Yeah, What She Said

I was JUST mentally composing this exact article and Tara beat me to the punch (just kidding, she is WAY too articulate and educated to be compared to little ole me....)
See page 32 for her article on our President B. Hussein and the role he is playing in the start of all hell breaking loose in our world....click back there <--

To digress (a lot) and to zoom into our own tiny corner of the universe, I am getting prepared for Friday's departure and my own separation from my two little ones. Didn't think it would be so hard, but ... PARTY!!! Really, I am not looking forward to seeing their reaction when I tell them and they realize I will be gone six whole days, whoa. Pray for my little ones and for Kevin to have fun with them. Hide the scissors, Kevin, I found a chunk of hair in the trash and Frannie's princess dress has undergone some experimentation with "little girl scissors" as she put it. Egad.

Me and the Pops

I love my Dad, really, but we are an awful lot alike - not always a good thing. He is pretty sick and I want him to be happy, but I would also like to see him live another month or 20. Not sure if that will happen, so please pray for him.

Sorry, I love watching these short clips

Dear Diary

Philipians 4:something. I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. No kidding. I used to think I would be a single, fat smoker who died alone with no one to find my decomposing body. My aunt, Sister Marie Therese who is a Sister of St. Joseph (ha ha Tara) used to bother me about my calling to be a sister. I knew that was not in the cards, but I never knew that I would end up so blessed with my job, my family and in better health than I was 15 years ago. I went yesterday to have an ultrasound on my thyroid and ended up having a funny conversation with the tech who was so interested in my job and the kids and my buddy BC who, I believe, has a bright, bright light shining in him, but his poor little body will not allow him to tell us or show us. My girls are doing great -- Frannie and I talked about going camping this summer (big mistake) because she wants to go camping RIGHT NOW. At 8:30 at night. Please Mom? When are we going? What should we bring? Can I bring my Dora sleeping bag? Pretty please Mom, Mom, Mom, MOM, MOM!

I started working on a new vanity for our half bath and now my OCD brain won't let it go. I'm working today, but I just want to be home working on cabinet doors. I love working with wood, thinking of Joseph and Jesus. Hokey, I know.

My Dad is staying in a rehab place to help him recover from his last hospitalizations. I have been talking to Frannie about him and making sure she understands that he is sick and he may be going to live with Jesus one day. I don't want to scare her, but she talks about him a lot and I don't want to confuse her either. I know my Dad will die one day, and I'm not saying it will be soon, but my Dad thinks it might be so I'm preparing Frannie. By the way, my Dad was the first one to get me interested in carpentry and bought me my first drill when I lived in Beacon Hill. Thanks Dad.

Grace has this strange-looking hole in the roof of her mouth, right behind her two front teeth that needs to be blocked up in order for her to stop shooting milk out of her nose. Last week, the hospital pic was just a procedure where they knocked her out for a few minutes to make an impression of her mouth. She will be fitted with this device in the next few weeks and I pray she will miraculously start to sound less nasal when she speaks and no longer shoot STUFF out of her nose.

Six more days of school for me. I love my students and I love my co-workers and all (bless your hearts) but get me outta here. I want to sleep in. I love when the girls toddle downstairs with messy hair and crusty eyes, and we watch cartoons and eat toast with butter and honey in bed. Meeting friends at the park and having cookouts and going up the east coast to visit friends! If the Apocolyse doesn't occur this Saturday, that is what we will be doing.

My friend

I have this friend from Massachusetts, Tara, who is such a strong, strong, wonderfully intelligent Christian, mother and friend who should be famous for her writings. I love how she speaks out when it's not popular, she speaks the truth and most importantly, she does God's will. She reminds me of the analogy Mother Teresa made about her life: she compared herself to a mere pencil that God uses to create His works. She allowed herself to be used by Him without question, as does Tara. See here.

I hope you don't mind that I posted this, Tara. Kevin, the girls and I will be blessed enough to visit Tara and her family this summer and I cannot WAIT to hug this tiny lady. Like Mother Teresa, Tara is elf-sized (I think she's actually a Lephrechaun) and a powerhouse to boot.

Ballet Recital, Anesthesia, Life

Busy Day

Emotional Day

I woke up to read an e-mail about my Dad being in the hospital again with an irregular heartbeat and breathing issues (again). Poor guy just can't stay away from the hospital. When I got to work I read that my AP, Deb's Dad died over the weekend. We all thought it was imminent, but horribly sad nonetheless. About 30 minutes later, an e-mail popped up on my screen from my co-worker and buddy, Eileen marked "Kevin." Eileen and I have a lot in common -- we are both Irish Catholic, we both have Kevins for husbands, we share the same humor and we are both blessed with girls who happen to have been born in China. Her daughter is also a ballet dancer. My dear friend Eileen lost her Kevin this weekend in a tragic accident. He was a mere 51 years old. I wanted so much to jump in my car and speed right over to her, just to wrap my arms around her. But I knew she did not need that right now. She needs to be with her kids. My principal's retirement party was all set for 4:30 and I had signed up to help set up. On my way out the door to get some more soda, I got a call from my dear friend Norma, informing me that our neighbor had fallen over, apparently having a heart attack. His wife was at the hospital near my school, could I go over and sit with Rosemary? I love Rosemary dearly and would have run right over if I could, but I felt like I could not run out of school. Norma called me 30 minutes later to inform me that our dear neighbor Ron had not even lived to make it to the hospital. Dear, dear Ron was just this month retiring from the Army after serving in Iraq and spending so much time away from his family. It's so strange how it happens like this -- so much in one day. Fast forward to the retirement "party," with Kevin and the girls along, I cried to see dear David leaving us, albeit for less stressful and more relaxing times FOR HIM, but with broken hearts for us. My Kevin was grieving for Ron -- I was grieving for Eileen, Ron, Rosemary, the loss of David and worried about my Dad. Give me strength and the right words to say to all these friends, Lord. Protect these families and be with them on this day.

Dear 16-year-old Me

Take a few minutes if you are fair-skinned or love someone who is.

Thirty Days

I am leaving one month from today for my cruise! I can't believe it's actually going to happen. I'm leaving my girls for 5 days? What?@! Can I do it? (YES, we can!) I love my family and all .... but... we are talking Mexico and Grand Cayman! And lots of buffets and conga lines and fun girlfriend time (sing Copa Cabana to yourself and get a mental image of me on the LEDO deck with a colorful drink with a little umbrella sticking out....)

We attended the UMDF fundraiser/walk this weekend in lovely downtown Norcross. (UMDF stands for United Mitochondrial Disease Foundation, is that right?) which is a dreadful disease which affects a lot of my students. The day's events helped to raise over $100,000! Frannie was cheering the walkers across the finish line with the Georgia Tech cheerleaders (Doug H eat your heart out) and having a blast visiting with friends and playing lots of fun games. Grace managed to toss her bean bag, not into the target hoola hoop, but across the game into the duck pond game, splashing a lady and making everyone around laugh at her aim. When she got to the ring toss game, she overthrew it again and hit the same lady in the leg, prompting the lady to yell "that little kid has it in for me today!" Grace was giggling, but embarassed :)

I'm sorry to state my unpopular opinion on Osama bin Laden's demise, but I must say I hate to see ANYONE burn in hell. Yes, I lost no one on 9/11/01 and he would probably have strangled me with his bear hands just for holding my Christian beliefs, but I still feel bad for the guy, spending all of eternity without any virgins for company and far worse, without the love of God. If my parents had raised me as a neo-Nazi, chances are, I would have turned out to be a neo-Nazi. I'm blessed to know the TRUTH and feel bad for those who don't.