The 8pm Shutdown

Call me ambitious. Call me naive. Call me brash, brave or bold.

But.

There's a new rule in my home, and it's called the 8pm Shutdown.

After 8pm, we stop doing housework, chores, bills, or spending time on other obligations. And for the rest of the night, Michael and I spend some time for ourselves and for one another, whether that ends up being an early bedtime, a movie, spiritual or pleasure reading, blogging, catching up with a friend on the phone, etc.

So why have I instituted the 8pm Shutdown? Because spending 14 hours per day taking care of my home, work and family is enough. 

In other words, I think the familiar airplane oxygen mask lesson is a great metaphor here: The instructions say to put on your own oxygen mask before trying to put a mask on somebody else. The idea, of course, is that if you're going light-headed and dizzy from lack of oxygen, you're not going to be able to do a great job of helping the person next to you.

How perfectly I can translate that to my life!

I am learning that without sufficient time for prayer, sleep and "me" activities like blogging, exercising and reading, I'm not as good of a wife, mother, friend and daughter as I want to be. And, perhaps, as I was created to be.

I should note that I already get up in the morning before the boys for personal prayer and meditation. This has been a huge blessing in my life and in my relationship with Christ! However, I am starting to see how ending the day in prayer, and then spending just a little time on myself, might be just what I need to do to round out each day in a healthy, God-centered way.

I'll let you know how things go. :)

Interestingly enough, Michael and I actually came up with the 8pm Shutdown a couple of different times over the past year and a half, but we just never stuck to it for more than a few days. This past week, however, I talked to two friends of mine who recently started similar versions of the 8pm Shutdown in their lives. (Both friends began doing it independently of one another, which is the funny thing.) Each woman absolutely gushed in her own way about how fruitful this practice has been in her life over the past few weeks. And as I spoke to each of them, I realized that these particular friends of mine have been visibly more peaceful and cheerful over the past couple of weeks.

Call me a copycat, but I'd like some of that please!

Perhaps 8pm is an ambitious "Shutdown" time, but without going nitpicky or extremist, this rule is something I want and need to make a part of my home and my life. Now, of course sickness or other extenuating circumstances needing my After-8pm Attention will have me 100%! The idea is that I'll be ably and (I hope) even cheerfully ready to give that 100% when needed because I will have been taking care of myself each day so regularly that it won't be as much of stretch for me when, say, Gabriel keeps us up two or three hours in the middle of night while he's teething.

I think that one thing the 8pm Shutdown will do is make me more organized in how I schedule my day.While I love my family's flexibility and spontaneity, and want to keep that to some extent, I see where adding a little more routine to our lives would be helpful on many fronts. For example, having dinner around the same time each day will force me to be a better meal planner, and to use my time during the day more wisely.

There's so much more to say on this topic, but I'll leave it be tonight. I promise to update my blog with my adventures and misadventures with the 8pm Shutdown. Considering that you know my thoughts and challenges with Things Left Undone (see my previous post), I know stopping housework at 8pm will be another big challenge for me!

But a healthy challenge, I think. And a fruitful one.

Well, it's 9:18pm and this little momma is just about ready to snuggle under the covers and doze off for the night into some beauty sleep.

Right after I find my favorite fuzzy socks somewhere in the clean laundry...that Michael folded in its entirety today and put neatly in my sock drawer.

I adore that man. :)

Snapshots of a messy kitchen, monster laundry, and a short reflection on Things Left Undone

Here are some snapshots of my messy kitchen tonight. The following pictures sort of sum up how I was feeling earlier this evening...messy and overwhelmed.

My kitchen and my house in general are pretty clean now (except for obligatory 2-foot pile of laundry in the armchair, see below), and I'm feeling better. The steady hymns of Gregorian chant and Latin choir music from my iPhone have truly been a sweet helper to calm my soul and refocus me over the last hour as I've been cleaning.

Tonight, I tried to make a deer roast my dad gave us a while back, but I'm sad to report that it came out quite horribly. I added about 1/4 cup too much lemon pepper by accident, and also I forgot to prepare the meat the right way by stuffing it with onion and garlic. it came out looking like some twisted, overcooked mysterious animal organ. Especially the image of the meat coming out of the oven in the cooking bag I baked it in....it looked like gory evidence from one of those How-Did-They-Creepily-Kill-This-Poor-Victim shows.

And yes, that's my pregnancy food aversion talking now.

SEE??!!

I ended up making grilled turkey sandwiches on the George Foreman grill, with salad and macaroni and cheese. Gabriel spit out all three of these items, so I had to feed him some leftover yogurt and crackers. So much (tonight at least) for making my child eat what I put in front of him.... 

Dishes, dishes, dishes

 

The kitchen table

 

Gabriel's high chair

 

The island. Note how that big knife looks so inviting...

Another shot of the dishes, dishes dishes. Tonight really wasn't THAT bad dishes-wise, so don't let me complain too heartily :)

The George Foreman grill. I accidentally let the sandwiches cook way too long, and so all the cheese on both of them melted off completely. We could barely taste the cheese on our sandwiches, except for the crusty dried dark brown spots that stuck to corners. I didn't do so hot on the sandwich front tonight either. I DID make an effort though. I put tomatoes, onions, and sandwich dresses on them and tried to grill them like panini. They were 9 1/2 times more edible than the deer roast anyway...

Now for a quick reflection on Things Left Undone.

I struggle with Things Left Undone. Because there are Things Left Undone in my home every single day, and I really struggle with feeling often that I am always, always "behind," that my To-Do list never gets done.

When I am feeling down about my housekeeping abilities, though, I automatically reach out for God, and He always comes through for me. I have to choose to let Him come through for me though. It is always so humbling for me to let Him gently remind me to live in perspective, to count my blessings, to serve with a smile, and to live out my priorities.

1. Prayer (God)
2. Person (Me)
3. Partner (Michael) 
4. Parent (Gabriel)
5. Provider (My job and housekeeping)

As I near the end of my energies for today, I realize that I've done alright with taking care of my priorities, in order, today. 

I began the day in prayer alone and then with my husband. 

I took a short nap after lunch today to regroup for the afternoon. 

I spent some much-needed time with my husband after he got home from work today. We went on a walk with Gabriel and had a good conversation. 

I fed my husband and son three good meals today. 

My kitchen, living room, and play room are now picked up and ready to go for tomorrow. 

I still need to fold a week's worth of laundry and take a shower (when was the last one?) and clean out the green room closet for Chris and Jenay and go to the bank and clean my bathroom and....

That's OK. Because all of the above can wait, for tonight.

This week

I've starting practically writing an entire blog post in my little "This Week" section on the left-hand side of my blog lately, so I decided I need to start posting This Weeks as regular posts as well. :)


Here's what life is like in my neck of the woods this week: 

• Finally got through organizing all those baby clothes--and the rest of my laundry. Funny how, as I type, there's ANOTHER two-foot pile of laundry hanging out on the recliner next to me...
• Michael is thrilled that I've been having cravings for all kinds of things...rotisserie chicken, fresh flour tortillas, grapes, vanilla milkshakes, and Taco Bell. He's such a sweetie...more than happy to run out and get me whatever I want, and have some with me just to make me feel less guilty. :)
• We've been reading a lot more to Gabriel lately, and he finally seems to be interested in them (as opposed to seeing them as teething objects). He likes all of the "lift the flap" books best right now.
• We are officially donating Michael's old SUV to our church on Wednesday. We are going to clean it up as best we can tomorrow. I will miss that old car...it was the car Michael has had since I've known him, and I have lots of memories in it--especially from that first summer at Kahdalea/Chosatonga!
• My brother and sister-in-law, Chris and Jenay, are coming to live with us for a month, starting this weekend! Chris is doing a traveling rotations program for his fourth year of med school, and he found a doctor to work with for February right down the street in Nassau Bay. Michael and I absolutely thrilled to have this special time to get to know them better. Chris and Jenay are a wonderful, faith-filled couple and they are both amazing people to boot. I'm also pretty excited for Jenay to teach me all kinds of baking and cooking secrets (like how to make homemade king cake!) Having them here will also be a huge blessing, I think, to help me with Gabriel while I'm feeling somewhat less than my best right now. Check out Jenay's blog, Franco Family Adventures, at http://jenayolivia.blogspot.com/. 

Slice of life: Our Saturday

In typical Franco style, we did A LOT today! All fueled my husband's boundless energy. It's really impressive, actually. I've only seen him take a handful of naps in the entire time I've known him.

I, on the other hand, would feel a hundred times closer to Heaven on Earth if I could take a 1.5 hour nap every day, pregnant or not. :0)

Here's how our day went today:
7:30 a.m. - I am jarred awake by sticky little hands beating on my chest, some drops of drool flying onto my face, and a pair of bright blue eyes grinning excitedly at me. Daddy thought it would be cute to let Gabriel wake Mommy up. It was cute--but not that cute at the time. Mental note: Ask Michael to find gentler ways to wake me up with the babies.

7:30-9 a.m. - This time period of our day is quite fuzzy for me, since I was so tired and nauseated that I think I mostly let Michael take care of Gabriel and make breakfast (waffles) while I spent time in the bathroom, on the couch, and finally back in bed.

9 a.m. - Michael wakes me up to ask me if I want to go bowling in an hour with our friend Lucy and her boys for Lucy's birthday. I briefly consider the option of sleeping at the house for another couple of hours and then maybe getting some little things done while Michael took Gabriel out to the bowling alley, but then I realize I am actually feeling much better, and I wouldn't want to miss an outing with Lucy, her boys, and my boys for anything. I manage to get out of bed, borrow a smile from God (thanks, Adam :) and get dressed.

10:30 a.m. - We arrive at the bowling alley (which is actually really nice inside!) with six little boys under 3 and five adults. We have a blast. Michael teaches the older boys how to bowl, and tries to teach me too but is unsuccessful. I ended up in last place, 25 points from the person above me. I blame it on the baby :)

Gabriel 

Pio and Gabriel 

John-Matthew, Pio and Gabriel 

 

Lucy and Pio

12:30 p.m. - We head home, stopping to eat at Dave's Smokehouse with our friend Jason. Dave's is having their $.99 chopped beef brisket sandwich promotion, and Michael and I get a huge meal for us and Gabriel for $5! Gabriel LOVES brisket.

1:15 p.m. - We get home, and put our very tired, grateful baby down for a nap. Then the baby's tired, nauseated and grateful mother crashes on the couch for the next hour and a half. Michael goes outside and starts taking down our Christmas lights (so you've found us out, we're those neighbors who take forever to take down Christmas :).

3:45 p.m. - I wake up, eat a snack, and head outside to weed our front flower beds, which have begun to be hidden by weeds and encroaching grass (again, we're those neighbors:). Gabriel wakes up almost as soon as I get started, so I go inside to feed him a snack.

4:00 p.m. - Gabriel, Michael and I spend the next two hours weeding the yard (me), taking down lights (Michael), and licking muddy rocks and sticks (Gabriel). We all have a great time until we all decide we are tired, hungry, cold, and quite done with our afternoon activities. I still have big piles of weeds and sticks to bag up tomorrow morning, but all the weeding is done and the yard looks SO much better!

6:15 p.m. - I feed Gabriel dinner.

6:40 p.m. - I give Gabriel a bath.

7:00 p.m. - I give Gabriel a bottle. Then he chews on his toothbrush while I read him books.

7:15 p.m. - Gabriel goes cheerfully to bed. I start running laundry, handwashing a big pile of delicates, cleaning the kitchen, and (of all things?) dusting my bedroom and re-arranging my dresser. Michael hunts for a program CD he needs for his new woodworking tool.

8:20 p.m. - I sit down to write this blog post. Michael sits down to watch The Office on his laptop.

8:45 p.m. - I will go to take a hot shower, do some reading, take my prenatals and nighttime nausea medicine, put on some fuzzy socks, and then drift to sleep by 9:15.

Sounds good to me. :)

(Really) nice news :)

If you haven't gotten a call from me or seen it on Facebook...Michael and I are expecting our second baby in September!

We are THRILLED! We've been hoping God would give us with another little one for several months now, and we're so grateful and happy to be blessed with parenthood again.

I'm currently loaded down with a combination of catch-up housework, Life Teen work, unpacking, and some early pregnancy symptoms that are kicking my butt a bit (exhaustion and nausea), hence the reason I haven't blogged a lot lately (or given more of you a personal call about our news)! Prayers needed and much appreciated, but I am feeling great and Michael is taking good care of  me, honestly! :)

I've also been busy working up my first two article submissions to CatholicMom.com, a wonderful Website that has offered to have me on as a columnist! I'll let you know when my first submissions will run. Stay tuned!

Introducing: The Francos' new Swagger Wagon (and a Really Old dining room table)

Sometimes, God chooses to make changes or work situations out in the Franco household with something close to lightning speed.

Case in point: Within a two-week period ending today, He put it on our hearts to sell our Mazda 6, donate our old Montero SUV, and buy a Honda Odyssey. And as of today we've done all three of those.

We identified a person to donate the Montero to on Monday morning; 

The Mazda 6 sold on Friday afternoon; 

And we drove to Baton Rouge on Friday night to buy a beautiful Honda Odyssey on Saturday morning.

God has provided so well for us, and we are humbled and grateful. We just paid off our Mazda 6 and we were able to get a little more for the car than we paid for the van, which works out really well financially for us. We are still waiting on God to provide us with a reliable, inexpensive little car to take Michael to and from work and meetings, but we have a couple of doors that seem to be opening for us on that point as well!

It's been an exciting week to say the least. :)

Below are some pics of our beautiful new Swagger Wagon. It is a 2004 light blue Honda Odyssey with leather seats, heated seats, automatic open and close doors, a DVD player with a remote and two headsets, numerous fun buttons that do all kinds of neat things, and the amazing move-chairs-around-and-fold-the-seats-and-store-things capabilities of a transformer (those alien robot things from the cartoon and the movie a while back with Shia Lebeouf).

 We're THRILLED with it!

 

Your first glance at our new dining room table! AND the amazing fact that, between our new van's amazing transformer abilities, and my husband's amazing packing abilities, we fit a full dining room table and six chairs into the back of the van! 

My aunt told me she wanted to give me this table back at my wedding, but we haven't had the room, or more recently the get-it-to-Houston logistics,  to actually go and get the table from her. It was neat how we realized we could actually go get the table this weekend because we'd have a car big enough to take it back to Houston, plus another car to take Gabriel and our luggage back with us. 

God is good with logistics :)

The table is actually certifiably Really Old, having been purchased my paternal great grandparents for their 25th anniversary. How wonderful is that? I am so blessed that my aunt wanted to give this set to me. It probably needs a little loving (in the form of some wood glue and refinishing) but even as-is it's just a really beautiful, really well-made piece of furniture...I am so excited to have such a special dining room table for my family and friends to eat around now! Family meals and conversations around the table are important to me, and I want to give that gift to my children and to anyone who shares a meal with us at our home, whether it's pizza or Chicken Cordon-Bleu. :)

Too bad the toy room/dining room will have to share space with the table now, but with my new Very Few Toys Out strategy, I think it will work out space-wise anyway. Gabriel is doing so, so, so much better now that I have only a few toys out at a time and I rotate them frequently. More on that later. Maybe. :)

Here's me, my cute mom and Gabriel at the storage place where we went and picked up the table this afternoon. We stuck Gabriel in the truck bed while we transferred his car seat and packed up the table, and he was so adorable standing in there and smiling over the top at us. :D

  

Michael and Gabriel trying out the DVD player and headseats. 

 Gabriel just couldn't wait to get behind the wheel of the Swagger Wagon...He's just like his father.

 

Funny face...just because :)

P.S. If you don't get the Swagger Wagon reference, it's probably because you haven't had the unforgettable pleasure of viewing the following YouTube video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ql-N3F1FhW4. Enjoy :)

A real sit-down restaurant

Gabriel drinking his milk at Mooyah last night. He's finally getting the hang of using it. Doesn't he look like a baby lumberjack in this outfit?

Last night, Michael and I splurged (in a couple of different ways :) and took Gabriel out to eat at Mooyah, a Guilty Pleasure local dive with some of the yummiest burgers, fries and milkshakes you've ever eaten. It's also one of those places that makes all the staff yell "MOOYAH!" at you when you walk through the door.

Michael and I both just had a craving for a good hamburger, and I'm so sick of cooking every day that I practically jumped out of my boots to get out of the kitchen--I mean house--for dinner. (My big batch cooking theory from last week hasn't been all that helpful yet, as stated in my "this week" blurb for the week.)

OK, so Mooyah is a glorified fast-food place that only sells burgers and fries, BUT, at least we ate our food there. :)

We hardly ever go out to eat at sit-down restaurant, mostly because we've decided to allocate our food money in such a way that we don't have a very large eating out budget at all, so usually we save all of it for eating on road trips, ordering takeout for an in-home date night or two, or grabbing Subway after work. In general, though, we're pretty happy with how we eat. We eat most meals at home, obviously, but they're usually both pretty tasty and pretty healthy. :)

We really did have a great time and enjoyed the absolute heck out of our real sit-down restaurant treat! It was nice that there were plenty of other kids there, and the staff took extra good care of us because they thought Gabriel was cute.

It helps having a cute kid sometimes.

Especially when said cute kid make a huge mess on the floor and you try to clean it up and straighten the table as best you can before you leave but he is crying and bothering everyone and you and your husband are suddenly feeling tired and grumpy and so you just do the best you can quickly dipping napkins in your half-drunk second cup of ice water and wiping them messily over the floor and wooden high chair and table so that you don't feel so guilty about the gummy shreds of french fries and the spaghetti you brought from home that are staining the table.

And then you walk out the door and put him in the car and he burps and giggles and grins that big sparkly grin at you, and you're pretty sure he's the most beautiful, wonderful little person you've ever known. :)

Cotton Bowls, Tigers, Late night cooking craziness, long walks and whipped cream: my weekend

We had such a nice few days this past weekend.

Friday night was our Cotton Bowl party, and we had a fantastic crowd. Our new TV performed beautifully to show every detail of the Tigers' win over the farmers--err--Aggies. I have to confess that I actually watched very little of the game. I spent most of the time happily socializing and hostessing in the kitchen or the playroom. I was a little worried at first when some of our Aggie friends started showing up in their painted game overalls, but I am happy to report that there were no major altercations.

On Saturday, Michael and I both had full, great days, but spent little of the day actually in the same place. Sometimes that happens I guess. :)

Michael went to his monthly men's prayer group around 8a.m., and I headed off with El Bebe on a long walk with some friends in a nearby neighborhood. It just so happens that my humble neighborhood is right across the street from one of the most beautiful neighborhoods in Houston. I had never really been in the neighborhood before. It's not a gated community(which is a little surprising to  me), so we just parked in their country club lot and headed off to explore. 

The houses are all so gorgeous! They are all custom, and most of them are very Southern, with lots of shady streets with oak trees and landscaping and white columns and wrought iron and tall windows...these homes remind me so much of all my favorite houses in Baton Rouge and New Orleans. I can't wait to take my mom for a walk through this neighborhood next time she comes to visit! She'd love it. 

After Michael and I both returned home from our morning activities, we scrambled to get ready for our midday activity, a first birthday party for Audrey Therese, the daughter of some good friends of ours, the Fontanas. Unfortunately, I could only stay a few minutes because of a Life Teen meeting commitment at 12:30, so I had to leave early. 

Little did I know I was going to really miss all the fun! 

Peter Fontana came up and told Michael and I when we arrived that his family had a special tradition that on each child's first birthday: the birthday boy or girl was put into a box filled with whipped cream and strawberries with whatever friends of theirs were a year old as well. That meant that Gabriel and the child of some other friends of ours, Blaise, got to strip down to their diapers and eat as much whipped cream and strawberries as they wanted! On camera, of course! See below :)

My Life Teen meeting did go extremely well, however, and I was pleased with all of the much-needed planning that we got accomplished. 

I was also pleased that our team leader, Fiona, planned the meeting to end right as Saturday confessions were beginning, so I got to attend a much-needed confession as well. Michael and I decided recently to start attending confession once a month, but both of us have let the holidays and general forgetfulness to defeat our best intentions.  It felt absolutely wonderful to feel the spiritual strength and graces this sacrament always gives me so much of.

When I got home from my meeting and confession, Michael was just about finished up with an impromptu game of football he was out playing with a few guys we know. I got to spend a few minutes visiting with some sweet friends of mine (the wives of the aformentioned "few guys") who volunteered to stay at the house and babysit Gabriel as he took his afternoon nap.

That evening, I curled up in bed early with a few chapters of a wonderful book I'm reading, Graced and Gifted, by Kimberly Hahn, and fell asleep nice and early. Yes...9:00p.m. would be a lovely regular bedtime I think!

It was very fortuitous that I got some good sleep on Saturday night, because Gabriel decided to arise surprisingly nice and early on Sunday morning to the tune of 6:21a.m. He normally sleeps until 7 or 7:15a.m. on the weekends, so this was something of an unwelcome "nice and early" surprise if you catch my drift, but I won't complain further because lots of my friends get much, much, much less sleep than I do. 

The good news is that I had enough reserves to be generally cheerful about the early wakeup call. I found myself surprisingly cheerful even when Michael, still in a NyQuil-induced stupor (he'd gone to bed late and hadn't felt well the night before), attempted valiantly to get up with Gabriel and I, but just collapsed in a big, warm, sleepy, non-responsive ball on the living room couch. The bigger they are, the harder they sleep I guess! 

The rest of Sunday was spent doing house chores, preparing for the Life Night, cleaning our two cars, and dealing with an uncharacteristically cranky 13 month old. Overall, it was a good day. The only rough part of the day was my 9:30-11:15p.m. cooking spree after I got back from Life Teen. I suddenly got a burst of energy to cook when I realized that I was starting the week with no prepared food for either of my boys to eat the next day. I HATE not having enough food for my boys! So, to keep with my plan to make big batches of food, my crazy self made a triple recipe of homemade meatballs, spaghetti sauce, pasta, and (count it) two batches of steamed sweet potatoes. And I did ALL the dishes before I got in bed. 

What was I thinking? 

I don't know, really. 

I can tell you what I'm thinking now though...9:00p.m. would be a lovely bedtime tonight. :)

Per crucem ad lucem

I came across something in my meditation this morning that I'd like to share with all of you.

Christians in the dark Middle Ages coined a beautiful little phrase that helped them to keep focused on Heaven in their usually short and often difficult lives:

per crucem ad lucem, or "Through the cross to the light."

I don't have a major cross of pain or suffering in my life right now (merciful God be praised!). 

But I know a few people who do. 

Per crucem ad lucem my friends. I am praying for you!

Skate park in Kabul gets Afghan kids off the streets--how neat is this?!

Two Australian skateboarders started "Skateistan," a skateboarding school in Kabul that takes kids working on the streets and teaches them how to skateboard, as well as holds English, art, remedial schooling, and even disabled classes for both boys and girls. Some of the kids have even become paid instructors and support their entire families. The article says that UNICEF recently estimated that there are 50,000 to 60,000 children in Kabul who earn next to nothing selling food products and trinkets on the city's streets.

It's neat to hear some good news coming out of Afghanistan for once! I just can't picture the kind of poverty that has five year olds selling trinkets or washing car windows on the streets. If I could, I'd just take one of these little ones into my home at this very moment! And who knows? Maybe God will call Michael and I to do something like that at some point. He's got an amazing plan for my little family--that's for sure. And Michael and I are sold on seeking and living out that plan--even when it gets hard, and even when it sounds crazy.

And whether that plan involves crazy moves or taking in orphans or starting our own business, or whether than plan is just to live a quiet, but courageous suburban life raising strong, holy kids and working together here in Houston.

This article was a good reminder to me of my pledge to live my life in perspective.

Here's the link: http://www.cnn.com/2011/WORLD/asiapcf/01/04/afghan.skate.school/index.html?hpt=C2

Reading of the day

My Scripture reading today (Luke 9:18-27) was certainly worth a whole blog post in itself, but because I don't have a lot of time this morning to blog, here's my short reflection on a quote from St. Ignatius that accompanied the reading in my prayer book today.

"The only petition I would have you put forward on my behalf is that I may be given sufficient inward and outward strength to be as resolute in will as in words, and a Christian in reality instead of only in repute."  - St. Ignatius of Antioch

I've been "pondering in my heart" lately about the real battleground of holiness in my life.

I am more and more convinced that domestic life--that our relationships, interactions with, and service to our immediate families--is where God challenges us to be saints first. I think that God created families for this purpose, to teach us how to live and love in communion with others, just as He does.

Family life is where Christ's teachings are most difficult! Perhaps we secretly, even unknowingly, pride ourselves on how good we are to our friends, our acquaintances, or to people we are volunteering to help.

And then we go home, and our hearts harden imperceptibly as we walk through the door. Oh so quietly, old hurts, grudges, annoyances, family roles, unforgiveness, disappointment and self-righteousness position themselves behind conflicts or disagreements.

And when those conflicts or disagreements happen, we often close our hearts and minds to the kind of constant examination of conscience that Christianity requires. What are my true motives? What background of this relationship may be coloring my thoughts, words and motives? Where could I even remotely be at fault in harming, using or disrespecting this person? How is God calling me to change or grow to let this relationship with my family member mature from where is was last week, last year, or the last 20 years? 


So much for a "short" reflection today!

Oh Lord, let me be as resolute in will as in words! Let me continue my journey toward you by wholeheartedly, realistically, and humbly embracing all the joys and crosses of family life.

Amen.

Contact me :)

I'd like to announce that I've created an email account just for my blog!

I didn't want to post my personal email address online (I hope understandably :), but you can send emails to my blog email address any time you like!

It's not too difficult: humblehandmaid@gmail.com

I love to hear from any of my little blog's readers, so please send me comments and thoughts, prayers and questions any time.

Blessings on every one of you in the mercy and timing of God, and good night for now :)

The Best Welcome-Home Surprise EVER

Michael and I arrived home on Saturday night nearing the deep end of exhaustion, but our spirits (especially mine) were perked up mightily by a BIG package some amazing friends of our sent us from Godiva Chocolatiers...

There is at least one chocolate from pretty much the entire Godiva collection here (or at least from the little booklet that came with the boxes)!!! Like, really??!! 

Best welcome home surprise EVER :)

Christmas in Louisiana was just wonderful this year, and this was the sweetest way I never thought of top it all off! 

"Teach me how to dance," and Gabriel's sweet Faux Pas

Despite being the oldest sibling in my family, I often feel like the odd one out, in a good-natured way of course. Rivers, Shannon and Ryan are outgoing and funny and talented...and I always somehow feel a little less colorful when I'm around them!

Case in point: My cousin's debutante party on Saturday night.

Shannon, Rivers and Ryan danced away, while I glued myself to a bench in the back. I got up and dancing the Cupid Shuffle once, and once to "Sweet Home Alabama" with Michael, but other than that...the uncensored rap music playlist was a major inhibitor to any dance ambitions I may have had for the night.

Ryan, Rivers and Shannon had NO problem being the only dancers on the floor (especially Ryan and Shannon). By the way, Rivers is in green, and Shannon is in the striped shirt. Ryan is the cutie patootie bustin' moves all the way on the left. The girl in the blue flapper dress is a friend of my cousin's who was actually my "Little Sister" in high school. 

Especially now that we're all older and in or past college, we have a blast when we're together. On the way home from the party on Saturday, I rolled down the windows and turned up the volume to a Katy Perry song on the radio. All five of us (Michael included) had a fantastic time dancing and singing in the car all the way home. 

And now, more than slightly unrelated to the post above, here is a video of Gabriel's Faux Pas (my dad) singing with Gabriel at a nursing home last Saturday night. My parents are active in the choir at their parish, and they just started singing with a small group of choir members who go to nursing homes to sing for the residents. 

Michael and I decided to take Gabriel to the concert, and we really enjoyed the beautiful music and visiting with all of the residents. Old(er) people love babies, and it was so neat to get to walk around and let Gabriel put some smiles back on weary faces :). Gabriel was a true little angel too, despite the fact that the concert began right at G's normal bedtime. He didn't fuss or cry once! 

The sweetest part of the evening was when Faux Pas held Gabriel while singing "Jospeh's Lullaby" a capella. I can tell me dad absolutely adores his little grandson :).