Seven Quick Takes Friday Vol. 7

1

I learned a few things about myself when I woke up on this morning after game 6 of the World Series.  I should wait to pour the martini until after the game.  I thought I could do it in the 8^th inning, but no.  Exciting baseball games do not allow me to make good decisions about martini’s after the first one is poured.  After checking my facebook this morning, I have learned that I should not facebook while drinking a martini and watching the Rangers let game 6 and their World Series championship slip between their fingers.  Nope, that was not a wise decision either.

2

So, what do you think about the Church issuing the document “Towards a reform of international financial and monetary system in the prospect of a public authority with universal competence”?  I’m not sure I am smart enough to fully understand the technical causes of the crisis and the steps needed to improve the global economic climate.  However, I do understand my role as a Christian.  I must put the needs of others before myself.  I must work for the common good of the kingdom of God which will likely require sacrifice on my part.  I think these ideals have been lost in the recent Christian generations.  We have an underdeveloped sense of morality.  Our capitalistic society fuelled by birthright to the “American Dream” has clouded our morality and stolen our ability to see the common good before our own desires.  And if we continue on this path of greed and love of self over others, then we will destroy ourselves.  Kudos to the Church for not only standing up and saying something, but saying something intelligent lined with well thought out solutions.  I hope that the global community will listen and at least acknowledge that there is a problem.  But, I fear that there is little hope that solutions offered by the institutions profiting from this climate will have any impact on improving the situation.

3

So, a week ago, I got a Twitter account.  I know, I know.  I’m the last person on the planet to tweet.  You see, I have always facebooked.  I never had a desire to tweet mostly because I didn’t really understand how it worked.  But I was forced to get an account so that I may keep up with my son’s extracurricular activity.  So, I tweeted.  I do not have the hang of it yet.  I do not understand how people can follow me or even find me on twitter.  And the tweeting is a learning curve.  The tweets are filled with @ and # and crazy links.  I feel like I need a dictionary.  But, I do have to admit that it is fun to get on there.  I am following all my favorite bands.  They tweet more often than they facebook, especially Matt Maher (perhaps the greatest Catholic rock musician of our time).  I have REALLY enjoyed twitter stalking him.  So after a week of twitter, I think I understand it better.  Tweeting is like making an announcement over a PA system while facebook is like sitting at the lunch table with 300 of your closest friends.  There is more accessibility to get your ideas out there through Twitter, while facebook provides more of a conversational experience.  See, I’m not too old for all this.  I can tweet AND facebook.  HA!

4

For the past month, my youngest wanted to be a trash bag for Halloween.  I was horrified.  Why would he want be a trash bag?  In these four short years, have I already done collateral parenting damage? Should I go ahead a start him in therapy?   Naturally, I tried to talk him out of it.  But he was firm.  He was going to be a trash bag.  So, this past Sunday, I bought some trash bags.  I formulated a plan to make a trash bag costume so that looked like we at least tried and didn’t stick a trash bag on him at the last minute.  Then, on Monday, he changed his mind.  Now he wants to go to the costume store.  Now that all the costumes are picked over, he wants to go to the costume store.  I’m ready to talk him back into that trash bag.

5

I am going to the University of Dallas Ministry Conference tomorrow.  I am excited because I am finally going to meet Lisa Hendy, creator of www.catholicmom.com and author of two great books, A Handbook for Catholic Moms and A Book of Saints for Catholic Moms.  I have been a contributor to www.catholicmom.com for a couple years now, so I am excited to finally meet Lisa in person.  Since she has read my columns for all these years, I feel like she knows me better than most people and it’s quite silly that we have not actually met.

6

So, I am REALLY excited that the coffee creamer holiday flavors are finally hitting store shelves.  I love pumpkin spice latte and peppermint mocha.  I don’t understand why they only stock these during the holidays.  They really brighten my day.  Especially on the morning after the martinis, losing game 6 and unchecked facebooking.

7

I while ago, I mentioned that I was going to review The Third Testament by JohnEklund.  Well, I am happy to announce that in these 3 months since that post, I am over HALFWAY through the book.  I know.  It’s sad.  I usually read a book in a few days, but these last few months have been crazy.  I laid on the sofa the other night and started reading and my youngest walked by, stopped dead in his tracks, gave me the strangest look and said, “Mom!  WHAT are you DOING?”  He was completely taken aback that I wasn’t moving.  I guess I need to make more of an effort to have down time.  Hopefully, it won’t take me another 3 months to read the other half of the book.  And I should mention that it is good.  There is a lot of church history interwoven with the plot.  I’m curious to see how everything is going to conclude.

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