Last night, 1 a.m., and the house is quiet. The windows are open to let the evening breeze cool the 2nd floor where we sleep. I am half awake, and I hear a little electronic "Take Me Out to the Ballgame" from across the hall. I wonder if Alex is awake and playing with Fredbird or if he somehow hit the stuffed animal by accident. Then I hear footsteps in the hallway. "Alex?" I say.
He is standing next to the vacuum cleaner when somewhere outside, someone sets off a bunch of noisemakers. Pop! Pop! Pop! Popopopopopopopop!
Alex wails. It is unbelievably loud in the quiet house. Christian rises up roaring--and I mean roaring. "It's okay, it's okay!" I say, trying to keep my voice down, but they can't hear me. They're both completely freaked out, and feeding each others' terror. Christian and I both fly out of bed to comfort Alex, who apparently thinks the vacuum cleaner has come to life and is going to eat him. Christian gets there first and won't let me have Alex, because he's terrified, too, and he wants to cling to Alex for comfort. But Alex is having none of it. He wants the parent that didn't scare him! He lurches into my arms, and we lie on the bed together, his toddler heart doing a veritable drumroll against my chest.
I spend the next hour lying in Alex's bed so he's not scared to go back to sleep. But I can't get close to going to sleep myself.
Who needs sleep anyway?
Saturday, June 23, 2007
Friday, June 15, 2007
Empty House, Cluttered House
So tonight is our first, official, “we’re-moved-in” night here at our new house. We slept here last night, but today we spent most of the day at the old house cleaning. It was a weird experience, cleaning my way through that hollow, echo-y space that had all the right paint colors, all the right contours, but somehow seemed suddenly not home anymore.
When it was all over, we somehow managed to smoosh all four of us into the van—Alex with his legs hanging over a full-length mirror, me with a 3-foot jade plant on my lap—and crisscrossed town for the last time, to bring home the last of our Stuff (including the crib sheet that we couldn’t find last night at bedtime!).
And tonight, Alex christened our new house by spilling root beer on the floor under the table (and chicken, and cheerios, and raisins) and then crowned it all by running away from me (naked, of course) and making the most horrific chocolate handprint on the wall right inside the front door.
After cleaning THAT up, I sat down to blog. Then Alex promptly picked his sister up by the dress—a big honkin’ fistful of spring green in that little hand—and dragged her across the floor and ran her into the spindles of the staircase railing!
After sorting out THAT mess, I brought Julianna safely back beside me and the next thing I know, I hear water running. NOW he decides it’s time to wash his hands.
You can’t write stuff this good.
(Written 6/14/07, but posted 6/15 b/c we don’t have internet service yet!!!!!)
When it was all over, we somehow managed to smoosh all four of us into the van—Alex with his legs hanging over a full-length mirror, me with a 3-foot jade plant on my lap—and crisscrossed town for the last time, to bring home the last of our Stuff (including the crib sheet that we couldn’t find last night at bedtime!).
And tonight, Alex christened our new house by spilling root beer on the floor under the table (and chicken, and cheerios, and raisins) and then crowned it all by running away from me (naked, of course) and making the most horrific chocolate handprint on the wall right inside the front door.
After cleaning THAT up, I sat down to blog. Then Alex promptly picked his sister up by the dress—a big honkin’ fistful of spring green in that little hand—and dragged her across the floor and ran her into the spindles of the staircase railing!
After sorting out THAT mess, I brought Julianna safely back beside me and the next thing I know, I hear water running. NOW he decides it’s time to wash his hands.
You can’t write stuff this good.
(Written 6/14/07, but posted 6/15 b/c we don’t have internet service yet!!!!!)
Tuesday, June 5, 2007
8 things you never knew about me
I've been tagged by Michelle Chambers to tell you 8 things about me you never knew before. (Check out Michlle at miwi-carpediem.blogspot.com!)
So, here goes:
1. I teach Natural Family Planning.
2. I am the only scrapbooker I know who is caught up with her pictures.
3. I actually enjoy action movies. And superhero movies.
4. I have played my flute on Circular Quay across from the Sydney Opera House.
5. My grandparents know Madonna’s parents.
6. I have 34 first cousins, and we actually visit each other fairly regularly.
7. I can drive a tractor and back up a livestock trailer. I worked for my dad as a farmhand for two summers in college. Best summers I ever spent.
8. It’s hard to come up with 8 things you never knew about me, because I tell everyone everything about me all the time.
I'm supposed to tag 8 people, but I don't think I know 8 people with blogs, so I tag: Cecelia Sander!
So, here goes:
1. I teach Natural Family Planning.
2. I am the only scrapbooker I know who is caught up with her pictures.
3. I actually enjoy action movies. And superhero movies.
4. I have played my flute on Circular Quay across from the Sydney Opera House.
5. My grandparents know Madonna’s parents.
6. I have 34 first cousins, and we actually visit each other fairly regularly.
7. I can drive a tractor and back up a livestock trailer. I worked for my dad as a farmhand for two summers in college. Best summers I ever spent.
8. It’s hard to come up with 8 things you never knew about me, because I tell everyone everything about me all the time.
I'm supposed to tag 8 people, but I don't think I know 8 people with blogs, so I tag: Cecelia Sander!
Tuesday, May 29, 2007
The Everyday Environmentalist
With gas prices at the level they are, everybody’s thinking about the environment these days. And that is a very good thing. Whether or not you believe in global warming isn’t really the issue: as Christians, we are called to be stewards of creation. Here are a bunch of everyday things that we can do to preserve our beautiful Earth.
And conveniently enough, caring for the environment *usually* saves you money, too!
In the Kitchen:
1. Take your own bags to the grocery store. Cloth is even better than paper or plastic.
2. Buy fresh, not prepackaged. Mac & cheese from scratch really doesn’t require more time, and veggies you cook yourself lose less nutritional value.
3. Buy organic.
4. Buy local.
5. Grow your own vegetables.
6. Compost.
7. Recycle.
8. Wash and reuse Ziploc bags.
9. Wait to run the dishwasher till it’s full.
Vehicles and driving:
10. Slow down! The faster you drive, the more gas you burn, and it doesn’t save any significant time anyway.
11. Make one trip to the grocery store for the week—IOW, plan and shop with a list.
12. Combine trips & walk from errand to errand when possible. Not when convenient, when possible.
13. Take advantage of public transportation.
14. Carpool.
15. Make sure the tires are at the proper pressure (you get better gas mileage).
16. Change Your Air Filter.
17. Make your next car a hybrid.
Around the house:
18. Buy refills on cleaners instead of a new squeeze bottle every time
19. Buy used, and don’t buy things you don’t need.
20. Use Compact Fluorescent Bulbs.
21. Turn the lights off.
22. Turn the computer off, or at least to standby
23. Unplug Electronics. They draw power even when not in use.
24. Use Recycled Paper.
25. Print on the back sides of used paper for rough drafts.
26. Turn the thermostat up a degree in the summer and down a degree in the winter.
27. Seal doors & windows with caulking or weather strips.
28. Get double pane windows.
29. Replace old appliances
30. Set the water heater no higher than 120.
31. Take Shorter Showers.
32. Dry clothes on a line instead of in the dryer.
33. Use a Push Mower (the kind without power.)
34. Plant a Tree
For the Family:
35. Use cloth diapers. There are diaper services that can do the cleaning for you.
36. Toilet train early.
37. Practice Natural Family Planning. No plastic, no chemicals, no waste.
And conveniently enough, caring for the environment *usually* saves you money, too!
In the Kitchen:
1. Take your own bags to the grocery store. Cloth is even better than paper or plastic.
2. Buy fresh, not prepackaged. Mac & cheese from scratch really doesn’t require more time, and veggies you cook yourself lose less nutritional value.
3. Buy organic.
4. Buy local.
5. Grow your own vegetables.
6. Compost.
7. Recycle.
8. Wash and reuse Ziploc bags.
9. Wait to run the dishwasher till it’s full.
Vehicles and driving:
10. Slow down! The faster you drive, the more gas you burn, and it doesn’t save any significant time anyway.
11. Make one trip to the grocery store for the week—IOW, plan and shop with a list.
12. Combine trips & walk from errand to errand when possible. Not when convenient, when possible.
13. Take advantage of public transportation.
14. Carpool.
15. Make sure the tires are at the proper pressure (you get better gas mileage).
16. Change Your Air Filter.
17. Make your next car a hybrid.
Around the house:
18. Buy refills on cleaners instead of a new squeeze bottle every time
19. Buy used, and don’t buy things you don’t need.
20. Use Compact Fluorescent Bulbs.
21. Turn the lights off.
22. Turn the computer off, or at least to standby
23. Unplug Electronics. They draw power even when not in use.
24. Use Recycled Paper.
25. Print on the back sides of used paper for rough drafts.
26. Turn the thermostat up a degree in the summer and down a degree in the winter.
27. Seal doors & windows with caulking or weather strips.
28. Get double pane windows.
29. Replace old appliances
30. Set the water heater no higher than 120.
31. Take Shorter Showers.
32. Dry clothes on a line instead of in the dryer.
33. Use a Push Mower (the kind without power.)
34. Plant a Tree
For the Family:
35. Use cloth diapers. There are diaper services that can do the cleaning for you.
36. Toilet train early.
37. Practice Natural Family Planning. No plastic, no chemicals, no waste.
Friday, May 11, 2007
Today my novel, The Beggar’s Queen, was released. Check it out at www.thewildrosepress.com!
The Beggar’s Queen not your typical romance novel. For one thing, it’s longer, and there’s a whole lot more to it than the romance. For another, there’s no sex. I don’t write the formula, because I don’t think the formula reflects what true love really is. To me, sex is trivialized and cheapened when it is laid out on display. So instead, I focus on how Hero and Heroine (Phillip and Cecily, in TBQ) come to grow to love each other over the course of time. I believe that’s more realistic, and as such, a richer and more complex story.
Of course, The Beggar’s Queen is a medieval fantasy, so who am I to be talking about reality? :)
The Beggar’s Queen not your typical romance novel. For one thing, it’s longer, and there’s a whole lot more to it than the romance. For another, there’s no sex. I don’t write the formula, because I don’t think the formula reflects what true love really is. To me, sex is trivialized and cheapened when it is laid out on display. So instead, I focus on how Hero and Heroine (Phillip and Cecily, in TBQ) come to grow to love each other over the course of time. I believe that’s more realistic, and as such, a richer and more complex story.
Of course, The Beggar’s Queen is a medieval fantasy, so who am I to be talking about reality? :)
Friday, April 27, 2007
A good week
It’s been a good week.
We listed the house, sold the house, found a new house we wanted, talked to the bank, and are getting ready to put in an offer. I received the galleys for “Beggar’s Queen,” an email asking to write an article for a magazine, and a letter asking to submit hymn texts. Alex had his second birthday and made good progress on the toilet. Julianna started paying attention to toys at midline. A good week.
Today I went to critique group. I’m surprised by how much I have come to value this group of women. They could not be more different from me. We could not see the world from more opposite points of view, in many cases. Yet there is respect and goodwill, and I am discovering from them that in spite of our different world views, we agree more than we disagree.
Perhaps that is a hopeful sign for the state of the world.
We listed the house, sold the house, found a new house we wanted, talked to the bank, and are getting ready to put in an offer. I received the galleys for “Beggar’s Queen,” an email asking to write an article for a magazine, and a letter asking to submit hymn texts. Alex had his second birthday and made good progress on the toilet. Julianna started paying attention to toys at midline. A good week.
Today I went to critique group. I’m surprised by how much I have come to value this group of women. They could not be more different from me. We could not see the world from more opposite points of view, in many cases. Yet there is respect and goodwill, and I am discovering from them that in spite of our different world views, we agree more than we disagree.
Perhaps that is a hopeful sign for the state of the world.
Monday, April 2, 2007
Kids in Church
April 2, 2007
So far, my blogging has mostly been about Julianna. Which is unfortunate, really, because Alex is a riot. He’s always doing unbelievably adorable things, like falling asleep with my old First Communion prayer book clutched tightly in one chubby little hand (and I do mean chubby!) It’s enough to make me wonder if he really will be a priest someday. That, and the way he squeals with delight when he sees church—any church!
Then again, maybe that’s just the drums talking.
For months, Alex has been fixated on drums. He associates drums and church, which is really funny considering how rare it is to actually find drums in use at church. Every time we go to church, he runs for the music closet. The drums have to be the first thing we set up for contemporary group. Then he bangs happily on the trap set until we are done. When the pastor came to visit us in the ICU, Alex took one look at him, shrieked ecstatically, and then began miming every kind of drum he knows.
The former pastor of a local church used to have an announcement read every week, essentially telling people to remove their kids from church if they grew “restless.”
Now, I imagine if you asked, he would have insisted that was not his intention—his intention was to remove children who were screaming and causing a disruption. However, every single parent I know heard that announcement exactly the same way: KIDS NOT WELCOME.
Every parent has to juggle parenthood, ministry and personal spiritual development. When I worked for the Church, it used to annoy me that young families didn’t volunteer more. Then I gave birth to an angelic first child. Even now, in the terrible twos, he’s pretty good at church. And that made it *possible* for us to continue in music ministry—but not easy. We had to be very committed.
Alex was the first “choir baby,” but now there are more like five. A few months ago, a parishioner complained that it was distracting to have kids being “passed back and forth” in the music area during Mass. Lectors and Eucharistic ministers don’t get to have their kids with them when they serve. Why should musicians? If there is a better way to make families feel that their contributions are unwanted, I don’t know what it is.
Then, shortly after Christmas, Alex was banging happily on the toms and a man began complaining that he came to church to pray, and he wanted it quiet. No matter that it was 20 minutes after one service and 25 before the next began—church is supposed to be a quiet place. Fortunately, our parish priests are wonderful men who know how much we put into our service to the Church. They told us that we should celebrate the fact that our son loves to be at church, making a joyful noise to God.
I sympathize with the desire for a distraction-free environment to worship in. But children are the future. And children are children. Jesus said, “Let the little children come to me,” and I highly doubt that he added, “As long as they are quiet and don’t bother anybody.” If we make kids—not to mention their parents—feel unwelcome, we are sabotaging the future of the church. Yes, children need to learn how to behave in church. But the only way they learn is by being in church. And that means that they’re going to act fidgety, restless and yes, probably disruptive before they learn to sit still and “behave.”
In the meantime, we ought to be looking for ways to encourage young families to participate in ministry, not looking for reasons to be annoyed that they have their kids with them. Kids who are involved will become adults who are involved. The more people who are involved, the richer our Church will become.
OK, I’ll get off my soapbox now. It’s taken me all day to write this blog, anyway, and I need to be mom now!
So far, my blogging has mostly been about Julianna. Which is unfortunate, really, because Alex is a riot. He’s always doing unbelievably adorable things, like falling asleep with my old First Communion prayer book clutched tightly in one chubby little hand (and I do mean chubby!) It’s enough to make me wonder if he really will be a priest someday. That, and the way he squeals with delight when he sees church—any church!
Then again, maybe that’s just the drums talking.
For months, Alex has been fixated on drums. He associates drums and church, which is really funny considering how rare it is to actually find drums in use at church. Every time we go to church, he runs for the music closet. The drums have to be the first thing we set up for contemporary group. Then he bangs happily on the trap set until we are done. When the pastor came to visit us in the ICU, Alex took one look at him, shrieked ecstatically, and then began miming every kind of drum he knows.
The former pastor of a local church used to have an announcement read every week, essentially telling people to remove their kids from church if they grew “restless.”
Now, I imagine if you asked, he would have insisted that was not his intention—his intention was to remove children who were screaming and causing a disruption. However, every single parent I know heard that announcement exactly the same way: KIDS NOT WELCOME.
Every parent has to juggle parenthood, ministry and personal spiritual development. When I worked for the Church, it used to annoy me that young families didn’t volunteer more. Then I gave birth to an angelic first child. Even now, in the terrible twos, he’s pretty good at church. And that made it *possible* for us to continue in music ministry—but not easy. We had to be very committed.
Alex was the first “choir baby,” but now there are more like five. A few months ago, a parishioner complained that it was distracting to have kids being “passed back and forth” in the music area during Mass. Lectors and Eucharistic ministers don’t get to have their kids with them when they serve. Why should musicians? If there is a better way to make families feel that their contributions are unwanted, I don’t know what it is.
Then, shortly after Christmas, Alex was banging happily on the toms and a man began complaining that he came to church to pray, and he wanted it quiet. No matter that it was 20 minutes after one service and 25 before the next began—church is supposed to be a quiet place. Fortunately, our parish priests are wonderful men who know how much we put into our service to the Church. They told us that we should celebrate the fact that our son loves to be at church, making a joyful noise to God.
I sympathize with the desire for a distraction-free environment to worship in. But children are the future. And children are children. Jesus said, “Let the little children come to me,” and I highly doubt that he added, “As long as they are quiet and don’t bother anybody.” If we make kids—not to mention their parents—feel unwelcome, we are sabotaging the future of the church. Yes, children need to learn how to behave in church. But the only way they learn is by being in church. And that means that they’re going to act fidgety, restless and yes, probably disruptive before they learn to sit still and “behave.”
In the meantime, we ought to be looking for ways to encourage young families to participate in ministry, not looking for reasons to be annoyed that they have their kids with them. Kids who are involved will become adults who are involved. The more people who are involved, the richer our Church will become.
OK, I’ll get off my soapbox now. It’s taken me all day to write this blog, anyway, and I need to be mom now!
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