Living Counter-Culturally

From iusenfp.com

I am well aware that my husband and I live counter-culturally. I am not surprised by this when I do pop my head out of the Catholic bubble that I can often get caught up in and view the world around me. We do not live according to the norms accepted by our society today.

And it saddens me that what is considered "normal" is to pump a woman's body up with artificial hormones so that the normal, God-given way her body is supposed to work is suppressed.

And it is this reason that I write this post. The thing is, I am probably writing to people who are also in that same Catholic bubble that I am in. It can be easy to forget that not everyone understands the true freedom that is available when a woman learns how her body works, understands her cycles, and can stop the artificial hormones. So I feel like I'm preaching to the choir. However, on the off-chance that someone does read this who is on the fence or for whom this is new information, I do want to share a little about NFP.

I had serious doubts about Natural Family Planning (NFP) when I first started hearing about it. I was at a point in my life where I was trying to learn more about the Catholic Church to gain a better understanding of many of the teachings with which I did not agree. NFP was one of the hardest to find information about. But the amount of information out there today is amazing! Anyone who is looking for greater understanding today and just going to the internet as I was many years ago will have greater success than I did.

For that I am extremely grateful!

The best thing about NFP, from my perspective, is that I always know where in my cycle I am. And I have some messed up, wacky cycles at times. Believe me, if I can learn NFP and understand my cycles, anyone can! We have used NFP to conceive each and every time we have conceived. And we have used it to avoid during those times, particularly those months immediately following a miscarriage, when I was not physically or emotionally ready to conceive again. I can tell you with certainty that I have conceived on four different occasions and possibly a fifth.

Yes, a fifth. I don't know for certain whether we did or not and I may never know. It could potentially have been an unusually long luteal phase or it could have been a very early miscarriage. If you are unfamiliar with NFP terminology let me explain:

A luteal phase is the period of time between when a woman ovulates and when her next period begins. Regardless of the length of your cycle (which we all know can vary for a variety of purposes, like stress or weight gain/loss, etc.) your luteal phase is consistent within a day or two. Every. Single. Time. If a woman is also taking her basal body temperature (first temp of the morning) this is also the time when the temp rises due to an increase in progesterone and a decrease in estrogen. I have cycles that are occasionally 150 days long, more likely 45-60 or so days long, and sometimes 35-40 days long. No matter how long my cycle is from time of ovulation to my next period is 13-14 days, sometimes 15.

The cycle prior to the cycle in which I conceived our daughter Brigit. I had an 18 day luteal phase. I took a pregnancy test on day 17 that came back negative. [I have never been one for taking tests early.] I was sure I was pregnant, but then I got my period. Was I? Possibly. Possibly not. But because of the knowledge NFP has given me it does make me wonder sometimes.

This is just one example of the knowledge NFP can give someone about their body. There is so much more out there. If the idea of taking artificial hormones into your body bothers you, I urge you to consider something else, particularly NFP. And if you are still determined to remain on the other side of the fence, consider this:

From iusenfp.com

As I mentioned earlier, there are many great places to find information on NFP. I've noticed an increase in the number of these sites just recently. So I want to share them here:

iusenfp.com is a newer site with information on various NFP Methods, a blog, personal stories, lots of cool graphics, and more. They also have a Facebook page and a Twitter feed. I love their graphics!!

www.1flesh.org is also a newer site and one I have only heard about but not looked into until I started writing this post. They also have a blog, informative articles, cool graphics, and more. Looks like they plan on selling gear some day too!

www.livingthesacrament.com is a Catholic NFP Community. I have been following them on Facebook but had not visited their website until today. Looks like they have lots of good information as well as forums, a blog, and lots of great resources. Even if you're not Catholic there could be lots of good info here if you're researching NFP. NFP is not just for Catholics, I hope you know.

There are many different ways to practice NFP and each is based on learning different patterns of your body's natural processes. I use a method called sympto-thermal, as taught be the Couple to Couple League. Other popular methods I am aware of include the Creighton Model and the Marquette Model. There are other methods as well. The groups I linked above all include links to these three methods as well as many others.

And let me just simply add: this is not your grandmother's rhythm method. Don't try to tell me it is.

Finally, this is NFP Awareness Week. The USCCB website has a page set up with all sorts of resources for this week. It is another great place to go for information.

If you're not yet at a place where you are willing to step out and start living counter-culturally that is okay. I encourage you to continue reading, researching, and asking questions. Check out the methods I listed, visit the websites, and maybe even take a class. You're not committing to it just by taking the class, but maybe, just maybe, you might hear something that will make sense and give you the courage to take that next step.

Isn't the health of your body (or your wife's body) worth it? Don't you think God gave us, as women, our bodies to work a certain way? Why should we mess with what He created? Did He not know what He was doing? Do we not trust God in what He gave us as women?

Good questions to ponder. I hope you will.

From iusenfp.org

Saturday Smiles no. 3

In my effort to be more aware of God's presence in my life, I have begun this series of Saturday Smiles posts. I look forward to you joining in as well. God can be present to us in so many ways: through the people around us, through our participation in the Mass, through prayer and sacrifice, through nature's beauty, and much, much more. What made you recognize God's presence in your life this week? Or, what made you suddenly feel close to God in some way this week? I hope you'll share in the comments below or on your own blog (and please share the link here). Let's all relish in each other's smiles from God together.

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Have you ever had a special intention that seemed to be the prayer that would never get answered? Well, this week I saw one of those answered. While this intention wasn't mine specifically, I have prayed for this intention as well on behalf of the friends whose intention it was. And many, many other people have been praying for them as well.

To be a witness to a prayer many years in the making finally get answered in an amazing and beautiful way was extraordinary. The day I heard the good news I got chills and I couldn't stop smiling all day. It's a lesson too. You can pray and pray and pray for an intention, but it all happens in God's timing. It can get frustrating, cause us to be bitter or fall into depression, or make us doubt God's love for us. But if we persist and persevere and rely on God even when we feel like he has abandoned us, He can answer those prayers in amazing ways.

What made you smile this week? How were you aware of God's presence in your life? Add a comment to share or write your own blog post and link it up here in the comments. Please also include a link in your post back to this one. [I'm actually considering adding the Mr. Linky Widget here to make sharing easier, but haven't had the time this week to delve into something new. Stay tuned, I hope to add that soon.]

7 Quick Takes Friday, vol. 44

~1~

Can I just say how cute little boys in little sneakers are!?! Oh my goodness. The cuteness factor just went up by a billion! I'll have to post a picture later, it's on my camera and I just don't have time tonight to download it (and I don't have the patience to deal with Hubby's very slow computer). Their little feet look so much bigger in their sneakers. Thursday was the first time we put them on them. So cute!! 

~2~

It's been pretty dry here this summer until just recently. We have thankfully gotten a lot more rain these past two weeks. Lawns are starting to look somewhat green again and the ban on fireworks was lifted. All those fireworks everyone had bought for the 4th were sitting around until just this past weekend. Saturday night there were pops and booms going on all over the place. I'm hoping it is over now until New Years Eve.

Yeah, yeah, I'm a stick in the mud. But I'm okay with that.

~3~

We had the torrential downpours last week which I mentioned in my Quick Takes last Friday. The rain continued over the weekend with a few strong storms and some lighter rain showers. Sunday evening while I was feeding the boys their dinner I was looking out the glass doors on the back of the house and noticing that the rain looked a bit strange. We have a large covered porch off the back with sliding glass doors. I could see rain coming down along the edge of the porch but not much beyond it. I stepped outside and looked down toward the driveway and this is what I saw:

Notice the left side of the driveway is wet and the right side is dry. The edge of the rain shower was right there. I was standing at the top of the stairs, it was raining lightly directly over me, but I only had to reach my arm out to my right and I couldn't feel any rain. Very strange!

~4~

I also took this picture:

This is the sky right above where I was standing in the picture in #2. The sun was shining down and if you look carefully there are some rain drops visible in the picture. Not far beyond that there is no rain. You really can't get a sense of the rain shower in this picture, but I thought it was pretty anyway and wanted to share.

~5~

For the first time I am seeing a breakthrough with the boys. At almost 14 months old I am getting very tired of feeding them bottles and having to hold them. I can't do anything while I sit between them holding both their bottles for them. But just the other day Ethan actually drank out of a sippy cup. Amazing! It was the fifth one we have tried. Unfortunately he wanted nothing to do with it the next day. In the meantime, Peter has miraculously started holding his own bottle. We knew he could do it, he's been capable for a long time, he just utterly refused. Wednesday evening they BOTH used a sippy cup. I feel like I'm witnessing a miracle! And I'm not exaggerating. If this has been so hard I can't even begin to imagine potty training.

Can I wait until they are 5 for that? Yeah ... didn't think so.

~6~

Because of Pinterest, which I reluctantly joined [because I needed something else to eat up my time like I need a hole in my head], I have been discovering articles and blog posts about blogging. It's been nice to get tips for improving how to write, how to blog, and how to put it all together. Wednesday I stumbled onto this article by Devin Rose which I found very interesting and so "pinned" it to my "Blogging Tips" Pinterest Board. I have been wondering lately about this blog and whether it needs more of a focus. I do tend to have a few main topics I focus on from time to time but this is mostly a multi-topic-blog, albeit with a Catholic spin a majority of the time. Devin's article was encouraging to those of us who write about whatever we feel like at the time. He had some interesting insights, so go check it out. And the comments he got were also insightful, so don't forget to read those too.

~7~

My husband bought a cloud this week. There's a sentence I never would have thought I'd ever say. So anyone know what I'm talking about? Any guesses?

For more Quick Takes, head on over to Conversion Diary.

Cloud image source: morgueFile

Wordless Wednesday

Peter's first school art project

Ethan's first school art project

The benches are in memory of someone's twin brother.
(UK Newman Center)

Love Mondays!

Okay, I know. I'm crazy. But really, Mondays are much better days for me than Tuesdays. And I'm already guaranteeing that this Tuesday is going to get off to a less than desirable start because I'm up late writing this post. But what can you do!

This Monday was a superb day and let me tell you why:

First, I decided that lugging two babies into daycare in their infant carriers was just too much work. So I carried one in the carrier and took one in my arms and into the building we went. I think I saved a few minutes of time too!

Score one for me!

Second, I got some incredibly awesome, make-me-smile-all-day, happiest news ever shortly after I got into work this morning. Seriously it made my day and it was just past 9am.

Can't score that one, I didn't do anything. Just good news!

Third, I think I need long breaks from work on a more regular basis. I don't dread the "problem" piles on my desk as much, the problems get fixed and don't seem nearly as scary as they did when I had a lot more on my mind. I'm also more creative in some of my decision making and suggestions for future projects. So I think this means I need to get pregnant again!

Score two for me! [And no, I'm not pregnant.]

Fourth, we had a child actually use a sippy cup tonight! Did Hades freeze over? Are pigs actually flying in Cincinnati? Did the university actually put together a winning football team? [My apologies to the UK fans, but you know I'm right.] Finally the fifth type of sippy cup we bought clicked for one of them. Hallelujah! So Ethan may be able to handle a sippy cup or at least he knows what is in it. Peter on the other hand is at least starting to hold a bottle although only if he sits in your lap tilted back, lazy-boy style as Hubby calls it.

I'm taking two on this one. Score four for me!

How was your Monday?

Saturday Smiles, no. 2

In my effort to be more aware of God's presence in my life, I have begun this series of Saturday Smiles posts. I look forward to you joining in as well. God can be present to us in so many ways: through the people around us, through our participation in the Mass, through prayer and sacrifice, through nature's beauty, and much, much more. What made you recognize God's presence in your life this week? Or, what made you suddenly feel close to God in some way this week? I hope you'll share in the comments below or on your own blog (and please share the link here). Let's all relish in each other's smiles from God together.

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This week I got a big smile when I went to pick up my boys from daycare. Usually they are both playing fine when I get there, but then they see me and immediately start crawling toward me and start whining and crying. The crying gets worse for whomever I don't pick up since I can usually only pick up one at a time in order to use my other hand to sign them out. But twice this week, Ethan smiled real big when he saw me and ran to me with a bit more excitement. It warmed my heart.

Peter still starts whining and crying. Oh well, we're making progress.

Regardless, I love seeing Ethan so excited! It reminded me of how much God wants us to be excited to see Him and wants us to run to Him in excitement too. I need to remember that on Sunday when I come forward to receive Jesus in the Eucharist. God so loves us that He gives Himself to us, body, blood, soul, and divinity, in the Eucharist. What a gift!

How about you?

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P.S. Sorry for the late post on this Saturday. I actually got the post set up on Thursday but hadn't finished writing it out yet, planned to do that on Friday, and then got side-tracked. :) Hopefully I'll get next week's up earlier in the day. Thanks!

7 Quick Takes Friday, vol. 43

~1~

I just realized, as I sat down to write this Quick Takes, that it has been over a month since I did one of these. That's quite a long time! Did anyone notice? ::big grin::

~2~

Although I haven't posted a QT in this space, I'm not completely out of practice on Quick Takes posts. I have posted three QTs during this time period over at Catholic Sistas. Have you seen them? They are more thematic posts but all geared at getting to know the various ink slingers over at CS. I conducted a survey about our favorite prayers and did two "interviews" with individual ink slingers: Martina, our founder, and Misty, one of our more prolific writers. If you haven't checked those QTs out yet, I highly recommend you do. They are fun posts!

~3~

Massive downpour + two baby carriers = one very wet mom! It went like this:

• Daycare pickup in the afternoon during massive downpour.
• Two babies strapped into their infant carriers, one half flight of stairs, and one mama who CANNOT carry both carriers up and down stairs at the same time anymore.
• Did I mention the rain?
• Get both babies through doorway and onto landing; carry one down the stairs and leave him by the door; go back up the stairs; carry second baby down the stairs and put him down.
• Still raining ... hard.
• Pick up one baby, make a slow dash to the car, get him in, quickly dash back to the door, type in the code and get back inside.
• (There is, thankfully, a very tiny overhang above the door.)
• Pick up second baby and do the same, then jump in drivers side.
• Mom is completely soaked through and laughing.

Yep, laughing. I just couldn't help it and couldn't stop. I had to sit in the parking lot for a moment to collect myself. I was out of breath, a little stressed, and laughing my head off.

~4~

It's not even NFP Awareness Week yet and I'm suddenly seeing lots of NFP-related stuff all over Facebook and Twitter. It's like all of us who advocate for the NFP lifestyle just can't wait. It's a gear up period; and it doesn't hurt that there are at least two new websites on NFP that are starting to advertise themselves wherever they can. We are so excited to spread the news and to help our friends or family members to reconsider their use of the pill or other contraceptive methods that we start early. I even posted something myself without even thinking about it in relation to NFP Awareness Week. It was totally coincidental.

~5~

Speaking of NFP, can I just say how amazing I find the human body? What an extraordinary creator God is! I see my chart, which astoundingly has been looking semi-normal lately, and I am awestruck that cycle after cycle it works just like the book says it does. We've been using NFP to both conceive and avoid for over four years and it still impresses me. God truly does know what He is doing. Why do people try to mess with that?

~6~

Do you watch the Food Network? I do. I watch very little TV, especially since we moved into our new house. But on Sunday night, I watch Food Network. If I watch nothing else all week, I want that one night to watch whatever food-related, reality show Food Network is airing. Cupcake Wars is okay, but I especially like the Next Food Network Star, Worst Cooks, and the special Chopped series they do (all-stars, champions, etc.). The Next Food Network Star this season is coming to a close quickly and I have really enjoyed the new format they did this time. I have two favorites right now, one who was sort of a favorite of mine from the beginning and another that just became another favorite for me this past week. I can't wait to see how it all turns out!!

~7~

Did you see the Saturday Smiles post last Saturday? That was just the beginning. Check in tomorrow for another one. And I hope you'll share in the comments, too. Or post a Saturday Smiles on your own blog and come share the link on my post. I'm looking forward to making this is a weekly tradition!

For more fun Quick Takes posts, head on over to Conversion Diary and say hi to Jen.

Natural Family Planning: Evangelizing to My Doctor

One year and 6 weeks ago

One year ago today I had my 6-week check-up with my doctor following the birth of my two precious babies. Believe it or not, I still remember that appointment.

Just to clarify, I like my doctor a lot, she's super nice and compassionate but also gets down to business. We do chat a little, but not a lot. I feel like she gives me the time I need but she also gets to the point. She's busy, it's a busy practice, but I never feel rushed. Because she also had a baby last year and was on maternity leave and because of the high risk status of my pregnancy I actually did not have her as my doctor for the last three months of my pregnancy and someone else did the delivery. But my doctor did my follow-up appointments.

At that last follow-up I had with her we talked a bit about when I would see her again. "Don't need to come back for another year," was the consensus. But then she added, "unless you get pregnant before then."

She and I have gone round and round on the whole NFP thing. I have issues, I can see it in my chart; someone I know who is a former OB/GYN can also see it in my chart. But my doctor, as much as I like her, has no clue. She obviously puts no stock in using NFP as a way to avoid pregnancy for a period of time.

I know she respects my decision (mine and my husband's) but she doesn't trust it. Which is fine, I'm not asking her to use it and I appreciate that she does respect my choice. I also appreciate that she no longer asks me about birth control. In a city that has very few choices for NFP-friendly doctors and no NFP-only doctors (OB/GYNs, anyway), that's all I want. Respect and no one asking me repeatedly about something I have clearly stated I morally object to, more than once.

I know her final statement was made in light of her distrust of anything NFP. It doesn't bother me (I know it would bother some), it actually kind of makes me laugh. My husband and I have talked about adding to our family, but we have discerned that we need more time; not just because we have twins and that by itself is a lot of work, but also for my health.

Funnily enough, I do need to call and make an appointment since it has been a year now. I have the desire to point out to her that it has been a year and we have successfully avoided conception for now. But I most likely won't do that, probably not polite to do so.

I prefer for her to put the pieces together herself and recognize that maybe, just maybe, there is something to this whole NFP thing. I prefer evangelizing through my actions rather than my words; plant the seeds and let them take root where they may. In this case especially, I can witness to my doctor what using NFP is really like and maybe she'd be more open to it when the next NFP patient comes along.

I can dream!

P.S. Speaking of NFP, NFP Awareness Week is coming up July 22-28. I'm sure many bloggers will be posting NFP-themed posts and I'll probably add my voice to the mix as well. Something to look forward to!

Just a Cataloger

My first week back at work went really well.

I had only one meeting that ended up being only about 20 minutes, probably because it was a meeting I was in charge of and I had nothing to to talk about. Two people in my unit were also out last week so there were only three of us in the meeting.

I also made a couple decisions on some big projects and got quick agreement from others involved. I think the decisions came from a fresh perspective after being away for 6 months. I didn't have any of the every day stuff weighing on my mind and could more clearly see the problem and how to best tackle it. It felt good too. I need to do that more often with big decisions.

I also just did a lot of cataloging and not much else. My job is divided up into several components: x% for this, y% for that, z% for this other thing and so on. My percentages include things like professional development, research, administration, and primary assignment. [That's four, there should be five, but I can't think of the fifth right now.] My primary assignment is as a cataloger and my percentage is somewhere around 60% of my time. It's pretty high, but in reality I probably spend less than that on actual cataloging tasks. That percentage is more of an ideal than a reality. Sadly.

So yeah ... why do we have a backlog? Um, yeah.

Anyway, I spent the majority of my time during my first week back just cataloging. It felt good to be just a cataloger. That is the work I like. No meetings, no timesheets, no statistics, no reports to write, and no training, teaching, or reviewing other's work; just cataloging.

It was the best way to get back into the swing of things. Already on Monday of week two I spent my entire morning in a meeting, gathering timesheets, and tracking down statistics sheets. I only spent my last hour and a half, maybe two hours, doing any cataloging.

But I'm glad my first week was the way it was. And it is a good reminder of why I really do like my job. Even if I spend a lot of time doing other things. I like those times when I am just a cataloger.

Image source morgueFile

Saturday Smiles

Last Saturday I posted about how I intend to be more aware of God's presence in my life and asked readers to join me in this. I hope this will be the first of many posts in which we can share those things that made us smile because we knew God had a hand in it. As I said in last week's post:

What makes you smile? What touches your heart? What takes you by surprise this week? A beautiful sunset splashing lots of colors across the sky can remind us of God's love for the world just as much as changing that horribly stinky diaper can remind us of how much God loves His children (i.e. us) and would do anything for us.

 I hope you'll join me and share your moment when you recognized God around you in some way. Tell us in the comments or share on your own blog and share the link in the comments below. Let's give everyone visiting here many reasons to smile on this Saturday.

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On Wednesday, July 4th, I attended Mass at our parish, also the Cathedral parish in our diocese. If I had to guess, there were about 600 people there, a dozen priests on the altar with the Bishop, several seminarians serving at the mass, and two deacons on the altar and I recognized many, many more throughout the congregation. I saw lots of familiar faces. This was a Mass to end the Fortnight for Freedom in our diocese. I attend Mass at the cathedral every week and the energy that was present throughout the congregation on this day was much more vibrant than I am used to.

It was a very reverent Mass. I saw so many people there I knew from several different parishes. I felt surrounded by people of strong, unyielding faith as we joined together to celebrate our religious freedom as Catholics and as Americans. Despite the fact that I had a squirmy baby in my arms and had to move around the side aisles and back of the church during the Mass, I still felt the vibe of this community coming together. During Mass I remember praying that our religious freedom would not be compromised in the years to come and that my children would have the same freedoms to not just practice their faith within the walls of our churches but also live their lives as people of faith.

At the end of Mass as we started singing America and the crowd of servers, deacons, priests, and the Bishop began the recessional I was overcome with emotion. I truly felt the hand of God among His people at that moment. I felt proud to be a Catholic. I felt proud of my ancestors who remained true to the faith and passed it on to their children all the way down to me. I felt proud of my great-grandparents and the sacrifices they made to come to this country in search of a better life. And I felt proud to be an American.

It did my heart good to know that there is still a strong Catholic faith in this country. I felt honored to be at that Mass. And it made me smile to know that there are so many of us that are willing to stand up and fight for our religious freedom in this country. We are all Americans, but we are Catholics first.

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What made you smile this week? Where did you most feel God's presence in your every day?

Leave a comment below to share your moment so we can all smile with you. Or if you have a blog, write up your own "Saturday Smiles" post and share the link in the comments below.

Thanks for participating!

Wordless Wednesday

Rarely do we get them both to smile for a picture!

Mohawks!

Birthday trip to Toys 'R' Us thanks to Uncle Paul,
soon-to-be Aunt Christine, Aunt Caitlin, and soon-to-be Uncle Chris

Random Fun Facts

We moved from using high chairs to using booster seats attached to kitchen chairs some time ago. Takes up much less space in our kitchen! However, the high chairs are now sitting in the dining room, taking up space there.

Why is this picture upside down?
I have no idea!

So tonight Hubby mentioned that we should probably find a new place to put them. I mentioned the attic and then with a sudden thought suggested we put ONE in the attic and sell the second.

We also recently sent off our double infant stroller to friends that are expecting twins in a few months.

I saw the wheels turning in Hubby's head. Then he laughed and said, "Muphy's Law, right?"

Um, yeah ... funny? Not so much.

Love my twin boys, but ... it is a lot of work. I would love to know what it is like to have only one baby.

That leaves one question. What are the odds of having a second set of twins? I know our chances really aren't any higher than they were before because our boys are identical twins. Even so, with one set of identical twins, how common is it to have another set of identical twins or any set of twins for that matter.

With a quick internet search I found a very interesting page with all sorts of twin facts. So cool!! I thought the most interesting fact was that the children of identical twins although legally cousins are genetically half-siblings. It makes sense, I just never thought about it before. Check out more fun twin facts at this Twin Statistics site.

And to answer our question, our chances of having a second set of identical twins is 1 in 70,000 or less. Chances of having one set of identicals and one set of fraternals is 1 in 10,000.

Anything can happen, God is in control, but seeing those statistics is refreshing.

Image source morgueFile

Be More Aware

How aware are you of what is around you?

Do you notice a beautiful sunset even when you're having a bad day?

Do the antics of a small child make you smile even in the midst of disorder?

Does a pretty little flower growing up among the weeds catch your attention?

Are you aware of the small things in life, the things God puts in front of us to remind us of His love for us and all the world?

Every week I meet with a group of friends to pray together and to share how God is working in our lives.  We share how we are approaching our prayer life, what we are studying, reading, or listening to that helps form us as God's people, and how we are using our own lives to spread the Gospel message.

One of the questions we struggle with each week is how did you most feel close to God this week.

It doesn't sound like a difficult question, but it is.  Especially when you have to think about it week after week.  Of course, that is the point.  We should be thinking of it all the time.

For me it comes down to awareness.  I need to be more aware.  And I'm guessing it is an exercise many of us could get more practice at.  So I have a proposal.

During this coming week take some time to be more aware of God's presence in your life.  What makes you smile?  What touches your heart?  What takes you by surprise this week?  A beautiful sunset splashing lots of colors across the sky can remind us of God's love for the world just as much as changing that horribly stinky diaper can remind us of how much God loves His children (i.e. us) and would do anything for us.

Next week I will post about how I recognized God's presence more during the week and I hope you'll add yours too. Be more aware and stay tuned.

Image source MorgueFile

When I grow up ...

When you were a kid what did you want to be when you grew up?  

I wanted to be a writer.  From about the time I was in 4th or 5th grade until sometime in high school, I wanted to be a writer.  That was it.  Creative writing, fiction.  I didn't care if I wrote the great American novel, I just wanted to write and see my writing published.

I won a writing award in 5th grade and a couple times during the middle school years.  Of all the various awards and trophies I got growing up for various activities (swimming, piano, etc.), the writing awards meant the most to me and I think they are still in a box with my grade school stuff.

But in high school I started going a different direction.  Freshman year I wrote a poem that I submitted for the county writing fair and didn't even make it past the school level.  For whatever long-forgotten reason, I never bothered entering again.  This was the time when music became much more all-encompassing of my life.  And so I started leaning in that direction.

In graduate school I had to do a master's thesis.  I clearly remember meeting with my thesis adviser and hearing her tell me that I was a great researcher but not much of a wordsmith.  Ouch!  And she was a prolific writer and very well-known, well-respected figure in her field.  Double ouch!

So after years and years of wanting to be a writer and yet pursuing music instead, I ended up a music librarian.  And I have no regrets.  I believe that God had a plan and He was in control the whole time.  I am where I am for a reason.

But several years ago I got into blogging, totally for fun.  And then last year I started writing for a new blog with a bunch of online friends.  I also have a few publications professionally, but those are mostly researched lists of things or statistics, very little narrative writing.  I still don't consider myself a writer.

And yet, last Friday I sat in a radio studio for an interview and heard my interviewer call me a Catholic writer.  

A Catholic writer?  Me?  Really?

It was an odd thing to hear after all these years.  Is that what I am now?  I don't think so, or um ... I didn't think so.  I read the blogs of  Catholic writers and follow them on Facebook and Twitter and put their books on my wish list hoping one day to find the time to actually read these wonderful wordsmiths.  Yet, I never considered myself to be a part of that group.

Okay, yes, I blog.  But does that make me a writer?  And yes, I write now for another collaborative blog, but I know I'm nowhere near the best writer of that group.  Even so, do these things make me a writer?  Or more specifically a Catholic writer?

I don't know.  I'm still pondering it.  I smile when I think of it, in a how ironic kind of way.  

It's funny how your life can turn out sometimes.  Something you wanted to do but never pursued could still end up being the thing you end up doing.  Maybe not in the way you thought you would do it, but you're still doing it.  And it can completely sneak up on you too!

Image source MorgueFile

Unproductive Day, Might as well Blog

After my radio interview on Friday I was going to write up a post about a thought I had during and after the interview.  Still planning on that (hopefully later this week) but right now I feel the need to share about my unproductive day instead.

That sounds boring, doesn't it?  But stick with me, hear me out a little ...

We had a rough weekend, the boys have been sick.  Actually, back up, *I* was sick last week, Ethan started to seem a little down on Friday, by Saturday it was obvious he was sick as well.  Peter has a runny nose and was a little fussy over the weekend, but mostly in a good mood.

Which brings us to Monday.  I finally feel well for the first time in 5 days.  Yay!!  Despite my sickness last week I took advantage of the boys being in daycare to work on my sabbatical project.  I did pretty well, despite the sickness.  Monday should have been productive as well.

"Should" being the operative word!  And so the story goes ...

Have to remind myself what my
healthy, happy boys look like.
So cute!

I know when I go to get the boys up Monday morning that they are not going to daycare.  Ethan continues to be fussy, gets upset at the slightest things, and once he starts crying he seems bothered by everything around him.  Poor guy, he makes me so sad.

Lots of crying during breakfast, clinging to mom during the morning, crying anytime Peter touches him ... I find it exhausting.  Both boys are in their cribs for a morning nap BEFORE 10 am.

That was probably partly because they needed it and partly because *I* needed it.  Sometimes you got to do what you got to do.

They slept for an hour ... better than nothing.

More play time, lunch (which means more crying), back to playtime (and crying), and then the doorbell rang.

With two boys crying down in the playroom someone from the electric company is here to install the conservation stuff on our air conditioners.  Not a big deal, it's outside, thankyouverymuch, and goodbye.

More clinging to mom, wiping noses, throw in a load of laundry, start looking at the clock to see if another nap time is in order.  It's only 12:30.

Doorbell rings again.  Apparently the breaker switch on one AC unit is now broken.  This means the AC is not working until someone can come out to fix it.  Greeeeeeeeeeeeat!

Finally just before 2pm, I put the boys down for another nap.  There's more whining going on from two obviously sleepy boys when the doorbell rings again.  At least I know the AC will be fixed!!  With the boys cries carrying through the house via the strategically placed baby monitor in our front hall, the electrician comes in and I take him to the electrical box where he discovers that the circuits aren't all labeled, but he tries one anyway and heads outside.

I run upstairs knowing that there are probably four pacifiers scattered across the boys' room and just as I get them both settled again I hear the electrician come in and call for me.  I just want to yell "Shhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!"  Luckily I don't.

Anyway, he gets the circuits worked out, labels them for the next guy that will need them, and heads back outside.  By 2:30 he is done, ACs are all working, and the boys are finally asleep.

Work on sabbatical project or give up for the day??  That is the question.

My answer: give up.  

Procrastination wins again!

Thankfully, the boys are starting to seem a bit better and my hope is that they will be well enough to go back to daycare on Tuesday.  I should also feel back to 100% and then I can dive back in.  That gives me four days to make some good headway on this project before I go back to working in my office.  Once I am back at work I can continue to work on this project, but it will be along with all my other responsibilities.

Oh responsibility, how I have not missed thee.

Writing Elsewhere

I keep forgetting to share here whenever I have a post up on Catholic Sistas.  Sorry!!  But really, what I'd love to see is all my readers adding Catholic Sistas to their blog readers.  And go "like" the Facebook fan page while you're at it.  :-)

So today I have a new post over on the Sistas blog: A Community of Authentic Catholicism.  You should check it out not because I wrote it but because the blog is awesome and after you read my post you must read posts from the other Sistas. They are all much better writers than I.  You can just humor me, but go read them.

In all honesty, I like this post that I wrote.  I do feel the Holy Spirit had a hand in guiding it, as well as several of my fellow Sistas who rightly steered me in the proper direction when I got a bit derailed in the writing process.  But I read it now and I think, wow, those are my words?  Nope, they are not.  The Holy Spirit must have wanted someone to read those words and made sure I got them in the correct order.  Praise God, He works in amazing ways!

Hope you enjoy and continue to visit!!

No Wheels Needed

Wheels aren't necessary when pure, brute force works just as well.

Peter likes pushing this little musical table across the room.  He'll even get to the other end of the room and move around to the other side of the table and push it all the way back.  And he's not alone, Ethan does it too. 

Amazingly, we do have three other toys that have wheels.

Doing Something New!

I'm hesitant to advertise this, so maybe the fact that I'm doing so at the eleventh hour means that no one will have a chance to catch me on the radio.

Radio??

Why yes, I will be on our local Catholic radio station on Friday evening.  There, I said it.  I'm nervous about this and not entirely sure what to expect.  I hope it will be a fun hour of discussing Catholic topics, my own faith life, plugging Catholic Sistas, and maybe some Gamecock Baseball.

You should be able to listen regardless of where you are, although I will warn you that the online streaming has not always been working for me lately.  It is today, but I can't guarantee what will happen tomorrow.

This is the red box on the website
with the "Listen Live" link.

If you want to listen in, go to Real Life Radio and click on the "Listen Live" link on the right side of the screen.  A new window should pop up, it'll take a moment to load, you'll hear a short advertisement (worth it to keep this service free) and then it *should* go right into streaming the station.

If you're local you can, of course, tune in to 1380 AM or 94.9 FM.

The show (The Mike Allen Show, Not Just a Sports Show) starts at 5:00 p.m. (Eastern) on Friday evening and is an hour long.

Wish me luck!!

Kitchen Facelife

The house we moved into this spring was well taken care of and had many updates already.  The kitchen was very nicely updated.  Although it had a bit more space than our previous kitchen it didn't have the massive pantry our old kitchen had.  So things were a little tight, even with the additional storage in the basement.

The good news was there was empty wall space that was perfect for adding additional cabinets.  Hubby found a cabinet maker that could get us matching cabinets to what we already had and it was all installed in one afternoon.  Here are the before and after pictures:

Before: the desk area and pantry

Before: the pantry.
Lots of extra wall space that wasn't good for much of anything

Installation!!  One new pantry added.

After: New open shelves
(The little space on the right side was filled in the next week.
Nothing is ever completely straight)

After: Finished pantry and new shelves

After from a different angle.
The doors aren't closed because of the addition of new spice racks
and we hadn't yet moved the inside shelves when I took the picture.

#500 with a Hippopotamus

Welcome to post #500 on Journal of a Nobody!  That seems like a lot to me even if it is over the course of about 6 years.  I'm certainly not the most prolific writer, but it has been fun to share bits and pieces of my life and explore topics of interest in a semi-public space.  So here's hoping for continued fun in the next 500 posts.

Father's Day was this past Sunday and I was kind of a slacker.  I did have picture cards of the boys that I sent to my dad, my father-in-law, the boys' two godfathers, and one for Hubby.  We also went out for breakfast after Mass on Sunday morning.  Otherwise, that was the extent of our Father's Day celebration.

Yes, total slacker here.

However, on Monday I was out running errands alone and made a quick stop at a bookstore.  Hubby has a favorite book among the plethora of books the boys have:

Do you know this book?  Oh, my goodness, it is hilarious.  When I commented on the fact that Hubby picks it up almost every night to read to the boys he explained why:

"What is not to like?  It has verse, funny animals, a happy ending, and a surprise ending."

So I decided that Father's Day needed a little more oomph than I had given it the day before and Hubby needed more books by this author.  I had no idea what a prolific author Sandra Boynton was!  So many to choose from.  I chose three and presented them to Hubby at dinner Monday night.

You know you've done good when Hubby is excited about a few children's board books as a Father's Day gift.  He's so cute!

As Expected

First day of day care for the boys went as expected.  We got into the building, found our way to the correct room, managed to find where our stuff all needed to go, realized we forgot to bring a check to pay for child care services {duh!}, and then got the boys our of their car seats.

Ethan's thoughts: New TOYS!  Small people like me!  Look at the toys!!  Mommy and Daddy who??  Wow, TOYS!

Peter: Waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!

Totally what I would have expected.

End of the day report is that the boys did well.  They ate well, slept well, and were overall very good.  Ethan in particular was described as a "very happy baby."

Cute moment of the day: nap time is on little cots.  The boys both slept well and Peter woke up when the other kids started waking up.  Ethan was still sleeping.  Peter moved around some and started checking things out and then climbed up on Ethan's cot with him.  I was told it was very cute and they all wondered if I had them sleeping together at home.  They don't, but I thought it was sweet that Peter crawled into Ethan's cot at the end of nap time.  He needed some brother time.

Overall, successful first day.

Entrance Strategy

These days when I am going somewhere I spend my time in the car on the drive over debating my entrance strategy.  This can be quite complicated, there are so many variables from the weather to parking to how the building is situated and more.

Not unlike the days when the debate was more like "Should I arrive on time?",  "Am I too early?", "Am I the appropriate amount of time late without being too late?", "What if I arrive at the same time as so-and-so, should I wait in the car or walk in with them?"  Remember those days??

Yeah, me neither.

My entrance strategy involves safely getting two small children from car to [grocery store, church, restaurant, etc.] wherever.  And even when I have an entrance strategy figured out, I sometimes have to make changes once I get to my destination.

Situation: Meeting a small group from my parish (a new committee) for lunch at Panera (semi-fast food, salad, sandwich, soup place and bakery).  Boys in tow and no help.

The Entrance Strategy Plan: boys' lunch was in the lunch bag I use when I'm working, grab the place mats from the diaper bag and throw those in my purse (leave diaper bag in car); carry the lunch bag and purse one on each shoulder. Take one child out of the car but still in his infant seat and take second child out of his seat and carry him in my arms.  Hope to meet one of the committee members already in the restaurant so someone can grab a high chair.  Hope there are two available high chairs.

One thing I didn't consider in my plan: the small parking lot at this particular restaurant's location.  Something else I hadn't realized, another popular restaurant had moved into an empty space in the same shopping strip.

So yeah ... parking lot was just a wee bit full.  By which I mean ... PACKED!

Solution: I parked at the far end of the shopping center pretty much in the parking lot of the nearby hotel.  Carrying both boys in (one in the infant seat) was not going to happen.  So instead I used the stroller.  Panera is not well set up for a double, side-by-side stroller, which was why I had wanted to avoid using it.  Oh well, I had to roll with it.

Though I did have to do some finagling to get the stroller to the table we had chosen, I did manage it with lots of help from people already seated who moved chairs and tables for me.  People really are super nice!  But once I was at the table it was obvious I wasn't going to be able to feed them in their stroller just because of the space it was taking up.  So we did end up getting two highchairs and I folded the stroller up and set it against the table.

And the boys were great too!!  We had lunch and our meeting and the boys were happy as can be for most of the time we were there.  I was so happy that it was a successful trip.  Plus I had help from the people I was meeting with.

If you had told me a year ago that I would be venturing into a restaurant with two small children who can't walk yet and without the help of my husband, I would have laughed at you!!

Now to figure out how to get them into daycare each morning!!  At least I have four more days to think about our entrance strategy on that one.

Another Week+ in the Books

It has been busy in our household lately.  LOTS going on these days.

First off, last week the boys had a birthday and got to have a cupcake for the first time:

Not quite sure what to do with it

They also got a red wagon from Nanny and Papa:

Enjoying the new wagon with Papa

And little ride-on trains from Grandma and Grandpa:

Checking out the new trains, they make lots of fun noises!

Birthday parties are fun.  But try having one with 40 extra people in your house and two babies who are in a "stranger anxiety" phase.  Phew!!  Those poor boys didn't know what was going on.  (It was fun though, for us!)

Then over last weekend my brother and his girlfriend got engaged!!  Add another wedding to our family calendar!  Right now my sister is getting married next May and now we'll have a second wedding sometime after that.  We are all excited and happy for them!

Monday I spent all morning with the phone by my side waiting to hear the news that I had a new niece or nephew.  My other sister was having her third c-section that morning.  It was the first of her three kids where I wasn't sitting in the waiting room with everyone else.  I'm used to missing things like this because of the distance I live away from them, but this one I had really wanted to be there.  So it made me kind of sad that I couldn't be.  I finally got the call around noon or so and learned I had a new niece.  And she's so cute!!  Looks just like her older sister.

On top of an engagement and a new baby, my dad officially retired (for the second time) on Tuesday.

It was a big few days for my family!

On Wednesday the boys went for their 12 month appointment.  Overall they are healthy, got one shot, got some medication for eczema, and mom got a boost of reassurance that she's still doing this mothering thing okay.

(And really, that reassurance is the most important part of why we take our kids to the doctor, right?  Or is that just me?  Don't answer that.)

Quick stats: Peter is 19 pounds (b/t 10th-25th percentile) and 29 inches (25th percentile).  Ethan is 19 pounds 6 ounces (25th percentile) and 28 1/8 inches (10th percentile).  My small kids have big heads though (not surprising given my family genes).  At 47 cm (Ethan) and 46 1/2 cm (Peter), they are both in the 75th percentile.  LOL!!!

Thursday I finished my annual column for my professional journal and submitted it to my editor.  DONE!!!  I always hesitate pushing that "send" button in my email.  Is it really done?  Did I proof it enough?  Should I go back and check all my numbers and math again for the eleventybillionth time?  (And yes, that is a word, don't go looking it up.)

Also on Thursday we had new cabinets put in our kitchen on a few blank wall spaces.  I have a few before and after pictures, but they are still on my camera.  So I'll save those for another post.

Thursday night and into the early hours of Friday morning I banged my head furiously against the keyboard published another submission on Catholic Sistas.  Check it out, our debut post into the 7 Quick Takes fun.  Our creator wanted to join the 7 Quick Takes series but didn't have a clear vision for it, so I threw out some ideas and ended up with the assignment.  It was fun.  I took a poll of all the contributors and posted the results.  A fun way to get to know the blog's writers.  And watch for more (not every Friday though).

Friday was an important day!  It was the day of the Stand up for Religious Freedom Rallies held all across this great nation.  The boys and I attended the one in our town and we had a great turnout.  I heard later that day that there were approximately 275 people there.  I saw lots of people I knew and heard some great speakers.  The boys did great for the hour and a half we stood downtown in the sun.  They were comfy in their stroller with the shade up, but it was still hot.  I fed them cheerios and then rolled the stroller back and forth and they eventually fell asleep.  Very proud of my sons for attending their first political protest rally at just a year old!

The boys chilling out at the rally.
*Photo courtesy of Cindy Olson (c) 2012*

Following the rally and the walk back to the car (I was parked several blocks away in a University employee lot I located on a map that morning, the closest one I could find to downtown) I was HOT!  The boys were sleeping and I wanted to listen to a radio interview that was going to start in about 15 minutes.  Solution: pack everyone into the car, drive to Dairy Queen, hope the boys fall asleep, and listen to the interview in the car.

And that's what I did.  I went through the drive-thru and then sat in the car in their parking lot, AC on full blast, and listened to a friend do an interview on a nationally broadcast program on Relevant Radio.  It was a good interview too.  The creator of the blog Catholic Sistas was being interviewed.  It was fun to listen and I laughed at the callers who called in with questions.  Their names and places they were from clued me in that they were all contributors as well.  You can still listen to the interview by clicking here and choosing one of the links for June 8.  Martina did great!  Go listen if you have time.  No, not "if", I take that back: find time and listen!  That's an order!

Some friends I hadn't seen in a while were back in town for a short visit.  So they stopped by on Friday afternoon and visited for a bit.  It was fun to see them and to see how much their three boys have grown!

That pretty much concluded our busy week.  The boys are home with me one more week and then they start daycare the following week.  I go back to working full-time in the office two weeks later.  Which means two weeks of working full-time at home with no interruptions.  Hopefully I can concentrate on work and not get distracted by running an errand or cleaning something I know needs cleaning or folding a load of laundry that I had done the night before, etc.

If you've made it all the way to the end of this novel of a post, thanks for reading!  Have a great weekend!

7 Quick Takes Friday, vol. 42

~1~

I finally finished revising a project that has been hanging over my head for 7 or 8 months.

Finally!!

~2~

No, it is not my sabbatical project.

Unfortunately.  ::sigh::

~3~

I have a small contribution to a larger reference book that was supposed to be published in 2009 or 10.

It's been so long, I've forgotten when the original publication date was!

~4~

It got delayed so long it was really hard to go back to edit, revise, and remember how and why things were set up the way they were.  

And searching in databases!!  I forgot how frustrating that can be!!

~5~

Thankfully my section editor had her assistant go over a portion of my list for me.

I wouldn't be done now otherwise!  Thank goodness for assistants!! ::happydance::

~6~

But ... I had to torture myself go look and I see that the publication date is now Spring 2012.

Hmmmm ...

~7~

Regardless, I'm done with my part!!  I hope no one asks me to revisit this list again any time soon.

Must. Get. Back. To. Sabbatical. Project.

For more Quick Takes with maybe a bit more substance to them than this one, and probably far more interesting too, check out Conversion Diary by Jen Fulwiler, Quick Takes hostess extraordinaire!