A Good Day

Did you ever have a day or two where you felt at the end of it that it just went exactly the way you wanted it to?


That was this weekend.


First, a few quotes that I don't want to forget.


After receiving ashes on his forehead on Ash Wednesday with his Mama, Elijah was exhorted with the same phrase that we all received - "Turn from sin, and be faithful to the gospel". For the rest of the day, anytime Boo and I locked horns, he said "Mommy, I'm turning from bad!" I couldn't figure out what he meant at first, then realized he was referencing the exhortation from church. That kid is a sponge.


On getting ready for Joe and Nicole to come over Saturday night, I needed to stop at the store for snacks - I was tired and didn't really want to go to the store, but there was nothing in the house to serve. Elijah said, "Don't worry about it Mommy. I can make them peanut butter and jelly."


And at 2 am Sunday morning, when Olivia padded out to see why Mom and Dad weren't in bed yet, Joe made the following comment which made me happy: "How come other people get angry kids, and you have happy kids?"


Anyway, back to the narration. I think I'll have to go backwards chronological - sorry about that, it's just how I think.


Olivia has been in need of some TLC. Because she is so hyperactive, she doesn't get to go out with me as much as Elijah. It's not favoritism; it's just not practical to take her to an hour-long doctor's appointment, for example. She just started to notice how much she gets left behind. So I decided she needed a special treat, and in a completely surprise move, I asked her Daddy to let her get her ears pierced. This is a little out of character for me, because I wasn't sure I wanted to get her ears pierced at all, let alone so early. But it just felt like the right kind of treat for the little princess. She has been admiring my earrings. She now has cute little pink studs. I am going to try to be more sensitive to situations where we can have special Mommy/Liv time.



Sunday was the Rite of Sending at our church in the morning, then the Call to Continuing Conversion for Candidates at the Cathedral in the amazing. In the morning, the coordinator of the RCIA program presented us to Fr. Weiss, and then Fr. presented us to the church with the approval and recommendation of our sponsors. Then the church was "sending" us to the Cathedral, to be recognized by the bishop. The Cathedral is pretty amazing. Michelle drove me to the Cathedral. It was bitter, bitter cold, and the wind was blowing so hard that it pushed our voices back into our mouths. The rite in the evening was beautiful, the music was amazing and the service was bilingual English and Spanish, and that was really, really cool. Our church is beautiful, too, though, and I got teary-eyes in the morning watching people receive communion and watching Father give a blessing to the little children who are too young to receive yet.

SMALLVILLE BUYS A SUIT

Today (Monday) Lee was able to attend a congressional hearing through his politics class in school. He got to meet Arlen Specter and have a photo taken with him. For this occasion, Lee needed to dress up - since he is really interested in politics right now, he wanted to make a good impression. So he went out Saturday afternoon after I got off work to be fitted for a suit. This is a Big Deal. It was a Big Moment for him. To Lee, it felt like this was a moment of becoming who he really is - stepping away from his past and into his future. I hope that comes across as I mean it to. I'm not sure I can put the feeling into words. Sometimes, you can just tell that something is important to someone, and even if you can't understand it, you can step back and enjoy it.

Nan got a picture of him in his suit - he looked so dashing it took my breath away. It made him feel good about himself. When I see Nan this week, I will upload the picture.

Although Lee is not an "A" student, his teachers love him because he is passionate and has a genuine interest in what he studies. This opens up a lot of doors for him.

Oh, and like I said, we had Joe and Nicole over on Saturday night. We watched Ghosthunters together and shared a half a case of Parrot Bay (yours truly excluded, but it smelled good anyway). I was so tired that I curled up on the futon around midnight - around 2:30 Lee told me to go to bed. Our friends stayed til about 4, just watching TV, listening to music, and talking about books. That was neat, though it made me really tired for Sunday (sorry again about the reverse chronological order there)

By the by, this is the most brutal pregnancy ever. I am in the bathroom constantly because a certain little someone never ever ever sits still (kind of like his big sister). But honestly, he is really active, and often to the point of pain. And he has almost three months to get bigger. This little one is definitely going to be a strong little man.

Now its Monday night. I was so beat after staying up so late Saturday, and Sunday's busy-ness, that I left work a little early (8.5 hours instead of 9.5). We took Nan for her yearly birthday dinner, then I found I was too tired to go to RCIA. Now I'm curled up at home and...zzzzzzz............