Posts Tagged Kids

So, today I am going to start baking homemade rolls for Thanksgiving.  We are going to be at a friend’s home this year (Thanks, Tiffany!) so I don’t have to actually prepare the entire meal, which is so nice!  And, there will be about twelve people, so that will be really nice, too.  I really prefer Thanksgiving when there are a lot of folks to enjoy it with.

We are also going to be cleaning house today and tomorrow, because this weekend, we will be putting up all of our Christmas decorations!  So, I am thinking about the Holidays, and how fast they seem to be racing toward us.  It will all be here (and then gone!) before I know it.

Faith’s friend, Anamarie, said something the other day that really made me think. I have not looked forward to celebrating Christmas for a very long time, because it seems like we are always so short on money when it rolls around, no matter how much I’ve saved for it during the year.  (This year, for example, I have had to dump almost $1000 into my car in the past WEEK!  That was Christmas money.  Now, it’s just a painful memory. )

But, back to Anamarie.  I was driving the girls somewhere, and she pipes up in her adorable little twelve-year-old voice and says “I can’t wait for Christmas!”  And I said “Really?  Why?  What is it that you enjoy most about Christmas?”  I wasn’t being sarcastic in any way.  I really wanted to know.  Sometimes it is just so nice to get a glimpse of the world through the eyes of a child.  It’s almost always a nicer place than I tend to think it is. Well, she explained that she loves putting up the tree, and opening presents, and getting to go to both of her grandmother’s homes for more presents and for yummy food.  Hmm.  I remember feeling excited about those things.  It was a long, long time ago.  Somehow that excitement has gotten away from me over the years.

Okay, I don’t mean to be on a total downer here.  I am merely taking an honest assessment.  And, yes, I am very well aware of the fact that Christmas is not supposed to be about all that stuff, but that all of that stuff is supposed to be about Christmas.  The birth of the Savior of the world, the Christ Child.  And we do things every year to remind ourselves of that fact, to celebrate and focus on that meaning.  We light the Advent Candles every evening, and pray together as a family.  We go to Daily Mass more often, and we attend special church services.  We celebrate Wigilia, and go to Midnight Mass.  And don’t get me wrong:  I *LOVE* those things!  But I still find it very difficult to get in the mood when the time comes.

But this year, I am really going to try, really hard, to focus on the *spirit* of the season, and not worry about all the rest of it.  Yes, I would really love a big family Thanksgiving or Christmas, where all my family joined us and we had this wonderful time together, then all went to church together.  I would love to feel a sense of hopefulness about the future of our country.  I would love to think that our house is about to sell!   But none of those things are real.  What is real, though, is God, and the blessings that He has given us.  So, I am focusing on the blessings, and on being Thankful for them, as we Head for the Holidays.

I have been so busy lately, that I haven’t even had time to check my email, much less blog.  Faith and I have been trying to figure out why we are so much busier this school year than we have been in the past, and we really aren’t sure.  Maybe it’s the quilting, or the violin.  Who knows?  At any rate, we have been moving at the supersonic speed of life, and I am taking a few moments (that I really shouldn’t spare!) to do a little ‘catch-up’ on here!

Faith entered three items in the Western North Carolina State Fair this year: a appliqued denim jumper, a crib quilt, and a crocheted scarf.  She got 2nd Place Ribbons for the jumper and the scarf, and third place for the quilt!  I am so proud of her.  When I was her age, I didn’t know anybody who could sew or crochet or quilt who was under the age of, say, 110!  And I certainly didn’t have any friends who entered crafts in the County Fair!

We have also started “Quilting 102″, and it already seems like it is going to be a lot of fun.  In the midst of all the sewing and quilting, we picked up a bushel of apples, and have put up a run of apple butter, applesauce and pie apples.  Mom has baked and frozen several apple pies, and we have been enjoying fresh baked apple crisps, pies, and cakes almost every night.  (Yeah, I really need to get back on that treadmill!)

L-R: Kendall, Lishi, Faith, Alex, Valarie & April

Alex started classes at Blue Ridge, and that is keeping him really busy.  He is also still taking French from a private tutor, and that  seems to be going really well.  She assures me he’s doing great, anyway!  I have always thought French sounded like someone trying to speak with a mouthful of oatmeal, but that is, indeed, what Alex sounds like, so I’m guessing that’s a good thing?   In his spare time, he is working at the Outback and has just joined “Company” at the Flat Rock Playhouse. We had a really cool birthday party for him this year, too.  He decided he wanted a “Victorian Era Theme Party”, so we all dressed up like we were from that time, and had a blast!  We got a couple of cool family pictures, while we were at it. (I just wish Gaylon had been here.)

Kendall has been staying busy with his Journalism studies, and finally got interested in doing something with the blog he set up almost a year ago.  He hasn’t done a LOT with it yet, but it’s coming.  He is finally talking about it, and making plans, which is a huge step!  Check him out and leave some encouragement: Kendall Brooks, Unedited.

I am trying to find time to work on a genealogy website that I have been playing with for about a year, myself.  Hopefully, I will get some time this year.  I really have some great ideas, just no time to implement them.  But, hopefully I’ll get it up and running soon!

Anyway, that’s the update.  I have to get moving now, because Faith and I are headed to Mary Jo’s Fabric Store in Gastonia today, on our way to pick Gaylon up at the aiport!  Yay!

I can’t seem to find happy news anywhere. The economy is still in trouble.

An airplane carrying 228 people disappeared over the Atlantic Ocean a few nights ago, apparently due to flying into a “towering wall of thunderstorms”!!

Obama is over in the Middle East.  That in itself is a bit frightening, but then he goes on to say that America is one of the largest Muslim countries in the world, right on the heels of his comment that we are not a Christian nation, and bowing to the king of Saudi Arabia? (Make no mistake:  if the rest of the world thought ill of us because of Bush, Obama’s spineless groveling is surely not garnering any respect, either!)

That “late-term abortionist” Dr. Tiller was shot and killed on Sunday, so one nutjob has made everyone else in the pro-life movement look bad.  The fact of the matter is, we support and honor all life, even the life of scum-sucking maggots like Tiller.  We are not relativists, like the pro-choice camp.

Faith and Bandit

And probably the worse news of all, at least to me, is that two of our cats have gone missing.  Kendall’s amazing cat, Colonel Mustard and Faith’s cat, the coolest cat that ever lived, Bandit.  Nobody has seen Bandit since Monday, and Mustard has been gone since sometime Tuesday.  This is really, really weird for both of them.  We have, of course, heard lots of stories about cats who disappear for days, weeks, or even months at a time, and then miraculously come home.  I am praying that that will be the case here.  But my heart is so heavy, and I am so sad for my little girl, who is absolutely devastated.

A few months ago, Faith wrote the most delightful children’s story, complete with illustrations that she drew and colored herself, based on Bandit.  It’s called  Trouble in Space.  Bandit inspired her in so many ways, and he has kept the rest of us totally entertained by his adorable antics.  He just HAS to come home!

She has never had good luck with pets.  When she was about three years old, her cat, Daisy, was shot and killed by our druggie neighbors, probably for “sport”.  Then, when she was seven, her little black dog, Angus, was killed by a hit-and-run driver right in front of our house, while Faith and Alex stood at the side of the road, screaming.  Then, in October 2007, her cat, Hermione, disappeared.  So, when she got Bandit from the pet store as a tiny kitten, she swore she’d never let him out of the house.  Eventually, though, it became apparent that he desperately wanted to go outside, and so she gave in, because she loved him so much.  And now he’s gone.

She cried herself to sleep last night.  I woke up every two hours, hoping and praying that he’d be waiting on the front porch this morning.  But no.  And now, Mustard is gone, too.  He is much older, and we had recently been concerned about his health, but we are not in any way ready to say goodbye to him. It’s going to be really dark around here for a few days, at least.

This has been one of the longest weeks I can ever remember.  Starting out any week with mourning is always tough.  But, to add to the mix, on Monday night, Alex wrecked his new car.  He is okay, but his car is not. He is not sure what happened, but thankfully nobody else was involved.  He lost control of his car just past the Green River Bridge on 176.  He said he wasn’t speeding, and I believe him.  That is a really winding road, and it was a really dark night.  Interestingly, just a few days later, a friend of his lost control of her vehicle in almost the same spot.  Only she was luckier than Alex, and didn’t hit anything.  He hit an embankment.  Thanks be to God, because he could have ended up going over the edge of the road into a ravine.  So, anyway, once he’s done with Orphan Train, he is planning on going back to work to pay for damages to his little car.

Tuesday found me doing laundry and a bit of cleaning for Bonnie’s family.  Mom went to help, and that was really nice.  We came home to find Faith with a 102.8 degree fever, and her upper lip really swollen.  Note to anyone who might need this info:  Alleve can cause swelling and hives.  So, no more Alleve for Faith!  Benadryl seemed to fix the swelling, but she ran fever for another day, and started finally feeling better by Thursday.

Thursday afternoon we attended Bonnie’s funeral.  She was buried in an absolutely beautiful location, high up, overlooking the mountains.  It was a glorious autumn day, and I am sure I felt her smiling at all of us.  Her service was short and very sweet. Her pastor talked about how Bonnie had kept a journal, and in part of it she had made a list of the things she wanted to do before she died.  One of those things was hiking up to the top of a mountain with her family and singing “How Great Thou Art”.  Although her children didn’t get to go along,  she and her husband did do just that.  And I thought about how all the things I seem to want to do cost a lot of money and involve so much time.  Like travelling to Greece or Europe.  I think I am going to make a conscious effort to want the things that God gives to us for free.  I think there’s some sort of great wisdom buried in that simplicity.  It seems even in death, Bonnie is still teaching me!

Last night we had our Halloween Party, and it was nice.  Almost all of Kendall’s friends were unable to come because of a football game at Appalachian State, so it seemed much quieter than last year!  However, we enjoyed the friends that did come, and the food and games.

Today, as you may have noticed, has been spent updating my blog again.  I never did really get used to the ‘theme’ I was using.  Even though it was very customizable, it just wasn’t ‘me’.  I found one I really liked a couple of weeks ago, but haven’t had time until today to play with it and make it work.  I am very happy that I’ve been able to tweak the code to make everything that I was having trouble with work for me.  Let me know if you find anything strange that I need to fix, such as broken links or missing images, or places where images just don’t seem to fit right.

So, that concludes our long week.  Next week, with the election, may feel even longer.  God Bless America.

Alex got his provisional driver’s license yesterday.  He has since driven himself all over the place, and we are confident that he will soon master that gear shift, resulting in much smoother take-offs and no more stalling out at stoplights!  He says it feels like he suddenly sprouted wings.  Yeah. . . I remember that feeling.  There is nothing in the life of a teenager quite as liberating as having a car and beginning to feel some sense of freedom. He still can’t drive after 9:00 pm, which I think is an odd choice of curfew, since any movie one might want to go see would most likely end at or after that time, but it only lasts for six months, providing he doesn’t have any violations during that time.  The curfew also prevents him from driving himself to most of his play rehearsals, since they typically end at 9:00 pm.

In other news, Gaylon and I got a really nice treat when we went out to eat at Carrabba’s tonight.  It took them 55 minutes to get our order to us, and so, when they did finally bring it, they informed us it was “on the house”!  All we had to do was tip our waiter!  So for the price of what it would have cost us to eat at McDonald’s, we both got our meals, tiramisu (ummmm. . . .) Gaylon got coffee and I had two glasses of wine!  That is hard to beat!

There seems to be plenty of gasoline, now, which is also really nice.  After that last big hurricane that hit Galveston, we had a major gasoline shortage here in the Southeast.  Asheville even shut down the schools and city offices for a couple of days, because people simply couldn’t get to work.  But, things seem to be okay now.  I think there needs to be some sort of contingency plan, because I seriously doubt that that will be the last hurricane to hit the Gulf Coast states.

I continue to be amazed by the politics in our country.  I heard an ad for Obama on the radio yesterday, telling me that McCain plans to tax health insurance benefits, and that he even states such on his website.  The ad was clear, concise, and very convincing.  Even though I know that Obama is not who he pretends to be, it was almost tempting to believe him.  But, being the research freak that I am, I looked up McCain’s website, just to see if it was true.  It is not.  In fact, they have devoted an entire page on his site refuting the lies in Obama’s ads.  I get so sick of this garbage!  But then, I guess if I had the voting record and the funding sources and supporters that Obama has, I wouldn’t want to talk about myself either, lest someone actually listen and realize the truth.  Much safer to attack the other guy.  Of course, McCain isn’t doing much better.  I am so discouraged by this campaign.  I have already begun to pray that God will send us a wonderful candidate in four years, because there certainly isn’t one this go-round.

And last but not least, if you haven’t checked out all the videos on YouTube and all the other video posting sites with Tina Fey (of Saturday Night Live fame) impersonating Sarah Palin, you’re really missing out on some great humor!  Tina Fey does such an amazing job, it’s sometimes easy to forget that she’s just a comdienne, and not Sarah Palin herself!  Back in 1980, I had the privelege of attending Ronald Reagan’s inaugural gala in Washington.  The best part was the celebrities!  I got to see Frank Sinatra sing New York, New York, and got to watch the inimitable Rich Little.  Bob Hope was there, too.  No, they don’t make ‘em like they used to, but Tina Fey really does do a great job that I think would even impress Rich Little.

Okay, so I have been bragging on my little girl a lot lately, so please indulge me while I brag, yet again, on her domestic skills!  My cousin, Branden, and his wife, Laura, just had a beautiful baby girl. (Otherwise known as “Princess Lily”!)  When Laura found out that Faith could crochet, she put in an order for a crochet cap for the baby.  Lily’s colors are chocolate and pink, so the hat, of course, had to match.  Faith did it all by herself, with absolutely no help from me.  She followed a pattern for the hat, but designed the flower herself.  Below is a picture (used with permission from Princess Lily’s Mom) of that precious baby wearing the hat that my precious baby made!

Lily wearing the Cap Faith made for her

It feels like I hit the ground running on Monday morning, and things have yet to slow down!  On Monday, Faith and I loaded Pippin up and took him to the vet to be neutered.   When we picked him up at 4:30 that afternoon, the poor little guy was absolutely stoned!  At one point, when he was trying to walk, he just fell over!!  However, he made a quick recovery and is doing great now.

Faith and also started working on her new denim jumper.  She has been after me to teach her how to sew, and this is what she wanted to start with.

On Tuesday, Faith and I went into town to pick up some extra fabric we needed for her jumper, and for a quilt she is planning to make.  Then we had lunch.  That evening, Alex and I had dinner with some friends, then all of us headed over to the Flat Rock Playhouse for a Spotlighter’s meeting, then got to go to the Dress Rehearsal of “Tuesdays With Morrie”.  It was a really poignant play, and gave us both a lot to think about.

Wednesday was spent with more sewing, and of course, schoolwork. I spent some time working on the website I am tring to get up and running for my genealogy research, too. It’s coming right along, but still nowhere near ready!

Thursday was spent doing more sewing, and hanging out with my friend, Lisa, in the afternoon.  That’s always a nice break!

Today has been spent finishing up the jumper, 90% of which Faith sewed by herself!  It is beautiful, and it looks so sweet on her.  Now we just finishing up packing so we can head over to the Eucharistic Congress.

My daughter is amazing! She is only 11 years old, but she can already sew, cook, crochet, and knit. And now, she can quilt, too! She recently decided that she wanted to make a quilt. So, she came to me and asked me if I had any fabric she could have to cut up. Well, I had plenty, left over from unrealized sewing projects over many years, and was glad that somebody wanted to do something with it. The next thing I knew, she had commandeered my sewing machine, and was stitching 6-inch squares of fabric together. She then climbed up to a forgotten corner of my closet where she had spied some batting, got it down and cut it to fit the pieces she had sewn together. Next thing I knew, she had produced a beautiful, bright quilt! Here are some pictures of her work.

Yesterday was Alex’s Sweet Sixteen.  He had a slumber party with all of his buddies last weekend, since his birthday landed in the middle of the week, and then we had a private family get-together last night to celebrate.  It took him forever to decide what he would like us to cook for him, but he finally decided on fried chicken (by Nana), homemade biscuits (by me,) mashed potatoes (by Faith), cream gravy (by Gaylon), and a Kentucky Butter Cake (by Lishi).  It was truly a group effort!  Kendall got out of helping because he didn’t get home from work until it was time to eat.

However, the food wasn’t really the best part.  The best part was waiting to see how long it would take him to notice that there was a new car parked in our driveway!  We all kept going out on the front porch, waiting to see if he’d come out to say hello and notice the car. . .but no.  He was busy on his computer, and completely oblivious to the world around him.  It was great!  After the car had sat there for several hours, he finally came out on the porch to ask me “When is Michael going to get here??!?”  Then he glanced at the car in the driveway.  Then he looked at me, and I said “I don’t know.”  He looked at the car again, then at me again.  “That’s not Michael’s car”, I stated.  He looked at the car yet again.  “Is it mine?” he asked, and I could see the light slowly start to dawn.  I handed him the key.

We all laughed.  Hard.  He didn’t care, just grabbed the key from me and ran out to claim his prize.  It is a black 2002 Honda Civic.  He loves it, but there is only one problem: Alex can’t drive a stick shift!  So the really fun part started this morning.

Alex and his New Car

I should have known he was up to something when he actually got out of bed early.  He came downstairs and ate, then headed outside.  Faith and I were doing school at the kitchen table. The dogs started barking like crazy, and Mom came in and said “What is that noise?”  Faith replied that she thought it was Alex.  And then it dawned on me:  he was in the driveway, practicing going forward and backward in his new car.  That terrible sound that had the dogs all in a frenzy was him popping the clutch and spraying gravel as he tried to figure out how to get his car into gear gracefully! He figured out almost immediately that it makes it go a lot more smoothly if you release the emergency brake first.

So, I ran outside to watch the show.  Yeah, I’m twisted, but hey!  That’s why we have kids, right?  For the entertainment value.  It’s just as fun and exciting to watch them try to figure out how to drive a stick as it is to watch them try to walk!  After about an hour, he took a break to work on his French homework, and I talked to him a bit and explained that sometimes you don’t have to press the clutch all the way down to the floorboard.  That was new and helpful information, and after he figured that out, he started having much more success with things.  By supper tonight he was very smoothly driving backward and forward up and down our driveway.

Now, you may be wondering why he is limiting himself to the driveway.  There are two reasons.  First, we don’t have a license plate on the car yet, and second, until he gets his license and insurance in about two weeks, he won’t be able to drive it at all.  But he hasn’t let that stop him.  He just has to go back and smooth out the deep ruts he created before he figured out how not to pop the clutch!

We went to the North Carolina 4-H State Congress in Raleigh this past Monday and Tuesday.  The Congress actually lasted all week, but we only needed to be there for those two days.  Alex and Faith both earned Silver Medals for their presentations! Since it was their first time to go to Congress, I think that’s really amazing!

Alex’s presentation was on “Oil In Our World”.  He explained what oil is, discussed some of its many, many uses (did you know that aspirin, heart valves and artificial limbs are all petroleum products??) and finally the concerns of oil, environmentally speaking.  Sadly, folks out here know absolutely nothing about oil or the oil industry, except what the liberal media tells them, so I don’t think the judges fully understood everything he said.  (Which is not to say he should have gotten a gold medal.  The girl who won that absolutely deserved it!  Her presentation was on debunking the global warming myth.  We loved it!)

Faith’s presentation was on Fireflies.  She did an awesome job discussing their habitat and range, their body parts, lifecycle and behaviors and even did a little section on “Fun with Fireflies” on how to attract them to your own yard and then study them.  Her presentation was called “Magical Fireflies”.

Both kids already have topics they plan to do for next year.  Alex wants to do Public Speaking, and speak on the Death Penalty.  Faith wants to discuss Global Warming vs. natural climatic changes, and she plans to learn how to create a Power Point presentation to use in lieu of posters.  To say that I am proud of them is an amazing understatement!

As a side note:  It was 105 degrees while we were in Raleigh!!!!!  It was awesome to get back here to the mountains and enjoy our 68 degree evenings and 83 degree afternoons.

So we took the kids to camp last Saturday!  You would think it would be nice and quiet around here, but so far, that’s not really been the case.  We  had people here working on the rock on our front porch, we have a guy here painting Alex’s and Faith’s rooms (which will be a total suprise for them w hen they come home next weekend!), we’ve had a jewelry party.  We’ve been BUSY!

But finally, today, Gaylon and I are getting away.   We are headed for Gatlinburg, Tennessee for a weekend alone.  Tonight we are going to stay up late and watch their famous Midnight 4th of July Parade.  Tomorrow, we thought it would be a lot of fun to spend the 4th at Dollywood, where patriotism is still alive and thriving!  Saturday we are going hiking in the Great Smoky Mountain National Park.  In fact, we may do a bit of that this afternoon and Sunday afternoon.  The rest of our time we are just going to chill.

Alex and Faith seem to be having a terrific time at camp.  Faith goes to Camp Merri-Mac for Girls, and Alex goes to Camp Timberlake for boys.  The two camps share the property, but all of their activities are seperate.  I’ve had a lot of people ask me if it’s ‘Bible Camp’.  No.  They do devotionals every morning, and on Sundays they have a service.  They also provide transportation for their Catholic campers to go to Mass.  But the best way to describe their camps is to say that they are like on ‘Parent Trap’.  They have lots of activites, like horseback riding, rock climbing, kayaking, archery, riflery, soccer, art, gymnastics, fencing, and Alex’s personal favorite: paintball!

They also have Indian tribes that all of the new campers are initiated into the first day of camp each year.  Alex and Faith are both Iroquois.  The other tribes are Seminole (for boys and girls) and Choctaw (girls only).  When I was a kid, I went to camp at Heart O’ The Hills Girls Camp down in Hunt, Texas.  It was really similar, except it was only girls on the property, and our Indian tribes were Pawnee and Shawnee.

So, I’m off to pack!

I guess my favorite movie, ever, is “What’s Up Doc?” starring Ryan O’Neal and Barbara Streisand. So, since tonight was the kids’ last night before going off to camp for two weeks, we decided to make a Family Night of it.  I made lasagna (one of the few foods everyone in our family loves) and we watched “What’s Up Doc?”.

Movies with lots of explosions and bloodshed and foul language really turn me off.  (Well, I did really love Iron Man, which was heavy on the explosion side of things, but who can not like Tony Stark?)  I love movies that make me laugh and forget about reality for a while.  “What’s Up Doc?” is the ultimate romantic madcap comedy.  It’s an old one. . . it came out in 1972.  But it’s a classic.  It is especially enjoyable for me because I love Humphrey Bogart movies, and this movie spoofs a lot of his old flicks, in particular Casablanca and To Have and Have Not.

My favorite part of it is the “Chase Scene”. It is reminiscent of the Keystone Cops, in a way.  Yes, it’s very campy, and really predictable, but that’s part of the fun.  I’ve probably watched this movie more than fifty times, and every time I laugh like crazy.  We all do!

So. . . if you are looking for a really great movie to watch with your family, I highly recommend this one.  It’s even rated ‘G’!!

I am finally finished with the Yearbook!!  Yay!  For those of you who don’t know, I have done the yearbook for our homeschool support group for the past two years.  This is my last year, because it really does take up all of my time and energy, especially toward the end.  I love doing that kind of stuff, but my husband is starting to drop hints that he’d like to see me again at some point, when I’m not buried in a computer screen.

I have plenty of other projects on the back burner that I would love to get to.  I actually got to one of them today!  I have been wanting to design my own banner for this blog for a long time, and I finally did.  Let me know what you think.

Other projects in the works:  a new photo gallery, hosted here on my own site.  I have been using Zenphoto, because it’s really simple, without all the bells and whistles that I don’t need and will never use.  If you want to check it out (understand that there are many more photos coming, and it’s not completely set up the way I want it) the link is:  http://morningtower.net/gallery.  It’s really not much different than my Flickr account, except that once I’ve got all my photos uploaded to it, I won’t have to pay for Flickr anymore.

I am hoping to create my own genealogy website sometime soon, too.  I understand that most of my readers are not interested in my family history, but I would like to have a spot online where that information is available for fellow gravediggers!

The kids (Alex and Faith) leave for camp next Saturday.  Usually I try to do NOTHING while they’re gone, but this year we have a couple of fun things planned.  On the 30th, Mom and I are having a jewelry party.  Then, over the weekend of the 4th, Gaylon and I are going to Gatlinburg for a much needed and long awaited getaway!  Gatlinburg has an Independence Day Parade at Midnight on the 4th (or the night of the 3rd, however you want to look at it) and our hotel is right on the main street, so we’ll get to see it fairly easily.  We also have tickets to Dollywood and are planning on spending a day in the Great Smoky Mountain National Park hiking.  I think it’s gonna be an awesome weekend.  It’s been over 3 years since the two of us have gotten to go off for a few days.

In other news, Alex and Faith both did fantastic last Saturday for their presentations at 4-H County Activity Day.  Alex is doing a presentation on “Oil In Our World” about the uses of petroleum products in day-to-day life.  Faith’s presentation is on Fireflies.  Faith got a blue ribbon, and Alex got a red.  The judges told Alex that if he could just lengthen his presentation by a couple of minutes, he would almost certainly take the gold at State Congress next month.  We go to 4-H District Activity Day next week in Brevard.  That should be a lot of fun!

Kendall is enjoying working at the country club again this summer.  He has a theory now that rich people don’t have kitchens, because they all seem to spend all their time eating at the club.  He thinks (and I agree) that it’s ridiculous to drive over to the country club just to order a grilled cheese sandwich for lunch.  But, it keeps him employed, so he can’t complain too much!!  He is also especially enjoying this summer because his buddy, Joey, is now working there with him in the kitchen at the pool.  Now that would make a good reality tv show!! 

Also, on the 8th, we are getting a new priest.  That’s sort of exciting.  When I was growing up, we always had at least three priests, so it is a strange thing to me to only have one priest.  But it does make it much more exciting when we get a new one.  I’m anxious to see what he will be like.

So, that’s the update here.  I will hopefully have more time to post, now that the yearbook is finished.  Again, please let me know what you think about my new header, and if you check out the photo gallery, let me know about that, too.  It will be updated soon, and frequently.

I hate spiders. I can’t even begin to describe how much. When I see one, I break out in a cold sweat, and my ‘fight or flight’ reflex kicks in to high gear. Gaylon loves to tell the story about how I was driving down the highway one day, and a spider dropped down in front of me from the roof of my car. Apparently, I yelled “Grab the wheel!” and dove into the back seat. Personally, I do not remember this incident very clearly, but based on my irrational and insane fear of these creatures, I really can’t deny it. It’s probably all true.

While Kendall is not afraid of them, he does prefer them dead. Alex shares my phobia, only his reaction is far more effective than mine: he sets out to kill them, one and all. Which leads me to tonight’s story. We were out on the front porch, enjoying the warm evening, when I spotted one of the dreaded beasts at the foot of one of our stone pillars. I yelled for Kendall to kill it, since he was the only one wearing shoes. Then I jumped back to hide behind Alex. So, Kendall walked over and stomped on it. Which set off a horrifying chain of events. The giant spider just walked off, but in the process, a black cloud of thousands of tiny spiders erupted in a hideous wave, all over the porch. Alex and I nearly killed each other trying to jump into the house. I heard my mother say something that sounded very much like a cry for divine intervention. Even Kendall jumped back.

Then, Alex swung into motion. He ran to the garage, grabbed the WD40, and headed back out to the porch. I was right behind him, in search of the bug spray, which, predictably, was nowhere to be found. By the time Mom and I did find it and got back out to the porch, Kendall had taken the WD40 from Alex, combined it with a lighter, and torched the evil invaders. Sadly, I didn’t get to witness the great wall of flame that engulfed the thousands of tiny monsters. Now we have scorch marks on our porch, and hundreds of little black scorched dots. That’s okay with me.

So, I was thinking: while it is well and good to have bug spray, and regularly scheduled visits from the Terminix guy, there is nothing that can compare to the instant effectiveness and gratification of two teenage boys, an aerosol can and a Bic lighter!! (Read: instant flame-thrower!!) I am always grateful that God blessed with me boys, but I am especially grateful tonight. Alex commented later that if we have a superhero called ‘Spiderman’, then we really need ‘Raidman’, too. I couldn’t agree more! But I have to say, I think Kendall and Alex were close enough to being superheroes tonight.

Alex and I drove over to Charlotte this morning for the Chrism Mass at St. Patrick’s Cathedral officiated by Bishop Peter Jugis. Priests from all over the diocese were there, to renew their vocations, along with all of the Seminarians from the diocese as well. We got there around 9:15, and the Mass was at 10:00. The first miracle of the day is that I parallel-parked my car!! For those of you who know me well, you will instantly recognize that this was truly an act of God’s Divine Grace and Mercy! But I digress. . .

Alex had borrowed a cassock and surplice from our parish, because he had been told that if he vested up, he would be able to participate. He was warned that he would probably just process in and out, and sit there, but at least he would be ‘a part’. Well. . . . the Mass started, and there was this LONGGGGG procession of priests (I think 120 of them???) and some deacons and Bishop Emeritus William Curlin, and Abbot Placid Solari from Belmont Abbey, and finally Bishop Jugis. I was beginning to wonder if Alex had gotten to serve after all. Then I saw him, following the Bishop, with one other altar boy, and they had these white cloths draped over their shoulders and hands, so I knew they would be holding the Bishop’s Mitre (hat) and Crosier (staff). Sure enough, when the Bishop got up to the Altar, he handed his staff to Alex, and Alex got to sit up on the Altar for the entire Mass, holding the Bishop’s staff!!! I actually cried, I was so proud!! Oh, and to top things off perfectly, there were five of Mother Teresa’s Sisters of Charity at the Mass, too! They had on the white habits with the blue stripes and all!

The Mass was A-M-A-Z-I-N-G! I am sure that the choir sounded very much like the Angelic Choir in Heaven!! I got chills listening to them. It was the most ‘holy feeling’ Mass I’ve ever attended, and I just kept feeling so blessed and unworthy to be there! I loved the incense, and the smell of the oils. (The Chrism Mass is where the Bishop blesses the Chrism and Anointing oils for the Diocese for the upcoming Liturgical Year, then a priest or deacon from each parish takes them home to his church.)

Anyway, afterward, when I was walking out, I got to shake Bishop Jugis’ hand, and I introduced myself and told him that I was Alex’s mom, the one who was holding his staff. He said, “Oh, yes! He will be talking about that forever!” And I blurted out “So will I!” He smiled and told me that holding the Bishop’s staff was a very important office, and that Alex should be very proud and I thanked him for letting Alex be a part. Then we went to lunch with some friends from our parish. It was an incredible day!!!

For more information on Chrism and it’s uses/meanings, please visit NewAdvent.