Takes of the Quick Sort

September 30, 2011 By 3 Comments

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It.

Is.

Finished.

(Well, the Ugly First Draft is, anyway. Including sidebars.)

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Now that I’m done with my Ugly First Draft of this manuscript (it’s a Catholic guide to pregnancy–more details when we have more to talk about and it’s not so, well, ugly), I need to clean my house.

(My husband is probably reading that and having a moment of jumping-up-and-down. Though, bless him, he has never said a word.)

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A couple of weekends ago, our parish hosted Frank Runyeon, who I had never heard of but who, it turns out, is a quite famous and critically-acclaimed Hollywood actor.

Runyeon performed “The Sermon on the Mount,” followed by “Hollywood vs. Faith: The Other Three Beatitudes.”

Here’s an excerpt:

We really enjoyed ourselves and I highly recommend these performances. To be honest, I wasn’t sure what to expect, but it was great and thought-provoking, in a fun sort of way.

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Hey, according to my calendar, it’s almost October, which means Advent is just around the corner.

That makes it the perfect time to order Welcome Baby Jesus: Advent and Christmas Reflections for Families, don’t you agree? In fact, go a step farther. They’re priced at $1.99 and parishes get quantity discounts if they order through Liguori (I don’t know the details of that, so be sure to call Liguori). Talk to your DRE or your pastor and get some copies for all the families in your parish.

I mean, how can you resist that cover?

(I have Wendy Barnes to thank for that. And I have thanked her. Consider this more thanks. She is amazing!)

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While I’m plugging stuff, let me plug something else we discovered in the last week:

Gooney Bird Greene is, near as I can tell, the coolest thing I’ve read since Pippi Longstocking (which I need to acquire for our read aloud pile). And there are a whole host of other Gooney Bird books…we only read the first one! Yay!

We’re still plugging along with Junie B. Jones. We actually dug through all the shelves of moved-but-not-organized books and found all the ones appropriate for reading aloud (such as, joy of joys, The Black Stallion and a pile of others from my own youth and recent YA reading).

My six-year-old regularly asks me to read aloud to her. We almost always read during breakfast, after school, and in the evening before bed (depending on the day). And you know what? It’s waaaaay better than anything on TV.

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Speaking of things I love for my kids, have you seen Horseland? (And look! It’s on YouTube!)

We discovered it because we put our DirecTV on hold for a few months and have been trying out Netflix.

My girls (ages three and six) have watched all the episodes in season one at least ten times each. My husband and I discovered, by accident, that it’s produced for CBS.

We’ve found it to be pretty good all around, and not just because we’re a tad bit obsessed with horses.

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This makes me smile:

That’s my three-year-old, in safety goggles, a black tutu, and a cheetah-print skirt. She was swimming, in case you were wondering about that face. I just managed to catch her with my phone before she was off to something else.

You’ll find more Quick Takes over at Conversion Diary!

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The Back-to-School Seven

August 26, 2011 By 6 Comments

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I thought this week would be so easy and I would get so much done. I mean, as of Wednesday I have one less kid during . And it’s the kid who fights with the other walking kid.

I didn’t really factor in the baby having an ear infection. Or my husband working lonnnnnnnng hours. Or exhaustion stemming from both of the above.

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And another thing: I miss her.

I did not expect that. I can keep myself pretty busy with the stuff I need to get done. The half day of kindergarten flew by. What’s another half day on top?

It’s a LOT, I tell ya.

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My office needs an intervention. I’m thinking of scheduling time with the Only Person I Know Who Can Whip It Into Shape.

The problem is, if She comes over, I will HAVE to deal with it.

Go ahead, laugh. I’m going to try it on my own next week. But if I don’t get to it, She will have read this, and She will ask me about it.

(How’s THAT for accountability?)

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Speaking of accountability, I have discovered a great thing. And it is called a writing accountability partner.

Her name is Jennifer Fitz, who blogs at Riparians at the Gate and is the brains behind the Catholic Writers Guild blog. She’s a homeschooling mom of many who writes.

We email each other every day, and she tells me what she’s done and I tell her what I’ve done. I have learned, through these interchanges, a few important lessons:

(1) A sense of humor is not optional in the world of parenting and in the world of writing. When the two worlds collide, it’s EVEN MORE important.

(2) Jen is great. (I suspected this before, but now I have proof. In my inbox. Every single day.)

(3) It is IMMENSELY helpful to have someone who shares your state in life to share your writing hurdles and triumphs with. I have a support system, indeed, and it’s great. Adding Jen to it has filled in a gap I didn’t realize existed.

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Can you tell I’ve been reading a lot of Junie B. Jones in the last week? We’ve read three books in the last two days.

I love that my six-year-old (and even my three-year-old, really) wants me to read to her. I love that she knows how bad Junie is, and that we don’t want to be like Junie. I love that I am gaining insight into the niece I nicknamed Junie long ago.

HOWEVER, there is now a Voice in my head that talks in what I can only call a “Junie B. Jones style of talking.” Once we get through these books, I HAVE TO FIND SOMETHING WITH BETTER GRAMMAR AND EQUAL HILARITY!

Suggestions welcome! (Read as: PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE SUGGEST GOOD BOOKS!)

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This week, Weightless: Making Peace with Your Body by Kate Wicker arrived in my mailbox. It happened to arrive on the day where I had to hold the ouchy grouchy baby, so I held him and the book.

I couldn’t put it down. (I don’t often say that about nonfiction.)

I’ll be reviewing it at length, but I couldn’t resist saying here: all the positive things everyone else is saying and raving about this book is TRUE. (Not that I thought it was false, mind you.) GO BUY A COPY RIGHT NOW!

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I’m going to be blogging less in the coming months, because otherwise I might never get my book done. This pains me, but it’s the conclusion I’ve come to.

My plan, starting next week, is to post Mary Moment Mondays and 7 Quick Take Fridays, with the possibility a quick linky-to-other-places sort of post thrown in mid-week.

Sob.

Yes, I do love blogging. But…well…you know how it is. Something about priorities.

(My Junie Voice has something to say about that. But it’s not nice and I’m keeping my hand over her mouth.)

Stop by Jen at Conversion Diary for all the fun that is 7 Quick Takes Friday!

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The Friday Seven: Back to School & Linky Fun

August 19, 2011 By 2 Comments

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I’m back to working out intensely twice a week. I took most of the summer off, so this is week 2. Butt = kicked.

It’s zumba, a sort of Latin dance thing (there’s a video here, and I look about like the guy in the back). We are a bunch of moms, not one of us under 30 (I think), except for the kids who get dragged along. I never would have expected to like it, but there are a couple of factors keeping me going back:

(1) A good friend and I call or text each other. If one of us misses, the other is haranguing her. Accountability is a good thing.

(2) The instructor is really laid back. In fact, she’s a lot of fun. In fact, I like her. Even though she causes me a lot of pain.

(3) The sweating isn’t so bad. The pain isn’t so bad. The laughing is great. I know all the ladies (it’s a group from our parish), and when I feel like it’s too much, I just look over at the 72-year-old lady beside me and realize I could slow down, take a drink, and start over.

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I haven’t noticed that exercise is good for my mental health. I know the facts support that, but I think having a routine will help me more than the exercise, to be honest. And next week, school starts.

School = routine.

Yay!

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Speaking of school, I thought we were all set with school supplies and such. Then my husband looked at me, a bit shocked, and declared that our six-year-old, who will be entering first grade, needed a new outfit. And probably new shoes.

Said six-year-old was in complete agreement.

So, on Wednesday, I sucked it up, found an aunt to take the three-year-old, and took her to the store.

Where I bought her a new outfit and new shoes.

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Those shoes? They were SIZE FIVE!

I’m still in shock. She’s tall, yes, but SIZE FIVE?!?

And then a friend of mine told me that it probably translates into a women’s size seven.

I need a fainting couch.

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My nieces have been cleaning out their closets, and it’s with much rejoicing that I find myself as the aunt who can take hand-me-downs from nieces who are taller and more stylish than me.

That does not, however, make me fabulous, though a writer who I admire very much interviewed me recently and flattered me by calling me just that in her title. Do stop over to see the interesting questions Ginny Kubitz Moyer of Random Acts of Momness posed for me.

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Back to school for kids means back to a stricter writing schedule for me (and the acknowledgement of a looming deadline). Is that why I’m pondering where my office really is on the latest Mary in the Kitchen on the Catholic Foodie podcast? Maybe. Or maybe I’m just in my kitchen a lot. :)

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Arwen, Lisa, and I discussed girlfriends and mom survival this week on the Faith & Family podcast, and I’d love to hear what you think about these topics. I’m not in survival mode the way Arwen is, but I’m in a tough stretch lately, all the same. Listen in and let us know what you think!

Be sure to visit Jen at Conversion Diary for Quick Takes Friday!

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Mrs. Jesus

June 27, 2011 By Leave a Comment

A Mary Moment Monday post

A good friend posted on my Facebook wall the other day:

Thought of you the other night when the 4 y/o mentioned “Mrs. Jesus”. I asked him who that is (almost dreading the answer), and he answered very delightedly, “Jesus’ mommy!”

My friend is not Catholic. I don’t think she has any interest in becoming Catholic. She is, however, very devout. Her kids probably not only know Jesus, but they can probably act out as many Bible stories as I can. I have no doubt that Jesus plays a very real, very tangible role in their young lives.

I don’t know (I’ve never asked) how often non-Catholics talk about Mary. In my own non-Catholic upbringing, she showed up around Christmas and then was pretty absent the rest of the year. Jesus was the important one. Period. But there was no Mary-bashing in my background.

I love even that non-Catholics can share my love of Jesus’ mommy.

She’s a non-partisan sort, after all. Mama Mary doesn’t discriminate on the basis of anything. While I’d like to think that’s a very motherly trait, I’ll be honest: as a mother myself, I’m very discriminatory. I don’t want my kids hanging out with the wrong sort of people; I don’t want them exposed to the wrong sort of things; I don’t want them hurt in any way.

Even a four-year-old can tell how she ranks and point to what’s important about Mary.

And hey, if Jesus loves her, so should I! :)

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A Great Guide to Help Kids Grieve

June 1, 2011 By 2 Comments

I had never really considered grieving for children before I became the bystander. In the wake of a sudden and unexpected family death, two of my nieces became case studies in children grieving.

I have felt, in the last year-and-a-half, overwhelmingly helpless. I don’t know what to say; I don’t know what to do; I don’t know!

As with so many things with children and other people, sometimes just being there is as important as anything else. Thanks to a new release by Pauline Books & Media, I Will Remember You: My Catholic Guide Through Grief, I have a resource to share with the younger of my nieces, who’s ten.

This book has equal parts reading and writing/activity. It doesn’t just challenge the reader to think about the huggy-kissy parts of grief, but rather faces the steps of grief and explains them with short chapters and with fill-in-the-blank activities, craft ideas, and an ongoing Memory Box idea.

Reading this as the adult who’s going to be gifting it, I appreciated that it was age appropriate without pandering to kids. It’s intended for ages 7-12, but reading this made me want to look up the author for adult resources.

Kimberly Schuler has made a guide that is Catholic in spirit and essential in substance for grieving children. I can’t wait to share it with my niece, and I’m grateful to have a resource like this available to help her.

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Seven Sentences

May 6, 2011 By 4 Comments

With thanks to Jennifer, our hostess for 7 Quick Takes Friday

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I have exactly five more minutes (give or take a minute) before the girls explode and insist on dinner, so this week’s takes will be especially quick.

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Is Mother’s Day really THIS weekend?

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I’m trying not to panic about a lot of things, and that’s just one of them.

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The Major Life Change is moving right along, and by next week (fingers crossed), I may just be able to announce what it is.

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We have had one day of sun in the last seven, and I’m realizing during this day of sun, just how much the cloudiness and raininess have been affecting me.

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I am also becoming aware, in a painful way, of how much interrupted sleep leads to an increase in my Yell Factor with the kids.

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Lack of sleep + crazy stuff to do + kids in general + lack of sleep = less time than I’d like for reading through the awesome pile of books waiting for me (including the one I’m currently working on, The Face of God: The Rediscovery of the True Face of Jesus, by Paul Badde, whose book on Our Lady of Guadalupe was one of the best I’ve read)

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Brought to My Knees

April 28, 2011 By 8 Comments

I heard the garage door go up. And then it went down.

I hollered for the three-year-old, who was happily playing in my mother-in-law’s garage with the dog, to stop.

The garage door went up and down again. And then again.

There were about three shades of red starting to seep into my vision as I got up from the table where I was trying to work.

I opened the screen door, took a step, and was brought to my knees with searing pain in my foot.

She looked surprised and on the edge of crying. The red in my vision was tempered now by the throbbing my foot, and I yelled something at her as I looked down at the garden rake.

A few hours and two stitches later, with my foot propped up, I was trying to laugh about things. But I couldn’t get past the feeling that I had been brought to my knees for a reason.

Now, mind you, I HATE the expression “Everything happens for a reason.” It feels like a cop-out and an excuse.

And yet…and yet, I couldn’t shake the knowledge that, just as I was going to holler at my three-year-old for her garage door open-and-close-a-thon, I crippled myself.

It felt significant somehow. Was there a reason? Or was it just further proof that I should look before I leap?

As I was nursing the baby and then soothing the baby and then comforting the snot-ridden three-year-old that night, I felt the background of throbbing in my foot. I couldn’t walk right. I couldn’t leap. I couldn’t respond as I wanted.

And then it hit me, sitting in my chair with the baby: I was pierced in the bottom of my foot with a blunt object. I thought of Jesus, hanging on the cross, nails holding him in place.

Perhaps this is my chance to have a glimpse–a tiny little peek–at the pain Jesus endured for me. Maybe I can use this as an opportunity to slow down and spend some time with God.

Oh, and I’ll be watching my steps a little more closely, too.

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