September 2009 Archives

I almost always choose......

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........not to discuss current events on the blog, being more adequate in discussions of books and crocheting and dog pee than in discussions of politics or current events.

I see myself as a sort of modern day Jane Austen (NOT!) who wrote all her books without ever once mentioning the Napoleonic brouhaha.

However, there comes a time when the stupidity of our culture makes me froth at the mouth and lose my temper. And the whole Roman Polanski being defended by Whoopi Goldberg and Woody Allen (big surprise, there, huh?), et al is on MY LAST NERVE.

What part of pedophilic rapist do people not get? What part of giving a 13 year old drugs and alcohol and raping her--in the face not just of her anguish but in the face of her expressing her rejection of him and the act over and over and over do these people NOT GET?????

As my grandmother would say, I cannot even THINK about this without losing my religion.

Here's something fab to read--and something that I suspect most of you would not think I would read or like. You'd be wrong about that. It's got bad language, so be forewarned. But it's what I would say if'n I weren't a lady. And maybe the time for being a lady is coming to an end. The culture wars are going to require warrior princesses, not handkerchief carrying ladies. Sigh.

Hollywood: It's not rape-rape if someone we LIKE does it!

Wonderful article

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....by Dennis Prager on the loss of his mother. Except for the sitting shiva part, I heartily agree with every single word he wrote.

Go and read.

The Discharge

God chains the dog till night; wilt loose the chain
And wake thy sorrow?
Wilt thou forestall it, and now grieve tomorrow,
And then again
Grieve over freshly all thy pain?
Either grief will not come, or if it must,
Do not forecast;
And while it cometh, it is almost past.
Away, distrust;
My God hath promis'd; He is just.

Hallelujah!

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McKid tested NEGATIVE for the flu. What does she have? An undetermined viral infection.

No prescriptions, just liquids, tylenol and cartoons.

She might be back at school on Wednesday.

.............as Smock's father would say.

It's a feathery kind of Monday. More than $1600 in car repairs/maintenance in the last 3 weeks, with more $$$ out the door on the way. The check engine light is on in my car. I hope it's something small.

McKid is running a temp and has been all weekend. It's off to the doctor at 1:30, but over the phone the doctor says 90% chance it's flu. Sigh.

I have sixty-eleven loads of laundry to do. I don't know what happened here. I think I just blocked out the fact that it HAD to be done. Now PapaC is out of pants to wear to work, and I've got to get on the stick.

Bills for the church need to be paid.

Altar Guild needs to be caught up for the turnover to the new Altar Guild directress. (Yay!)

Need to run to the grocery store and stock up on stuff so that I'll have it if the Mak needs to stay home with me this week, after she and her mama go to the doctor.

Busy.

Yucky.

Pray for us.

A quote for today

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Have courage for the great sorrows of life and patience for the small ones; and when you have laboriously accomplished your daily task, go to sleep in peace. God is awake.

------------------Victor Hugo

Booking Through Thursday

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What's the saddest book you've read recently?

Though it was redemptive in the end, I recently reread The Kite Runner for book club. I thought it was an excellent book, and one that made my heart hurt.

It doesn't touch Mistry's A Fine Balance, which is probably the most heart-rending book I've ever read. It was great, but tragic.

How 'bout you?

Feast of Padre Pio

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Let me recognize You as Your disciples did at the breaking of the bread,
so that the Eucharistic Communion be the Light which disperses the darkness,
the force which sustains me, the unique joy of my heart.

-- St. Pio of Pietrelcina

Truly one of the most fascinating saints. During our conversion I couldn't get enough info on Padre Pio's life. Each year on his day I'm taken back to those feelings of wonder.

And apparently he's the partron of chili peppers. Good to know.

Whatcha Reading? Wednesday

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Given the amount of work I'm doing (emotionally, I think, as much as physically) in cleaning out my parents' house, it's not very surprising that I haven't been able to focus much on reading. I can't find anything that sticks to me, you know?

I keep picking up book after book, reading a chapter or two, and letting it go. Nothing suits. Nonfiction makes me think too hard. And with fiction? Horror is inappropriate at this time. Stephen King's Gunslinger series is too bleak. The print in The House of the Seven Gables is too tiny. (Whine, whine.) I own no new Heyer books to divert me, and I've read all the ones in the local library. I finally settled on the 5th book in Jan Karon's Mitford series, because they are easy and charming. It's not completely soothing me, but it has a chance.

So, I have nothing to report. For the first time in my life I am not really reading anything.

That's disturbing.

But it'll change, I'm sure. I mean, no one just turns into a nonreader.

Do they?

Dear Smock

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bdaysmock.jpg

Hope it's the best ever!!

Quote and Goal o' the Day

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Smile at each other, smile at your wife, smile at your husband, smile at your children, smile at each other - it doesn't matter who it is and that will help you to grow up in greater love for each other.

- Mother Teresa

That Smart Elisabeth Elliot

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Heaven is not here, it's There. If we were given all we wanted here, our hearts would settle for this world rather than the next. God is forever luring us up and away from this one, wooing us to Himself and His still invisible Kingdom, where we will certainly find what we so keenly long for.

Interesting article

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...about the loss of the "courtship model" and how it affects young folks. Particularly in light of the marriage we're planning in January. The Zman is 23, the young bride to be 20. Plenty of people telling 'em "you're too young. Wait awhile."

praise God and pass the grosgrain!

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finally. a trend that -- as far as i know -- never left west Texas, is finally back, and on the runways in yankee states, no less. it's big bows. hello! and yes! even smockdaddy said, "well, it's about time" when i told him the good news.

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not even a pair of black matte italian leather kitten heels designed by michael kors himself can make the smock giddy like a big ol' bow atop a big ol' head a'hair. i mean, shoes move the smock, don't get me wrong. but they, if i may, are more carnal in nature. who can deny that bows are more spiritual? if fashioned properly, bows even look like angel's wings. and hair, biblically speaking, is simply more spiritual than shoes are. you know it's true. you remove your shoes to stand on sacred ground, right? anybody ever hear of sampson? and hair is a woman's crown and glory.

bows are such a delightful way to crown a pretty little girl. yes, i decked out all the lassie-smocklings with bows -- at least until they could rip them out themselves. sniffsniff. but, it was a happy day, i can tell you, when i presented my little goddaughter, mila, with her very first summa mama bow.

of course, the big hair fashion statement hasn't made a huge comeback nationwide ... yet. but, its day is coming. and, as everyone in Texas knows, the bigger the hair, the closer to God. and even though larger hair accouterment is not the full-meal-deal, it's still one step closer.

or if, on joyful wing cleaving the sky,
sun, moon, and stars forgot, upward I fly,
still all my song shall be,
nearer, my God, to thee;
nearer, my God, to thee, nearer to thee!

***interested in making a few bows of your own? visit theribbonretreat.com for great materials and ideas.

Spent a wonderful evening

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....with my sweet husband at the Rangers baseball game.

Unfortunately they didn't win.

But it was a cool 75 degrees, with a nice breeze.

Sat next to some nice people. GREAT time.

I needed that.

Thanks, readers; and to the Summa Mamas, for your patience during the service downtime this evening.

.......but, come on! This is getting ridiculous.

But it does make it cooler, and I'm thankful for that!

Gotta go work in the garage over at my mom's house. More later.

Our Lady of Sorrows

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OurLadyofSorrows.jpg

You know, this is the whole reason I'm Catholic, I think. A church that recognizes that sorrow will be a part of our lives. Doesn't pretend that true believers can get away from it, or that it doesn't really exist.

I love this Church.

Monday Music from LaMa

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The Salve Regina from The Cathedral of Einsiedeln, Switzerland. Listen and breathe to your full lung capacity. Ahhh.


Great quote from yesterday's reading:

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"A man is a slave to whatever he cannot part with that is less than himself."

----------------George Macdonald

One of the hymns from yesterday.....

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......really hit home with me.

"Take up thy cross," the Savior said,
"If thou wouldst My disciple be;
Deny thyself, the world forsake,
And humbly follow after Me."

Take up thy cross, let not its weight
Fill thy weak spirit with alarm;
His strength shall bear thy spirit up,
And brace thy heart and nerve thine arm.

Take up thy cross, nor heed the shame,
Nor let thy foolish pride rebel;
Thy Lord for thee the cross endured,
And saved thy soul from death and hell.

Take up thy cross then in His strength,
And calmly sin's wild deluge brave,
'Twill guide thee to a better home,
It points to glory o'er the grave.

Take up thy cross and follow Christ,
Nor think til death to lay it down;
For only those who bear the cross
May hope to wear the glorious crown.

To Thee, great Lord, the One in Three,
All praise forevermore ascend:
O grant us in our home to see
The heavenly life that knows no end.

Can be sung to several tunes. But we sang it yesterday to Bourbon. A very different tune, which actually reminds me, in its rhythms, of sacred harp singing.

Perfect for yesterday, no?

But the thing that brought me to tears was that next to last verse. Go read it again.

Yeah. That one. "Nor think til death to lay it down." We're good about talking about picking up our crosses.

We're not so good about thinking about actually carrying them for the duration. And yet that is the task.

Are there respites? I think so. The sacraments, especially the Eucharist, give us respite. But more than that, maybe, they give us the strength to carry on.

Never a day without a cross, I think.

At least not one in union with Christ.

One of my all time favorites. This video is actually from 1969, when I began listening to the radio 24/7. Or at least as much as my mom would let me. How else to account for all the songs that I can start singing after the first line? And save me from the "I wasn't even BORN in 1969" comments. Sssshhhhh. Yeah. I'm the old one.

Happy (rainy here in Texas) Monday!

if you ever need an NFP-only family practitioner, let me know. he's in arlington and he is the only NFP-only doctor that i know of here. his office may be able to refer a midwife, but i'm not sure. but the smock maison really likes him and recommends him.

And a website for the Smock

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I Heart Bacon

What more does a girl need?

Now, if it were just Coke Zero......

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The Smock would be all over this.

(It's a joke, people. Just a joke. I think. And yes, Smock would buy it in real life!)

finally! the ultimate for bacon lovers ...

tacbac.jpg

according to the website, CMMG Tactical Bacon has at least a ten year shelf life and is perfect for camping, hunting, zombie standoffs, and end of the world scenarios.

i say, at only $15.95 a can, this is the perfect christmas smockstocking stuffer. hint-hint, mamas!

the following snippet, concerning the funeral Mass for edward kennedy, is from an editorial entitled kennedy's catholic service was atrocity in the pocono record.

One commentator called it a traditional Catholic funeral service. In a traditional funeral there are no eulogies from laymen, no opera singers in the sanctuary. No world class cellist and the Dies Irae is sung.

Wolf in sheep's clothing Cardinal O'Malley presided over this atrocity. His buffoon Fr. Mark Hession gave us this: "Edward Kennedy was a wonderful Catholic and is already in heaven." The presumption. The gall. The hypocrisy.

of course it is no surprise that the whole Mass was an insulting mess, but the part that chaps my hide is father hession's remark. when a priest thinks he can elevate the dead to sainthood just by declaring it so, something has gone horribly wrong. how can he make such a bold public statement and not be censured by the Church? i don't get it.

She's Baaaaaaccccccckkkkkk.......

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Sorry for the extended break there. It was unexpected, but necessary.

As you know, things have been a little crazy around CasaS for the past year and a half or so.

The craziness and change continue apace, and I think I just got to a point where I needed to retreat into my shell and do nothing but play mindless internet games, crochet, read and vegetate to get my feet back under me.

The biggest new change in my life started last Monday. After more than a week of begging and pleading, we decided to grant the McKid her wish and let her start attending the afterschool program at her charter school. She wanted kids to play with, and I don't really blame her. She's an only child, highly social, and our neighborhood is not filled with kids playing in the yards. And she lives in a place with no other kiddos.

So starting last Monday, she goes to the afterschool program. They have a designated homework time each afternoon, and we're monitoring her homework to make sure it's getting done completely and well.

She loved it last week. She loves having "two recesses" and people to play with. We told her that she had to do it for a month, and then we would see how she was liking it and how she was doing with her school work. Then we'll make the decision going forward.

So far I'd say it's working.

But it was a change that I found more difficult than she did! For seven years, McKid has been a daily fixture at my house. Now, I find myself confronted with stepping into more of a grandparent role. I pick her up two days a week while her mom goes to school. The other days of the week? Well, I'm going to have to actually DO those projects I've been putting off because I "didn't have time" because of watching McKid.

It will all be good in the long run. I think children benefit from having grandparents--and we'll be able to be more, oh, I don't know, FUN than we were when we were functioning more in a parental role so much. I hope it will be good for ALL of us. Mom, Kid, MamaT, PapaC.....

But the transition is not so fun for this Mama.

I'll get used to it. Heck, I'll probably even LOVE it, once I'm over the hump.

I never was reallyindispensable, and I shouldn't have been. But there's obviously an ugly tendency in myself to try to make myself so. I'm trying to root that out.

But like most ugly weeds, it has a deep and tough root.

And it's a fight.

Anyway, it's all good. It's just all different. Again.

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This page is an archive of entries from September 2009 listed from newest to oldest.

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