On Whales and the K of C

I once read that whales -at least some of them- still have leg bones somewhere in their massive bodies, left over from another era when they lived on land. It's hard to imagine these graceful giants on land; even if they were significantly smaller, their movements must have been a lot more awkward than what they enjoy now.

In the same vein, the Knights of Columbus were at one time ungainly land animals, so to speak. My grandpa and his buddies used to typify the Knights, from what I can tell: good-hearted guys, but very much interested in the organization as something more like Fred Flintstone's Water Buffalo Lodge. Some priests to this day are pretty ambivalent about having the Knights in their parishes because they developed a reputation as a bunch of guys who like to hang around and drink (and sometimes wear funny hats).

Like the whales, though, the Knights have become more graceful and elegant. From the top down -and not in small part because of the leadership of our current Supreme Knight, Carl A. Anderson- we fall on a spectrum closer to lay movements like Opus Dei now, and further away from drinking clubs like the Water Buffaloes. Service to the community and to the Church has always been a part of what the Knights are all about; now it's the very essence of the organization.

Likewise, "family" has always been a part of the K of C's self-image. One of the primary reasons it was established over 125 years ago was to provide a support system for widows and orphans of Catholic men who often worked (and sometimes died) in the sweatshops and construction sites of a rapidly industrializing country. During the "Water Buffaloes" era, though, the organization's activities too often pulled fathers away from their families for events in which women and children were not welcome. Fortunately, many councils now have a great deal of participation from relatively young fathers, and the organization as a whole is focusing on fatherhood more (notably in its Fathers for Good initiative).

One area that is lagging somewhat behind these positive trends, though, is the state convention (at least here in Colorado, as far as I'm concerned). We just got back from attending it for the first time as a whole family, and it was overall a positive experience...but there were a few things about it that I view as a little off-message. First, there just wasn't enough for the rest of the family to do while the men's business meetings were taking place, especially for really young children like Eva and Charlotte. This may largely be because so many of the men who attend are at or past retirement age; however, if the convention targeted young families more, more young families would probably attend.

Second, the tradition of state officer candidates and other sub-groups wining and dining...and wining some more...the delegates in the hospitality rooms screams "Water Buffaloes" to me. Don't get me wrong: I enjoy sitting and talking with other Knights and their wives in an informal setting, and I don't even mind the alcohol. But the fact that you can hear the merry-making from nine floors down in the hotel strikes me as the wrong message to send to the employees and other guests of the hotel, many of whom are potential Knights -or, more importantly, potential Catholics. Also, it doesn't seem like the most family-friendly way of doing things: I felt pretty uncomfortable taking the girls through for food really early in the evening, even though there wasn't anyone who was any less than sweet to the girls. It was just too loud, too crowded, too...much. Maybe a less rowdy, but still fun, alternative would be to keep the free food, but set up a cash-bar system. I've always noticed that paying for my own booze keeps me from overindulging quite as much!

Now, let me emphasize that the state convention, like the K of C as a whole, is family and service oriented. You can see it in the people they choose to honor (last year's Family of the Year, for example, was a homeschooling-NFP teaching-domestic church-deluxe family) and the people they choose to lead them (next year's State Chaplain is one of the kindest and holiest priests I've ever met). But a lot of these guys have been attending state conventions since my grandpa and his buddies were living it up, and there are quite a few things in any organization that are done a certain way because "it's always been done this way."

But I think some of those vestigial legs are becoming less noticeable, and these whales are starting to show a lot of grace. In more ways than one.

Quick Takes Friday, the money edition

1. I am now two weeks post-op, down 31 lbs total (including my pre op weight loss) and on to the pureed foods diet, which includes finely chopped scrambled eggs...I've never been so happy to eat eggs in my life!

2. On Tuesday, I went up to the big city with MIL for one of her doctor's appointments. Every 28 days, she has an infusion for her MS which takes two hours. The girls and I spent the two hours at Wal Mart, where I did some serious coupon shopping...I was so proud of it that I took this picture. Two things are missing from the pic, 1 gallon of milk that I bought for MIL and one of those $1 cups of oreo cookies from the checkout area that Eva chose to buy with her dollar (I took the dollar and paid for it so we didn't drive the checker crazy!). Here's why I am so proud...even though I often see pictures where couponers pay $1 for $200 worth of groceries, I don't live close enough to anything with good sales to do that sort of thing...so my grand total for this transaction was $27.10 for 31 items. I roughly estimate that had I bought these things in our town (without coupons) it would have cost just over $90. Also, I thought it was pretty cool that my receipt is double sided...what a good idea!

3. Hubby rototilled our extra lot this week. He made a nice big garden plot in the back, and did much of the rest of the lot pretty lightly to break up the ragweed (which he is allergic to). We will probably plant some buffalo grass seed on the front part. I'm really looking forward to the garden part, and once my seeds and plants arrive it'll probably be about time to plant. I got all my seeds and plants from Gurney's this year, as I didn't feel like running all over creation getting seeds and starter plants. I ordered yellow onion sets, tomato plants, green pepper plants, hot pepper plants, carrot seeds, beet seeds, cucumber seeds, zucchini seeds, yellow squash seeds, cilantro seeds and basil seeds. Gurney's is a part of ebates, so I get money back on my orders...not tons, but I've gotten $40 something back from them so far, and have earned almost another $20.

4. Also in my bargain shopping this week...I've been struggling with the issue of kids bowls for years now. We've gone through three sets of plastic bowls in Eva's lifetime (so, maybe 3 years of eating regularly out of bowls) and it was driving me crazy. Well, I finally got smart and copied Katie, who has these great bowls from pottery barn kids that have survived her 6 kiddos...and at $9.99 per 4 pack, they weren't too expensive, even shipped to my house! It looks like I may have bought them out, though...but a similar set of bowls (set of 4 for $14) are still available if you search bowls.

5. Our really cool 1997 Saturn SC2 has needed new tires for a while (okay, it WAS really cool in high school when my mom bought it...of course, getting the car as a gift 10 years later makes it a little less cool...) and because one of hubby's coworkers is on maternity leave added to the fact that next month is one of our three paycheck months, he has gotten more hours recently and we had money in the bank that wasn't already earmarked for something (okay, maybe emergency savings, but I want hubby to have a safe car to drive) so we had a new set of tires put on the car this week.

6. Last night we went to a nearby town to participate in Dave Ramsey's townhall for hope, which was being broadcast simultaneously at over 6,000 locations across the country (you know it is everywhere when we found a location near us!) It was pretty cool. Lots of good information, and since I am a dork, I found the whole discussion of economics to be fun. There was also a "fellowship time" afterwards, so we got to chat with some like-minded people (at least in the financial realm). Of course, I don't know if I will ever really get used to protestant churches...Our neighbor's kids (they attend the church that we were at) we climbing up and jumping off the front platform (I'd call it an altar, but it clearly isn't) and our girls wanted to play with them, too..but I spend too much time at our church trying to keep them off the altar, so they went outside to play instead. Anyhow, the townhall for hope is well worth watching if you missed it!


7. This weekend is the Knights of Columbus state conference in Denver...actually, it started on Thursday but with the shortage of people at hubby's work and my recent surgery, hubby wasn't going to take time off. His boss is going to cover for him on Saturday evening, though, so we are going up after he gets off work on Saturday, and will get there in time for the Mass and the business meeting on Sunday. The cost to stay at the conference hotel (even on hotel discounters) would have been about $125 after taxes...and I am just way too cheap for that, so in the end, I did the whole priceline thing, and got a 2 1/2 star hotel within 5 blocks of the conference for under $60 after taxes...much more my level.

More quick takes at Jen's blog!

Quick Takes Friday

Well, it's been a busy couple of weeks!

1-
Surgery went well last week...I was pretty nervous about it, and right before I went back to the OR, the OR nurse came out to talk with me. She told me that during the surgery they put a board at the end of the bed, and that they would ask me to stand on the board because partway through the surgery they stand you up a little to let gravity help move things out of the way...I don't remember anything from the OR besides a big light, so I think I may have twisted my ankle a little bit.

2-
The anesthesiologist came out to talk to me beforehand, too...and so I told him all about my anesthesia problems with Eva (couldn't get an epidural in, spinal only covered my legs, general anesthesia, couldn't intibate me, etc.) he checked out my throat, told me that I look like an easy case, and gave me plan A and plan B. Plan A was to put me out and intibate me...plan B was if he couldn't do plan A to wake me up and intibate me with a scope, then put me out again. Apparently plan A worked out. I'm a little bit bitter that he saw me as an easy case, since the quack nurse anesthetist from Eva's c-section told me I was too difficult and would probably need a scope anytime I was intibated...

3-
On Friday, we got to head home (well, not home...I stayed at MILs house) and did all the grocery shopping for the shower on the way home. The bridal shower went really well, although my attempt at having a better count of people by asking for regrets only didn't work any better than asking for RSVPs. Hubby says that RSVPing is just not part of the culture out here...I argue that anyone that is too lazy to RSVP is just rude. I understand that things happen, but I'd rather have a last minute RSVP than set up for 31 people and have 15 show up. Future SIL had a good time, so that's all that really mattered.

4-
Easter didn't quite go as originally planned. Hubby went to Holy Thursday and Good Friday...I stayed behind to get a nap (once in our room at the hospital outpatient house, and once at MILs house). We were originally all going to go to the vigil, but after spending all Saturday morning preparing food and all afternoon showering the bride-to-be, we were all a little tired, so we decided to go to the 1 PM Mass at MILs church (crossing our fingers that it wouldn't be a Spanish Mass...we lucked out, it wasn't!) So, we had a later Easter dinner than usual, but it was still a good day.

5-
I finally fessed up to my Bible Study friends about my surgery. I figured there wasn't much of an option, since we eat dinner together. So, I was either going to have to skip 2 or 3 sessions so they didn't ask why I wasn't eating...and let's face it, when I started measuring 1/2 to 3/4 of a cup onto my plate after that, they'd get suspicious. They are being very supportive...but of course, had a lot of questions. Unfortunately, I had to explain things 3 times...once on the car ride out, once for the hostess, and once more when another person arrived.

6-
My post op appointment was on Wednesday. I was cleared to drive and take my vitamins (they offered me a clearance letter to go back to work...I didn't think hubby needed that...now, if they had offered me a letter saying I couldn't clean for two weeks, I would have taken that!) and set up my appointment for my first adjustment. I was down 12 lbs from my pre op appointment (1 week before), but some of that might come back, since they decided I am slightly dehydrated. Everything looks good, and I am healing as expected. Between MIL and myself, we've had so many appointments up in the big city recently that when I was done with my appointment, we couldn't think of anywhere we needed to shop for anything. So, we went to Red Lobster (Eva's request...what a goof ball!) for lunch, and headed home. I'm getting very used to ordering strange things at restaurants now. We've been out to eat 3 times since my surgery (it's been one of those weeks!) and I ordered a small apple juice the first time, and mashed potatoes both other times (my full liquid diet says that mashed potatoes thinned with milk count as a full liquid, so I'm good with that!) I'm looking forward to the pureed diet in a week, when I can have finely chopped scrambled eggs.

7-
Yesterday was the grandparent's tea for Eva's story time. Every year, they host a tea party for the last library story time, and the kids get to invite a grandparent. They listen to a story, drink tea and eat cookies, and get folders with a paper from each story time the child attended throughout the year. Eva went to 22 this year, and we get to see how she answered questions, and whatever crafts they did all year. Eva took MIL again, and they had a great time. I told MIL that she's got at least 3 more years of grandparent's tea to attend, because Eva can do 1 more year of story time, and then Charlotte will be able to do 2 years (because of Eva's birthday she was able to do 3 years, but I'm not sure if Charlotte will, because she will turn 6 part way though the 3rd year.)

More quick takes, as always, at Jen's blog!

The Hope of Easter

Maybe I'm looking in the wrong places. Or maybe it's just so obvious, everyone else has deemed it redundant to point out. Whatever the reason, though, I haven't seen anything really explicitly comparing the ordeal of Captain Richard Phillips to the passion, death, and resurrection of Christ. And that, given the fact that Captain Phillips was rescued on Easter Sunday, seems a little odd to me.

For anyone who might not know, Richard Phillips is the captain of the Maersk ship Alabama. While it was travelling down the coast of Africa last week, Somali pirates attempted to hijack it. Partially through the efforts of the crew in fighting back, and largely through the captain's decision to offer himself as a hostage in exchange for his crew's freedom, the ship and all of its crew (except for Phillips) escaped.

According to The Boston Globe, the father of the Alabama's second-in-command called Phillips a hero, saying:

"I have made it clear throughout this terrible ordeal that my son and our family will forever be indebted to Captain Phillips for his bravery. If not for his incredible personal sacrifice, this kidnapping and act of terror could have turned out much worse."

The same article quotes Richard Gurnon, the president of Massachusetts Maritime Academy (of which Capt. Phillips is a graduate) as saying of Phillips, "He was the good shepherd. He willingly exchanged his life for the lives of his flock, his crew."

This is exactly the kind of imagery that came to mind for me, as well. And it doesn't end there: Phillips spent the next several days floating adrift -"dead in the water"- with four heavily armed pirates, who could have easily made the ocean more than just a symbolic tomb for the father of two. But, just as Jesus emerged from what his followers feared was his final resting place, Phillips was rescued completely intact (and on Easter Sunday, no less) by the daring actions of Cmdr. Frank Castellano and the crew of the USS Bainbridge.

Now, I don't know exactly what motivated Capt. Phillips to offer himself in exchange for his crew, or in what proportion different parts of his character and background worked toward this decision. But it is worth noting that he and his family are Catholic. Not only that, but Cmdr. Castellano, his primary rescuer, is a Fourth Degree member of the Knights of Columbus. In fact, the cargo of the Alabama even included 860 metric tons of food aid from Catholic Relief Services, destined for the poor in Rwanda. So, Catholic principles run all through this story.

I think all of this may best be summarized by a quote from VeggieTales' "An Easter Carol," which we watched with the girls again on Sunday morning. In a vision of a world in which the true meaning of Easter is forgotten, the angel Hope shows a Scrooge-like character how a police officer who, in the current reality, is unusually heroic now backs down from the first sign of aggression by a criminal. "What do you think made him brave in the first place?" Hope asks. "Without the hope of Easter, why would anyone risk their life for someone else?"

I'm doing great!

Just in case anybody reads my blog that has not already heard on facebook, my surgery yesterday went extremely well. The biggest problem that happened was that it took 2 nurses a total of 3 times to get my IV in. Beyond that, the anesthesiologist had no trouble intibating me (and didn't knock out any teeth, which was one of the warnings on my consent form!) I didn't see the surgeon at all today (well, they did take away my glasses when I was wheeled into the OR), and I don't even think I was awake enough to place my feet correctly for the surgery, so I think I twisted or sprained one of my ankles...it doesn't hurt too terribly, but in a couple of hourse, I think I will call over to the doctor's office and see if someone could take a look at it...I'd hate to have a blood clot and just go home thinking it was nothing!

I was so tired after surgery that I took two naps yesterday after discharge...one at about 3:30 to 5, and another while hubby was at Holy Thursday Mass (I was just to darn tired to make it, which was just as well, since hubby got there 20 minutes early, and the church itself was completely full, and the basement overflow was already half full) from about 7ish to 8:30ish. So, needless to say that I had some trouble trying to go back to sleep this morning after taking some pain meds.

So, today I am planning to call the doctor's office and go in if they think I should, shop at three different stores on the way home for shower supplies (I'm not supposed to sit for more than 30 mins at a time, but it looks like the easiest way to deal with that is to pick the specials at a grocery store about every hour.

I'd better go put my feet up again! Thanks for your prayers this week!

We're off to see the wiz....err...surgeon!

Well...it is finally here! Tomorrow I am tentatively scheduled to have my adjustible gastric banding surgery at 9:40 (Mountain time), and I am just finishing up a little cleaning and packing (and, obviously, some blogging!). My MIL should be here within an hour to pick up the girls, and hubby should be home from work in about an hour. We have a three hour drive up to the hospital, and I have a pre-op appointment at 1 pm. Yesterday was full liquid, and today is clear liquids...so I've had an exciting breakfast of sugar free lime jello and crystal lite.

I weighed myself this morning, and according to my scale, I am down 20.4 lbs, just over the 20 lbs that I'm supposed to do...we'll have to see if the doctor's office scale agrees this afternoon.

We will spend the next two nights near the hospital, and will get to head home sometime on Friday morning. I'll be spending the night at MILs house to get ready for the bridal shower on Saturday, then I'll finally get to go home after the Easter Vigil (long enough to sleep, turn around and go back to MILs house for Easter dinner...)

I'll have hubby post something when my surgery is over!

Signs You May Have Chosen the Wrong Major

Actually, I've been pretty glad in some ways that I studied Sociology...but its attractiveness to potential employers has never really been one of them. See how the ad Facebook started showing me yesterday (on the right) is preying on one of my bigger fears?
By the way: how come so many of my friends kidnap me with the sandwich under a cage? What's that supposed to mean?! :-)

Quick Takes Friday...already!?!

Okay, so I have to admit that I've been whining all week about how long the week has been...but when I was checking blogs today and saw that Jen had her quick takes up for the week...well, I have to admit that I had to think twice about it. First I wondered why it was up on Thursday...then I realized that since I have fish sticks in the oven, it must be Friday.


1-
Surgery is set, I am done with all of my requirements (other than losing 20 lbs...I'm down 17 as of this morning...so 3 lbs in 6 days? Hopefully that is doable!) My pre-op class was on Monday, and other than giving me a million things to worry about (I couldn't believe the number of times that they said "if x happens, we will stop the surgery") I'm fairly excited and nervous about the procedure. Of course, I am trying to think of having my surgery on Holy Thursday as a good thing rather than "uh, oh...how close to the agony of Jesus am I going to get in this situation??"



2-
The girls fit just fine in their flower girl dresses. My MIL was convinced that we'd have to have at least Charlotte's dress hemmed by quite a bit. As it stands now, both girls have about 1/4 inch dragging on the floor, and as the wedding isn't for 8 weeks, we may not need to hem them at all...



3-
There are so many things that I want to get done before I leave for the hospital (including sewing dresses for the girls that are all cut and ready to go, and getting our will that I made out BEFORE Charlotte was born signed...I know, I'm a pessimist...) but I doubt I'll be getting much of it done.



4-
Our Lenten penance service was cancelled due to snow last week, so we went up to the one at MIL's church. We met her for supper beforehand, and I took a couple of pictures of the girls. Between people from our church and another smaller parish, we outnumbered the people from MILs church. I had the priest laughing pretty hard after my confession (I don't know if that's a good thing or not...) I had been to confession once already during Lent, so my confession was pretty to the point...I didn't make any explanations for my sins (I'm working hard on not excusing them) and I got done in about a minute. He told me I should do a homily based on my confession, and we were both laughing as I left. MIL (who was behind me in line) asked me if he kicked me out...



5-
At said penance service, we ran into some friends that we haven't seen in quite a while...I hadn't realized how long it had been until I asked how old their little boy was...it turns out he is almost 2! Last time we saw them, she was pregnant...so, it's been a while...and beyond that, they told us that their oldest will be 16 really soon. It seems pretty impossible, but that's the way it always is when kids grow up!



6-
The entertainment for the women and children went okay last Sunday for the Knights of Columbus meeting...the ladies entertained themselves, and I entertained my kids (the only children, as I had expected!) Hubby made me make enough sloppy joes for 30 people out of fear that there wouldn't be enough food...well, the Grand Knight also brought about three items, and there was enough food for an army. It all went well, even though we now are going to be scheduling an insurance review with our agent. He asked if it had been a while, I said that we'd just updated it recently (either right before or after Charlotte was born), and he said we should be reviewing it annually, or at least every other year. I guess he can come talk to us, but I'm pretty firm on the amount and types of insurance we need at this point in our lives.


7-
Hubby was so thrilled to see Jack Black on Yo Gabba Gabba today...I think he needs a life, but to save him the trouble of posting it here...here it is:



Happy weekend, and then Happy Easter to everyone! No quick takes next week (because of Good Friday overall, and because I should be traveling home from the hospital more particularly...) but I will try to have hubby post how my surgery goes!

Check out more quick takes at Jen's blog!

Quick Takes Friday - Haircut Edition

Okay, so all my quick takes today aren't going to be about haircuts...but the girls and I did get haircuts today, and I thought I'd share some before and after pictures of the girls (I don't like having my picture taken, thus I am exempt...)

1. Our haircuts on Monday went well...we went to a friend of mine from church. She has a little girl in between Eva and Charlotte's ages, a little boy who is younger than Charlotte, and is expecting her third. Eva got her hair cut first so she could go play with her friend. The older girls kept asking questions like "Can we play with play-doh?" which of course, was a no...but they had a ton of fun. Charlotte joined them after her haircut, too. I was amazed that my friend's little boy slept through it all!

2. A storm came through on Monday night and into Tuesday...very high winds, very yucky...but MIL had a doctor's appointment up in the front range, so we did a whirlwind trip up there. I got a ton of shopping done, too...particularly considering the compressed time we were working with! We met BIL and his fiancee for dinner, and got to show them the girl's flower girl dresses for the wedding. I still haven't tried them on the girls...I keep thinking they ought to be clean and dry before doing so, and I haven't found a time when they are both yet!

3. I finally got a call from the surgeon's office on Wednesday morning. My insurance company has approved me, and I am scheduled for surgery on April 9th (Holy Thursday). I have my all day pre-op class on Monday (hopefully the weather cooperates for it!) and have to decide on which band I want...Lap-Band or REALIZE Band. They are pretty similar, but that actually makes it harder to decide, to be honest.

4. I had been trying to go visit my parents with the girls, as they are on their spring breaks right now...but when I talked to my mom about the idea, she told me that the weather was supposed to be bad, and that we were supposed to get a blizzard. I hadn't checked the weather (I keep thinking that it is spring, so all the snow should be over!) but sure enough...we have a blizzard!

5. One of hubby's coworkers is pregnant and due any day now. She'll be induced in about a week if she doesn't go into labor before then. Another coworker is on vacation this week (her kids have spring break, so she took it off...) The pregnant co worker's two other kids were puking last night when she got them home from daycare...hubby thought that her going into labor would just top it off. So far as I know, she hasn't yet...but my theory would be, that she'd go into labor right after nursing the kids back to health and not getting a decent night's sleep...that's just how it seems to go to me!

6. Tonight the Knights of Columbus are having their first ever Fish Fry...of course, we have a blizzard outside, but according to hubby, it can't really be put off...so that should be interesting! Also this weekend, the Knights have a 4th degree and district meeting going on...I am in charge of entertaining the women and children. I'm pretty comfortable entertaining children (although I doubt there will be any, other than my own) but I really have no idea how to entertain women...any suggestions?

7. Last Sunday we had the second class in our current series of Natural Family Planning classes. We just had one of our two couples there (the other couple was out of town, so hopefully we will find time for a catch up class before class 3) so we didn't take the scheduled break. At one point, I needed to use the restroom, and I heard voices in the other side of the basement. So, I got up and went to see what was going on. There were several men coming in, I told them that we had a class going on, and asked if I could help them. They said they were there for a Knights meeting (yes...the meeting that will be happening THIS SUNDAY!) so, we had to sort all of that out. One of the men had even cut a trip out of state short so he could be back for the meeting...on the wrong weekend!

Of course, go check out the other quick takes at Jen's blog!

Fox (Catholic) News Channel?

Finding out yesterday that Martha MacCallum is Catholic (see earlier post) got me to wondering: I already knew that two of Fox's biggest names, Bill O'Reilly and Sean Hannity, are Catholic...so, how many other on-air Catholics might there be on FNC? Here's what I've been able to find so far (with links to the source for each name):

Bill O'Reilly
Sean Hannity
Martha MacCallum
Neil Cavuto
Bret Baier
Bill Hemmer (at the time of the linked story with CNN, but now on Fox)
Steve Doocy

In addition, former Speaker of the House and frequent Fox contributor Newt Gingrich is reportedly entering the Church this Sunday (March 29th)! And, of course, Fr. Jonathan Morris is often called upon to comment on stories that pertain specifically to Catholicism. (If you're wondering about Glenn Beck-a favorite of MM-his Wikipedia entry says that he was raised Catholic, but has since converted to LDS.)

Now, there are obviously a lot of Catholics in the world. I may have missed other on-air Catholics on Fox, or some of the ones I listed may not practice their faith any more. In any case, this seems like a pretty large percentage of the channel's top-rung talent, and my sense is that their Catholicism may unconsciously influence the overall "feel" of their coverage. During the Holy Father's visit to New York and D.C. last year, I definitely felt that FNC did the most respectful and thorough job of covering the events (outside of EWTN, of course). Maybe this list helps explain why.

Is the Catholic glass half-full or half-empty?

This is kind of a long video, but I found it really fascinating because of what the debate turned to, moreso than what it was intended to cover (although that is an intriguing issue in its own right).

Martha MacCallum of Fox News Channel was interviewing Phil Donahue, a Notre Dame alum, and Fr. Jonathan Morris about Notre Dame's decision to award President Obama an honorary degree this May, despite his continued disregard of the pro-life point of view (by the way, you can sign a petition if you believe Notre Dame should cancel this plan). Right out of the blocks, and for the entire interview, Donahue kept trying to tie this debate to his larger thesis that the Catholic Church is in crisis, and that it needs to consider changing many of its views in order to be more attractive to mainstream Americans. As you can see in the video, he cites his own divorce and refusal to obtain an annulment before remarriage as evidence of modern society's rejection of Catholicism's "archaic" rules and standards.

Sadly, I've seen this before: my late Grandma Eva, for whom our little peanut is named, never followed through on seeking an annulment after her divorce from my grandpa. And, like Phil Donahue, she held that against the Church-even though it was completely her choice not to seek an annulment (which would probably have been granted, had she followed up on it). Just as Donahue refuses to see the vibrancy of the Catholic Church in America, my grandma used her victimization (both real and imagined) to justify her own pessimism and, ultimately, her own failures. It seems to me that these are both cases of people reacting defensively to their own shame, and determining that-since the fault can't be with them-it must lie with the Church.

In this case, MacCallum-who is Catholic-and Fr. Jonathan essentially destroyed Donahue's argument with their own experiences of parish and seminary life. But watch the video and see if you think anything they said is likely to reach Donahue's heart.

Pics from Chuck E. "Jesus"

These are from my phone, so they're not fabulous...but not too bad. I jest a little about how Charlotte says the name of the restaurant, but maybe she's just a good product of her parents' Jesuit education: she's "finding God in all things." ;-)

Great story from our visit with Brittney

Reading over MM's quick takes below, I noticed that she mentioned our visit to Brittney. We're asked so often how she is doing that I thought I'd update her status a little bit here, and relate a really neat story that her dad shared with us while we were visiting.

Britt is doing well enough to be home, but she still has a long way to go before she could live without 24-hour care. She has some use of her arms and legs, but still can't stand unassisted (and even with assistance, not for very long). She can move herself around to some degree with her wheelchair, but still needs help getting to a particular location. She still hasn't worked out a system, whether verbally or with some kind of signal, to indicate "yes" or "no," and the speech therapists at the hospital she was in until last week weren't very positive about whether or not she could understand what others are saying to her...but, since she's been home, she showed them!

Sometime last week, Brittney's dad went to the refrigerator in their house to put away some dip he had been eating. But when he got there, Brittney was parked in her wheelchair in the way of the door. Since he had something else to do, he had Britt hold onto the dip container temporarily and said, jokingly, "Put that in the fridge for me, will ya" (or something about like that). Well, Brittney proceeded to use her right arm (which has less coordination than her left, right now) to pull the refrigerator door open. When it was blocked by her wheelchair, she moved just a little bit and tried again. When she still couldn't get it open enough, she moved a little more and finally got the door to open all the way. She then used her left hand and chucked the dip into the fridge from across her body!

So, this was pretty encouraging for us to find out that she definitely understands at least some of what we're saying to her, and I think it gave her folks evidence that she is still making progress. So we have a little more hope that we'll have her back someday more like what she was before the accident...and a little satisfaction that "the experts" underestimated her!

Quick Takes Friday again!

Well, it does seem like this is the only time I remember to blog anymore, but I guess if I blog every Friday, that's better than going weeks without blogging at all!

1-
I got a call from the bariatric surgeon's office. All my tests are in, the woman in charge of insurance thought that everything looked normal (she was going to run it all past the doc one more time to be sure), and it turns out that our insurance company has changed their way of getting pre-certified. It used to be that everything had to be mailed in, and that it would take about 3 weeks from the date sent to the date approved...well, it turns out that now they allow them to be faxed in, so the office thinks I should have approval by next Tuesday! Tentatively, we've scheduled my surgery for April 9th (Holy Thursday). I also have to go to an all day pre-op class in a little over a week.

2-
Also on the schedule for Holy Week...I am hosting my future sister-in-law's bridal shower. Of course, I planned the date and ordered the invitations BEFORE I found out that my surgery date could be that soon! So, I'm planning a light lunch with quiche, fruit salad, sun dried tomato pasta salad, and the blueberry salad I posted a few weeks ago. MIL is making a cake, so beyond making the food, I need to clean up the building where we are having it, and decorate. Fortunately, hubby's sister (all these SILs are going to get confusing!) is helping me to host...I fear that she is going to have to deal with a large percentage of things that must be done the day of the shower...as I should be 2 days post op, and wandering around with my chicken broth and sugar free jello...

3-
We took an impromptu trip last weekend to see the state basketball finals. I lost my mind when hubby posted on facebook that he would like to go, and so before he got home I had booked a hotel room, packed a bag and had the girls ready to go. On Sunday we (of course) went to church, and the normal priest at that church had recently had some surgery, so the retired bishop of the diocese was the celebrant. That was pretty cool. Fortunately for the girls, and unfortunately for us, there was a Chuck E Cheese's visible from the highway right by our hotel, so we took the girls there for lunch. Charlotte says "Jesus" and "cheeses" about the same, so we are slightly concerned that she may think that it is Chuck E "Jesus"...

4-
Speaking of Charlotte...her new favorite phrase (which I think can be directly attributed to her father...) is "I know dat!" Including things she would have absolutely no way of knowing.

5-
On Wednesday, we visited hubby's family. His brother and fiancee where there as well, which was fun. Somehow, my MIL got out of visiting her MIL by volunteering to watch the girls. So, hubby, me, BIL and future SIL went into town to see their grandma at the nursing home, and then out to see their cousin Brittney who is finally home from the hospital! It was so good to see Britt out of the hospital. It's a lot of work for her mom now, but it looks like she isn't going to go back to work now, which I think will be a very good thing for her and Brittney. I can't imagine that she'd be able to keep her mind on her work without worrying about how Britt is doing...not to mention the stress of hiring a caregiver. There's enough stress just trying to arrange for all her therapies and supplies.

6-
Today is payday...I have to admit that I am not as excited as normal, because I know we have more expenses than income for these two weeks. I guess the good news is that we do have money in the bank, I just wish we didn't have to use it!

7-
Eva is finishing up on her second quarter of Kindergarten...of course, the plan was to take two full years for one year of Kindergarten...but it's looking like we will be done much earlier than that. She is getting really close to reading now, so hopefully it will start to click for her soon.

Well, that's it for me this week. Be sure to check Jen's blog for more Quick Takes!

Quick Takes Friday

1-
Well, I have no pictures this week...just wasn't ambitious enough to take any. Though I do wish I had taken my camera with me to my sleep study...then I could have had my sleep tech take a picture of my head! She had to place about a dozen electrodes on my head (measuring and marking the spots with pen through my hair...and doing anything through my hair is difficult!) some on my legs, belts around my abdomen and chest to measure movement while breathing, a thing up my nose and in my mouth to measure air flow, and then they have a speaker and camera so they can see and hear you all night long. If I had problems before 2 am, they would have put me on a CPAP machine for the rest of the night...but I didn't have any problems by 2 am...I did find out that I breathe shallowly when I am dreaming and on my back (I do fine when I dream on my side) so, there is a possibility that I may have to go back for a second sleep study. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that I won't have to...they're not particularly the most fun thing to do.

2-
Yesterday I had a heck of a day...Hubby wanted me to be back to his mom's house during his lunch break, which was supposed to be 3 hours, but ended up being 2 hours. Then he insisted on running a couple of errands before driving up to his mom's house (which is a good 40 minutes away from ours). So, he got up there with his dad's pickup, we packed up the girls, and he ate his lunch in the car. So, I took the girls home, fed them lunch, finally got them down for naps (well, Charlotte anyway) and about the time Charlotte really fell asleep, I found out that I had miscalculated while shopping and put almost $50 too much on the debit card for our local checking account. So, I had to wake up Charlotte, pack the girls up, go see hubby at work to get his ATM card and a check we needed to put in the bank, go to the ATM to get out cash, take cash and check to local bank to put in checking account. Then, we had less than 2 hours before hubby was off work (and he didn't have a car, so I thought we'd be nice and pick him up...) so we went to the park, then to the grocery store...finally after we picked up hubby we went out for dinner (it was that kind of day all over!)

3-
I got new shoes for myself and Eva while up in the big city. Eva's new shoes have Dora on them, but they don't blink. My new shoes are...well, just normal shoes...and Eva commented that they don't have Dora or blink. I told her I didn't think they made Dora or Blinkie shoes in mommy sizes. She said "well, some mama's have blinkie shoes, but you don't." I'd like to convince Eva otherwise, but I don't think I'll be able to...so, if anyone has mommy blinkie shoes, please let me know!

4-
I had dinner by myself at the bar of a restaurant during happy hour...and had water to drink because of my sleep study. It was kinda fun, but pretty weird to eat all by myself.

5-
Hubby took the day on Wednesday (his day off and the day of all my doctor's appointments) to borrow his dad's pickup and clean out the garage (it's been a long time coming!) He thought he'd have to pay for two trips to the dump, but when he took the first one over (which was all metal) he didn't have to pay anything. They must be able to recycle the metal. Then, his second trip was about to fall out of the pickup, as he had several mattresses (that came with our house) perched on top. They made it to the dump, and hubby just managed to get done unloading the pickup as they were locking the dump for the night.

6-
The girls stayed at grandma's house from Wednesday morning to Thursday afternoon. While there, they had about 3 ice creams each day, and did whatever they wanted to, whenever they wanted to! They also got to see hubby's cousin Brittney when she got home from the hospital on Wednesday night. So, that was the good side...the down side is that my FIL had MILs car because his truck wasn't working, so MIL got a ride over to Brittney's house with one of her SILs who has granddaughters fairly close in age to my girls (and had car seats in her car already!). Well, FIL came to pick up MIL and the girls, but didn't stop and get the car seats...and refused to go get them because he had to go unload some trucks...so MIL strapped the girls into her car in normal seat belts...coming home from the house of someone who has severe injuries and disabilities from not wearing a car seat in an accident. I've lectured MIL already (even though I was trying not to...) but have to admit that I am not happy at all about what happened...

7-
Getting the girls up to grandma's house and getting me to the doctor's office were challenges this week. We got about 2 miles out of our town to find out that the road between our town and MILs town was closed and detoured. Now, in our county, no dirt road goes more than 2 miles in one direction before turning, so we decided not to use the detour created (because it detoured to the wrong side of town...) and instead went on a back route to MILs house. Then, I dropped off the kids and hubby and got on the road....I thought I had missed my exit because of some road construction on the highway (had to call MIL to see where the right exit was) and then the highway into the city was closed down and I had to take a detour. Of course, I managed to get pretty lost trying to get back on the road home the next day. I really shouldn't be allowed to travel alone!

More quick takes are up at Jen's blog!

Belated Lenten Resolution

Did you know that Union troops during the Civil War found a document, Special Order 191, lying on a battlefield...and it turned out to be orders from Robert E. Lee detailing plans for a whole series of upcoming battles. It's true! (I even heard about it on "The Rest of the Story" once!) This information helped turn the tide of the war, which at that point was going badly for the North, and was probably instrumental in determining its ultimate outcome. Can you imagine if that document had never been found?

Well, Harry Turtledove did more than just imagine it: he's written thousands of pages of "alternate history" based on the premise that, because of this one small change in actual events, the entire history of North America was radically changed. I read the first book based on this idea, How Few Remain, a couple of years ago and absolutely loved it. Then, a few months ago, I found out that there was a trilogy of books following the same characters through World War I (in which the USA and the CSA -Confederate States of America, that is-were on opposing sides).


So, I ordered those three books from Paperbackswap, and promptly wanted to do nothing but sit and read them. The problem is that they are each about 500 pages long, plus (it turns out) there are seven MORE books (each about the same length) following the same characters through the Depression era and World War II. Assuming the books average around 500 pages each, that's 5,500 pages of "what if"s! At that point, I have to reassess how committed I am to seeing the series through (kinda like Robert Jordan's Wheel of Time series, which to date has totaled about 9,600 pages, and-as much as I like it-has gotten to be an endurance test).

Besides being a daunting amount of reading, I think I would probably have a problem with the books' affects on my relationship with my family. Knowing how I get when I am engrossed in a story, I would probably try to read the remaining books every chance I get until finish them all. It would make it hard for me to get what I need to do around the house done but, more importantly, it would keep me from giving enough attention to MM and the kids.

THEREFORE, I've resolved to give up reading these books for the foreseeable future. I have the first of the Depression-era trilogy on its way via Paperbackswap right now, but I think I may even list it back on the site to avoid tempting me to get sucked in again. I didn't really plan on giving anything up this Lent but, as timing would have it, this works out pretty well. I think this will result in my growing more as a father and husband than something like giving up chocolate would, anyway.

A new book I want to read...

Okay, so I really enjoy the blog Owlhaven...and Mary has just finished her book "A Sane Woman's Guide to Raising a Large Family", which I really, really, REALLY want to read. Turns out that she's doing a giveaway for people who blog about it, so here I am...

But of course, being the Paperbackswap addict that I am, I first went to PBS to see if I could be first on the wishlist for the book...

I'm number 3 on the list...

So, here's to hoping that I am the lucky winner! Make sure you head over to her blog and check it out!

Quick Takes Friday

1-
I'm preparing for my sleep study next Wednesday night, and part of the prep work is keeping a sleep log. I'm not totally sure that my sleep has been what it usually is, but if this is indeed a normal week of sleep...well, no wonder I'm a little grouchy sometimes! (Okay, I shouldn't complain...I've gotten decent night's sleep this week, but I am the type of person who really needs 8 hours...)

2-
Using my MILs laminator/sticker maker (which she said was mine, and that she had another one that belonged to her somewhere in her house...I don't remember her getting me a laminator...but I may just take her up on it one of these days...) I finished up the Dino Colors and Alphabet Hearts games for Charlotte. I also made her a VeggieTales tot book from here. But Eva hasn't be left totally out of the action...I'm working on putting together two lapbooks for her to do after we finish her schoolwork (she has 1-2 more weeks, depending on the subject, and I've scheduled until Easter for this quarter of work...) so I have to figure out how to put together a bigger lapbook sometime soon.

3-
Hubby spent the entire day on Wednesday working on the house! We have been in here since January 1, 2006 and the house has been unfinished in several places since then. So, Wednesday was spent getting the soffiting (I really have no idea how to spell that, and apparently, neither does the spell checker...) on the trim of the porch (lots of very detailed cuts required) in a few more days of working during his break, it should be completed. Then I am hoping to find a utility sink at the Habitat Restore while I am up for my psychological evaluation and sleep study next week. I was inspired to at least give it a try because of this post.
4-
On Wednesday, I managed to jam my big toe pretty badly tripping over the door to our bedroom...the good news is I fell into the bed (I guess that's one of the nice things about having a bed that takes up an entire room!)...the bad news is that my clumsiness continued for most of the day, and included managing to slam my finger into the latch of MILs screen door (I'm still not sure how I managed that one...) and a few small incidents with scissors. My toe still hurts today, but at least my hands are better.

5-
We went to do the Stations of the Cross last night at church...we decided to make it to at least one daily Mass or pray a family rosary or something extra related to church each week during Lent. Father moved the normal Thursday night Mass to Thursday morning and has no Mass today (I think he may be out of town for meetings...I'm not really sure.) Normally, Stations are done after the Thursday night Mass, and we usually can't handle keeping the kids calm and controlled for more than the Mass...so we did Stations instead of Mass (since hubby can't make it to the morning Mass times...) and it went pretty well. There was another little girl there (she's between Eva and Charlotte in age) and the three of them did get into a little bit of trouble for trying to play. We had to give Eva a lecture on "we are here to pray, not to play right now..." BUT, all of the other adults told us (hubby and me and the other little girl's grandpa) that the girls did a really good job. I guess I'm glad that the standard isn't too high for the 4 and under crowd.

6-
Funny wedding planning note about my BIL...he and his fiancee had figured out a head count of 150 for the reception meal, so they decided that they needed to order 200 invitations to the wedding to make up for those who won't be able to make it (his fiancee is from out of state, so I'm sure that there will be quite a few people unable to attend...) The next day, his fiancee realized that they didn't need that many invitations, as the 150 for food included families that would only need 1 invitation (so, for instance, our 4 wouldn't need 4 invitations, just 1) but BIL was certain that they needed that many invitations...so that's what they ended up with. And now BIL had to admit that he was wrong...not something the men in that family do very well. Gotta love wedding planning...and gotta love the fact that we don't have to do anything like that for a long time...
7-
But, we are coming up on our 10th anniversary this summer...time does fly! So, we are thinking of a vacation for the two of us (the girls will gladly stay with grandma...) but aren't getting too creative. Obviously, any trip we take will be on a small budget, but it looks like travel bargains might be easy to find this year. We don't have passports, so we'll probably stay in the states...and we don't want to do anything that would be really close to something educational (then hubby would want to take the girls...and so would I...for a home school field trip...) so as of now, we are thinking of Vegas. Any other recommendations? I've never been to Vegas, and hubby hasn't been since before he was old enough to gamble (I'm guessing he went there sometime during high school for some school related thing...) so I don't even know if it is worth going.

Of course, as always, there are more quick takes at Jen's blog, with a very sweet picture of her brand new baby girl! Big congrats to Jen on such a cutie!

I am a crafty supermom!

Okay, it isn't that often that I get crafty with or for the kids around here...it's just not really in my nature (although I guess when I did alphabet crafts with Eva for preschool, I must have been temporarily insane!) So, since I did get all crafty, I took some pictures (before things get destroyed.

I recently came across the idea of Tot School. I found the idea through a Carnival of Homeschooling post a while back, and just found the idea interesting. Since Charlotte is getting more difficult to contain while I do school with Eva, I thought doing some tot school with Charlotte would be a good idea. I got the template for Alphabet Hearts here, and the template for the Cinderella Tot Book here.

Eva found the instructions for how to make a spiritual bouquet at EWTN kids. So, for art class this week, we made this spiritual bouquet for Brittney who should be coming home from the hospital next week.

Finally, here's another view of the Cinderella Tot Book, and also a peek at Dino Colors, which I found here. The Alphabet Hearts and Dino Colors folders still need some work...I need to go use my MILs laminater to make them a little sturdier for little miss thing. I'd better get to class, since Charlotte is dancing around me and wants her Cinderella book!

Quick Takes Friday!

1-
We got our new digital camera this week (yeah!) and we took a trip to the park to do P.E. on Wednesday. Hubby downloaded the pictures to the computer for me, so here area few shots...notice how nice the motion shots are...I really should post a few bad pics from our old camera, but I'm not feeling that ambitious. Also, hubby found out that our new camera cord works for his beloved cell phone...so the smaller pictures are from there (just in case you couldn't figure it out by picture quality alone!)

2-
Speaking of Wednesday...Ash Wednesday...it ALWAYS amazes me at how many people show up for Mass on Ash Wednesday! Our church was packed at 7:15 PM, and we didn't get home until after 8:30, then we gave the girls the quickest and most drama queen inducing of baths ever and sent them to bed. When we went Thursday night for Mass, the parking lot was empty (there were 4 other people at the Mass, and I think only 2 of the 8 of us stayed for stations of the cross...I'm hoping some other people showed up after we left!)

3-
Charlotte is finally on an antibiotic. We had to take her in AGAIN on Monday (they wouldn't just call one in for her...) and our doc was booked up again, so I tried another one. I've decided that I like him for sick kids...maybe it's just because Charlotte didn't scream her way through the appointment, and the appointment ended with a prescription...

4-
About an hour or so ago, I told Eva to go get dressed. She asked why, and I said so we could start school...she burst into tears and said "I don't want to do school today!"...so we are skipping school until tomorrow. It turns out the breakdown wasn't an "I hate school" moment...instead of doing HER school, she wanted to teach Charlotte school...so hubby and the girls are in the girls room right now teaching Charlotte school.

5-
I had my second appointment leading up to gastric band surgery...this one was with the dietitian. So, on Tuesday hubby was off, and the four of us drove with hubby's mom up to the front range for her appointment (infusion for her MS) and mine. A lot of times, she'll have multiple doctor's appointments, but this time it was just one for her at 2pm and one for me at 2 pm (about 20 minutes away from each other), so we all took the girls to Chuck E Cheese's. Talk about good advertising on PBS...Eva's been seeing their sponsorship of her favorite PBS shows for years, and I didn't think too much of it. You would've thought we were at Disneyland! The girls had such a great time, and by the end, Eva had a pack of kids she was dragging around, and Charlotte was flirting with a bunch of little boys...I'm in so much trouble with those two!

6-
Along with my appointment with the dietitian, I had to do some blood tests and an EKG. I was a little freaked out by the idea of an EKG, but actually it was really easy! It took the woman doing the test longer to place the electrodes on me than it took to run the test. When I got down for the blood work, I found out that I was also supposed to do a breath test for some sort of stomach bacteria...but that I had taken some medicine that I couldn't have for two weeks before the test, so I'll have to go back in and do that test when I go up for my psychological evaluation and sleep study in two weeks.

7-
Charlotte was so impressed by the ashes for Ash Wednesday, that she's been able to talk about little else since then...she keeps pointing to her head and talking about ashes (particularly when we are at church, because the bowls that were used for the ashes are part of the Lenten decorations. Our parish is really into symbols (which I have to admit, I really don't get...but when in Rome...) and the symbol they have for everyone to take home this lent is a nail...it makes sense, but I am not bringing home a nail (they aren't sharp or anything, but I see no good that could come from one in our house this Lent) now, our parish has a HUGE number of small children (the 12 ladies currently in my bible study have 27 kids...and the 3 who have dropped out for now have an additional 10, with the oldest of all these kids being 7...not to mention all of the other women in our parish with little ones...) so why a NAIL seemed like a good symbol, I guess I am just not understanding!

There are as always, more quick takes at Jen's blog...and her new baby is due on Monday! How exciting!!!