Week in Review: Former Press Secretary, Former Cottage Days, Former Cat Names

 One day I'll have more time and energy to post more than just a weekly wrap-up, but for now these are scratching the motherly itch I have to document our family memories and milestones.  Good enough is good enough, I suppose.

Lucy Doodle patiently waiting to start our evening walk so I can link up to Elisabeth

Last Friday, Phil and I attended a fundraiser dinner for the Mass Citizens for Life and we got to hear from former Press Secretary, Kayleigh McEnaney, who was awesome.  She's a brilliant Harvard Law grad, with great stories that show how spiritual she is.  She was friends with Charlie Kirk and spoke about him and his mission for a good ten minutes before she started her planned talk.  She just had her third baby 3 months ago, and was starting a new morning show the next day.  What a woman!

We also heard from a young woman who was able to use the resources from MCFL to get help with an Abortion Pill Reversal (when a woman takes medication for a medical abortion, regrets it, and can take another medication to reverse it).  That baby she kept is now four years old and "the best thing that ever happened to her" after what she thought was "the worst thing that ever happened to her".

Mom and Dad

We went with our pastor and friends from our parish, and it was a really fun night.  OH!  I was recognized by someone who reads my blog!  She was very kind to stop me and say she knew me and I was thoroughly embarrassed and delighted.  Now I can't remember her name but HI!  

When our pastor and seminarian walked in I looked at them in their black outfits and made the comment about how nice it must be to always know what you are going to wear to any event.  Our pastor shared that my boys had served Mass that morning, and Father had asked them if we were excited to go out to the dinner that night.  Declan and Brendan decided to share *in detail* how many dresses and shoes I had tried on the night before to see what fit and finally pick one out.  There are no secrets when you have kids!

We all ended up in Black and White

Week in Review: A Birthday, An Engagement, A Win and An Estimate

 Our little meatball turns 19 today ~ Happy Birthday Eamon!

When we went to his college orientation, they announced some fun facts about the Freshman class, and one was that there were nine freshman born on the same day - September 26th!  Eamon is in good company.  We mailed him out a package with some homemade pumpkin chocolate chip bread, cookies, candy and a nice half-zip for the fall.  We also got him (and Andrew whose bday is next week) NFL Sunday Tickets to watch the games this season.  Eamon is loving college, making friends, playing sports and his only gripe is that there is too much homework in his Bio major.  He sent me a photo of his lunch yesterday, with nary a fruit nor vegetable to be seen.  Must be nice to have a college guy's metabolism:

His cousin ate a similar meal with him

It's not so bad celebrating your first birthday away from home when you have an older brother who gets you a cake!

Andrew's bestie "Smiles" got engaged!!  Smiles and Colette met while studying in Austria together, she's a year older than he is, and they got engaged on campus at the Port...so they are basically Phil and Colleen 2.0.  We got to meet up with them when we brought Eamon out to college and they are such a beautiful couple, inside and out.  Andrew was there to congratulate Smiles right after the big moment, so cute:

Andrew sent me a picture of his accounting homework this week with the caption "Just a fellow accountant".  He knows how to get on my good side ;)

He also went to a Pittsburgh Pirates game after going to a High Latin Mass in Pittsburgh with his friends (who even is this kid?) and sent a picture of their mascot Sauerkraut Saul:

Week in Review: A New Church, A New Fundraiser and A New Meal

Happy Friday!  

Our church had a big, huge renovation over the summer and was just finished last weekend in order to celebrate the 100 year anniversary of our parish.  The Bishop came and said Mass and everything looked so beautiful.  I am so very proud of our pastor (a young, faithful Franciscan University grad) for his vision and commitment to this overwhelming project.  I was on the Finance Committee for about ten years at our parish (recently retired) where this was dreamed of and finally financed, so it is very near and dear to my heart.  Maggie and I both had the thought about how beautiful her wedding mass will be here one day!

Before:

Pretty but plain and beige, the ceilings were just white.

After:

The altar was taken from a nearby church that was closed down.

The Martin boys served, along with lots of others!

My family who was there for the Vigil Mass.  Who will be standing here in another 100 years?

Our friend, Fr. Cook, came to say Mass and had just lost his crown!  He took this selfie, what a nut!

The reopening of our church after having masses held in the school gym all summer, was just the balm our souls needed this past week.  

Week in Review: Sad Days, Sweet Epitaphs and Saintly Men

I would say Happy Friday, but I'm writing this on the day after Charlie Kirk was assassinated and another school shooting has occurred, which is also 9/11, so it's been a very sad day.  What is wrong with this world?  I have recently felt very called to start going to daily Mass whenever possible, and I am going to talk to my boss about rearranging my schedule and working less hours to make that happen.  I know one person's prayers seem like not much in this world, but nothing is impossible for God and when my time is up I want to be caught doing good.  

“You also must be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect.” (Lk 12:40)

Even in these terrible times, life goes on for the lucky, and here's what's been happening in our neck of the woods...

Declan's soccer season has started.  He's on a town rec team and Grades 5-8 are Coed this year, so teeny tiny Declan is playing with big pubetic (that should be a word) 8th graders and it is a sight to see.  He holds his own pretty well, and his team was so good that they actually had to reassign some of the older kids to other teams to make them more fair.  Rec leagues, where everyone wins a trophy!

Xan the Man has been running everyday and seems to be enjoying it as well as the nice group of kids on the Cross Country team.  I went to my first meet and everybody is so cheerful and supportive, much like when you run a race and the spectators really help you cross that finish line.  I gotta buy a cowbell!  The boys from the soccer team found out he was Eamon's little brother and all started saying hi to him which is so sweet.

Week in Review: Not Your Tip, Not a Break, Not Actually Fun

Hellooooo on this first Friday in September!  A priest friend of ours was moved back to our area (yay!) and started having a Friday evening Mass each week, and I am hoping to start going tonight (yay!)...maybe followed by a quick date with the Mr.?  Sounds like a plan!

Speaking of dates, the last time we went out on one, we played Keno while we ate.  I had placed our Keno ticket by the ketchup on the table, and when we left we completely forgot about the ticket.  A few minutes later I remembered, so we turned around and Phil went back into the restaurant to get our ticket but the table had been cleared.  He asked the manager if anyone found it, and our waitress overheard and with a look of disappointment on her face, went over to her book and took it out of the back and handed it to Phil.  Only later when I went to check to see if we had won, I realized that the waitress had picked up our ticket from the table, cashed it out for the 13 games played, and got a new ticket for the seven games left.  So she took our winnings of (I think) $6 and didn't even say anything when she gave Phil the new ticket back.  Like, whaaaat?

Last Thursday, Maggie was playing in a volleyball game and landed wrong on her foot and fell in pain.  They got her iced up and bandaged and then Phil took her to Urgent Care for an X-Ray which showed nothing was broken, just a sprain.  She used crutches for a few days and then a boot for a few days, couldn't drive for a week, but is hoping to play in this weekend's game because it's feeling much better.  The bruise was UGLY, but I'll spare y'all that photo.

Sunsets and Forced Smiles

Making sure it works

Andrew made this with AI to hang in his room at college:

There's always room at The Cottage!

The Cottage is only open weekends this month and we can see the light at the end of the tunnel.  It has been such a busy season for us, and we are grateful for all our loyal customers but it will be so nice to have a day with no work in October.

Our Tip Jars this Week

Eating the leftover waffle cones from last weekend, tough life!

Our new fall special - Maple Creemee

Start of the 25-26 School Year

How about a good old-fashioned family update to start the school year off?  We only have four kids living at home this school year, which is wild to me as I only birthed them all a few years ago.

John-Paul, 22 years old, 1st Year Med Student at Duquesne

JP started school back in July and in his own words "I would be totally burnt out from studying already if I didn't love what I was studying".  He spends 12 hours a day on campus, taking 4 hours of classes in the morning, then a lab after lunch, then study time, a gym workout, and back to his apartment to shower-eat-study-sleep.  Luckily he has four aunts and uncles who have gone through med school and he knew he would be studying like this for the first two years.  He has all A's so far and is really just killing it!  The only thing missing is a social life when he has rare free time.  He has joined a few groups on campus to start meeting people, and he made a visit to see his brothers and friends on campus at Franciscan once everybody moved back in. JP does not like the city life, but gets around just fine, especially since he mostly carpools with his roommate.  He meal preps on the weekend and has been going to Mass at a church near his neighborhood.  So far, so great!

Andrew, 20 years old, Sophomore/Junior at Franciscan University 

Andrew should be a Junior, credit wise, but due to switching his major and going to Austria and ahem, not passing one class (he needed an 80 and got a 77), he is now a Sophomore Nursing Major.  He is starting to take some business classes to get a minor so he can get his MBA one day.  His class loads are light and he is volunteering as the Men's Soccer Team Manager this season, hoping to take over next year for the paid manager who is a senior.  He loves being with his friends on the team, travelling and getting free meals, especially since he now lives in an on-campus apartment and has to cook for himself.  It's the first time he has his own bedroom, in a four-bedroom apartment with his buddies.  Andrew has an awesome group of friends, who visited us during the summer, or asked to meet up with us/we ran into during our weekend on campus.  Like seriously, the nicest guys and girls, a big switch from the friends he had in high school.  I checked on his location yesterday and he was golfing, so it's pretty safe to say he is living his best life.

Eamon, 18 years old, Freshman at Franciscan University 

That blurry sweaty photo is what Eamon sent me for a first day of college photo.  I asked him to retake it and got the nicer one by the sign.  Why was he so sweaty?  Because he had just gone for a run, played basketball, and volleyball as a sports lover does once they have awesome facilities and tons of guys with which to play.  I have to keep reminding Eamon that he is at college to study :)  He is a Biology major, thinking of a career in Physical Therapy.  The kid is so smart, he could study anything and succeed...if only he had a clear vision of his future.  Eamon lucked out by only having one roommate in a triple room, but that roommate is a Sophomore "dorm-rotter" so we shall see how that pans out.  Eamon decided not to play soccer at Franciscan, but will definitely be playing every intramural sport offered.