Sunday, February 26, 2006

February Winds Down

The second month of 2006 is almost gone already!!! It seems like Christmas was just last week.

This month sure has been eventful. Ice-skating, dancing lessons, Rose's 18th birthday, the acquisition of my new job, Fr. Harber being gone for a week... to name the more major happenings.
As for this past week... it's been up to par with the month. Eventful and very busy. On Monday, I started work... spent an hour and a half picking up toys, folding blankets, feeding the baby and doing laundry. Tuesday, we had two fewer classes thanks to Fr. Harber's absence and I worked again, this time doing dishes and feeding the baby. Tuesday evening was my fourth in a series of ten ballroom dancing lessons. We learned the "basket" or "cuddle" step in the swing, reviewed our waltz steps and learned the basic cha cha step. It's getting to be a lot of fun! ...It always is more fun to do something when you're good at it...
Wednesday, I had no classes at all!! :D That was nice! I still went up to the college though, and read the Ottaviani Intervention (part of my Liturgy assignment). When Joe got out of classes, we went to Topeka to see a traveling art show (called South Winds, I believe)... out of 2400 entries, the 100 best paintings in the country had been chosen and were on display. We weren't sure what to expect but they were actually really good!! This was one of my favorites:

I got back from Topeka in time for 3 pm play practice, only to find that, our directress being sick, there was no practice!! So I made the best of it and went to Sarah's house to raid her closet for the square dance. ;) I had a little bit of time at home before I went to work at 6... work that night was absolutely crazy! The kids were possessed by some fiendish spirit and simply would not calm down. One crisis after another. ;) However, we got them put to bed in time to clean up the kitchen and get the house under control before I left at 9:20...
Thursday was a pretty easy day as classes go. :) With Fr. Harber's continued absence, I had only Physical Science and Latin and was finished by lunch time. That afternoon I started my Liturgy paper... which is still coming along, slowly but surely. That evening, I worked from 5 to 8:30. The kids were pretty good until bedtime and then things once again got maniacal. One's jumping on the bed, another's tripping over the 18-month-old causing her (the six-year-old's) tooth to bleed, a third is getting into trouble in the kitchen, yet another is busy letting the cat in the house (one MORE thing to step on and trip over! ;))... and so on like that! The peace that falls once the kids are in bed is an amazing silence indeed. :P
Friday.... I had Physical Science, Spiritual Conference and History. I worked in the afternoon, just doing dishes and kitchen work. It was a beautiful day so we shoo'ed the kids outside. :) Friday evening was the square dance! I was fortunate enough to, once again, dance every dance. (I think that adds up to ten or so.) Actually, there were more guys than girls (a rare occurrence!!) so that was really fortunate. ;) I had a very good time.
Saturday, I slept in. :D Joe came over and made bread (really good bread!) and I made butterscotch brownies (for Caity's shower). In the afternoon, Rose got home from fundraising, Dad got home from Colorado, and Lindsey came in from Kansas City! :) The Children of Mary concert was at 7 pm. Rose "directed" the C.O.M. in singing three songs (but you couldn't actually see Rose as she was standing behind them). And Joey performed "Classical Gas" on his guitar - his first concert performance. They both did a good job... and you couldn't even tell that Joey had skipped a whole section. ;) Afterwards, we ran over to Gambino's and got pizza. Back at home, we ate a late dinner... pizza, ice cream and brownies. (Sound fattening??! :P) Then we watched an episode of Jeeves and Wooster. *lol* Those are great!
....This morning, I went to the 7:30 Mass with Dad and Joey. It's shaping up to be another beautiful day for February! This afternoon, I'll probably try to get homework done and some Jog-a-thon letters written (not fun, but necessary :/).

On the horizon... Mardi Gras this Tuesday and Ash Wednesday immediately following. And next week, St. Thomas Aquinas Day. (Yay! A day off of classes!! :P) The college men's retreat starts March 12 and ends March 17... my retreat begins the 19th.

And that concludes the report from "My Little World!" More to follow, all things being equal... God bless!

Sunday, February 19, 2006

I's a Workin' Gal ;)

Well, folks, it looks like I just landed myself a job. :) What's really awesome is that it has flexible hours.

I'll be helping a mom of six (the oldest is six) with housework, childcare and just things. Mostly, it'll be during the day... so I'll be spending my free hours between classes over there. And some evenings. The kids are cute and seem pretty good. I'm looking forward to it - it'll be a rather refreshing change from my student life. :) (We'll see how long I think that! :P) Plus, I can probably use the practice with little kids. :)

So... after 19 hours of school a week, 10 or 15 hours of work, dancing lessons, play practices, papers and other homework... well, I'll resurface in early June! :P

God is good.

In other realms...
Mom and Dad went to Denver this weekend for the first perpetual vows ceremony in the traditional Benedictine order. Pretty fantastic, eh? Mom's flight gets in about 9 tonight and I'll be picking her up in Kansas City. Dad will be staying in the Rockies for a medical conference this week... at a ski lodge! ... Life's rough. (I'm just kidding - he more than earns the breaks he gets!!)
Fr. Harber, Fr. Gallagher and Fr. Asher will be out of town this week for the priests' meeting in Winona... which is cool because it means seven fewer classes this week!! :D And maybe we'll get Fr. Griego for Spiritual Conference Friday. That'd be fun. ;)

Have you ever heard the song "I Just Want to Dance with You"? It's a really cute song. I like it. :)
"I wanna dance with you,
Hold you in my arms once more -
That's what they invented dancin' for...
I just wanna dance with you.
............
I wanna dance with you,
Twirl you all around the floor -
That's what they intended dancin' for...
I just wanna dance with you."

Awww. :P

Okey doke... well, I've gotta get my Theology notes finished and study for a Latin test, so I'll be headin' out now. Take care, all, and let me know what you're up to too! :) (It's not fair for all this keeping-in-touch business to be one-sided. ;)) Adios~

Tuesday, February 14, 2006

St. Valentine's Day

Today was Rose's 18th birthday!!!!!! :O
I can't believe she's 18!! It seems like I was just 18... in fact, I WAS 18 only six months ago! ;) (Just on the opposite end of 18. :)) Poor thing - she had 3 tests and a long, long day at school for her birthday! :( But I think the evening went pretty well... at least, she seemed to be in a good mood for most of it. :)
We started the day off by all going to the 6 am Mass. Fr. Harber said it at the main altar and he said the Mass for Rose on her birthday! That was sooo good of him!! Then I studied Science for a bit, ran an errand for a friend, went to school, had a Physical Science test, studied Theology, had Metaphysics and Latin... lunch and the discovery of a dozen yellow roses!! ...History class and finally my Theology test.
After school, I wrapped Rose's present, wrote her birthday card, did some homework, said the Rosary, picked Joe up, helped Mom with part of dinner, etc. Dinner was really good - chicken breasts, honeyed carrots, broccoli with hollandaise sauce, and French bread. Following that was chocolate cake and mead from Ireland. Rose opened her presents and we finished the evening with some dancing.
My day started off horrendously, but ended well!! :D I hope you all had a very happy St. Valentine's Day! I'm off to bed... God bless~

Friday, February 03, 2006

M.D. ~ Musical Doctor

A few days ago, at a ballroom dancing lesson, we had learned another variation on the waltz and had practiced it "dry" for a few minutes. Our instructor (instructress?) asked us if we'd like to have some "medicine" to practice to... *lol* ...she meant MUSIC. :D

It was such a perfect slip of the lip. :) Music IS medicinal. She couldn't have said it better, had she tried. :)