Seven…From the Brink

January 21, 2011 By 3 Comments

The brink of what? You decide.

1. Sunday night: figured out that the kid who was maybe-sick was really-sick. Canceled Monday plans.

2. Monday morning: took six-year-old to sick bay because we suspected strep, ran to pharmacy to get the antibiotics because, though her throat was very streppy-looking, the quick test came back negative. Despite her being sick, still finished manuscript as I had planned (though it took a far different commitment of time than what I had planned).

3. Tuesday: kept fevered child home from school, noted that three-year-old was acting symptomatic. Finished parish bulletin draft, submitted manuscript to publisher, drank a lot of tea, kept a remnant of sanity and laughed more than I expected to.

4. Tuesday night: three-year-old up multiple times for potty breaks; baby up multiple times for company and eating and coughing.

5. Wednesday, sometime before 6 AM: “Mommy, I want to get up now.” (How can the three-year-old be awake? Can’t she time it with the baby?) I invite her to my bed, because it seemed like a good idea at the time. Six-year-old, ever suspicious of anyone else being awake when she is not, comes in and asks if we can go downstairs. “No! Lay down on Daddy’s side!” (This is a treat. I am territorial about my bed. I don’t judge those of you who share your beds with your kids; I just don’t. Sleep is not optional in my house: sharing my bed usually means I don’t get sleep. And this time, that’s exactly what happened.)

6. Wednesday, 6:15 AM: Baby does his little “I’m going to wake up now” cough. I begin extracting myself from bed. Girls jump up. Coughing begins all around me. I wonder if I should strip beds or just call it good.

7. No, I’m not going to give you the play-by-play of the rest of the week. I just want to point out that at 6:20 AM on Wednesday, I had no idea that by noon, I’d be thanking God for the day. I had no idea that at 12:52 PM, I’d be in my van, saying an out-loud thank you prayer to God. I had a chance to run errands that, while not critical, did allow me to get out of the house (without the kids!). And then, later in the day, I had niece visitors who amused the girls, rocked the baby, and allowed me some laptop time. God may not micromanage, but he has a plan. And it’s WAY better than mine.

You’ll find other lists of seven (in the form of Quick Takes) over at Conversion Diary today.

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Quick Takes, October Edition

October 22, 2010 By 6 Comments

- 1 -

Wasp wars resume in the Reinhard house. I was thinking of doing a whole series of Quick Takes on wasps, and how they entertain me, but then I realized that my tales of woe just can’t compare to Jen’s scorpion stories. It’s not a contest, of course, but at least I can hold out hope that the weather will get cold and freeze their stinging little butts into oblivion (or at least hibernation). That, and my husband assures me that there are some measures he can take when he schedules a day off to do some homestead work. I trust him. (I have to. Otherwise I will slowly lose my mind.)

I’d be remiss, though, not to capture this story, which has had a couple of people laughing (whether at me or with me, I don’t care to clarify).

The other night, I was working late (as in after dinner but before bedtime) in my office. Though I try not to make a habit of this, there was stuff that needed done and we had been out of the house and away from the computer most of the day, blah blah blah.

I felt this little feeling inside my shirt, and I scratched. It didn’t go away, but kept tingling a bit.

As it turns out, I had A WASP IN MY SHIRT.

Yes, that’s right. A WASP WAS IN MY SHIRT.

OF COURSE I screamed. And danced around. And shook my shirt. Did I mention that I was screaming, a mere one room over from my children, who were happily engaged in some animated entertainment? Those two children were COMPLETELY OBLIVIOUS to my shouts and cries and interesting near-obscenities. (I think there was something like “DIE YOU SCURVY DOG MEET YOUR MAKER I SHALL KILL ALL OF YOUR KIND” in there somewhere.)

(In my husband’s defense, he wasn’t home yet. He is innocent of Ignoring Wife’s Frantic Wasp-Related Screams.)

I got the wasp out of my shirt, sat back down at my chair, pulled myself up cozy to my laptop, Twittered (quite a few times), and then felt a strange tickling on the back of my neck. ANOTHER WASP? OR THE SAME ONE?

Does it matter? I finally fed its dead body (and those of its comrades who showed up shortly after) to the kittens and decided I was taking my laptop to the other room.

- 2 -

Here’s something interesting in the movie world: There Be Dragons. It’s based on the life of Saint Josemaria Escriva, founder of Opus Dei, whose writings have touched me immensely.

Roland Joffe, the director who brought us the highly acclaimed and deeply spiritual film The Mission has returned to his roots with the epic movie There Be Dragons, a powerful story of war, tragedy, love and redemption. Featured in the New York Times, the $35 million Dragons is rated PG-13 and planned for release in theaters worldwide in Spring, 2011. Set during the turmoil of the Spanish Civil War (early 1900s), Dragons tells the story of two childhood friends who become separated during the political conflict to find themselves on opposite sides as war erupts. One chooses the path of peace and becomes a priest while the other chooses the life of a soldier driven by jealousy and revenge. Each will struggle to find the power of forgiveness over the forces that tore their lives and friendship apart.

The trailer is pretty powerful…but then, that’s what trailers are supposed to be, right? I’m as interested in it because it looks like the kind of professionally done film that Therese was a few years back. We went, in fact, two or three times to see Therese in the theater (which is saying something, because we generally avoid theaters altogether).

Marcel at Aggie Catholics had an interesting review too. Hmm. Makes me want a review copy, actually, and I’m veryVERY-V-E-R-Y slow to EVER request movies for review.

- 3 -

My three-year-old daughter is exploring her inner self. Or that’s how I think of her constantly changing identity. Every day, she has a different imaginary friend AND she often has a new persona. Yesterday, for example, she was a flying pony named Wysteria. The day before, she was riding a blue horse for most of the afternoon. She’s also often a dog (usually a girl, though she doesn’t limit herself to gender), though I’ve spent some good time teaching her that PRETEND dogs do NOT eat REAL dog food (only PRETEND dog food). This point is a little easier now that the puppies have moved outside, though we do still have kittens in the house…she has had no interest in being a kitten…yet.

Anyone else have fun preschooler pretend stories? I love watching her imagination explode…and I don’t remember my older daughter (now five) being quite this expressive about pretending in this way.

- 4 -

This week, I did something unprecedented. In fact, I think that I managed to shock my dear husband.

I deep cleaned the three major rooms of our downstairs. I couldn’t get into the office, because the cat litter’s in there, but I tackled the living room, playroom, and kitchen. For three nights this week, he came home to a new clean surprise.

Monday night, on my way home from our evening obligation, I saw his text: “Wow. I am impressed.” I tried to play it off like it was about the sloppy joes, but I knew that, though it was a good batch, it didn’t warrant that particular reaction.

Tuesday and Wednesday, he was equally impressed, and I was home to receive the praise first-hand.

Thursday, I didn’t clean.

No, I’m not nesting. Nesting, for me, involves building a nest-like area on the couch, complete with fuzzy blankets and a good read. This was long overdue cleaning that just needed done. I motivated myself by telling myself that, as much as I loathe and avoid cleaning, this was a gift to my husband, one that he would not expect to the scale and quality I was doing it.

- 5 -

I just heard about a new DVD about Saint Giana Beretta Molla. She’s a special saint to me, especially right now, as I sit here 34 weeks pregnant.

St. Gianna Beretta Molla: A Modern Day Hero of Divine Love is a new DVD about a saint who lived in our own time. The DVD is a visual delight, featuring photos and home movies of St. Gianna, who lived from 1922 to 1962. One gets to see her getting married and playing with her children and living out her career as a doctor. Viewers see her laughing and smiling and loving life. This is a real woman. She is someone like us.

Here we get to know a woman like so many of us who struggled to balance work and family. She was highly intelligent, excelling in her studies. She also loved music and art and being in the mountains. She loved her family above all else, but saw her career as a physician as a calling from God. Not only did she run her own practice, she was an active volunteer and sought to bring medical care to those who needed it, especially mothers and children. She would tell other doctors that “when you have finished your earthly profession, if you have done this well, you will enjoy divine life ‘because I was sick and you healed me.’”

St. Gianna was raised in a Christ-centered family and sought to raise her children the same way. Her life was one of service and was deeply rooted in prayer. She attended daily Mass as often as possible and prayed her rosary daily. She was always ready to encourage others in their relationship with God. She was a woman who viewed life as a gift from God and trusted in the power of prayer. Totally pro-life, her ultimate sacrifice was to give birth to her last child, even though she was advised against it and knew it might result in her own death. After giving birth, she bravely bore her final suffering with grace and prayer. She died on April 28, 1962 at the age of 39. Beatified in 1994 and canonized in 2004, Pope John Paul II held St. Gianna up as a role model for mothers, physicians, and the pro-life cause.

St. Gianna Beretta Molla: A Modern Day Hero of Divine Love was produced by Catholic Action for Faith and Family which includes the St. Gianna Physician’s Guild. The mission of the Guild is to unite and encourage Catholic physicians and health care professionals, to promote and defend Catholic principles in a public way by word and example, and to inspire sanctification in their lives.

- 6 -

New to the nightstand: (to borrow Julie’s phrase, and I see it’s on her nightstand too)
Full of Grace: Encountering Mary in Faith, Art, and Life, by Judith Dupre

Somehow, I have a reputation with things Marian, so I chanced into this review copy. :) After I finished a rather bleh YA novel the other night, I dug right in, forgetting all about the other long-suffering review titles that have been waiting their turn patiently for months.

Because this book is beautiful. And, after only the first chapter, it’s pretty good. It appeals to my Catholic side, but also to my human side. But I’m only one chapter in. I’m sure I’ll be blogging about it as I journey through it, because it seems to just be that sort of book.

- 7 -

So I realized, this week, that I need to get my Christmas gift act together. This involves a spreadsheet and budgeting and, horror of horrors, shopping. But with a baby due on December 4 and a long-standing goal of being done with my shopping before Advent (after last year’s success and peace of mind, I’m SOLD!), I’d better get cracking! I’m trying to think of it as a gift I give myself (and my family, who lives with me when I’m stressed), instead of as a huge project that needs tackled. Sort of like the cleaning. Punctuate these unsavory tasks with prayer and you have grace in action, right? :)

Go to Conversion Diary for the Quick Takes round-up, where Jen will delight you with her humor and inspire you with her insight (sometimes even in the same post).

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My Favorite Tupperware (links fixed)

September 17, 2010 By 9 Comments

I mentioned last week that I’m having an online Tupperware party to benefit Catholic mom Jen Minson, and I alluded to my all-time favorite Tupperware product, what we call “straw cups.” In this week’s Quick Takes, I thought I’d share my favorite Tupperware products. Whether you’re able to order before my party closes next Friday or if it will be a while, these are the Tupperware gems I’ve discovered (mostly since having children).

Straw Cups (Impressions Tumblers with Drip-Less Lids)

These aren’t cheap, I know. And somehow, they tend to evaporate (perhaps because I’m in the habit of using them SO MUCH) and disappear around our house. I don’t hold that against them. They’re the right size (12 oz.) and the lids really are drip-less, which helps keep the mess level lower. My two-year-old especially seemed to outgrow sippy cups way sooner than I was ready to let her run around with a non-lidded cups, and these straw cups were the perfect solution. We’ve taken them on trips, too, and they travel well. They’re high on my “gifts for new moms” list too: they are one of the handy-dandy things I never would have thought of if I didn’t have a friend with a bunch of kids who totally sold me on them by showing me them in use every time we were there.

Canister Set

I never really wanted canisters until I saw how my sister-in-law used these. For one thing, I lack counter space. For another, I didn’t see the point: my stuff was fine in the containers I had and there was no need to coordinate.

And then we had an incident that inspired me to reorganize and seal-proof everything in my kitchen. It was around this time that I found myself at my sister-in-law’s for a few weeks, and I saw how she kept these canisters in her cupboard. They’re air-tight, and they have a little peekaboo window that lets you know, at a glance, when it’s time to get worried about the sugar or flour or corn meal or pasta or whatever. They would look fine on a counter, but I keep mine tucked away just like she did. And I love them.

Ice Cream Scoop

This was one of the first products I purchased, perhaps before I was even married. We use it at least once a day and I still love it. My only gripe is that it’s gotten pitted over the years…I didn’t realize that you’re supposed to rinse/wash and wipe it right away, not let it air dry or sit in water. There is no ice cream, no matter how rock hard, that this scoop can’t dig through, even with my wimpy lack of strength.

Grape Containers (Fridge Smart Series)

I think that, when I first contacted Jen a few years ago when I found her through another website, I was looking for a good container to keep grapes in my fridge. I use my big Fridge Smart container primarily for grapes, but the little air holes on the side can adjust and then you can use them for husked corn-on-the-cob, apples, tomatoes, and pretty much anything else that’s a fruit or vegetable. There are ridges on the bottom that help keep the fruits/veggies from sitting in liquid, and I’ve been really happy with mine. I’d call this a great newlywed gift as well.

The Best Ever “Nuke It” Bowl (Soup Mug)

A friend, years ago, didn’t know what to get me for Christmas, so she gave me one of these. It spent years going back and forth in my lunch bags when I was working in offices, and now I use it for my kids. The handle on the side makes it great for little ones. The lid with the pop-top makes it great for reheating (you keep the lid on, pop that little doo-hickey, and no boiling over!). The size makes it great for lunches or snacks or any number of other things. I don’t know what inspired that friend to think of this, and I don’t know if I’ve ever told her that I am thankful for her every single time I use it (which is multiple times a week).

Snack Cups

My addiction to snack cups started after I placed that order for my grape container. Jen, ever a thoughtful Tupperware consultant, sent me some snack cups as a free gift. I had a toddler at the time, and all of a sudden, I had the PERFECT container for, well, ALMOST EVERYTHING! Like the straw cups, we use these little bad boys so much that I replace them (or place orders to score free ones) on what feels like a too-regular basis. Unlike the similarly sized containers sold in the grocery stores, these are heavy duty and stand up to tough wear and tear (the sort you get when you have Jack Russells in and about). They also come clean, which might seem like a silly thing to note, but I’ve used these to stash the last of the spaghetti sauce (the amount that’s only enough for the toddler’s lunch the next day) or a bit of salad dressing or some dip for fruit…and I’m able to get the vestiges of all those things OUT, even though I have no fancy-schmancy dishwasher.

The “Proof’s in the Cupboard” Organizing Stuff (Modular Mates)

It’s my sister-in-law’s fault, again, that I have a purchasing plan for getting enough of these Modular Mates for my kitchen/pantry cupboards. She lived in New Orleans for seven years, and she learned, the hard way, that keeping any dry goods in anything non-airtight was a recipe for throwing it away and buying new. Oh, and then there are the bugs. (She never mentioned bugs. I just sort of…guessed.) We don’t have the same problems in Ohio, at least not in the same quantity, but she also did something else that appealed to the Organized Psycho who is a large part of who I am: she used a label maker and marked each container. They sit and stack so WELL in the cupboards that you could just open her cupboard and find what you wanted!

They are also CLEAR. You can tell the state of the items inside with a glance (and if you don’t have a sister-in-law with a label maker that you can borrow, you can probably skip that step). So these are one of the things I’m purchasing this time around.

Sippy Cup Set

You know what I love MOST about these sippy cups? (I don’t have them yet, by the way. But I’m going to need new sippy cups for this baby, and I have my heart set on these.) I love that the lids fit on other Tupperware cups. Last year, when my five-year-old was starting to want to drink without a lid (even if it was a straw cup lid), I realized I needed plastic cups. My husband and I prefer to drink out of glasses — real glass — but with little kids, that’s just not always advisable. We did not, however, have any plastic cups, and there was some sort of sale or special and I ordered some from Tupperware. I realized, again at that Tupperware-loving sister-in-law’s house, that the sippy cup lids fit on a lot of the other plastic cups. I LOVE THAT! Consider me sold!

With that, I point you to Jen at Conversion Diary, where you’ll find plenty of other Quick Takes. And if you want to get in on my Tupperware party (free products I get will make great giveaways here and/or at CatholicMom.com in the coming months), place your order by Friday, September 24.

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Dog Tales during the Dog Days

July 23, 2010 By 1 Comment

This week, our life was inexorably altered when our dog Petie, who I’ve been calling the Jack Russell Terror in this space for years, died unexpectedly. In honor of the years we’ve spent together, and because it makes for good material, I am dedicating today’s 7 Quick Takes to dog tales…about him.

~1~

Terror…not Terrier

My relationship with Petie was, at best, love-hateHateHATE. I didn’t cry when I saw that he was surely going to die. (I did shed some tears later in the evening, though, because, truth be told, I do miss him). There’s a reason that there are so many Jack Russell pups in rescues…these dogs DO. NOT. STOP.

He spent years as an inside dog. When we finally moved him outside, my life improved immeasurably. In fact, any love I had for him grew exponentially in the last two years that he  spent as an outside dog.

So, to those who wondered on Twitter if I was misspelling, no. He was (and remains in our memory) a Jack Russell Terror.

(He chewed that sweater. He was ALWAYS cold in the winter, and would lay in front of the wood stove until his skin turned pink, but would NOT let us “dress” him.)

~2~

Curiosity Killed the Coon (written December 2005)

In thirty years, if we are still living in this old farmhouse on our beautiful patch of property, I have an image of myself. My back will be stooped over from carrying babies and firewood and trying to only make one trip instead of the wiser two.  My hearing will be worse than it is, and so I will have to blast music even louder than I do, and dear Bob will have to be even more patient when I can’t hear him the third time he repeats himself.  I’ll be able to stomach all kinds of horrid you-live-in-the-country-if things, and I hope that I will also be able to cook better than I do now (hey, thirty years is a long time, so there’s hope!).  I’ll use words like “ain’t” and “rassle” without any thought of correctness, because I will have been in the country so long that it just won’t matter.  I also know that in thirty years, I will not be banished to wait by the wheelbarrow while a certain unnamed dog attacks a coon (or was it a cat?) in the underbrush.

Last night when we were making our daily trip out to fill the wheelbarrow with firewood, we stopped in the tin shed (which is sort of like a garage, but made of tin) to put out food for the cat.  Suddenly, there was a baying and a growling and a scuttling of small creatures behind the building. Bob, ever the unimpressed farmer type, shrugged it off as “Petie getting into something again.”  And then the cacophony changed to a higher, more urgent pitch, Bob grabbed the flashlight, and we went out to make it a spectator sport.

The snow was falling in lazy clumps, and the air was cold enough to make it hurt with every breath.  Even so, standing there behind Bob, peering into the dark mess of underbrush and wondering if my legs were safe from the dog and the thing he was harassing, I didn’t notice any of that.  Nope, what I was wondering was whether this would be a Shotgun Incident.

Petie tends to find the little critters in the area (it is, after all, what Jack Russells are bred to do), and to get into a good bloody mess as he corners them and attempts to kill them. Sometimes they get away from him enough to get only injured, and Bob will have to get the shotgun (or sometimes a large heavy object – that was last week with the possum) and do the humane thing and kill them.  Petie will not leave an injured critter alone until it is dead.  He has no compunction about his quarry’s size in relation to his 13 pounds of muscle and willpower.  (Does this make him courageous or stupid?)

Suddenly, in the midst of the scuffles and the growls, there was silence.  Bob had still not been successful at locating them with the flashlight, and in the silence, I looked over at his stoic unimpressed countenance, and asked, “Is this silence normal?” to which he replied, without batting an eye, “Nope.”

Then I asked the question that had been nagging me: “Am I safe standing here?” It turns out that I was right in the path that the critter would probably take if it got out from its corner of safety and made a run for it.  I repositioned myself, and Bob looked up long enough to say, “If I was you, I’d go up by the wheelbarrow.”

Considering that the last thing I wanted was a riled-up critter rushing my way – insert scene from “Christmas Vacation” where the door opens and the squirrel and the dog tear up the neighbor lady – I slouched over to the wheelbarrow where I really couldn’t see what was going on.

After the silence, the two duked it out some more and it got pretty loud.  Finally, the coon (or was it a cat?) made a dash off toward the west side of our property, with Petie in hot pursuit.  It was at this point that Bob began to question whether it was a cat instead of a coon.

Petie didn’t get the coon/cat last night, but he was a happy pup all the same. Nothing gets his juices running like a good rassle and a chase through the cold night with a cheering section calling his name (to the effect of “PETIE!  Get back here RIGHT NOW!”).  Although he had to deal with a bath, he also had his Hero (Bob) call him Good Dog at least four times

~3~

Cute…but Maddening

We happened upon Petie because the family that owned Petie had to get rid of him (an allergic daughter). They knew my mother-in-law was looking for a smaller dog and they called her. She couldn’t resist him and brought him home. My husband, seeing his mother apparently happy wasn’t going to say no either.

He was about five pounds then and cute as could be. That honeymoon period lasted a while. Maybe even as long as 48 hours.

And then the strong will started shining through. My husband, who has always been a natural Pack Leader, met this head-on. For almost ten years. He became Petie’s hero, and when Bob walked through the door at night, Petie

We ended up with Petie when my mother-in-law moved into an apartment and then he just sort of stayed. We joked for years and teased my mother-in-law that she could have her dog back anytime.

~4~

Inventive…with Anything Round

Oh, how he loved to chase a ball…

…or squash (the pumpkins never made it that year, either…he got them ALL)…

…or a shot put…

…or full-sized basketballs…

…or tires (which is what did him in, in the end). He was fast, which was great when he was attacking a rat or a coon or a groundhog or a cat. (Not so great if I was trying to get my kid’s ball back.)

When he was in the house, he used to hide under a buffet and poke his ball out. You were supposed to send it back to him. If you didn’t, he growled at an increasingly higher pitch until he was barking.

Lacking any other amusement, he would hide his toys all over the house, even…

…in the dryer!

~5~

Mr. Protective

Petie claimed us. He also claimed our kids and the people who were “with” us (friends and family who visited, etc.). Though I read that Jacks (or any terriers, for the most part) aren’t recommended for kids, we had a great experience with him, at least in his younger days. (The kids didn’t climb on him or tackle him as much once he became an outside dog.

The day we brought our oldest daughter home from the hospital, my mother-in-law came over. Petie growled at her — a serious, “I will bite you if you take one step closer” growl — when she leaned over to look in the crib.

He also used to curl up on the couch with us, especially with my husband. He didn’t take kindly to anyone waking up the person he was with, especially if it was Bob. He was spanked MANY times for growling at me when I would shake Bob awake at night for bed.

~6~

Life without Petie (written March, 2006)

I have a love-hate relationship with my Jack Russell. On the one hand, he’s the doggie equivalent of my energy, joyfully intelligent, and quite humorous as a source of stories.  On the other, he is insistent, annoying, and never-ending, and often highly annoying (like when he does random bark-screams in the middle of the night).  Lately it seems the pendulum has been hitting the hate end of the relationship more, but then we had a Scary Incident.

I was home alone and the baby was tucked away, snoozing peacefully upstairs.  I was either reading or online (or maybe both), when I saw a white blur streak across the room.  Looking up, I saw Petie run into something.  Now, if his ball had been on the other side of the said object, this would not have been unusual.  However, it was random wheels-not-working movement, and it was weird.  He was whimpering and obviously not happy.  Luckily, Bob came home right about then and I let Petie out, right before discovering some unintentional destruction.

I spent some time pondering what my life would be like without Petie, something that we joke about all the time but which I haven’t really considered in depth at all.  Who would entertain the baby in the mornings?  Who would clean up the kitchen floor after her meals?  Who would alert me to raccoons in the front yard?  Who would hide balls in my laundry hampers and then pull towels through the tiny holes in an attempt to retrieve them?  Who would steal all my blankets at night?  Who would greet Elizabeth in the mornings?  Who would keep me company on Bob’s school nights?  Who would greet me with unadulterated joy whenever I came home, even if I had only been gone for two minutes?  Who would have as much energy as me in the morning?  Who would shed white hair into every single possible imaginable place in our belongings?  Who would scare off the spiders?  Who would fight me for the couch?  Who would play fetch with me?  (no wait, I think I meant…who would play fetch with Elizabeth?)

We weren’t sure what was wrong, and still aren’t.  He seems fine now; back to the full swing of obstinate outdoor exploration while I’m still in my pajamas and calling for him to come in, barking at the slightest provocation to his Dad’s-not-home domain, and curling up in the crook of my legs when I go to bed early.

~7~

Posts from the Past

If you want to read past blog posts inspired by our late JRT, here you go:

Jen has all the Quick Takes at her place, which is worth stopping by and staying for a while. Visit her and maybe even participate with your own Quick Takes post!

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Crazy Week Daybook

July 8, 2010 By 2 Comments

Outside my window: Sunny. And hot. Already.

Rambling thoughts: This week, I seem to have twice as much on my to-do list as I do hours to complete things. I’m pushing things off until next week, when presumably I’ll have more time. (Don’t laugh too hard. I can dream!) I’m also, though, getting some of the main writing that needs to get done, done. And I have taken the kids to the local water-shooting-out-of-the-wall park thing (we call it the Bunny Park because of the large rabbits on the hill over the water-shooting walls). So I get some sort of gold star, don’t I? Oh, and we haven’t yet eaten only ice cream for dinner. Today may be the day I break that resolution, though. It’s been pretty July-y around here.

In thanksgiving: For the air conditioning unit my husband put in the office at home. Though the kids can sweat it out and huddle by fans and play in the baby pool, I’m not above hiding for hours at a time in front of its clunky, loud blasts of COLD AIR.

Folded hands, bowed head: For a family whose 18-month-old son drowned recently. For a friend who needs to sell her house. For a friend who’s house hunting. For family near and far.

Kitchen meanderings: So I’ve been in a bit of a kitchen slump, but thanks to the many recommendations from Facebook, I have a whomping pile of cookbooks from the library. Now…to use them.

Nose inserted: Don Quixote (which is delightful, I tell you, delightful!) and The Catholic Home: Celebrations and Traditions for Holidays, Feasts, and Every Day, by Meredith Gould (which I should finish today, and which is also wonderful).

Recent reads: The Loser Letters, by Mary Eberstadt, which is a must-read. I almost recommended it to a friend who is an atheist, and then I hesitated. I didn’t want to recommend it and seem like a snarky, smart alecky kind of person…but I did find it heee-lare-eee-ous (yes, it needs to be spelled that way so that you understand how much I enjoyed it).

Around the house: There’s a five-year-old playing horses in the windowsill (the same one in #7 of this post) and a two-year-old still sleeping. The kitchen is cool, making me wonder about using this early morning time to cook something for dinner and bring it out later. Hmm. Now there’s a thought.

A favorite thing: Lists. They’re keeping me on track. I seem to be triply prone to procrastination this summer (perhaps because of the things I’m trying to get done before baby’s born in late fall). Also, the things Colleen listed in the Savor Simple Things Contest.

Plans made, possibly kept: Oh, we have plenty. Next week, I’ll be taking a break from blogging, and I have the guest posts to prove it. I know I’ll still be posting updates to Facebook and Twitter (because I can, even from my phone! Yippee!)

Food for thought: In order to belong to Jesus we must be little, but few want to remain in that littleness. – St. Therese of Lisieux

Worth a thousand words:

(Yes, that’s a donut. But not just any donut…it was a chocolate-iced cream-filled Long John from a local bakery. I don’t blame her for guarding it.)

(Hey everyone, sorry about the bum link earlier!)

Inspired by Peggy’s work at The Simple Woman’s Daybook.

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The Friday Seven

March 26, 2010 By 2 Comments

1: Total Consecration

For anyone interested, the next cycle of preparation Total Consecration to Jesus through Mary starts today. This is inspired by St. Louis de Montfort’s classic True Devotion to Mary. You’ll find all the prayers and readings — for print or for audio download — at this awesome website. I purchased a $5 book with the prayers and readings in it (because otherwise, it will be all too easy for me to fail).

If you don’t make this cycle, there’s another one starting April 28, and quite a few others through the year. They’re set up so that the 33-day preparation time precedes a consecration day that is on a Marian feast or commemoration. (But, really, I’m botching that explanation. Go read the full scoop for yourself.)

As I told someone who emailed me recently, what do you have to lose?

2: Yakkin’ It Up

If you have any inclination, I’m talking about St. Joseph in “Mary in the Kitchen” on the latest Catholic Foodie, sharing a quote about Mary and rainbows in my “Mary Moment” on this week’s Catholic Moments, and admitting to my slacker mom tendencies (with a laugh) with Arwen and Lisa on the Faith & Family podcast this week.

3: Rosary Workout

The weather was getting nicer (I woke up to snow this morning…piles of it, along with bad roads), and I can feel myself longing to get outside. I dusted off my journal and thought wistfully of my Rosary Workout plans from the fall.

Though I love gadgets, I don’t have an e-reader. The e-book format of Rosary Workout just didn’t work for me, though the principles behind it did. (I raved, as you will recall.)

And then I heard that THE ROSARY WORKOUT IS A BOOK NOW. (Be warned: there is much rejoicing and yelling in glee right now.)

So…what are you waiting for? My copy is on its way to me, and I’m sure there will be more happy sounds from me.

4: An Unexpected Fast

Yesterday, my husband asked if he could take our Verizon MiFi with him for work. He was going to be on-site and it would make his work easier.

And so, yesterday, I had an unexpected internet fast. I could still tweet from my phone, and I had a few updates that went there, but it was a different day than it would have been otherwise.

Had I planned it, there would have been a different tone to it. Had my husband not requested to take the MiFi, I might have procrastinated. I couldn’t be online during the hours when I am most likely to, whether to respond to email or finish up a parish project or various things online.

Needless to say, the laundry is folded and put away. What I didn’t expect was my calm this morning.

I’m going to have to try this again.

5: Internet Connections for the Rural Folk

I have reasons to need a high-speed internet connection. We have had various Verizon products for a few years, starting with their air card and, most recently purchasing their MiFi.

In a word: ICK.

I know, rationally, that my connection speeds are faster than they were in the days of dial-up (which weren’t that long ago for us). But when I find myself at my mother-in-law’s, using her “light” cable connection, I can’t help but grumble to myself about how slllloooowwww and unreliable our speeds are. Right now, before 7 AM, things are fast as they’ll. But in a few hours, it will clog…and on the weekend? Well, good luck.

Any suggestions? Am I dreaming that there’s a better solution than the one we already have?

6: Holy Thursday

We’re getting our feet washed again on Thursday. Though it’s one of my favorite Masses of the year, I know there will be much swallowing of pride and much reflection on the stinkiness of my feet and much sniffling at the tenderness of the washing. I can feel the tears welling in my eyes at the thought of it.

Good thing my toddler will be with me for comic relief.

7: Prayer of Blessed Elizabeth of the Trinity

I’ve been trudging along in the Catechism, and I realize that this is going to take me years. (That’s OK. Nothing like a good hearty read, right?) This morning, as I was cozied up to it, I found this prayer and had to pause to write it down. It’s attributed to Blessed Elizabeth of the Trinity, and it was included in paragraph 260. Here it is:

O my God, Trinity whom I adore, help me forget myself entirely so to establish myself in you, unmovable and peaceful as if my soul were already in eternity. May nothing be able to trouble my peace or make me leave you, O my unchanging God, but may each minute bring me more deeply into your mystery! Grant my soul peace. Make it your heaven, your beloved dwelling and the place of your rest. May I never abandon you there, but may I be there, whole and entire, completely vigilant in my faith, entirely adoring and wholly given over to your creative action.

Our sponsor for the Friday Quick Takes fun is Jen at Conversion Diary. Stop by and see her post and the round-up of other Quick Takes.

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Not So Small After All

January 21, 2010 By 3 Comments

I was going to do a “real” post, and then I realized that, at least for me, these Thursday Small Successes are real, in every sense of the word.  So here goes…

1. I was given a small, gentle nudge about some neglected housework. Rather than pout (too much), I attacked the living room and instituted a new “no eating in the living room” (which is where the only TV is) rule.

2. I’ve been enforcing said “no eating in the living room” rule all week. Despite protests. Despite yelling. Despite threats of starvation for a certain dramatic five-year-old.

3.Though my life has been upside down and not-so-normal for a few weeks, and though it’s looking like it’s going to stay that way for at least another week or two (or three), I’m not freaking out.  I haven’t cried.  In fact, I have laughed every day this week.

4. (bonus!) Though I’ve seen the list of women I really admire who are attending the retreat I’m leading on Saturday, I haven’t had a panic attack or even freaked out.  I credit those prayers of late (mine and others’) and St. Michael, St. Joseph, and Mother Mary.  (Left to my own devices, freaking out would be inevitable.  Just thinking about trying to teach those wise women anything should have me curled in a ball sucking my thumb.  Despite that, I feel peace.  And that’s good this year.)

There are many more Small Successes (and plenty of great encouragement) at Faith & Family Live.

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