Week in Review: A Retreat, A Mission, and a Full House

Happy Friday!

Today Phil and I have our annual skin checks at the dermatologist, an appointment I dread all year but still make myself go, with the promise of a lunch date after.  Moles and Rolls, Derm and Dine, Basal and Basil, and that's enough, Colleen.  

Lots happening this week, so without further ado...

Maggie and Xander went on a retreat over the weekend.  Maggie was a leader and Xander was a participant, and they both said it went awesome!  

Maggie with her team

I can suddenly picture Xander as a future clergy member

It was really, really weird only having two kids in the house on Sat and Sun, but then JP and Eamon and Eamon's friend arrived in time for dinner on Sunday, and the retreatants returned home, and all the beds in the Martin Casa were once again filled.  We were just missing Andrew, who is loving life on his mission trip in Arizona this week:

They have been helping at a school all week (and playing with the kids at recess!)

Look how close to the border of Mexico he is!

He said In n' Out was legit

Cacti!

Andrew and his partner leading a retreat for 4th graders

The crew before leaving Ohio

Week in Review: Spring Break in Winter's Wake

Happy Friday!  

The rain this week has washed away a lot of the snow, and we can finally see some grass again.  The big guys are all about to start their Spring Break week, with Andrew flying to Arizona for his mission trip tomorrow, and JP and Eamon and Eamon's friend driving home this weekend - yay!  Franciscan held an Irish fest last night, which they were all able to attend.  Eamon (only 19) says he just held the beer for the picture "to look more Irish", as if that kid could look anything but Irish.

Grandpa enlisted Declan and Brendan to help him build a snowman, as Grandpa loves to do:

They also used the bed boxes to pretend to camp outside.  They lasted about five minutes.

What Would You Do?

(Asking for a friend, obviously.)

Scenario One:

Husband and Wife watch tv together in bed each evening.  Wife wants to turn the tv off and fall asleep around 9:30 but husband wants to keep watching tv for awhile.  

Should wife just try to fall asleep with tv on, which is difficult for her?  Or should husband leave their comfy bed and watch tv in the family room, which may result in sleeping on the couch?

Scenario Two:

College boys report Honda Odyssey is being weird.  They bring it to a mechanic who tells them it's unsafe to drive anymore and it needs a whole new engine.  They now need a replacement.

Should parents buy a used car, though they were not financially ready, to have available for the boys at spring break, so that they have one for the rest of the semester?  Or should college kids have to go without a car for the rest of the semester, and parents postpone buying one until the summer?

Scenario Three:

Husband and Wife work three jobs each in order to provide for all of the expenses of a family of nine with three in college this fall.  Husband and wife now make enough income to barely cover said expenses, but also "too much income" when it comes to some of the benefits they used to get when they earned less.  Financial aid packages are stingier, some scholarships are now non-eligible, tax deductions/credits are going away, and discounts we received in past for certain services are not available to us anymore.

Should we keep killing ourselves with work to provide to our best ability, even though it means we lose money in benefits?  Or should we figure out the income necessary to qualify for all of the benefits we used to receive, and earn only that much?

(Yes, my friend is aware that these are first world problems.)

Week in Review: The Blizzard of 2026 and Other Things

Happy Last Day of February!  

I don't know why people don't love February - it's such a short and fun month...with Valentine's Day, and my birthday, and a week off from school...and also Ash Wednesday, and snow storms and freezing temps...okay maybe I do understand a wee bit!

Maggie came home from her mission trip on Saturday, and was immediately missing the beautiful Florida weather:

Final day was a fun one at Disney Springs

The Maggies painting.  They also gardened and sorted food at a food shelter.

The Maggies dancing next to their future selves :) while visiting the nursing home.

Maggie was missing home-cooking, so we (Phil) made a thai chicken and noodle dish to welcome her home:

Declan had a fun day bowling with friends on Saturday:

Xander went out with friends to the mall and Brendan had his best friend over for the day, so everybody had fun before we were snowed in:

Lunch time!

Play time!

Week(s) in Review: Valentine's Weekend, Winter Break, Maggie's Mission and Lenten Days

 Hello!  Welcome to Lent 2026!

I am trying to go through the Crux program on Ascension this Lent, because after hearing the Irish Franciscan priest speak, I just couldn't refuse.  Irish + Franciscan = me in a nutshell :)  Lent never seems to get any easier for me, but I'm hoping it's a lot like exercise and I'll keep plugging away:

This week has been February vacation week here in Massachusetts, but we stayed home and did a few fun things, scheduled a few appointments, and I went to work but only for four days since Monday was a holiday.  

For Valentine's Day, Phil and I went out to dinner at our favorite local Italian restaurant:

Chicken Parm for me and Chicken Florentine for he

The next day, we took the youngest three boys to a hotel on the Cape for an overnight.  They swam and we went out to dinner and ice cream, shopped a little, drove by the houses of my childhood and went to Mass at the church where Phil and I got married.  It was lovely!

The hotel has a little arcade

Not Your Average Joe's in Hyannis

Shake Shack (our first time!) in Hyannis

Our Lady of Victory in Centerville

We shopped at Trader Joe' before driving home & Declan begged us to buy a dragon fruit.  Disgusting!

The Things At Which I Used To Be Good

I was watching the Olympics with the little boys and they know that I used to figure skate when I was a kid, so they were asking me if I could still skate...could I skate backwards...could I do any jumps, etc.  It made me realize that they've never been ice-skating with me and we will have to try and fix that this winter.  It also made me sad to think about something that I used to have skill in, hours spent learning a sport or instrument or subject, at which now I would merely stumble around.  So without further ado, here is an incomplete list of THE THINGS AT WHICH I USED TO BE GOOD:

FIGURE SKATING

I took ice skating lessons from ages 6-11 I believe.  We would have a big show once a year and perform in a group number.  I loved ice skating, but what I really loved was skating fast and dangerous.  If there had been a Speed Skater group, I would have joined that instead of figure skating.  A few years back, I tried to see if I could still do a simple spin...barely!

VIOLIN

In elementary school, we were able to have string instrument group lessons, so I chose violin.  When I went to a private school, the lessons stopped.  I played for about five years and picked it up easily.  I was a member of the Cape Cod Youth Symphony Orchestra and we would play in the mall at Christmas time and I thought that was a very big deal - ha!

Practicing in the nightgown of the late 80s

CALCULUS

Guys, I was a math nerd.  When someone would ask me what I wanted to be, I would say "I just want to sit at a desk all day and do math" and voila! accounting! (sort of).  Numbers just make sense to me - black and white - no feelings or thoughts involved.  In high school, I took a summer math class voluntarily so that I could skip ahead and complete two full years of Calculus in high school.  The love I had for math was strong, so it makes me very saddened to realize that I couldn't do more than basic calculus problems right now.  I've still got a strong hold on Algebra though!

FRENCH

I took French as a subject from grades 8-12 and we were only allowed to speak French in the classroom starting in grade 11.  Although I was never able to speak it fluently, I was able to read and write French tres bien.  My name in French class was Annette, nicknamed "Anne" and I miss that jolie petite fille.

SKIING

Because we owned ice cream shops, we couldn't take summer vacations and used to go skiing in the winter instead.  I started skiing at age four and was a speed demon with no patience for going back and forth across a mountain, just straight down.  Now with the price of skiing and the size of our family, I haven't been since college, and I would probably fall and break a hip anyways.

Baby Colleen Margaret

I have 5 siblings, but most of my pictures are with my little sister because we were the last two.

One popsicle, why?

My little sister rode horses, I did it once at a camp and got thrown off.

I think this was in Colonial Williamsburg

How about you?  What old talents of yours do you miss most?