June 2003 Archives

Just wanted to buzz in and say hi. I'm writing from my parents' house in North Dakota! For real!

My sister's wedding on Saturday was great: beautiful bridesmaids (who got hungry during the pre-wedding picture session and sent my husband out for pizza, which led to trouble when we were called for family pictures), magnificent bride, relaxed groom.... Hambet SLEPT through the whole wedding (thank you Guardian Angel!) so dh and I got to see the whole thing instead of strolling around in the parking lot. The reception was a lot of fun, too.

Yesterday was also a big family day (the groom is the youngest of six, I think, and they are all married with kids.) My mom had about 30 people for brunch. Now everyone is on the way home. We will be staying through the week. Nothing exciting planned. We might go out to my grandmother's farm this afternoon to pick some rhubarb, and later this week we might go to a lake in Minnesota.

Oh, avoid that interstate that runs between Rockford, IL and Beloit, WI. Just north of Beloit we got stuck in a horrendous, chew-your-leg-off-to-escape traffic jam. We were making sensational time until we got stuck there on Thursday.

Erik! Erik! Help!(or anyone else)

I need summer friendly (preferably for the grill), healthy recipes. I made your salmon with the mango-avocado salsa last night and it was so good. I cannot make that every night though. What else can I make????

Hot!

It is so hot. It was cold last week, this week is hot. I refuse to leave the house today. I am sitting around in my sulu, drinking water and am not going out in public where I have to wear hot "decent" clothes". No way! The kids are sitting around in T-shirts and boxers and I don't care. So there!

I am going to grill something for dinner or just eat PB and J. Mmmm, I love peanut butter and jelly and potato chips...I digress.

Back to the Routine

We came back last night from our two weeks of camping. We had a so much fun. We came home last weekend for Posco's First Holy Communion and to host visiting family members, and went back. Now I am not having fun because I have two weeks of muddy (it was cold and raining the first week). buggy, smokey clothes to wash.

For some reason while we were camping, my boys kept wetting themselves at night. At one point my husband and the other father (we went with another family) told my four year old that if he is too scared to walk to the lavatory by himself, just go outside and pee in the bushes. The first night the kids were in bed and I was sitting by the campfire and I hear the tent unzip. Fastolph was standing close enough to the entrance to just stick his little you know what out and pee. I was like "oh no, my shoes are right there!" (thankfully he missed). I was relieved at first that I had no pee pee clothes in the morning, but for some reason he started to be under the impression that as long as you were at camp you could drop them and pee anywhere. Ugh.

Now back to the routine of things...

Posco's First Holy Communion

Pansy and Posco

Posco

And guess what? I did have matching blue dress pants!

Tag Team Mommies

I just got back from my camping trip for good, just in time for Peony to leave for her family visit. Sniff sniff, I am going to miss her.

Just wanted to post quickly before I said au revoir. My Things To Do list for today is running off the page.

Our basement is doing a little bit better, but when he was investigating the source of the leak, my husband found a lot of old, hidden water damage. So this is going to turn into quite a project. In a way, this may turn out to be Providential -- I was thinking about turning the basement into a hobby room this winter, so better to find the problem now than later. Everything we had stored was up on shelves, so the only damage we had was to my hoard of shipping boxes and to a scrap of carpet.

I have been told that we should rejoice when contradictions come our way, that they mean we're on the right track. So perhaps something good will be waiting on the other side of this.

Oh, I tried making that mint gelato. At first I was disappointed because I screwed up the custard (step 3) -- instead of being a nice, thick, smooth mixture, it resembled scrambled eggs suspended in water. But I mixed in the cream and put it in the fridge, and froze it in the ice cream maker the next morning. It came out all right! Very tasty. The mint flavor is a bit of a surprise, it's different than commercial mint ice cream -- more complex. So at least I have that little success to report.

Today I have to drive over to Virginia to give a house key to our friend Iris. She is going to come check on our basement a couple of times while we are away. I have to be back at two to meet the estimator. In between all this, I need to finish the laundry, pack the clothes, and wrap the wedding presents.

We will be leaving first thing in the morning and will be back around the second week in July (unless Iris calls us with bad news about the basement.) I will try to pop in from time to time, but otherwise we'll just be hanging out with the family. Hambet hasn't seen Grandma since this time next year, so it will be fun for them to see each other again.

Harry Potter

I liked Mr Riddle's comment on Envoy Encore.

So, how's the weather?

A gentleman died and found himself at the end of a long line. He saw at the head of the line some entering the pearly gates while others were being cast into a fiery hell by Satan. He observed both for a while and noticed that Satan would place a few individuals into a seperate pile. Curious, he dropped out of line and walked over. "Excuse me, Mr. Prince of Darkness, but why are some being set aside?" The evil one gave him a snide look and replied, "Oh, those?? They're from Maryland. Still too wet to burn."

Thanks to Rachel Watkins of HMS Blog for this joke.

Take the Quiz here!

Thanks to Elinor for this quiz.

Happy Birthday....

to Davey's mommy!

GAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!

So yesterday I gathered up the lavender and tied up six or seven bunches with string.
Husband: What are you doing?
Peony: I'm drying my lavender!
Husband: Drying lavender? What are you, some kind of warlock?

So I turned my husband into a frog and took the lavender bunches down to the basement to hang them up to dry.I flipped on the light, started down the stairs, looked ahead....

and saw about half an inch of water on the basement floor.

So last night we were slogging water into the drain and made a lot of progress. This morning dh went downstairs and all our progress is gone -- more water seeped in. I don't even know what this could mean, except that I won't like it. I'll have to call a basement guy tomorrow.

I am dismayed that this problem bubbled up right when we're planning to leave on Wednesday for my sister's wedding.

The Side Effects of This Whacky Diocese

This is the only time I hope no one I know is reading this blog, but this has been weighing on my mind. We have spent the past week, with a fellow homeschooling, TLM family. They have been so kind to us and a lot of fun. Many other families have come to visit and I have gotten a deeper look at the "Orthodox" Catholic movement in this diocese-people who have always lived here and have been formed here. I have kept a huge distance because I was scared. I see why now.

There are no "normal" Catholics here. There are no Catholics who really love the faith that do not have a peer understanding of "being in the world" means so to speak. Everything is an issue that was brought to us by Satan-TV, Harry Potter, pants, electricity, cities, abortion, etc. I am not at all saying that parents should not be discerning about these issues and they may or may not have hidden dangers. Actually, what I think I am saying is just that, parents should be discerning perhaps instead of jumping on the "that's evil" bandwagon and giving parents who have chosen a different route some leeway as far as being "real Catholics".

The orthodox Catholic movement here spend there time praying in front of a Planned Parenthood in Schenectady every Thursday and Saturday morning. OK cool. I have not been, I do not have time. I protested before I became a mother, and still continue to do things like attend Holy Hours for Life, vote pro-life, I organised a Baby Shower at my old NO parish last year etc. Things more "Mom friendly" if you know what I mean. I was told a few days ago that these are not authentic pro-life actions. Organisations such as Birthright are fence sitters in the war against abortion because they do not protest in front of the abortion clinics. My jaw dropped. This is not Catholic in philosophy.People are not supposed to neglect their families to protest. Even when my father was ordained as a deacon, he was not supposed to take that his ministries to the point of family neglect (when he had one before moving to Albany).

The priest who runs the abortion protesting movement in the one who tells people they have to go protest in Schenectady or else they have not proven themselves in his eyes. Um, is it me or is there something scary about this?

It's UNDER WATER, pure and simple! We've had at least four inches of rain this week. All my big plans are in a puddle.

No, I take that back, the lettuce continues to thrive. I'll cut some this afternoon. Three tomatoes cling to life, but they're not growing very much; no sign of fruit anytime soon. I'll have to check on the garlic, I hope it hasn't rotted in the ground.

Today I worked on my little perennial bed in the front. The lavender plant I planted last year is doing great -- I actually had to cut it back. I took a whole plastic grocery bag full of lavender and there's still plenty on the plant. So I am having fun putting it in vases and getting some ready to dry.

I also harvested my first mint this afternoon. I am crazy about mint ice cream (even though I have no business eating it!) and am eager to try this recipe for mint chocolate gelato.

I have two little planters by the front door. We did the dwarf-Alberta-spruce-in-the-pot thing this year, and then I filled in some of the space with cheap annuals (vinca vine, dusty miller, impatients, and that pink polka-dot plant) from the Home Depot. Those little planter gardens are doing great (and are making the dwarf spruces look rather..well, dwarfed....) So at least something's not drowning. I trimmed back some of the dusty miller and the vinca and brought it back with the lavender.

I am so proud -- for the first time in my life I am arranging little vases with flowers I grew myself!

I Forgot My Wedding Anniversary!!!
I was reading the greeting at Mommentary, and saw it was dated June 18. I kept thinking "June 18, June 18, why is that date significant? Ack! That is my wedding anniversary!!!" How bad is that?

Back from Camping for a Breath...

Tomorrow is Posco's FHC, and tomorrow afternoon we are camping for another week. I will try to pop in and blog a bit more, but I have a ton of muddy clothes to wash...

A quick recap

Elinor posted a nice little greeting to us over at Mommentary, in which she wondered how we came to choose Pansy and Peony as our noms de blog.

Pansy and Peony Moss (of Lake-by-Downs) are our hobbit names. We are not related in real life, so we were tickled when we found out that we must be hobbit-kin.

Of course, we have hobbit families as well. Pansy's husband is Polo, and their lovely children are Rosey-Posey, Posco (who makes his First Communion this weekend), Fastolph, and baby Gorbulas.

My husband is also named Posco, and our two-year-old is Hambet (who is, at present, marauding in the kitchen.)

PS to Elinor -- please check your email! thanks!

Friday Five

1. Is your hair naturally curly, wavy, or straight? Long or short? Straight, with a bit of a wave. Shoulder length.

2. How has your hair changed over your lifetime? When I was younger I had a few reddish highlights. Now I have a few grayish highlights.

3. How do your normally wear your hair? Ponytail.

4. If you could change your hair this minute, what would it look like? I'd lose the grey; maybe have some nice curls.

5. Ever had a hair disaster? What happened? I've had some short haircuts that didn't come out the way I had hoped. So I just waited until they grew out....

Speaking of sacking and looting....

Over at Literarium, Lee Ann is driving a weeping horde of the practitioners of Poetry, Inc before her. Do check out her Poetry Mega-Post (several posts, dated June 19.)

Welcome to the blogroll!

Cacciaguida

Disputations

ibidem

Simplicity, modesty, and beauty

for the Catholic lady of style: Liturgical Dressing, or, The Seven-Dress Wardrobe

Things to do:

1. Order that Gregorian Hymns CD
2. Pick up some gift wrap
3. Cancel plans to sack and loot cities.

Do I have time to sack and loot one more city? Perhaps after I put the City of Fairfax to the torch and drive its inhabitants before me, I can let them come back on the condition that they do something about the traffic. But then I would have to sack and loot Centreville and Manassas first, so that the Fairfax refugees would have someplace to go. But then how would that impact the Northern Virginia bloggers?

Maybe I'll sack and loot Frederick, Maryland, instead. They should be accustomed to being sacked and looted from their Civil War days, and if I make them do something about the traffic before they return -- why, that would help everybody! My husband and I are leaving on a cross-country trip next week, and we were considering leaving on Tuesday afternoon to make some more headway. But unless we can leave at two in the afternoon, we might as well scrap it. Any time we gain will be lost sitting in that traffic on I-270 just south of Frederick.

a First Communicant picture....

Cacciaguida has posted a picture of Cacciadelia (wearing the lovely Fluffy White Dress her mother made.) (Scroll down to June 13 if the link at Cacciaguida's doesn't work.)

Barbarians Anonymous

One of the neat things about St Blogs is the creativity of its parishioners: not just blogging and tweaking of templates, but music, poetry, cooking, animation, cigars, books of all kinds....

As for me, I've thought about it, and I've finally come to the realization that I am a barbarian. I wish I weren't. But I am.

Part of it is due to my suburban upbringing. My family moved around a lot when I was growing up, and always from newish suburb to newish suburb. So I never got to know any place well, and the places I did live kind of looked like all the others. Even the food was pretty much the same; I'll have to take Kathy and Davey's parents' word for it that we had gen-you-wine New York pizza for lunch yesterday. I never knew "New York style pizza" was anything more than some kind of marketing thing. I have no region to call home, no city or town whose special little quirks are part of my own quirky history.

Even in my own faith I am a barbarian. I have come into nothing in the way of Traditions handed down from the Old Country, so I don't know how to do anything cool and authentically Catholic like making beautiful Easter eggs or sumptuous Christmas Eve feasts. I don't know many old Catholic hymns -- start Adoro Te Devote, Veni Sancte Spiritus, or even On This Day O Beautiful Mother and watch me just sit there (unless you were kind enough to bring a hymnal for me.)

I can get a meal on the table, but as far as being schooled in a cuisine with a history, like Pansy and Erik -- forget it. I think I was twenty-five before I knew that Parmesan cheese doesn't necessarily come from a green can.

I can barely sew. I'm terrible at choosing clothes, and I have no sense of style. I don't know much about embroidery, knitting, or any other traditional crafts. I can't speak a foreign language. I can't play a sport with any degree of skill.

Music? I can pick out a tune on the piano, but that's about it. I know almost nothing about music history or theory (mention the word mode if you want to see my brain instantly shut down.) Drawing? I can sketch a little, but lack the talent or skill to do anything advanced with it. Reading? A mile wide, an inch deep; there's no topic or author I think I could call myself knowledgeable about. Writing? I can't even compose a limerick. In high school I swooned over poetry and tried my hand at writing a couple of poems and stories, but even then I was afraid I could never Be a Writer because I had nothing to write about. I kept a journal into my twenties, but gave it up and destroyed the old journals. They were so trite they made me sick.

Basically I feel like I've been dropped on this Earth with a birth certificate, a Baptismal certificate, and a bit of a knack for doing well on standardized tests like the GRE. Again, part of this is my own unsettled, rootless upbringing this. Another part of this is not being encouraged to develop skills or interests (or discouraged from doing so, as the case may have been), and part of this is my own darn laziness.

Bobos attempt to get an identity by buying it. I know that won't work. But is there a remedy for barbarianism?

Various

not much to blog about. Gee, I miss Pansy, but I hope she's having a great time with the kids. Three little boys (four if you count her husband) in a tent? Bravery!

If I remember the date correctly, her son Posco will be receiving his First Holy Communion tomorrow. (If I'm wrong, perhaps it will be on Sunday.)

Meanwhile, I have a couple of ideas for things I want to blog on but they are not really jelling. I am kind of annoyed with myself because I have frittered most of the afternoon away on a small decision (staying with our present ISP versus switching.) I ended up making lots of phone calls and even attempting to load another ISP's trial software (which froze up my computer) before I finally just gave up and renewed our account. I could have done so much else with that time.

This morning Hambet found a chopstick that is painted black with a red tip. He started waving it around and chanting "peeyut bu'er sanwidges!" I was so tickled! I think this is the first time I've seen him consciously imitating someone (that someone being The Amazing Mumford.)

Note to self part two:

If caught sitting in traffic in the City of Fairfax, do not feed the coyotes.

Note to self:

Never, ever, ever travel through the City of Fairfax without allowing at least forty to forty-five minutes for sitting in traffic.

Housekeeping

Looks like Pansy made it camping (hope her bathing suit came out well and that she gets some pictures -- can't wait to see that leopard print!)

So I'm running the store, but I may be hanging the "back soon" sign out on the door pretty frequently. I'm trying to catch up on a lot of household stuff in preparation for our family trip. We're leaving next week for Fargo (seriously!) for my sister's wedding! Woo hoo!

This morning I'm headed over to Virginia to the Pfaltzgraff store to pick out a wedding present. I'm thinking about the rectangular baker and a set of napkins. I am at a complete loss -- lately I have been helpless at choosing presents. Part of it's just because I haven't been too creative in thinking up ideas, part of it is that I generally dislike shopping, and part of it is that shopping is more painful than ever with a impatient toddler in tow. Hambet is a slender little thing, as flexible and agile as a monkey, and he can slip out of the snuggest safety belts on carts and strollers.

After my trip to Pfaltzgraff I'm looking forward to a nice lunch. On the way back home I need to pick up some groceries.

Around this same time last year, I cut a blouse to sew and I never finished it. I wonder if I could get it done before we leave next Wednesday?

Picture puzzles

I would like to find a nice picture of the Sacred Heart to put on the blog, but I am having trouble finding a nice picture that I'm 100% sure is in the public domain.

I would so appreciate it if some of our more graphically gifted (or legally minded) friends could give us some pointers on when it's okay and not okay to use pictures (especially those in the news, or those of uncertain provenance snagged from the net.) We'd like a good-looking blog, but not at the price of having an inbox filled with threats of legal action.

Something good to read

We had a nice weekend. Saturday was our anniversary, so between that and Father's Day, my husband Posco and I were thinking a lot about how blessed we were to find each other and be given the gift of our little boy.

Posco's Father's Day gift was The New Anti-Catholicism: The Last Acceptable Prejudice by Philip Jenkins. He had liked Jenkin's previous book (The Next Christendom) so he was really been looking forward to this one (and had been dropping some pretty big hints....)

Apparently the book did not disappoint -- he's already done with it (216 pages), has assigned me to read it, and is telling me to recommend it to my friends. He spoke especially highly of the chapters on The Situation. (Alas, he declined to write a Special Guest Blog on the book -- "who do I look like, Amy Welborn or something?")

Here is a link to the WaPo's review of the book, written by Paul Baumann, the editor of Commonweal. When I first read the review, something about it didn't seem to sit quite right (especially the last three paragraphs.) After reading the book, my husband suggested that the reviewer "probably started sweating around page 12".

Happy Father's Day

Lord God, loving father of us all, guide and instruct my husband in your ways that he may be a good earthly father to our children.

Help him to be wise and prudent in carrying out your designs for him as a father, and aid him that in all his ways his inspiration and example will direct our children's thoughts to You.

Grant him patience in carrying out the difficult and burdensome taks of being a good father.

Teach him a strength and firmness that is tempered with gentleness and is never harsh or forbidding.

Teach him to be kind without being yielding or indulgent.

Give him the understanding that a father should have -- an understanding that will invite the confidence of his children.

Give him the cheerful strength that is so often needed in times of trial; and may his love for our children, and my love for him, sustain him in these times of stress.

Give him a childlike trust in you, and may that trust in you be rewarded by a mirroring of your fatherhood in him. And so may his children know an increase of joy and love as they are brought closer to You through him. Amen.

from Mothers' Manual by A. Francis Coomes, S. J.

Cool, an X-Men Quiz

You are Gambit!

You are a fierce fighter and a good friend to have.
Your preference for solitude and your
attractiveness make you very intriguing to
those you meet. Unfortunately, close
relationships are few and far between for you
because you often have trouble opening up to
others.


Which X-Men character are you most like?
brought to you by Quizilla

Cool.

You are Beast!

You are brilliant and extremely clever. You can
handle almost any problem swiftly and
efficiently. You are devoted to philosophy and
are always up for a good discussion.
Sometimes, though, your anger gets the best of
you and you upset those whom you care about.


Which X-Men character are you most like?
brought to you by Quizilla

Thanks to Dave Pawlak for this quiz.

Some good songs, that if they weren't on the countdown, should have been. Please add yours.(25 years ago brings us back to 1978) :o)

Back to Life by Soul II Soul
Always Be My Baby by Mariah Carey
Vision of Love By Mariah Carey
Hold On by EnVogue
Cars Ride By by LL Cool J (same beat)
The Choice is Yours by Black Sheep
Die Without You by PM Dawn
Can't Keep From Loving You by Gloria Estefan
I Will Always Love You by Troop (was my Wedding Song)
The Search is Over by Survivor
Livin' in the Light by Caron Wheeler
A Little Bit Longer by Maxi Priest
Murder She Wrote Chaka Demus and the Pliers
Mr Loverman by Shabba Ranks
Sorry by Foxy Brown
Who Seh Me Dun by Cutty Ranks
Kissing You by Faith Evans
You're Still the One by Shania Twain
Forever my Lady By Jodeci
All My Life by KC and JoJo
Just the Two of Us by Chubb Rock and Supercat
Can't Let Go by Mariah Carey
Blame it On the Rain by Milli Vanilli (I don't care about the lipsynching, the song is a good one)
All This Love by DeBarge
Tennesee by Arrested Development

I have more, but nursing break is up.

Update:Your Music Choice Reveals Your Personality

If you like blues, jazz, classical, or folk music...
...then you are intelligent, tolerant, and politically liberal.
If you like country or religious music...
...then you are cheerful, outgoing, reliable, and conventional.
If you like alternative or heavy metal music...
...then you are physically active and a curious risk-taker.
If you like rap/hip-hop or and dance music...
...then you are outgoing and agreeable and generally eschew conservative ideals.

Just a Little Prayer

I have a lot to do in the next two days. OK, I have to finish Posco's suit for his First Holy Communion which is proving to be problem some, the sleeves kept bunching up. The machine stopped on me (needed to be cleaned underneath-I'd like to give a shout out to God for blessing unmechanically aware women like me with husbands). The sleeves still are a bit "gathery", but again, for 1 hour I think it will pass. If I run out of time though, the khaki pants with the be jacket may have to do-unless the navy blue dress pants he has already are a pretty good match.

I have to get Rosey-Posey off to her girlfriends house for a sleepover after dinner tonight.

I have to pack for our week (maybe two) long camping trip (Saturday morning).

I have to clean (not normal housecleaning, but the major housecleaning) the place because my husband's mother, cousin and aunt are coming for Posco's First Holy Communion. Polo has to finish painting, but he will probably take advantage while we are camping so he does not have to worry about some small person sticking their foot in a paint can.

I am hoping to get a few minutes to put together an Elizabeth Lee nursing swimsuit before we go because I had a drawer full of bikinis (laughing) and I purchased this nifty leopard skin print swimsuit fabric.

Anything else? Yes, I have a new kiddy tent I need to put up and waterproof, except it is raining. So I could use a prayer for things to get done. Let's see, St. Anne is the Patron of Homemakers and Seamstresses, St. Imelda is for First Communicants. Anyone else I could go to for help??

My schedule is not so bad, either. The family we are going with (little Daisy Brandybuck's family) are closing on a house today and have Daisy's First Holy Communion on the 22 also. Fortunately for them, I do not think they have out of town family coming to stay with them.

So if you do not see me for a while, you know why. If I get a chance during a nursing baby break (that is when I get on the computer), I want to blog about some of my favourite songs from the past 25 years, but if I drop off the face of the earth-er, cyberspace for a while, you know why.

My Husband is So Psyched!

"Stud"?!?

What Common Breed of Dog Are You?
brought to you by Quizilla

What Common Breed of Dog Are You?
brought to you by Quizilla

Thanks to Kathy for the link.

VH-1's 100 Greatest Songs for the Past 25 Years.
Number 1 is Smells Like Teen Spirit by Nirvana. I beg to differ, but what do I know? I am not getting paid to pick music.

Joss Whedon Discusses Writing for "Buffy"

My Daughter in Her "SVIMvear"

Now, if the sun ever comes out in Albany, I am hoping we are all set for summer.

Love Is Everyone's Vocation: An Interview with Catholic Actress Lindsay Younce

Bobbi has posted her interview with the star of the upcoming Therese movie.

From Steamy to Sporadic: Can You Get the Sizzle Back Into a S**x-Starved Marriage?

Steve and Kim Elowe have been married more than 15 years, and are still in love, but in recent years, the stresses of work and raising children have rained down like a cold shower on their sex life. The couple, who have three children, have not had s**x since last year. They hold down five jobs between the two of them, so it is hard to find time and energy to be intimate....

First, the *** are to make us a little less visible to creepy Google users.

Second, five jobs? "hard to find time and energy to be intimate"? Duh!

Carribean Catholics Celebrate Mass

Thank you for the link via De Fidei Obodientia, via The Curt Jester.

Why is ethnocentricity an excuse for Liturgical abuses?

Borinquen Dance Theatre dancers moved to the beat of a steel drum band. Worshipers read biblical lessons in Spanish, French and English -- the three languages spoken on the Caribbean islands...“This is what it means to be a Catholic -- it’s all inclusive, not exclusive.”

Ok, so where did the "Mass" part of the Mass fit in? I had a good chuckle at this though:

“A lot of times, we don’t particularly like each other,” Carter said. But everyone must try, he said.

This gave me a huge chuckle. For many of these Carribean ethnicities, the only thing they have in common is the ocean their islands happen to be in. Lumping together Puerto Ricans and Jamaicans like they are one culture is really kind of funny. I am Jamaican American, my husband is Puerto Rican and we had major cultural conflicts in the beginning of our marriage. The reason why it worked and the thing we had in common was being Catholic. Not our diversity, but our commonality in the Mystical Body of Christ. My Italian culture is closer to my husband's Puerto Rican culture than my Jamaican culture is.

Gosh, whenever I see stuff like this I want to paste a "but I'm kind of a normal Catholic, really I am" sign on my shirt.

I am an alien in my family

Dh and the kids were counting the days until Crocodile Hunter Live. They ran around at 9 saying "Dad, it's time!" while my husband popped some popcorn. I was so bored.

Can you please tell me what I am supposed to do with this information?

U.S. Sees Likely Al Qaeda WMD Attack Within 2 Years

I mean is this supposed to be useful? Well, I guess I will buy my duct tape, bottled water (much I still have incidentally from the Y2K thing) and go to confession.

Something to go with those bathing suits

thanks to RC at Catholic Light.

By the way, what is that TrackBack thingie and how does it work?

A trip to Iraq

Think you're having a bad day? Here's a good way to get a little perspective: Alicia shares a letter from a colleague who spent two weeks doing humanitarian work in Iraq.

Dear Alicia,

I sent you an email ("random Peony stuff".) I hope it arrived okay.