Jury Duty and Sewage!

Last week was a Big Week around here. I had jury duty for the first time AND we had a disaster in the basement. I've been called for duty before, but I've never had to go because I had small children or was homeschooling. Most recently, I was called during the school year, and I probably could have gotten out of it again, but my husband said I could defer it online to a better date,  so I chose Tuesday, the first weekday of Summer Vacation.

Normally, I'm on standby and call the night before to find out if I need to appear. This time, I had to go and was in Group 1. Many of the jurors I conferred with agreed that if you use the website and defer your service to a convenient date, you have really just let the Court know that you ARE available and they WILL call your name for the voir dire process!

I was paneled for the jury and had a very interesting 4 days learning lots and lots about what to look for when buying property, water runoff, creeks, and, best of all, sewage backups. The whole process was fascinating and educational, tedious and exhausting, and I wouldn't mind doing it again (after a nice, long rest) (and because I don't have a paying job, so, unlike many of my fellow jurors, I wasn't losing vast amounts of money by serving!).

You know what the unexpected blessing from this jury service was? Because of "recent events," as I told my husband (since I couldn't tell him about the trial), I was inspired to look further for the cause of the basement toilet overflowing, and I discovered the sump pump had stopped working and the utility room was flooded with an inch of dirty water that was starting to seep out into the next room.

Fortunately, I looked, because, unfortunately, we had moved many, many boxes of books and other items down to the basement in preparation for new floors upstairs. All of those had to be moved to safety, and some had to be unpacked because that carpet and padding is the Quicker Picker Upper! I got to leave for court while leaving my dear husband to contend with the plumber (Norm!). At the end of the day, we had a new sump pump (which my civic service does not cover the cost of!), and we tore out all the carpeting the water had touched---one large room, the hallway, and part of a bedroom. The basement is a complete disaster with boxes and stuff piled everywhere.

I'm pretty sure I won't get to do the sewing projects I had planned this summer. Lack of time is one thing; lack of access to my sewing room is another. No sewing, no ironing. No grown children visiting and sleeping in the basement. :-(  I think this is the Summer of Home Renovations and Decluttering.

Sometimes, I want to cry when I think about it, but it's really fine. It's all good. Nothing was damaged that is vital or irreparable. It's all just stuff which we have too much of. It's the amount of work that overwhelms me, if I think about it, but I just won't do that. I'll just do the next thing that needs to be done----choosing paint colors for the living room?----praying?----because it's really all about doing whatever God asks in the moment. Sometimes, that's mopping up nasty water and letting go of the desire to do your own will.

25 Years Ago

1.  We were young and in love.
2.  We were totally confident in what we were doing.
3.  We were 21 and 23.
4.  We got married at the University Chapel at the University of Virginia.
5.  We had so much fun setting up our first home.
6.  We spent our wedding night in our first home, and I love that.  I think the memories are so much more special than if we were in a hotel.
7.  Those first years were fun.
8.  Those first years were challenging as we learned to grow and live together!
9.  We've created 7 children together, including 1 miscarriage, who give us great joy as we watch them grow up.
10.  They all look like me.
11.  They all look like him.
12.  They all look like each other.
13.  They've brought us closer together.
14.  He brought me into the Catholic Church.
15.  He's the head of our home.
16.  He keeps me calm.
17.  He keeps me reasonable.
18.  He loves me in spite of my crazy emotions.
19.  He loves me in spite of my unreasonableness.
20.  He loves me in spite of all my flaws.
21.  I love him for his intelligence.
22.  I love him for his sense of humor and his smile.
23.  I love him for the crinkles in his face.
24.  I love him for his faith.
25.  I'll love him forever.

And I thank God for giving me the man I wanted, and the man I needed.

Happy Anniversary, Dear!  

10 Things About Me and My Better Half

Playing along with Betty Beguiles, though I'm a little late to the game.  Yesterday was a little busy.

1.  Whenever we tell people that we went to the same high school, they immediately want to know if we were high school sweethearts.  No.  He was 2 years ahead of me and had a girlfriend.

2.  We both went to the University of Virginia where I lightly stalked him during my first year (since he and D---- had broken up), and we did hang out a bit together when friends from high school came to visit.

3.  We had our first date in June (He's gonna kill me if I get that wrong, but I wasn't a history major for a good reason.  I can't remember dates.) after my first year.  We went to a School's Out party where someone suggested we'd make a good couple, so he called me up and we went to see Fellini's film adaptation of La Traviata.  Very classy.  It's like "Our Movie".

4.   We've always loved watching movies together.  I remember when we were first married and we had seen practically everything, we could pick all the Oscar winners.

5.  He was supposed to convert to my church, but as he had the stronger will (as in God's), I ended up becoming Catholic, for which I will be eternally grateful.

6.  No one makes me laugh like he does.

7.  He's great at helping me make decisions and a good sounding board for discussing difficult issues.  He's very logical but it's all backed up by his strong faith.

8.  We taught Natural Family Planning together for about 10 years because of the positive impact NFP had on our marriage.  We also gave The Talk on marital sexuality for our Pre-Cana (marriage preparation) program for quite a few years.  It was fun working together that way, and we always felt like the classes were "dates."  It sounds lame, but if a date allows a couple to get to know each other better and grow closer, then the classes were dates!

9.  Our 7 children (1 in heaven) have made us grow into much better people than we were when we got married.

10.  Our 25th anniversary is this August.  I've been with him way more than half my life and I can't imagine life without him.

Beautiful Weekend

I'd like to say that I spent a lot of time outside in the gorgeous weather, but I really didn't.  Part of what made the weekend great was starting bright and early Saturday morning with Confession.

Thank you, God, for this wonderful sacrament!

We followed up with the traditional Krispy Kreme doughnuts.  Following Pavlov's theory, we want the kids to like going to confession!  I think I'm hooked on the sour cream doughnuts that I've just discovered recently.  We'll have to start going to confession weekly!

Then we spent a few hours cleaning house before we had to start dropping kids off at various places or going to different events.  Eventually, we got rid of all the kids before dinner and we had the house to ourselves!  Weird experience, that.  So we ate and went to Casino Night at the church.

Okay, so as I gave you the nitty-gritty on this weekend and it suddenly occurred to me that it was a very mundane weekend, with the exception of all the kids being gone Saturday night.  Having the house clean all day Saturday, having had more energy than usual with which to clean it, and having a date with my husband probably had something to do with the beautiful weekend.

Sunday morning, as I was kneeling at Mass, watching my boys serve at the altar, I was filled with gratitude for my blessings.  My wonderful children who are growing up way too fast.  My hard-working, sweet husband.  It was beautiful.

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Last evening was another matter, however.  Everyone was home; the house was messy again; homework needed to be done; children were tired and cranky, although not sleepy, they said; there was an episode of biting (I thought we had outgrown that!) and its ensuing punishment, and Mom was definitely ready to have them in bed so she could go herself.

It was a beautiful weekend because I am blessed.  But it's also a Life, and that's a bit messy at times!

How was your weekend?  Exciting?  Busy?  Mundane?

A Little Bit(e) of Heaven

My new BFF.  

Makes everything that's wrong in the world So. Much. Better.

Dh recently introduced us.

I hope he's not jealous.

Happy New Year to Me!

Yesterday was such a pleasant day! It was my birthday, for those of you who don't know! But I didn't want to do a "Happy Birthday to this wonderful person in my life" post. So, here I am today to tell you about it!

It was just an ordinary day, really. I learned a long time ago that if I expect everyone to spoil me rotten and do things for me all day, then it will be a really. bad. day. But if I go about my ordinary business and do what needs to be done, it will be fine.

So, I started my day as usual with a workout with the Master of My World. Okay, not "as usual" because I've been a total slacker this summer. But, out we went into the dark, early morning and did our sprints past the sleeping neighbors' houses. We didn't talk much because the sprinting doesn't leave time or breath for speaking, but we enjoyed being together.

I started the laundry, as usual, cleaned up my bathroom (not usual!) and had breakfast. Then I took the Pipster to the orthopedist to see if he had broken his wrist on Friday night. When he came in crying and holding his arm, I was pretty sure he had broken it because it was a little too much like last summer when he broke his arm! This time, it wasn't bad enough to be obvious, but moms can just tell, you know.

Now, I also know that not every break requires a trip to the ER or Children's Hospital or even the Urgent Care center (especially not there because they just xray it, say it's broken, and send you on your way with a splint or a brace with an admonishment to see an orthopedist on Monday). Even my friend the ER Dr. has been known to wait a really long time when he wasn't sure a bone was broken!

After shelling out the big bucks for those braces they use a couple of times, I started keeping them in my first aid kit. Fortunately (?!) we just happened to have a left-handed brace in the right size from when TMax broke his wrist a couple of years ago. So, we slapped that puppy on and sent him to bed. Saturday, I discovered that our new orthopedist does not have Saturday hours. AND I discovered that Madden did not need his appointment that was already scheduled for Monday morning, so I decided to pull the old patient switch on them. They weren't real thrilled with that, but they saw him anyway. It gave us another day or so to watch him and decide if it was broken, but I was pretty sure, judging from his pain level, that it was.

Wait a second, I thought this post was about me and my birthday! Well, you see, it's not about me and it shouldn't be because that just leads to disappointment.

Anyway, back to the orthopedist yesterday----Pipster has a minor buckle fracture of his ulna...radius...the bigger one, but he doesn't need a cast, just that great, free, brace that he was already wearing. And we don't even have to go back in for a recheck because the Dr. would just press on it and ask if it hurts, which I think I'm fully qualified to do myself. Since I'm Dr. Mom.

Home to laundry and then KT and I went out to A Classy Clutter to find a birthday present for her to give me. We found lots of stuff for her, and we found a new antique mall that we weren't aware of, and we spent hours wandering through it, but we didn't find anything affordable that I was dying to have. Don't you think it's terribly hard to pick out something for yourself when you know someone is ready to buy it? Harder than using a gift card which I also find challenging. However, we had a really good time there, and we didn't have any whiny little ones to mar experience, because you know how little ones HATE dragging through boring stores where they can't touch anything or buy anything for themselves!

We dropped off stuff at Goodwill; we left her car at CarMax to get a little problem fixed, and we went to Target to pick up a couple of things where we also got some pick-me-ups at Starbucks. There we finally found my present, and we came home. Exhausted.

Fortunately, at this point I was free to relax because KT insisted on making dinner. So, I did relax for the rest of the evening while they made fabulous fontina fondue using a new recipe from her Italian cookbook. After our yummy dinner and my cappuccino chocolate chunk cheesecake that LP and I had made Sunday afternoon, we watched a couple of episodes of I Love Lucy, which is what KT ended up getting me at Target. I didn't fold any laundry, and I didn't quilt because I was resting my hands, but that's another post.

So there you have it: practically every boring detail of my 45th birthday. It wasn't spectacular. I didn't get a massage or a manicure. I didn't have my every whim catered to all day long. But I did spend the day doing ordinary, necessary, and fun things with my family. I enjoyed every minute of it and I'm so grateful that God has given me each and every one of them. That's the best gift of all!

Father's Day

I know I'm late posting these, but I thought you might enjoy seeing dh's goofy present! See how excited he is?


We got him a pair of Vibram's 5-finger shoes. They look really weird. Like gloves for your feet. But they're pretty comfy, from what I hear.


Despite the fact that Flylady says you have to get "dressed to your shoes" when you get up, going barefoot not only feels good, but may actually be better for you.


I'm getting me some next!

I've Given Up

Posting pictures in April, that is.


I'm just swamped by costumes for the play this week. I AM rounding the bend into the final straightaway, however. Everything I have is ironed, hemmed, hung, labeled and ready to go. All I have to do today is work on some headcoverings for the biblical boys.

Oh, I'm knitting a shawl for Bernadette to wear, too. But that's non-essential since we have one that is just a little small. This one would be better, but I'm not knocking myself out over it! I could bind it off now and it would be fine, but if I'm doing all this work, I'd like it to be as big as it can be!

~~~~~~

This morning we're taking a little field trip to the new community garden to see if we can't get some or all of our seedlings planted. I hope this little venture works out and our produce isn't all stolen. I'm not the most experienced gardener, either, so I may not actually have produce worth stealing! I'll try to take some pictures so you can see the gardens.

~~~~~~

Stop by and visit the Georgia Rambler. He's been rambling about the books he's read. He's really smart, and good looking. And he's all mine. He had a birthday on Sunday, too, but I was too busy ruining his birthday cake to blog about it.

Weekend Update and Monday Movie Reviews

I guess a Weekend Update is actually supposed to be on the weekend, but whatever. It was kind of a busy weekend considering half the family was gone.

Friday was kind of hectic with an early visit to the chiropractor, and then we got practically no schoolwork done as we had to leave early for co-op where TMax got to dissect a shark and the Pipster got to look at one already dissected. We left early to go to the one daytime football game of Hitch and Madden. It was cold and raining! And they were having a tough time out there on the field.

TMax had to go back to St. Ben's to go camping with his Boy Scout Troop, so we left w/ the Little Princess at Half-time. Pipster stayed with Dad for the second half because they were doing their own Cub Scout camping. Master of the World noted that the 3 times we've been camping this year, it has rained. Obviously, our family doesn't camp enough, because if we went camping more often this extremely severe drought would end!

TMax, LP, and I stopped for fun dinner items (egg rolls!) and movies for the night. We ended up having a little picnic on the floor and watching The Shaggy Dog. Mercifully, we didn't have to drive down to The School to pick up the football players because another mom---Who Is A Saint---had half the football team sleep over at her house!

Movie Review: We enjoyed The Shaggy Dog w/ Tim Allen. It was funny and I don't recall anything that offended me. It was interesting that it was about animal research that involved mixing animal DNA and the results of that. Even though the animals were freaky, like the bulldog/frog or the snake w/ a dog's tail, they were characterized as friendly, not evil. But it was clear that this type of experimentation was wrong.

After The Shaggy Dog, LP and I watched Crusoe on TV. I really enjoy that show; this was the second episode. It's kind of fun and Indiana Jones-ish. Since we watched Crusoe, I didn't watch the movie I had gotten for myself which was The Ultimate Gift. It was rated PG, so we decided to watch it together Saturday morning.
Movie Review: The Ultimate Gift is the story of a young man estranged from his very wealthy grandfather who dies at the beginning of the movie. The whole family is a mess of greedy people who care about nothing but money. Grandpa's money, at that. Jason is the same way, a self-centered rich kid who does nothing but party all the time. His inheritance is a series of questionable "gifts" that turn his life upside down. His grandfather obviously regretted their estrangement and thought that this was a way to change the path his grandson was on, and to keep him from turning out like the rest of the family. I thought it was wonderful and well-done. I've seen some Christian movies that were too preachy and obvious with dialog that was completely unrealistic. It was a little over Princess's head, but I think it's a great family movie, especially for ages 8 & up.

So, the rest of Saturday involved ho-hum exercise, picking up football players, grocery shopping, housecleaning. Then we all went to Mass together because I was scheduled to cantor. Later, Little Princess went to a halloween party at a neighbor's house and Hitch and I watched a movie.
Movie Review: He talked me into renting There Will Be Blood which is rated R, but he said it was really given a PG-13 rating by the MPAA and the director sent it back asking for an R. Most directors would have put in some R-rated material to help it along, but this one didn't. There was remarkably little blood until the very end and you didn't even see the act. It was sort of old-fashioned movie violence where you see the perpetrator and you know exactly what he's doing, but you don't see the contact. Psycho-creepy. The score, which Hitch loved, added a lot of tension to the film. To me, it seemed to be disjointed; it implied dreadful things were coming, but they didn't usually come to pass. What's it about, you ask? Daniel Day Lewis plays an oil man around the turn of the century (aside: can you say that anymore? Which century? It was the early 1900's). It's all about his quest for oil and success. I'm not sure he cared about the money, just the success. Hitch loved it, and it was very well-made: great cinematography, acting, score(?). I just didn't get the point, but that's just me. I like my movies to be entertaining (Shaggy Dog) or virtuous (The Ultimate Gift), not just stressful. I was not satisfied with the ending. Brainier types, like Hitch, might be.

Sunday was spent at Mass again because the choir sang. The other boys came home and I spent the beautiful day doing their laundry.

What did you watch this weekend???

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Stay tuned for tomorrow's (I hope!) post on projects I'm working on.

And then we'll feast, feast, feast, feast....

I don't know if I can keep up with all the feasting around here! If you want to try, go visit A Shower of Roses because she's good. No, not me! Lol! Jessica! I really don't know how she does it, especially with those 5 beautiful children. Young children. I could never have done what she does at her age. Maybe it's because she was homeschooled. So maybe there is hope for my children, at least.

We did celebrate the Feast of the Archangels yesterday with devil's food cupcakes, coloring pages, and an Archangel quiz game. Those all came from A Year with God. We ended dinner with a rousing, spontaneous game of Catholic Jeopardy from the same book. It was a lot of fun.

Tonight we'll take a breather. Sorry, St. Jerome.

Wednesday is the Feast of St. Therese, my patroness. I don't know how much feasting we'll be doing since the family won't be together in the evening. I'll be at choir rehearsal and MoW, Hitch, and Madden will be at The School for an awards ceremony. If I'm up for it, literally, at 6 a.m., I'll make French Toast in her honor, and we'll have a pink beverage in the afternoon while we make paper roses. If we are anywhere near a Catholic store, I'll pick up a copy of one of the Therese movies to watch while we make flowers. Since it's on October 1, the Month of Nothing will be over!

Thursday is the Feast of the Guardian Angels and we'll be having angel food cake in their honor. They definitely deserve a party since I depend on the guardian angels in this family and they always come through for me! I might decorate it with roses, for Therese, but I don't think they'll mind. I'm sure they love her too.

Saturday, the 4th, brings us to St. Francis of Assisi---another of our family patrons. I'm not sure how we'll mark the day as Madden will be busy with football and the homecoming dance that night. Maybe it will be brunch---because I doubt he will be up for breakfast!

Then we have a little break from family feasts until the 16th when we celebrate the feast of St. Margaret Mary Alacoque. Plans for that one need to be researched! Perhaps a heart-shaped cake for the Sacred Heart?

Question for my readers----how do you keep up with feasts at your house? What do you do to celebrate?

30 Days of Nothing

Okay, so it won't be 30 Days of Nothing, more like 21 Days of Nothing. I don't know if I'm up for it with absolutely no preparation! I only discovered this yesterday or the day before, and visited Owlhaven today. I'm feeling incredibly guilty about my rare trip to Wally World yesterday where I bought things I "needed" totaling over $100. Honestly, can anyone get out of that place for less than $100?

I only bought things I needed but, I'm re-evaluating the word "needs" now.

I needed to replace my aging, nasty tupperware that is close to 20 years old. Or could I have just thrown it away and used serving bowls w/ plastic wrap? Does it count that I didn't get as much new stuff as I wanted?

I needed a new mop. But did I need it before I actually used up my supplies for the Clorox Ready Mop? Mil will be glad to know that I didn't opt for the fancy Swiffer Wet Jet that I fell in love with at a friend's house, but I got the much cheaper-and-no-need-to-buy-pricey-refills Libman Wonder Mop that I can use with my own, homemade cleaning solution. We even had a good time mopping the floor last night, something we had not been having with our Clorox buddy.

I congratulate myself on passing up new lamps for the family room which were on clearance and really cute. Okay, I know we're talking Wal-Mart lamps, but they're better than what I have, one of which seems to be dying.

It will be hard for the rest of the month to say No to little things that we don't even think about normally. Even harder to stay within our gi-normous grocery budget. Today is the 9th and we're already halfway through it!

I'm thinking we have to just bite the bullet and behave ourselves. The month of August was just the worst! Schoolbooks for homeschooling weren't too bad, but the cost of books for our college student and 2 high schoolers was probably more than $1200! I could check the receipts, but that would be too depressing. In addition to that there were the payments for the privilege of playing football, deposit on senior portraits, Boy Scout dues, Cub scout dues, necessities for KT's college apartment (though, to be fair, she paid for a lot), my birthday (dh is way too good to me!). And I'm sure there is more that I've forgotten. We were soooo excited last night when Hitch brought home an envelope containing $220 dollars for books I had consigned at their school!

I should point out that we have a very nice income, thanks to Dh's very sacrificial labors, and I'm extremely grateful for it. Owlhaven talks about a sense of entitlement which I think we all buy into, even though we don't realize it. So many of our neighbors have this and that and participate in these or those expensive activities. But they don't have large, beautiful families like ours (yes, they may be beautiful, but usually small!), and it is easy for us to get sucked into spending here and there, thinking it is a need, when it really isn't. Just a need to keep up with the Joneses on some level.

I'll try to keep you posted on how it goes. Anyone care to jump in?

Quiet Sunday

I love quiet Sundays that don't involve a lot of running around! We went to the noon Mass today and had a quick lunch at Taco Bell because the boys had altar server training this afternoon. I've been relaxing, reading, and playing on the computer. I just listened to a podcast on Jimmy Moore's Livin' La Vida Low Carb life. I don't normally read him, but I wanted to hear Mark Sisson from Mark's Daily Apple (on my sidebar). I love him and everything he has to say about diet and exercise.

Yesterday we had a little fun. We had nothing planned, except the usual Saturday chores and confession, and the Pipster remembered from when we were searching for things to do with the grandparents that the High Museum is free on First Saturdays. So after confession and Krispy Kremes we dragged everyone to the museum. Somewhat against the wills of the teenagers. Hitch was very pleased that we were going to an art museum as opposed to a history museum. I don't see the difference, but, whatever. As long as the children enjoy museums, I'm happy.

The High has been having rotating exhibits from the Louvre and we haven't seen any because admission for our beautiful, slightly large, family is so steep and we had no idea they had free days. This was the last weekend of the Louvre and Ancient World exhibit. It was excellent! We all, yes, ALL, really enjoyed it. I'm pretty sure we'll make plans to go back every couple of months because every month might be too much, but there was so much more to see in the regular exhibits. We zoomed through a few more rooms, but left when little people were having meltdowns fainting from hunger.

This is a picture of one of the largest pieces, and it ranks right up there in awesomeness with the statue of Napolean dressed as Caesar. Anyway, this is the river god, Tiber, and next to him are the twin founders of Rome, Romulus and Remus, and their adopted she-wolf mother. It's really specatular. I'm so glad we made it before it closed. Sadly, KT wasn't with us. She wanted to go, too, but was back at school this weekend.

What a Week!

It was a crazy week with the internet. After we got it fixed, it went out again the next day. Fortunately, the Master of the World (what an appropriate name!) was able to fix it in minutes when he got home!

Me: How did you fix it?

MoW: I plugged the router back into the power strip.

My hero! I don't know how long it would have taken me to figure that one out!



UPDATE to "A Costco Conversation"

I showed the post to Pipster and he said, "Is that why everyone was laughing?" (after I explained to the cashier that I was his teacher and he knows me very well). Well, it turns out that he mumbled said "YES" ----He does like his teacher! I'm so relieved, but I really thought he was just joking.



Yesterday was one of those amazingly ridiculous days that involved careful, precision timing getting everyone where they needed to be a certain times. It even included Mass at 5:30 for the whole family, so we have all day today to recuperate and, hopefully, have some fun together. Oh, and the doorbell just rang with the first neighborly visitor! Normally, they call while we're at Mass.

I'll be spending the rest of the day working on the neverending pile of photos (still) on my dining room table, and trying to plan our first co-op lesson on Seashell Identification . If anyone has any tips or knowledge in this area, let me know!

And So Another School Year Begins...

Happy Feast of the Assumption!

Our busy day began with beignets for breakfast. They're part of a healthy breakfast First Day of School tradition we started a few years ago. Today wasn't officially a "first day" but with KT going back to college and Hitch and Madden going for a half-day (Madden wasn't required to be there, as he is neither a Prefect nor a New Student, but he has afternoon football practice and we wouldn't be able to take him later), I thought we'd pretend.



Then we all hit the early traffic to Holy Spirit to attend Mass and drop off the big boys.

Back to the car for 6 of us to come home and load up KT's life into the back of the car and head for UGa. We had just enough room and plenty of Harry Potter to listen to.

She was so excited to back on campus with her buddies. All her apartment-mates were there getting unpacked. We made a run to the bookstore to buy books, got some pizza for lunch, and said good-bye. I thought it would be a tearful farewell, but we managed to console ourselves with the thought that she'll be back in 2 weeks!
Here she is looking down from their front door with her good friend Alex. See how sad they are that we're driving away?

Happy Monday and a Belated Happy Birthday to Me!

Oh, this Monday feels good! Not like all last week, which didn't feel good at all.

I expected to be sad during the week leading up to August 4, but I wasn't. I was sad from August 4 on. All week. I just wanted to cry. And did, quite a bit, when I was alone. I think some of it was (or is) a mid-life crisis as I turned 44 yesterday.

Now Princess can't say my age backwards. She always asks if I'm 34. Um, No. Not quite. Strike that. Reverse it. Not anymore---it's 44 no matter how you say it.

The only good thing is that the 2 digits add up to 8, which, if you're Chinese, is lucky.

So, Saturday was a very blue day with a couple of bright spots. We had a lovely family trip to the pool. They alllll went. Which never happens. Because Hitch is like a cat who hates the water, and Madden is just too cool to be there when none of his friends are.

To cheer me up more, Dh took me to the Andretti Speed Lab. I might have said I wanted to go at one time because I have this latent adventurous streak. Mostly, I like to watch other people do extreme sports. We couldn't get into a race for an hour and a half, so I had plenty of time to regret any suggestion that I would ever want to do something so silly as race little tiny cars around a winding track at top speed!

We killed time (and spent $$$, which is all part of their evil plan. I'm sure you can never get a race time within an hour of your arrival!) and played racing video games. Which were scary in their own right. Especially because we sucked so bad and had a real race coming up! I had to keep reminding myself that it's okay that my Nascar vehicle was out of control, because it wouldn't hurt when I crashed. It's okay that the brakes didn't work.

The worst part was waiting, in the little race kart, wearing a heavy, claustrophobic helmet with the engine just 2 inches from your right shoulder spewing out massive amounts of heat and fumes. I just tried to keep breathing and remind myself that I wouldn't be MORE miserable after the race started because adrenaline would take over.

And it did. It was actually kind of fun. If it didn't come with a hefty price tag for 8 minutes of "fun," I could probably get addicted and try to do better. As it was, I didn't embarrass myself. (I don't think.) I didn't spin out. I didn't burn myself on the engine getting in or out. I didn't ram the car into a wall and need an employee to get me back on track. I didn't even get the Blue Flag meaning move over and let others pass! Best of all, I didn't get into the tiny car wearing an above-the-knee dress giving a show to all the eager young men watching!

Yesterday, my birthday, was a lovely day. Unexpectedly happy in every way. Several of my friends remembered me. Thanks, Linda, Rach, and Veronica! Another family trip to the pool (except for Hitch, who had had enough Saturday!), lots of relaxing in front of the Olympics, cross-stitching, and a nice party at dinner. Beautiful gifts from my family.

That was the best gift---my family.

So here it is, Monday. A good Monday---for lots of reasons.

And did I mention that the neighbors have all gone back to school?

PG-13 Content---NFP!

There have been some interesting discussions around the blogosphere lately on NFP. Primarily due to this article, I believe. Rachel started another at Testosterhome. My dh and I have been NFP teachers for 10 years now. We've used it for 15 years of our 22 year marriage and it has been a huge blessing. But I think it is really hard on the more sexual half of the marriage, in most cases the husband. I have cycles which require more abstinence than most, and sometimes we really don't like it. And the timing is totally off for the woman, anyway.

That said, I think it is one of the most beautiful Church teachings, and the one that brought me into the Church. Maybe not so much "NFP" as the teaching on marriage and the life-giving, love-giving marriage act. Sex is a beautiful gift from God---a way to show our love for each other and give life. I think I said before, or I meant to, that God was incredibly generous in allowing us to share in His act of creation. He gave women infertile times that allow us to have some control over conception for serious reasons. When we talk about serious or grave reasons for using NFP, it's really between God and the spouses. No one else can determine who's right---only the '3' involved in the marriage.

I think the biggest problem these days is that we don't live in a society based on families anymore. We work constantly. We drive our kids all over town for activities. We don't live near our parents and siblings. If life were different and revolved around the home, as it used to, and families stayed close where the extended families could help with the new babies, NFP use would be different, more rare. I think more people would reserve it for life and death situations. Perhaps God did not intend for couples to use those natural rhythms He provided for years and years in our marriages, and that is why we struggle with the difficulty of it.


Throughout history, babies have been a fact of life; people got married and babies came. They expected them and accepted them. Now, even the most dedicated Catholics have a difficult time with large families because it seems that everything in society makes it so much harder. Heck, I feel guilty sometimes for stopping at 6, but emotionally, physically, and financially, I don't think we could handle anymore. But that's really a lack of faith, isn't it? Or is it a societal problem?

They're beautiful! Who wouldn't want more?

22 years and counting!

Yesterday MOW and I celebrated our 22nd anniversary. We've been married half of my life! We had a lovely day together watching movies all day. Sounds kind of strange, but we were huge movie-goers before we had children, and a friend tipped us off one time that she and her dh have a movie day on her birthday every year since they're too busy the rest of the time. So we ditched the kids at 9:30 a.m. and lit out for the brand new, all digital AMC theater that is showing all the good movies.

We started with The Dark Knight, which is an amazing movie. Creepy and scary, but very well made.

Then we had lunch at Ted's Montana Grill. Say what you like about Ted Turner, but they have great food there, especially the bison burgers.

After that it was back to the theater for something cheerier: Mamma Mia!. It was a toe-tapper. Very cute and, yes, I sort of did want to get up and dance in the aisles.

After Mamma Mia! we had an hour or so to kill and we wandered around the beautiful new shopping center, got some snacks and went back to see Wall-e for our final film of the day. The girl who took our tickets for all three movies must have recognized us, but maybe we're not the only ones who do this sort of thing!

Wall-e definitely lived up to it's reputation. It was a good, heartwarming story, and it was beautifully animated. My only complaint about the movie was that he appeared to find a living, green, plant inside a refrigerator. And don't tell me the light was still on inside with the door closed after 700 years! Someone correct me if I'm wrong.

We came home to a house that was sparkling clean because the kids had done all their chores and picked up all the clutter. The kitchen was even spotless from dinner and the Little Princess was bathed and ready for bed. We ended the day by watching another movie with the older kids while the little ones saw one downstairs.

I loved my day and I love my honey. It's been a beautiful 22 years, with 6 beautiful children to show for it, and I'm looking forward to more wonderful years.

The Gospel of Life

In honor of the 40th anniversary of Humanae Vitae, the encyclical letter by Pope Paul VI on the regulation of birth, I re-read it yesterday during my hour of adoration of the blessed sacrament. It was published (promulgated? I always forget where that word applies!) on July 25, 1968.

It's a beautiful little work which I think explains clearly the beauty of marriage and the responsibility of husbands and wives who are "the free and responsible collaborators of God the Creator." God has given us an incredible gift in this ability to share in the act of creation. We are able to create new life, just as He did with Adam and Eve. The love of a man and woman, when expressed physically, creates life, just as the love of the Father and the Son brought forth the Holy Spirit.

God generously gave us this freedom to reproduce, which you can see all around you. What you don't see as often is the "responsible" part. That means treating the gift of sex with the respect it deserves. Reserving it for husbands and wives alone. Those married couples must also cherish it by not tearing apart the 2 integral halves of the marital act: unitive and procreative. The unitive aspect is a way for spouses to renew their marriage vows and show their love for one another. "By safeguarding both these essential aspects, the unitive and the procreative, the conjugal act preserves in its fullness the sense of true mutual love and its ordination towards man's most high calling to parenthood." Most people are all in favor of the unitive side, but balk at the procreative side.

Most of us would recognize certain disordered behaviors if we saw them. Less serious, perhaps, but disordered. Chewing a mouthful of food for the flavor and then spitting it out because they're on a diet, is one example. Or going so far as to eat an entire meal and then vomit to avoid weight gain. That's what anorexics do----they eat for the comfort of the food, but don't want what comes with it. We know that's an illness. Food has 2 purposes---enjoyment and nutrition. Why is it any less disordered to have sex (with a spouse or not!), but not want to experience the natural fruit of that act?

As it says in Humanae Vitae, it is not necessary for every marital act to result in a child. In fact, God gave women rhythms in their cycles of fertile and infertile periods for this very reason. It is perfectly acceptable to make use of the infertile phases and NOT the fertile phases if there are serious reasons to avoid a pregnancy. But in that way, each marital act remains open to the transmission of new life. Just knowing that a new life could result each time you are with your spouse gives you new respect for that spouse and the beauty of the act. Using any form of contraception deliberately frustrates the procreative side of sex and fundamentally changes it. Believe me, from someone who has seen it from both sides, there is a huge difference!

"The teaching of the Church on the regulations of birth, which promulgates the divine law, will easily appear to many to be difficult or even impossible of actuation. And indeed, like all great beneficent realities, it demands serious engagement and much effort, individual, family and social effort. More than that, it would not be practicable without the help of God, who upholds and strengthens the good will of men. Yet, to anyone who reflect well, it cannot but be clear that such efforts ennoble man and are beneficial to the human community."

Can you imagine if contraception were outlawed (again---it wasn't always legal), and there were greater risks associated with extra-marital sex? There would be more respect for women, not less. Contraception strips us of our very womanhood and makes us simply objects of lust. It doesn't really make us more powerful because we can control our "sexual health". There would be far fewer out-of-wedlock babies where the father is not in the picture. Men would be more inclined to shoulder the responsibility of a family if they knew from the beginning that a family could result!

Men and women are equal in dignity before the Lord, our Creator, but women are special because they are the ones who actually get to carry that new life within them. and nurture it. It makes me sad that so many women are willing to be oppressed by contraception and don't recognize it.

Of course, I recognize that many Catholics don't understand the Church teaching against contraception and how beautiful it is. Non-Catholics just think we're stuck in the dark ages and accept what society teaches without much consideration of the alternatives. When my husband of 4 years said that he had read Humanae Vitae and could no longer use contraception, I was floored. I refused to "have a baby every year just because the Pope said I should!" Ouch. That was hateful and un-informed. OTOH, I had heard about Natural Family Planning and was willing to try it since we were unhappy with all the contraceptives we had tried. Let me tell you, opening the doors to God by respecting His procreative and unitive act changed my life and my marriage. It was the most beautiful thing I have ever done---to say Yes to my husband and the Lord.

The Vacation from H.E.Double Hockeysticks

Maybe it wasn't that bad, but it was a real challenge to relax. First of all, when was the last time you went camping with 6 kids? The amount of stuff you have to take is staggering! We did manage to get it all into and on top of the car thanks to my amazing organizational skills. And I'm really good with spatial relationships.

We had a great drive to Skidaway Island State Park, just south of Tybee Island and Savannah, set up our tents and headed out to the beach.

Oh, and did you know that most people camp in RV's these days? We were seriously outnumbered at this place!

We had to drive farther than expected to get to the beach on Tybee (about 30 mins.), but that's okay. We were having a great time in the waves until it was time to go and we discovered that the tide had come in and soaked all of our clothes and towels. Imagine driving back to the campground with the 6 aforementioned kids---soaking wet, sandy, and hungry. Did I mention it was 30 minutes?

Master of the World had asked me if laundry facilities were a requirement for camping before we went. I said, "No, just electricity to blow up my Aerobed!" Thank goodness MOW supplied a washer and dryer anyway!

Wednesday, we had a beautiful hike through the salt flats and marshes around the campground with a naturalist guide. Then we headed out to the beach after lunch at the site. MOW and I swam a little and watched the dark clouds coming up the coastline, wondering if the storm would stay offshore or not. When the lightning started, we decided to pack up the car to keep our stuff dry and avoid a repeat of the night before. So we headed for the boardwalk. Ice cream and shopping while waiting for the showers to end. The showers that never came.

Finally, with the wind picking up, we went back out to the beach. The kids were psyched to get back in the water. Oh, honey, the flags say the water is hazardous and the beach is closed. The kids promise they'll just stay in the shallowest surf while Mom and Dad watch. Did I mention the wind? It's blowing the sand into us like needles! It's raining north of us, but the wind is blowing the rain to where we are. Kids still want to tough it out. No! We're not going to get soaked! But before we can get to the car, we and every other blessed thing within a mile are completely drenched. It was raining hard!!

You remember the 30 minute drive with 6 soaked, sandy kids? Yeah. Again. To a soaking wet campsite.

Laundry. Yeah. Again.

Thursday---the heck with the beach. It was already raining in the early hours of the morning. Let's try Savannah! We started out at the Visitor's center and then started walking. Our first stop was the Cathedral of St. John the Baptist. Beautiful. It was lovely, so lovely in fact that we decided to wait around a while and attend Mass at noon. And pray for the rain to end. After Mass and a look around, we started to leave. Wait for it....

It was raining torrents!

After that we spent the afternoon using our 2 umbrellas off and on and ducking into shops when the rain was too much for the unprotected ones. Lots of walking and rain, but on the whole a lovely day. Except for the stores that have signs posted everywhere "No Public Restrooms". Darn them. Don't they know how hard it is to coordinate the bathroom breaks of 8 people? Fortunately, KT remembered that the Starbucks (with facilities, thank you very much!) was closer than the Hospitality Center. She was happy to buy a coffee for the cause and we were all happy to join her. Especially a certain desperate child.

I think that night we went out to dinner (where we waited for a table much longer than it took for 8 hungry people to get their food and eat!) after washing only the towels that had been hanging on the line and getting soaked in the rain.

It rained again in the night, so we left the depressing, wet site and went back to walk along the Savannah river and enjoy the views and the shops.



We also went shopping at a mall, of all things. Madden desperately wanted to go to Bass Pro which was 10 miles from the historic district, so we obliged him. Then we took the older 3 to see The Dark Knight which Hitch had been dying to see. While they were at the movie, the rest of us had 2 glorious hours to enjoy the beach where....

it did NOT rain!

I still did 3 loads of laundry that night (now, I'm keeping it in trash bags, in the car where it will stay dry!), and 2 more the next morning, despite MOW asking why I didn't just wait until we got home. He figured it out when we got home and everyone unloaded and sorted all their dirty, wet and clean, wet clothing. I had 10 more loads to do at home!

Did I say that 8 people take an astounding amount of stuff camping? Even when "packing light"?

After organizing and repacking every blessed, wet thing, including tents, we made a fun trip to Fort Pulaski where we saw (and heard) 2 cannons fired. Despite a specific request that we see NO cannons on this vacation, they all, surprisingly, enjoyed the fort.


But wait, there's more! I know, you're so over this campout already!

The bugs! OMG! The bugs! Poor Madden had 105 mosquito bites after one day. We're all covered in bites, but he's the worst. In spite of my homemade olive oil/citronella oil bug repellent. I thought it worked fine, but bought the real stuff for him.

Oh, and my fabulous, full-sized normal height Aerobed that we lugged along and needed electricity for? It has a leak. A slow leak. By the time morning came we were floundering around trying to get up. If one got up, the other rolled into a hole. When one tried to lie down again, the other flew up into the air as if on a trampoline. I hate the fact that my expensive bed was only used once, a year and a half ago, now has a leak. OTOH, my back didn't bother me at all on this trip, cuz MOW sweetly blew it up again every night. I'm thinking we should actually get a waterbed. Or just put the Aero in our room, which is leakfree, has air-conditioning, and electricity. For now.

Lastly, the humidity. I don't ever want to live in a place where Spanish Moss grows on trees. Which, by the way, didn't come from Spain and isn't moss.

We all had a great time in spite of the rain and the kids were awesome. They didn't start behaving like normal children until we were halfway home. Need I tell you how happy we all were to get home to our waterproof home and beds?

The Trouble with Summer (Reprise)

The Trouble with Summer is that I'm an adult now according to my driver's license, birth certificate, and, possibly, the number of children I have. harrumph. It's not my job to play all day, with or without my kids. My hardworking hubby certainly doesn't see any more daylight this time of year. Only the children are on vacation and I just need to get used to that fact!

Whining over.