7 Quick Takes (take 3)

-1-

I’ve had a roller coaster of a week, emotionally speaking, and decided on Wednesday that what I really needed was to sit in the presence of God for a bit (sounds nice, doesn’t it?). So I proceeded to the Adoration Chapel at St. Helen’s in Georgetown with all 3 girls. I’ll admit I didn’t think it all through prior to departure, but looking back, that is probably a good thing as I probably would not have even attempted it if I had actually thought it all through! The thing is that Adoration Chapels are SILENT places of worship and my girls are almost never SILENT (especially not all at the same time)! Well, we arrived at the chapel (thanks to my friend Jennifer’s on the road directions since I also neglected to print msyelf a map prior to leaving the house) and entered to find only one other person quietly praying. It was a grandpa figure who smiled warmly at us as we entered. I picked up a rosary for each of us from the table of prayer materials and the girls quietly played with their rosaries for about two decades. At that point, Violet wanted out of her carseat, Molly wanted out of the sling & Livy wanted to walk around! With a good deal of bouncing, reminders to be quiet & chasing of the toddlers, I managed to wrap up my rosary in record time. By that point, two grandmas had entered and were also smiling sweetly at the girls. It wasn’t exactly the oasis I was hoping for, but it was good to be there and good for the girls to be there, too. I believe there are graces flowing where the Holy Eucharist is present and I, for one, fail to take advantage of the opportunity all too often. I was also encouraged by the smiling support of the older folks who had come to pray – there were no stern glances or sighs of disgust – it was just the opposite. All around, I consider it a success (though I hope to get back sometime on my own for more in-depth soul searching).

-2-

On that same trip, we stopped at two Hallmark stores to look for a Baby’s First Christmas Ornament for Violet. Yes, I am a little behind (okay A LOT behind), but I am definitely one of those better late than never people and I figure that Violet has no idea whether she had her ornament on Christmas day or not (I’ll have to delete this post before she can read, I guess). Well, I was quite proud of myself for having all three girls in two Hallmark stores without an incident and then it happened. As we were buying our ornaments at the second store, I heard a crash behind me and turned to Livy who immediately said “It was an accident!” She had been admiring a Precious Moments figurine and it toppled over and the head broke off. I turned it over – $45!!! Whew – not really in my budget right now, especially knowing that it would surely never survive since it had already broken before even purchasing it. I took it to the counter and explained that my daughter had broken it. I asked what their policy was and said I was willing to purchase it if need be. The manager said that wouldn’t be necessary – what a kind soul! We had a good talk on the way home about not touching things in the store, being especially careful with fragile things, staying close to Mama, and admitting it when we make a mistake. We also talked about how nice it was of the store manager to forgive us and not make us buy the statue. What a “teachable moment”!

-3-

Is it just me or are JR’s posts so much more entertaining than mine? I thought at first that it was because he had better subject matter (camping, for example), but then I really enjoyed the technology one he posted last night. I have always thought it was quite impressive that he has this incredibly gifted left-brain/analytical/logical side of him, but he is also incredibly creative (how many kids did both science fairs & playacting). I guess it is that combination that makes him a natural engineer. And lo & behold, I found this definition in Wikipedia which states that “Some consider this profession (engineering) to be the link between art and science.” There you have it. I am married to a renaissance man (he didn’t make the official list yet, but he is only 30, give him a few more years)!

-4-

I don’t have a Facebook account. It’s just not me – I mean, it all seems so superficial. I don’t mean that as harshly as it sounds – I just mean that you don’t really know people if you read their status updates and see their pictures. JR has an account and has befriended a good number of my friends (some current and some from way back when) and so from time to time, I look through their pages and I am always left wanting – in many cases, more than before I even saw their pages. I really want to know the story behind it all – who are those folks in the pictures, what does it mean that so-and-so is “wishing today were over” – what happened? I guess I’m saying I’d rather have the whole story than just a headline. And especially with regard to “long lost friends” from high school or beyond, I’d be curious what kind of person they are today, but don’t really need to know that some random classmate is dying to see the next episode of Lost. And I just have to add my two other complaints while I’m at it – what does it mean to have 800 ‘friends’? You can’t possibly have a relationship with that many people nor be interested in what these 800 people have to say to all of their friends (since you get notice every time they write on someone’s wall as I understand it). And additionally, why is all of that communication public – I mean if I have something to say to my friend, why do my 799 other friends have to eavesdrop? Anybody with me, here?

-5-

So the fitness center at National Instruments has started this program called Healthy Eating Every Day with an exercise component. It is a 14-week program with the goal of nutritional and physical fitness education. There is a weekly meeting on nutrition (including a textbook!) and a weekly workout with a personal trainer. It is only $35 and you don’t have to join the gym! So I signed up. I figured it would help me lose the last 20 lbs of baby weight (yeah, that much still to go and 30 lbs already gone!) and give me a better foundation for understanding what makes us healthy so that I would be a better role model for my family. They had a pre-assessment last week where they measured height, weight, etc. and then did screenings for blood pressure and cholesterol (they will repeat all the tests after the 14-week program). I was surprised to learn that my “good” cholesterol was low. The nurse suggested I google “raise my ‘good’ cholesterol” and start adding some new foods to my diet (she mentioned salmon & flax seed). So apparently, this little program is actually going to require that I change some of my behaviors – yikes!

-6-

Liv had some funny stuff to say after preschool yesterday:

I’m a good eater.

She must have said this 20 times yesterday afternoon. Her teacher told me that she ate more pizza at the Valentine’s Day party than any other kid – 3 pieces!

Brittany & Blair are the same . . . except different.

Brittany & Blair are twins. She also has twin boys in her class of 10!

-7-

Didn’t JR do a super job sprucing up the website? I am especially fond of my new Shared Items box to the right. I’m sure you’re dying to know what I was reading last October, so feel free to click the “Read More” link and scroll through the history of my shared items. I will fully admit, however, that for the longest time, JR was the only one reading my shared items so I would just put personal notes to him in the notes section (I know, I know, that was a completely inappropriate way to use this technology) so some of it comes across really random. Now that I have “people” reading my shared items, I will try to be more professional!

Hope you enjoyed my 7 Quick Takes – be sure to visit Jennifer at Conversion Diary for links to more 7 Quick Takes Friday!

Have a wonderful weekend!!