7 Quick Takes Friday (Vol. 127) LOL, Socks, Glory Bees, & Other Occasions for Laughter

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Grace is…the joy of being creative just for fun, extra hugs and kisses, appreciating the amazing ability of young children to learn and apply far more than we realize or intend, the beauty of red, orange, and yellow autumn leaves, incidents that couldn’t be explained any other way than that the Holy Spirit is involved, finding out about how others are living out their unique call to serve the Lord in courageous and inspiring ways…

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On the Wings of Glory Bees In memory and honor of Michele Morris and because I could feel that her prayers were with me on Monday when I gave a talk to the Women in God’s Spirit (WINGS) group at Church of the Epiphany, I wore the black and gold striped "glory bee" knee socks she bought me just days before she entered the Sisters by the Sea cloistered Carmelite monastery in Carmel, California.  No one could see them because of the boots I was wearing, but I knew they were there, and they made me smile.  Click here to read about how Michele and I developed a fascination with glory bees inspired by a novena to St. Thérѐse. 

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Technology & the New Evangelization I’m now better able to appreciate how amusing it was that no member of the WINGS group present when I arrived early knew how to do the TV/computer set-up in the room we used.  Fortunately, someone in the church office got it working, so I could use the PowerPoint I’d spent hours working on over the weekend.  At the time, I was rather stressed that I’d be giving a talk about technology without using any evidence or aspects of it other than the microphone and sound system (which a WINGS member hooked up without assistance).

Above is a PowerPoint slide that appeared in my talk, and below is an excerpt from my talk: Each of us has a unique story, a special relationship with God that others can and want to learn from.  There are many ways we can share what God has done in our lives and point out to others what we can see Him doing in, through, and around them.  When it comes right down to it, the most important aspects of life we can share with others are those that stem from a close relationship with Jesus Christ.  Participation in the Sacraments and how we live our lives are two of the most essential, powerful witnesses to God’s unconditional love, mercy, compassion, forgiveness, peace, joy, and hope in our world.  Because of technology and our ever-changing world, many people are seeking Truth, looking for answers, and learning about faith in new ways.  To read more of my talk How Faith, Technology & You Can Be Part of the New Evangelization, click here.
 

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Kids Say & Do the Darnedest Things Kevin laughs at me when he offers me something, and I say: "I'm good for now, thanks," because he's heard Sunshine say the exact same thing in similar situations. Another thing she's picked up is something she hears me say numerous times a day: "You're perfectly capable of..." The other morning as I was bringing her downstairs, she informed me: "My daddy is perfectly capable of getting me a bowl of cereal." I smiled and agreed: "That's true." 

   
Reminder to parents, teachers, and caregivers: Just because a child comes up with a variety of appropriate uses for a phrase and/or idea he or she learns does not mean someone else gave them those specific combinations.  Here’s another great example of this I guarantee will crack you up: Public Radio Reporter Interviews His Two Little Girls After Ones Gives the Other the ‘Worst Haircut Ever.’

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Grad School Barbie I was laughing hysterically reading this mock ad for Grad School Barbie, though some of it is frighteningly accurate for some people.  Kevin and I are far enough removed from when I was getting my masters that we can both appreciate the humor of this.  I think most of my friends who have gotten their Masters and the many who have gone on for a PhD are probably at the point at which they will find this funny, not nightmarish.      

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A Word about Your Grammar I have a great deal to say on this topic and some absolutely hilarious examples of what happens when people publish books, magazines, newspapers, etc. without employing a competent copy editor to review the materials first, but because I’m working on writing and copy editing various projects, I’ll let this article on proper grammar suffice as my commentary for now.
    

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In Your Hands, Not Our Own Our hope is in the Lord, which is a good thing, because Kevin hasn't had anything promising come along in terms of his job search recently, and we found out this week when Kevin was already in the middle of having major dental work done that we've spent our entire allocated amount for our medical Flexible Spending Account for this year.

God is good. He knows where Kevin will be a tremendous asset to a company. Hopefully, we'll find out where that is soon.  Lord, we put our lives in Your hands.  Kevin's response to my prayer of surrender to the Lord's will and timing was a classic: "So speed it up."

Check out Jen Fulwiler’s tradition of 7 Quick Takes Friday at her tremendously popular blog Conversion Diary.  

7 Quick Takes Friday (Vol. 93)

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My Prayer for Our New Pope: 

Lord, thank You for watching over the conclave and guiding the cardinals by the ever-present gift of the Holy Spirit as they discerned who our next pope should be.  Jesus Christ and Blessed Mother Mary, keep your servant Pope Francis focused on the Will of the Lord above all else.  Give him the courage to carry out the tenets of the Catholic faith which protect and respect the dignity of human life from conception to natural death.  Make him a bright light and lasting inspiration for priests and laity as we do our best to live, teach, and preach the New Evangelization.  May his deep prayer life and joy in serving the Lord be an example for us all!  Amen.

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Such a Cutie!  After waiting what I consider to be a long time before getting to meet my new nephew—three whole days after he was born—last Saturday afternoon, I got to meet the little peanut and hold him for a while. Ezra, our youngest nephew, is my sister Mary and Jordan's first child. He is so flipping adorably cute! I asked to hold him as soon as we came in, and then I held him again for a bit before we left since he was just asleep in his swing so I scooped him up for some more cuddle time.

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Now It’s My Turn!  It was kind of funny when my mom and I went over the first time I got to meet Ezra.  Jordan greeted us at the door holding the swaddled not-so-little (10lbs 13oz natural birth) newborn.  I gave his proud papa a hug and congratulations, then scooped up the little guy the second I got the go-ahead.  My mom kept giving me jealous looks and making comments about how I was getting to hold him more than she did.  I told her she needs to ask to hold the baby or just scoop him out of the swing when he’s fast asleep.  She was so busy cooking, doing dishes, laundry, and such to help my sister and her husband that she forgot to make time for the best part of all, snuggling up with her grandson.  It’s hard raising grandmas these days!   

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From the Under Five Crowd I always hear a number of hilarious things in a week, many from the little people in my life.  Here are a few of my faves from recent days: “Do you want me to hold the Earth up with one hand or two?”  “The spring is coming up soon.  I saw a purple flower.”  “It’s my turn to count.”  I feel a poem could easily come from these quotes or maybe a dialogue for a children's book or maybe the lyrics to a country song or... 

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We’re Just Sayin’ Kevin gets me laughing quite often.  There are many reasons why LAUGHING TOGETHER is the perfect acronym for what’s most important in our relationship!  His sense of humor is one of the reasons I fell in love with him to begin with.  While telling me about his work day, he commented that his supervisor had complimented him on “making it happen.”  My response: “That’s about right.  You spend your day making it happen, and I spend mine keeping it from happening.” He works in a call center where it’s important to make things happen.  And for my regular paying jobs, I nanny and substitute teach—where I have found it’s often most essential to keep things from happening, such as: major outbursts, serious injuries, mid-morning meltdowns, whining, tattle-telling, potty accidents, objects from nature used as weapons, hard to mop up sticky messes, teasing, pinging off the walls, coloring on the walls… you get the idea.

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A Rare Gem Thursday evening, I found out after driving all the way home that my sister Theresa had arrived at my mom’s.  They were planning on watching a movie, and my mom said to come on over.  We had a fun evening.  I’d never seen or even heard of Moonrise Kingdom before then (and since they started the movie before I got there, I still haven’t seen all of it), but what I saw was quite entertaining.  The two kids in it who fall in love are quite endearing, the supporting cast has lots of adults you’ll recognize and laugh along at/with, and it’s a good, very entertaining story.  
     I would have to say that my absolute favorite part of the movie was a real life scene that was inspired by watching it with two people I love dearly and find very amusing.  After making a comment about dysfunctional families, my mom said that the main family in the Moonrise Kingdom movie wasn’t that dysfunctional.  My sister and I looked at each other and burst out laughing.  My mom (definitely a rose-colored glasses kind of gal) was completely serious which is why Theresa and I were in hysterics.  It’s always nice to know that we still put the fun in dysfunctional.       
     

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My Sisters the Saints on Virtual Book Tour Can women with very different lifestyles focused on doing the Lord’s will above all else be companions, true guides, and sisters for women of today?  Absolutely!

     This book illustrates the truth of the adage that you should choose your friends wisely because you will become like them in some interesting and unexpected ways. 

     The six saints most prominent in Colleen Carroll Campbell’s life and spiritual memoir are holy women also very dear to me: Teresa of Avila, Thérѐse of Lisieux, Faustina Kowalski, Teresa Benedicta of the Cross (Edith Stein), Blessed Mother Teresa, and Our Mother Mary...To read the rest of the review, click here.  To check out other stops on this virtual blog tour, click this.     

  

Check out Jen Fulwiler’s tradition of 7 Quick Takes Friday at her tremendously popular blog Conversion Diary.

7 Quick Takes Friday (Vol. 55)

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“Once Upon a Time” Camp this week was a super-smashing success!  I really enjoyed being lead teacher for a camp that combines some of my favorite things: reading, children, learning, and laughing.  We read a number of popular children’s books, made some cute pig and colorful big bad wolf puppets and got to take turns using them for improv shows.  Check out the other awesome camp offerings available through Richmond Montessori School here.  There’re still a few spaces left in a couple of my camps.     

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 Oh-so-sleepy It’s always difficult going back to work after vacation, but Kevin and I really like the people we work with which certainly makes it easier to return.  We were both really exhausted at the beginning of this week, though.  I can’t believe it’s gone by so quickly, that it was less than a week ago that we were still enjoying our time in Rochester, NY.  As always, on the drive up two weeks ago, I knew that it would seem like no time at all had passed and we’d find ourselves back in the car headed South.  And that’s precisely what happened.     

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Creative Writing Workshop for Adults is being offered in the Richmond area for one week.  Whether you have a lilt for the lyrical or a passion for prose, you’ll have your inner muse kicked into high gear as we explore the spectacular world of creative writing. We’ll see how music, art and stimulating our five senses inspire us to create literary masterpieces (or at least the beginnings of such). Discover your writing gifts and learn how to hone those literary skills.  Register online at Richmond Montessori School under "Summer Programs." 

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Dominating in Dominoes Kevin and I have a new gaming obsession thanks to his sisters: Mexican train dominoes.  We played it a couple different times with his sisters and their spouses, and we actually had a really good tutor in our corner the first time we played, which was nice because these games can get pretty hardcore.  John beat everyone when we all played together, so we had to have a rematch, and he won against just Kevin and me, too.  I bought a set so Kevin and I can play at home, too.  Justice will be served, dear brother :)      

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Friday Fish Fry Last Friday, Kevin, his three sisters, Deb, Wendy, and Chari, our beloved brother in Christ John, and I went to Schooner’s restaurant on the Genesee River to get a fish fry.  It was a beautiful evening to sit outside, be on the water, share a meal with loved ones, and even listen to a live band.    

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Blast from the Past Kevin had to laugh when he saw that a buddy of his from back in the day when he owned his own music studio was the singer/guitarist for the band playing at Schooner’s that evening.  As soon as Mickey Ames (guitarist/vocalist of The Fools) spotted Kevin, he announced that KP was in the house.  Since Kevin was no longer a drummer in a band, running sound for a band, and had gotten rid of his recording studio by the time we met, I feel that I’m getting a glimpse into his former life. 

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How Sweet It Is Ever since I was in utero, we’ve gone to Rochester, New York in the summer, but this was the first time that Kevin and I got to show someone who had never been there around, and it was fun.  John took the train up and arrived late a week ago last Tuesday to stay with us at the cottage for a few days.  The three of us really had a good time.  It was neat taking John to the many different places that have been significant for Kevin and me throughout the course of our relationship, and also introducing him to Kevin’s family, and to our favorite restaurants. Oh, yeah, and now he understands why we like being on the lake so much and has experienced some of what I've written about in the memoir I've been working on about the miraclous series of events God orchestrated to bring Kevin and I together and keep us best friends until we could date. 

Head over to Conversion Diary, to read Jen Fulwiler's wonderful tradition of 7 Quick Takes Friday.