Friday, March 17, 2023

Week in Review: St. Patty's Celebrating, Almost Dating, Game Winning and Grateful Healing

Happy St. Patty's Day to ye!  Our Bishop gave a dispensation to allow us to eat meat on this Friday in Lent and while I think that says a lot about how weak we are, I will indeed be indulging in the meats to celebrate my Irish heritage.  But not corned beef, nope, blech, ick.  

I wore my lucky sneakers to work today (dress down day!) that I wore when I ran my last half-marathon on St. Patty's Day.


We will be having homemade Shamrock Shakes for dessert, following this recipe:


And remember, even if you're not 100% Irish like me:


We are known for our hospitality after all!


JP has been home this week and it's so nice to chat with him each evening.  He's working 33 hours this week at the grocery store which has been great for his wallet.  I took this photo in the car on the way to the gym one morning.  It's so fun to have a bunch of kids to work out with.  I used to bring them to the gym daycare to play while I worked out and now they workout next to me.  Gosh I really like and love my kids.  Well, most of them, most of the time ;)  

Last Saturday night there was the Spring Fling dance at the high school.  Eamon asked the girl he's been "talking" with all school year to go with him.  He bought a tie to match her dress and we brought him over to her parent's house to take some photos and meet each other. 


 Eamon is verrrrrry close to getting his license and has had a job since the age of 14, so they will be dating soon.  I don't love the whole dating stage of teenage parenting, and we've been very lucky to not have to deal with it much so far.  JP dated a girl his senior year of high school that lived far away so that was perfect, and then is dating his current girlfriend in college.  Andrew had the pandemic through much of his high school career which made dating impossible (a bright side!) and decided for himself that he wanted to wait until college to date.  So Eamon will be our first highschooler to have a local girlfriend.  He is such a good kid and she seems like such a good kid so I think it will be okay, but if I could spare anyone the heartbreak that surely accompanies dating, I would.  This is the part where I have to remember that I am raising them to let them go.

Maggie did not attend the Spring Fling because she had to wake up at 5:30 the next morning (plus Daylight Savings!) to go to a volleyball tournament an hour away.  On their last game, they were behind 24-16 (25 points wins) and it was Maggie's turn to serve.  Phil looked at me and said "Well she just needs to serve ten aces" and we chuckled.



But then she served a few aces in a row, and we looked at each other like "what is happening?" because she is a very consistent server but why was the other team not able to return it all of a sudden?  She just kept serving and serving and boom they won 26-24!!  Everybody went nuts for that comeback!


We've had a sick feverish Brendan home all week which means missed days of school for him and missed days of work for us.  Times like these always make me wish I was a SAHM or at least a WAHM because the struggle to decide who will use a sick day is real.  I think he finally turned the corner this morning since being on antibiotics for bronchitis.


Sick but still shmizing for the camera.

Happy news for my brother-in-law posted on his GoFundMe:

Got some good news to share today...Will is coming home! He got his neck brace off and is cleared to rehab at home until his surgeries. He will continue with Physical Therapy and Occupational Therapy. After almost a month of being in the hospital since the accident, Maura and the kids are so happy to have their family back together. Will still has a long road to recovery, including surgeries, but this is a great step in the right direction. The whole Manning family are so grateful for everyone's generosity during this difficult time.


 Have a wonderful St. Patrick's and St. Joseph's celebrating weekend everyone!!  
Gaelic and Garlic just like my kids :)

11 comments:

  1. So glad to hear your Brother-in-law is healing and can go home for a bit. I'm not a fan of dating in high school either, too much drama. Lucky for me, that I'm way past that stage. Have a Happy St. Patrick's Day!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Happy St. Joseph's Day to you today!

      Delete
  2. I hadn't thought about it being a Friday in Lent, but I can see how eating meat today might be a problem. I like St. Patrick's Day. Not because of the food and the beer, but because it's one of the few holidays we celebrate that's no big deal to prepare for. Just enjoy the meaning of it, you know?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yes an easy holiday that encourages drinking and eating and merrymaking, I am all for it too!

      Delete
  3. Eamon and his date look so cute togwther! It's funny that I never had a kid dating in high school until #7. The other ones went out in friend groups or were too busy with other things to bother with it. Now my HS senior has been dating a guy for few months. I actually find it a bit of a relief as with the pandemic and lockdowns, it seemed like she had no idea how to socialize in person. The irony is she's dating the guy that drove her nuts through the first 2 years of high school. Very competitive they were as they shared every class for 2 years. However, they go to Mass together on the weekends, and he's a good kid. I figure it's better for her to get some dating experience under her belt while still under my watchful eye.
    Congratulations to Maggie - what an awesome performance.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Wow you lucked out for six kids! This is my one who I think might have a vocation to the priesthood, so we just weren't thinking he'd date in high school. Although I DO want priests to date nice girls and be normal guys before entering the seminary, so who knows what will happen.

      Delete
  4. Congratulations to Maggie!!! How exciting! I hope Brendan is feeling better. He's such a little cutie!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Finally diagnosed with strep and feeling better!

      Delete
  5. I can imagine how hard it must be to figure out who has to stay home with a sick little guy. Ugh. Hope he continues to feel better. Maggie - THAT WAS AMAZING! I cannot believe she pulled that off. Love the pic of the team celebrating. Eamon is such a handsome guy. We are similar - not a lot of dating in the high school years and I'm down with that. Ed dated a girl for a little bit before she left for college (he was about to be a senior), so that was a short timeframe. Sports and studies seems to hold my gang's focus. Most of the time. Love your running shoes so much. Garlic and Gaelic - ha, never heard of that one.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. An at home daycare sounds like a good business plan during weeks like we just had! He was diagnosed with strep finally after two negative tests. Now that he's on the right meds, he is doing so much better!! Happy St. Joseph's Day!!

      Delete
  6. Our diocese also had a dispensation for St. Patrick's Day (plus I have a personal dispensation as I am pregnant!). I happened to be getting together for dinner on Friday with some friends (none of whom are Catholic). They all wanted to go to an all-you-can-eat Brazilian steakhouse but were thoughtful enough to ask me ahead of time if it was okay on a Lenten Friday (there really is nothing else but meat on the menu). I explained the situation but when I told my husband where we were going, he was like, "wow, you're really taking that dispensation and running with it, aren't you?!" :D

    Great job Maggie - what an accomplishment! I love a good comeback!!

    ReplyDelete

Talk to me...