Nineteenth Sunday after Pentecost

Hello all! So glad to have you with me along on this Byzantine journey. This week, I don't have a particularly Byzantine-y post, as Anne and I took a Mom & Me road trip to the NY Sheep & Wool Festival in Rhinebeck, NY, and thus we were traveling during our usual Divine Liturgy time:

She loves car selfies, as you can tell :-0

We had a marvelous time, but it was one of those weeks that we had to hit the easy button and find a Latin rite parish where we could quickly slip in for Mass. So no specifically Byzantine content this week, but these opportunities to move back and forth between worshipping in both the Byzantine and Latin rite liturgies is informative in it's own way. I love both traditions, that is definitely becoming clearer and clearer. And I'm increasingly becoming more and more comfortable in both, without things being so lopsided as when I first started attending Divine Liturgy. It's nice to not feel like such a fish out of water over there, and the liturgy makes my heart sing, but at the same time, attending Mass is like a comfy, warm blanket. I'm used to it in the best possible way, and it fits around me so well. I'm grateful that as a Catholic, I can have both!

This Sunday, we're back to the Byzantine rite parish, and I'm certain that talk of the upcoming Christmas Bazaar will abound. I'll have updates next week! Until then, here's some of our new sheep friends from the festival:

Making a lovely milestone out of pandemic challenges...

Happy August, everyone! I was going to chat about crafty things today, after updating everyone about Anne's First Communion, but I decided to save crafts for next week, and devote this whole post to the big day last Sunday, and to assorted other Catholic, uplifty things. 

*heart*

As I mentioned last week, I was grateful that Anne's school parish was able to reschedule First Communion this summer, and that we wouldn't have to wait any longer. But let's just be honest, the current coronavirus restrictions are a bit of a bummer. We understand why they are there, but any type of milestone this year has had a depressing cloud hung over it's head, and it's not always easy to deal with. BUT, Anne was able to be with 7 of her classmates at the mass, and also have her grandparents there, which was absolutely awesome. Dianne noted last week in the comments that focusing on the positives really helps, and she's right! There were a lot of positives about the experience. 

Anne in her dress and veil before mass!

The day was very humid (and we don't have air conditioning! :-0) but we managed to yank on our dress clothes fairly successfully and made it to the church on time. There were 8 first communicants, plus other members of the parish attending the noon mass. The mass itself was lovely, we were so glad to have our parents there, and there was a professional photographer present to capture a few moments with each young communicant, which made me very happy. The children were all able to receive the Eucharist for the first time in a beautiful and reverent fashion.

Social distancing photo op with Father

Afterwards, we were able to have our parents back with us to our house for pizza and cake, and it all went very well. Even though it wasn't the completely traditional experience I was looking forward to, I'm grateful that Anne has reached this milestone and that it went without a hitch. I think her preparation suffered a bit because of the pandemic, and I'm looking forward to working with her this fall and Advent to grow deeper in her faith. 

In other Catholic news, the Our Lady Undoer of Knots novena started yesterday, and I'm praying it with regards to discernment for the fall and the kids' schooling. I'm linking it here if you would like to join in! It'll wrap up on the feast of St. Maximillian Kolbe. 😍 If you have intentions for the novena, feel free to leave them below and we can all pray for each other!

Some musings as Anne makes her First Communion...

Hello all, and happy end of July!

*virtual hug*

July is my least favorite month of the year in terms of the heat, so I'm rather looking forward to August. What I'm *not* looking forward to in August is the school re-opening plan nightmare that is already unfolding and that is making me super anxious. But that is a worry for another day. :-0

I'll have another crafty post next week (with some exciting updates; 2nd completed doily and thread size comparison! Completed Steelers socks!) but this week I have 1st Communion on the brain, and thought I would wax reflective a bit. :)

Anne is my baby, and it's hard to believe that this will be my last child with whom to share this sacrament. I can't help but feel chagrined that it's happening during this terrible year that is 2020. There was no mommy and me retreat, no May Crowning at the school afterwards, no rehearsal at the church with the banner displayed that we made together, not even a completion to her preparation alongside her classmates. Even though I know that these things are not more important than receiving Jesus in the Eucharist, I can't help but mourn them. I won't have another opportunity to share any of those things with my own child. This has been a year of emotional losses such as these, and while there are other losses that are much, much worse, these still do incite a sense of sadness.

But I'm grateful that the school found a way, within the current public health mandates, to still offer the mass and sacrament, and to do so relatively quickly. I was fearful that the kids would have to wait until the fall, or perhaps into the next calendar year, before they would be able to receive. And we will have the opportunity for beautiful photographs, and to have Anne's grandparents all there. She'll be attired in her spectacular lace dress and veil, and she picked out sparkly rose gold sandals (there's a definite St. Therese vibe to the get up ;-)). We'll be able to celebrate with our small family group back at our home afterwards, and that is bringing me a lot of comfort. So I'm focusing on those things.

Anne is at an age where "church is boring," and I'm hopeful that receiving the Eucharist will begin to turn her heart towards a more mature (relatively speaking) form of faith. I'm praying about this non-stop, and her recent feast day makes me feel that God will answer this prayer. If you would all pray for her too, especially at noon EDT this Sunday, I would be so obliged!

I'll let you know how it goes next week! Until then, let's move forward into August with hopeful spirits. I'm also going to be penning a Catholic Mom article next week. You have any topics you'd like to see me write about? Chime in in the comments!

Little girls who cough in the night...

Sunday night/early Monday morning, in the home of the Catholic Librarian:

*Tiffany and Mike blissfully sleeping*

Suddenly...

*cough. cough. coughcoughcough. COUGHCOUGHCOUGH*

Anne has seasonal allergies, and spring is her roughest season. Obviously, I'm sympathetic. It just takes me longer to be enthusiastic about aforementioned sympathies at 2 am. Just like when I had newborns, I wait it out for several minutes, hoping that a miracle will come down from the sky and the child will fall back to sleep on their own. And how many times has THAT ever worked?

*COUGHCOUGHCOUGH*

*long suffering sigh*

I drag myself out of bed and down the stairs. I sleepily fetch Anne's allergy medication, and carefully measure it out. I then drag self back up stairs and into her room. I give her the medicine, some water, an extra pillow to prop her head up more, and tuck her back in.

*jump back into bed*

*sigh of contentment*

*cough. cough. coughcoughcough. COUGHCOUGHCOUGH*

This goes on for what feels like hours while I wait for the medicine to kick in, but in actuality is only 10 minutes. I finally give up on sleep and head back to Anne's room.

"Anne honey, do you want to try and sleep on Mommy's chest so that you'll be propped up?"

Why yes, yes she would.

I lean up against the wall while Anne gets comfortable in my lap. Despite the fact that only 5 seconds have elapsed, my neck is already developing a crink.

"Anne. Are you settled yet?"

"Almost."

*jabs knees into my kidney*

"That's better."

Oh good. At least she's comfortable.

😱

She's not coughing anymore, but she's also not staying STILL.

"Anne."

*removes elbow from ribs*

"Aren't you comfortable yet?"

"Well." *pounds head into sternum* "I'm rather hot, actually."

Oh are you really, actually?

"How about Mommy sleeps on your floor instead? You can stay up here in the bed."

Oh, she likes that idea.

Even though she isn't propped up, this seems to soothe her. I don't want to go back into our bedroom and risk waking Mike, so I adopt Oreo the penguin as my "pillow" and Anne's comforter as my blanket. The crink in my neck has now moved all the way down my back.

*cough. cough. coughcoughcough. COUGHCOUGHCOUGH*

Within about 15 minutes, Anne falls asleep. Guess who is still awake? But come 6:30 am...

"MOMMY!" *head peeks down!* " IT'S MORNIN' TIME!"

She's all bright-eyed and bushy-tailed and ready to start her day. I guess that's the 35 year age difference at play. 

😴

And another thing that happens as you get older: I won't fully recover from this bad night for about another, oh, week and half. :0 How was YOUR weekend, dear reader?

The dichotomy between having a baby and having a "big kid"...

When I was a young adult, I pined to have a baby. I had a few friends who married much younger than I did and had babies in their 20's. Meanwhile, I was that wallflower teenager that never had a high school boyfriend, and didn't really get all that much more social in college. Thus I had nobody who wanted to marry me in my 20's. :0 It was a long stretch of vocational discernment during grad school and immediately thereafter before I finally met and married Mike at 30, and we had Henry just under a year later.

And I found that the reality of actually having your own baby is much, much different from coveting babies on TV, and holding the adorable babies of your friends. I loved my babies, don't get me wrong, but I found, much to my surprise, that I enjoyed them MUCH more when they were older - when they weren't waking me every 2 hours during the night to nurse, and they didn't require me to watch them every single second lest they throw themselves down a set of stairs or shove their finger into a forgotten electrical outlet. For me, it was such a relief when they reached 4-5 years of age, and everybody was sleeping better and playing a bit more independently.

But there are downsides to this idyllic Sleep Wonderland in which I'm merely interrupted every minute and a half rather than sleep deprived and frantic. Exhibit A: when I have an infant, I have to be honest and admit that sometimes, just SOMETIMES...I don't feel like holding the baby. I love holding babies, and right at this moment I LONG for someone to come and deposit a newborn with me for the next 2 hours wherein I would sniff their head and squeeze them til they couldn't stand it a moment longer. But when you have your own baby, occasionally you ache to use the restroom or stick something in the microwave cook dinner without having a baby clinging to your chest.

Then they get older and you can breathe again. A bit. But then...

"Anne! Can I hold you, honey?"

"NO."

*never breaks stride traversing the living room*

😭

I miss that extra snuggliness. Granted, she *does* consent to cuddling still, it's just on her terms and timeline. I miss the cuddly baby stuff. But then I got up to bed knowing I can sleep til the morning without dealing with midnight sobbing attacks and explosive poo diapers, and realize that maybe my current lot in life isn't so bad. ;-) For everything, there is a season.

How is YOUR Tuesday going, dear reader? Nostalgic like mine?

What goes on in my house at midnight?

You're hoping this is going to be a post bearing some level of interesting material, right? ;-) Party time?! After all, it *was* a play performance weekend for my adorable Mike.

*fans self*

:0

Be that as it may, unless we have a newborn in the bassinet next to our bed, at midnight we are sleeping 1,000% of the time. Because we are old.

Except this week.

*long suffering sigh*

We are still old, ;-) but our 5 year old has suddenly been having the overnight demands of a new baby. Anne has been very sick with an upper respiratory infection, and while I'm certainly sympathetic, the loss of sleep has definitely been taking a toll on all of us. Mid-week last week, the wakings were because she was feverish and had a terrible sore throat. That lasted into the weekend, and now we've transitioned into the frenetic coughing segment of our current nightmare. Again, I'm very sympathetic, but I do think she has developed a bit of waking habit over the course of the past week, and now just wants company when she is up. Exhibit A:

"MOMMY!"

I stumble in blearily, given that it's 2 am, and the third time I've been up with her that night. The other two consisted of the need for water and more Vicks VapoRub.

"What do you need, Honey?"

"I really like the cupcake leggings you're wearing right now, Mommy. If you find them in my size, would you buy them for me?"

Really? This is the conversation we need to be having right now?

"I guess, yes, Honey. Please go back to sleep, OK?"

"OK Mommy."

*5 minutes elapse*

*door loudly clicks open* *tip toe sounds out in the hallway*

"Anne?! What's wrong?"

"I have to go to the bathroom. So does Oreo."

"Your stuffed penguin?! All right."

*glares!*

Last night we had one legitimate wake up, and then another around 3:30 which Mike tried to field:

"NO DADDY. I WANT MOMMY!"

Flattering? I think she just knows I'm the softer touch.

"Mommy, you just said something to me in my dream. What did you say?!"

Because mind reading is something I excel at in the middle of the night too, apparently.

At any rate, we're all very tired, but we're making it. I have a week off from teaching (which is VERY badly needed), Anne is improving, and I'm looking forward to an INSPIRE post tomorrow! How are YOU doing this late October week, dear reader?

Tea Time with Tiffany #71 - Sore throats & finding the good amongst the bad...

It's another sick day edition of:

Today we talk about little bunnies being under the weather, exhaustion, midlife job crises, and the uplifting nature of novenas during stressful times. Join me!





**To subscribe to the audio version of Tea Time with Tiffany, just search for it in iTunes or use this link to subscribe via Feedburner in your podcatcher of choice. Intro music is "Tea Ceremony" from PlayonLoop.com

Items mentioned in this episode:

• St. Jude Novena
• Upcoming 54 Day Rosary Novena
• CNMC 2013

Let's kibitz. What's going on with you today?!

Treasuring the dandelion moments...

Yesterday evening, after a very enjoyable day, I gave Anne a bath. She lingered in there for a bit like she always does, playing with various water toys, then demanded that I put her into a sleeper. She's a very demanding child. ;-)

As I was cleaning up the post-bath mess, she went downstairs in her reindeer footed sleeper. Mike was outside mowing the lawn, and I could hear Anne opening the door to join him.

When I peeked out the window, Mike was pushing the lawnmower through the grass, while Anne, reindeer feet stuffed into her Elsa and Anna sneakers, was plucking cherry tomatoes from our backyard garden.

After they finished, I could hear Anne calling me outside. I obliged her.

She's standing in our driveway, all sleepered up still, with 3 dandelions in her hand that have gone to seed. She thrusts one towards me:

"Mom. Make a wish. Then you have to whisper it to yourself so that no one else can hear you, then blow the fluff off the dandelion. If all the fluff doesn't come off, you have to take it off with your fingers."

#bossy

"All right, honey."

*I follow the instructions*

"What did you wish for?"

"For my job to make me less sad."

*Anne looks contemplative*

"OK. Here is another dandelion. Do you have another wish?"

"Um, sure, let me..."

"Never mind, I will give you a wish. Wish for...a balcony on our house."

"A balcony?"

"Yes. I see lots of houses with them. Up there on top of the house."

*gestures towards the second floor*

"Um hum, yes."

"Balconies. They are nice. We could stand on it."

"Yes, indeed. We could do that."

"So wish for a balcony Mom."

"All right."

*follow instructions*

"Good. There is only 1 dandelion left. I will make the last wish."

Well. Now that that is settled. ;-)

So there Anne and I were, both in our pajamas, standing in the driveway holding empty dandelion stalks, and I thought to myself that in the end, those are the moments I will cherish and remember. Not the 25 frustrating student emails that were waiting for me when I logged in this morning. Not how tired I felt after my recent work days with this chaotic new teaching routine in tow. I'll remember dandelion fluff and wishes for balconies. And thank God for that.

Real jeans, anxiety flareups, and surprise! It's a baby jacket...

 This is very unusual, but I'm writing this blog post in the evening. Anne is upstairs asleep, after being comforted for an hour by yours truly following a sobbing spell (Anne's, not mine, though based upon how my day went, it could have easily have been me :0), Mike is at rehearsal, and Henry is at an audition for a kids part in the December play. I am drinking wine. A BIG GLASS of wine, and it's not working fast enough. This was one of the most difficult days I've ever had as a librarian, and I'm thinking that it's going to take some time for me to normalize afterward. Let's circle round, though, shall we?

Over the weekend, I experienced more This Back To School Thing Is Really Happening sentiment. I took Anne shopping for school clothes, just her and I:

"I like girl time, Mommy. I do NOT like *boy* time."

Something tells me that will change, but for the time being, there you have it. We arrive at JC Penney, and Anne makes a beeline into the girls section. She comes out carrying a jean jacket. And jeans. REAL jeans, with sparkly pockets.

"Mommy. I love these. Can I get them?"

When, oh when, did my little baby get so big?!

Now I may cry again. This was not a good idea. :0

We also procured many tops, both long-sleeved and short, some comfortable cotton pants, a back pack, lunchbox and new matching water bottle. And declared her ready for Kindergarten.

She went to Pre-K last year, so its not like this is her first time going to school. But this year she'll be going a full day. And she'll be at the same school as Henry. It just feels very official.

A new chapter of my life has begun. And now I really am crying.

It's the Anne/baby thing. But it's also work. I had an incredibly long day today, so I'm feeling a wee bit vulnerable.

Nothing truly bad happened today. It's just that I've felt all summer like I was always super distracted, much more busy than anticipated, and hanging on by a mere brain cell. As the summer progressed, it got worse. A LOT worse. 

And in the last week I have felt nearly suffocated by anxiety. With the fall semester officially beginning next Monday, the pace of our lesson planning and last-minute logistical nightmares has grown frenetic. Today was BAD. The lower half of my body actually ached from sitting so much (which I HATE) due to hours of training on new citation management and ePortfolio software, and then panicky time-sensitive things that HAD to get done before our appearance at the new instructor orientation later in the afternoon. I could barely eat, frantically shuffling food across my desk as I worked, my stomach in such turmoil over worrying about everything. By the end of the work day, I felt like a wrung out dishrag, both physically and emotionally.

The way that we're going to be teaching in the fall is totally new; new for us, new for the university, since the curriculum is dramatically changing as of this semester. So everyone is scrambling, no one knows exactly how this is all going to work, and there is a lot of anxious tension in the air. I'm going to be responsible for providing a 1 credit hour Library Lab for 15 sections of English Composition. That's a lot more teaching than I've ever done before. There may be other instruction requests that come up as the semester progresses too, and we'll have to squeeze those in where we can. I'll also be meeting with students, grading over 300 assignments, and somehow writing a book. Taking a day off until Thanksgiving week is pretty much not a possibility. Needless to say, I haven't been sleeping well. And on Monday and Wednesday mornings, my first class is at 8 am.

#purgatory

#ALLthesouls

I don't mean this as a litany of "Look how crappy my life is!!" Because it isn't. I know it isn't. I have a fantastic life. I have a beautiful, loving family, fantastic friends that I love as if they were family, and I work with people that I genuinely like and care about. I'll be busy, but my situation is a good one. But anxiety? She is there, my friends. This has always been a personal demon of mine, and I'm just trying to deal with it as best I can.

When I got home, Mike had dinner ready and on the table, and a wine glass chilling in the freezer. Is it any wonder that I married him?! Afterward, Anne burst into tears about something she saw on TV, and I spent the early part of the evening comforting her and cuddling. But truth be told, I really needed that too.

*group hug*

I'm doing what I can to try and keep my spirits up. In the meantime, I've been knitting. And JUST under the wire on Sunday afternoon, I finished my Olympic/Ravellenic Games project!

*drum roll*

I knit Elizabeth Zimmerman's famous Baby Surprise Jacket for Sam's niece. I mentioned in a recent Tea Time that you knit it flat, in a blob-like configuration, but when you are done, it miraculously seams into a perfect baby cardigan. Here is the before photo, with sweater fully knit, but still on the needles and waiting to be bound off:

It seems to be begging for help and TLC.

And here it is bound off, with 2 small seams:

This is a very happy baby sweater!

I mean, did you ever?! I love the pattern. And I finished it within the timeframe of the Olympics, and so this means that I won Ravelry's version of a gold medal:

:0

So that's a brightener, to be sure. I'm about to embark on fall socks and scarves.

#happyknittingdance

How are you doing, dear reader? Come commiserate and join the group hug. :)

Anne's birthday month continues, & summer performance season gets ready to kick off...

Hello ALL! My good mood remains. I saw my honey perform again over the weekend, which always enhances my spirits.

*fans self* ;-)

I was going to the cast party with him after the final Sunday matinee, so I just went to the show beforehand as well. I am just so, so proud of him. I know that it was somewhat bittersweet for him, since he loved the play and his part so much, but the schedule is out for the upcoming season, and there are a few plays that he has his eye on, including one in the fall. The directors are clamoring for him to audition, so he's going to do just fine.

The rest of our weekend was consumed by our increasingly mature looking (*sob!*) birthday girl:

She can't get enough of that crown.

We had family over for a big birthday bash, and so Mommy got to enjoy this:

...while Anne very much enjoyed this:

She's getting to be such a big girl! *sniffle* She received some new summer clothes, an Easy Bake oven, a Melissa and Doug magnetic calendar, and little sewing machine of her very own. A good birthday was had by all.

For my part, troupe rehearsal is hitting high gear. Our first performance of the season is quickly upcoming in early June, and so on Friday we finished our last in-progress choreography (SO FUN. The music is "El Toba" by Wael El-Nagar). We still have lots of fine tuning to do, but we're now in good shape!

In terms of my solo, I still have a lot of work to do. I've picked music (Mario Kirlis's "Awal Suhur" which is absolutely gorgeous. I just love that Mario Kirlis) and I have my private lesson set up with Claire for Thursday late afternoon, which I know will provide good fodder. Right now I feel like I'm just inadvertently flinging a veil in my face for 4 minutes and I'm pretty sure I need more structure than that. ;-)

In other news, don't forget that tomorrow is book club day! I'm very excited to talk to you all about the first five chapters of Church of Spies. Even if you haven't read the book, do join us! Maybe you'll decide to join in or read it later this summer. :)

Get your tissues ready...

Today...my baby turns 5.

*SOB!*

This seems like the biggest milestone birthday we've had with her since she turned 1. I'm not entirely certain why, but it does feel more significant in some way.

It's a Wednesday, just like May 18th was back in 2011. Do you know who else has a birthday on May 18th? St. John Paul II, baby!!!! I was pleased with my body for giving me that small victory.

At any rate, this was the scene, 5 years ago...

(go grab your tea ;-))

Tuesday, May 17th, 2011, I was at work. I always worked right up until I went into labor because I am incredibly anal really needed the distraction. :0 My due date wasn't until May 23rd, so I figured I may work the entire week. My colleagues all knew that my date was really close, though of course no one obsesses over that date as much as the pregnant woman herself. Hence, that Tuesday morning I waddled into the reference office, and am greeted by the following:

"Oh. You're STILL HERE?"

All you women out there who have been, or are, pregnant, let us rally together, yes? Saying the above to a pregnant woman is akin to an obscene gesture. Do you think she WANTS to be there? I assure you, SHE DOES NOT. By the ninth month of pregnancy, everything hurts, your belly feels like it is the size of Madagascar, you haven't slept well in nearly a year, and you would sacrifice an appendage just to have the baby OUT NOW.

"You mean you haven't had the baby yet?!"

It took every ounce of willpower not to reply: "Does it LOOK LIKE I've had the baby?!"

*glares*

All of this is to say that I was just a HAIR cranky on the evening of Tuesday, May 17th. I was uncomfortable, I was irritable, and I really wanted a drink. Mike gently suggested that maybe I should call in sick to work the next morning, and I porkily contemplated that possibility as I tossed and turned for the entire night, unable to sleep well. At one point, I went downstairs to read for a bit and try to doze off, but that went over about as well as you would expect.

*glares again*

About 5 am I went back up to bed with Mike, to at least be more comfortable even if I wasn't able to sleep. If you can believe it (snort, I'm certain that you can, given what you know about me) I had decided to go into work, given that I was scheduled for the 9 am reference shift, when suddenly at 6:15...

My water broke. Much rejoicing was heard across the land.

Mike made arrangements for Henry while I paced around the house like a caged animal. I called the doctor, who told me to go to the hospital right away given that my water had broken. I made general noises, concluded the call, and stayed home for another two hours. :0 I wasn't in active labor yet, and the last place I wanted to be was the hospital. I had done this before, and thus I knew that some of the things they do in the hospital have the effect of actually slowing your labor DOWN, and that's the last thing I wanted.

Mike took Henry to his grandparents, and then we ate breakfast. Mike showered while I paced up and down the stairs. I waited until I had regular, uncomfortable contractions before we finally headed to the hospital around 10 am.

Once there, they did the hospital thing, which I hate, but I was prepared for this time. I was much more proactive in my labor with Anne than I was with Henry, standing and moving around as much as possible to keep the contractions going. I kept visualizing the contractions bringing the baby into my arms, and using my belly dancing breathing, and it worked like a charm.

By shortly after 1 pm, I was in transitional labor, and I knew I was close. I delivered her about 1:45.

I remember the moment she was born very clearly. I thought to myself:

"Thank God I'm not pregnant anymore!"

That's really what I thought. :0

In contrast to Henry, who was silent at birth, and had to be coaxed to cry, Anne was *screaming* before she was even fully out of the womb. Harbinger of things to be come, to be certain. She was also extremely goopy with vernix when she was born, and the doctor hadn't announced her sex right away. We didn't find out at our ultrasound, just to wait for this moment. Mike made a query to the doctor, who responded:

"Oh. I'm not sure yet."

That's really what she said. :0

Anne was squalling so much, and being hosed down to get the goop off, that it was hard to see anything. Then the doctor flopped her over, and announced that she was a girl.

Here she was, May 18th, 2011:

And this morning:

The birthday girl. *eyes well up*

Last night, Anne came up and hugged me. I told her that I loved her, and that when she came into our family, she really brightened our lives. And I mean it. She really, truly did. And she replied:

"I love you, Mom. And Frankie."

So, me, and a random neighborhood cat. I guess I'll take it. ;-)

I'm feeling a little emotional today, but in an incredibly good way. Life is good, it is really, really good, and I can never thank God enough for it.

Spiritual setbacks during Easter season, & Holy Spirit moments...

All! I've missed you.

*hug*

I'm all emotional today, so expect lots of sappy lapses like that one. As is so often the case with situations such as this, I'm fine one minute, and struggling the next. What am I talking about? Spiritual darkness with a just a touch of depression mixed in with it. Picture me walking about, looking anxious, with a small rain cloud following me directly overhead. That sums it up really well.

This tends to happen when I'm praying 54 day rosary novenas, interestingly. And we're just past the halfway point, which seems significant, somehow. And it just...happens, you know? There isn't just one reason, it's not that I'm a weak person, it just happens sometimes. All of a sudden, ordinary things seem to be more of a struggle, and it gets me down. I always climb up out of it, but for a day or two, all I want to do is sit around and feel sorry for myself while eating Cookies 'n Cream ice cream. It happens.

So this weekend I was feeling a bit fragile. On Saturday I forgot not only to pray my rosary but to pray the St. Gianna Beretta Molla novena.

#epicfail

Then I felt guilty as well as a bit down, and oh so forgetful, and it was just a whole snowball situation. ;-)

But here's the interesting thing. Grab your tea. We're going to go on a full circle journey together.

So, Thursday I recorded Tea Time. And I was fine. I felt a bit scattered, but I was fine. That's not exactly an unusual situation for yours truly.

*halo*

Between Thursday and Friday I started to feel not so fine. I began to worry about a whole assortment of things, and my heart felt heavier. By Friday, I was definitely not fully myself, and that lasted the entire weekend.

But it's what ELSE happened this weekend, in the midst of all of this, that I find interesting. On Friday afternoon, I received a package containing the gift I'd ordered for a First Communion gift. It's a St. Gabriel the archangel saint doll:

He looks very stoic, yes?

As you might expect, I was very pleased to see him. :) I pulled him out of his wrappings for a little photo shoot, and Anne wanders in. She becomes entranced with him:

"Mommy, he has WINGS!"

Wings ;-)

"Yes Honey, he's an angel."

"I want wings too, Mommy. Can I keep him?"

"No darling, he's a gift."

This was most disappointing to her, so she retreated to her room to pull out her own saint doll collection, which had been languishing for a time having fallen under her bed. She does not yet have any wooden dolls, but she has a plethora of felt dolls. All of a sudden, Anne's tiny body disappears beneath her bed, and out comes St. Therese, St. Kateri, St. Blaise, Our Lady Star of the Sea, and Our Lady of Lourdes. I could see her examining each carefully, becoming re-acquainted with them. She begins toting them around the house with her.

On Saturday, I find this on the dining room table:

Apparently St. Therese and St. Kateri are down with the sledding

She had become so enamored with her new saint friends that it was like a whole new relationship blossoming with them:

"Mommy. Can you...make me a saint? Like, can I dress like them?"

I mean...

*heart!*

So this is what we came up with:

Future saint ;-)

Yes, those are butterfly wings, inspired by our archangel friends. But she picked out a head covering, and carried that crucifix and a pair of plastic rosary beads around with her for the entire weekend. I even heard her in her bed praying a Hail Mary Saturday night.

*collapses from the cuteness*

So Anne is on this saint kick, and Sunday morning the kids and I head to Mass with me still not feeling myself. We get out to the car in the garage, and what do you suppose happens?

The car won't start.

I was about to go into the house to fetch Mike's kind assistance, but I gave myself a few tries and gave the car a little gas. It started.

My car is ancient, so this isn't exactly a shock for it to act this way, and in the past it's always been fine afterward, so we press onward. We are now running late, but away we go. When we arrive at our parish, our usual spot on the far right side of the sanctuary was full, due to us getting there later than usual. I tell Henry to choose a new spot, and he picks an area in the middle of the church, just past center.

On we proceed, and Anne goes up for Children's Liturgy of the Word. During the homily, Father devoted part of the time to a nun who came to speak about an appeal for her missionary order of sisters. Part of her discussion was about vocations, and she indicated that some of the children in the parish could be future priests, bishops, nuns and/or saints. She brought the young altar servers in as examples. :)

"And that young boy over there!" *points* "He could be the pope someday!"

I turn to see that she is pointing directly at Henry, and that he is weakly raising his hand to acknowledge her. If we hadn't sat where we did, she never would have seen him. And we wouldn't have sat where we did if we weren't running late due to the car not starting and me being in a general funk. It just seemed terribly fortuitous.

This is not to say that I'm taking this as a sign that Henry will be pope. ;-) It just warmed my heart to see my children engaged in their faith, and at a time when I really needed the boost. The Holy Spirit is always alive and well, even when things seem a bit more difficult than usual.

After Mass, I felt a little better. We took the kids on an afternoon hike after lunch, and Anne tripped, fell and skinned her knee about 2 and a half minutes into the walk. *long suffering sigh* We had to take turns carrying her for a spell. But I felt a little better still. I've been improving ever since. I'm going to try and get to confession this week.

Does this happen to you all as well? Spiritual dryness or darkness or however you want to term it? How do you handle it? I would love to discuss it with you in the comments.

Tomorrow is book club day! If you read Divine Mercy for Moms or are otherwise interested to learn more about it, stop in to chat with us then. :)

Praying with a 4 year old...

This morning, Anne woke up clutching this little foldout pamphlet with all 20 mysteries of the rosary printed on it that she had picked up after Mass yesterday. For each mystery, there is a tiny, color illustration, which is what I think captured her imagination the most.

I caught her "reading" it, still in her sleeper, when she was supposed to be getting dressed this morning. :0 25 minutes later...

"I'm ready, Mommy. Don't forget my little prayer book!"

She kept it with her throughout breakfast, then asked me for rosary beads so that "we could pray in the car on the way to school." I was absolutely delighted, but then remembered that I wasn't driving her to school today.

"Sorry darling, we can't pray in the car today. But how about while I pack our lunches?"

"Yeah!"

Score.

I fetch her a set of St. Kateri rosary beads that were hanging out in my purse, and hand them to her.

"I like the blue beads, Mommy!"

"Those are for the Our Fathers. We pray a Hail Mary on the other beads."

"I do not want to use the other beads."

"Well, that's how...OK, it doesn't matter right now. It's just good that you are holding the beads and want to pray the rosary. Let's look at your little pamphlet and you can pick one picture for us to pray about."

"I get to pick one of the pictures?!"

 That was a real crowd-pleaser.

"Yep! How about one of these on the far left? Those are the Joyful Mysteries, which we pray on Mondays."

"I like the one with the angel!"

"The first one, great!"

I got a child who enjoys chronology as much as I do. I see this as a blessing. ;-)

*I read the short blurb next to The Annunciation*

"All right, now we pray an Our Father."

"I don't know that one all the way yet."

"I know, that's OK. I'll pray that one. You just hold one of the blue beads."

"OK! I can pick whatever blue one I want, right?"

"Um, sure. Go ahead."

Why not, right?

*I pray Our Father*

"All right, now we move onto the Hail Mary, and you know that one really well. Do you want to pray those out loud for me?"

"No."

*surprised pause from Mommy*

"But you love praying the Hail Mary."

"I know, but I want to pick a new picture now!"

"Well, we we're not quite ready to move on yet, Dear..."

"Mommy, what's this one? Jesus is carrying this big cross. I want to pick that one!!"

"Well, OK, Darling, but then we do have to pray the prayers."

"OK!"

"Here, hold onto this red bead and keep track for Mommy since I have to pack our lunches."

"I do not want to hold that red bead."

"Well, fine, pick a different bead, but you have to keep count while Mommy packs. That IS the reason we have the beads, so that we can keep count."

"I do not want to do that. I want to pick one of the blue beads again!"

As you can likely surmise, we didn't get a whole lot of praying done. But any opportunity to talk to my kids about the rosary is a good thing, in my estimation. Right? We'll go with that.

But what about our own prayer lives?! I wrote about taking on "Easter Resolutions" over at CatholicMom.com this month. Want to take a peek?

I would LOVE for you to leave a comment with your thoughts over at Catholic Mom. Just like our dear Samantha has done, HI SAMANTHA! :0 What are you spiritual resolutions this Easter season? Write in!

Bouncing off the walls over here on a beautiful spring-like day...

I am all discombobulated today, but in the best way possible. I mean, I don't even have an image to go in this post, and yet I don't care, and I'm all giddy. :0 I'm working the evening shift, and even that hasn't dampened my spirits.

The morning started out with a chirpy Anne greeting me in bed and asking how the Worship Committee meeting went last night, since I got back after she was already asleep.

"I came to see you when I got back, Lovey, but you were already sound asleep. I gave you a kiss."

"I did not feel your kiss, Mommy!"

She was quite outraged.

"Whenever you come into my room, Mommy, you need to say: 'Anne, Anne wake up!'"

Yeah sure. I'll make sure and do that next time. ;-)

But back to the point, the Worship Committee meeting went *splendidly*. Nobody was cranky, huzzah! We talked about Holy Week. As ever, I am SO looking forward to the Triduum, and plan to attend all of the liturgies. Fr. Joe is hosting a get-together for us on Holy Thursday night. :) And the Easter Vigil will be magnificent.

Interestingly, we do not have any Catechumens this year, and so there will be no RCIA component to the Vigil Mass. We do have 2 Candidates for Confirmation, but apparently if there are not also Catechumens, it is against the rubrics to just confirm those Candidates at the Easter Vigil. They will receive the sacrament with the rest of the Confirmation class in May. Intriguing, yes?

So, I got home, had a lovely evening with Mike and Henry, and woke up this morning to a chirpy Anne. Check. Then I got ready and set off for work. The sun is shining and the temperature here is incredibly mild. Spring is coming!

As I was driving along, praying a rosary, I noticed a bird fall to the ground. Naturally, sensitive-disposition person that I am, I panicked:

"Oh gosh, that poor bird! Does he have a broken wing?! I hope...Oh. There's another bird right there with him. Right. Nobody is hurt. Let's give them some privacy!"

Yet another sign of spring. :0

So, I got in, and because I'm working the evening shift tonight, I technically have comp time coming to me. And so I took advantage of that opportunity to do something that is a LONG time in coming.

*big suspense!*

It's not exactly a secret, because we've been talking about it for months. But let's just say it's podcast related, and I'm so excited about it that I can hardly sit still. Stay tuned for more details tomorrow during Tea Time with Tiffany!

Details tomorrow, but no actual *product* until next week, just fyi. Let's just say that Tiffany has some serious technical magic to work behind the scenes to make this dream a reality. Anybody know if there is a patron saint of audio editing?! I need his or her contact information please.

I mean it. Leave it in the comments. :0

Lent, and the spring semester, reaching the halfway point...

...and how is YOUR Lent going, dear reader? :-) Mine is going just fine. Accountability: I have not been good with my morning devotional reading. Waking up and getting out of bed has gotten to be a struggle again, for whatever reason. But since last week I HAVE been reading along with 33 Days to Merciful Love, and I am IN LOVE with this book. I love it, just love it. Additionally, the St. Joseph novena starts Thursday, and I'm planning on praying that. Join in! As well, I've kept up with the Lenten Mercy Challenge on Fridays. So, all in all, I'd say my Lent is going pretty well. I'm going to a Worship Committee meeting at my parish tonight to discuss Holy Week, and the preparatory reading for that has gotten me into a Lenten mood as well. My goal for the week is to start another spiritual reading book as well. We're getting there! How have your resolutions been going?

Relatedly, my daughter can *always* be counted on to offer opportunities for Lenten-inspired sacrificial offering up. :0

Monday morning, 2:50 am:

"MOM?!" *hysterical sobs*

I rush into her bedroom. "What's wrong, sweetie?"

"I...I...I MISS MY FRIENDS!!" *big tears!*

"Oh. Well, you're going to be going to school in a few hours, sweetie. You'll see your friends then."

"I will?" *sniffle*

"Yes, Honey."

This is just the conversation I want to be having at 3 am. :0

"Mommy, would you lay with me for awhile?"

"Sure Honey."

*I settle in*

"Mommy, can I sleep in your bed?"

"No, darling. But I'll stay here with you for a spell." There is only so much penance a mother can offer. #wildsleeper

"Mommy, Aria...MOVED AWAY, and I thought she was coming back, BUT SHE DIDN'T!" *fresh tears!*

Ah. The crux of the issue.

"Aw, I'm sorry sweetie. You probably miss Aria and are sad."

"Yes." *pathetic sniffle*

It took a bit of soothing to get her settled down and back to sleep. Hence, I was absolutely exhausted all day Monday. I offered it up for your intentions. ;-)

Meanwhile though, this weekend was absolutely stunning, and a clear harkening of spring being on the way. And a busy spring it will be! I had a bridal shower to attend on Saturday, and indeed we have two weddings coming up in April! I also have a bunch of dance events and trips coming up this spring and summer, and details about all of that fun stuff will be forthcoming. I can't wait!

And speaking of dance, look what I scored during a family trip to the public library on Sunday:

Glorious!

I've had this on my Amazon wish list for the past year, and was thrilled to see it on the new non-fiction rack. I'm currently immersed hip-deep in a discussion of the different styles of Middle Eastern dance and couldn't be more content. I'm thinking about solo options for the upcoming summer performance season, so it's perfect timing. :-)

After our trip to the library, we stopped off at our local outdoor ice rink for a later winter walk around:

The kids posing with Shark Girl. It looks like Henry at least *thought* about smiling :0

It was one of those glorious winter days with cold temperatures, but a glowing sun in the sky the entire time. It seemed fitting, given that it was Laetare Sunday with the rose vestments reminding us that Lent is half over and Easter is soon to come. This has been an absolutely inspiring winter for me this year, and I am very much looking forward to what is to come as the seasons change.

How was your 4th Sunday of Lent, dear reader? How is your Lent going? Do write in and tell me all about it. :-)

Wardrobe conundrums with opinionated 4 year olds, & closing in on the mystery knit-along right in time for National Craft Month...

Anne & I in matching shirts this weekend, because I am a nerd

Good morning all! Normally, I'm pretty happy when Tuesday rolls around, but unfortunately for the next few weeks I have the Wednesday evening reference shift, so the week doesn't ease until Thursday for me. Lots of other reference shifts and lesson planning and grading. I'm just slogging along until spring break at this point. We're almost there.

Meanwhile, my daughter has been making the mornings interesting with her outfit choices:

"Mommy, I am awake, you will help me get dressed!"

#bossy

I look at the clock. 6:51 am. I am still in bed. I should not be, but there you have it. I've been staying up too late reading Into Thin Air at night. I'm at the gripping part where they reach the summit, I just can't help myself.

"Anne honey, remember how we talked about how the clock should have a seven before you get up?"

"There's a seven!"

?

"Remember that it has to be the *first* number, darling. Anyway, go get started, I'll come check on you."

She's very opinionated on what she wears, that one. I often find her tugging on loud, geometric-print leggings underneath a bright pink dress with colorful origami birds decorating the whole shebang, and do I care about such clashing? I do not. I know that she doesn't actually want my help, and I'm happy to set her loose.

"I need you to come in, Mommy."

Sigh.

She leads me into her bedroom, where she has three pairs of underpants lined up on the bed.

"Which of these am I supposed to wear today, Mommy?"

I quickly discern that these particular underwear are all from a "days of the week!" collection, purchased by a highly organized grandmother.

"Oh. This pair, honey, this is the Tuesday pair. With the picture of a smiling hamburger on it."

*unhappy pause*

"But I don't want to wear the hamburger. I want to wear the ones with the ice cream cone on it!"

See, why does she ask me?! :0 And why am I squinting at underwear before 7 am? I ask you. All I want to be doing that soon after waking up is checking the new notifications on my phone, that's about all my brain is capable of at that point.

In other news, March is National Craft Month, and accordingly I've been knitting away like a crazy woman on my freaking delightful Downton Abbey mystery knit-along shawl. I feel like I've been working on this thing since approximately the Mesozoic era, but yet I keep knitting away, yarn overs serving as mile markers on my brave journey of lacy perseverance. There are eight clues in total, and happily, I've made a lot of progress since I last reported in. Here we have clue 5:

...whereby we have begun the lace on the second "wing" of the shawl. And here is clue 6, which is hot off the presses as of last night while I drank a vodka tonic (I am SO sick to death of this shawl, have I mentioned that?!):

Thus, both wings are now complete, and I'm pretty impressed with my own ability to not drop stitches given that I was drinking and knitting. Clues 7 and 8, I believe, involve edging on the wings, and finishing off the center motif (since stitches are still held over there) and I'm excited to move onto to something besides wing-work, which I've been doing for endless weeks now. These last two clues also appear MUCH shorter than the previous ones, and I'm hopeful that I'll have this shawl wrapped up by next week. I am often delusional about such things, but here's hoping. I still have the crochet version to pick back up.

*long suffering sigh*

How are your shawls coming fellow Downton Abbey-along'ers? What are YOU working on for National Craft Month? Do write in and let me know. :)

Birthday MONTH continues, because why not?

Right? Who's with me?!

#BirthdayExtensionPartyPlanningCommittee

Given that birthdays lose a bit of their luster after one turns 21, I think that we should refuse to be constrained to a single day. At the very least, birthdays should be celebrated for an entire weekend, but I'm proposing a full month. I plan to keep dredging all of this up until March, so brace yourselves now. ;-)

And indeed, my weekend was filled with lovely birthday festivities. Thursday evening after our Tea Time together, Mike and I went out for dinner. I put on a new dress, and off we headed to the martini bar, where martinis and Italian food were enjoyed by everybody. I opened some more presents when we got back home, and I felt very spoiled and grateful.

Friday featured a few amusing dance anecdotes that perhaps I'll talk about in this week's Tea Time. One involves a professional gig request that is the epitome of what NOT to do, ugh. Yes, that is better conveyed over a soothing cup of tea, I'm thinking. In other dance news, Sword is super thrilled to be taken to class with me each week for our new troupe choreography, and it looks like he and I will be doing a short balanced floorwork segment at the end that he is VERY excited about. He'd better behave himself, that's all I've got to say. He did well in class on Friday, probably because he knew it was my birthday weekend. ;-)

And birthday weekend indeed, as Anne was invited to her very first classmate birthday party on Saturday, which took place at our local science museum. Birthdays for everybody! She was SO cute, running around with the other kids as they made bubbles and ice cream. Oh, the sugar highs that were managed that late afternoon and evening. Anne was absolutely in her element and thrilled to be a part of my things. My dumpling! She's getting so big. *sniffle*

Speaking of Anne's increased maturity, she has decided of late that she would like to get up out of bed and get dressed in the mornings ALL BY THE SELF. This in fact saves me quite a bit of time, I will grant, but the problem has become the following: at 6:30 am this past Saturday, we hear Anne's little sing song voice as she talked to herself while getting dressed, and then the dreaded: CLICK! of her door opening, with that sinking sensation that there is now a LOOSE CHILD IN THE HOUSE.

Can I tell you how many years it has been since I truly got to sleep in, my friends? Many, many years.

So we came up with the ingenious solution of getting Anne a digital clock for her room, and instructing her on not getting out of bed unless the first number was at least a 7:

"There's a 7, Mommy! See it?"

"No, no, darling, that's 6:27, the 7 is at the end. Remember, it has to be the *first* number? The number closest to your little doll of Our Lady."

Saint dolls doing double duty, right there.


"Oh."

"It would be *even better* if that first number was an 8."

Glory be. If only I had thought to do a little creative "daylight savings time" on her clock for the weekends. Clearly, I have lost too many brain cells in this decade-long lack of sleep program.

Naturally, the first time she has stayed in her room past 7 am on the nose was Monday morning when it was time to go back to school. Naturally.

But no need to dwell on the sleepy. Sunday featured the second weekend of Lent, and lots of announcements in our parish bulletin about upcoming instances of Stations of the Cross, Evening Prayer, and a St. Joseph's Table. Catholic Nerd heaven, right there. And later on Sunday, we journeyed north to my absolute favorite family restaurant, Swiss Chalet. You all know how I feel about Swiss Chalet.

*swoons*

We met my parents there and enjoyed our usual fare of rotisserie chicken and homemade french fries. I usually avoid french fries in restaurants, but at Swiss Chalet I indulge, because, you know, THE CHALET SAUCE. You can dip the french fries in there, and that my friends, is a slice of the afterlife. Mike, trying to make us all look bad, ordered the vegetables instead. ;-) But he doesn't like cauliflower, so he offered those to me. I speared one, and paused.

"You're not going to dip that in the chalet sauce, are you?"

He knows me so well. :0

For the record, I didn't. But I thought about it, I won't lie. ;-)

How was your late February weekend, dear reader? Are you thinking spring yet? I'm not *quite* yet, but I can feel the transition approaching in the air. I have a book review coming tomorrow (check the sidebar for deets!) and then I'm going to start the new Marcus Grodi book, Life From Our Land, which discusses spirituality and simple living. Want to join in?

Of well-behaved swords and lack of sleep...

Well hello there, dear reader! I'm not wild about this new schedule yet, as it feels like a long time between Thursday and Tuesday, but it can't be helped. Mondays...

*shudder*

I do have Zumba on Mondays, which is going *splendidly* and delights my whole afternoon. This week, I didn't bump into anybody nor did I get hideously tangled in my own feet by losing track of the combination. I call that a Zumba Win!

But the rest of Mondays? Yeah, no time to blog. So for now, Tuesday through Thursday it is. 

In other news, today is the first day of the Our Lady of Lourdes novena! Head to the link to pray along and get the prayers emailed to you daily. I love it when we pray together!

So, let's see, the weekend. On Friday afternoon I received a call from my ophthalmologist's office that my new reading glasses were in, so I stopped to pick them up. Ta DA!

I like them. And they're not *ah hem* bifocals. I don't like those. And my distance vision isn't poor enough yet for them to make a big difference for me. So, reading glasses it was, and the frames are purple. A match made in heaven.

Friday evening found me back at dance troupe rehearsal, and I felt a lot less rusty this week. We continued our sword choreography, and that too went better this week. Can I even tell you how excited Sword is to be tucked into my trunk each week to accompany me to dance class? He is just pleased as punch. And then he gets a starring role in our choreography, doing lots of dramatic swooping and scooping. Pretty soon we'll get to the balancing part and then he'll *really* get into it. ;-) Right now, we're still working out the logistics of doing a group number with eight women all wielding swords:

"All right, now we all bend inward, swords towards the center...Oh. Brandy's sword is right above my right eyeball, we need to change this part."

:0

Hopefully, by festival season we'll be good to go. No lost limbs or eyeballs.

So then, I get home from dance. I'm all energized and flitting around the house in a good mood. I drink a glass of wine with Mike. Then I hear:

"Mom?" *crying!*

That's not good. I hurry upstairs.The needy party is this one:

Showing off her new Valentine leggings in happier times

Who, when I enter her room, continues to cry, but refuses to tell me what is wrong. Mike and I both work to soothe her for some time. She's had a cold, so I figured it was some discomfort related to that, but it's hard to find a remedy without really knowing what you're dealing with.

Lots of sobbing. So much sobbing. Eventually, we ascertain that her head hurts, and so we administer some ibuprofen. We give her water. Some Vicks on her chest for her cough. Fresh blankets and snuggles. Then we tiptoe back to our room. Ten minutes later:

"Mom?!" *crying!*

*long suffering sigh*

I go back in. More head shaking and crying, zero information parsed out. She simply would not calm down, and so I ended up sleeping in her room. Which means me sleeping on *the floor*, which means every muscle in my body aching the next morning. When you're twenty, you can sleep on floors pretty easily. When you're *delicately clears throat* older than twenty, you cannot.

As if to add insult to injury, in the morning, as I kept my eyes shut and willed sleep that came so rarely over that night, I hear soft whispering start up in the bed above me. An invasion of The Others? Nope, just Anne starting her day. NOW, she wants to talk. I pretend to sleep. Then I feel a not-so-gentle tapping on my shoulder.

"Mom?!"

"How are you feeling, dear?" *bleary*

"I feel great! I slept good! My head doesn't hurt anymore, Mommy!"

Joy. All joy.

She did sleep without interruption the next night, but last night I woke to coughing at around 4:30 am. More water, more Vicks. Ugghhhhh... This winter season of illnesses seems like it will NEVER end. Someone has been coughing in my house for the past six months it seems. Perhaps pestilence is about to sweep through out land next.

All right, how was your weekend? Did you remember your novena prayers today? :-) Tomorrow, I will talk about...hum, I'm not sure. But I'll think of something! And Tea Time on Thursday, I got better at the audio last week, right?! What do you want me to talk about this week? Write in!

Of frantic dance prep, upcoming Mass time changes, and voyages to Swiss Chalet...

Morning all! It wasn't an easy weekend in the world news, to be sure. Oftentimes, when I think about heartbreaking situations such as this one, I feel fear, as I'm sure is fairly common. But then I remember the words of our beloved John Paul II, and try not to feel afraid: for my kids, for my friends and family, for our world, for myself. I try. But it's not easy, yes? Let's all stick together and pray for each other and for peace in our world. I know that it brings me some measure of solace to think of us all together in community, and I hope it does you as well.

Around my small part of the world, it's looking very fallen leafy and windswept here in WNY these days, very reminiscent of this photo:

It was a busy weekend for us, as we gear up for the holidays and for Advent. At our parish, the Mass times are changing, which I'm a tad chagrined about, but I'll adjust. I love our 10 am Mass, and it's switching to 11 am, which will at times not be nearly as convenient for us. Right away, early in Advent, we're going to see The Nutcracker for a Sunday matinee show, and the 11 am Mass will get us out too late to make it without rushing quite a bit. I think what will most likely happen is that on weekends like that, we will be attending the vigil Mass. We'll develop a new routine and get used to it, but as we anticipate this I'm mourning our beloved 10 am slot a bit. :)

In cute Catholic kid stuff, Anne relayed a precious story to me on Saturday:

"Mommy, we say the Pledge of Allegiance in school."

"Yes! We always said that in school, too. Have you memorized it?"

"Yes, want to hear?"

Of course I did. :) And she took the duty very seriously.

"That's excellent, sweetheart."

"Mommy, did you know that when you say the Pledge of Allegiance, you only need to put your hand like this, over your heart? And not make the sign of the cross after? My teacher told me."

Oh snort. I can only imagine how this went over in Anne's public pre-K. She must have thought it was like when we say grace at meals. I liked how she automatically wove in the tie between a physical gesture and saying aloud something important, a ritual. She's a natural as a Catholic child. ;-)

In other news, my dance troupe is in heavy rehearsal mode for the hafla this upcoming weekend.We have a bunch of group pieces that we'll be performing, and at this point it's always a hodge podge of old and new numbers, combined in new and exciting ways. ;-) So, we have a new veil piece paired with a new baladi number, but also an old pop piece paired with a new drum, and then our newish Saidi piece as a standalone. 

Solos are going to be in the second set, and mine is in there, towards the end. Lots of time to sweat leading up to that. Although I'm hoping that my little birthday party adventure last month will make me appreciate the easier-to-manage hafla atmosphere this time around, and consequently be less nervous about performing in such venues. I have my music all edited and ready to go, and general idea of how I'd like to structure things in my usual improvisational way. 

Running through my music reminded me that I needed to decide what costume to wear, and so a lot of sewing ensued this weekend. I sew about as well as I bake, so you can only imagine how well these little sessions typically unfold. Mike comes out of his office from grading student papers and finds me casually passing him in the hallway garbed in jeans and a costume top with only half a strap, trailing behind me a super long length of black satin. Anne is adorning the walls with random pieces of adhesive Velcro that I gave her to prevent her from causing too much damage in the notions bag.  

"You're probably wondering what is going on out here, aren't you?"

This is a common occurrence in our house whenever I have a dance gig. ;-) Dance costumes ALWAYS require a lot of sewing. If they're new, they never fit perfectly, and so need a lot of work to make them presentable. If they're old, they're losing beads or need new hooks, or have stretched out a bit and could use some tucking. I did not get a separate costume for when I was pregnant with Anne, I just wore my skirt under my belly throughout the second trimester, if that is any indication of what we're working with here. :0 Our costumes are generally stretchy, but don't maintain the same level of stretchiness over time, for sure and for certain.

So I now have black satin straps on my new black and bronze costume, which I'd like to wear for the solo, but the skirt is extremely heavy and needs some more tucking for it to stay put on my hips. Working on that tonight. We're getting there!

To complete our weekend, Mike asked on Sunday if I'd like to go to dinner at Swiss Chalet. Um, YES. You all know about my love affair with Canadian rotisserie chicken. I *love* it there, and given that we now have to cross an international border to get there, I don't get there as often as I'd like. However, this experience has shown me that it really doesn't take all that long to get to the Niagara Falls, Ontario location, and thus we really need to be doing this much more frequently. ;-) At any rate, we packed up the kids and headed north. Yes, for chicken. 

But it's all about the chalet sauce, remember? And we had a delightful time:

"And I think that that way, we can...wait. What happened to all of your sauce?"

"I ate it. Are you going to use all of yours?"

*I eye his cup like a vulture circling it's prey*

"No, I guess not. But...what else do you dip in there besides the chicken?"

The man is so cutely naive of the ways of the Chalet. If he's going to go all HEALTHY and choose the vegetables over the french fries dipped in sauce, well then I just can't help him. :0

And the waitress who gave me an extra cup of fresh sauce for my takeout container? Let's just say she got a very nice tip. And very nearly a round of applause.

#ChaletSauceRules

What did you do this weekend, dear reader? Write in and tell me all about it. :)

Trips to the movies and preparation for another kind of trip, a busy autumn weekend...

Hi all! Here with you on a dreary Monday afternoon, amidst a valiant attempt to keep my spirits high. That's no easy feat on Mondays this semester, but we're persevering and doing just fine.

#offeringitup

*halo* ;-)

And so today, I have my usual menagerie of teaching, reference shifts, dueling swim lessons for the kids, and finagling a dinner for them after we get home. Actually, that doesn't look that bad, what am I complaining about? It's not that bad, it's just a little tiring. And Monday is Mike's long teaching day too, so it's a family-wide tiring day. :)

But the weekend? The weekend was lovely. Gorgeous fall weather here. Getting cooler, leaves starting to change. The warm September that we had seems to be impacting the foliage in a negative manner, which is unfortunate, but I still have hope for a glorious second half of October. Saturday morning, Mike and Henry took on grocery store duty, and Anne and I headed to Carter's to get her some warm winter pj's since she had outgrown all of hers. Can I say that I just adore warm winter pajama shopping for young children? ADORABLE.

Those footed sleepers? *swoons* Gingerbread men and women abounded, along with cupcakes, princesses, foxes and owls. I got her a slew of jammies, along with some long sleeved tops, and because Mommy is a soft touch and Anne knows this, she also managed to procure a new stuffed animal. Here she is modeling one of the new sleepers, and showing off her new friend:

What do you think he is? An owl, right? A snowy owl? But with a pink beak and feet? That's what I think he is. Anne insists that he is "a chickie!" But I'm not convinced. ;-)

At any rate, after our little clothing adventure, I took both kids to the movie theater, my mom in tow, to see Hotel Transylvania 2. I have to say, I love this series. VERY cute and funny, for both kids and adults. I loved the first movie, and so was excited to take the kids to see the sequel. And the verdict is... I would recommend, once again. Just as cute and funny as the first one. All four of us had a great time.

My mom wanted to take the kids to see the 3D version as a treat, and although I usually don't see movies in 3D (it's a waste of money for me, since I have a vision impairment that impacts my ability to see 3D images on a screen. I know, lame, right?!) I agreed that it would be fun for the kids, so why not?

Well, Henry enjoyed the 3D. He popped his glasses on, and sat back happily munching popcorn for the entirety of the movie. My mom enjoyed the 3D. As for me, 3D means that the screen looks fuzzy, I pop the glasses on, and then it looks super clear, but nothing else. A little anti-climactic, to be sure. ;-) Anne?

"Mommy, I do not like these MOVIE THEATER SUNGLASSES!"

Of course, it makes the experience less than enjoyable when you muck around with the glasses while you're eating your buttery popcorn, and quickly, your glasses become coated with layers of gunk. Multiple times. And then Mommy has to put down her beloved popcorn and Diet Coke to *clean plastic glasses 3 times*. But overall, Anne did not want to be bothered with the perching of glasses on her tiny nose in order to watch the movie, so I don't think she'd vote for 3D a second time.

On Sunday, we went to our favorite 10 am Mass *blissful sigh* followed by the monthly parish coffee/donuts social. We kibitzed. Then we went home and drank beer and watched football. Or, at least that's what Mike and I did. ;-)

In other exciting news, in preparation for a trip I'm taking this weekend (more details about that below) I upgraded my e-reader to a Kindle Paperwhite, da da DA!

An autumn scene, because I would have it be autumn year round ;-)

Isn't he handsome with all of his customized collections?

I had a Kindle Basic (that I coined "Patrick") which I loved, but which I was starting to have a difficult time seeing the screen in certain light conditions. I gave Patrick to Henry (who happily received him) and ordered this new Kindle Paperwhite, whose name, if you were wondering, is Francis. :0 And oh my goodness - SO MUCH BETTER! It's not just in dimly lit situations that I can see the screen more clearly now. I love it.

The reason this was on my mind is because I'm traveling on Friday, and when I travel, I read a lot on my Kindle. Traveling? Doesn't Tiffany not like hurtling through the sky on an airplane? Yes, yes, you would be correct, my friend. :) I don't really like doing that. BUT there are people that I love who do not live near me, and so I sometimes suck it up and force myself onto one of those tubes so that I can visit them. This time, I'm going to Maine (with Henry in tow) to visit my younger sister, brother-in-law, and twin nephews. I'm very excited, but you know, FLYING. And I'm going to miss Mike and Anne, who will be home enjoying a Daddy/Daughter weekend. *sad* But four airline tickets just wasn't in our budget right now.

I'll talk more about my trip likely in my video post for this week. In the meantime, how was your weekend? Did you go to a movie? Do tell. Have a Kindle Paperwhite? How do you like? :) Write all about it in the comments!