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Miss You Much I must admit, there is a part of me that has been sad to see friends move several hours away, even if they're leaving for something bigger to which God's called them. Truth be told, no goodbye to friends (or rather see ya next time) has been nearly as painful as parting with Kevin was, especially when we didn't know the next time we'd get to see each other. It's been really sweet hearing Kevin tell me how much he's going to miss me. I know he means it. I know I'll miss him, too. It makes me think of when he made his Cursillo weekend back in September 2006. At the end of it, he gave me a big hug and a kiss in front of everyone. His excuse: "It's been three whole days!" was met with someone shouting "get a room!" What Kevin meant by his comment was that it was really nice to hug and kiss me after three days of being apart with no contact of any kind.
-2-
Cloistered Carmelite or Bust! Last
November our dear friend Michele Morris
submitted her application for Mater Ecclesiae Fund for Vocations after
discerning God would like her to enter the Carmelite Sisters by the Sea in
California. Last July, she held her debut of the original play “Teresita”
which she wrote based on the life of St. Teresa of Avila.
Since then she
has performed her one act play up and down the East Coast as her primary
fundraiser to pay off her student debt. Early
this March she received an email stating, that although she did not receive the
grant, the board voted her first runner-up. This meant that if one of the
recipients backed out for whatever reason, that the grant then would go to her.
Divine Mercy
weekend (last Saturday and Sunday) was when she got a call from Mater Ecclesiae
offering her the grant. Her response was
an immediate, and no doubt enthusiastic: “I ACCEPT!”
-3-
Pizza Party! Of course, we
had to do something fun to celebrate the great news that Michele received the
grant and will, therefore, be entering Carmel sooner than later. I asked what she was in the mood for, and she
said pizza or some type of Italian, so Kevin and I picked her up and took her to a wonderful local restaurant that makes a melt-in your mouth Sicilian pizza. I asked my mom to come and join us for the celebration. She's seen Michele's play and was very excited to congratulate her on the grant.
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Can you spare a square? At this point, my
main potty training goal for the three year old is to get her to pee in the
potty instead of on the carpet in the living room, the bathroom floor…so I’m
not quite as concerned about her toilet paper consumption provided the toilet
flushes without a problem. (She’s been
doing really great using the potty and keeping her princess panties dry over
the past couple weeks, but she still enjoys the woohooo! and good job! affirmations
each time she takes a leak, and I’m happy to oblige.)
I’ve often seen
her take a single square of toilet paper to wipe off. I’m not sure what has led her to believe that
this will be sufficient; it could be that when she has used flushable wipes, we
have her use one, but I’m not sure.
Naturally, I’m led to think of the Seinfeld episode where a woman is
asked if she can “spare a square?” Here's the infamous clip. To read more
about adventures in potty training (and nannying), click here.
-5-
Happy Birthday! Yesterday was John's birthday, so Kevin and I called and sang to him. John went on vacation with his parents and his brother Matt this past week. I'd asked him to send us pics. I was laughing hysterically when he texted me a picture of a bear in a field with: "That's a real bear!" as the only caption and explanation for the photo. For all I knew, he pulled the photo up on his Smartphone and sent it. After being hassled (and once I'd e-mailed him a photo of a tiger with the message "That's a real tiger!"), he let us know that he'd actually seen the bear at Bearizona.
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DONE! There are many days that I am for all intents and purposes spent by the time one of the girls' parents gets home. That is most often the case when I have not had so much as 2 minutes to myself for the past 9+ hours. No overlapping naps. Only one meal that everyone eats the same thing at the same time. One or more peepee-not-in-the-potty accidents to clean up while keeping two very mobile little ones out of the bathroom. Thank God, I have such a wonderful husband. Not only does he support me being a nanny because I love kids, but he's tremendously understanding those evenings when I come home and I need some silent time alone before anything else.
I can think of few things that express the readiness to collapse as this picture of Sophie. She was so insistent on practicing sitting up that she eventually just stuck her thumb in her mouth, keeled over, and fell asleep just like that.
-7-
Dance like you mean
it! My
mom and I will be halfway to Ohio by the time you read this. We’re going to see my sister Theresa and be
there for The Ohio State University Spring Dance Festival. It's been far too long
since I've seen my youngest sister perform onstage (maybe as long as three
years now), after having gone to basically all of her dance recitals,
showcases, and musical revues when she was growing up. I was also quite spoiled
when I could attend a number of truly amazing dance performances on campus or a
short drive away when I was attending at Hollins University. Praying for
a safe trip and a relaxing/super-fun girls weekend!
Check out Jen Fulwiler’s tradition of 7
Quick Takes Friday at her tremendously popular blog Conversion Diary. Also, please pray for her son, born on the Feast of the Annunciation, as well as the Fulwiler family. Joseph Thomas has had some breathing difficulties. Due to these complications, 7 Quick Takes Friday this week is being hosted at Camp Patton.
