40 week recap

I was preoccupied during the late winter and early spring with unrelenting nausea that interfered with my motivation to blog. The fog of morning sickness finally lifted and I enjoyed an energetic and productive late spring and early summer. I was able to resume all my daily activities and we made several treks to Busch Gardens and daily visits to the neighborhood pool where my little Rose became quite the dolphin swimmer and where my legs enjoyed a buoyant respite from gravity. We made our annual pilgrimage to Catholic familyland where we stayed in rugged cabins and slept in bunk beds.

Having never been a girl scout nor one who was equipped with the pioneer woman genes, I was proud of my ability to tolerate and enjoy the simplicity of camping. I think I deserve an honorary merit badge for roughing it while being 7 months pregnant with 3 kids to look after. I couldn't have survived without my Bill. He did all the heavy lifting and made the phone calls to take care of the mice. He set the traps and checked them and emptied them and disappeared with the kids at just the times when I needed a break. We will definitely be back next July. Before I knew it, summer break was over and Chloe and Ethan were heading back to school. We are up and out the door by 7:25 everday now. They are having a great start to the school year. Ethan is playing soccer and Chloe is awaiting the start of Irish dance and girl scouts. Rose started pre-K and is making new friends and getting up to her elbows in glue, finger paint, and construction paint every Tuesday and Thursday. We dove into a kitchen remodeling project and hope to have that wrapped up in time to greet our new baby girl who is due any day now. And now, it is time for me to slow down and put my feet up and brace myself for the big changes coming. I am very excited, as are the kids. And there you have it...40 weeks in a nutshell.

Wings for a Little Rose

So much time has passed since my last blog entry. Nearly four months, to be precise. I can attribute my lack of inspiration and energy to the bundle of energy and inspiration in my belly. She is all fists, elbows, knees and hiccups. Everyday, she is hugged by her soon-to-be big sister Rose who has zipped through some major milestones upon realizing the purpose of mommy's fatigue and growing tummy. She wears big girl pants both day and night and she puts on her own five point harness seatbelt that makes most adults feel that they are failing some sort of manual IQ test. And today, we signed her up for preschool. I thought I would be saying to myself, mournfully: What is happening to my baby girl? But my sense of loss of her babyhood is balanced by watching her confidence grow and knowing how much she wants to shed her littleness and become something great in this world.

Uncle Curly

On February 13, 2008, my Uncle Curly died. I am posting a letter that I sent to him in the Fall of 2007.

Dear Uncle Curly,

I have been thinking of you and praying for you a lot lately and I wanted to let you know. I also want to tell you that you have had such a joyous effect on our family. When we would pack up the old station wagon and head to Massachusetts every summer, there were two things that we really looked forward to: jumping in the lake and seeing you and your family. You were always larger than life to me when I was a child. You are so tall and boisterous and always joyful...or snoring. I have this picture in my heart of you, Bumpa, and my Dad nodding off in rockers; the sun is setting and bouncing off the lake in ripples of light around the room. That is when we knew we had to stay outside and let you rest. We would be summoned back inside with your reverberating "Eee-Urp!" Then we knew it was time for Aunt Lenora, aka Nonie, to stop talking, gather everything up...have a "pee and a drink" and get you back on the road. I remember a special day when we went out for ice cream and you ate two banana splits! We still talk about that and we always end up laughing and thinking of you with such fondness. I am also in awe of your quiet and consistent faith that you have nurtured for your entire life. As an adult, I have come to treasure your example of prayer and faith and works. It has strengthened my faith and I thank you for that. I love you very much and I wish I could be there.

God Bless You, Uncle Curly! With Love, Your niece,
Shiela

Steward Update

I had been dutifully rinsing and reusing my water bottle and avoiding the use of the environmentally hazardous prepackaged water when one day, while I was rinsing at the sink, I asked myself: How much water have I wasted each time I rinsed out my water bottle to reuse it? What a quandry. Honestly, what we need is for someone to revolutionize the packaging industry altogether. Anyone with kids know that on Christmas morning the grotesque amount of toy packaging is really obscene! Why can't we put the dolls in a burlap sack? Chloe had one toy, that once she got all the packaging opened, I had to say: Where is the toy? There was more wrapping than toy!! I still walk about the house lowering the heat and turning off lights and I hope I am being a good steward. That is my goal. That, and to make you laugh about global warming, not that it is funny. What is funny is that we mere humans think we can control the climate. There was a storyline in the 80's on General Hopsital, (back when I used to veg in front of the tv) about some exotic character who could control the weather. So, really I make fun as a way of showing solidarity with Al Gore. He appeared on 30 Rock to mock global warming. It was great. He is such a hoot! I cannot wait until he hosts Saturday Night Live again! By the way, if you are doing something above and beyond to be a good steward, please leave a comment or idea.

Is it November or am I dreaming?

I am a political junkie. I admit it. And the television, print, and radio media have been feeding my habit relentlessly for weeks now. So I ask myself, is it November or am I dreaming? I fell asleep last night before the final tally was in to let me know if it was Hillary or Barack's New Hampshire.
She's back! Could it be the tear that almost fell that motivated the women of New Hampshire to drop what they were doing and run to the polls? Or was it that heckler at one of Hillary's events that held a sign reading "Iron My Shirts." I think it is very telling that we have to ask ourselves whether the tear was real and whether the "heckler" was a Clinton staffer. I'm just saying. Honestly, the good news out of all of this is that age, race, and gender do not matter. We have come that far. It's over. I really believe that. Save for a few industries that rely on the fight, be it ageism, sexism, or racism. The battle still rages on for the likes of Sharpton, Jackson and the NOW organization. Back to Hillary. She tugged at my heartstrings that morning when she almost teared up and I hoped that she would be validated at the polls. I am not sure where that comes from. Not wanting to see mommy cry? Or wanting the Clinton soap opera to return to the White House in November? Again, I'm just saying. When I come to my senses, I realize that I must pick a conservative candidate and stick to it! I like Mike. Huckabee, that is. He reminds me of Gomer Pyle and not in a bad way. He is honest, transparent, quick witted, and on the right side of several hot button issues. He is pro-life without a doubt and that is a defining position that determines the overall thought process of a candidate. Of all the candidates, he is the most articulate and consistent. I admire McCain and his valiant service to our country. I trust him even though I may not completely agree with him on all issues. I like the fact that he refers to immigrants as God's children. I welcome immigrants, but I also want them to get here in a legal way. They are coming to America, the home of the free and the brave. But, we have laws and it would not be the same America without those laws. So, get in line and we need to make the lines move quicker. Thanks to the immigrants we are not facing the depopulation crises that Europe and Russia are facing. Fred Thompson has some very good ideas, but he has no energy, no personality, and very poor communication skills. He apparently needs a script to perform. So, it is not November and I am not dreaming and I really do have some shirts to iron. Go Hillary!