A MasterCard Moment

Here is a picture of  the former paint and color scheme of Natalie and Bella's bedroom (which used to be Tony and Sam's).   They did not like it (obviously), so the state of affairs became such that they both have been sleeping  in our room every night.  The floor of our room has been constantly littered with small bodies and all the bedding and dolls and stuffed animals that come with them.   Something had to be done...

2 Gallons of Primer and a Gallon of "Sweet Baby Girl" Pink Paint:    $75.00
Walmart's Finest Hello Kitty Bedding for two, plus Curtains:     $120.00

Two little girls blissfully asleep in their own beds for the very first time:  Priceless!

Year of Faith

Any Catholic who has been to church recently (and I'm most certain that is all of you!) has heard about the Year of Faith that was declared by Pope Benedict XVI on October 11.  This year is an opportunity for Catholics to participate in a New Evangelization of our faith and, really, to get to know our very rich faith anew.  It is a time to "rediscover" Christ and to be inspired to share our faith with others.

In this spirit, I thought I'd share a few links that you might find interesting as I encourage you to really try to live, along with me, this year of Faith.  First is the the Official Site of the Year of Faith.  This site has it all...a summary of what the Year of Faith is, answers to frequently asked questions, the official Pontifical Declaration and suggestions for activities you can do as an individual or as a parish to make the most of this year.

One of the things we can do this year is to simply read the Catechism.  It contains everything there is to know about our faith and why we do what we do.  Follow this link to subscribe to an email that will send you a small portion of the Catechism to read each day.  If you are faithful to this you will have read the entire Catechism in a year.  Even if you are not Catholic and are interested in learning more about the Catholic faith in a low-pressure way, this is a great way to do that.

Finally, I highly recommend attending some method of faith formation during this year.  For me, this means continuing my formation and spiritual direction with Opus Dei.  There are Opus Dei centers all over the world and all (most) host monthly Evenings of Recollections that offer this formation.  Visit Opus Dei's Website or email me directly if you need help finding a center near you.

Most parishes will be having extra speakers and multiple evening series on different aspects of the faith.  If you can spare the time, go to them.  Especially go if you CAN'T spare the time!

It is easy for us all, who are so busy, to mostly ignore something so esoteric as a "Year of Faith", but if you take a few minutes to think about it and read about it, it could very well be the best year of your life!

At Least He Has A Career Goal

Sam, out of the blue tonight when he was working on his homework and I ridiculously assumed that his mind was on his work:  "How hot is an iron?"

Me:  "Really, really hot.  If you brush your arm against it your skin will blister."

Sam: "When I'm an evil overlord, that is going to be my torture weapon of choice."

So, my son may not have his mind on his homework, but instead he is busily attending to the details of his future career goal at the tender age of 11...what could make a mother prouder?

For All Who Are Wondering...

My targeted brain radiation went well today (who could imagine writing such a ridiculous sentence?!).

Nevertheless, I am happy to report that I am feeling more or less normal (though exceptionally tired) and was able to conduct my activities fairly normally today.  I expect, if whole brain radiation is any indication, that I will dip worse in the fatigue department before feeling better again, so I am prepared for that. But who knows, maybe I'll get lucky!

The doctor was pleased with how it went, and now we wait. And wait. And wait.  We wait 2 or 3 months until I have a brain MRI to see if it worked.  He gives it an 80-90% chance of success.  I think he does not account for prayer in that statistic.

Lying perfectly still on a very hard table with a Jason-like mask smashing my face into place and a bite plate screwed into the face mask was not what I would call pleasant, but luckily I am not claustrophobic, and I was able to control my gag reflex by breathing through my nose and praying during the entire procedure.  I was bound like that for about 30 minutes.  When they finally released me from the screws I had a mask pattern ground into my facial skin that lasted an hour or so and exaggerated mouth sores where the bite plate dug into my gums, but since I have never felt so happy as when I was finally able to scratch my nose and eye that had been itching all during the procedure, I hardly noticed or cared.

I am ever grateful for this day and each day I glean from what I did today, grateful for my family, grateful for modern medicine, grateful for friends and grateful for blog readers who become virtual friends!

But I'm no foolish Pollyanna.  I don't want cancer, I don't want any more brain radiation, and I want this all to stop.  Enough now!  Please?!