Archive for January, 2008:
A New Meme
HT Mary Ellen.
1. WERE YOU NAMED AFTER ANYONE ? Apparently I was supposed to be a boy. . . named Michael.
2. WHEN WAS THE LAST TIME YOU CRIED? A few weeks ago when I heard my mother-in-law had died.
3. DO YOU LIKE YOUR HANDWRITING? Sometimes.
4. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE LUNCH MEAT? Lebanon Bologna. If you don’t know what that is your aren’t from Lancaster County.
5. DO YOU HAVE KIDS? Yep - two short of dozen. 
6. IF YOU WERE ANOTHER PERSON WOULD YOU BE FRIENDS WITH YOU? I hope so.
7. DO YOU USE SARCASM A LOT? not at all! :-/
8. DO YOU STILL HAVE YOUR TONSILS? Yes.
9. WOULD YOU BUNGEE JUMP? Maybe, OK no. Wait. ..maybe.
10. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE CEREAL? Lucky Charms. Which is far more embarrassing than Mary Ellen’s Frosted Flakes!
11. DO YOU UNTIE YOUR SHOES WHEN YOU TAKE THEM OFF? No.
12. DO YOU THINK YOU ARE STRONG? Sometimes I am - sometimes I most definitely am not.
13. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE ICE CREAM? Dairy Queen vanilla.
14. WHAT IS THE FIRST THING YOU NOTICE ABOUT PEOPLE? Their eyes.
15. RED OR PINK? In regards to what? I like both but it depends on what it is.
16. WHAT IS THE LEAST FAVORITE THING YOU LIKE ABOUT YOURSELF? My tendency to be self-focused. It’s not all about you Shel!
17. WHO DO YOU MISS THE MOST? My husband when he’s gone -really.
18. WHAT COLOR PANTS AND SHOES ARE YOU WEARING? Black pants, no shoes.
19. WHAT WAS THE LAST THING YOU ATE? Air popped popcorn with coconut oil and sea salt.
20. WHAT ARE YOU LISTENING TO RIGHT NOW? The ticking of the clock on the mantle.
21. IF YOU WERE A CRAYON, WHAT COLOR WOULD YOU BE? Uh gee let me think. Is this your basic box of 8 or the big 90 some colors thing? Something blueish I guess.
22. FAVORITE SMELLS? baby’s breath (the real kind not the plant), baby feet, freshly washed baby hair (are you sensing a theme here?).
23. WHO WAS THE LAST PERSON YOU TALKED TO ON THE PHONE? Julie.
24. FAVORITE SPORTS TO WATCH? World Champion poker -I’m really not a sports person.
25. HAIR COLOR? brownish blonde.
26. EYE COLOR? greenish blue.
27. DO YOU WEAR CONTACTS? No. I tried them once and couldn’t stand them.
28. FAVORITE FOOD? Seafood - shrimp, crab, lobster.
29. SCARY MOVIES OR HAPPY ENDINGS? happy endings.
30. LAST MOVIE YOU WATCHED? I Am Legend (SCARY -but really good- movie!)
31. WHAT COLOR SHIRT ARE YOU WEARING? White.
32. SUMMER OR WINTER? Neither - just give me Spring and Fall.
33. HUGS OR KISSES? Depends on the context and who I am kissing or hugging!
34. FAVORITE DESSERT? Rice Krispie treats. I know, but I could eat the whole pan.
35. WHAT BOOK ARE YOU READING NOW? Covenanted Happiness by Cormac Burke
36. WHAT IS ON YOUR MOUSE PAD? I have a laptop but I use a wireless optical mouse and no pad.
37. WHAT DID YOU WATCH ON T.V. LAST NIGHT? I didn’t watch TV last night.
38. FAVORITE SOUNDS? baby cooing, children laughing, husband telling me he loves me.
39. ROLLING STONES OR BEATLES? I don’t know — if I had to choose I’d say Beatles.
40. WHAT IS THE FARTHEST YOU HAVE BEEN FROM HOME? Europe (Italy, Switzerland, Germany -too lazy to figure out which was farthest away).
41. DO YOU HAVE A SPECIAL TALENT? Parallel parking. Seriously I’m good.
42. WHERE WERE YOU BORN? Coatesville, PA - how boring is that?
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One of my planner’s is in today’s drawing along with three other great books.
Check it out and leave a comment.
You just might win!
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Burning up, not out
Christmas is past and soon January will be gone. February stretches before us as we move into the longest days of winter (or what at least feels like the longest days). Since it’s also a leap year we get an extra day of that, ever so short, yet ever so long, month.
And February is notorious for burnout. Gray skies, cold temperatures and restless children can leave even the most enthusiastic of mothers feeling discouraged and tired. It’s only natural, but then maybe that’s the problem. The problem that is, of “me”.
When I feel the stress and challenge of these days I am tempted to go inward. Not spiritually, but selfishly. I want to hibernate, relax, do something for me. But a funny thing happens at my house when I start focusing too much on myself; everyone else starts focusing on themselves too. . .and I’m sure I don’t need to tell you why that’s not a good thing!
Recently I was having a bad morning and feeling quite grumpy as we made our way to mass. Right as we sat down in the pew, Maria became very fussy. I began rocking her in an attempt to soothe her and in untypical fashion she fell asleep immediately. I was concerned she may be sick so I spent the entire mass sitting very still so she could sleep. Holding her, focusing on her needs and participating in the mass as much as I was able, I had no time to think about myself and my grumpiness. She woke up right near the end of mass and was fine but I had gotten the message. You know, the one about how happiness is to be found in focusing on others and not on oneself.
Yep, as always, it’s all about love. It’s about following our Lord’s example and laying down our lives. It’s about burning up that which is not of God and turning towards Him by turning towards others and away from ourselves. No, I’m not saying we moms never need time alone to recharge. Sure we do, but if I am being honest I have to admit that most of the time it’s my own selfishness that leads me towards burnout and not the legitimate demands of my family. And while it can sometimes be tricky discerning what’s necessary and what isn’t, I find recourse to constant and sincere prayer usually helps sort all that out.
Oh I know. . . that’s so contrary to what the world would tell me. The world would tell me that I need to find myself and be fulfilled. But I don’t need to find myself, I know exactly who I am and what fulfills me. The world has no clue. But thanks be to God, I do.
Please keep praying for Eliza
Alice has posted a note to let us know that Eliza still needs prayers.
Please keep praying.
Alice has posted an update:
I am so glad to tell you that we heard from Kimberlee, and all is well! Eliza was brought in for her echo at exactly 3:02 pm, and the test showed no change or any sign of infection. It turns out her original blood draw was not taken properly and was most likely contaminated, causing a false alarm.
Kimberlee and Michael are “ecstatically relieved”!
Prayer of thanksgiving for this news:
“O Jesus, eternal God, I thank You for Your countless graces and blessings. Let every beat of my heart be a new hymn of thanksgiving to You, O God. Let every drop of my blood circulate for You, Lord. My soul is one hymn in adoration of Your mercy. I love you, God, for Yourself alone.”
–from Saint Faustina’s diary
Spring cleaning
No it’s not spring, but the new year coupled with this unseasonably warm weather (almost 60 today!) sure makes it feel like spring.
All around the blog-o-sphere moms are cleaning up and clearing out. Me too, and I started with my diet. I have stopped eating all sugar and gluten in an attempt to get my body back in balance and relieve the symptoms of Candidasis I have been suffering from. I’m only on day 4 but I am feeling great and I have lost just shy of 5 pounds to boot! I am following the Body Ecology Diet and give credit to Jennie Lou for mentioning it to me (congrats to the Tippetts as they just announced they are expecting a new baby!). The Body Ecology Diet (BED) answered a lot of questions for me and helped me to really get a sense of what was going on with my body. The basic principle is about balance and restoring the ecosystem that is naturally present in our bodies. The focus of the diet (and that’s diet as a way of life not diet as a weight loss plan - though that may be a benefit) is to restore your inner health, strengthen your immune system and establish a pattern of living and eating well that will extend your vitality for years to come. OK I know what you are thinking; no sugar and gluten? How can you survive? Well rest assured I am surviving and quite well thank you. But lest you think I will never eat a piece of chocolate again let me assure you that the plan does allow you to reintroduce some small amounts of sugar and gluten back into your diet (provided you can tolerate them) but just not until those Candida things are under control. That’s what I’m working on now. I went through some serious detox the first day or two but I am feeling quite well now and quite energetic. OK sure, I tend to be pretty high energy anyway but given the amount of stress in our lives lately and the fact that it’s winter. . . I feel very good!
I’m cleaning house too. Basically I am reorganizing and putting home improvement projects on a schedule. Strangely, except for my extensive stash of fabric, I don’t have a clutter issue. I don’t know why I don’t have a clutter issue, given we are a family of 12, but I really don’t. As a child I was messy. My room was always a mess and I left messes in my wake. I’m not sure what happened to change that but somewhere along the line I started to realize the beauty and serenity of uncluttered space. Of course it didn’t happen overnight but I do think hubby being in the military had something to do with it. When you move every three years you get tired of hauling things around so you pitch them - at least that’s what I did. Now I am to the point that I hate clutter and culling it has become second nature to me. It’s a constant battle for sure when you have this many people working against you, but I tend to do it pretty much without thinking and it works for me. For example, I will pluck hubby’s coat from the chair he hung it on as I walk through the dining room, deposit it on the closet hook, scoop up his shoes on my way upstairs, immediately tell a child “do not leave that there” as they place something on the dining room table that, apart from schoolwork, does not belong there, ask the lounging 8yr. old “is your room clean?’ (the answer to which is almost always “sort of”) and send her to clean it immediately. I will then notice the floor needs swept and call the recalcitrant child who forgot to do their chore, etc, etc.
Uh. . . OK so I can probably be a bit overwhelming to my family at times, but honestly I can’t help it. It must be the choleric in me. Mind you I’m not always this way, but I do like order. Please don’t misunderstand, my house is NOT spotless by any means. On any given day you can find dust bunnies under my sofas and cobwebs in the far corners of my 10 foot ceilings (they’re so high!), not to mention dust that seems to accumulate on flat spaces in copious amounts while we sleep. . . but clutter I cannot stand!
So, since my house is already perfect (not!) what am I doing? Reorganizing of course! Cholerics love change. “Out with the old and in with the new” we say and “there must be a better way to do this”. So I am moving furniture, wallpapering walls, revamping the schedule, tweaking the routine and making changes where change is needed. I’ll update as we make progress (you don’t think I’m doing this all by myself do you?) and keep you bored informed.
Kevin (15) and I got back to meal planning this week and it’s working out great. We went through the paper checking out all the sales, composed a menu and went shopping with an eye to staying on budget ($200/week for all food including extra bread and milk as the week goes on). Kevin loves to cook (and does it very well!) so we will split that task too.
Today we are rearranging bedrooms, moving the business stuff to a smallish third floor room and moving the bigger boys to the front, more spacious, third floor room. That means my sewing area (now in my bedroom since babykins was moved to the tiny spare room that used to be my sewing room) will now expand as part of my bedroom. This actually works well as my bedroom is quite large and gets loads of sun throughout the day.
I had better get back to work. It’s 3:00 and although it may feel like spring we will lose daylight soon and I haven’t yet told the boys they are cleaning out the cars. . .
Prayers needed!
Kimberlee’s little Eliza had to be taken to the ER this morning but we have no more details.
Elizabeth will be posting updates over at her blog.
Please pray for this precious little girl.
UPDATE: Alice has posted an update that “After almost ten hours in the ER, it seems Eliza will be all right. She is home and doing well! She has a bone lesion on her knee, and will need an mri this week, so please pray it is nothing serious.”
Thanks be to God!
Epiphany
It is the 12th day of Christmas and today we celebrate the solemnity of the Epiphany of the Lord.
Epiphany is from the Greek word for a divine “manifestation” or “revelation”. The Church’s liturgy for the feast, especially in its antiphons for Vespers, reflect the tradition that Epiphany was thought to be the day not only when the Magi came to adore Christ, but also the same day years later when Jesus changed water into wine at Cana, and also when He was baptized by St. John at the Jordan. — Fr. John Zuhlsdorf WDTPRS
If the Feast of Epiphany is to be fully understood as the Church sees it, it will have to be viewed from two aspects: that of God who manifested Himself to man, and that of man, typified in the Magi, who responded with wholehearted faith and love. It is, therefore, a day of faith and grace on which no other prayer ought to take precedence over that petition of the Our Father, “Thy Kingdom Come!” — Excerpted from With Christ Through the Year, Rev. Bernard Strasser, O.S.B.
A blessed 12th day of Christmas to all!
