Encouraging title, no? For your amusement, we have the scene at the home of the Catholic Librarian Sunday morning, approximately 20 minutes before we had to leave for Mass:
"MOMMY! Anne is hiding under the table, and she STINKS!"
Two, indeed, incriminating pieces of evidence.
Ugh.
"All right, I'll investigate, just give me a minute. I'm going through my yarn."
Because we have to have priorities here, people.
"Anne, are you ok, Honey? What's wrong?"
"Nothing, Mommy, I'm fine!"
Three incriminating pieces of evidence.
"Let me get you out of there. Oh yes, you definitely do stink. Do you have to go potty?"
"No Mommy!"
Lies, all lies.
"Let's go into the bathroom and see what's happening, shall we? Let's just get your sleeper off. Oh. Oh dear."
I had suspected that the horse was already out of the gate on this one, but the damage was far worse than I ever imagined. We had a messy poo situation that covered Anne's back, legs and feet. Her sleeper was going to require extensive repair work and her underwear appeared bound straight for the trash. It was THAT bad.
"Ok Honey, let's get these messy things off of you, and then, oh, oh God. There is poo now on the floor. Don't move, Anne! Oh the RUG!! Don't move Sweetie, I need to go get some wipes!!" I leave the poor child standing there naked.
I dash upstairs, which really makes no sense. Why didn't I immediately whisk Anne upstairs to the tub with me? The fumes were obviously affecting my brain power, to be sure.
"I'm coming with the wipes, Sweetheart!"
"Mommy! I HAVE 3 NIPPLES!!"
This statement caused me to stop in my tracks halfway down the stairs. Clearly, my intervention was needed ASAP.
And no, Anne does NOT have 3 nipples, she just doesn't always distinguish between numbers correctly. :0
"Let's get the worst of this off of you Honey, and then get you upstairs for a bath."
Moments later, I'm hoisting a befouled Anne up the stairs and into the tub of running water, which degenerates into a sewer situation in record time. A complete hosing off was needed, poor child.
With only five minutes to spare, we left for Mass, the house ventilation system still recovering from this breach of odor. Life of a Toddler Parent. Never a dull moment. ;-)
Tuesday, April 29, 2014
Monday, April 28, 2014
Bellydance Monday: Rickety runways make for delicate dancing...
Afternoon everyone! My day is off to a bit of an inauspicious start, but I'm doing my best to keep my spirits up. Envision a sassy toddler refusing to put pants on this morning and you'll get a sense of how things are unfolding on this end.
But I had a lovely time last Friday dancing with my troupe at a charity event. Ready to chronicle? Go get your tea!
As these shindigs often go, we didn't have nearly enough information until the day before the event. We finally received a time that we would perform, and made plans to gather at the studio beforehand for a final practice. Claire sends us a message:
"Ok, we only have 5 minutes to perform, so I'm going to do a cane thing in the middle of you while you dance the first song, and then join you for the drum!"
And the funny thing is, I used to be SO uptight about dancing. I worried about things going wrong to such an extent that I planned out every moment and opportunity to breathe. Now that I'm in the troupe, we fly by the seat of our pants because each performance requires us to adapt to different surfaces, environments, audiences, and even our own formations depending upon how many of us can make each event. For this particular performance, we would be dancing on an "I" shaped runway. For the first song, half of us would be each front/back segment of the "I" and Claire would be on the long part, dancing while swinging a cane around. And...this did not disturb us in the least. :0
One time change later, we were all practiced and ready to go, heading into the venue. The normal chaos reigned, with other dance groups milling around and nobody knowing where anyone was supposed to go. We were eventually shown the dressing room, but the "Women" sign on the door didn't seem to keep random men from wandering in, which I suppose shouldn't have been a shock. We readied as discreetly as we could and headed backstage.
The Bollywood dancers performed before us, and they are GOOD. I was enjoying watching them, but all the while I was fretting about my costume.
*COSTUMES HAUNT TIFFANY'S NIGHTMARES *
It's just endlessly frustrating how obsessed we all are with procuring these beautiful costumes and then they are never designed in such a way as to fit a moving body comfortably. This time, my worry was my belt and skirt. The beading on all of these pieces are super heavy, and I've lost a little weight, thus my belt was sitting lower than I wanted it to. There is just no flexibility in a bra and belt set. I'm telling you, 5 lbs in either direction and suddenly your costume doesn't fit you anymore. And I mean...5 lbs can just be a bloated day situation, kwim?! I didn't want my skirt to show over the top of my belt, because that just looks weird, so I pinned the front of it to my belt. As I'm standing backstage, my belt feeling uncomfortably low, I begin to realize that this wasn't such a good idea. As I'm pondering my options, we are told to GO! Feeling jolted, we hurry out onto the runway.
As I make my way to the front, lights blind me. The runway also sounds a bit...creaky as we walk on it. The setup is clearly different from last year. I position myself and try to clear the stars that have formed before my eyes from the lights when WHAM! Our music starts. :)
I move to the far left corner of the front of the "I", as I'm supposed to. I wait in my cute waiting position while the other group moves. Then...I forget the choreography. :0
The lights, combined with my costume worries, combined with the fact that the runway doesn't actually feel all that steady, have distracted me. I do the first things that come to my mind when a panic situation arises while dancing:
(a) Beam winningly at the audience.
(b) Move a hip. Or...something.
(c) Make flowy arms that don't look like they're flailing.
Hopefully that will distract everyone while you figure things out. ;-)
So that's what I did. It was probably only a few seconds, although it felt like an eternity. But then I remembered what I was supposed to be doing and my hips joined back in. So, problem #1 solved. But problem #2 made itself known quite quickly. MY FREAKING COSTUME.
I kept clandestinely having to check myself out to assure that my skirt and belt were in place. It was fine, but the sensation was disconcerting. The entire first song I thought about the sewing alterations I would be making *forthwith*.
So problem #2 was a work in progress for the entire set, although thankfully things ended well. No costume malfunction. Our first song is pretty short, and soon we were moving on to the drum. We changed formations for this one, our group now spanning the entire "I." I took my place on the middle skinny section of the runway and fretted about my costume some more.
We've done this drum piece so many times I could do it in my sleep, so no forgetting worries there. I tried to beam and study my audience to assure they weren't making horrified faces signalling that my belt was about to make me die of embarrassment. They seemed to be watching with pleasant interest, so that's good. I spotted one potentially creepy guy, but he was easily ignorable.
As we moved to a dramatic part of the song and busted out a hip drop series, I felt the runway shake a bit. It didn't seem to like all of the dancing that we were doing on it. :0 And so that was problem #3, Potential & Catastrophic Equipment Failure. I was already dancing carefully so that my belt would stay in place, and now I wanted to assure that the stage wouldn't collapse and crush all of us. Fun times, I tell you.
The drum went really well though, stage issues notwithstanding. Since the audience was on 3 sides of us, we all faced a different direction so that each side had multiple dancers facing them, rather than seeing only backs for our entire performance. It looked really good. But I was extremely relieved when our music ended and we swept off stage.
As we headed back to the alleged dressing room, multiple people organizing the event stopped us to say that they loved our performance and how well we used the stage. We made pleased noises. :) One of my troupemates commented that she had a table in front of her making stink faces, but hey. Haters gonna hate. ;-) You can't worry about people like that., there are some of them in every audience.
We took some pictures before heading off to change and rest up for our next event. Never a dull moment in the dancing life. :)
I'm specifically resting a sore calf muscle and shaking my fist at the aging process, but what can a girl do? I want to be at my best for the hafla on Saturday, so I'm doing what I can. More on that to come. :)
How was your weekend?!
But I had a lovely time last Friday dancing with my troupe at a charity event. Ready to chronicle? Go get your tea!
"Ok, we only have 5 minutes to perform, so I'm going to do a cane thing in the middle of you while you dance the first song, and then join you for the drum!"
And the funny thing is, I used to be SO uptight about dancing. I worried about things going wrong to such an extent that I planned out every moment and opportunity to breathe. Now that I'm in the troupe, we fly by the seat of our pants because each performance requires us to adapt to different surfaces, environments, audiences, and even our own formations depending upon how many of us can make each event. For this particular performance, we would be dancing on an "I" shaped runway. For the first song, half of us would be each front/back segment of the "I" and Claire would be on the long part, dancing while swinging a cane around. And...this did not disturb us in the least. :0
One time change later, we were all practiced and ready to go, heading into the venue. The normal chaos reigned, with other dance groups milling around and nobody knowing where anyone was supposed to go. We were eventually shown the dressing room, but the "Women" sign on the door didn't seem to keep random men from wandering in, which I suppose shouldn't have been a shock. We readied as discreetly as we could and headed backstage.
The Bollywood dancers performed before us, and they are GOOD. I was enjoying watching them, but all the while I was fretting about my costume.
*COSTUMES HAUNT TIFFANY'S NIGHTMARES *
It's just endlessly frustrating how obsessed we all are with procuring these beautiful costumes and then they are never designed in such a way as to fit a moving body comfortably. This time, my worry was my belt and skirt. The beading on all of these pieces are super heavy, and I've lost a little weight, thus my belt was sitting lower than I wanted it to. There is just no flexibility in a bra and belt set. I'm telling you, 5 lbs in either direction and suddenly your costume doesn't fit you anymore. And I mean...5 lbs can just be a bloated day situation, kwim?! I didn't want my skirt to show over the top of my belt, because that just looks weird, so I pinned the front of it to my belt. As I'm standing backstage, my belt feeling uncomfortably low, I begin to realize that this wasn't such a good idea. As I'm pondering my options, we are told to GO! Feeling jolted, we hurry out onto the runway.
As I make my way to the front, lights blind me. The runway also sounds a bit...creaky as we walk on it. The setup is clearly different from last year. I position myself and try to clear the stars that have formed before my eyes from the lights when WHAM! Our music starts. :)
I move to the far left corner of the front of the "I", as I'm supposed to. I wait in my cute waiting position while the other group moves. Then...I forget the choreography. :0
The lights, combined with my costume worries, combined with the fact that the runway doesn't actually feel all that steady, have distracted me. I do the first things that come to my mind when a panic situation arises while dancing:
(a) Beam winningly at the audience.
(b) Move a hip. Or...something.
(c) Make flowy arms that don't look like they're flailing.
Hopefully that will distract everyone while you figure things out. ;-)
So that's what I did. It was probably only a few seconds, although it felt like an eternity. But then I remembered what I was supposed to be doing and my hips joined back in. So, problem #1 solved. But problem #2 made itself known quite quickly. MY FREAKING COSTUME.
I kept clandestinely having to check myself out to assure that my skirt and belt were in place. It was fine, but the sensation was disconcerting. The entire first song I thought about the sewing alterations I would be making *forthwith*.
So problem #2 was a work in progress for the entire set, although thankfully things ended well. No costume malfunction. Our first song is pretty short, and soon we were moving on to the drum. We changed formations for this one, our group now spanning the entire "I." I took my place on the middle skinny section of the runway and fretted about my costume some more.
We've done this drum piece so many times I could do it in my sleep, so no forgetting worries there. I tried to beam and study my audience to assure they weren't making horrified faces signalling that my belt was about to make me die of embarrassment. They seemed to be watching with pleasant interest, so that's good. I spotted one potentially creepy guy, but he was easily ignorable.
As we moved to a dramatic part of the song and busted out a hip drop series, I felt the runway shake a bit. It didn't seem to like all of the dancing that we were doing on it. :0 And so that was problem #3, Potential & Catastrophic Equipment Failure. I was already dancing carefully so that my belt would stay in place, and now I wanted to assure that the stage wouldn't collapse and crush all of us. Fun times, I tell you.
The drum went really well though, stage issues notwithstanding. Since the audience was on 3 sides of us, we all faced a different direction so that each side had multiple dancers facing them, rather than seeing only backs for our entire performance. It looked really good. But I was extremely relieved when our music ended and we swept off stage.
As we headed back to the alleged dressing room, multiple people organizing the event stopped us to say that they loved our performance and how well we used the stage. We made pleased noises. :) One of my troupemates commented that she had a table in front of her making stink faces, but hey. Haters gonna hate. ;-) You can't worry about people like that., there are some of them in every audience.
We took some pictures before heading off to change and rest up for our next event. Never a dull moment in the dancing life. :)
I'm specifically resting a sore calf muscle and shaking my fist at the aging process, but what can a girl do? I want to be at my best for the hafla on Saturday, so I'm doing what I can. More on that to come. :)
How was your weekend?!
Friday, April 25, 2014
7 Quick Takes {Take 38} It's been awhile! edition
The last time I wrote a 7 Quick Takes post was 3 weeks ago, prior to my second bout with dental surgery. It feels like forever! I like writing these posts, although my fastidious nature makes it such that they are decidedly NOT quicker for me to write. But I enjoy them, they bring out my creativity in writing. And so I'm glad to be back with you on Fridays. *beams*
-2- I have a to-do list for my son's 1st Communion. #TypeAgirlsrule
Ok, lots of stuff coming up on my family's agenda. One of the biggest items is Henry's First Communion, scheduled for next Saturday, May 3rd. In the midst of this, Henry is now playing soccer, Mike is rehearsing for the play he's going to be in, and I've had dance rehearsals for a slew of events we have coming up this spring and summer. Thus, I made a First Communion to-do list:
(1) Obsess over and purchase gift. Check.
(2) Buy glue and finish gluing banner. Glue is bought, but hasn't yet been applied. We're getting there.
(3) Purchase outfit. Praise be to God, Mike fielded this one. Check.
(4) Plan menu. Partially done, as has been the case for the past two weeks, sigh.
(5) Order cake. Check!
*halo*
Making progress.
-3- The spring knitting bug bites...
With all of this going on, it is no surprise that spring knitting fever has finally hit me as a stress reliever. I'm currently working on a wool sweater in a colorway entitled "Autumn Heather" so clearly, I need to get with the program. I'm feeling the itch for cotton shells and lacy shrugs. I also crave knitting baby items at this time of year, which I suppose is also part of spring's message. :0 Anybody got a baby I can knit for?!
-4- Spring reading list!
I've also been enjoying reading in the evenings, and have several books to recommend. I'm currently reading an Amish series called "Seasons of the Heart" by Charlotte Hubbard. I read the summer and autumn books, and am now on Winter of Wishes. Also, I know, not very springy. BUT, the spring volume, Breath of Spring, is the last in the series and is set to be released May 6th!:
I'm also about to start a book that I received from Image Books to review here on the blog, Girl at the End of the World: My Escape from Fundamentalism in Search of Faith with a Future, by Elizabeth Esther.
I love memoirs, especially of the spiritual variety, so I'm really looking forward to reading this. My copy came in yesterday's mail, and just reading the back cover had me fascinated.
-5-I actually don't hate getting older anymore...
On a totally different topic, I've been dwelling upon age lately. I suppose it's the fact that my next birthday will mean a change in the tens column for me. As soon as I hit the mid-point of this decade, I started getting anxious about this particular milestone. Aging had never bothered me previously, but the past four years it's been on my mind quite a bit. This is the first stretch in which I have noticed physical changes, I suppose that could be the reason. Graying hair. Lines around my eyes. Thinning skin on my hands. I mean, I'm not a fan of such things, but who is? I have, however, gotten used to them. And in the case of the graying hair, eradicated them. *sniffs daintily*
But after my birthday this past February, my last for this particular decade, I decided that I'm not going to dread aging anymore. I actually LIKE most things about getting older. Not so insecure about everything anymore, check. That's a wonderful part of getting older. Feeling happier in my relationships, check. Being able to more aptly evaluate my strengths and weaknesses and thus revel in the things I enjoy and am good at, check. That's all good. Except...
-6- ...I do hate the physical degeneration part. *frowns*
The slow and very real breakdown of your body is not such a pleasing thing. Not to be dramatic, I know I have a long time to go (hopefully) before I'll be officially decrepit, but I hate suddenly noticing all of these little aches and pains:
"Is it going to rain?! My sciatica is acting up."
That sort of thing. In my case, it's my right calf muscle. I strained it *while walking in my house* which is what happens when you're pushing 40.
YOU GET HURT WHILE WALKING.
Very unfair, let me tell you. It's been bothering me off and on for weeks, and I'm not a person who veers from her routine to let things heal easily, as you all well know. I really tried to take it easy on it for a time, and it was feeling a lot better, but it flares up every now and again. Given that I have a lot of dance events coming up, this is wrecking havoc with my plans quite a bit. I am most unhappy about this.
-7- But hey, BRIGHT ORANGE DANCE COSTUME!
Which makes the entire world happier, no? :) Although my calf clearly has something going on, it's minor enough to not be causing me pain, it's just a little sore. I should be able to dance tonight, which is good since my troupe is slated to perform at a charity event. We're going to be dancing on a runway, which should be interesting, hopefully I won't fall off and injure another body part. Although that would be a good blog story, wouldn't it?
At any rate, our spring hafla is next Saturday, and my new dance skirts arrived, so hello bright orange skirt for my solo!! With matching gauntlet gloves. So much orange. It looks so smashing I can hardly stand it. Expect photos. :0
I'll post more dance stuff Monday to chronicle our event tonight and let you know what I decided to do for my solo, so check back then. *beams* Super excited!
Ok everyone, have a fabulous weekend! Check in over at Conversion Diary for more 7 Quick Takes!
Thursday, April 24, 2014
A brief conversation with a toddler...
I snag a hard boiled egg from the refrigerator in a clandestine fashion, and carefully keeping my back to the table, tap it on the wooden garbage can to break the shell. In a flash, Anne materializes before me.
"Mommy, WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!"
*freezes* "Um, nothing Sweetheart."
"Is the egg ok, Mommy? IS HE OK?!"
Anne apparently believes that eggs are *alive*, which is kind of creepy. She's always worried about something happening to them.
"It's ok, Honey. Remember? We eat eggs, this is their purpose in our house."
"But the BLUE ONE, Mommy, the blue one!"
I knew this was going to be a problem. This was the first of the colored Easter eggs to be sacrificed for my lunch salad.
"It's all right, Honey, I promise. We can color more eggs next year."
*sniffle*
All drama, all the time, in the household of the Catholic Librarian lately. :0
"Mommy, WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!"
*freezes* "Um, nothing Sweetheart."
"Is the egg ok, Mommy? IS HE OK?!"
Anne apparently believes that eggs are *alive*, which is kind of creepy. She's always worried about something happening to them.
"It's ok, Honey. Remember? We eat eggs, this is their purpose in our house."
"But the BLUE ONE, Mommy, the blue one!"
I knew this was going to be a problem. This was the first of the colored Easter eggs to be sacrificed for my lunch salad.
"It's all right, Honey, I promise. We can color more eggs next year."
*sniffle*
All drama, all the time, in the household of the Catholic Librarian lately. :0
Wednesday, April 23, 2014
Catholic Book Club: More Catholic Than the Pope
Hello everyone, and happy Wednesday of Easter! It's time for our April edition of the Catholic Book Club, and today we are slated to discuss More Catholic Than the Pope: An Inside Look at Extreme Traditionalism by Patrick Madrid and Pete Vere.
I'll give you a quick overview, for those who haven't read it: there are three sections to this book. The first takes a chronological and analytical look at the Society of St. Pius X (SSPX), a traditionalist sect that many of us have at least heard of previously. The second part examines the SSPX's gripes against the Second Vatican Council, and the third part is a series of answers to frequently used arguments by extreme traditionalists ("Is the New Mass a 'Danger to the Faith'?"). The authors also include appendices of important documents mentioned in the book.
Ok, sooooooo... This is a well written book. The authors clearly did their homework and provide solid, well researched arguments (all cited back to their original source) for why we can all feel comfortable with our loyalty to the pope and to the licitness of the Second Vatican Council. This is simply a much more academic book than I usually read in my free time. No personal, humorous anecdotes sprinkled amongst a tear-jerking spiritual memoir in this book, to be sure. :) I did find the story of the beginnings of the SSPX and Archbishop Lefebbvre interesting, but the academic discussion just didn't make the reading as fascinating as I'd hoped.
I bought this book last year, slightly after Pope Francis was elected and news stories were popping up about traditional Catholics being unhappy with Francis' spirituality and approach to liturgy. I became very interested in liturgical matters, and different Catholic interpretations of our faith. This book covers the topic admirably, and does so in less than 150 pages. The book does not bore us with unnecessary and tedious filler. But I have to admit to skimming a bit as I progressed my way toward the end. Although the topic is interesting, the book didn't hold my interest, if that makes any sense. It's certainly an excellent reference tool on this subject, however.
Who else has read this book and has thoughts on it? Chime in please!
Next month, I will be reading The Cloistered Heart, by Nancy Shuman, so a foray into spirituality and contemplation. In June, I'm super excited to be reading Jennifer Fulwiler's memoir, Something Other Than God, which will be downloading to my Kindle on its upcoming release date. It will be a summer of memoirs, since I'm putting Cari Donaldson's Pope Awesome and Other Stories on the list for July. (And psssst! It's on sale for Kindle today for $4.99!)
Talk to you all tomorrow. :)
Tuesday, April 22, 2014
A beautiful Triduum - a tale of Holy Week happiness
*makes tea*
I had a super long day last Thursday, working the evening reference shift, and thus was extra thankful that I had taken Good Friday off. I got to sleep in and relax in the morning, and pray with my Magnificat magazine. Despite my resolution to pray Morning and Evening prayer for all of Lent, that hadn't gone very well :0 until Holy Week. Everything just really gelled for me Holy Week, and that continued during the Triduum. My Magnificat had absolutely fascinating details about all of the Triduum liturgies that I pored over. How could I have been a Catholic my whole life without knowing all of this *fantastic* information?!
Due to work, I missed the Mass of the Lord's Supper on Holy Thursday, but I was rearing to go on Good Friday afternoon. I almost didn't make it to the Celebration of the Passion liturgy, held at 3 pm at my parish, because Anne had a bad nap wake up and pitched a fit that could be heard for miles before we left the house, but I persevered. She had thankfully calmed down by the time we arrived, and was an excellent girl for the entire service. The only thing is (a) we were a few minutes late due to aforementioned fit pitching, and (b) the instant our butts touch the pew, she announces that she has to go to the bathroom. But we made it, and so I'll take it.
The entire liturgy lasted just over an hour. During the veneration of the cross, Anne was wide eyed as she watched everyone take their turn going forward, from little kids to elderly people needing help walking up. I could tell that that made quite an impression on her. I plan to make the Good Friday service an absolute must attend event each year, WOW does it pack a wallop. From the reading of the Passion in St. John's gospel, to the bare altar & empty tabernacle, I leave in tears every time.
As soon as Anne and I were heading out to the car, I was thinking about completing the Triduum with the Easter Vigil. We usually attend Mass on Easter morning, I'd only been to the Easter vigil twice in my entire life. Once before I realized how different the liturgy was on that day from every other vigil of the year, and once in 2011 when one of my best friends was baptized and confirmed and I was her Godmother.
*beams*
That was a very special Easter, obviously. After a spiritually dry year so far this year, I was loving my fruitful Holy Week and felt very inspired for the vigil Mass. So I made plans. This involved:
(a) staying awake, since the vigil starts at 8 pm and I'm usually ready for bed by 9:30. *snorts*
and,
(b) talking Henry into going with me. I thought it would be a special thing given that his First Communion is coming up in two weeks.
"It involves FIRE, Hank! But it *is* longer, so you have to be patient."
"Longer?! I don't think so, Mommy."
"But...FIRE!"
Let's just say that I prevailed.
At 8 pm Saturday evening, Henry and I were sitting in the darkened church, craning our necks to see the fire getting started outside. As our deacon processed into the dark church with the lit Easter candle, intoning "Behold, the light of Christ!" I thought to myself how very grateful I am to be Catholic. Our faith is truly a treasure.
I was teary as Hank and I had our candles lit, feeling so thankful that God is always there, even in our spiritual darkness. When the lights were flipped on dramatically as the cantor sang the Easter Proclamation, I could tell Hank was impressed. This indeed was different than any Mass he had ever seen.
Following the Blessing of Fire and Procession of the Candle, we moved to the Liturgy of the Word. This is the tough part with the Easter Vigil. :) There are 7 readings at this liturgy, each with their own Psalm and prayer, and Henry's agonized face as he flipped through his missal said it all. If I have a missal with which to follow along, *I'm* fine with that many readings, but feeling Henry's misery oozing from every pore was raining on my Easter parade a bit.
Well, at the pastor's discretion, the initial 7 readings can be pared down, and our parish ended up reading 3 of those, plus then the Pauline epistle and the Gospel, so 5 readings in total rather than 9. I thought that was an excellent compromise, and it soothed Henry quite a bit to see the readings dwindling.
Following the homily comes the third part of this Mass, which is the baptismal liturgy. Sublime! The litany of the saints, oh!
*ANGELS WERE LITERALLY SINGING*
It was so beautiful. We had 2 catechumens (receiving baptism, confirmation and Eucharist) and 2 candidates (receiving confirmation and Eucharist). One of the catechumens was a much older man, probably approaching 90 years old! I teared up during the baptisms, and then when the congregation renewed our own baptismal promises, it was just... Only when my good friend Irena was baptized, and when I got married, have I ever been that emotional at a Mass before.
When we moved on to the final part of the Mass, the Liturgy of the Eucharist, I could feel Hank relax. He knew exactly how long we now had to go, and so he was cool with that. I think he just likes to know what to expect, and we just didn't know exactly how long we would be there. In total, our Easter Vigil was just under 2 hours, to my mind, an ideal length. When I returned from receiving communion, he leaned over to remind me that there was only one more Mass to go before *he* could receive communion, which made me smile.
When we got home, it was just after 10 pm. Although he was impatient at the beginning of Mass, I thought Henry did a great job overall, and I'm so glad he came with me. Next year, my goal is the entire Triduum, I don't want to miss Holy Thursday again!
I'm still smiling, two days into the Easter Octave. He is truly risen! How was your Easter? Leave me a comment!
Tune back in tomorrow for the April edition of the Catholic Book Club, when we'll be discussing "More Catholic than the Pope: An Inside Look at Extreme Traditionalism" by Patrick Madrid. See you then!
Thursday, April 17, 2014
Teeth & confession updates (oh joy) and Divine Mercy novena!
Hello! Happy Holy Thursday. :) I have to work the evening reference shift tonight, which I'm bummed about because it means that I can't attend Mass, but I'm persevering. It's going to be a LONG day to be sure.
However, it *is* the beginning of the Triduum, and I'm terribly excited. If the reference desk isn't busy, I may try and stream EWTN coverage of the pope's Mass or something, we'll see. :) And lots of good news to share! Let's see...
*settles in with tea*
Well, first, in secular news, I had one of two periodontal followups to check on my post-operative state. It went well. The tissue graft is looking awesome apparently, although I have to wait another 2 weeks to have any stitches that don't dissolve on their own clipped off. The roof of my mouth, however, is "looking sore," which I of course already knew, since it had been hurting like a *%$! :0 This roof wound was definitely tougher this time around. It is, though, healing, and yesterday for the first time I didn't wake up with it already bothering me and needing to take some ibuprofen. Today as well. I can feel definite improvement. They prescribed this special mouth rinse that will help the wound to heal faster. My honey is picking that up for me today, God bless him. I go back in 2 weeks, but I'm on the mend. The exterior bruising is also nearly completely faded.
So, that's that. After I finished with my appointment, I sped right over to confession. I could tell right away that my chances were good upon entering the church, because only a few other ladies were there. They were all waiting in a line, so I stepped behind them. We didn't move for a few minutes. I suddenly noticed a green light on above a confessional on the other side of the church. The lady ahead of me turns around:
"There's a confessional open over there. It's *just the screen* though."
She said that like it was a bad thing. :0 I much prefer using the screen rather than face-to-face, which is what they were all waiting for. I thanked her and hurried over, in and out of my screened confessional in a few minutes. I prayed for a spell and then got up to go. Those other ladies still hadn't moved. :0 That's the line I was in yesterday that didn't move. Must be a very detailed priest.
Pleased, I hustled out to my car so that I could drop off my prescription before going home for dinner, and I made it in plenty of time. Whew!
Before I go, I wanted to mention the next novena from Pray More Novenas.
I am *super* excited. I prayed this novena last year, and loved it. And this year it is leading up to the canonizations of John Paul II and John XXIII! What a beautiful day that will be. As you know, John Paul II is a personal and much beloved favorite of mine. So I will begin praying along tomorrow. If you sign up with Pray More Novenas, you will receive an email each morning with the prayers, and it is extremely convenient. I also like knowing that I'm praying along with others worldwide.
So, join in! All right everyone, back to work for me. I won't be blogging Good Friday or Easter Monday, but I will return to you Tuesday of the First Week of Easter bright eyed and ready to relay my Easter adventures. Until then!
However, it *is* the beginning of the Triduum, and I'm terribly excited. If the reference desk isn't busy, I may try and stream EWTN coverage of the pope's Mass or something, we'll see. :) And lots of good news to share! Let's see...
*settles in with tea*
Well, first, in secular news, I had one of two periodontal followups to check on my post-operative state. It went well. The tissue graft is looking awesome apparently, although I have to wait another 2 weeks to have any stitches that don't dissolve on their own clipped off. The roof of my mouth, however, is "looking sore," which I of course already knew, since it had been hurting like a *%$! :0 This roof wound was definitely tougher this time around. It is, though, healing, and yesterday for the first time I didn't wake up with it already bothering me and needing to take some ibuprofen. Today as well. I can feel definite improvement. They prescribed this special mouth rinse that will help the wound to heal faster. My honey is picking that up for me today, God bless him. I go back in 2 weeks, but I'm on the mend. The exterior bruising is also nearly completely faded.
So, that's that. After I finished with my appointment, I sped right over to confession. I could tell right away that my chances were good upon entering the church, because only a few other ladies were there. They were all waiting in a line, so I stepped behind them. We didn't move for a few minutes. I suddenly noticed a green light on above a confessional on the other side of the church. The lady ahead of me turns around:
"There's a confessional open over there. It's *just the screen* though."
She said that like it was a bad thing. :0 I much prefer using the screen rather than face-to-face, which is what they were all waiting for. I thanked her and hurried over, in and out of my screened confessional in a few minutes. I prayed for a spell and then got up to go. Those other ladies still hadn't moved. :0 That's the line I was in yesterday that didn't move. Must be a very detailed priest.
Pleased, I hustled out to my car so that I could drop off my prescription before going home for dinner, and I made it in plenty of time. Whew!
Before I go, I wanted to mention the next novena from Pray More Novenas.
I am *super* excited. I prayed this novena last year, and loved it. And this year it is leading up to the canonizations of John Paul II and John XXIII! What a beautiful day that will be. As you know, John Paul II is a personal and much beloved favorite of mine. So I will begin praying along tomorrow. If you sign up with Pray More Novenas, you will receive an email each morning with the prayers, and it is extremely convenient. I also like knowing that I'm praying along with others worldwide.
So, join in! All right everyone, back to work for me. I won't be blogging Good Friday or Easter Monday, but I will return to you Tuesday of the First Week of Easter bright eyed and ready to relay my Easter adventures. Until then!
Wednesday, April 16, 2014
Confession adventures as we approach the Triduum...
Happy Wednesday of Holy Week, everyone. :) Mine is going along swimmingly, how is yours? Well, swimmingly in that I feel very spiritually happy and content, although I did have a bit of a snafu attempting to get to confession late yesterday afternoon. Let us chronicle, no?
#Catholicproblems
I've been wanting to get to confession for AGES, and just kept putting it off. I've talked about my spiritual dryness on this blog of late, and that was a big part of the problem. I didn't feel right about going if I was really forcing myself to go. I didn't feel a true *desire* for the sacrament, you know? Since Palm Sunday, I have been feeling worlds better, and yesterday, for the first time in months, I truly desired to visit the sacrament. The parish affiliated with Henry's school has confession on Tuesday afternoons at 4 pm (I know, random, right?) and thus I made plans to leave work early so that I could go.
I park, head toward the church, and plot a few minutes of prayer in front of the tabernacle before I actually head to the confessional. I step inside the vestibule. Apparently, Holy Week brings out a blitz in the desire to seek confession, because at least a dozen people turned my way. This gave me pause. What were they all doing there?!
*gentle snort*
Usually, you can hear crickets chirping anytime you go to your parish for the weekly scheduled confession slot. At least at my parish. Not this time. I dipped my fingers into the holy water font and headed to a pew to pray, also figuring I could use the time to sort out my approach. Most of the others present were clumped up on one side of the church nearest to the confessional usually put to use by the pastor. I see him approach the confessional, go inside, and turn on the green light. Someone hustles over to get inside and immediately a huge line forms.
Ugh.
I was hoping this was going to be a quick affair, because yesterday night I was scheduled to make chili for dinner. Mike has play rehearsal every evening during the week, and the chili takes about an hour and a half to make. I needed to get it started to assure that we could eat, clean up, and take care of everything that needed doing before he had to leave. I was on a time crunch.
As I'm contemplating my next move, another priest enters the sanctuary. Huzzah! He goes into a confessional on the opposite side of the church, nearer to where I was praying. I feel triumphant. As I stand up, however, several older men from the other line start to zip over to shorten their wait time. And by "zip over" I mean they hobbled with their canes as fast as their legs would carry them. It just felt wrong to rush over and get ahead of them. So I waited until they made their way over toward confessional #2. Another lady slips into line as I walk over.
As I step into line behind her, something happens that has never happened in all of my Catholic years. Someone was in the face-to-face side of the confessional, and hence the red light was on. One of the zipping older men apparently does not notice this and swings open the door to the screened side. The lady ahead of me calls out a warning to him, which he also does not hear. He closes the door and apparently gets comfortable in there. :0
We all stand there, not really knowing what to do. A few moments later, the well-intentioned interloper emerges, clued in by the priest, assumedly. He waits *right outside* the confessional door. The rest of us wait in line awkwardly.
By this point of the action, I'm getting antsy. I'm worried about getting dinner started on time, and there are now 3 people ahead of me, plus the person currently in the confessional. I glance at the other line. They have moved a tad, but the line still snakes like a leviathan. Penitents seem to have multiplied exponentially over on that side of the church. I glance up at the clock. It's now nearly 4:15, and face-to-face guy is apparently having a lengthy and intense conversation with the priest. We haven't moved an inch.
I wait about 5 more minutes, and make the difficult decision to step out of line. Confession just wasn't happening yesterday, as much as I would have liked it to. I hurried home to get the chili going, and we were able to get everyone fed and cleaned up before Mike had to leave, but we didn't exactly have any down time in there. I made the right decision.
When I called that church yesterday to make sure the confession time was the same, the parish secretary told me that they were also offering confession today from 4-6. I have an appointment with the periodontist at 3:30, so I'm hoping to stop on my way home (again :)). Mike is home on Wednesdays and is making dinner for us tonight, so I won't have the time crunch situation. Here's hoping.
Has anyone else gone to confession this Holy Week? Leave me a comment. *beams*
#Catholicproblems
I've been wanting to get to confession for AGES, and just kept putting it off. I've talked about my spiritual dryness on this blog of late, and that was a big part of the problem. I didn't feel right about going if I was really forcing myself to go. I didn't feel a true *desire* for the sacrament, you know? Since Palm Sunday, I have been feeling worlds better, and yesterday, for the first time in months, I truly desired to visit the sacrament. The parish affiliated with Henry's school has confession on Tuesday afternoons at 4 pm (I know, random, right?) and thus I made plans to leave work early so that I could go.
I park, head toward the church, and plot a few minutes of prayer in front of the tabernacle before I actually head to the confessional. I step inside the vestibule. Apparently, Holy Week brings out a blitz in the desire to seek confession, because at least a dozen people turned my way. This gave me pause. What were they all doing there?!
*gentle snort*
Usually, you can hear crickets chirping anytime you go to your parish for the weekly scheduled confession slot. At least at my parish. Not this time. I dipped my fingers into the holy water font and headed to a pew to pray, also figuring I could use the time to sort out my approach. Most of the others present were clumped up on one side of the church nearest to the confessional usually put to use by the pastor. I see him approach the confessional, go inside, and turn on the green light. Someone hustles over to get inside and immediately a huge line forms.
Ugh.
I was hoping this was going to be a quick affair, because yesterday night I was scheduled to make chili for dinner. Mike has play rehearsal every evening during the week, and the chili takes about an hour and a half to make. I needed to get it started to assure that we could eat, clean up, and take care of everything that needed doing before he had to leave. I was on a time crunch.
As I'm contemplating my next move, another priest enters the sanctuary. Huzzah! He goes into a confessional on the opposite side of the church, nearer to where I was praying. I feel triumphant. As I stand up, however, several older men from the other line start to zip over to shorten their wait time. And by "zip over" I mean they hobbled with their canes as fast as their legs would carry them. It just felt wrong to rush over and get ahead of them. So I waited until they made their way over toward confessional #2. Another lady slips into line as I walk over.
As I step into line behind her, something happens that has never happened in all of my Catholic years. Someone was in the face-to-face side of the confessional, and hence the red light was on. One of the zipping older men apparently does not notice this and swings open the door to the screened side. The lady ahead of me calls out a warning to him, which he also does not hear. He closes the door and apparently gets comfortable in there. :0
We all stand there, not really knowing what to do. A few moments later, the well-intentioned interloper emerges, clued in by the priest, assumedly. He waits *right outside* the confessional door. The rest of us wait in line awkwardly.
By this point of the action, I'm getting antsy. I'm worried about getting dinner started on time, and there are now 3 people ahead of me, plus the person currently in the confessional. I glance at the other line. They have moved a tad, but the line still snakes like a leviathan. Penitents seem to have multiplied exponentially over on that side of the church. I glance up at the clock. It's now nearly 4:15, and face-to-face guy is apparently having a lengthy and intense conversation with the priest. We haven't moved an inch.
I wait about 5 more minutes, and make the difficult decision to step out of line. Confession just wasn't happening yesterday, as much as I would have liked it to. I hurried home to get the chili going, and we were able to get everyone fed and cleaned up before Mike had to leave, but we didn't exactly have any down time in there. I made the right decision.
When I called that church yesterday to make sure the confession time was the same, the parish secretary told me that they were also offering confession today from 4-6. I have an appointment with the periodontist at 3:30, so I'm hoping to stop on my way home (again :)). Mike is home on Wednesdays and is making dinner for us tonight, so I won't have the time crunch situation. Here's hoping.
Has anyone else gone to confession this Holy Week? Leave me a comment. *beams*
Tuesday, April 15, 2014
First Communion fesitivities preparation, and I can never resist Easter chocolate...
Morning all! Happy Tuesday of Holy Week. *beams* I've been very into my special Holy Week issue of Magnificat and it's lending a prayerful and serene feeling to my week.
My thoughts have been turning quite a bit this Holy Week to Henry's First Communion, scheduled for May 3rd. I have been excited for this for YEARS and it's hard to believe that the day is nearly upon us. You know how I am about planning events, which is to say fairly manic, and we have so much else going on that same day, with my hafla that evening as well as one of Mike's play performances. It's going to be a big day, for certain. And so how do I handle such things?
Well, poorly, to be sure. But more importantly, with lists! What do I need to do? I need to:
(1) Take Henry to adoration and have discussion about the Eucharist. A heavy hitter, to start off the list. I know that he's receiving religious instruction at his school, but it's my responsibility to assure that he fully understands his faith. This endeavor will have to be on one of the 2 weekends remaining before the big day.
(2) Invite guests to the post-Communion shindig at our house. Checked off yesterday. *halo*
(3) Plan menu for post-Communion shindig at our house. Partially done.
(4) Order cake.
(5) Buy Henry special occasion wear. He won't like this, but it has to be done.
(6) Procure glue to finish First Communion banner. Just haven't made it to the craft store yet, and I don't know when I will. :-\
(7) Order gift. Checked off yesterday. *angels sing!*
I was scratching my head over that one since I got him a very nice rosary for his First Reconciliation, he already has a missal, and I wasn't sure that he would regularly wear a scapular or necklace of any kind for a pertinent saint medal or crucifix. I did a little online shopping yesterday, and picked out a very nice St. Benedict style wall crucifix for his room, from The Catholic Company:
I'm quite thrilled and can't wait for it to get here. He's been asking lately about St. Benedict when we read our saint stories in the evenings, so this one struck me as soon as I saw it. The St. Benedict medal is rife with symbolism, and it seemed to me this would be a good thing to have in your room or on your person. We could all use to battle less evil, no? :)
So, I'm getting there. We're planning to take Henry out to the department stores this weekend in an attempt to outfit him for this thing, and we'll firm up the menu. It'll be lunchtime, so I'd like to do some tasty dips, finger foods, and cake. We're planning a peach salsa and some shrimp cocktail. We need to fill in the other gaps. :)
Yesterday while Mike was teaching, I took the kids to a local and quite beloved chocolate and gift store to admire the Easter selections. I can never resist this sort of thing, despite having already ordered a good amount of chocolate from Henry's school for their spring fundraiser. Since the kids already saw that chocolate, and they've been nibbling it for desserts, it wouldn't be a surprise for their baskets, kwim? So they wandered around while I managed to spend nearly $50 in jelly beans and chocolate bunnies. I mean, how does this happen?! This place has the *best* chocolate though, with more variety than just milk and dark, although I do so love milk chocolate. They offer peanut butter, orange (this is a regional thing I believe, and while most people wrinkle eyebrows in confusion at this one, I LOVE orange chocolate), cherry cheesecake and white chocolate. They even make a *dark orange* chocolate. *swoons* We had a good time.
During our escapades at the chocolate store, I made the unfortunate discovery, however, that Anne is entering that stage (seems to be the later 2's) wherein children develop fears of things, and previously established happy routines are shot all to abysmal pieces. Like, you know, sleeping in their own bed without freaking out, or going pee pee in the toilet. Suddenly, she is terrified of the sound of the toilet flushing, and is afraid that something is going to rise up out of the bowl and attack her while she pees. I'm sure you can picture the scene:
*Anne crosses legs*
"Anne, do you have to go potty, Honey?"
"Yes." *looks miserable*
"Ok Honey, here is the bathroom. We'll just..."
*Anne peeks inside*
"NO! No, I don't have to go, Mommy."
*Anne crosses legs*
Repeat from the top until you think you may lose your mind.
I will say, it *is* a very sweet stage, filled with lots of need for hugs and snuggles to reassure nervous toddlers. Precious.
All right, everyone. Wednesday of Holy Week tomorrow! I will report in then. How is your Holy Week going? Leave me a comment!
My thoughts have been turning quite a bit this Holy Week to Henry's First Communion, scheduled for May 3rd. I have been excited for this for YEARS and it's hard to believe that the day is nearly upon us. You know how I am about planning events, which is to say fairly manic, and we have so much else going on that same day, with my hafla that evening as well as one of Mike's play performances. It's going to be a big day, for certain. And so how do I handle such things?
Well, poorly, to be sure. But more importantly, with lists! What do I need to do? I need to:
(1) Take Henry to adoration and have discussion about the Eucharist. A heavy hitter, to start off the list. I know that he's receiving religious instruction at his school, but it's my responsibility to assure that he fully understands his faith. This endeavor will have to be on one of the 2 weekends remaining before the big day.
(2) Invite guests to the post-Communion shindig at our house. Checked off yesterday. *halo*
(3) Plan menu for post-Communion shindig at our house. Partially done.
(4) Order cake.
(5) Buy Henry special occasion wear. He won't like this, but it has to be done.
(6) Procure glue to finish First Communion banner. Just haven't made it to the craft store yet, and I don't know when I will. :-\
(7) Order gift. Checked off yesterday. *angels sing!*
I was scratching my head over that one since I got him a very nice rosary for his First Reconciliation, he already has a missal, and I wasn't sure that he would regularly wear a scapular or necklace of any kind for a pertinent saint medal or crucifix. I did a little online shopping yesterday, and picked out a very nice St. Benedict style wall crucifix for his room, from The Catholic Company:
So, I'm getting there. We're planning to take Henry out to the department stores this weekend in an attempt to outfit him for this thing, and we'll firm up the menu. It'll be lunchtime, so I'd like to do some tasty dips, finger foods, and cake. We're planning a peach salsa and some shrimp cocktail. We need to fill in the other gaps. :)
Yesterday while Mike was teaching, I took the kids to a local and quite beloved chocolate and gift store to admire the Easter selections. I can never resist this sort of thing, despite having already ordered a good amount of chocolate from Henry's school for their spring fundraiser. Since the kids already saw that chocolate, and they've been nibbling it for desserts, it wouldn't be a surprise for their baskets, kwim? So they wandered around while I managed to spend nearly $50 in jelly beans and chocolate bunnies. I mean, how does this happen?! This place has the *best* chocolate though, with more variety than just milk and dark, although I do so love milk chocolate. They offer peanut butter, orange (this is a regional thing I believe, and while most people wrinkle eyebrows in confusion at this one, I LOVE orange chocolate), cherry cheesecake and white chocolate. They even make a *dark orange* chocolate. *swoons* We had a good time.
During our escapades at the chocolate store, I made the unfortunate discovery, however, that Anne is entering that stage (seems to be the later 2's) wherein children develop fears of things, and previously established happy routines are shot all to abysmal pieces. Like, you know, sleeping in their own bed without freaking out, or going pee pee in the toilet. Suddenly, she is terrified of the sound of the toilet flushing, and is afraid that something is going to rise up out of the bowl and attack her while she pees. I'm sure you can picture the scene:
*Anne crosses legs*
"Anne, do you have to go potty, Honey?"
"Yes." *looks miserable*
"Ok Honey, here is the bathroom. We'll just..."
*Anne peeks inside*
"NO! No, I don't have to go, Mommy."
*Anne crosses legs*
Repeat from the top until you think you may lose your mind.
I will say, it *is* a very sweet stage, filled with lots of need for hugs and snuggles to reassure nervous toddlers. Precious.
All right, everyone. Wednesday of Holy Week tomorrow! I will report in then. How is your Holy Week going? Leave me a comment!
Monday, April 14, 2014
A blessed Palm Sunday...
So that's that, and I'm real happy to be back with you! I had a nice stretch at home, but if I'm being honest (and I always am, for better or for worse on here, ha!) the kids were very challenging this weekend. There are times in your parenting journey in which you feel like your soul has been sucked out with the latest round of a kicking and screaming child on the floor, kwim? There are times when they are angels with each other, and then times whey they deliberately strategize their every movement around the discomfort and annoyance of the other.
Related tangent (stay with me here, and yes, I promise to circle back to Palm Sunday, not that I've even talked about it at all yet, but you know what I mean, dear reader ;-)): Mike and I watched "Gravity" this weekend. I don't know that I loved it (not necessarily my cup of tea) but it was certainly a good movie and very thought provoking. In one scene, one character asks another:
"What is your favorite thing about being in space?"
and she answers...
"The silence."
BOOM. Yes, yes, I agree. Despite my vocation to marriage and motherhood, I love and crave silence. Obviously, silence is not the norm when you have children in your house. I do my best with it, but sometimes things can simply seem overwhelming. I'm certain all of you parents know and appreciate what I mean. :) It doesn't mean you would change anything about your situation, it just means that we are human and struggle sometimes. And so that was Friday and Saturday, to be sure.
Sunday, I was determined to have a better day. I told myself that even if the children were as challenging as they have ever been, I would be patient with them. And it was an absolutely lovely day.
I took both kids to Mass while Mike went to his play rehearsal. Getting coats and shoes on is always a chore, and so we were running a bit behind, but I tried not to fret about it. It was a gorgeous day, and it was Palm Sunday. I was determined to make Mass enjoyable again for myself, despite being a referee for two very active children.
Henry fetched palms for us as Anne and I got settled in a pew. As expected, Anne was delighted to be given a palm, and she did hold it lovingly and wave it a bit, but not in a way that threatened anybody's eyes, so I can live with that. Both children were actually *very* well behaved and didn't try to annoy the other, for a change. There was a brother and sister pair in the pew ahead of us clandestinely poking each other with their palms behind their mother's back. Picture this as my Palm Sunday in a years time, for sure.
Henry was being very cute, following along in his missal. I was thrilled to be using the special Holy Week issue of Magnificat, and loving every minute. Anne was a very good girl, enjoying the palm blessing ritual and putting our envelope into the collection basket. It was refreshing.
Now, I'm buckling down for Holy Week and really trying to do small things to stay focused on what we are remembering this week. I read Morning Prayer today in Magnificat and felt very grateful to have access to such lovely things that can help to guide my mind to God and my faith. I also prayed my rosary this morning with more concentration than I've felt in a long time.
I have a lot to be thankful for.
I plan to blog each day this Holy Week aside from Good Friday, when I'm taking the day off to attend the 3 pm service. Let's all share the spiritual nuggets that we glean this week with each other. :)
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