I could kiss my mail man

As I was running out the door to sit through a 3.5 hour band dress rehearsal with my daughter, the mail mail left me a little present, MY GILBERT! JOY!!! Not that going out in below zero weather to sit through a concert I have to go to again tonight would be tedious, it just that I have to not talk to my momma friends and sit still. I'm a bit hyper as an adult and sitting still and quiet can be a challenge sometimes, especially when I'm freezing cold. Did I mention I could not bring my trusty mug of hot coffee or tea?! But, alas, I had my Gilbert to keep me happy. And that it did. I finally got to sit and read an issue without multitasking, no dinner being prepared while reading this time! I did stop reading once in a while to find out if my child was sitting still and not talking as well(she was not, like mother like daughter).

I barely noticed the time fly or the extreme cold, well, the later was more noticeable as I read about Mr. Alquist's trip to a much warmer state, CA. but he, too lives in the bitter midwest, so all is fair. All in all the evening was much improved my good reading material, and tha fact that the homeschool band is playing a Danny Elfman piece, the Batman Theme.We won't tell them that he was in a rock band before he started composing for the movies, oooh, better not mention the Simpsons, either. Tonight's concert will be great, and having not seen the bulk of the prep for it , I will better enjoy hearing all the results.

Homeschool band

If you live in the Chicago area, and are free Friday night, come and see the West Suburban Homeschool Band. The 151 member band will play at 7pm, at the Norris Cultural Arts Center in St. Charles, Illinois. More info and pictures can be found at the band's website www.wshsb.com . My daughter is the cute little Sax player in the middle.

Need an attitude adjustment,.....Try Confession.

I finally got to confession, and a priest was there! Yippie! It is amazing what a 15 minute act can do to life's outlook. The snow outside just seemed brighter and cheerier after a visit to the confessional. I go often, really, but it had been a long stretch due to various holidays, illnesses, the priest not coming. It seemed like an eternity, even though it was a relatively short period of time, in the big scope of things.

I love when you can feel the effects of being free from sin. Life is just happier. I had a sink full of gross dishes, that just seemed more enjoyable to wash. All the little contradictions are so much easier to bear when we have that grace. I went for several years without confession during my "not-a-good-Catholic years" in late High school and college. What a mistake, I needed the grace most of all then! If there is one thing I can say, dear reader, is go to confession, often, you will never regret it. Life is much better with grace.

See me in Print...

I've now received 6 reports that my husband and I can be found in this month's Family Foundations Magazine. We agreed months ago to have out "witness" to be published in the engaged couple issue. I have not yet received my copy yet, it is probably with my Gilbert, Paste and Kids Discover being read by the post office people. I must just get the best magazines. If you like what you read, let me know, So far, I've had 3 complaints and two compliments. I much prefer the nice comments(who doesn't).

Politics

You will not find me talking about politics much. I believe in voting in the best way to follow Church teaching across the board. I also realize that that can be done in several ways, depending on who you are, formation, etc.. So usually my friends and I can get into rather heated discussions about politics, therefore, I avoid the subject.

It is important to know if those we are voting for mean what they say. It is easy to say, "I'm for/against XYZ" and but never do anything about it. It is easy for them to "change" their beliefs, based on what people want to hear. I heard about a website, www.issues2000.org, that you can look up candidates, or current office holder and how they vote, or what they have said on "issues". I love this site, it is not based on party, or one issue, but is easy to use and very concise.

It is worth looking into what all of the candidates support, and how their view may have changed as the election draws nearer. Thank you to Sheila Liaugminas, fellow Illinois-ian for responding so quickly to my email asking for this website.

On the Thriteenth Day of Christamas..

My True love gave to me...
A trip to the ER with the Hubby!

Yes, Yes, there is not a 13th day of Christmas, but if there was, it should not be spent having hubby get chest x-rays. My husband's little cold has become bilateral pneumonia. (Dave-if you are reading this, please keep it hush hush, Hubby does not want his mother worrying, or his sister for that matter, just me.)

Note to Husbands: If you wife tells you are are sick and need to see a doctor, LISTEN TO HER, right away, not two weeks later. She is probably right. We wives are more than just eye candy, we are full of knowledge, wisdom and common sense, that is why you married us, Right? So darn it, Listen to us!

The Husband is on the mend, and and heads back to work tomorrow. Once he is back to "normal" I get to spend some quality "I told you so time" with him. I won't gloat, but a lesson will be learned!

Illinois Catholic Homeschool Conference

The website is up and running, speakers name's are being posted, vendors have been contacted, Keep checking in to see what is new. I hope to see you there, I'll be scurring around helping vendors set up on Friday, before running off to not one but two recitals my daughter has.

New Year's Resolutions

Most years I have thought New Year's resolutions are silly. However, this year, I needed a big boost to get back on track with a few things I've been lax on, so it seemed appropriate. Here you go, in no order whatsoever, what I hope to do this year:

1. Get my lazy self to daily Mass again, easy enough, I used to, in the very recent past, manage this.

2. Read more classic books. I am of the age group that was assigned trash in high school and College, and therefore, missed the classics. I also figure I have to hurry up and read these before I expect any of my kids to.

3. Pray at least one really good Rosary a week. I usually end up multi-tasking, driving and praying the Rosary, so at least once a week, I hope to just sit and be still, even as the squirrels that are my children surround me.

4.Practice Kindness far more each day. I'm re-reading The Hidden Power of Kindness enough said.

5.Practice mandolin. I really need to get spend 5 minutes a month on this if I ever want to play.

6. Spend 30 minutes a day exercising. We have a Wii, it has training, sad though it may be, this is my plan.

7. Be a bit more green. I used to be very very crunchy, but got lazy, so I'd like to get back to some of my crunchy roots.

What resolutions do you have for this year?

On the fourth day of Christmas....

My True loves gave to me..
4 coughs a barking
3 noses running
2 ears an aching
and a Husband with a temp of 103!

Thus has been my octave of Christmas thus far! Fun Fun and More Fun! The kids are fine now, mostly, but the husband is still hanging onto a horrible cold. He is a royal pain to handle when sick. He pretends like nothing is wrong, but his acting skills are lacking these days. Then, he will not go to a doctor or follow my series of natural remedies. Ugh. Plus, in the 14 years we have been together, I've only known him to get truly sick once before, about 12 years ago. So I have been worried that all of a sudden he is not fighting this off.

Everyone but me slept through New Years eve, but at least we carried out the traditional trimming of the Treebeard. Yep, we annually decorate our family Ent. First year it happened, My husband was just being funny, but then it caught on, and the kids fight over who gets to decorate Treebeard. They don't fight over who helps mom with the actual tree!

And for those concerned, those are not all library books behind him, just my ever growing collection of books from "going out of business library sales". We've amassed a very nice collection of biographies written in the 1950's and 60's, before authors apologized for every action a person took.

I hope your Christmases were peaceful and healthy. Maybe by Epiphany we will be back to normal.