Lenten pilgrimage to the Shrine of the Most Blessed Sacrament

My parents took us to Mother Angelica's shrine in AL for Ash Wednesday this year.  It was great.  The spontaneity of travelling with my parents again, listening to sisters singing on one of our fave CD's while driving, and waiting for those surprise spiritual moments that ALWAYS happen on retreat.  I wish I had some hysterically funny stories from our trip to share, but it all happened so smoothly!  Historically while travelling with my parents, we get hopelessly lost, which of course leads to the characteristic "interactions" between family members, which in later years is fodder for reunion laughter.  Since GPS entered our lives, it's smooth sailing! The adorable houses we stayed in were lovely;  not the scorpion-laden, nor questionably clean places we've experienced in the past.  There were zero fire drills in the middle of the night!  (Yes, another fond travelling memory)   Food prep was simple and easy, especially since it was Ash Wednesday!  No meat and small meals meant easy prep and easy clean-up, except for the French bread pizza that landed upside down in the oven.  (Why have we not traveled while fasting before??)  All humor aside, the beauty and holiness of the shrine were a welcomed surprise.  Hearing the cloistered sisters rehearsing their singing late on Tues. night inside the church, in the presence of the blessed sacrament, was an amazing backdrop for my novenas and prayer intentions.   We could hear them singing, but at first only saw the occasional swish of a passing black or white habit through the grid of bars.  So cool!   Michael's score of a rosary for each of us didn't even bother me! Rachael, mom and I attended the singing of the Divine Office at 6 am, and then Mass at 7 on Ash Wednesday morning.  We all toured the shrine and its grounds, but truth be told, we spent most of our time in the gift shop.  It was amazing.  Quality stuff, good prices, educational, it was like a spiritual treasure trove!  It dripped Catholic tradition, devotions,  and piety.  The interesting people we met and chatted with were also a joy!  (except for dad and the kids who were planted in various chairs, faces stonelike, boredom settled in, begging, "Can we PLEASE go yet????")  One of the pictures I'm posting is from a collection of some private pics someone tucked into a picture frame in a kitchen of the house we stayed in.  It looks like a relative was ordained a priest, and then there's a photo from a Mass at the elevation of the host.  Note the host.  Amazing.  Had to share that.  So, we came home, and life went back to normal.  Except going on retreat is like falling into a lake.  You splash into it, immersed into the water, and then get out again; but the ripples you create go on and on and you feel them later in the following days, weeks, and months.  Now, my analogy is not complete, because somehow you also get to receive the effects of the ripples as they spread out and they wash up against you.  It's cool how spirituality can go so deep, and yet be so normal at the same time.  So, go on retreat, and go to the Shrine of the Most Blessed Sacrament if you can!

Itching to get back ontrack!

Blogging; to satisfy that craving to be "on the record" for our deep thoughts/opinions, AND, more so, to assure ourselves that we are not alone in our wacky day-to-day adventures. My family's current adventure: to stay focused on school while the birds are chirping and it's 70 degrees outside in February; to remember to get to all the places we have over committed ourselves to, and to make sure there's enough milk and T.P. to get it all done. But mostly to try to do these things with charity. (even through gritted teeth.)

test, test, anyone out there?

Test, test? Haven't written in WAY too long...thanks to some technical difficulties and minimal computer skills. Anyone still out there? :p

Holy Sisters Batman!

Last wknd. 4 sisters of the "Slaves of the Immaculate Heart of Mary" came to town to do a girls' camp day/retreat/vocations day. Sweet, quiet, but not at all shy nuns in full habits doing songs and crafts with about 35 girls. The kids were shy for a little bit on the first day, but by the second, they were much more familiar and comfortable with these rarely-seen creatures. By day 3 Sophie wanted to know what her favorite sister's room at home looked like. And her buddy wanted to know how many layers she had on under that black thing... After a whirlwind weekend of events with the sisters, PLUS performing at 4 shows in the high school's spring musical ("Sound of Music") we all crashed into deep Sunday-night-after-an-insane-wknd. of events sleep. Later on evaluation of the experience, Sophie noted that the sisters were "so pretty and nice." Rachael said, "They were so fun and real and nice." Emily said, "I'm so impressed that they can wear those clothes, and get stared at so often because of their love for Jesus." She then resolved that if they can do it, she can do it. (She also had to laugh at one of the sister's craving to get a Coke one night. "She loves Coke??!!" Emily said. lol) It's hard to be Catholic in the south without a regular diet of scorn and questioning, so, imagine that for a pre-teen! The sisters really were impressive, and kind, and devout, and HAPPY. What a breath of fresh air for all of us.

More vanity

Not that anyone cares, but my hair is a mess. I've been trying to go "natural" and stop using shampoos. So, last spring I switched to baking soda/water as a cleanser, and vinegar and water as a rinse. Result: Straw. Clean straw. So I changed the rinse to water/honey. Result: Ants in the shower and all over the spray bottle of honey/water, and dry, but less frizzy hair. Next, switched to olive oil based bar soaps. Homemade ones, like you get at the farmer's market. That plus the giant bottle of cheap conditioner you get at Costco. So I've been using that for a while, but lately noticed on closer than normal inspection, that my hair is so dry and brittle, it's breaking all over the place. Forget "layering," it looks like someone sat me on a spinning chair, spun the chair, and just started clipping wherever the scissors landed. It's not pretty. So I'm back to normal shampoo/conditioner for dry, curly hair. I did some research and found some products that will help cure my dry hair problem, but to buy them, I'd have to opt not to eat for a week or so. But I did find a cheaper version of the same, and am on day 2 using it, and am very pleased. My hair is shiny again, and is much softer. Hoping this will protect the remaining chopped hairs till they grow longer. The next option is just to stop washing my hair for months on end, which I have heard leads to beautiful, shiny, luxurious hair...yeah. Whatever.

Inspired

I chiselled about an hour this morning to do some reading with the kids. Instead, I read blogs and made the kids read alone. That's just how it goes. After 30 minutes, Michael had dumped the toybox and was searching it for lost treasures, Emily (who's birthday it is today, was painting the girls' nails) and I was getting inspired and belly-laughing at the witty humor of several blogging Catholic moms. I'm no writer. I really wish I could inspire such laughter and commeraderie that these women do as they describe the mundane tasks and thoughts about life. Here's my current life: I have a teenager who thinks he's in love. He's mentally absent since he's texting "her" constantly, but when he does come around (from a physical whack to bring him back) he's all floaty and happy. Good for him. My pre-teen is still sweet and creative and pining away for the day when she will be wrapped up in a busy, event-filled life of a teenager. (hoping for a soft version of that). My little girls are still playing pretend and perfecting their hip-hop and ballet, and my 2 yr. old is finally potty-trained. He is a force to be reckoned with. All boy: superhero's, muscles, fighting invisible bad guys, showing off his muscles and flirting with all women/girls he meets. My husband is plugging along through a bad economy, trying to make the best of economic challenges, keeping us warm and fed, and working nightly to get our wood floor put down. In the meantime, we are living on the subfloor, and NOT utilizing MOST of the common area downstairs. Not that I'm complaining. (see above about being warm and fed) My 25th high school reunion is coming up and I'm WAY excited about taking the kids "home" to see where I grew up. I want them to swim in "my" beaches, and drive on my old roads. Hubby is not for going. I'm going to keep working on him so it's as painless as it can be. My hair is turning grey, but I'm determined to keep my muscle that I gained last summer, and not flab away to a soft, 40-something blob. Vanity. Haven't figured out how to reverse the wrinkles, so they're here to stay. Crap. So that's my every day. It's all good. Sometimes it's sucky, but then bedtime finally gets here and I shut down to recharge and do it all again the next day. And somewhere in the middle of it all, someone says something to make me laugh till I think I'm going to pee. Like my sister. Or my Sophie, who the other day, pointed out the car window and yelled, "SHAVED CAT!!" Where???? "Made ya look!"

Fall 2010

Okay, my blogging hype seems to have gone away, but I'll try again! This weekend we had Bret's Eagle scout ceremony, which was really nice. Lots of great friends came, lots of good food, and super proud of my little boy who's magically gotten big. I loved seeing our old friends Dot and Frank Watts, who were our first good friends here in Memphis. They were little Bret's surrogate grandparents for many years, and I am ever grateful for their presence, guidance, laughter, encouragement, and lots of hours of chat and cooking class with Dot and I! Love and miss you guys! In other news, work on the house continues, and the sub-floor is going down a little at a time. I feel like the slave-driver, urging my tired husband on to get it done! lol