Tag Archives: life

Mass Snapshot

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Day one of a seven-day stretch of blogging fun/torture/chaos with Jennifer Fulwiler and frenz….let’s see I clocked in at about 100 or so, enough blog reading to last a while I’d say.  So stay tuned all week-long.

Sunday night:  Brainstorm #1  Our family Mass snapshot

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*not our regular church, this is the local Basilica. Beautiful church.

Funny how church life mimics life in its constantly changing routine.  When the kids were little we tried the cry room, the right up front, occasional staggering of Mass, etc, etc, until we found our fit.  With each child things mixed up again and then settled and repeat.  Now that we (mostly) get through Mass without  major drama and meltdowns….hahaha, who am I kidding?  There’s always someone with an issue, but we aren’t wrestling in the pews anymore, everyone knows how to whisper or just zip it and the general decorum expected at Mass is upheld.  Just as we hit our rhythm once again…it changes.  Again.  le sigh.

At the moment we are at a stage in our family life that we are splitting up Masses.  It’s so NOT my favorite season, but for now, we do what we have to do….and it IS just a season.  Hubby is working with my brother-in-law on Sundays –good for the BIL and good for our family as we work toward debt reduction, but a total bummer on Sunday morning family Mass.  Our 12-year-old is earning volunteer hours so she’s been hitting the Saturday vigil Mass with Dad so she can volunteer with the PreK crew at the 9 a.m. Mass. Our youngest son plays his horn in the 9 a.m. Sunday Mass and both girls have Religious Ed. following 9 a.m. Sunday Mass.  Which finds us all over the place, people.  All.  Over.  The.  Place.  We have been TRYING for a twice monthly Mass on Saturdays for all of us, however, realistically we’ve probably averaged once a month.  Just keep tryin’;  it’s only a season.  My mantra.

Sunday morning’s Mass was funny because with only our youngest and I present, we sat in the front row because she informed me that she only takes the precious blood if less than 10 people go before her.  She counts.  Everytime.  Front pew made us #1 and #2, so today was body and blood.  For the win.

My favorite priest (retired and 90) was there today and in wrapping up Mass he analogized today’s homily message on forgiveness, Agape love and the gospel readings with his disappointment in Ireland’s rugby showing in England recently (in his Irish brogue), “I may love my English neighbors, but I don’t have to like them.”  Funny.  True.

What’s YOUR church snapshot?

Blessings on the week ahead!

Trading earth’s cross for heaven’s crown

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Dear Lisa,

Woman.  It is the most breathtakingly STUNNING day here today.  A rough start with the rain and wind this a.m. but now….oh.  My.  Not a cloud in the sky.  Nice wind.  Hovering on the 70’s….just barely.  I can’t think of a better day to celebrate you.

Somehow I managed to make it through with 3 tissues.  Your humongous family, your beautiful girls and your brave and valiant husband filing in just made my heart ache.  In the same breath, my heart was filled with joy at the sheer numbers present.  You seriously made an impression on a lot of people, an indelible print on their hearts.  Way cool.  What a blessing to call you friend.

Your faith and courage in your fight with Ovarian cancer could not help but to spill over on to everyone you came in contact with.  Sharing that faith just came natural and so did encouraging your students and friends to live life to the fullest.  Embrace every day and when you introduced Brendan (and our family) to the story of Nick Vujicic your genuineness and love of God became that much more real.

Thank you for your friendship.  It was a true blessing to know you.

A few words from today that I KNOW you’d be shaking your head “YES” to:

  • You traded earth’s cross for Heaven’s crown.  WOW!  I just love that.  You are free.  You are free.
  • When we let go of fear we step out and grow in faith.  Like taking off without training wheels for the first time.  May we ALL be propelled to grow in faith by crushing fear with the same German stubborness you had.
  • Fight the GOOD fight.  Life is busy and we get pulled in so many directions.  May we all focus on those priorities of living this life and fighting the GOOD fight.
  • Life is hard.  So many people, situations and choices constantly turning us sideways; faith is what guides us through.  A beacon of hope.  You stayed focused on that faith in God’s plan to the very end.  I can think of no better race that was run.

Rest in peace, my friend.  Until we meet again!

XOXO

Tracy

The bluest of blues. Sky today.

The bluest of blues. Sky today.

A birthday and a birth story

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Yesterday our sweet girl turned 12.  12!!!  How can that be?  In a blink of an eye, that’s how.  A blink.  Tip from me to you:  don’t blink.

In honor of her birthday, I will offer up her birthDAY story.  Always fun, right?  If that’s not your thing, then click away because here I go.

In my heart of hearts, I always knew we’d have 3 kids.  Just knew it.  When we had 2 boys everyone assumed we’d “go for the girl”, whereas I just knew we’d have a 3rd…gender aside.  (and then we ended up with 4……so go figure, but this is the story of our 3rd)

We never found out the gender of any of our kiddos.  I was working in the radiology department which was always tricky because I had my ultrasound buddies at the ready to take a peek, however, I just love surprises and how do you top THAT surprise?

My pregnancy with our girl was not any different from the boys (aside from no morning sickness) and I already had 2 boys complete with all the trucks, matchbox cars, sandbox, rain boots and plaid shirts, I honestly didn’t think we’d have a girl and that was OK.

At the end of my pregnancy I explored induction with my OB.  I really don’t enjoy being pregnant, the last month is brutal and I was ready to sleep on my stomach again.  Selfish, I know and hats off to those of you who go late…God.  Bless.  You.  Anyhow, things were looking favorable and so we scheduled a date 5 days prior to her due date.  It was weird.  And it was kind of nice.  I’m a planner and it was good to plan for my sister to come stay with the boys, make some meals ahead, pack a bag, etc, etc, etc.

We were at the hospital at 6 a.m. and it was probably about 9ish by the time we were settled in and Pitocin dripping.  Funny, how writing this 12 years later some memories are fuzzier than others but, for me, that day, the Pitocin got labor rockin’ and rollin’ all kinds of quick like.  (Compared to a false start and all day labor with #1 and an all-nighter with #2).  By 10:30 a.m., maybe 11, I was hot for the anesthesiologist.  ANY anesthesiologist carrying a big needle to be stuck in my back.  Again, mega props to all who go au natural…as for me….the epidural is my friend.  A dear, dear, SHARP and point friend, but a friend!!

The rest of the labor went the usual pattern, cramp, rest, cramp, rest, ramp it up and repeat…however, with the epidural you look at the screen and say “Gee, THAT was a big one!”  Only so long though.  Then you begin to feel each rise and fall and baby wiggling into the gate ready to go.  Such it was with this one anyway.

Just before 2, I asked the nurse to check because it was getting quiiiiiiiiite painful and I didn’t need to see the monitor graph to know, it was getting all kinds of close.  The nurse confirmed my suspicions and alerted the Nurse Practitioner.  When she came into the room seconds later, I told her “I’m going to push”.  She said “Wait for me to get my gloves on”, to which I replied, “You better hurry”.

2 seconds and 2 pushes later (12 years later and I’m still pretty sure it went down pretty much just like that), she and my OB (who almost missed the party) announced, “It’s a girl!”

My response, “What do we do with a girl?”  Seriously.  My husband laughed.   It’s on the video.  We figured it out quickly and the introduction to pink and fun fashions was so fun.  Still is.  This girl.  Stole my heart.  Still does.

Happy birthday, sweetness!!

PicMonkey Collage

This card: made by little sis, given to big sis. Just too sweet!!

pancakes

Birthday breakfast. Chocolate chip pancakes. Whipped cream. Go big or go home.

mm

Did y’all know about these? Hubby’s cousin gave these to our birthday girl….yum!!! She shared them with all the littles she helped out with at Religious Ed. She’s now their favorite.

cake

Ice cream cake, double layer. Boring. No decoarations. Delicous. No complaints.

a&d

Birthday girl and Alaskan cousin

shy

Grampa trying to get birthday girl to not be camera shy….the 10 yo certainly isn’t !!

Good, bad, ugly and a conference!!

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I’ve been MIA and so very hit or miss lately….life, ya know?  Sorry.  I’m preaching to the choir, I know.

It looks like our weekends are slowing down a leeeeeeetle bit here to a more manageable busy-ness which is good and gives me hope to recharge and reboot and refresh and all that because I needs me some down-time, people!  Wahhhhh, cry me a river, I know.  We are all busy.  So.  I am done complaining about that.

Here’s a few things my mind is juggling lately, good bad and ugly.  Ok.  NOT the really ugly, because I’ve already sent THAT email to a few people and I’m just not ready to go live with that.  Yet.  It is brewing though.  It will probably be a total **it-storm when it happens, I’ll say that.  Intrigued?  Well, guess you’ll have to keep checking back in.  wink-wink-wink

Goodnesssssss……all over the place.  The busy-ness has been good stuff.  Kids music stuff, going to All-county for two kiddos 2 weekends in a row.  A certain almost-12 year old birthday coming up and a trip to Plato’s closet to feed her shopping desires and birthday gift!!  Last minute visit from an old friend from Tally in town with her daughter’s volleyball tourney.  (I didn’t get to visit with her but Hubby did and it does a soul good to have some quality friend time!)  A coming visit from Hubby’s Alaskan cousin this weekend for the night.  A total nut and very fun!!  A great AA dinner party meeting Hubby’s AA friends.  Always nice to put names with faces.  Even nicer to hear the inspirational stories coming out of these people.  My dear friend may (HOPEFULLY) be doing Apologetics classes for middle and high schoolers.  Y’all she is DANGEROUSLY on fire and the most AMAZING teacher EVERRRRRR.  I am completely committed to bugging her to YouTube the classes because this is something the Church needs…this area is so lacking.  So offer up a prayer for her would ya?  This cookie dough pie made by our 16 yo.  Oh.  MY.  Deliciousness.  **one special note:  USE the blender/food processor for the beans.  Makes allllllllll the difference in the world.  Hubby and I are planning on renewing our vows this year.  The big 2-0!  Point of contention:  our audience.  Our church generally does this in front of the general Mass.  All several HUNDREDS of people.  Hubby is in favor of this venue.  This gives me absolute palpitations and anxiety I cannot describe.  I’m all for the quiet chapel route.  Also, I know I will be bawling and this is not a good look for me.  Let’s face it, half of our marriage was the “for worse” part and having come through that……..Phew!  Good stuff, but man, oh, man……what a ride!!!

Badness:  (I know, not a word, but in keeping with the theme)…..I didn’t get a job I applied for.  Again.  I DO have promises of other positions in the next few months, so we shall see….but disappointment, I’m really over you.  Really.  16 yo broke his foot skateboarding.  Not super bad, but definitely waylaid the skating for a while.  Good stuff is coming out of that, though…..the ole stepping back and getting a bird’s eye view of friends, new likes and maturing.  Colds.  Several have blown through this house.  5 of 6 of us have had the flu shot, so holding steady there…… lastly, a friend of mine (son’s 5th grade teacher and the best EVER! and not just because she reads my blog) is suffering mightily these past couple years with a recurrence in her ovarian cancer.  The past few months have been tremendously brutal.  It’s heartbreaking and I’m so sad for her suffering and for her family and mad. Mad that the prayers I pray for her don’t fix anything.  Mad that the dinner I’ll take her family won’t fix anything.  Mad that God allows this.  Mad.  Mad.  Mad.  And this is so definitely going on my list of conversations God and I will have in heaven.  Because I just don’t see the purpose of it.  At all.

And on that total bummer note:  let me offer up some fun times for you….There is going to be a little conference in Austin, TX this summer.  A weekend of Catholic gal fun!!  All the deets are here……  my pocketbook can’t swing this, but maybe yours can and I think it would absolutely be worth every second!!!!

Go on and have a super day.  Providing you aren’t snowed in for the umpteenth time this winter.  We’ll be scooting through the day in the humid 80s here…..  tough.  tough life it is.

Blessings!!

A conundrum of sorts…

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Holy cow, y’all it’s almost February!!!  Where in the HECK did January go???  This month, for us, has had our dance card filled EVERY weekend this month and while it certainly keeps us busy, I am a person who needs some downtime.  After a month of go-go-go, we are happy January is almost gone-gone-gone.

Don’t get me wrong, we had a great time:  All-state concert, Savannah visit with my mom and her Hubby, All-county concert #1 (followed by #2 concert AND LAST this weekend).  All good stuff.  I just need to decompress on the weekends at some point and there’s been very little of that.  The other problem all this busy-ness brings is the whole “physical health” resolutions has taken a back seat with the extra running around.

The interesting thing, and here is the conundrum, is that while I haven’t been wholly UNHEALTHY, I’ve not focused ONE BIT on exercise (got it in when I could or managed to get out of bed in the morning chilliness), nor have I focused on my food (although I’ve stuck to my mostly normal eating habits).  Yesterday, I wanted to brace myself for moving back into regular and scheduled exercise AND food-journaling with our 16 year-old and guess what?  Down 4 pounds.  You’ve got to be kidding me.

No worries though, now that I’ve typed it and am moving back into focus on health, I’ll be right back up….but hopefully not.

Isn’t life crazy like that?