5th Grade Information

Me, "How was school today?'
10 year old son, "Good. My teacher went to Wendy's for lunch today. I think she got a frosty, because she was in a good mood all afternoon."

And The Beat Goes On...

Just keeps on going. It has been a busier than usual past few weeks, and I am learning some things along the way. For example, the $104 copay for Tamaflu is worth the money, the activity of receiving a sacrament for the first time on a Thursday is just as busy as it would be on a weekend, post season intensity means no routine. We have been a serious focused group. On top of this, yesterday was the first sunny day in many days, so as soon as my son came home from school and before he even got out of his his uniform or did anything else, I gave him 4 cucumbers and asked him to please peel them outside and put the skins in the garden. He brought the dog Herc outside with him. About half way through peeling the first cucumber the dog sees something in the woods and takes off. Of course my son drops the cucumber and follows the dog. The dog chased an animal up a tree and starts barking and circling and barking and circling like he is mad. The other 3 other kids get off the bus and  hear the dog barking and go immediately to see what's going on on. They still have their back packs on. The excitement is loud. I hear, "What is it?"  "A bear!" "A raccoon!" "A fox!" The boys are lined up side by side and cautiously approaching the dog who is barking and circling an unusual animal with a very long tail that is up in a tree. The boys are kind of afraid and unsure yet are loving the situation. The barking is non stop and the boys are getting closer and closer. Unexpectedly, the animal jumps out of the tree and over the barking dog and runs. The dog and the boys try to follow it but lose it. The boys decide it was a bobcat and come in the house happily praising the dog for treeing a bob cat. This may have just been the perfect diversion.

Wordless Wednesday

Can you relate?!

Just Another Day Off From School

Presidents day. Kids everywhere. So before they even woke up their chore list was prepared and waiting. My son tackled the fireplace first thing, because he wanted his friends over to play. He yelled upstairs, "Where should I put the bucket of ashes?" I told him leave the bucket in the garage for now. A few minutes later I heard him and his younger brother kind making some sort of commotion. Someone came to get me and said, "The shop vac is smoking." I said what?  He said" It's smoking from both ends. I think there might be something wrong with it." Here's a picture of what's wrong with the shop vac when the ashes just swept into it are smoldering:

Keeping Track Of Life

Not easy. And with all of these kids going in so many directions no one is ever completely informed of all that is happening. I try and pass information along as it happens. And here is how it sometimes goes. Yesterday when I picked up my son from practice I said, "John is home sick today."
"You mean Mikey."
"John."
"You mean Mikey is home sick."
"What? John is home sick."
"Why is John home sick?"
"I don't know. He just is."
"Well, he lives at home."
"Yes, and now his is home sick."
"Oh! He is home sick."
"Yes, that is what I am trying to tell you."
"I thought you meant Mikey was homesick because he is in Switzerland."(his brother who is studying abroad)
How do I ever get anything done around here?

Wordless Wednesday

Downton Abbey

 A few weeks ago my husband brought home the first 2 episodes of Downton Abbey from red box. As we have seemingly watched movies where gratuitous violence and sex is the major appeal, this show to me was a breath of fresh air. My husband slept and twitched next to me and I sat mesmerized watching the consequences of human behavior play out on a screen. Downton is a PBS TV series showcasing the perks and privileges of wealth with all the glitz and glamour, the clothes the servants the land the travel, all of it. What a life! And fun to see the styles, the hats and gloves they wear to have lunch with just each other. The abbey is enormous with spectacular rooms and views and halls of servants quarters. And yet with all of this to take in, the real excellence of the series is not in seeing the abundance but in the stark realization there is no immunity of the wealthy to human conditions, death, infertility, infidelity, addictions etc. The super rich with all their money and available options, still have many of the same struggles as the poor with no money and few options. There is no escape from the problems of life. We all have the same battles no matter what our social or economic status. The show to me is about what I know but am not always sure I believe... happiness does not come from money.

Why Pray For Our Kids?

I am not sure. But with all these kids, I need to do a lot of it.  A few times a week I go to a tiny, intimate chapel. The chapel is special to Catholics because it is an adoration chapel, and we go to the chapel to adore what we believe is Jesus, truly present, body, blood, soul, and divinity. On the altar is a monstrance, which contains a host that we believe is Jesus hidden. Is sounds crazy even as I write it. And yet I still believe. And go and go. I pray for faith, for my husband, for my children and people who have asked me to pray for them. The chapel is my favorite place to be in the whole world, and has been my go to when facing decisions, a crisis or thanksgiving. It is a holy place. And I feel the holiness in the room. I go at odd and unpredictable times. There are always other people in there. Sometimes I know them, and we nod to each other. And I wonder, what is it that calls me here so much? Like a magnet pulling, pulling. I realize a praying parent does not mean a prayerful child, my first wish for my children. Yet empirically, that is just not so. The parents I see in that chapel, on their knees with rosaries in their hands, I know their kids. And I have consistently seen those kids whose parents are praying, grow up to eventually, but always, have faith. There has to be something to this observation. A praying parent has a positive effect on the faith of their children. Even when the children are adults, living far away, and do not know the parent is on their knees asking God to blanket them with happiness, grace, holiness and good health, the children are effected. I see it over and over and over. And I witness it in my own family. My kids do not know I have been praying for their intentions. Maybe it is me who changes when I pray, and become kinder, gentler toward them. But that still does not explain all things. They sense prayers for them in ways they do not realize. Which I guess is what keeps me going back. I see the fruits of prayers with my own eyes.

Our New Security System

He's been a family member about 7 months. 5:15 am today while we were in a state of blissful sleep, the howling started. My husband ran downstairs to see what the heck was going on. The barking stopped and my husband came back to bed. I asked him what the problem was and he told me the neighbor put their artificial Christmas tree in the garbage and the dog thought it was a person standing in front of our house. I asked, "So what did you do?" He told me he told Herc (our dog) it was not a person it was a tree. To me too, at this time of day, this sounded like the perfect solution, clarifying things to a dog. As soon as my husband got back in bed, the growling started again. My husband again jumped out of bed and repeated the explanation to the dog, that it was a tree in the garbage not a stalker casing the house. By this time the kids were awake and came downstairs to see the cause of the commotion. My one son said I'll just take Herc to see the tree. So he put on his boots and threw his coat over his jammies and took the dog to see the artificial tree that was in the garbage. It is like 9 degrees and barely light. The dog sniffed the tree and the rest of the garbage. They came back in. My son went to hang up his coat and the dog went back to the window, looked outside and saw the tree and started growling. Oh my gosh! We ended up taking Herc to another part of this house by bribing him with treats and comfy pillows so he forgot about the peeping tom that was a tree. You know, it is always something, isn't it?!

Why Study Abroad?

Tomorrow afternoon my oldest son will board a plane from the US and head to Switzerland to attend college there. And because of the crazy high cost of college here, the cost is about the same, including travel. Sounds exciting, doesn't it?  He will be there for 4 months. Oh lucky him. As a now experienced parent of kids who have studied in different countries, I am kind of an advocate for the experience. I will tell you why. With this foreign travel the young, (he's 19) scared kids get the challenge of adventure and the feeling of empowerment. All under the security of a college environment, which means advisers available, a health clinic easily accessible, and peers doing the same thing. The kids have to do all kinds of stuff on their own, make flight arrangements, schedule classes long ahead of time, figure out how to get places and budget their money, adapt to cultural norms etc. Independently, yet still with the safeguard and security of college life. They see they can do it! What a feeling! And then they come back home with a sense of accomplishment that is self satisfying. Wow. Big time life lessons. Most importantly they come home and are suddenly aware of things that were always in front of their noses that they never noticed before or realized how much they cared about. Their life perspective changes, matures, because they begin to understand just how good they have it. Bon Voyage!

Are You Ready For Some Football?

The Super Bowl is upon us, and how things have changed....
When we first got married my football playing husband brought with him his football passion. He would talk to me so much about rushing yards and pass protection, sometimes I felt I knew more about football than players on a high school football team. I could call the play ahead of time by the formation. I hoped for a good draft pick for certain positions. We would open a cold beer and watch the games together. He would yell at the TV, the coaches and everyone in the room when his team would pass instead of run. And when his team would lose (he was born an Eagles fan) he would be in a foul mood all week because he took the loss personally.  29 years and 8 kids later it is a whole different ball game. Tonight we will go to a party and watch the commercials and eat wonderfully fattening and unhealthy food, talk about our kids and the weather, laugh at the strange things that happened during the week and with a passive disinterest wonder who is winning the game. I like it better now. I pick the Ravens.

The Seven Deadly Sins

That is the name of our current Bible study. Yes, heavy material. Revealing too, how the habits incurred by the practice and desire of virtues guide a person to make sound decisions through life, in the hope of becoming a better person. Yesterday, I took a break from the self reflection the study demands and decided to page through a mindless magazine while I waited for my sons swimming practice to end. The magazine, Real Simple, had a section called Life Lesson Expertise. Sounds enlightening. And it was enlightening. The article had 5 sections, written by 5 experts, dedicated to the pursuit of VICES! The first expert, Paul Bloom is a PROFESSOR of psychology at Yale and explains how participation in office gossip helps build friendships and keep you informed. The second expert, Erica Jong, the EDITOR of the anthology Sugar In My Bowl, embraces sloth as a an incredible way to veg out and do nothing. Then there is the third expert, John Portmann a PROFESSOR OF MORAL HISTORY at the University of Virginia who writes that the pleasure a person gets from the misfortune of others can feel great, because you can rejoice that the karmic system works. And there is Sabrina Jefferies the best selling author of 34 romance novels who writes in praise of being lustful and encourages girls to embrace their lust and acknowledge sex as an essential component in any intimate relationship. Also Graham Hill, the founder of TreeHugger.com and LifeEdited.com claims it is OK to be a weekday vegetarian and eat pork, beef and chicken on the weekends. But still be a vegetarian, since the all or nothing approach is impossible for some people. I am shocked that I am shocked.