....and let it begin with me (revised)

I posted a blog very similar to this in July 2010 and I felt the need to repost and tweak it a little bit for this New Year's Eve.  Last weekend at Christmas Eve Mass with Jeremy's family in Lee's Summit all parishioners were given a copy of a book titled Rediscover Catholicism by Matthew Kelly.  I've started reading it over the last few days and already feel inspired to have a better understanding of my religion and how to show it in my daily life.  If I were you I would anticipate several quotes and blogs stemming from chapters in this book! 

Tonight I took the boys to Saturday night Mass and they nearly slept through the whole thing which was fine because I had a nice chance to soak in the service.  The closing hymn was "Let Peace Begin With Me."  The second line to the song is "...and let it begin with me."

So, yes, as the song goes.... "let peace begin with me. Let this be the moment now. With every step I take, let this be my solemn vow. To take each moment and live each moment in peace eternally. Let their be peace on Earth and let it begin with me."

I am not big on New Year's resolution so I'm not sure that this is really a resolution as much as it is a promise to myself.  Maybe they are the same thing, but I feel better not putting into the resolution category.  So this year I will strive to remind myself to let peace begin with me.  Let me encourage peace to those around me in all areas of my life. 

Happy New Year to all of my blog friends.  May 2012 bring health, happiness, and PEACE to all of you!!

Behind in the Polls

Well, I lost Mother of the Year award several months back and with the way things are going it doesn’t appear I will be in the running again anytime soon. And now it would appear my Wife of the Year nomination is slipping from my grasp.

Yesterday just wasn’t my day. Picture me with a big pouty face and arms crossed. Things did not go my way. And I don’t like it when things don’t go my way. HMMFFFF! It wasn’t like anything major went wrong. Everyone is happy and healthy….well I nearly ruined the healthy part but we’ll get to that. I know I don’t have room to complain, but somehow the knowledge of that didn’t really stop me.

I could go on and on about all of the things that aren’t going my way, but really when I start to list them out in my head it’s almost just embarrassing how insignificant they are in the grand scheme of things. So with that, I will get to the real reason I started this post today: my campaign for Wife of the Year and how I likely won't even make it past the primaries.  I am not polling well, so to speak.

I started the year off pretty strong by being my stunningly perfect self, slipped slightly in the polling when I took 3 vacations this year without my dear husband, but came on strong at the end by buying him an IPad2 (with all of the extra money he earned from working a 4th job…..wait…..that seems less like my accomplishment and more like his. Hmmmm). Anywho, I think I still had a shot at the nomination. Until last night.

You might recall from two paragraphs ago that I didn’t have a stellar day. I came home and my sweet little Jeremy was taking down all of the Christmas decorations for me.  He's really the man behind the woman, behind the man.  Behind the woman.  Taking down the decorations is a big job and one that I don’t particularly care to take on. I am better at making a mess than picking it up. He and I are opposites in that way. It really works for us. Or maybe just for me. Hmmmm, again.

It was time to cook dinner. I felt obligated to take on that task since he had just finished taking down all the decorations. Of course I had worked all day and spent the day putting out fires on various cases. But really….life’s not fair, right? And we all have to eat. We have very little food in our house this week. We are kind of in clean-out mode. Dinner for the last two nights has been a hodge-podge of leftovers and items that we need to use up before they spoil. We had a choice of breaded pork loins from Schwanns or Tomato Basil soup with grilled cheeses. Fancy, I know. Don’t be jealous of my Julia Childs' like household. I know you are.  Really, don't be.  OK, be jealous.  It will just eat away at you.

Apparently Jeremy voted for soup and grilled cheese but somehow in my mind I switched that over to pork loins. I know what you are thinking. This story is so good and suspenseful you can’t hardly stop reading it! Pork loins instead of soup! I’m pretty sure the Today Show is going to call any minute to share this story on the national news.  We might just be the lead story on my new favorite TV show, Rock Center with Brian Williams.  He's yummy. 

Ohhhh, I JUST realized that publicly salivating after an older man miiiiiiight work against me in this campaign. Damn.

Anywho, next task was to figure out side dishes. Again with the hodge-podge. I was desperate. Really, really desperate. Jeremy had already turned his nose up at me once when he realized I had screwed up the menu choice. But seriously, I’m not a freaking waitress!! And I was not put here to serve you. Whoa! Where did that come from? Got a little off track there.

So, sides. Back to the sides. Jeremy always complains that we don’t eat rice. Our son was highly allergic to it for the first several years of his life so it was banned from our house…..or was it??? We occasionally bought frozen meals or microwave meals for lunches with rice in them knowing we would take them to work. So, as I rummaged through the cupboard (do people really use that word anymore?) I found a Rice-in-a bowl microwave meal.  PERFECT!  Jeremy's side for the night. 

I cooked and served dinner.  We ate.  (again, I know this story if RIVITING!!!)  Time for clean up.  I noticed that Jeremy didn't actually eat the rice.  Deep down inside I knew why, but I had to ask.  "Honey, did you not like the rice??"  "No, it sucked." 

And this.....this, my friends......is where my campaign really derailed.  This was the breaking news story that interrupted your previous scheduled programming to splash my faults to all of the world.  Well, not really.  I'm doing it by posting this blog but it's really more exciting to think of it the other way.

I could have looked into the camera (or Jeremy's face as the case may be) and lied.  It's what we, in the biz, all do.  Or I could have claimed innocence and thrown someone else under the bus.  Low man on the totem pole is to blame.  It would have been easy.  Leo is the obvious target.  He's low man in the house and could have done any number of things to that rice.  But I'm a strong woman.  Hear me roar. 

Again, I know the suspense is killing you!! This is good stuff here. Literary work of art.

So I confess.  I knowingly fed Jeremy a Rice-in-a-bowl that expired in December 2009.  Oopsy daisy!  In my defense he always brags about having an iron stomach.  He once ate a loaf of bread from a co-workers locker that had been there for a YEAR while the co-worker was overseas in the military.  So really, was this that bad?  I didn't think it would really hurt him.  And again, in my defense, it didn't really.  His stomach as a little upset as we went to bed.  And he had some really bad gas, but really people...is that all that different than any other Tuesday night?  No, it is not.

So now I just have to wait on the vote.  Am I still in the running?  Can I bounce back in the polls?  Can I start a smear campaign against the other canidates to divert attention?  Yeah, I can probably do that.  I can actually probably be pretty good at that. 

Crossing my fingers that I come out at least in the top 2 on Super Tuesday.  Right now I'm polling behind his IPad2.  I might be behind in the polls now, but there is still time to redeem myself and reenergize my campaign.  I suspect it will require lingere. 

Letters to Santa

Dear Santa,
Now Jack the Elf is the greatest elf in the world and I thank him so much for coming.  I've been kinda good and I want like a Star Wars game for my Leapster and a cookie maker that is so much fun where you can make an elephant or a sun or I don't really know what else you can make.  So, can I have that please?  And I guess I would want something that, um, that goes to my Leapster and it gets micromods and it downloads micromods anytime you want to.  It's kinda like when you push a button and micromods apear.  Well, um, I guess that's it.  Hey Santa, could you give me a woogle pet?  You put fluffy all in and sprinkle in the magic and then you can make your woogle pet talk.  I saw it on a commercial.  And then just one more tiny thing.  I want a Green Lantern mask and thingy that goes on your arm and press a buttom and make noise.  That's it.  That's the very last thing.
Love,
Justin.  this is me and I love you Santa. And I love your elf.


Dear Santa,
I wan a batman game for me leester (Leapster).  I been good.
Love,
Leo

Weekly Assignment

I believe I have written before about Father Evan's weekly assignments for our church parish family.  Yesterday I got one of those rare opportunities to attend church alone and I was really able to soak up the message. 

Fr. Evan began by talking about Christmas wish lists and the ability to save wish lists on various websites for family members to search and get exactly what you want.  God, too, has a wish list and the only thing on it is YOU.  It is all he wants.  What a wonderful thought. 

The following is sort of a mix between Fr. Evan's assignment and my own reflection of how it impacts me...and maybe you if you choose to follow along.  The assignment for this week was to reflect on the areas of your life that you have let slide.  What are those areas that you have slipped slightly in living in the way that God wants you to live?  We all have them.  It's human nature and no one is perfect no matter how much Type A people like myself try to control everything.  I find myself trying to control and fine tune so many areas of life but upon reflection by doing this I'm often neglecting other very important relationships, friendships, self-care, etc. 

So this holiday season Fr. Evan recommends that in order to give God his one wish we should spend the first few days of this week reflecting on the relationships in our lives.  Relationships with friends, spouses, children, parents, siblings, co-workers, or even strangers.  Reflect on your relationship with each of these people for a few days.  By about mid-week choose one relationship for which you will give some extra TLC. 

Fr. Evan advised us all to form a practical strategy to improve that chosen relationship.  He reminded us that it is not practical or a reasonable expectation of ourselves to resolve all of the relationships that need attention. 

I extend Fr. Evan's assignment to all of you.  Will I choose you?  Will you choose me?  I know we will all choose the relationship that is right for us at this point in time while reminding ourselves that we can't fix everything at once. 

Will it involve tolerance?  Probably.  Will it require patience and reflection beyond our normal comfort levels?  Yup.  Will it improve the chosen relationship exponentially?  Well, it takes two to tango so that's hard to say. We can only control our own actions and our own responses.  If the relationship continues to struggle or fails to improve at your preferred rate, I encourage you to pray.  Pray about it. Pray for it.  Just pray.  There is power there.  We have all seen it.  Use it and be amazed by it's power.

Good luck to all that choose to participate in this assignment and may the peace of the season be with each one of you!

Having My Cake and Eating It Too

My mama always told me to have my cake and eat it too.  It's the golden rule.  You might think the golden rule is to do unto others as you want to be done to you.  Not in our house. 

Last night I failed my mother. 

We all know that mothers tend to exhaust themselves taking care of their children and leave self-care as our very last duty.  The concept of securing your own oxygen mask before assisting your child is sometimes lost on us.  We go, go, go.  Serve, serve, serve.  Putting aside our own needs and wants.  Failing to fit a shower into your day when caring for a crying infant.  Never getting to go to the bathroom in peace without children pounding on the door with their immediate needs.  Going all out for their birthday's while insisting you don't need presents for your own.  Letting them have the last bite.  Putting aside your own desperate  need for sleep so they can crawl into bed at 4 am because he had a dream that the doctor was going to take all of his eyelashes out (don't ask!).  The list could go on and on. 

So back to having my cake and eating it to and how I have failed miserably to do so.  Yesterday was Leo's birthday party.

I ordered the cake.  I paid for the cake.  I picked the cake up from the store.  I sent my husband back home to get candles for the cake.  I took the cake out of the box.  I took pictures of the cake.  I cut the cake.  I served the cake.  I cut myself a slice of cake.  But then i failed.  I had my cake.....but I did not eat it too! 

I got sidetracked.  Leo was looking so cute with his balloon that I wanted pictures of it.  Then we went on to opening gifts.  Then more pictures.  Clean up.  Extra cake went back in the box.  My piece was eaten by a 10 month old (which is fine!).  More playing in the bouncy houses.  Lots of goodbye's.  Jeremy packed everything up in the car before I could get even a small bite.  Then out to dinner and home to open gifts. 

Lots of continued distractions that prevented my re-entry into the kitchen.  I actually FORGOT the cake was in there.  For this, I am filled with shame.  Now, mind you, I did snag a quick bite of mocha cookie dough from the fridge on my way to bed.  I didn't go completely without.  I wouldn't want you to worry about me. 
It's 9 am.  And I will now have my cake and eat it too.  Hopefully.