Happy Friday! Too bad it's a Lenten one. My feelings on Lent are akin to getting an annual physical - I don't want to go through it but I know it's good for me. I was lamenting to my very devout and holy mother how much I hate Lent and she told me that she loves it. See what I wrote about her being holy :) As for me, well I'm a practicing Catholic for sure ;)
Let's look back at what happened this week. Last Friday we attended a Trivia Night that our parish put on and it was SO MUCH FUN! Our team was made up of Phil, me, JP, Eamon, our nephew, Haley (came late) and Jonathan and our pastor. Maggie was supposed to be on the team but she ended up being asked to babysit for a couple who was also at the trivia night. Our team name was "Father Knows Best" since Father was on our team. We were pretty good and came in tied for second after being in first place all night *shakes fist at the last hard round that was worth double points*.
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| Eamon taking a picture of me taking a picture of Phil |
Meanwhile back in Ohio, Andrew and Smiles had to give out free hugs as part of their household initiation. They've also had to help people carry their backpacks to class, make funny videos in the cafe, etc. It seems like a lot of fun and Andrew is loving it. He's flying home tonight for Spring Break - eek! All my babies together!
Maggie brought me home this sweatshirt from Texas and I took this photo in my work bathroom to show her I was wearing it. Phil saw me put it on and asked "Do you feel like your chest is bigger?" to which I was VERY confused, until he said "Everything's bigger in Texas!"
On Sunday we officially celebrated the double birthdays with some friends and family, and had a wonderful dinner made by Phil and dessert from a yummy restaurant:
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| Chicken Cordon Bleu, rice pilaf and a strawberry and blue cheese salad |
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| Lemon cake |
Maggie shipped up to Boston to celebrate a friend's birthday. They took the train into the city, walked around and ate at a fancy restaurant and made their way home safely. Now when she tell us she doesn't know how to do something, we can say "Well you figured out how to get to Boston!"
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| Maggie + Maggie |
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| Maggie + Maddie |
She only makes friends with people who have similar names ;)
I guess all of our fun happened on the weekend! The rest of the week was nice and boring, as the four-days-a-week-swimming-schedule-since-September-for-two-kids-whose-practices-are-not-at-the-same-time ended last week. Declan starts travel soccer in April, but March is blissfully unscheduled for any sports for any kids. It also tends to be the month I schedule lots of appointments and of course, Lent, which means many more nights spent in church. We have an Adoration hour on Tuesday nights, a Lenten series of talks on Thursday nights, Stations of the Cross on Friday nights, and we attend the vigil Mass on Saturday nights. I am choosing not to partake in a Women's book study on Wednesday nights because I think it would put me over the edge to be gone that night as well. Extroverting is a great Lenten sacrifice for Introverts, but let's not get too crazy m'kay?
Have a wonderful weekend everyone!
I too, hate Lent. And my spiritual director told me on Tuesday to try and figure out what it is that gets me riled up about the Lenten season. I just really like singing the Gloria okay?! And Sundays don't count in the 40 days so why can't we just sing?!? Whiny baby over here spending the next few weeks figuring out why I hate Lent. And I also said no to the women's book study this season too!
ReplyDeleteGlad March is blissfully sports-less and Andrew comes home!!
Good point about singing on Sundays! We definitely cheat on our Lenten fast on Sundays (and Saturday nights after the vigil Mass). I *think* I hate it because life feels so hard already and then you add a perfectionist Type A personality who probably tries to do too much each Lent on top of that and it's complete suffering. But then if I don't do enough I feel guilty!
DeleteHow fun with the trivia!
ReplyDeleteAre households the FuS equivalent of fraternities?
Yes! There are guy and girl households, each with a different style/philosophy/saint and they have weekly commitments like morning Mass, Adoration hour, prayer time, etc. They also tend to play on intramural sports teams together and live in the same area of dorms together. When there are Household Masses on campus, they all process in with their banner and dressed in their identical household shirts. I personally did not join a household and neither did JP but Phil and Andrew did. I would say the majority of students do join.
DeleteThank you for answering!!
DeleteTrivia night looks fun! My son's marching band did one, but it was over 21 only.( I had thought to buy a table and give his Scholastic bowl team a chance to trample the adults, but no dice).
ReplyDeleteI'm no good at Lent- I appreciate the point behind Lent, but I never manage to keep my resolutions for all 40 days. I don't even try to give up sweets. I'm going for 1) write a letter and reach out to someone at least once a week, 2give up toast in the afternoon and evening. 3) get to daily Mass at least once a week. I should also work on my cursing, which has gone up exponentially- must watch my mouth.
Enjoy your sport-less days!
Why can't I imagine you cursing? That's so funny! When you say "toast" do you mean you eat actual toast two times a day?
DeleteLife is very frustrating lately - this whole past year has been a basket of Chaos and dilemmas. And toast is very comforting - but I don't need it and it's just a bad method of coping. Seriously, I can put away 4-5 pieces of toast without thinking. And cursing is the same ( bad habit picked up in grad school, usually under control, unfortunately coming back due to ludicrous levels of frustration). So despite whatever Madonna like image of me you gave in your head, I must admit to being very despairing and grouchy - Oscar and Eeyore together!
DeleteOK so your toast is my chips/crackers :) I'm sorry you are going through such hard times lately and I will add you to my prayers this Lent!
DeleteI am dying at Maggie only making friends with girls with similar names. For years our kids all ended up with a bestie whose first name was the same as their middle name. Reg and curly blew it though, because they did not have friends named Seamus or Sharon. Go figure.
ReplyDeleteI did not know Phil was such a comedian. His Texas joke was hilarious.
I love the challenges happening at the college houses or whatever. So fun. I think Tank had to wear his kilt around campus for a day, to which I say This is what you get for sharing that you own a kilt.
Hooray for a less hectic March. I’m not sure I hate lent- but a priest gave me dispensation years ago from the meatless Fridays because celiac is so limiting. I still TRY to avoid meat, because I feel like I am cheating.
So funny about the middle names! Maggie was just born in a time full of Maggies and Maddies and Addies so when we are at a sports event everyone is yelling out the same similar name, it's wild. Oh yes meatless while celiac is hard! We are limiting our carbs this Lent as well so it's basically fish for me and eggs for Phil on Fridays.
DeleteAs a huge fan of ordinary time, Lent is also not my favorite. I think as a former Protestant, I never feel like I'm doing it "right". But yes, it's good for us, so we continue on!!
ReplyDeleteDo you listen to Hallow? I do the daily Lent talks on my morning drive, and that is helping me so much to at least start the day right! I'm like you and overthink if I'm doing it well enough.
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