Seven Quick Takes Vol. 8

1

I’m really not in the mood to write this.  Today was not a good day in the 6^th grade.  There were many tears shed.  The child is completely overwhelmed by the consequences of his lack of organization.  I wish there was something more I could do.  But these are lessons he must learn.  And he is choosing to learn them the hard way.  I wish his 5^th grade teachers did more to prepare him.  This transition is ugly.

2

Well, the highlight of my week was meeting Lisa Hendy.  She is the creator of www.catholicmom.com and author of two great books: The Handbook for Catholic Moms and A Book of Saints for Catholic Moms.  We have been emailing back in forth for a couple years now.  She is probably one of the few people that have read all of my columns.  I feel like she probably knows me better than some of the people I see on a daily basis.  And until Saturday, we had never met face to face.  She is incredibly sweet.  We started chatting like we were old friends.  She even introduced me to the attendees in her session as one of her talented contributors (which left my ego rather inflated).  It was really great to finally meet her.  I hope our paths cross again soon!

3

I have a question for all of you.  I assume that many of you are Catholic parents.  Just in case this is your first time reading my blog, I am a youth minister.  We have a little over 200 middle school students enrolled in our Wednesday night faith formation youth group.  So, it is a big program that requires a number of volunteers in order to be successful.  I need more volunteers.  I need more faith filled people to mentor these youth.  I need more adults head over heals in love with the Lord to share their faith with these impressionable young people.  The first pool of adults I want to target is the parents of these youth.  So, what does it take?  How do I pull in these parents?  What would make you WANT to be involved in this program?  FYI- Adults do not lead groups on their own; they are given detailed lessons in advance that require little if any prep; they do not have to lead their child’s group-the choice is theirs.

4

My friend and I have discovered a WONDERFUL system: trading babysitting.  I take her kids so she and hubby can go on a date and she takes mine so we can go out.  For a family of four trying to make it on a teacher’s salary, this is a great system.  It is fun for the parents who get the outing time and the kids who get to play at someone else’s house.  I can not believe I didn’t think of it before!  I highly recommend it.

5

This one should probably be in the #1 spot on my list.  But since my brain is still reeling from all the 6^th grade math, science and social studies homework on the night before the 6 weeks ends, I forgot about it until now.  My husband’s band, Wakeland High School is going to the state marching band contest.  To say I am super excited for him is an understatement.  This will be his second time (and consecutive) at the state contest.  He is hoping they will place well.  They compete on Tuesday.  I have to say that I am super excited for him AND I am super excited for what this means.  That is right folks.  Marching band season is coming to an end!  It has been a long, tough, long, stressful, long and really long season.  He has worked every weekend since the beginning of September.  The number of hours he has clocked is astronomical- averaging 60-80 hours a week.  The personal sacrifice he and our family have made is exceptional.  It is nice to see him have this success.  I’ll keep you posted.

6

Well, I guess I can’t avoid it any longer.  I might as well acknowledge the elephant in the room.  We lost the World Series.  The Rangers didn’t bring home the title.  We missed out for a second year in a row.  Game 7 was horrifying.  They had a good few innings in the beginning but then they choked.  The Cards played better baseball.  It pains me to say it, but they deserved to win.  Our guys looked terrible.  And the whole time the game was playing out, all I could think about was the fact that we were only one strike away from the title in game 6- TWICE!!!!  And they blew it- TWICE!!!!  Ok, I’m starting to get all worked up again.  Time to move on.  But on a good note, I did learn from my game 6 martini mistakes.  I didn’t partake in game 7 which proved to be a good choice given the outcome.

7

I have a confession to make.  My confession is that I haven’t been to confession in a while.  It has been a few months which is unusual for me.  I was going once a month.  But I have two problems: time and circumstance.  Since I have taken this youth ministry position at the church, my time is greatly limited.  I already have a full time job with my home day care and adding the part time church gig with all the family stuff leaves me short on time.  Our youth nights are during one of the weekly confession times at our parish.  The other time is on Saturdays and my husband has worked every Saturday since mid-summer.  I finally came to the conclusion that I am going to have to make an appointment with our Priest.  And then there is the Priest issue.  Now that I am working at the church, do I still go to our pastor for confession?  Is that professional?  Maybe I should just go somewhere else.  But then, due to some trust issues I am working to overcome with people in ministry(I know how ironic that is considering my new job), I have been making a real effort to go to our pastor for confession.  It would be easier for me to go to a Priest I will never see again.  I have been working to build that trust with him so I am not sure I want to give up on that just because I am working at the church.  What to do?  What to do?

Visit more 7 Quick Takes at www.conversiondiary.com.  Thanks Jennifer!

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.

Read more 7 Quick Takes at www.conversiondiary.com

Seven Quick Takes Friday Vol. 6

1 

Ahhh… It’s nice to feel somewhat normal again. These last three weeks have been CRAZY. The event that really put it over the top was our middle school youth retreat. It was a great weekend full of fun activities, cool entertainment, engaging teachings and intense worship. And man, planning and carrying out something like that was amazing, exhausting and draining- especially when the other youth minister went down for the count with a migraine and that left me…. in charge. Gasp! But, it went great. The Holy Spirit was really the one in charge. I’m just really good a following directions. Although this was the first time I was in charge of a retreat, it wasn’t my first rodeo. So, I was prepared for the physical exhaustion. The mental and emotional exhaustion was another story. It took me a whole week to be able to think and reason and carry on intelligent conversation again. Whoa.

2

 So, many of my friends are having babies. I think that normally this would make me want to have more babies. But no. I sometimes wonder if God has me doing this home day care so that I will get all this mothering of babies desire out of my system. I have to say that being held hostage by 5 small children in my home 10 hours a day has worked. The thought of carrying the baby to term (which is a challenge for my body in itself), having the baby, paying the hospital bill, waking up in the middle of night to feed the baby, pumping every three hours, dealing with teething, ear infections, and middle of the night vomiting episodes just doesn’t get my mothering hormones pumping. I know that sounds selfish. There was a time when all of that didn’t matter. I would do anything to have that cute little baby in my arms. But those times seem to be over. If the Lord does bless us with another life, then I hope he also blesses me with this desire. But right now, in all of my selfish humanity, I just hope he continues to bless us with our ability to successfully practice NFP. The two boys we have make us feel rather complete.

3 

Like I said, my friends are having babies- including my best friend. After waiting what seemed like FOREVER, she finally got pregnant again. We are ecstatic. And guess what? I get to be her Godmother! Did you see the “her”? Yes, the baby is a GIRL and I get to be her Godmother! I am sooooo excited! This is the first time I am Godmother to a Catholic child. My nephew is my Godchild, but I don’t think I have a formal role since they are Methodist. Now that I have a Catholic Godchild, I feel like I need to read a God-parenting book or something. But first things first. I must buy all the pink baby clothes I can find.

 4

 I am wondering if we are going to survive the 6th grade. I don’t remember praying for patience, but since middle school started, the Lord seems to be blessing me with abundant lessons in this skill. And they are rather dangerous lessons for my son because if I fail, he is in the direct line of fire of my fury. So far, he is still alive. But we are only 6 weeks into the school year. I have discovered that middle school is not only a learning curve for him, but also for us. Which is CRAZY because I used to teach middle school!!! I miss the days of him having one teacher, one personality, one person to know all his little eccentricities, one person to identify his potential and help him succeed. Now, I have 7 of these people. And these 7 people don’t have 25 students, but rather 125 students. It is a big learning curve. I am trying unsuccessfully not to helicopter.

5 

This past month has been a big affirmation on why I am NOT a homeschooling mom. Since I hang around a lot of Catholic moms in person and online, I feel sort of in the minority because I don’t homeschool and worse yet, I send my kids to public school. As public school teachers, my husband and I are big proponents of sending our kids to school rather than homeschool. And, as public school teachers (one of whom is retired to stay home with the kids) we cannot afford to send the darlings to Catholic school. So, off to public school they go. And since we work there, it feels okay to do it. Now, over the past year, I have been doing preschool at home and I have been wondering if I should look at the homeschooling thing. However, we went ahead and enrolled our youngest in preschool this year. It was the best decision we could have made. He LOVES it. And he is thriving and growing in ways he could not grow here. Last year, I couldn’t even get him to color. After one month in preschool, he is writing his name. I could not have gotten him to do that. Yes, home schooling is not for us. I am not called to it. My kids are not made for it. And I admire those that are called and whose kids are made for homeschooling. That is a big undertaking that brings unique stressors to the family dynamic. It takes a special family to make it work. I am sure if I worked to make the square peg fit in the round hole, there would not be enough money to pay for all the therapy the children would need- or the liquor bill.

6 

My Dad cracks me up. He recently retired from his second career and landed his “dream job.” Now, let me give you some background. He spent over 20 years in the Navy. He was a hospital administrator in the Medical Corps. He worked his way up through the ranks and even spent part of his duty working for NATO. He retired a Captain. He accumulated two master’s degrees during his navel career- one of those being at the War College. Once he retired from the Navy, he took a job at the Red Cross. He managed one of two national call centers who assisted military personnel and their families with communication during crisis situations like combat. He recently retired from that career as well. And now, he is most excited to land a job as the greeter at the Walters, Oklahoma visitor’s center. He was hoping to be a Wal-Mart greeter one day but never dreamed he would land a job as greeter at the visitor’s center. He feels he has reached the pinnacle of his professional career. HA! Sometimes I wonder if I should be living closer to my parents.

7 

Well, here I am publishing this on Friday night instead of Friday morning. In my defense, I started this on Friday morning. But small children require my attention. All. The. Time. These days, between my day care and the church, I am busier than I ever imagined I would be. So busy that I forget to check my clothes before I race out the door to pick up my child from somewhere. The people at Wal-Mart must think I don’t do laundry since I always seem to be covered in spit-up and ketchup. Maybe I should take Jennifer’s advice and wear an apron. Of course, that is going to make for more laundry. Sigh…

Seven Quick Takes Friday Vol. 5

1

I just finished mowing the lawn.  And my word, it is dry out there!  I stepped in a few holes, noticed large cracks in the ground and the dust was unreal.  In the 8 years we have lived here, I have never seen this before.  The lawn that is under the tree in the front is really starting to die.  The other side (where there is no tree) seems to be doing okay.  I am thinking that the tree must be soaking up what little water is in the ground and leaving nothing for the grass.  I adjusted the amount of time the sprinkler zones water from 4 minutes to 10 minutes.  Maybe that will save my lawn.  I am surprised the Trugreen guy hasn’t given me a big lecture. And, by the way, he doesn’t do rain dances.  It isn’t in his contract.

2

I really feel sorry for all the farmers this year.  It must be heartbreaking to put all your money in the ground and then watch the crops die.  We have a few farmers on my Dad’s side of the family.  My parents and farming cousins all live in a rural town in southwestern Oklahoma.  When I was up there this past spring, the drought was just beginning.  I went to church(Baptist) with my parents and the Preacher called all the men to the front of the church.  They all got on their knees and, man, did they pray for rain.  The effects of a drought do not touch us city folk like it touches the farmers.  They depend on the forces of nature in a way we don’t understand.  I was so touched by their prayer.  So, I started adding rain to my daily prayers.  I know that God has a plan with this drought and we have to trust that he will provide, but it still hurts to watch all those farmers suffer.

3

Back to mowing the lawn.  So, my husband tells me that he is has been called to fly out to Atlanta this weekend.  Long story short, he can’t mow the lawn.  Now, he doesn’t point this out to me.  I realize in the midst our conversation that he cannot get the lawn mowed.  So I say, “Well, I guess I will mow the lawn tonight.”  He immediately starts protesting and insisting that he can get it done.  I explain to him that he can’t mow in the dark and if we let it go any longer, we are going to lose the dogs and children in the high grass.  As he was walking out the door, he was still begging me not to do it.  Now I want to know, what is so wrong with me mowing the lawn?  Aren’t I doing him a favor?  I have not broken the lawn mower in the past and I am pretty sure that I am not capable of breaking it.  By his overreaction, I have to conclude he thinks I am stealing his manhood or something.  I certainly would not think he was stealing my womanhood if he did some laundry or cleaned a bathroom. 

4

I recently found these cups at Wal-mart.  I LOVE them.  They are insulated and they have a straw.  Thanks to my grinding, I have worn copious amounts of the enamel off my teeth.  Therefore, I prefer to drink a cold drink with a straw.  For the longest time, I was using my cup from the hospital- you know, the one with the long bendy straw.  But the straw broke.  I don’t think those cups are meant to last.  But you think they would after all that money you spend at the hospital!  On the last trip, the bill pre-insurance was $60,000.  I think we spent $15,000 and all I got to take home was that cup.  Oh, and we also took home our Ben-Ben.  I guess he is kind of priceless.

5

So, next week I am starting my new job (part-time).  I am very excited.  But I can’t tell you what it is yet.  It has not been officially announced.  So, you will have to tune in next week.

6

I am about to review this book.  It is a Catholic fiction novel.  I am looking forward to reading it.  In the back of my mind, I have always wanted to read some catholic fiction.  I just never put any effort to actually finding it.  And then John Eklund contacted me and asked if I would review his book.  So, I didn’t have to put any effort into it!  It just showed up in my mail box.  I have some selfish reasons for wanting to review it.  I think that if I ever wrote anything for real, it would probably be a fiction book.  But the idea of writing something that I totally make up that has to be interesting to other people is quite overwhelming.  Especially since it a book is longer than 1000 words.  Maybe this book will inspire me.

7

So, for those of you who don’t know, I run a home child care business.  I am the lone employee.  And yes, I do this in my home.  I am fully aware that I am insane.  I have five little clients ages 4 and under.  They keep me busy and they are my daily lesson on how to have more patience.  I must have prayed for patience at some point in my life and now God has provided me with 5 ongoing daily lessons.  At any rate, this Wednesday, I decided that the baby needed some space.  I have been unable to convince my two toddlers that the baby is not a toy and that if he is in the swing, they do not need to push him.  Or steal his pacifier.  Or give him enormous amounts of toys.  So, I put up some gates to divide the house into two parts- one for the baby and one for the toddlers.  The preschoolers can play with the toddlers or join the baby if the toddlers are picking on them or if they want to play with toys that are not appropriate for toddlers.  I have to say that this is the most genius idea that I have ever had.  All the little people seem much happier for their separate little spaces.  And I am no longer pulling my hair out trying to convince the toddlers that the baby is not a doll.  In fact, this idea has had such tremendous success that I have decided to put up sturdier gates that require me to drill holes in the wall.  Now, if only I can get my husband to tell me where he has hidden the drill bits…

Seven Quick Takes Friday Vol. 4

1

So, my seven quick takes Friday is happening on Saturday which is a great reflection of my life these past few weeks.  My husband has been out of town and we are celebrating his return tomorrow.  I think he is looking forward to arriving at a comfortable place that doesn’t smell like a gym or move like a tour bus.  He will get his wish but his comfortable place will be filled with toys everywhere, and screaming children.  And I may just sneak away from this comfortable place for a little while and let him wallow in the chaos- um, I mean tranquility.

2

While I have held down the fort all alone these past few weeks, I would be remiss not to admit that it wasn’t that bad this time around.  I am not sure if it is because I am getting used to my husband’s absence and all the extra work that his absence entails or if I have just reached a new level of insanity that broadens the parameters of my normal.  In these past few weeks, on more than one occasion, I have run low on patience, time, patience, sleep, patience, adult conversation, and patience.  But one thing I did not run low on was vodka (cue hallelujah chorus).  I refuse to take my kids inside the liquor store so I usually run out of vodka while my man is gone for extended periods of time.  This time, I have vodka to spare, so I think that is a good indication that I wasn’t quite as overwhelmed this time around.

3

This past Thursday, I got to pretend to be a reporter.  I covered the Guadalupe Radio Network Summer Speaker Series at the Frontiers of Flight Museum in Dallas for MetroCatholic (www.dfwcatholic.org).  Fr. Larry Richards was the speaker.  And he was hilarious.  On more than on occasion, I flashed back to my days of sitting in a pew in my southern Baptist church on a Sunday morning.  Fr. Larry is a great preacher.  He tells it like it is with no apology.  I had the privilege of interviewing him before the event.  And, being that I work with youth ministry, I asked him what advice he would give to a teenager.  His answer was awesome and should be the mission statement of every youth minister: (I’m paraphrasing) ‘Today’s young people need to come to know that they are beloved children of God.  They need to realize how awesome that is.  And in that understanding, they can experience the love of God in a profound way.  They come to know that God loves us more that any person ever could.  And they need to live in that love.’  Isn’t that awesome?  I think it is particularly awesome because young people think they are many things but beloved is not one of them.  They spend much of their time trying to feel important to someone- anyone.  For them to realize how important they are to God would be a life changing experience for many of them.  It would be the beginning of something extraordinary in their lives.  It would set them on fire.

4

Speaking of being on fire, how ‘bout this heat?  We are on day 22 of 100+ in a row.  I am glad that I had no desire to plant flowers this year.  If I had, it would have been easier to take the money outside and light it on fire than try to keep flowers alive.  Our lawn is starting to get brown in a few places.  And we water it!  We water it as much as the city will let us water it.  I am sure the TruGreen man is all in a dither.  I wonder if he will come do a rain dance on our lawn.  Is that in the contract?

5

So, I am getting to do something today that I do not get to do very often: enjoy a clean house.  My kids are with my wonderful Mother-in-law.  So, because I have a sickness, I saw a perfect opportunity to get my house CLEAN.  I turned up Matt Maher and rocked out with the Lysol, vacuum, and Pledge.  Everything is put away.  There are no little people to get it right back out and spread it all over the house.  I can sit and admire the order.  I can bask in my reflection in the coffee table.  I can walk around bare footed and not wonder what I am stepping on.  And (drum roll please…) the bathroom is CLEAN (which is pretty awesome when you live with a whole bunch of boys).  It is a glorious day.  I may even get to read a book!

6

I also got to do something I do not get to do very often- go shopping!  I am the cheapest girl on the planet so shopping is always hard.  I dread parting with the little bit of money I manage to scrape together for the blessed event.  But today, I did well.  I got three dresses and a pair of dress pants at Ross for $70.  Not bad.  And then I went to Two Hearts Catholic book store.  What I saved at Ross was spent there.  I did get Fr. Larry’s book Be a Man! which is turning out to be really interesting.  It is supposed to be for men but, since I live with all boys, I figured I was allowed to read it.  I also finally bought Lisa Hendey’s book A Handbook for Catholic Moms.  I am embarrassed that I write for catholicmom.com but I have never read her book!  She has a new book coming out in October so I need to knock this one out first.  Also, I figured I would need a book on how to be a Catholic woman after reading about how to be a Catholic man.

7

I fear that my oldest son is turning into a…..(heavy sigh)….teenager.  We seem to be dealing with mood swings.  He is going off to middle school this year at a school in a new district.  And I fear this change is going to be tougher than we originally thought.  I am praying that he makes some friends- and fast.  And good friends, of course.  He needs these friends because I am clearly NOT COOL anymore.  Somehow, I have crossed from the realm fun, loving Mom to dorky Mom who just doesn’t get it.  I don’t think that Dad has made this transition.  I think his absence has made the teenage heart grow fonder.  So, that is good for now.  I think this dorky Mom needs to read some books.  And hit her knees.  May God have mercy on all of our souls.

Seven Takes Friday Vol. 3

1

In June of 2006, I was sitting in a Bennigan’s in San Antonio watching the Mavericks fold under the pressure of the Heat.  I knew they could play better.  I knew they could shut down Wade.  But they couldn’t pull it together in time and we lost out on our chance at our first ever NBA Championship.  Combine that gut wrenching defeat with the fact that the Mavs shut down a new and improved Heat (Wade, Bosch, and King James) and you have the sweetest championship victory in NBA history.  The good guys won.  The nice guys came away champions.  How awesome it is to live in Dallas on this glorious occasion.  LETS GO MAVS!

2

Now that I got that out of my system, let me admit that I have not kept up with the 7 takes Fridays these past few weeks.  I’ve got a lot of excuses.  But I won’t bore you with them. 

3

This past Sunday, my oldest went away to boy scout summer camp for the first time.  He was nervous which made me even more nervous.  I want him to make memories, not nightmares.  I want him to have fun, not be miserable.  I want him to grow as a person, not feel less of one.  I have not been able to talk to him since he left.  And that is unnerving.  I hope he is doing well.  I hope he is having fun.  And I hope he is wearing sunscreen, bug spray and has taken a shower at least once.

4

Along with the revival of 7 takes Friday, I have also revived my time at the gym.  Tonight, I ran 2.75 miles in 30 minutes which isn’t bad for an old lady.  However, I feel like I have a tire around my waist.  I can’t wait for the extra 10-15 pounds to come off.  It is driving me crazy.  My previous gym was a ladies only gym.  My new gym is not.  Let me say that I like the change.  Ladies tend to walk on the treadmill so I was always running next to walkers.  Now, I have a whole bunch of running men next to me.  And I like it!  I didn’t realize how much easier it is to keep going when you feel like you are running with someone. 

5

I am not that far into Screwtape, but it has already made an impression on me.  What a great and model patient I have made for the devil.  I fall for all these tricks.  Especially, the one where the devil gets between you and your loved ones.  Recently, I have two situations where I could tell the spiritual warfare was at play.  And they both involve my being upset with my husband.  In the first situation, I didn’t respond to the bait.  I kept silent and I prayed for Jesus to take this anger away from me.  It took most of the day, but it worked.  As the day wore on, I could see things from his perspective and I could focus on what really mattered.  In the second situation, I took the bait.  I blew up.  And in the end I could see how ridiculous my behavior was.  The devil got the best of me in that one.  I’m a little afraid to keep reading Screwtape.  I fear I am going to see even more of my true colors.  I guess that will make me appreciate the love and MERCY of God on a greater level.

6

I have decided I want a color Nook for my birthday.  My Mom and my Sister have color Nooks while my Mother-in-law and Sister-in-law have Kindles.  The Kindle is cool and cheaper.  It serves its purpose well.  However, the color Nook appears to be really cool.  It can do more than just books.  Although it doesn’t appear to be as cool as an iPad, it does go on the internet and it runs apps.  If I had money to burn, I would just get an iPad.  But, sadly, I don’t so I will have to settle for the next best thing.  If one of you has an opinion with regard to the Nook vs. iPad vs. Kindle vs. tablet computer, please feel free to share.

7

Two weeks ago, I got two new fillings.  Let me back up by saying I really despise going to the dentist.  My dentist is a very nice person, but what she does to me is just plain mean.  I am pretty sure that hell is filled with drill wielding dentists who insist you have enough Novocain before they hold you down and drill out all your teeth for eternity.  Anyhow, I got the fillings.  That evening, I put my night guard in (I have TMJ issues because I grind my teeth into an oblivion while I sleep) and it didn’t fit quite right.  So, I bit down on it and I heard a crack.  I could not tell from the chip I found in my mouth if it was the filling or the night guard.  So, I made another appointment and went back to the dentist.  Turns out it was neither- it was a tooth.  Now, in all the moments before she told me I chipped my tooth, I had no pain in that tooth.  As soon as I got home from the appointment, the tooth started hurting.  It’s gotta be all in my head, right? 

Seven Quick Takes Friday Vol. 2

 

1

This week, I am thankful for the technology that enables the weather man to tell me if there is a tornado coming towards my house. It has been a stressful spring. I feel for all those people in Alabama and Joplin. I can’t imagine what they have faced and are facing. The latest of the many storms that have blown through here let loose a straight line wind that took down part of our tree out front. When that wind hit the house, my husband happened to be leaning against the wall and he felt the wall move. The noise it made was scary as was the helpless feeling that washed over me. And that was only a small glimpse into what the people of Joplin and Alabama experienced. May the love and mercy of God pour into their lives in insurmountable ways.

2

Also this week, I have discovered just how bad the drainage is in the back yard. And I am going to go out here on a limb and conclude that the big giant stone wall that lines our back yard is the culprit. The stone wall belongs to our lovely HOA. We are not on speaking terms with the HOA. I am thinking of calling them and complaining and demanding that they fix it. Or else I am going to move the broken range out of the garage and into the garden. I think it would make a lovely planter.

3

I spent a day off facebook this week. And it was good. I didn’t realize how much anxiety I carry around because I am always on it. It’s like constantly being at lunch in high school. You know, sitting around and thinking of the next cool thing to say, trying to impress your friends, hoping you look good and craving the feedback that you actually do look good. I totally didn’t realize how much of this I bought into. It wasn’t until I was off that I realized what I was doing. It was good to let go of the anxiety. I think I will stay off for a while longer.

4

Well, the old lady back still rules my life. I have spent as much time as six kids will allow me to spend horizontal on the sofa- which wasn’t much by the way. I have not been to the gym. I am going to try to get it feeling better over the long weekend before hitting the treadmill. I probably need to go back to the chiropractor. I don’t want to go back to the chiropractor. Just like I don’t want to go to a doctor. I feel sorry for my children. They will have to deal with a crazy old lady who refuses to visit the doctor for any reason. I may need to increase the amount of money I set aside for their future therapy bills.

5

I am looking forward to spending the long weekend at my parent’s house. They live in Out in the Middle of No Where, Oklahoma. You know- the place just past where Jesus lost his sandals. I love going out there. It is so quiet. The air is fresh. My Mom is there making sure that I sit down and relax. She’s making me blueberry coffee cake. The kids can play outside with little worry. It is a nice change from the suburbs of Dallas. It is nice to be surrounded by what God has made instead of what man has made. It’s just nice. I’m bringing books.

6

A few months ago, our washer and dryer committed suicide. We replaced them with some LG front loaders. One thing that I really like about them is the song it plays. Instead of sounding an annoying buzzer, they play a cute little song. This song is somewhat familiar, but I cannot figure out what it is. And it is driving me crazy! I know it is a real song because it sounds like one of the little songs I taught over and over in beginning band. But I cannot put my finger on it. Now I don’t know what is worse, the song I can’t name or the buzzer.

7

I have to confess that I haven’t been completely faithful in my prayer life this week. I have been sleeping through it because my back feels so good in that bed. When I don’t feel good, I struggle with keeping my quiet time sacred. People who chronically suffer with pain and still remain faithful to their quiet time are superheroes in my book. The few times that I have gotten up and prayed, I have been lamenting over this back issue. I am frustrated that it won’t go away. I am only 33. I should be able to train for a half marathon. But then, when I say that, I feel guilty. There are many others out there with real health problems. I should be thankful for what I have rather than lament for what I don’t have. When do I ask for healing and when do I offer it up?



Seven Quick Takes Friday

1

Well, I’m going to give this seven takes thing a try. I was inspired by Jennifer Fulwiler’s Seven Quick Takes Friday. But she is a real writer while I just pretend so we will see how this goes. I like the idea because it gets me writing at least once a week. I have fallen of the wagon lately with the written word so, I hope, this will get me close enough to the wagon to jump back on. I apologize for the random nature of these takes. I fear it will be a true reflection of my scatter-brained personality.

2

So, I was outside in the yard the other day cleaning up after the dogs(as in picking up the poop). And I thought to myself, if aliens ever visited our planet, I wonder what they would think of this. I wonder if they would question who the more intelligent life form is. Is it the dog that lies around all day or the human who feeds the dog, cleans up the dog’s poop, is taken for a walk by the dog and seems to cater to the dog’s every need? In our house, it would be hard to tell. But that also got me thinking. What must the aliens think of the God who died for the humans who may or may not even believe in His existence? I guess my cleaning up after the dog is much like what Jesus does for us on a daily basis. He picks up all the crap we make out of our lives and does away with it. All the stickiness in our souls is gone. And yes, I do realize how sad my life is that God has to use this moment to speak to my heart.

3

Since we are on the subject, I have to say I’m impressed with the new Great Value brand toilet paper at Walmart. It can shake a stick at Charmin. I like their paper towels too. They can shake a stick at Bounty. They are both absorbent and strong. And since I use a lot of these products in my line of work, I am happy to discover them at such low-cost and high quality. Yes, how sad that this is the high light of my week.

4

As some of you know, I published my conversion story on www.whyimcatholic.com . You should check out this website. It has some great stories. But get comfortable because some of them are rather long. Anyhow, yesterday, I find an email in my inbox from a news agency in Spain requesting an interview. The journalist is writing an article about my conversion story. Really? I can’t help but think that there are way more interesting stories out there to write about. But, I have to say that it is nice to have the affirmation. Especially since I can brag to my semi-famous husband that I am an international sensation! But, don’t worry, I’m not letting it all go to my head. Besides, I am sure the Holy Spirit will have another experience waiting for me around the corner that will knock me out of the clouds and back on dry ground where I belong.

5

So, my semi-famous Husband worked every night this week. Every. Flippin’. Night! And we are feeling the effects of his absence. My four-year old wandered downstairs this morning and looked at me with his groggy little eyes and asked me where Daddy was. You see, last night he got to see his Daddy for the first time in four days. I had a class so Daddy came and got the children and took them to his 7pm meeting. Ben must have had a great time playing in his office and just being with his Daddy again. Because this morning, when I told him Daddy had already gone to work, he let out a blood curdling scream. I am not looking forward to this summer when Daddy will be gone for weeks at a time. I have a feeling Ben will make his opinions about his Daddy’s absence known loudly and often. Fun times. Fun times.

6

Last week, I broke down and joined a gym. The gym I belonged to for about 7 years went out of business 10 months ago. When they closed, I planned to just run outside. I didn’t need a gym to get exercise. Well, guess how many times I actually ran outside. ZERO. I finally decided that it wasn’t happening and I needed a gym. And it needed to have child care. So, I did it. And I went faithfully for a week. I was really excited because I was running 3 miles in about 33 minutes. I was getting my mojo back. And then, three days ago, I bent over and that familiar old lady back pain shot through my back and into my butt. My type A personality has no time for this! The back has been resting for the past three days. I will hit the treadmill this afternoon. My old lady back is not going to arrest my youthful mojo. I know. Famous last words.

7

I’ve decided to read The Screwtape Letters. I really do not have a lot of reading time, but I decided I need to read this book. I see it referenced in many of the books on theology I have read lately. I know that most people probably read this book in college or something, but somehow I missed out on that experience. There wasn’t much C.S. Lewis on my college reading list which I find perplexing since I went to a Catholic university. I also find it interesting that C.S. Lewis wasn’t Catholic. I wonder what his big hang up was. Maybe one of you can fill me in.

So, there you have it- seven random thoughts that have been rolling around in my head. I have to admit, it was a little therapeutic to get them out and it’s nice to see that wagon in the distance. Hope you have a great weekend.