.

She spoke with him again this week. He called on Wednesday morning, after getting busy signals at his brother's house Tuesday night. When she answered, a well-known voice said: "Can I please speak to my brother."

"The Holy Father called, and all I could do was stammer, `So how do I address you now?' He laughed," she said.

She said she's glad she heard him laugh. His new job isn't easy, and he'll need to laugh. She said that when he was relaxing, there was never a mystery about what would make him laugh.

"Oh, cats," she said. " He loves them."

She pointed up a staircase to a wall full of painted plates, each depicting a different cat. The brothers collected the plates together, she said.

"When we were on vacation, a cat, a little kitten, would come by, and he'd be giddy, almost giggling with joy," she said." Cats love him; they always go to him straight away. And he loves them back."

He doesn't have a cat, however. Heindl doesn't think he can have one living in the Vatican.

"He was always content to play with the street cats," she said. "I don't know much about Rome, but I know there's no shortage of cats there."

Benedict still owns the house he bought on the edge of Regensburg in 1970, but he visits only a couple times a year. The city adjusted his deed this week: It now lists the owner as "Holy Father."

On Thursday afternoon, Chico the cat - perhaps the closest thing there is to The Pope's Cat, strolled from the shaded arch between the pope's front door and his garage. Chico belongs to Rupert Hofbauer, who looks after Benedict's garden and home.

"Chico is his friend, though he scratched him over Christmas because he didn't want to go outside, all day or night, and the cardinal tried to put him out," Hofbauer said. "They usually get along well, though."

Hofbauer and many others in Regensburg, where the new pope remains on the faculty rolls, shared mixed emotions, pride and sorrow, when they heard the news. Georg Ratzinger said he almost feels as if he's lost his brother, knowing that it won't be easy to see him now.

"I thought he'd retire soon, and we would finally have a lot of time to finish all the talks we've started through the years. We talked about that, just this Christmas when he was home," Hofbauer said.

"He thought it sounded nice, to retire, to take it easy. That's not how it worked out though, is it?"

We have a pope! Habemus Papam!!

2005-04-19T11:09:00.000-05:00

But who is it?!?!??! The bells are ringing, the smoke is white, and friends of ours are in ROME right now! Who will it be?!?!??! I"m so excited!

update: Cardinal Ratzinger! Benedict the 16th! God Bless our new Holy Father!!!!!!!!!!!!

Chimney Cam

2005-04-19T10:02:00.000-05:00

So, if you want to keep an eye on the famous Sistine Chapel chimney, go here. I'm having a ball watching it. We've watched a few pigeons cavort around the wires, and crawl on the roof. You can hear conversations. Some guy is on his cell phone (American)... "Yeah, well, call me whenever! OK, bye!" It's real life. You can hear the wind blowing on the microphone of the camera. You sorta feel like you are there. I had the volume turned up, but OUCH, when my mail notification sounded, it was much louder than I was expecting!

Pray for our cardinals, may the Holy Spirit guide them well. I can't wait to hear the news!

What flavor of ice cream are YOU?

2005-04-11T08:24:00.000-05:00

Yup, this fits! And if the ice cream fits, eat it!!

Your Ice Cream Flavour is...Neopolitan!

You aren't satisfied with just one flavor. They say variety is the spice of life and this shines through in your Ice cream of choice! Just don't eat all the chocolate and leave the strawberry and vanilla behind!

What is your Ice Cream Flavour?

Rest in peace, Holy Father

2005-04-02T14:29:00.000-06:00

I see that our Holy Father has died. May he rest in peace. May his soul, and the souls of all the faithful departed through the mercy of God, rest in peace.

I am so sad for us and happy for him. What a weird mix of emotions... I want to cry, and yet I'm so delighted to think of how he is at his goal - heaven.

Rest in peace, Terri

2005-03-31T09:13:00.000-06:00

Word has come that Terri Schiavo has died. May she rest in peace. The controversy won't end with her death, I'm sure. The questions raised about the right to live despite the inconvenience or perceived "value" of an individual life will rage on. God help our country. Will we look back in 25 years and see this as a turning point? I'm sure we will, just as we look back to January 1973 and the Roe decision.

Remember O most gracious Virgin Mary, that never was it known that any one who fled to thy protection, implored thy help, or sought thy intercession was left unaided. Inspired by this confidence, we fly unto thee, O Virgin of Virgins, our Mother. To thee do we come, before thee we stand, sinful and sorrowful. O Mother of the Word Incarnate, despise not our petitions, but in thy mercy, hear and answer us. Amen.

Upside-Down Caramelized Apple Pie

2005-03-29T19:54:00.000-06:00

oh man, was this tasty tonight! I had some apples left from a nice batch my uncle had brought me a couple of weeks ago, and only one Pillsbury Ready Bake crust ;) So, I googled, and found this recipe! Yay Better Homes and Gardens! Here it is:

Upside-Down Caramelized Apple Pie

Pastry for Single-Crust Pie
1/3 cup sugar
4 teaspoons cornstarch
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon finely shredded lemon peel
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
6 to 8 apples, peeled, cored, and sliced (6 cups)
1/4 cup margarine
1/3 cup sugar

Prepare Pastry for Single-Crust Pie, except roll dough between 2 pieces of waxed paper forming a circle about 10 inches in diameter; set aside.

For filling, in large bowl stir together 1/3 cup sugar, cornstarch, cinnamon, lemon peel, lemon juice, and ginger; add apple slices. Toss until apples are coated. Set aside.

In 10-inch oven going skillet melt margarine. Add remaining 1/3 cup sugar and cook until mixture is golden, stirring frequently. Remove from heat. Arrange apple slices in skillet. Remove waxed paper from pastry. Place pastry atop apples. Cut slits in top of pastry.

Bake in a 400 degree F oven for 30 to 35 minutes or until crust is golden. Cool on wire rack for 10 minutes. Using a knife, loosen sides of crust from skillet, if necessary. Invert onto serving plate. If some of the apples stick to the skillet, lift them off with a spatula and rearrange them on top of the pie. Spoon any remaining syrup over apples. Serve warm. Makes 8 servings.

Note: I baked at 350 for about 40 minutes or so. This was so EASY and looked very elegant. Note also that your skillet should be oven proof!

Hallo, Dahling!

2005-03-28T22:36:00.000-06:00

Which Incredibles Character Are You?
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Happy Easter!

2005-03-28T10:17:00.000-06:00

Well, we survived all the excitement of Holy Week, Triduum services, late nights, too much candy, aging parents and the change of traditions.

And now we are back to Monday morning. Yawn. Long night, with DS waking constantly, and capping the night off with wetting the bed, with me in it. I stayed dry, I stripped him and the bed, and put him in bed with DH while I bailed into DD's double bed. Off to dress and feed the wee ones, start school, and handle the day.

Did I mention the washing machine isn't working? They're coming tonight to repair it. I'll get to test it with approximately 9 loads of laundry, plus the wet bedding. Gulp.

Resurrexit! Sicut Dixit! Alleluia!

My first blog post!

2005-03-25T10:17:00.000-06:00

Just testing...I am a Luddite when it comes to this sort of thing.

What is your favorite Easter Time film?

2005-03-24T08:37:00.000-06:00

I've not seen Mel Gibson's Passion, so I can't speak to that film. But I did catch the 1925 silent version of Ben Hur the other night on cable TV (kept me up waaaaay too late!). I'd like to watch Ben Hur, the "talkie", lol, and I'd like to re-watch Jesus of Nazareth too. What was the TV movie about Jesus that came out a few years ago, I really liked that one because it showed Jesus and his friends acting like, well, friends. It had a funny scene at the well where they came to drink and wash up, and they got into a water fight.

What about you? I'm sure I will think of more.

Oh, and growing up, remember how the networks would play films on Easter night, and Christmas night, too? Things like The Ten Commandments and The Sound of Music? It seemed like it wasn't a holiday unless you watched one of those that night. And now, we have so many choices, it's not that special any more.

Snoop Patrol...

2005-03-21T18:49:00.000-06:00

A game from Ellyn, via the Summa Mamas....

Snoop Patrol:

1. One thing on your nightstand? Cute red phone from Pottery Barn.

2. One thing on a wall in your living room? Feruzzi's Maddona of the Streets.

3. Three things we would find in your medicine cabinet? Toothbrushes, toothpaste, fingernail clippers.

4. Do your dirty dishes go in the sink or dishwasher? In the sink,unless the clean dishes in the dishwasher have actually been unloaded.

5. Maker of your everyday dinnerware? Corelle.

6. Maker of your fine china? Noritake.

7. If you had to save one “thing” from your home, what would it be? Hmmmm, pictures I guess.

8. Color of your living room sofa? brown nubby-ish.

9. What reading material would we find in your bathroom? DH is the only one who leaves reading material there, so it would be some sort of nerdy textbook.

10. Most embarassing thing inyour home that you hide when guests come over? The pile of dirty laundry on the floor outside of the downstairs bathroom.

Terri....

2005-03-20T15:00:00.000-06:00

I can't begin to pretend to have something profound to say about the Terri Schiavo situation. All I know is that it is heartbreaking and an occasion worthy of going down on your knees in prayer. I'd also suggest that no matter your age, you take the time to educate yourself on Catholic moral teaching regarding end-of-life issues, write down your wishes for yourself, and update them as needed, if you find your mindset has changed in one way or another. And pray. Pray hard. I also recommend this site to keep up with the latest in this case.

All you holy men and women, pray for us.