You Are What You Eat? NOT!

I can't eat Italian anymore because of the Garlic and Pasta. *Sigh*

You Are Italian Food

Comforting yet overwhelming. People love you, but sometimes you're just too much.

What Kind of Food Are You?

Thanks to glorybe for the link

Hurricane Preparedness

I read This on Alexa's blog this morning and it made me laugh out loud. Enjoy.


Except they forgot that in Nebraska you have to worry about Tornados.


Hmm, Hurricanes, Tornados sheesh.


Think maybe I will stay put.

Pax

Haven't Changed, much

I did a similar quiz to this before and got the same cross, hmmm.

What Kind of Cross are You?

You are St Brigid's Cross: St. Brigid is an Irish saint who hand-wove a cross,out of rushes she found by the river. She made the cross while explaining the passion of our Lord to a pagan man.
Take this quiz!








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Pax

ABC Meme

found this cool Meme on Confessions of a Hot Caramel Sundae.


Accent: Sadly all southern hoosier even though I am NOT a hoosier I have lost my Northern Illinois drawl alltogether. *sigh*

Butter or Margarine: butter natch especially since now I am allergic to margerine

Chore I Hate: Doing the Dishes, (mrangelmeg' s most romantic gift is to clean the kitchen, he may see it as self preservation I see it as serious devotion)

Dog or Cat: Dogs, though we have had very bad luck as pet owners I still prefer dogs to cats. mrangelmeg is really allergic to cats anyway so if I got a cat he would really wonder

Essential Electronics: Computer, DVD player, flash drive My life has simplified greatly since the advent of the flash drive for transporting files to Gradual School.

Favorite Cologne(s): Oscar de Larenta Rose, smells great.

Gold or Silver: Gold, silver, I wear both.

Hometown: Rock Island, IL

Insomnia?: I used to really suffer from insomnia, now I sleep pretty well when I have mrangelmeg in the same bed with me I sleep pretty well that is, if I am not in the same room as mrangelmeg I tend to sleep less well, go figure

Job Title: unemployed at the moment, happily so. I suppose that would make my current job title homemaker. Some days my job title is more accurately Taximom

Kids: 1 boy, 4 girls ages 22 to 10a; currently all 5 live at home. Hopefully some day some of them will choose to live elsewhere. Hey, it could happen!

Living arrangements: A nice4 bedroom3 bath house on 4 1/2 acres. It would seem a lot bigger if we could get it uncluttered. One of my tasks for this summer: Hey, It could happen!

Most admirable trait: compassion.

Nicknames: Maggie, Mom My dad called me Maggiepie but that was ages ago.

Overnight hospital stays: a week for gall bladder surgery, a week for knee surgery, assorted overnight birth stays back in the day and I have stayed overnight with the kids a time or two.

Phobias: Making telephone calls. clowns, very high places. I kid you not, if I had to make a phone call on the top of the empire state building and the only person around I could borrow a cell phone from was a clown I would be in big trouble.

Quote: "Blessed are the flexible, they never get bent out of shape."

Religion: Roman Catholic

Siblings: Five sisters Three brothers

Time I wake up: Now that I am not working I try to get up around 8 am if I can sleep that long.

Unusual talent or skill: I can whistle pretty loudly when I want to.

Vegetable I refuse to eat: Brussel Sprouts, Aspargus and cooked spinach

Worst habit: complaining, and short temper I am sure that mrangelmeg would be able to make a list as long as my arm.

X-rays: Chest, spinal, dental, and left arm, and those were just this year.

Yummy stuff I cook: knock you naked brownies, fabulous barbecue beef, .


This was fun, if anyone wants to take the tag and give it a try you are welcome to it.

A "Visit" With My Mother

I am leaving in a little while to drive up and spend a few days with my mom and sisters. I have been telling her that I want to come up and "visit" with her now that I am no longer working. My sister that keeps an eye on things up there and I agreed that this would be the least stressful way for me to go up and spend a few days checking out how they are getting along.

I realize that it is difficult for any child to take care of an aging parent, and it is even tougher when that parent has alzheimer's . My sisters who live with mom are doing the best they can to keep things on a steady course, but with mom you just never know.

I have to see for myself how things are going because we need to make those difficult decisions in the next year or so about nursing home care. I am terrified about having to decide that for mom.

So, I am packing my suitcase, and loading up my car and I even bought a blow up bed so that no one is put out and I don't have to sleep on a couch. I mean to put as little stress on their daily routine as I possibly can, but I also intend to see about getting mom into a routine of doing a bit more than sitting in front of the television all day.

I am also going to try to make contact with my spiritual director who happens to be mom's pastor while I am in town. Even if all I do is talk to him on the phone and make an appointment for my next visit it will be a good thing. I am ready now to move on from my working life to whatever the next challenge is. I will definitely need his guidance to avoid the pitfalls as I try to discern God's plan in where my future lies.

So, blogging may be light for the next few days. They do have a computer up there, but mom doesn't like for anyone to be on it while she is awake. I may try to log on in the evenings and blog a bit.

Keep me in your prayers.

Pax

Serendipity and Seeing Young Friends Again

I dropped the angelbaby and her two friends off at Religion Class and was on my way home this morning when who should I see on one of our local streets but a home-school family that I know from the parish where I used to work. I haven't seen them in at least a month and never got a chance to say goodbye to them.

It turned out that this being Thursday, they had driven up here to stand at the abortion clinic to pray the rosary with other Catholics as they do every Thursday. This mom and her six kids do this, rain or shine, summer or winter every Thursday unless something like illness keeps them away.

I stopped my car, got out and joined them. One of the little girls (she is about 4 1/2) hugged me as if she wouldn't ever let me go. She was really happy to see me again. It was really nice to talk to all of the kids, and the mom. They have been a family that I had shared thoughts with and ministered to in my work at the parish.

It was really a joy to spend an hour with them praying for an end to abortion, and watching the children pray so fervently. One of the boys actually said that he thought that maybe we had saved a life today. I told him that I thought that maybe we had.

I think maybe I will try to make this part of my every Thursday routine. It did make me feel as though I was doing something, praying for the children and their parents who are being deceived by the abortion industry in my town. Maybe I will see if the angelbaby wants to come with me.

Pax

Demise of the Early Church. . .

Class, that is. My Early Church Class is over.

Woo Hoo !!!

Three more classes to go, after that a final and I will be done with Gradual School.


Wait a minute, is that a light I see at the end of the tunnel or is that the oncoming train deceiving me?

Sadly (for me at least) My final three classes are Philosophy classes, so I will spend the next year of my life immersed in philosophy scratching my head and saying whaaaaaa?

Please keep me in your prayers as I continue to pursue this path.

I am taking a quick week study break to read a book I got as a going-away gift from one of the members of the RCIA at the parish where I worked. It is called: The Dream Giver by Bruce Wilkinson. I am finding it to be very inspiring actually. The allegory at the beginning was fascinating, and the help in discernment in the second half of the book is just what I need to move forward from where I was to wherever it is God wants me to go next.

Even if that includes reading Philosophers for a year.

Pax

Maybe Kids are Just Plugged In More Securely

So, the angelbaby is having her week-long religious education blitzkrieg at church this week. I don't know if I am a big fan of this format, especially since she just got out of regular school for summer vacation last Thursday and now she is back in a classroom form 9 till 3 every day for a week. As a Religious Educator I wonder if this is the best way to impart faith to children, as I parent I wish this weren't the only choice my parish offered, and as a former DRE I know that it isn't supposed to be the only choice, but in our case it is.

Each day I drive the angelbaby and two other kids from our neighborhood across town to church (because their parents work and can't do the transportation thing each morning and afternoon).

Anyway, today the topic was "talking to God". The angelbaby got into the car for the drive home and announced to me that she had talked to God today about what she should be when she grows up and God told her she should be a Dr.

I wonder if this was her mind working overtime or if this was reinforced in some way by the catechist in her classroom. I am all for teaching my child to "talk to God every day". I am also not averse to teaching her to begin to do some vocational discernment. My big problem comes when she feels so confident that God answered her so specifically.

It did give us a chance to talk about vocations and what it would take to begin to prepare for a medical career. (The angelbaby will be in fourth grade in the fall, so there is plenty of time if God has truly called her to this career path.) I would never tell her that God didn't call her to this, but I do want her to understand that if that is true she has to be willing and able to do the hard work to get her self ready to live in the vocation to which God has called her.

When she got home her big sister told her that to talk to God was normal, if God talked back, that was just crazy.

Who knows, maybe she did get that specific an answer from God. I have been struggling with vocational discernment for over a year now, and in fact will be going to a workshop in August to help me decide what it is that God wants me to do next with the gifts He has given me. Maybe He is telling me, and I am just not as securely plugged into Him as my angelbaby is.

Who knows.

Pax

Affirmations

I have been away from my job for a bit over two weeks now. Each day there are signal graces that come that affirm that my leaving my position was the right thing to do. My mood is much better, I am much more relaxed, just to name a few.

I went in to visit the other day on my way to the dentist office, and I was so glad that it was just a visit. I don't miss working there at all. Don't get me wrong, I do miss the people I worked with, but I don't miss the stress of the job, or the politics of parish life.

I got a call from one of the volunteers I worked with down there today. She was telling me that she was concerned that people had the wrong idea about how things were run while I was there and wanted to defend me. I told her that I really didn't care. My legacy was the hearts I touched, not what people thought of my last few months when I was working while I was ill and under pressure trying to decide if I should stay or go.

I really am glad to be out of that situation. Each day brings some new blessing, and a little more peace.

Pax

Your Political Profile:

Overall: 65% Conservative, 35% Liberal

Social Issues: 50% Conservative, 50% Liberal

Personal Responsibility: 50% Conservative, 50% Liberal

Fiscal Issues: 100% Conservative, 0% Liberal

Ethics: 50% Conservative, 50% Liberal

Defense and Crime: 75% Conservative, 25% Liberal

How Liberal Or Conservative Are You?

I think this test was poorly written and the choices were a bit to skewed, there was no room for the many shades of grey, but I think it was pretty accurate for what they were trying to achieve. I would call myself a fiscally conservative environmentalism, who believes in the sanctity of all human life from conception to natural death. Voting for either political party in this country under those parameters has always been a challenge.

Pax

Ted Harvey Strikes a Blow for the Truth

This story tells of the courageous and foolhardy move of Colorado State representative Ted Harvey, who brought Gianna Jessen in to sing the National Anthem at the State House on the day that they were honoring Planned Parenthood.

For those of you who aren't familiar with the name, read the story. What a master stroke of subversive politicking. Gianna is the poster child for the aftermath of our Contraceptive Culture. She is a testament to God's grace and mercy, and the fact that she was willing to pitch in and help bring down the mighty shows what an effective tool for the truth her life has become.

Wow, I sure wish we had a few Ted Harvey's here in Indiana.

Thanks to Tony at Catholic Pillow Fight for the Original link.

Pax

Steven Colbert Isn't Really a Jerk, He Just Plays One on TV

That's really good to know, because this clip would pretty much prove otherwise, one would think.






If he is only acting, this man deserves an Emmy!


thanks to Mark Mossa SJ for the link

The Letter Meme

From Glorybe I got this neat little game. You leave a message in my comment box and I assign you a letter and then you have to think of ten things that begin with that letter and tell us why they are meaningful to you.

Glorybe assigned me the Letter L. I have been meditating on it all day. It really is a lot harder than you might think.

These are in no particular order, so here goes:

Light- Ask anyone who knows me and they will tell you that I am terrified of the dark. If God had wanted us to live in the dark He never would have created light. And hey it was important enough to have been created FIRST! It took years for me to learn to sleep in a room without a night light, and even now when I am in a strange room (like a hotel room) I have to leave a light on somewhere so I can find my way around. Absolute darkness, the kind like you find in caves seriously creeps me out.

Laity- Let's face it, no matter how much schooling I get, I will never be anything more than a BOLP (Basic Ordinary Lay Person) within the Church. For me, there is absolutely nothing wrong with that. I am called to be one of the lay faithful. It is where I belong. We are the heart and soul of the church, and many times its hands and feet as well.

Luscious- this is one of my very favorite descriptors. It describes the sensation of everything from the taste of good dark chocolate to the feel of a warm bed with clean sheets.

Laughter- This is one of the basic building blocks of my personal sanity arsenal. If I can learn to laugh at myself, and the troubles and travails of my day then I am way ahead of the game. A sense of glee, and joy and the ability to see the funny side of situations can really help us get through the difficult times.

Lightning bugs - ever since I was a little kid one of my favorite things was to collect lightening bugs in a jar. I remember our back yard being filled with them when I was growing up. A time or two I have coaxed the angelkids to chase after them even today.

Lactose- most people will think this is pretty insignificant, but I can tell you from personal experience that if you are intolerant to this your life can be miserable. I now have a nice little blue supplement that I take every morning with my vitamins and it gives my body the bacillus that it needs to digest lactose. Now I get to enjoy all of the milk and ice cream and cream I want. Yum!

Lungs- Two very important organs in your body. In the last year I have come to understand exactly how important my lungs are because they haven’t been working quite like they should. I have become an asthmatic due to acute onset allergies. You never appreciate the ability to breathe easily quite so much until you can’t. Take my word on that.

Latin- This one is more just for me, the more I am exposed to Latin, especially Ecclesial Latin, the more I wish I had studied it in high school and college when I had the chance. I will probably have to take courses in it now and the thought of learning it at my age is daunting, but the way things sound in Latin sure is beautiful. Lex orandi legem credendi constituit* for example. (*how we pray informs what we believe for those who want a quick translation)

Lips­- One of my personal favorite parts of the face. I have often said that I receive communion in the hand because I commit many more sins with my lips than I ever do with my hands. Lips can be beautiful, and they can cause great harm. Be careful what you put into and let come forth from yours.

Love- God is love, after all. If everyone lived with that in mind wouldn’t the world be an amazing place. Poets and troubadours have been trying to tell us that for centuries. As in “All you need is Love” But my favorite musical reference has to be “Love will find a way”. Unfortunately for most people, they keep mistaking other things for love (sometimes even indigestion).


This was a lot of fun. Anyone who wants to try just has to leave me a comment and I will choose a letter for you to expound upon.

Pax

My Mothering Style

Found this at the MotherStyles Quiz Page

Your type is: istp —The “Give 'Em Their Space” Mother

“My feelings are my own business. Not theirs.
So I honor their privacy too.”

• Non-intrusive and respectful of differences, the ISTP mother gives her children the personal space they need to develop as separate, self-sufficient individuals. As children grow and mature, she enjoys observing how each one becomes his or her own person. She seeks to accept and honor each child’s interests, opinions, and choices.
• The ISTP mother does not believe in authority or control for its own sake. Instead, she favors a non-directive approach. Yet she has high expectations for each child’s self-discipline as a key to self sufficiency.
• To these ends, the ISTP mother wants to “be there” for her children—to meet their basic needs and keep them safe. Her goal is to help her children think for themselves and take responsibility for their own actions.

The description is actually pretty accurate for me. Now if I could just get them to be a little neater. Mrangelmeg would say I have no room to criticize and he would be right. I guess now that I am at home with them, we can work together to be neater.

What? Is that laughing I hear? It could happen!


Thanks to Alexa for the link.

Pax

This Week's Reason Why I Love Our Pope

Gotta have our weekly dose of B16! This one seriously helps me with my kids:

"Human love must be purified, it must mature and go beyond its own limits
in order to become truly human, to be the origin of true and lasting joy, to
respond to that demand for eternity it carries within itself and which it cannot
relinquish without betraying itself. This is the fundamental reason for which
love between man and woman is fully realized only in marriage."

In all educational endeavors, "in the formation of man and of the Christian,
we must not leave to one side the great question of love out of fear or human
respect," warned the Pope. "If we should do so, we would present a disincarnated
Christianity, which cannot seriously interest the youth who is opening to life.

"But we must also introduce the integral dimension of Christian love, in
which love for God and love for man are indissolubly united and where love for
one's neighbor is an extremely concrete commitment."

Read the entire text of the article: Christianity Helps Make Love Healthy, Says Pope; Date: 2006-06-06 Code: ZE06060607

This is what mrangelmeg and I have been trying to teach our children from the time they were very small. When you are two voices competing against a society that is filled with MTV and Entertainment television that spreads the news of the latest out-of-wedlock baby as though it were the greatest thing in the world, it can feel as though you are screaming in a vacuum.

But, because we know we are speaking the truth, and because we are practicing what we are preaching, we continue to send the message. It is nice to know that Benedict the Panzer Pope has our back!!!

Now, how do I just casually slip this quote onto the refrigerator? I think there is a space right there between the 100% spelling paper and the grocery list, yeah that's the perfect spot.

Pax

We are Haiku Church?

The Ironic Catholic: Ironic Catholic Haiku Contest

Well, there is room for everyone, some of these are really good.

Pax

When Nap Becomes Prayer

I am not advocating napping as a form of prayer, but in my case I am acting in obedience when I spend a bit of each day napping. When I surrender each day to my bodies need to shut down and regenerate I am in a way doing God's will, so long as I am not neglecting some other duty in order to take these naps. My condition is getting better, but I still find no matter how carefully I program my day, there comes a time in the mid to late afternoon when my energy level is completely depleted and I am running on empty.

When I was working I would find myself trying desperately to keep going in these hours aided by caffeine and lots of deep breathing, but still there were days when I just couldn't make it through the afternoon without a nap. I suppose in the lexicon of big business one might call it the "power nap", but in the world of the parish they were hard to come by.

When I realize that I will need to nap, and I allow time in my day for a nap without feeling guilty or that I am taking time away from something else in order to do it, in a way it does feel as though I am doing something spiritual. When I wake up I can return to whatever it was I was doing with a refreshed mind and heart.

Those countries that practice the siesta have the right idea. I just call it necessary to my healing process.

If only I could convince my professors at Gradual School of the necessity of the mid afternoon 20 minute nap! Now that would be awesome!

Pax

Software Can Make You Crazy

I spent the morning trying to do my assignment for my Early Church History class on my new computer which came with Corel software installed so all I had available to work with was Wordperfect (which I am sure is a wonderful program).

Unfortunately no matter what I did I just couldn't get Wordperfect to do what I wanted it to do. After a very annoying hour of trying to get the words on the page to format the way I wanted them to, I finally gave up and drove to the store and purchased Microsoft Office software.

I guess there is some truth to the adage about the heck you know. I am sure that if I had had the time and the inclination I could have learned how to use the new software, but I have a project that is 100% of my grade in this class due on Saturday and three other people are counting on my part of this project being done and done well. I can't "learn" how to use this software as I am polishing this project.

I will stick with the one I know. Maybe later when I have the time and not a deadline over my head I will find that the other software is amazing. Or not.

Pax

I Love My Kids!

Because they find cool stuff like this on YouTube and share it with me:


Mortal Peeps

Gotta love those peeps, especially when I don't have to eat them!


Pax

My First Week as a Stay at Home Mom

After six years of working full time the first week at home has taken some adjustment.

The kids are still in school, so I am still getting up most mornings at the break of dawn to drive one daughter to her high school which doesn't provide transportation. I say most, because mrangelmeg has pitched in a few mornings and allowed me to sleep in, which has been really sweet of him, as my energy level is still way below normal.

I spent one glorious afternoon (and I am talking the entire afternoon, from 12:15 until 5:45) carting children from one place to another without ever seeing the inside of my house again. Ah I remember those days well. If I am a stay at home mom, why do I spend so much time in my car?

I did get a chance to catch up on laundry, or so I thought until the girls cleaned their room today and brought down about three loads of new laundry into my totally clean laundry room floor. Ah, wouldn't it be nice if they could learn how to do their own laundry?

I spent a nice couple of afternoons doing research and writing (well formatting really) some stuff for our presentation on Tertullian, which is due at my class in Early Church History next weekend at Gradual School. It has been great to have a quiet house and my own computer to work on with no one clamoring to get internet time.

And, as much as I would like to think that I am back to my old self, I am still very drained, and not healthy yet. I have been napping every day, but at least now I can nap when I want to and not have to worry about falling asleep in the car, or at my desk. I actually think that my naps have been getting shorter too. At least I hope they have.

I go back to see the Dr. on Wednesday morning. I hope he sees some improvement in my condition. I think there is some, at least I am less stressed out. The medications seem to be working and so long as I stay away from the foods I am allergic to I feel pretty good. I may have even gained a pound or two this week.

The kids get out of school this week, so things should settle down even more when I am not having to drive someone around every single day. At least I hope they do.

Pax