Ordinary Time

Happy ordinary time! I cannot believe Christmas has come and gone… seriously, life flies by sometimes. hmmmm...

Christmas Highlights:

Emmanuel – God with us. Wow. This hits me every year, amidst the crazy busy-ness of the season, God comes to be with us, to dwell among us, to die for us that we might live for Him. Wow. The Masses and prayers and readings of the Church so eloquently remind me just how personal it is. That the God of the universe loves me and came for me, to be with me, to offer His Body and Blood for me, daily, constantly. Wow. Wish I could be more eloquent, but wow!! I hope and pray this beautiful season gave you moments to pause and wonder in awe and the incredible Gift we have been given.

Family – that one word means and is and involves so much its hard to really describe what that means… and sometimes, after a busy season of family events, its nice to have a little break from all the events, but to know there is no break from family and that they are always there and always part of me and love me for who I am… it means lots of laughing, teasing, talking, chasing kiddos, drumming on a popcorn tin with the boys, kids on my lap down the slide, catching up with favorite uncles, aunts, cousins; games, my grandparents, and a thankfulness that they are still here to celebrate.

Oma Colette – my Oma (step grandma) died the week before Christmas. Her wake and funeral brought back so many memories of my grandma dying 6 years ago… seemed fresh all the sudden, a familiar grief, and yet different. In the midst of the sadness, I am overwhelmed by a profound gratefulness for this beautiful lady, Oma Colette, who was only in my life for about 4 years, but was such a beautiful person and loved so completely. She had her own family, 4 kids, one grandchild, and married my grandpa and got 6 kids (plus spouses), 31 grandchildren, 5 great grandchildren. She immediately learned all of our names, our interests, and cared about each of us individually, never missed a birthday card, and really became part of our lives. She didn’t replace Grandma Ellen, who will always have a special place in my heart and my memory, but she stepped and became Oma and loved us and loved Gramps and took care of him and made him smile. The saddest part of all of this is watching my Gramps, a man I love dearly, lose another wife, another companion. And to know that he is alone again, a man that needs companionship to connect, since relationships and connections are a challenge for him… and yet, God knows and God loves him even more than I do and I need to trust that God will continue to work in Grandpa’s life and will comfort him and use his family to love him.

Hanging out with Geno & Lucy a couple days ago… Geno brought his alb so he could say Mass for me and Lu, did a great job, as always; gave Suzie her first communion (it was rice chex consecrated by a very reverent, but not ordained 3 year old, so I don’t think she (or I) and destined for hell over it…). At the end of Mass, Geno processes out and then comes back and talks to us for a few minutes, and then comments, “My have to go talk to the other people”… he goes over to the stairs, where, apparently, a crowd of imaginary adoring parishioners were waiting to greet him, he talks for a few minutes to the empty closet door, and then makes his way to talk to Suzie in her crate, then back to Lu and I. Love that kid! Both of them actually.

Joint Birthday Party – Yes, Owen turned 11 and Suzie turned 2 on Jan 5. Two of my favorite people… or favorite person and dog… yeah, anyway. So we went bowling with the fam, great times. I am awful (I bowl about once every 5 years and somehow my game doesn’t improve much with all that time) but I had a blast. When we first got to the bowling alley, Owen was holding Geno and said, “Its my birthday Geno” Geno responded, “Oh” and then watched the bowlers. Then I said, “Its Suzie’s birthday too!” He gets all excited, “We should sing Happy Birthday to her!!!” hhahahahaha, for some reason suzie having a birthday was more exciting than Owen this time, although Owen is one of Geno’s favorite people. After bowling, everyone came to my place for the birthday dinner. It’s a houseful but a lot of fun. Zuzu spent most of her party in her crate, but was fed a treat every few minutes by her adoring fans (Ben and Geno and Lu). Later in the evening I had her out (I held on to her so as to not overwhelm the munchkins) and Geno always pets her and talks to her and lets her lick his whole face (kinda like MaryBeth) and then laughs and goes back for more. All the sudden he realizes, “We need to sing happy birthday to her.” So Suzie got her own rousing rendition of happy birthday from the fam, all the while licking her buddy and wagging her tail nearly off with excitement.

New Years Eve – I hosted a new years eve and regift party with lots of my friends, great fun. After a hilarious round of re-gifts and games, I ended up with a candle making kit (that might actually get used), an ornament that I had attached to my regift that somehow jumped gifts and ended up on my tree (grrrr), and a random bag containing an electric carving knife, 4 blue plastic drink glasses (one of them has already been converted to a chalice for Geno’s Mass), and a star for a christmas tree… so random. In addition, a few people “forgot” to take their hard earned re-gifts home, so the next unsuspecting visitor got a great Christmas gift- ceramic duck planter, refried beans, beanie dog, and some other randomness I cant remember now. Other than the regifts, it was great to celebrate with friends and hang out with some of my favorite munchkins too.

Friends / Out of town friends- It was great getting to see and hang out with friends throughout the last few weeks. The Novecoskys and Archibalds from out of town. College peeps, in town friends, everyone! and lots of Christmas cards and pictures from friends all over, which are fun to read and see how much everyone’s kids have grown in the past year. I need to re-do the fridge now to incorporate all the new pix!

Christmas Eve Eve with Fiona – I love my little sis and it was great to just spend time together. Lots of laughing! We went shoe shopping - and found some very cute black shoes for Fi that i want to steal. Then we went to Mass, and Fiona came home with me (yay sister time)and we had dinner and baked... Donal was around and participating in the baking too, which is always fun. He made sour cream pear coffee cake (delicious), and we made fudge, and some other stuff i really can't remember right now... hmmmm... Christmas Eve, Fiona and I slept in and then joined the fam for brunch at my parents, where we at said delicious coffee cake, and we opened gifts with the siblings. Good times. And of course, I should also mention we stayed up late making soap bottle aprons for my sisters/ sisters in law… What fun!

Games - i gave the fam a new game "Munchkin" which is very complicated, but a blast once you figure it out. We worked thru the rules Christmas Eve and then played a full game on christmas day, i highly recommend it. Especially the hilarious cards and tools for beating the monsters, like "Pantyhose of Giant Strength" and the "Hammer of Kneecapping". We played a rousing game of Munchkin on Christmas day, and were beat by Anne B., in spite of my “pantyhose of giant strength” and my “really cool title” card. And then on Sat 12/30, a group of us played at my mom’s family party and I kicked butt.

Down time- It was great to have a new few days off work to clean the house, make chair covers for the dining room, sleep in, visit, coffee… Christmas morning with just me and the BOC, waking up nice and late, drinking coffee while they enjoyed their new gifts- new red collars, hooves to chew on, beef bones, yum. New years day, reflective silence and relaxation. Down time is so beautiful.

Gifts – most fun are well received gifts I gave- the girls got a kick out of the soap bottle aprons, Geno was thrilled with the 2-inch Winnie the Pooh I gave him and immediately stole Lucy's Piglet. Owen liked the plaid pants and rugby shirt and they fit him great. I got the Compendeum of the Catechism and some cute silver earrings from Hannah (who drew my name). My sis Kate also made me some fudge, Bessie gave me a gingerbread man (better than no man at all, but not quite what i prayed for) and Em gave me a beautiful framed picture (one of his own photos, very nice). My parents gave me a huge dictionary (I’ve always wanted one), a game, and a beautiful silver cross necklace. Mostly the greatest gifts are the intangible things, God becoming Man and giving us such amazing people to share our lives with.