A Sign That You're Doing Too Much

That is what my dear friend and local LLL leader told me when I called her to inquire about the unyielding, firery torment afflicting one of my breasts. Indeed, after 24 hours of homecare (hot water compresses, heating pads, massaging, frequent torture nursing) and a fever of 101.5, chills, and being hit by a truck all over aches, I had mastitis.

Ouch does not begin to cover the pain inflicted by such an infection.

It came on very suddenly, going from, "I think maybe he has a bad latch *headscratch*," to "I'm going to scream if I have to nurse for two more seconds!!" in about 3 hours. Mastitis is no trip to the park. I offered all my suffering up to Him, and I'm sure He'll do good with it.....but it still was the pits. I'm on antibiotics which is a big step into mainstream medical society for me. I'm feeling better each day but not totally healthy yet.

My friend is convinced that I am doing too much. I am convinced my life needs some reorganization and prioritizing.

Getting back into the swing of school is harder than I thought it would be. Some of our old problems, such as lack of respect on the part of my 3rd grader, are resurfacing and they are crushing my spirits. My house is in disarray. My clothes don't fit. I confess I do not own a bra that fits me and have been wearing the same too small nursing tank everyday for 3 months (I do wash it every few days). I haven't done a lick of my own homework since My Lovey was born. I'm just feeling down and overall sorry for myself.

I am praying for a change in my heart, something to bring me back into the vocation with renewed strength. I know I am doing as God intends for me, I just need a little kick in the butt.

For now, I am going to clean my kitchen, do some laundry, get some sleep, cuddle my babies, and pray to Our Mother for her intercession.

~H

P.S. I have actually been knitting something through all this complaining and feeling sorry for myself. I will post pictures soon. I also hand dyed (with Kool-Aid) some wool I have. Neat stuff.

22 Weeks

I viewed this trailer today.

What would you do? If you knew the whole truth and not just some pansy excuse like, "It's a choice"?

The reason most people don't have an "opinion" about abortion is because most people don't know the truth.

Spread the word my friends.

~H

Here is What I Think

Not that I am so conceited that I *just know* you're hanging on my every word......I am actually very humbled that anyone reads this.

I also have an opinion that anyone who promotes and supports the killing of precious lives, the largest holocaust to ever hit our nation, or the world for that matter, should not be applauded. Even at an inauguration.

Watch this.

~H

Wordless

I know some of you have been wondering what I think about this weeks events, i.e. the inauguration of our president, the March for Life, etc.

I don't even know what to say. I have pondered this post and topic all week.

I'm wordless.

I'll let you know what I come up with when I get a chance to organize my thoughts.

For now: I think we missed the mark. MLK, Jr. was Pro-life.

~H

Same Knit, Different Stitch

What I've been up to - knitting. I taught myself to crochet long ago. Crocheting is easy. One needle (hook), one strand of yarn. Knitting? Ha! That two needled shananigan has been laughing at me for many years, far from my reach. Trying to understand how you can make something with that same one strand of yarn with two needles jabbing at each other, weaving the yarn in & out.....oh, way too confusing.

But, BUT, I mentioned to a friend of mine that I would like to learn how to knit. Not only did she teach me, but she brought me some of her "scrap" wool yarn (and by scrap, I mean stuff she had left over, but certainly more than just scraps, they're wonderful), a bunch of knitting needles (including double pointed ones for knitting in the round), and a lot of knitting magazines and patterns. She rocks!

So, I have started to make, or at least try to fashion, some of the wool pants I covet so much lately. I am excited.....and a little obsessed. But better obsessed with something I can do than something I must have. :)

I also broke out my crochet hook and am taking a shot at crocheting some wool diaper covers/pants. I'm a little more gutsy with my crocheting abilities and am making one without a pattern. I think I can figure it out.

When I have something to show.....well.....I will.

Oh, while searching for some links to give examples of knitting and crocheting to you, my dear readers, I tumbled upon this blog, entitled "What Not to Crochet." Hil-ar-i-ous. Go see.

~H

Is it just me, or is it Cold?

The temperature here today has been from -17 to 0 today. As I've mentioned before, these numbers don't really mean much. It's just COLD.

Yesterday "they" (whoever they are) realized it was going to be this cold today and "they" started canceling schools all over this part of the state by yesterday evening. All schools except the "big City's" schools. Their superintendent was on the late night news saying, "Closing schools just because it's cold is....*stammers*...well, we won't close schools just because it's cold. We'll have to make that decision when the time comes." Um, the weather is going to be different in your little inner circle of the county because, what was that, oh that's right, you're liberal nature is just going to put a bubble around you and keep you heated.

Well, when I awoke this morning I checked the news. Yup. School Closed, even the "big City."

We experienced a rather chilling surprise yesterday when we awoke. Our house was 52 degrees. The thermostat was set at 68. It was a nice little reminder that we needed our furnace replaced. Unfortunately, the repair man could not get here until Noon. Wait! At noon he called and he was "a couple" of hours behind. The poor guy got here at 4pm. He was here until 11.

But it warm!! Very warm indeed. My family is very happy. And so am I.

Nothing smart to say. No big moral. We're just happy to have heat.

~H

When It Rains.....It Dribbles

Yesterday got off to a good start. And then things started to go downhill.

But today, through prayer and an open heart, we see that things are not quite as bad as we first anticipated.

We made it to a 7:30AM (yes, folks, A. M., in the morning) Mass yesterday. We have resolved to make it to Mass every Sunday, even when My Sweetie (that would be the breadwinner) has to work. He gets off at 6AM, takes about an hour to get home.....so this seemed a reasonable answer to get him as much sleep as possible.

We were ON TIME. Really. I am not kidding. I got up at 5:30 to make sure. Mass was, er, different. Not the regular parish we attend. And we now know why we attend the parish we do.

Anyway, when we got back to the truck - nothing. No turn over, a few "eh, eh, uh" noises from the engine, and then nothing again. We called for help. Our dearest friends (and neighbors) came and attempted to jump us (not over us, silly), but nope. We rode home in their van and left our truck at church.

When we got home, the furnace was not working. Yup. I had to go downstairs and give it a stern talking to in order to get it to resume heating our home. Throughout the day it would randomly stop working and I would have to turn it on & off and give it dirty looks in order to get it to work. It also did that all night long. It looks like we are in the market for a new furnace as well.

Just as it seems that it can't get any worse, I decided to start praying. My friend told me about an awesome sermon that was given at her church this Sunday about miracles. I don't remember exactly how she put it. But it was something along the lines of 1) you must go with God 2) you have to admit there is a need 3) you have to give God all you have and 4) you have to expect a miracle (and be patient....that's the hard part).

Well, prayers and patience has paid off. Thinking we would incur a bill around the $2-3K range, we actually got one closer to $1K mark. Blessing #1. Our W-2's arrived in the mail today, which takes me a step closer to filing our tax return. Blessing #2. The furnace continues to run, albeit with much needed strong words and stern faces, but running it is.

The good news is, my husband went to Mass this weekend. With us. As a family. That feels good. I pray that any suffering we endure will be used to complete God's plan for our family and I take comfort in Him - knowing there is nothing we can't handle without Him.

Yesterday I was thinking, "When it rains, it pours." Today I can see that it's just a dribble.

~H

Baptism

Isn't it beautiful? This is truly my first experience with a "regular" baptism happening in my (yes, my) family. My other two children were baptized at the Easter Vigil in 2008, during the Liturgy.

My Lovey's baptism was a little more personal and quite lovely. Not that I minded the baptism of my other children in front of the whole parish (and then some). It was just really nice to be able to celebrate and rejoice with a small group.

Lovey's Godparents are wonderful! Won. Der. Ful. I love them. He is quite a lucky fellow. I know that he will be receiving prayers and spiritual guidance for years to come.

We had a cozy get-together at their house afterward (I may have already mentioned this, forgive me).....which we stayed at until the wee hours of morning.

Enjoy the pictures!

~H

What Color Are You?

Apparently, I'm Green.

Weird. I've always liked and felt Blue.

GREEN

You are a very calm and contemplative person. Others are drawn to your peaceful, nurturing nature.

Find out your color at QuizMeme.com!

~H

My Saint of the Year is.......

St. Mary Micaela, Feast Day 8/24

This Saint chose me. The woman who runs the "Patron Saint" blog says the Saint chooses you and it will become apparent as to why.

I have googled her. What I am coming up with is Saint Maria Michaela Desmaisiers. Hispanic (check). Feast Day 8/25 (check). Born in 1809 (check). Michaela is part of her name (check).

All these checks, by the way, are significant in some way to my personal life. This is totally weird and absolutely fascinating!!

Here is some information about her. I hope you request your Saint of the Year soon!

You Know You're Catholic When....

Your purse has to be big enough to hold your rosary and rosary meditation booklet along with all your other stuff.

You have to remind yourself not to genuflect when you sit down or get up from your seat in a theater.

Your children bless themselves in the birdbath. It’s really cute.

You have an urge to bless yourself whenever you see a standing pool of water. (This actually happened to me—I was visiting the state capitol building in Des Moines a few weeks ago, and there is a beautiful fountain outside of the building. Without thinking, I started to put my finger in the water and was going to cross myself when my husband and kids noticed what I was doing and started laughing at me. Oh my.) (From MamaMidwife - must have happened to the original writer......I don't live in Des Moines, and I haven't gotten that far with my Catholicism, yet!)

You spend the first five minutes of each day untangling your Miraculous Medal from your scapular.

Your children don’t collect baseball cards, but they do collect prayer cards.

Your children roll their eyes and elbow each other at church when the priest makes a suggestion of adding a prayer to the family devotions time. ("Oh no! Don’t give Mom any more ideas!")

Your teenage girls have different colored rosaries to match whatever outfits they are wearing that day.

—Taken from the Catholic Answers Forums

~H

Et Tu?

Yeah. I've been busy.

For all of you who keep checking in, I thank you. I'll get back on track here soon. (Is this a repeating pattern?)

Let's see......

Christmas. Check.

I actually got my mother to bring the presents over BEFORE Christmas so that my kids could open them when they woke up. My mother usually insists on being present for the present opening, which makes it very difficult. Last year she held their presents hostage until like Feb./March. It was nuts.

We had a smaller Christmas, present-wise, than normal, and I'm happy about that. Midnight Mass is my absolute (almost) favorite Mass of the year.

Diaper Addiction. Check.

I LOVE WOOL. Love it! I have switched to knit wool covers/longies (pants)/shorties (duh, shorts) instead of PUL diaper covers. I love them. I also have a problem. If you are reading this and you sell wool - DO NOT SELL TO ME! (unless it's really, really cute)

Friends with Crazy Parenting. Check.

I'm not going to comment too much on this one. I myself, have been accused of crazy parenting. (Yes, C., she will sleep in her own bed one day). I don't want to point fingers or call names. I'm just going to sit on my soap box and say this - Don't mess with God's plan. He has a good plan. He designed us this way for a reason. There. Much better. If you'd like your own soap box, blogger is free.

New School Room. Check.

I've decided to create a "school room" in my home. I finally won the debate about kids sharing bedrooms in my house (I love you, honey!) and have been able to combine the children and make a space for school. My dear friend C. came and spent an entire day here helping me move furniture up and down stairs, vacuuming, and cleaning. YOU ROCK.

Family Closet. In progress.

And the family closet idea I had about a year ago is probably going to happen soon too! Woo-hoo!

Spirituality. Check.

Working on my faith journey, I know, will be a never ending process. For now, I am trying really hard to just pray for 5 minutes a day. I know I do well to always serve Him by meeting the needs of my children (He has a PLAN! Stick to the PLAN!) but I do strive for something more. That something more may simply be that once my kids are grown I can be one of the little old ladies who show up early and stay late at Mass to pray the Rosary.

My husband and I also had a wonderful meeting with our friend, Fr. E. He gave us some very basic instructions to growing closer to God in our marriage. We are very excited to implement his suggestions into our lives. We also are looking forward to having our marriage convalidated.

Baptism. Check.

The Baptism of My Lovey was beautiful! As soon as I get pictures (I forgot my camera!!!, but everybody else brought one and they're going to email them to me) I will put some up. The ceremony was beautiful. My son's Godparents are WONDERFUL. And my friends are AWESOME. I love all of you!

And, in an weird kind of ironic thing (meant to be, of course), My Lovey was baptized on the Feast of the Epiphany, which, this year, is also my deceased father's birthday. I found out, after he died and during my conversion, that his ENTIRE FAMILY was/is Catholic. Things that make you go hmmmm.

Reality. Check?

And now, back to the real world. Bills pile up, laundry piles up, dishes pile up. Snow is piled up. Too bad I can't find some motivation piled up somewhere around here.

Happy New Year. God Bless everyone! Have you requested your Patron Saint of the Year for 2009? If not, you should!! I am. (Got the idea from Heather over at "A Catholic Mom in Sweden")

~H