Life on the outside...

Week one - the adventure begins

2009-03-01T09:32:00.004-05:00

So many people told me to take it easy the first week at home ... put your feet up... sleep when the baby sleeps... leave the household chores - they can wait... I was looking forward to this time of rest and settling in with our beautiful son.

For us, things were a little different as life at home this week was a bit hectic... Monday we went the pediatrician b/c Liam wasn’t nursing well and he was just totally inconsolable. It was breaking my heart. Well it was the right call to go in as 1. he had lost too much weight overnight (born at 8.6, released from hospital at 7.15 on Sunday afternoon, weighed in at 7.5 at pediatrician) so they had us supplement for 48 hours to get him to thrive which worked like a charm and 2. the pediatrician found a couple of oral lesions in the very back of his mouth which he didn't like as that is where viruses hang out.

Tuesday, the pediatrician called us to say he had done some more research on the lesions and decided we should go to children’s and have them swabbed and tested. So we packed up and went there. Our dr. was the head of pediatric residency program at children’s so he had called ahead and had a great team waiting for us to arrive. They were wonderful.

Wednesday, back to pediatrician for a follow-up weight check and thankfully he had gained back everything he had lost. He is nursing like a champ now.

Thursday we were looking forward to a quiet day at home, but I had called my dr. to ask about my swelling. Literally it looked like someone replaced my feet and ankles with those of an elephant - and my hands were so swollen that the skin was splitting... she said she wasn't concerned with the swelling, but she would be if I had a headache ... which I had been complaining about all day ... so she had me come in for a blood pressure check. Now my BP is normally somewhere around 117/70, but in her office that day it was 150/105 - SCAREY! She took it again after I had laid down for 10 minutes and it hadn't changed much so she sent us back in to BI to have them draw blood and monitor the BP in case it was Preeclampsia. (never a dull moment!!) All tests came back fine at BI and I was released.

Finally, Friday and Saturday we were able to spend some quiet time at home with feet elevated and Jim waiting on us completely so that we could remain comfortable and healthy... the way life should be. Incidentally, since we have not received any phone calls from the hospital, we are to assume that Liam's tests all came back negative also.

Now that things have settled down, life with a baby is the most amazing experience of my life. I had no idea that this level of love could exist. It is the purest example of the love of God that I have experienced on a human level. It is truly an experience that has to be lived to be understood.

Onward to week 2...

hmmm... a final "Womb with a View" post ...

2009-02-19T12:30:00.003-05:00

So here it is. The day set up as the final day for my body to do this labor and delivery thing on its own. Inducement day. It is kinda weird knowing that tonight we will go to the hospital to start the process of eviction ... I mean effacement.

To catch you up:

Monday night we had 3 hours of contractions that got progressively more intense. They never got to the point where I could not talk through them, but I did have to breathe carefully through some of the final ones. We decided toward the end when my breating changed that we should get ready to go to the hospital. I went up to take a shower and Jim came up with his watch to continue tracking the timing. By the time I finished my shower the contractions were beginning to be less intense and eventually subsided. So we just went to bed figuring if they came back again it would wake me up and we could continue the process.

I only woke up the regular number of times to relieve the bladder (it will sure be nice to not have a little one leaning on my bladder anymore!)

Tuesday morning we went into the hospital for a scheduled ultrasound and non stress test. THis would normally have happened in our Dr. office, but it is Feb vacation week and many of the staff are on vacation there, so we had to go in to Boston. THe non stress test runs for 20 minutes during which time they look for the baby to move and for the heart rate to respond by jumping just after the movement. They want to see it happen 2 times in the 20 minutes. Our child decided to be an over achiever in this department and gave them the 2 jumps within the first 5 minutes of being hooked up - but we still had to be hooked up for the 20 minutes. no problem. The nurse who administered this test, Linda, was just helping out on that floor. She is normally on the Labor and Delivery floor and she was SO nice that it was reassuring of who we may encounter when we finally reach that floor.

Next was the ultrasound. The tech was also extremely nice and told us everything she was looking at. She asked as soon as she came in if we knew the sex of the baby. We said no, we are holding out. She laughed and said well then you won't hear it from me! She showed us the heart beating and measured the heartrate and said "perfect", then she showed us the bladder and laughed and told us the baby needed to pee, she measured the amniotic fluid and showed us where the pockets of fluid were and said we were actually doing really well with the fluid level - it is what they are really checking for at this stagfe as some women get low on fluid after their due date has passed but we were looking great. SHe showed us the baby's lungs and the practice breathing movements. And she told us the baby's head is down and in the right position. So at least we know that the baby is ready to go!

We took those reports to our Dr appointment yesterday. We had to see a new nurse practitioner this week as our dr. is on vacation. She was very nice (nothing like nurse cratchet aka dr death of our earlier nurse practitioner visits). She said that what is important now is that the baby is healthy and all of the tests look great... and that ultimately whether my body responds on its own or with help, we are having this baby this week so the end is near. She explained again the process of inducing and also that the possibility exists that my body may not respond tot he meds which could lead to a c-section. That is a really scarey possibility for me (which I am sure is shocking to many of you who remember that in the beginning of this preganancy I was more scared of the vaginal birth process.)

At any rate, Jim and I went to lunch after and talked a little bit about what the next few days may entail for us ... then we both went to work. Since I was feeling pretty anxious about the whole thing, it was a good distraction for me to be in the office and focussing on other things for a while. I have had an aweful cold this week and hadn't been into work since last Thursday, so I haven't had many distractions. Soon after I got there our interior decorator arrived with fabric samples for the furniture that will be ordered for our staff common room. THAT was a great distraction. The room is going to be beautiful and I was glad I got to be there for that process. I thought I would just be there for a few hours writing back to the 9th graders in their journals, but there were a bunch of other things that came up during the day and by 6:00 I hadn't even started on their journals. A really interesting thing happened though once I began reading their journal entries and writing back. It is one of my favorite things that I do because I get to hear where they are in their journey and the I get to reflect back to them on how I have dealt with these same questions in my journey and offer some words of encouragement and prayer for them. It helps me to grow in my faith too.

Well last week, the girls read a prayer that was written from God to them and they were asked to respond to that prayer in their journals. Because many of them commented on different parts of the prayer, I had to continuously re-read the prayer in it's entirety to be able to respond. Here is the prayer:

Wait until you are satisfied, fulfilled, and content with being loved by Me
alone, with giving yourself totally, unreservedly to Me alone.

I love you, my child. But until you discover that only in Me is your satisfaction to be found, you will not be capable of the perfect human relationship that I have planned for you. You will never be united with another as you desire to be until you are united with me, exclusive of anyone or anything else, exclusive of any other desires and belongings.

I want you to stop planning and stop wishing, and allow me to give you the most thrilling plan that exists - one that you can't imagine. I want you to have the very best. Please allow me to bring it to you.

Just keep your eyes on me, expecting the greatest things.
Keep experiencing that satisfaction knowing that I AM.
Keep learning and listening to the things I tell you.
You must be patient.

Don't be anxious.
Don't worry.
Don't look around at the things others have.
Don't look at the things that you want.
Just keep looking at me, or you will miss what I want to give you.

And then when you are ready, I will surprise you with a love far more wonderful than you could ever dream. You see, until you are ready, and the one I have for you is ready ... until you are both satisfied exclusively with Me and the life I have prepared for you, you won't be able to experience the love that exemplifies your relationship with me ... and this is perfect love.

(Anonymous Prayer)

SO - I really felt like these journals were put off until the last minute so that in my anxiety I would hear over and over agian this particular section and be able to hear God speaking to me:

I want you to stop planning and stop wishing, and allow me to give you the most thrilling plan that exists - one that you can't imagine. I want you to have the very best. Please allow me to bring it to you.

Just keep your eyes on me, expecting the greatest things.
Keep experiencing that satisfaction knowing that I AM.
Keep learning and listening to the things I tell you.
You must be patient.

Don't be anxious.
Don't worry.
Don't look around at the things others have.
Don't look at the things that you want.
Just keep looking at me, or you will miss what I want to give you.

I realized that I have no control over this process and that I have to let go and let God. My plans have only caused me anxiety. So that is my prayer for today as I await labor and delivery is that I can keep my eyes on God and expect great things ... and that I keep listening to the things He tells me ... and patience ... no anxiety ... no worry ...

So pretty amazing that after the most anxious day I have had in my preganancy, God would speak to me through a group of 9th grade girls who I was supposed to be ministering to. God is cool.

wanna see a little bit of the baby's room?

2009-02-13T11:45:00.003-05:00

I mean, I figured I would show you all since the baby apparently is not interested in seeing it just yet...

Can I pull this off? I mean I have the glasses already...

2009-02-11T13:40:00.002-05:00

Week 40

2009-02-09T16:31:00.003-05:00

Here's the latest...

We are in week 40 which ends now on Friday the 13th (that is our latest due date).

I served an eviction notice on the baby yesterday. (but as my sister pointed out, we all know how long it takes me to actually get an eviction after filing a notice)

I got a massage on Friday - which was divine... so divine that I scheduled another for the 13th just in case.

I realized on Saturday morning that I really don't have any pictures of me pregnant, so my sister came over on Saturday afternoon and took some for me... I'll see if I can upload one later.

I went to Kate's dinner theater fundraiser on Saturday night and laughed my butt off. It was great!

Saturday night when I awoke in the middle of the night (which is just a normal occurrance now) I had 2 stronger contractions and I thought, "Could this be it???"
But when I awoke in the morning things were pretty normal again so I got up and got ready for my very busy day ahead...

Sunday morning we had the 10:30 Mass hosted by our 5th and 6th graders followed by a parish brunch in our hall. The Mass was great - we had split the minister roles between the 2 grades and the kids were fantastic! I stood at the back of the church through the whole Mass doing a standing rocking motion in hopes of getting the baby to move to the groove and get tthings moving. The brunch after Mass was equally fantastic in that so many parishioners came down for great fellowship. Many, many people came to me and said, "Wow! You look great! How do you feel? ... I really didn't think we would see you this weekend." I would say, "I actually feel great, but I am ready for the next phase." and "I really didn't think I would still be here either." So after, I went to the Natick Mall (sorry - the Natick Collection) yesterday and walked 2 laps. Last night I felt like things were progressing. I was looking forward to my dr. appointment because I was SURE she was going to tell me that we were progressing nicely...

This morning was our appointment... we had the monitors on for a while and everything looks good... heartrate is steady and strong ... I had a few contractions ... but NOTHING has changed since last Monday! NOTHING?????? I walked, I ate Chinese, I rocked, I exhausted myself and NOTHING??? So we created our "overdue plan" for next week (though she assured me that just creating the plan usually gets things moving) So if we are still pregnant on Tuesday the 17th, we go to the hospital on that morning for an ultrasound and fetal monitoring (this determines sufficient amniotic fluid and non stress). Wednesday morning we go see the nurse practitioner (not the one we saw before) for an exam and to look at the results from Tuesday tests. Thursday evening we go in to be induced. If we make it that far, this process is long and exhausting and if we are lucky the baby will be born by Friday evening, but definitely by Saturday morning.

So, my friends, your job this week is to pray that we go into labor without having to be induced! Now get to praying!!!!

and thanks for your support...

Week 39

2009-02-04T10:04:00.004-05:00

At dr appointment this week ... she told us to prepare to be late - typical Flanagan style! Also, we had an ultrasound and the baby's weight is estimated at 7 lbs 9 ounces right now... which is right about where i was when I was born (come on baby, you and mommy can be the same!!) No new pictures as the little one was facing my right hip which is the wall where the placenta is and therefore we couln't get a face shot...

Okay, so I know that 40 weeks is the right amount of time ... and that I am only at 39 weeks, which makes me still a week early, however, at this stage of pregnancy one wonders if a week really makes a difference...

I know that Una says that Andrews acid reflux was attributed to his 2 week early delivery ... and that the little peanut could have stood to cook a little longer and build up some body fat ... and I do believe her that bigger babies are healthier...

But this offers little comfort to me each night as a sleep for 20 minutes ... wake up for 10 ... sleep for 20 ... wake up for 10. There is comfort is those moments during the night when I lie awake feeling the baby moving all around and knowing that each day the movements are stronger and healthier and that one of these nights these gentle movements will turn to unbearable contractions which will lead to this little one joining us on the outside. But when morning comes and that hasn't happened yet, well, it is disappointing.

On the plus side, in the past few days I have been able to:
- make a lasagna and meatballs to put in to serving size containers in the freezer for after the baby is here and I don't feel like cooking

- set up in the youth room ALL the supplies and resources needed by the middle school teachers for the rest of the year!

- Sort through all the old sheet sets we have accumulated and discard all of the mismatched / ripped / wornout sheets and organize the others into sets in the linen closet

- do ALL of the laundry in the house

- replaced the garbage disposal ... well, had my sister come and install a new one ... as lately when I run the water for too long in the kitchen, I have been noticing that my socks get wet. So yesterday morning I opened the cabinet to see if there was water under there and yes, there was a bit of a flood. So I pulled all the cleaning supplies out and soaked up the water and yucky mess that was under there and then poured more water down the drain to see where it was coming from... the garbage disposal was rotted in spots and acted like a sprinkler system as it spewed all over the cabinet space ... and since the cabinet doors were open, all over me too (YUCK!!) I am just glad that I didn't run the garbage disposal itself or I would have had orange and kiwi skins all over too!! Anyway, I called Jim and had him pick up a new disposal and my sister came last night and installed it for us. (my mom came too, but she and I watched TV while my sister worked)

- Also - my mom brought over my christening gown, bonnet, blanket and pillow which have been preserved like most people do with their wedding dresses. Jim says if this is a boy we are not using the bonnet...

This past Sunday I was talking with a family at my parish (my favorite family!) and the mom was talking about what she did to pass the time while she waited for her first to be born. She said that for the last 2 weeks she made plans for something fun to do each day. That way if the baby didnt come that day, she still had something fun to do, and the worst that could happen is that she would have to cancel plans. SO here is my plan...

Today, I am making the plans for the next 2 weeks...
Tomorrow, we are cooking and setting up for Mardi Gras
Friday, 1:45 Massage and evening Mardi Gras fundraiser for Mississippi
Saturday, anyone want to do lunch? or dinner? (Jim is running a retreat 12 - 9)
Sunday, 6th grade Mass and brunch ... TOB for Teens begins in the evening
Monday, Dr appointment in the morning ... anyone for lunch or dinner?
Tuesday - my birthday ... 10am haircut and what I would LIKE to do is go to dinner with Jim at Rick's Cafe since they have trivia night on Tuesday nights and it is a fun time... however there is a joint PPC meeting that night ... i will work on getting out of that...
Wednesday - hoping for another massage, we will see how the first one goes...
Thursday - DRE meeting in the morning in Acton, maybe lunch with Diahne and others after?
Friday & Saturday ... before we got married we used to do a valentines dinner with a couple of couples ... sometimes gabe & una, sometimes scott and margo ... right before Keira was born we had both couples over at Jim's old apartment... perhaps we should plan one of those dinners again...

That takes us right up to the due date ... I will look at the following week if we make it past V-day...

Okay - so who wants to get together when? and remember plans are subject to change at the whim of this baby...

and another dr appointment..

2009-01-26T17:46:00.003-05:00

I know - already? But our visits shifted from Thursdays to Mondays for the remainder of the pregnancy. So we figured there could not be much change in 4 days...

Apparently our little bundle of joy has decided to be a chicken and has retreated to the solitude of the womb. In other words where the head had dropped one stage as of 4 days ago... today it retreated.

Other than that, no change. We did schedule another ultrasound for next monday to check size again. She said she is having some trouble getting a handle on the size based on manual palpations but that it is nothing to worry about.

What is left to do before the big day?
* I need to pack a bag (though everything is washed, dried and folded for me and for baby)
* Jim needs to pack a bag including snacks so that he doesn't pass out in the delivery room (somehow, I don't think snacks are going to help him...)
* We need to install the carseat ( we HAVE the carseat thanks to my sister, it just needs to be installed and then inspected by a friendly policeman ... we figure why do it in 2 steps? Let's just have Gabe, our friendly neighborhood police officer, install AND inspect it at the same time. we just have to ask him...)
* We need to find a pediatrician...
* We need sheets for the bassinet and a particular accessory for said carseat called a "bundle me lite" that will keep the baby warm in the carseat. I am planning on stopping on my way home to pick those 2 things up.

Can anybody else think of anything I am missing?

Weekly check in

2009-01-23T13:21:00.003-05:00

So lately at the end of the day I feel like this baby weights about 100 pounds ... sometimes it feels this way even in the middle of the day if I am doing a lot of walking (like grocery shopping, etc.). Also, I have been gaining a bit more weight than usual - not enormously, but more than weeks past (like this past week I gained 3 whole pounds!). And while I seemingly stopped having morning sickness in month 7, the other day it returned for no apparent reason.

It is because of these things that I am happy we have weekly appointments with our wonderful doctor (no more nurse practitioner!!!).

THis week we spent a bit longer on the monitors than last week because the baby was being stubborn. I had to eat a granola bar and drink a cold cup of water to try to get the baby to be active. Eventually everything was fine - not that it was a problem, just that the activity level was low but that was due to the timing of the appointment in relation to when I had eaten breakfast. No problem.

To answer the latest "symptoms" from paragraph 1:
Heavy baby? that is because the head has dropped one stage
Weight gain? water retention
return of morning sickness? Happens to some women at the end of pregnancy, nobody knows why but it is not harmful

Also, there has been no change this week in dilation or thinning of the cervix. On the dr's way out of the room she said "See you next week." I said - you sound pretty confident of that. She laughed and said yup. So we have at least another week to go.

In other news:
The baby's room is finished. (well almost) It is painted thanks to Una getting on Jim's case and telling him she was mad at him for not painting it yet. I think Jim is afraid of Una so she can prompt him to action pretty easily (don't tell Jim I said that!!) My sister and I hung the Pooh border and it is just the cutest thing EVER! She and I also put the crib together. I ironed the crib skirt and put it on. I also ironed the window valances. I set up the changing table and even that is adorable (it is my grandmother's mirrored beareau that we converted using a contoured changing pad.) I have cleaned the miniblinds on one window and have hung the Pooh valance on that window - and will do the same to the other window today. I set up a little bookcase for the Pooh lamp (and made sure it was plugged into the right outlet to be able to turn it on by the light switch) and ipod player to sit on, and to house the books we have received and 3 baskets of 1-bath supplies 2- rattles, teethers, etc. and 3-ummm I cant remember what is in the third one...

I bought little bins that tuck under the crib to hold the larger clothing that we received as gifts until such a time that the baby will fit into them and labled them as well ... 3-6 MO, 6-9 mo, and 9mo and up.

I washed all the sheets, blankets, washcloths, towels, and 0-3mo clothes and have put them away in drawers.

I also did a MAJOR cleaning of our room and made the mirror image switching to put me on the side of the bed that the bassinet will be on. This included cleaning out of the bedside tables, cleaning off of all surfaces, dusting and throwing away a ton of stuff including our old paper lamps from Ikea (which Jim was a little rough with and seemed to tore his multiple times). Not to worry though, I had purchased a sleeker paper lamp of each bedside table some time ago and Just had not set them up yet. They look great! I have adjusted quite well to my new side of the bed... Jim on the other hand, not so much. He has difficulty with change. He says that it is difficult to adjust to the new side because of the C-PAP machine ... because when he is lying on his left side the hose should be out in front of him... and on his right side the hose should have to come up and over his head and now it is the opposite and just impossible to get used to... and, he says, it would just be MUCH easier for him to get up at night when the baby wakes up to pick up the baby and do the hand off to me. I told him to get over it and settle in to his new side. We'll see how long it takes.

Anyway, I believe what has been happening this week with all the cleaning and organizing is what is commonly referred to as Nesting. So let the nesting continue!

Weekly check-up

2009-01-15T18:24:00.003-05:00

Sooooooooooo, today we had the first of our weekly appointments to check on the status of the baby and here is what we found out:

The baby's estimated weight at the ultrasound 2 weeks ago - which was in the 61st percentile - was 5 pounds 10 ounces. Assuming this baby continues to grow at the normal 1/2 pound per week rate - we will have an 8 pound 10 ounce baby at delivery (also assuming that the baby arrives on time)

I had the monitors on for 20ish minutes today, one monitors the heart rate and the other monitors contractions. Heart rate was right around 160 average ... and there were 2 moderate contractions and 1 minor contraction during that time. I am not dialated at all but the cervix has begun to thin. All of this is completely normal.

How am I doing? Thanks for asking. I am feeling like this pregnancy is ready to be over... okay I guess it is more like I am ready for the pregnancy to be over and to meet this person who has been training for a blackbelt lately in this womb. NOT that I am ready to HAVE the baby, or to be on maternity leave, or to take care of a newborn baby... but ready for all the changes to my body to be over. While they do tell you that hemorrhoids are a normal part of pregnancy, nobody ever really tells you A. what they are 2. how painful they can be c. that there is very little you can do to get relief and lastly that once you get them you have them for life. Oh sure you can keep them in control with diet and exercise, but you always have to worry about them coming back. Greeeeeeeeat. I thought I would miss this part of pregnancy as I made it this far and only have a hop and a skip left to go, but NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO they came on suddenly last Friday and were at their worst on Saturday just in time for my (awesome) shower. You may have noticed that I was slow to move and wincing a bit and readjusting in my chair often to try to find comfort? NO? Well perhaps I hid the discomfort well. The treatment: Sitz bath 2x per day with epsom salts...

Constipation: another normal effect of pregnancy, another one I thought I was going to avoid, another one not avoided. The treatment: 5 prunes per day, Milk of Magnesia at night, colase during the day.

Loosening of ligaments: A symptom I got earlier in the pregnancy, which went away after Fr. Matt prayed over me, which has now returned appropriately this time, but painful none the less. Treatment: none (so when I stand up from a sitting/lying position I apparently look like I am 80 years old ... and Jim cannot resist saying "What are you 80?" EVERY time.

Sleepy and yet sleepless: again, this is "normal" but man I need a nap in the afterrnoon. I am looking forward to being able to be comfortable when lying down. I know that I will be sleep deprived with a newborn, but I am thinking that the sleep that I do get will be great. Does anyone think this will not be true? Perhaps you should keep that to yourself. I am holding onto that dream to get me through the sleepless nights...

So speaking of the awesome shower that marked the beginning of the dreaded hemorrhoid phase: What a great day it was. It was so nice of my cousin to host it in her home knowing that she was jumping in the car immediately following the shower to drive her mom to Florida (they were supposed to leave the next day, but the snow was rolling in and so they decided to leave as early as possible). It was so nice of everyone to come out in the cold, knowing that snow was on its way, to celebrate that special day with Jim and me. Every gift was perfect, every card was sweet, every thought was appreciated and every laugh was much appreciated. I loved that day! My sister put so much work into making it a special day and I think it all paid off in the end. She came up with some great games to keep everyone occupied while they waited for us to arrive and it seemed that everyone really enjoyed playing. And she had my mom and aunt making favors all night the night before ... what? you didn't get one? That is because they forgot to put them out (oops). It took forever to open the mountain of gifts, but I loved every single one. I can't wait for the nursery to be completed and to be able to hang up the clothes in the closet and put things away in drawers. When will the nursery be finished? Well, it is primed and Jim says he is doing the first coat on Friday night and the second coat on Saturday morning. My sister and mom are coming over Sunday morning to help hang the border and put everything in order. And I have all day on Monday to organize. I will take pictures when it is finished.

Oh, I would make a special comment about how impressed I was at Margo's handmade blanket and hat, but I read on her blog today that she does not even read my blog anymore ... so i won't. (NO she didn't say straight out that she doesn't read me anymore, but she left me out of her morning routine post about whose blogs she checks... How do I get re-added? I try to update regularly... maybe once the baby is born I will post a picture everyday or something and she will re-add me. who knows...

Until the nursery is completed ... or the next appointment update... good night.

Baby face.... you've got the cutest little...

2009-01-07T17:40:00.004-05:00

This is our baby's face as of last Friday's ultrasound ... I know, it looks like a tiny Jim face...

Let's see, what has happened since Dec 14th:

Well, we took our infant CPR course and I feel pretty confident that we can handle that between the two of us should the need ever arise ... i am also pretty confident that I will be one of those mothers who needlessly panic and wake up the sleeping baby who has slept through the night for the first time... just saying.

Got my hair cut - trimmed really. The girls in the salon have made their prediction of a girl for this baby.

We did Chritmas in the City again, which was a little more difficult at 7.5 months pregnant, but I surrounded myself with good helpers so it was flawless. The more difficult thing was to see all the little babies there who are beginning their lives in shelters and transitional housing. I am so thankful for the ability to put together a nursery for our little one to call home (even though the nursery has been a challenge to clean out and get ready)

We relaxed a bit (maybe a bit too much) during the holidays. And enjoyed being with our families who all commented that next year we will have one more place at our tables. The impending delivery date seems closer and closer (well I guess it is closer and closer, huh?). We celebrated with Jim's family on Dec 20th after a long day of setting up for Christmas in the City. It was great to be with everybody AND to hear everybody say how great I looked (Take THAT Mrs. Fat in the Back lady). There were a few key people missing due to illnesses that they did not want to pass around to the family (thank you). Jim's uncle Bill is back from his many years in Austria and was present with his wife and kids. It was great to have them home for the holidays.

Christmas Eve we went to my parent's house and hung out for a while ... watched a little It's a Wonderful Life ... opened some gifts ... and then went to midnight Mass. My sister and mom came with us to Mass, but unfortunately this year's Mass didn't have the umph of years past. It seemed very solemn ... I know it IS a solemn Mass, but I was hoping for a powerful singing of Go Tell it on the Mountain as we exited. I think it was Joy to the World, but it lacked umph.

Christmas day was spent at my cousin Brenda's house in her new great room addition. It is perfect for these types of gatherings as we all fit comfortably AND there is comfortable furniture around the walls for us to recline and nap in after we exhaust ourselves with the eating festivities. Okay - Jim and I were the ones napping, but I did hear some family members commenting that it was good for us to get in as much sleep as we could before the baby arrives, so there was no guild involved in sleeping there.

New Years Eve was a little disappointing in that it snowed all day and after we heard that one of our good friends had been in a car accident that morning we decided to err on the side of caution and safety and cancel our annual NYE party. Instead we joined our Carver friends in crashing at the Pantazelos estate - a midway point bewteen carver and randolph. We had a 9:00 sparkling cider toast with the kids before sending them up to bed and then the 3 couples hung out on the comfy furniture in front of the big screen TV and a low fire with tea and warm cookies. I must confess that I once again fell asleep, BUT I did wake up in time for the midnight cheer.

Then on Jan 2nd we had our 34 week ultrasound. The baby is in the 61st percentile for size ... and I am not sure what that means for poundage, but we will find out next week at the first of our weekly appointments. The doc said that anywhere between 10% and 90% was fine ... but that if it was 90% we would have to have a discussion. I asked her when that discussion would take place since if I was told 90% I would need to discuss that sooner rather than latert. She laughed and said we could discuss it right away.

On Sunday we went to Belmont for the Baptism of the new baby girl of friends of ours ... however it seems that the entire household except for this new baby is sick with pneumonia and when the tired parents made the list of who they needed to call, they forgot to put us on it... Baptism is postponed until April when the grandfather returns from Florida. Also, we were told that the baby was to be baptized at the 10:30 Mass ... which was actually a 10:00 Mass. A quick look around told us that the family wasn't there and a phone call confirmed that we were not going to be attending a baptism that day. So since we were late anyway, we decided to leave and go out to breakfast instead.

After that we went to Beth Israel to get a tour of the facility and be able to visualize better the whole labor and delivery thing. We were VERY early and so spent a bit of time in the waiting room. The tour itself was all of 20 minutes where we went up to the L&D floor to see a room ... went to the maternity floor to see a room and the nursery (where our tour guide said that circumcisions were "maybe performed - or maybe that happens in an operating room actually, I am not sure")... and back down to the lobby. I had one question going in to the tour, which was asked by one dad-to-be as we entered the elevator at the beginning, was asked again by another dad-to-be as we ended the tour and then again by another dad-to-be who missed it being asked before. Here it is:
Q: Is there valet service for when we arrive in labor, and is our parking validated for the whole time that we are here? Like, is it free for us since we are staying here for a couple of days?
A: That is a good question. You'll have to ask the people at the info desk.

Honestly, if 4 of the 8 couples there had that question, it must be asked all the time. You would think it would be part of the info that they share with us. just saying!

Anyway, I can now visualize the process a bit more. Not the WHOLE process, but where we will be anyway which tkes away a bit of the anxiety.

Things I am anxious about:
getting an IV (I have made it almost 41 years without having an IV)
getting the epidural (really, a needle in my spine. If men had to give birth there would be an easier process, I am SURE of it)
actually delivering this child, you know the normal way, you know?
spending overnights in the hospital (again almost 41 years and no overnight stays)
the bumps in the road on the way to the hospital that seem worse each time we make that trip.
snow storms
bringing home the baby for real - and being responsible!
growing distant from friends because of this responsibility.

Well, next week marks the beginning of the weekly appointments until the delivery. We apparently only see our doctor now, not the nurse practitioner (yay!!) Tomorrow is the end of week 35... which means 5 weeks to D-day (that is due day). But since the normal delivery time begins 3 weeks before delivery day to 1 week after, it is really 2 weeks until due month. WOW!!!

The baby still moves quite a bit, however I think the accommodations are getting a bit crowded. It takes a bit more time to count my 10 movements - used to be 15 minutes, now it can take 3 hours. The baby has repositioned to the head down position and the movements are felt more internally than before so I am guessing that the baby is facing my back.

Well, that is all on the updating front. Until next time!

I am still here...

2008-12-14T13:55:00.003-05:00

sorry I have been silent for a few weeks... we went to Ohio and blogging slipped for a couple of weeks due to busyness...

Today I just had to post about my favorite subject ... "what NOT to say to a pregnant woman"

Today, dear friends, we have a very special installment of this subject matter. Let me go back a few months...

We have a parisioner who is, shall we say, a generous supporter and someone whose good side it is best to be on... she is the one who I ticked off last year at a PPC meeting when "CYO dances" was added to the "dreams" list for the parish... nough said on that topic as you can imagine my reaction... I did manage to get back on her good side 1 - by complimenting her eggplant parm (which was really good so I was being honest) and 2. because her granddaughter is in my conf prep and adores me.

Well a few months ago, at a PPC meeting, she commented after that she was SURE I am having a boy. Fr. Jim asked her how she could be so sure. She replied, "Just look at her. She looks fantastic. Her skin is glowing, her complexion is great. When a woman is carrying a girl she looks terrible. A girl drains the life out of you." Fr. Jim laughed and said, now come on, every pregnant woman has a glow - is there really a difference? Many people at the table said yes there is - really.

Fast forward. THis morning after our 10:30 Mass, we had a little parish brunch which this parishioner organizes each month. During the brunch, she came over to me and said, "I think it is definitely a girl"
I said, "Did you just say girl"
She said, "yes, I really think it is a girl"
I thought, "B*#ch"
but I said, "huh, cause a few months ago you siad definitely a boy"
She said, "Ya, but you've gotten fat in the backside now and you didn't have that before"
I thought, "Whoa, what did she say? Holy f'n sh*t. She did NOT just say that... yes yes she did"
I said, "huh, how 'bout that"
and I waddled over to the stage to eat my quiche in peace. (J/k, I am not waddling yet)

Now there are a few problems with this statement. First of all, I am STILL 5 pounds under my start weight and I have a big baby bulging out of me so I know that I am down in other areas... Jim even commented on it a few weeks ago. Secondly, I AM 7 MONTHS PREGNANT for the love of pete! I have hormones raging through my body. I have mood swings like you read about (just ask Jim) and ANYTHING could have come out of my mouth. And lastly, who tells someone that they have gotten fat in the backside? Honestly, as if that is polite in any situation?

Ya, so that is my update for today.

edit to today's earlier post...

2008-11-18T10:42:00.002-05:00

Doctors office called:

Sugar levels fine - no gestational diabetes - Yay!

Iron levels VERY low - need to take iron supplement 3 X per day. Common problem during pregnancy. No problem.

Week 28 - Perfect

2008-11-18T08:50:00.003-05:00

We had our last monthly Dr. appointment yesterday and now we are on the every other week plan for the remainder of the 3rd trimester. It was a great appointment. I gained 1.8 pounds in the last month (actually I drank quite a bit of water before going in ... my scale at home shows 0.5 gain) and she while I am still 1 pound under where I began (little does she know that by the time I saw her I was already down 10 pounds from the actual "beginning" of the pregnancy), at the rate that we are going, I should gain a total of 15 pounds during the pregnancy. Very few women can accomplish the range set by thier doctor, so for weight gain, I am perfect.

My blood pressure was once again perfect. (Remember it was high early on so these perfect readings are really wonderful)

The baby's heart rate is 150, and was strong and loud - again perfect.

The baby moved 4 times while she was listening for the heartbeat. She said that was great and that we now need to beging counting movements for the remainder of the pregnancy. We need to start couonting when we wake up and need to have 10 movements in by 6:00pm. She thinks we will have no problem since it seems our baby is VERY active. She was right. This morning it took 10 minutes to count 10 movements.

An hour before the appointment I had to drink this sugary drink (tasted like those teeny weenie drinks of childhood... that you could only drink one of before having a sugar high like no other ... ya, the amount I had to drink was like 3 teenie weenies) so that they could draw blood to test for gestational diabetes, the results will be back this afternoon. They also test for anemia, again results will be back this afternoon.

On my way out I got a flu shot and a Rho-gam shot. The flu shot to protect me from - you guessed it - the flu. Apparently, when a pregnant woman gets the flu, she is at high risk for developing flu-pneumonia. This often leads to being on a respirator and often death. So yikes! THe Rho-gam shot is because my blood type is negative and Jim is positive, so there is a chance that the baby's blood is positive. If that is the case, and the baby's blood mixes with my blood, which can happen through various ways (including birth itself) especially in the 3rd trimester, then my negative blood will react by building up antibodies to this supposed invader and reject it... "it" is the baby. So Rho-gam prevents this reaction. I get one shot now at 28 weeks and another just before delivery which then protects me from developing the antibodies after birth so that I would be able to safely carry another baby later. Interesting stuff, eh?

On the next topic - sleeping - suffice it to say I am not. It is very uncomfortable. I even bought a new pillow support to help, and it does, but still not enough. My hips ache by the morning. But ther is only 12 weeks left, right?

So that is my weekly update.

Nursing 101

2008-11-14T13:22:00.001-05:00

Last night we had our first “parenting class”. Most of our classes we will take at Isis Maternity in Needham and I was carefully able to select our instructors based on their bios. I am very excited about these classes. However, since we will be delivering at BIDMC, they ask us to take this one particular class with them directly. It is called “Breastfeeding Basics”. For all of these classes, they ask that mom AND dad attend. To begin with “Dad” couldn’t understand why he had to attend this first class since it is regarding breast feeding and well, he won’t be doing that now will he? I finally convinced him that it is not ME that is asking him to go, but that the class is for couples and he is the other half of this couple so… His classic line is “I’ll go because you have asked me to go.”

And so last night we both left work at 4:40 (ish) to meet at home to drive into Boston to the BIDMC for our first class. This should have given us ample time to get home, grab a quick bit to eat and head off to class arriving at 6:45 to meet our instructor in the lobby and head up to class which was to begin at 7:00. No problem … except that there was a Patriot’s home game last night and while I left Wayland at 4:40, I did not arrive home (a 30 minute drive … 45-50 in traffic) until 6:00. Jim was better off going 495 to 24 and having no traffic, so he stopped at BJ’s to get a rotisserie chicken, mashed potatoes and stuffing so that I would have something to eat before class (other than the 3 minute mac and cheese that I was thinking of). SUPER nice of him! Unfortunately, this caused him to arrive home just after I did and the potatoes and stuffing needed to be heated and once all was heated and I had made a plate for dinner to take in the car we ran out the door and were on our way at 6:30 (remember we were to meet our instructor in the lobby at 6:45 for our 7:00 class… and it takes 40 minutes to get there)

Jim dropped me at the lobby entrance and went to park. The instructor left directions for us on how to get to the conference room where the class was meeting. Once I had retrieved the directions from the info desk, I waited for Jim to arrive since he had left his cell phone at home so I could not call him. He arrived in about 3 minutes and away we went.

We arrived at the board room and entered quietly apologizing for our lateness and found the feeble instructor sitting at a table with one other couple. This was slightly uncomfortable, but okay let’s just get this done. We introduced ourselves around and sat down. The instructor, Sandra, a grandmotherly aged woman, told us that she had a bit of *sniff * allergies and so if she had a coughing fit just to talk amongst ourselves and also she has a shaky hand so just try to ignore it. (yes, she sniffed to prove her stuffy nose) I can only describe her voice by comparing it to the MAD TV sketch with the momma and little boy that Beth Pitts used to imitate …Stuart? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=80NZDbndC-8&feature=related Ya that is the best I can do. To describe her voice, but now think of a monotone version. Okay.

So, Sandra asks us if we can think of any benefits to breast feeding. I said, um bonding? Then she asked Jim for a benefit. Seriously, I wish I had a video to share. He thought about while his eyes darted wildly around the room looking for an answer to drop out of the sky. He must have gotten one because he said, um, isn’t it supposed to be, like, better? She said yes and talked about the nutritional benefits etc. She said the other couple had answered the same two benefits.

Then she asked us if we had any concerns about breast feeding. I shook my head no as did Jim. The other couple did the same. So she held up an artsy watercolor picture of this worried looking woman. And explained that many women feel anxious about breast feeding (remember we are in Stuart’s voice here) and she holds up these large red laminated cards with all the concerns written on them and read them to us. Then she told us that there was really nothing to be worried about (good, cause we said we weren’t worried) and she flipped the artsy picture over to reveal the same woman with a humongous smile on her face now. But you will discover this once you have your cute little baby.

I couldn’t even look at Jim because I would burst out laughing, but out of the corner of my eye I could see him looking at me with that “Are you serious? We have to sit through 2 hours of this?” look on his face. I kept my gaze focused on Sandra.

So then she tells us about the anatomy of the breast. She has another big laminated poster of a breast and she tells us all about the ducts etc. and how your cute little baby will be telling your body how much milk to produce etc. Then, however, she reaches down on the chair beside her where this stuffed doll is wrapped in a blanket and begins to unwrap it… while explaining that “this cute little baby is Ted” and pulls out from under Ted’s blanket a stuffed breast. I really thought I was going to lose it and I still could not look at Jim. She peals back a layer to reveal the inner workings of the stuffed breast just to further elaborate her teaching.

Then she explains that you don’t have to be worried about nursing in public because you can make it a completely unnoticed event. “You just pick up your cute little baby once you start getting the clues (Sandra wanted to make sure that we knew the cues and so she imitated the cute little baby) that your cute little baby want to nurse and lift your shirt, attach your cute little baby and nurse.” She was holding the doll against her fully clothed body at the time and she asked us, “See you can’t even tell I am nursing, can you?” We all shook our heads no. and she said, “some people use these elaborate cover ups which really just draw attention to what you are doing. You don’t need these at all.” I was thinking, ya if the baby can suck the milk out through a layer of clothing there is not a problem, but I will gladly accept the wrap that I registered for at babies r us so as to cover my own naked breast if I should be nursing in public, thanks anyway.

So she said, Lets take a little break to use the restrooms and then we will come back and finish up. Oh but wait, I forgot to tell you something. And she went on for about 15 minutes more about stuff she had already told us, and then showed us 3 nursing positions explaining the nursing pillow etc. And how to know if the cute little baby is attached properly and she imitated the cute little baby’s mouth which reminded me of a guppie.
Then off to break and when we come back maybe you can try these positions with our cute little baby. So Jim and I took off for the bathrooms and when we got outside the room we were busting a gut laughing. Everything we had stored up during class we let out in the hallway. I was crying.

We made our way to the restrooms and then back to the board room and when we got near Jim began to make the guppie mouth motion and we both burst out laughing again.

Sidenote - You know that noise you make when you have a mouth full of air and you puff out your cheeks and push the air out through clenched lips? Okay well hold that thought.

We pulled it together to re-enter the room and when we entered Sandra was working with the other couple and the cute little baby demonstrating the holds. I was on the verge of laughing, barely keeping it together when we sat down at the table again. Then Sandra takes the doll and brings it to me and says, “Do you want to give this a try with your cute little nipples?” Jim, sitting beside me burst out laughing while trying to suppress it and made THAT NOISE as he ran out of the conference room. I too burst out laughing and could not regain control for every time I did regain control I could hear Jim in the hallway still laughing in this high pitched laugh. It was awful. It went on for like 5 minutes during which time Sandra said “Well maybe we will save that for after class then.” And put the cute little baby back on the chair. I apologized when I had regained a bit of control and said I just can’t get control when I can hear Jim in the hallway… and I stood up to go into the hallway when I heard Sandra say “yes, maybe close the door” which I did once I stepped to the other side of it. Jim and I continued to laugh in the hallway when he all of a sudden gained control and rejoined the group leaving me in the hallway this time. I finally regained control too and rejoined the group in time to talk about pumps, fill out the evaluation and leave. Sandra did ask if I wanted to try the positioning with the cute little baby but I declined.

This experience did remind me of our Engaged Encounter weekend where Jim and I had a similar uncontrolled laughing fit over another word choice incident.

As I said, I have hand picked our other instructors and am quite sure that our Isis classes will go a bit better.

*Preparing for Childbirth – given by Becky, a Massage Therapist specializing in prenatal, postpartum and instruction on infant massage, a former actress and High School teacher who understands that entertainment and learning are complimentary and tries to educate with energy and humor. She sounds great.

*Newborn Essentials – Given by Carole, a registered nurse, certified childbirth educator and Board Certified Lactation Consultant. Having worked at many area hospitals including Brigham and Woman's, St. Elizabeth's and Caritas, her passion is supporting and nurturing expectant parents into their new roles. Carole is also the founder of Newborn Nurses, a company that provides postpartum assistance to parents with new babies. She has helped many families through those first few challenging weeks after birth and has a huge success rate in helping babies sleep through the night. Sounds great!

*Infant CPR – Given by Jonathan, the Executive Director of NorthEast Emergency Medical Services, Inc., Jonathan's clinical background includes serving as a paramedic in several major metropolitan areas including greater Boston. Currently, Jonathan volunteers as the Vice-Chair of the American Red Cross Advisory Council on First Aid, Aquatics, Safety and Preparedness (ACFASP) nationally and as a member of the American Heart Association Emergency Cardiovascular Care Committee for Massachusetts and Rhode Island. Sounds Great!

Wish us luck. Please?

Reread...

2008-11-11T23:54:00.002-05:00

So tonight I re-read my entire blog and realized that I used to be really funny... that was after the summer of Paula in 2006. Maybe after I am off with the newborn for a bit my funny bone will kick back in.

FYI - Fr. Matt, there is nothing at all questionable in here ... I guess I was paranoid because of thoughts that never made it to the blog. Maybe we can sit down and chat about that sometime... Thanks again for the prayers for the baby.

Kate - it was great to see you tonight! You no longer blend in with a white sheet and your energy is totally back. What a difference a week can make!

FYI - Jim is still upset that he missed LIFT tonight. He said he got a poster with the September, October and November dates on it. He had kids lined up to go NEXT week as was on the poster. He could have gotten a ton of kids for tonight b/c of the holiday and he is bummed for the missed opportunity to hear Sr. Olga.

Tonight's talk was so good. It really made me think of a couple of people who I have difficulty loving and forgiving as Jesus loves and forgives. I think I will resolve to rectify this in the coming year. Yes, I do think it may take a year to get there with those who I am thinking of.

Now, off to bed. THe holiday is over and there is much work to be done tomorrow.

Peace out.

Week 26 completed

2008-11-06T18:50:00.004-05:00

No Margo - I am not going to wait five months before posting again, but I thought perhaps weekly updates would suffice...

I remind you all that I do not read ahead in my book to find out what might be coming up as far as bodily changes and symptoms. I prefer to use the "What to Expect" book more as a "Should I have expected this?!?!" It is more fun that way, usually...

This week as I was reclining on the couch Saturday night after a long day of car shopping/buying (we got a corolla), and a I-ordered-way-too-much-food dinner of which I took half home for later, the baby shifted positions (probably as uncomfortable as I was with all that food bulging out the tummy), and I instinctively moved my hand across my belly in a "simmer down now" kinda fashion. Only this particular time I was caught off guared by an outward ridge where my perfect innie belly button once resided. I had to pull up my shirt to see what could possibly be stuck to my belly button and it was in fact MY BELLY BUTTON!!!

Breathe easy my friends, the belly button has since receded to an innie position again though more of a flattie at times. But it turns out this is common at week 26 in pregnancy... and yes, I should have expected it to pop like a well done turkey (just in time for thanksgiving, I guess) My mom and sister say their belly buttons never popped, but they also never puked, etc. I think they just didn't notice that change. But then again, they both gained weight during pregnancy and I, as I approach the end of my second trimester am still in the lost category. I am just saying, pregnancy is different for everyone and it the book says it is to be expected then who am I to judge...

Now for an update on the aforementioned puking. I had gone the past 2 weeks puke free until this morning. I had an early DRE meeting and I guess this little one does not do mornings ... or it could have been the blueberry bread that I had for breakfast that the 6th graders made last night. You never really know how a 6th grader's bread will turn out so I had to try it before we deliver it to the homebound. Jim's comment this morning after he tried a slice was, "Oh my gosh! Was that not the heaviest bread you have ever eaten? I don't think I will even need lunch today." That about sums it up...

I did have a good energy day this week on Wednesday, which was good since I had to shop for the bread supplies, shop for decorating supplies for the bread bags, shop for fleece to make baby blankets for Birthright, set up the hall in stations, and run between all the classes making sure everyone was doing what they were supposed to. (and yell at the 8th graders who were rotating between talking about the new marijuana law and something that "sucks" those were the two main things I heard coming from their room. I was their primary adult supervision as their teacher was in the hospital with his wife having a baby. This particular group of 8th graders (boys especially) need a full time supervisor ... and possibly tape over their mouths. Anyhow, it was good that I had energy cause I probably would have sat down and cried otherwise.

"what to expect" says that the baby should have started to open his eyes this week and would react if you held a flashlight up to your tummy "hey, what the heck is that bright light shining in my eyes" kind of way. Jim said "that just sounds cruel." I agreed. We won't be shining a flashlight in our baby's eyes.

Also, the baby's brainwave activity is kicking it so now can not only hear noises but respond to them as well by movement of course. The baby should be weighing in at approx 2 pounds this week and measuring 9 inches.

When we were at Brigham and Women's this week visiting a friend there was a young guy in the elevator. He was going to neonatal icu to visit his daughter who was born at 23 weeks. The mom's water broke and all they could do was deliver and hope for the best. He said the baby (and mom too) was doing great and was beautiful. That made us feel good since we were 3 weeks beyond that. Not that we are planning for that type of situation, but it was nice to hear that the baby was doing well. Just saying.

One more week of second trimester and we are on to the THIRD!! Yippee!!!

The first 5 months of pregnancy in a nutshell of a post

2008-10-31T15:06:00.005-05:00

Many of you have asked me to post updates here, and I would have been happy to started this earlier however I have been either exhausted or working and in any down time, I have been working on a computer that was dying a slow death. That computer has reached it's ultimate demise and I have a new laptop purchased by my wonderful parish! So for those who are interested, here is the pregnancy story from conception to week 25:

Weirdly enough, week one and two are preconception so we will skip to week 3...

Week 3 - nothing to report
week 4 - strang things begin to happen... We had our graduation Mass folowed by a luncheon. That was normal. I didn't have a chance to eat during all the hoopla of the day, but I brought home the leftovers dropping off a platter of food at my aunt's house (she lives alone since my favorite uncle passed away and loves 1. visitors and 2. when visitors bring a meal or two so she doesn't have to cook ... my uncle was the cook over there) Then a platter of food to my mom, dad, sister and nephew. My sister also appreciates 1. me visiting and 2. the food delivery as it means she doesn't have to cook for a couple of meals. Then I made my way home with the remaining food for Jim and I to consume during the week ahead. I was so excited to make a sandwich with the most delicious looking roast beef and the freshest rolls... made my sandwhich... sat on the couch... turned on the TIVO to catch up on some shows ... took a bite of my sandwich ... and promptly spit it back out. Hmmm. that was weird... So I threw that sandwich away and made a ham and cheese option ... same thing, I spit out the first bite. Hmmm. That is really weird. I googled "food aversions" and the first return was "food aversions in pregnancy" so I grabbed my calendar to see if I could possibly be pregnant and yes, it was a possibility so we would need to wait and see.

week 5 - Took the test and yes! we are pregnant!
(FYI this news, while exciting also caused some ... well A LOT ... of fear because we did have a miscarriage before which was just devestating)

week 6 - week 7 began to tell close family and friends. We had an appointment with the nurse practioner at my dr. office. She gave us a folder of information and went through all the complications that can arise due to pregancy at my age. It was a VERY overwhelming appointment. I tried to put my mind elsewhere, but I could not escape her doom and gloom talk about 1 in so many babies born with X, 1 in so many babies born with Y, etc. It seemed to go on forever. Then she went through the testing that is available and recommended to detect any abnormalities. I already knew that I didn't want an amniocentisis as it has a risk of miscarriage and I don't want to do anything to increase that risk. But she explained a test that is done by taking an ultrasound and a blood test that is about 85% accurate in predicting certain abnormalities. I thought that would be a good one since it would either give us peace of mind or time to prepare for whatever we might be facing. THen we did a weight and blood pressure check. My weight was down and my blood pressure was up (I wonder why the BP might have been elevated, hmm let's think about it.") We scheduled that testing appointment with the nurse on our way out and when she was entering our information she said, "Wait, this can't be right. What is your date of birth?" I asid "2-10-68" She said, "Really? You are 40? You look so much younger!" ps - I love her.

week 6 - We had our first ultrasound just to make sure things were progressing well before Jim and I embark on our cross country drive from MA to MS which was supposed to take 24 hours and actually clocked in at somethng like 32 hours. They had to tell us what we were looking at because we really could not tell. It looked like a tiny little teddy bear but they pointed out the 2 arms and 2 legs and the sac that develops before the placenta to supply the baby with the proper nutrients. Everything looked good and that sac had developed nicely so they felt good about hte pregnancy which eased my mind a bit too.
This drive was in a box truck filled with luggage from the kids in Acton and Wayland for the upcoming 2 weeks of Mission Trips. We decided to drive because last time I was pregnant at almost the same time frame and I flew to MS for the same mission trip I sufferred a miscarriage 2 days later. I know that flying can be dehydrating and can cause early labor in the 3rd trimester, so I didn't want to take any chances. Also airlines were starting to charge for the 2nd bag and that cost was offset by the cost of the truck so it was a win/win all around.
Oh, 3 days before our departure on this long raod trip my "morning sickness" kicked in. Perfect timing for a road trip with a man who has the world's worst puke phobia. I "" morning sickness because it was never necessarily restricted to morning.

week 6 - 8 Mississippi Mission Trips and Road Tripping So this whole morning sickness thing was taking over my life. I learned a few tricks to outsmart it, but ultimately it seemed to outsmart me in the end. None of the youth on the Wayland trip knew that I was pregnant so it was pretty tricky trying to keep it a secret with my tactics for keeping the puking at bay. I had to arise very early (not a problem as I was getting up multiple times per night to pee) and eat a package of peanut butter crackers and a cranberry juice. I ate these while sitting on a bench outside of the ladies room just in case I had to make a run for it. Then I would sneak back to bed and get up with everyone else. I took on more of a supervisory role during my week instead of doing the actual labor intensive part which I THOUGHT was a good cover. I had to take a nap before dinner every night which was not fun since I would rather have been in the pavillion with the kids playing cards and such. And I found that I REALLY needed to sleep at night... sometimes before lights out actually happened, again not my style, but I was not the one in control of my body and I had to do what I had to do.
On Jim's week more of the youth knew cause Jim had a little bit of trouble keeping the secret. He really doesn't do secrets well at all actually so this was not a surprise. However, I did find out later that a few of his newer kids thought I was lazy. LAZY? Sister you have no idea how difficult it was for me to NOT throw up on your shoes!!!

Week 9 - morning sickness continues ... has developed a pattern of every other day. At least I know the day on which I will puke. I also realized that toothpaste caused the gag reflex to happen. I switched to the children's toothpaste that tastes like bubble gum and has sparkles in it. Yum and fun all in one. That helped a bit in the morning.

Week 10 - Dr. appointment with our actual ob/gyn. We love her. She is so great. At this appointment we noted how I am still losing weight. I forget how much at this appointment, but during the first trimester I lost 16 pounds. She said that was fine but in 2nd a nd 3rd trimester she would like to see me gain about 1/2 pound per week. That would be like 13 pounds which still gives me a net loss of 3 pounds ... not bad! My blood pressure was a little elevated again on this appointment but honestly I have been taking it at WalMart and it was fine. I think it is white coat syndrome.
She talked to us about the test we had scheduled with the nurse practitioner. She asked what we would do if it was determined that the baby had an abnormality. We said we would still carry to term. She then asked what about if the baby had a condition that was incompatable with life outside the womb. We again said we would carry to term. She asked why we had scheduled the test since would carry to term no matter what. I said I thought it would offer some peace of mind. She told us that the test uses the ultrasound, blood test, and age of mother to determine the possibility of an abnormality. Based on my age of 40, this test had a good chance of coming back with an abnormal result. She told us that she had a couple in her office this morning who had this test done for the same reason. The results were back today that there was a possibility of an abnormality. Now that couple was faced with the decision to have the amniocentisis to rule abnormalities out or just take the pregancy as it comes with the thought that there could be a birth defect. She recommended we not put ourselves through that. It was such a difficult decision to make. She told us to think about it and even if we decide on the day of the test not to have it done, just don't show up. It is not a problem at all. The test was scheduled for 3 days later. We opted to not have the test done.

Week 11 - Jim went back to Mississippi with his new parish and I stayed home and enjoyed the big king sized bed all to myself. It was very comfortable. I still continued to have my every other day morning sickness. But everyone was telling me that I will only have it for 2 more weeks. I believe the exact statement was, "On week 13 it is like you wake up and a light switch is flicked. You stop getting morning sickness and you get more energy and you get your appetite back." Woo hoo, I think, bring on week 13

Week 12 - 13 Every other day... every other day .... it's almost over .... every other day... Oh and I have had to buy some maternity pants as mine no longer button despite my record weight loss. My shirts are still okay though, they are long enough to cover the elastic tops on the pants. Boy are maternity pants comfortable!!!

Week 14 - my light switch is broken! I am still getting sick on a regular basis.

Week 15 - away for the weekend with my mom, dad, sister and nephew. I still have one pair of pre-pregnancy shorts that I can wear luckily as I do not want to buy materninty shorts since most of my pregnancy will be fall / winter. Nausea stays with me in the mornings but I luck out and do not actually get sick. Could it be ending?
Also, I have started to feel the baby moving. It feels like a swarm of butterflies fluttering around. A very strange feeling, but kinda cool.

Week 16 - nope. not ending. but getting more spaced out. We went to Camp Agna in Wareham. The day we arrive so does an ecoli scare for the public water. So no brushing teeth unless bottled water etc. This was kind of scarey while pregnant, I am not gonna lie, but luckily we had to go home Saturday night to help Gabe & Una with the afterparty for his bro's wedding. So we left a little early and took showers at home. I waited on Sunday to shower at home also.

Also, appointment with nurse practitioner again. I asked to do the BP first and it ws near normal. She had a folder full of releases for me to sign since we decided not to have the tests done. This gets them off the hook for any birth defects that could have been determined with the tests. It was a very nagative feel for the appointment. She told me that I should probably start to feel the baby moving by the next appointment. I told her that I have actually already felt it. She said, "Ya, a lot of women think they are feeling the baby moving but it is actually other bodily functions that you are more aware of now. I am not saying that you are not feeling it, but usually it is something else." (meanwhile I was thinking, b***h, I know what I am feeling!!) I have now taken to calling her "Dr. Death" since she always has the bad stuff.

Week 17 - I officially tell the DRE Cluster that we are expecting. FYI still feeling the baby move...

Week 18 - I start to leak out to families at the parish the news that we are expecting. I told one family, they asked if it was secret still, I said since I was really starting to show that the secret was out. We had our Outdoor Mass that weekend and many people were congratulating me. This kind of news gets around fast I guess. Still feeling the baby move...

Week 19 - Morning sickness is happening approx 1 time per week now. Unpredictable. What is predictable? I am still feeling the baby move...

Week 20 - The first 2 days of this week I could literally count 12 - 15 movements per hour all day long. It is pretty clear that I knew what I was feeling before. I am just saying... However the next two days nothing. No movement at all. We had an appointment on day 5 of that week anyway, so I waited to call the Dr. office. But I was really scared that we were going to find out that we lost the baby at that appointment. However, at that appointment, we have our 20 week ultrasound and you can actually see a baby now. THe technician explained everything she was seeing... heart with 4 chambers, right arm and hand, left arm and hand, spine, legs and feet. The baby was breach so she was having difficulty getting al the pictures she needed. She tried the banging on the tummy trick and the roll on side trick but the baby was stubborn and would not move. After we had an appointment with our doctor to review the U/S. She said everything loked good - the baby was growing at the right rate. Everything looked great, but they could not get 2 key pictures that they need; full face and cerebellum. She said that this was pretty typical and not to worry, but we needed to come back in a week or so and have another ultrasound. She cheerily said - the good news is you get another peek at your baby! (Really all I heard was we could not see the cerebellum ... which I googled ... and panicked)
My BP was high again and I told my dr. that when I take it at WalMart or on my dad's BP monitor it is much lower consistantly. She asked me to track it at home. I bought a BP cuff for at home.
The feeling of movement came back at the couple of times a day rate. I think the baby way having a party those 2 days of big movements... dancing and bouncing of the walls like a moon bounce ... hey maybe that is why little kids like those moon bounces, it reminds them of their early days...

Week 21 - Silently prayed a novena to St. Gerard for the health of our baby.
- Back for Ultrasound. This technician was cold - she barely talked at all. At one point I said to Jim - Can you tell what you are looking at? hoping she would catch the hint and tell us. She didn't. She also was having trouble getting the baby to move into a good position and had to do the side roll and the banging tricks. Finally she said - okay we are done and she handed us the 3 pictures - all almost identical. I asked her if she got all the pictures she needed and she said yes. I still didn't know what that meant so I asked when we would hear the results. She said well if you don't hear anything by next week give the office a call. Great another week of waiting and wondering... Gosh, don't they know how scarey this whole process is?!?!?!?!
Hey wait - it has been almost 2 weeks since I last puked ... could it be over?
Oh and we began middle school youth ministry this week. I think I did too much as I woke up the next day with a horrible pain where the leg connects to the body on the inner leg. Really horrible. It hurts to walk, turn over in bed, get dressed, and oh stairs are a killer.
Plus note - BP is okay at home

Week 22 - Got 5 cold sores on my bottom lip ... apparently this is normal due to the excess hormones ... called my dr. office to find out if I can get a presription for it, oh and by the way, how were those U/S pictures? Yes, and the pictures were great - everything is fine. whew!
We had a middle school trip to laser zone ... in a school bus, ya, so I will avoid school busses at all costs for the rest of the pregnancy...
I was whining to Jim about the lip issue and the leg issue and he said "At least your not throwing up anymore." I made the mistake of saying, "I would rather be throwing up than dealing with these two things." The next morning...it's baaaaaaaaaaack. So I get all 3 at the same time. Ya fun.
BP okay at home.

Week 23 - I went to LIFT on Tuesday night as I really do enjoy the praise and worship music and the adoration. The talks are good sometimes and othertimes not so much. So on my way out the door at the end I ran into Fr. Matt who asked how the pregnancy was going. I said good. Hes thought that didn't sound too convincing so he pressed and I told him that I have had literally every symptom in the book, but that the baby was developing just fine and that was really what mattered, so I could deal. He prayed over me the most heartfelt prayer I have ever heard consecrating the pregnancy to Our Lady and asking her to be with me and the baby during the remaining time and to alleviate every symptom plaguing me while protecting the baby from every harm. I swear it was like a 5 full minute prayer and he was joined by a couple of other religious standing around with a laying on of hands during the prayer. It was really moving.

Week 24 - We had an appointment with "Dr. Death", but for the first time she was completely upbeat and positive. My blood pressure was normal, my weight was up 2 pounds (althought this was because we had been at the Mellos over the weekend and I ate excessively - it happened a couple of weeks ago and I ended up losing it again by the end of the week) THe baby's heartbeat was strong and you could hear the baby kicking too. Also, this week ended with our anniversary. That morning I woke up feeling the movements from the outside. Yup kicks and punches from the inside are now able to be felt from the outside. I tried to get Jim to feel it too but he has no patience at all and wouldn't sit still and wait. Every time he would take his hand away the baby would kick. It was kind of funny.

Week 25 - We scheduled some classes to help us get prepared for actually having a baby to care for as well as our tour of Beth Israel so that we will know where to go when the time comes. In November we will take a 75 minute breast feeding class and a 7 hour Preapared Childbirth class; In December, we have our hospital tour and a 2-hour infant CPR class and in January (cutting it a little close) a 3-hour Newborn Essentials class. A little overwhelming, I know, but I am just that type of neurotic person that needs to do this, and Jim is just going to have to suck it up and accompany me along the way.

And now, my friends, you are up to date on the whole pregnancy so far.

Happy Lent.

2008-02-07T13:43:00.000-05:00

'nough said.

I'm baaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaack

2007-12-04T18:00:00.000-05:00

So um - hello - I am still here, are you?

So this year I started a new part-time position teaching the new chastity curriculum to 7th graders (and often 8th graders too!)throughout the archdiocese - in Catholic schools and in parishes. Last week I taught my first school group. They were 7th graders. 24 of them. They rocked. They listened to everything we said, they participated in all the small group discussions, they embraced all of the teachings and asked well thought out questions about their own sexuality and God's plan for their lives. And they rocked on the assessments (some say tests, we say assessments). They could really see how the teachings related to life and what it all meant in the grand scheme of things. How much they will retain, we do not know.

This week is a bit different. We are teaching 8th graders. 50 of them. They are jaded. They are clearly being molded by media and society into believing that they can believe, say, do, be whatever they want and that there are really no consequences. It is terribly sad to me how much of a difference one year makes in the moral development of our young people. Terribly sad.

They can tell you what is a sin, but do not see how it can have an effect on your life in any way and they say "God is so judgmental - I mean really, how can he send people to hell?" I explained to one group of girls that it is not God who sends people to hell, but the decisions that people make with the free will that God gave them. God created us to love, and if we choose not to love anyone but ourselves, it is we who choose to live in the absence of God. She said, "hmm". So many of the girls have gotten me into deep theological discussions in the short time that we were with them today. They are thirsting for this stuff - in a Catholic school. Thirsting. How much more are our public school kids thirsting?

We teach about choosing the greater of 2 good things ... they ask about choosing the lesser of two evils. Interesting.

We teach about virtues, they ask about vices. Interesting.

We teach, they ask. God loves. Thank God. Amen.

Hi Don...

2007-10-17T13:18:00.000-05:00

Thanks for the mention in your blog ... I know you check in daily to see if I have posted ... I do feel a post coming on ... but until then, hi!

Mission Mania

2007-07-31T16:39:00.000-05:00

Hello again, hello.

What a busy summer it has been! This has been our schedule:

June 11 - 21 Jim in Honduras; Paula home
July 7 - 13: Jim and Paula in Mississippi
July 14 - 21: Jim home; Paula in Mississippi
July 22 - 28: Jim in Worcester; Paula home
July 29 - 4: Jim AND Paula home together ... will they survive?
Aug 5 - 6: Jim in Vermont; Paula home
Aug 6 - 10: Jim home; Paula in Worcester
Aug 10 - 12: A much needed weekend away for Jim and Paula at CampAgna
Aug 17 - 19: Jim home; Paula away with family

add in 6 Flags trips, Martha's Vineyard trips, cookouts and such and then, my friends, the summer is nearly over! How does this happen?!?! I think summer should be 4 months long ... in fact, I am deeming September as Summer extension. Sure the kids go back to school, but does that mean that summer is over for us overworked youth ministers? NO! (I'll let you know how that goes...)

Where has the time gone...

2007-07-05T18:04:00.000-05:00

I guess Lent is over ... as is the Easter Season ... and Pentecost ... and spring for that matter. I think I will save us all and not post a "catch up" post. Shall we begin anew?

Ahhh - Fourth of July - one of my favorite holidays. We always go to Danvers for the Morin cookout / firework extravaganza on the 3rd. This year was a smaller group but had much fun in spite. The fireworks display had a major hiccup in the middle, but that allowed me a nap so all's well that ends well.

The fourth itself was spent in Abington and we watched the Boston fireworks on TV - better than being there since it was pouring in Boston. Aside from a little incident whereby my right big toe found itself slammed into my husband's rock hard sneaker thereby snapping my toenail completely off it's bed and blood to pour out of the top of the nail, pretty much a laid back kind of day. Also, I napped again during the fireworks.

Harry Potter update: I am 1/2 way through book 2 in my quest to read all of them again in time for the release on July 21st... it is not looking too promising. I will have to buy the paperbacks of the later books so that they will fit in my carry-on... hopefully I can squiirel away some time every day in Mississippi to read.

Well that is all for now. Thanks for being faithful and checking back in!

Ash Wednesday - Lent begins (2 new posts)

2007-02-21T16:44:00.000-05:00

So as Ash Wednesday falls upon us, my thoughts turn toward fasting, prayer and almsgiving. What to give up (fasting) is always a major decision for me. Last year I gave up bread ... and proceeded to try to convince anyone in earshot that it is not Irish Soda BREAD but Irish Soda CAKE - I should know, I am Irish!

My DH teases me about what I choose to give up b/c it always has an exception. HEY THIS IS MY FAST NOT YOURS!!!

This year I decided to give up meat again - I did this one a few years back and it is not easy. However, before I made this decision I was at Costco and bought a 6 can pack of canned chicken - to put on my salads. So this year was to be all meat EXCEPT those particular 6 cans of chicken... b/c since I spent $ on those cans I could not afford to buy fish too!!! OK - reality set in for me and what I can afford this morning. Say, for instance, that I opened a can of chicken for my salad and decided that I did not like this particular kind... what would I do? I would go to the store and buy some fish and leave the other 5 cans for Jim to eat. That being the case - I am going all out this year. NO exceptions!! All meat gone for 6 weeks! The Church does give us Sundays off though, so we will call those Steak Sundays! J/k - I tend not to utilize the Sunday off rule.

Also - brace yourselves - diet coke is on my fast list for Lent too. Those who know me well know that this will be a challenge. I am hoping to give it up for good - and not replace it with coffee this time either. I have been slowly weaning myself off of it for the past 2 weeks so as to not undergo severe caffeinne headaches. I have switched to diet root beer. Don't laugh - it is a step in the right direction. I am hoping to replace the diet root beer with water shortly.

Prayer - I have switched my CD collection in the car back over to scripture / Catholic lecture type stuff for the next 6 weeks. I intend to add one extra Mass in each week. I am still working out the details of that.

Almsgiving - Haven't gotten there yet. Will keep you posted.

Happy Lent!

21 Days!!! So sorry!

2007-02-21T15:00:00.000-05:00

It has been so long since I last posted - I have been very busy!

Update on Sue: Jim and I went on Monday to see her at the Rehab place ans she is doing great! She is talking - quietly and slowly - but normally. She laughed a lot while we were there, which was great too. Her physical therapist is working her hard and so her shoulder is in pain (Jim and I talked after we left about how great it is that she is feeling pain in the shoulder that was paralized 2 weeks ago!) She has a long road ahead but they expect her to be in rehab for 4 - 6 weeks and that she would make good progress there. Then she will go home and continue therapy and the progess will slow down. Mind you - her house is not handicapped accessible or wheel chair capable in the hallways or up the narrow stairway to her bedroom so lot of adjustments will need to be made... keep them in your prayers.

Update on the Dumaines (Mellos Retreat Center): you can read about them here http://mellosretreatcenterhelp.org/
Terrie says that they are all set right now with the immediate needs and are looking forward to collecting what they need for the new house.

What has happened in the last 21 days other than those 2 things...

I ran a retreat for a parish who Jim led a retreat for last year ... same kids ... it was nerve wracking preparing b/c these kids LOVED Jim - of course. But - I am happy to report that it went wonderfully. Highlight: There was a girl there (10th grade) who had missed first reconciliation because she had a dance thing that day and had successfully avoided reconciliation services ever since. Well, there was reconciliation offerred at the retreat and she ended up going! She thanked me after. That rocked!

I attended a lecture at the MS here in town on "talking to your kids about sex". I went because I wanted to hear what the parents were being taught. THe woman who presented was great. She really spoke well on this delicate subject matter and gave the parents lots to think about. She told them that if their religion/faith tells them that sex should be reserved until marriage, then they should feel good about bringing their kids up in that faith - but know the reason why and if they don't know the reason why then ask someone at the church (priest/minister) to explain it to you - and don't be embarrassed to ask. Cool, eh?

I turned 39 - yes really 39. I thought it was a no big deal birthday - not like my sister who turned 40! in August ... or my husband who turned 40! in December. It is 39 - still in my 30's. My sister, however, had a different idea. I guess she was so scarred from her 40th (see earlier post in August if you have forgotten) that she went all out for my 39th. Sash that said "Look who's 40" which she added a note befor the 40 that said "almost"... (ALMOST! come on. "Almost" will be on Feb 9, 2008) and a flashing lips pin that said "Kiss me it's my birthday" and a pink maribou crown that said "birthday Girl" ... the rest of the family wore headbands with bouncy hand diddlybops on top and offerred high fives all around. Well, I can hardly wait for my 40th ... a nice quiet dinner at home perhaps...

Mardi Gras Party - great food, great people, great conversation, great decorations, ok jello shots (sorry, they were just ok ... note: never use sugar free jello for jello shots - or at least WARN people!)

That pretty much makes up for lost time.
THose are my updates

Another update

2007-02-01T17:08:00.000-05:00

Sue had surgery yesterday to relieve some of the pressure in her brain. The surgery was a success! The doctors actually said it was perfect. Not only did they release the pressure on her brain from the bleeding, they also were able to clear the clots. They put her in an induced coma with respirator for 24 hours, and have now decided to keep her on the respirator for an additional 24 – 48 hours. But if all goes well she may be able to make a full recovery... it will be a long road to recovery, but possible.

Amazing really.

She is not out of the woods yet - so keep the prayers coming.

Thanks.

Update on Sue

2007-01-30T15:46:00.000-05:00

Last night Jim went to the hospital after work to spend a few late night hours with his brother, Todd. They received word at about 11:00 that Sue had a 50% chance of making it through the night. So Jim stayed through the night so that Todd would not be alone, just in case. At about 4:00 they did another CAT scan and found that one of the clots had grown slightly. This is not a good sign and things do not look good. It is completely a waiting game at this point, but they are in need of many prayers.

Thanks for your well wishes - and keep praying - storm heaven for this one!

Prayers needed

2007-01-29T18:46:00.000-05:00

Please keep my sister-in-law, Sue, in your prayers over the next few days. She was taken to the hospital yesterday (Sunday) as she had a migraine for a couple of days and woke up with numb fingers. Tests have shown that she has 2 blood clots in her brain. She went down hill fast with many seizures and a stroke which has immobilized one side of her body. They have administered a medication that could either help to dissolve the clots or could cause further damage, even death. The next 48 hours are critical and will determine the course of treatment. Needless to say, we are on edge waiting for something to happen. She is 34 years old and has 2 young children.

Thanks for your prayers – prayer changes things!

Our last day in Florida

2007-01-27T10:31:00.000-05:00

Day 4

Our last day in Miami. I really wanted to do a duck tour to see what Miami had to offer and Jim was ok with that plan. When we were leaving the hotel after checking out, however, the skies opened up and the rain came down heavy and steady. Now I know that the duck tours in Boston operate in any weather – I have seen them and heard the quacking passengers no matter what. In rain, they just put the plastic sides down and away they go Quack Quack. So we drove into Miami Beach to the duck tour place but no duck tours would run today because of the weather. CRAP!

So we decided to drive along the beach and find a nice restaurant for lunch. Well, we certainly found a REALLY good place! We each ordered off of the specials menu (which we should have clued in on the fact that it had no prices on the menu … if you have to ask you can’t afford it) Jim did order one thing off the menu with prices – a small bowl of seafood soup at a cost of $16. Get it? Okay so the joke all through lunch was trying to guess how much the bill would be at the end.

The soup was actually really worth $16 after all. It was big enough to share and our waiter did bring 2 spoons so I just had to try it … and eat ½ (sorry Jim). For our main course, Jim got sea bass and I got red snapper. Both were really really good. For drinks, Jim got a berry martini (well 2 actually) and I got a mango mojito. It rocked (I have a pic). People oooed and awed when it came out. FUN!

We were so full after dinner that we had to walk around a bit. I know I mentioned the rain, but what I did not mention was that it had dropped about 20 degrees since yesterday. I was wearing ¾ pants, a long sleeve shirt and a sweatshirt. (yesterday – tank top and shorts!) We did however walk across to the beach as the rain had subsided and was barely a drizzle now. The beach was beautiful and we walked along the water’s edge. I had my shoes off so I walked a little in the water. It was so warm that I went a little deeper. Apparently there was a sand shelf a couple of feet in where the bottom just dropped off suddenly … I found that as a big wave came in and swept me out. Ugh! I was soaked right up to my cro… top of my legs. Then the wind picked up and even jim was cold so you can imagine how cold I was. We made our way back to the car and I popped into the backseat to change. Thank God for tinted windows!

We drove onward to find the cathedral which the guy at duck tours told us where to find. No luck – he directed us to a Catholic church – but not the cathedral. Jim decided to go in and ask where the cathedral was. He pulled up across the street from the church in a zone that was labeled “crisis parking only” and said he would just be a minute. While he was gone 4 cars tried to park in the crisis zone with actual crisis business. I moved to the driver’s seat and moved to the spaces in front of the church. OOOoooo boy did we have words when he got back to the car 10 minutes later all happy and gleeful that the secretary had map-quested it for us! And he used the bathroom too. What a great find for him. I said get in the car crisis boy, you are about to have a crisis. We decided to check out south beach before heading to the cathedral. I was still in the drivers seat and assumed that jim would read the map like I had been doing for him all along. You know what happens when you assume … ass u me, ya. Eventually I pulled over and re-acquired the copilot seat.

We made it to south beach sort of. It was hidden behind buildings. We stopped and asked a valet guy how to actually get into south beach and he told us that south beach was “crap”. He told us that the northern section of south beach was much more beautiful. That was where we had been earlier so we headed for the cathedral.

The cathedral was locked up good and tight when we arrived. Jim walked all the way around and checked every door. While he was gone though a priest cam and unlocked the first door he tried. Jim came back to the car all dejected that he could not get into the cathedral after everything it took to get there, and then I pointed out the unlocked door. He was pumped. The best thing about the cathedral was the outside after all. Oh and there was a picture of Pope JP II praying in the chapel there hanging in the chapel there – that was cool too. The street outside was Pope JP II road – now we understood why.

From the cathedral, we decided to try the stadium again. Jim punched it up in Maggie and off we went to the jail / ghetto street again. Jim was actually surprised that we landed there again. I said – what did you think that Maggie learned something new overnight? (Duh!) we laughed and drove a bit more until we found a Wendy’s. Jim went in and asked how to get to Miami Stadium … the guy said that Miami Stadium hasn’t been there in years (MAGGIE!!!). The now had Dolphin Stadium and he game jim directions. While Jim was inside getting that info, I consulted the other AAA book which told me the same thing. I then called the stadium and got the address which I entered into Maggie and was ready to go when jim returned.

So onward to the stadium – we arrived there safely and took some pics of the superbowl signs yadda yadda yadda … it was a stadium ooooo – ahhhh – done.

That was the end – we went to the airport and off to home.

catching up on posts - Day 3 Wednesday

2007-01-27T09:59:00.000-05:00

We miss Key West!

Today began late but with room service ordered in. I called the front desk as there was a menu for room service but no number to call. It rang and rang and rang no answer. I said, “I hate Miami” to which jim said – just try again in a few minutes. So I did, same thing ring ring ring ring ring ring NOTHING! So Jim grabbed the phone and called “Wake up call” and got a person. He asked to be transferred to the room service extension and they did! So we ordered room service. It arrived about 45 minutes later … not very hot, no toast, the little jar of honey had been opened (not that we had any toast to put it on anyway), the fruit and yogurt parfait with sprinkle of granola was really granola with a little bit of yogurt and fruit, but at least we were in the room sharing breakfast together … well not really together, jim had gone back to sleep.

Anyway after breakfast we decided to get a move on and go see some of the recommended sites around Coconut Grove. In brief, I don’t recommend them.

We started by heading to “The Barnacle” which is a beautiful state park now and was the residence of some captain of some ship. He preserved the land and supposedly it is really beautiful … we wouldn’t know since it is only open Thursday – Monday and today is Wednesday. Oh well.

We decided to get in our car and go to AAA to find out what they recommend to save the Miami part of our trip. The girl at the desk was very helpful and recommended that we drive a bit out of Coconut grove and go to Key Biscaynne. GOOD FIND! The beach was beautiful, there was a lighthouse too. It was also a state park and it closed at 5:49. Weird, right? So the woman at the gate when we were going in was telling us where to go to see the lighthouse etc. and she said we should definitely check out the sunset over the water – and the sun sets at 5:49. Jim said, we would love to see the sun set … but we have to be out of the park by 5:49. She laughed. She said we could watch the sunset and then make our way out of the park.

We walked the beach which was pretty desolate but the water was beautiful and warm and very tempting except we didn’t bring our swim suits … that didn’t stop jim though! He took off his shorts and swam in his skivvies! Not me though. I was on the beach taking pictures! (which I promised him I would not share)

Of course he needed to get out of the water and out of his skivvies and back into his shorts so we could leave … and you’ll be happy to know that he waited until the beach was deserted to start that process.

We then went to the sunset watching place and took some pics there while the sun set. And right on cue as the sun set was complete, the announcement came on telling us to make our way to the gate – perfect.

We stopped on our way home at a Cuban restaurant and grabbed dinner and then made our way back across the bridge with a much better feeling about our stay in Miami.

Jim wanted to see Dolphin Stadium since the superbowl is there in a week but when we asked Maggie to help us find the stadium, she found many stadiums so we consulted one of our books to get the right stadium. It said Miami stadium and Maggie had a Miami stadium so we picked that one. When Maggie said “you have arrived” we were on a street with a prison on one side and Miami slums on the other … cruel joke Maggie – cruel.

We gave up and headed toward our hotel, but found a huge indoor/outdoor shopping/drinking/eating/nightspot place on the water and we decided to check it out. It was pretty fun. We found a place to get libations and walked around looking at all the little carts – kind of a Quincy Market type place only you can walk around with your drink. There was a live band playing too right on the water. There was a Bubba Gump Shrimp Co restaurant there which had a gift shop. Jim found everything funny in the shop – it was cute. Outside there was a bench with a box of chocolates on top of a suitcase. You could sit next to it for a picture AND put your feet (with shoes) inside of a pair of sneakers like Forrest Gump wore in the movie. I took a pic of Jim sitting there. Kinda funny.

Then we headed back to the hotel.

End of day 3.

Rain rain go away come again some other day

2007-01-25T11:31:00.000-05:00

It is pouring today ... i want to go on a duck tour ... i guess that is appropriate.

Tuesday, Jan 23rd (posted on the 24th)

2007-01-24T21:59:00.000-05:00

Day 2

We started the day at the Southernmost point buoy thingy and texted Scott, Margo and Tricia to tell them we were there so they could see us on the webcam (see prior post). Scott and Margo saw us and we waved to them (although scott thought I was making a muscle, whatever).

From there we got back into our car (at our free parking space, a rarity in KW) and cranked up the AC (we were melting) and we drove to the largest thing on the map that we had – St. Mary Star of the Sea. This is the Catholic Church in town and was very cool. Beautiful church with slat doors all around to let the breeze through… a beautiful garden area with a rosary mapped out in stepping stones and at the very end of the garden, a grave stone with, what appeared to be a creepy Halloween type head on top. When we got closer we realized that it was final resting place for the sister who had established the grotto to Mary which was right next to it. When the grotto was dedicated, she said that as long as the grotto stood, Key West would not be destroyed by a hurricane. Turning to our right we headed toward another garden area which contained a walk of the stations of the cross. On our way there we passed a shrine to unborn children, we passed it separately as I was taking a TON of pictures in the first garden, but we both said a prayer for our unborn child as we passed (I call him Patrick Joseph as his due date was March 18th – right between St. Patrick’s Day and St. Joseph’s Day, Jim calls him Michael James as that is a name he always wanted for a child … but I am not keen with Michael so this way he gets the name in)

So onward to the next garden – the stations of the cross – where many geckos ran freely around the garden. (Geckos – not geicos - Geico is the insurance company … Gecko is their mascot)

Onward again we passed a statue of Jesus next to which grew one solitary stunningly beautiful red rose. Then onward still … my face was melting off … literally … well the makeup that I had carefully applied earlier anyway not the actual “face” so I had to go back to the car and tidy up as my eyes were stinging and I couldn’t see anymore. Jim waited for me before entering the Adoration Chapel.

The adoration chapel was built in honor of the sister who dedicatd the grotto. It was really pretty. This chapel has perpetual adoration and there were a few people already in there when we arrived. There was a pretty constant flow of people into the chapel to pray before the Blessed Sacrament. We prayed separately in the chapel, but both prayed the Devine Mercy Chaplet. On the way out we noticed that there was a little display case that contained relics of Blessed Marie Rose Durocher, St. John Neumann and Blessed Faustina (although I think she is a saint now)

From there we went to the lighthouse (because I love lighthouses) and the museum there. And, as luck would have it, we got a free parking space right outside! It is not a functioning lighthouse anymore, but that means that you can climb to the top and get a great view of Key West. Incidentally, it is good that it is not functioning anymore as it is in the middle of land … which makes one ponder how it was ever used as a lighthouse … aren’t lighthouses supposed to be on the coast saying “don’t come over here … I am on the tip of land” instead this one seems like it would have been saying, “if you can see me, you have already hit land, sorry.” But it was a great view from the top anyway.

The woman in the gift shop told us that the “Little White House” which was the vacation spot for Truman was a great take so we decided to go there next. The contents of the house are the same as when Truman visited there. Ya know when you go into someone’s cape house that they only use as a weekend home in the summer and the furniture / rugs / etc are the same as when they bought the place in 1930? The musty smell? Ya so that was this place. OK, so I am not a history buff and old things do not delight me, but Jim is and those things do delight him. So I did learn a lot – like that Truman never went to college … that he was only in office as VP to Roosevelt for like 87 days before FDR died and he had to take over … he didn’t want to be president, but then didn’t want to be known as the accidental president so he campaigned hard against Dewey 4 years later to keep the presidency, and won against all odds … see I paid attention!

From there we went to Sloppy Joes for Linner. We texted Scott, Margo and Trica again for the web cam but margo was at work and could not access it there, scott was at starbucks and tricia was at home but they have a dinosaur of a computer and she could not load the webcam … it is better that way though cause we were eating sloppy joes and that is just not pretty on camera.

Onward to Mallory square to but a Christmas tree ornament that I wanted … and perfect timing for sunset again! Another beautiful sunset! Then to the original Jimmy Buffet Mararitaville for … you guessed it … margaritas! Then to the car … to the boardwalk just to see it … got key lime pie on a stick at the key lime pie factory … and then the 3 hour drive back to Miami.

By the time we left it was dark out (as you know since I told you we caught the sunset at Mallory square) so Jim did not get to see the beautiful blue water on the way back – that is what he gets for sleeping the whole way down there while I drove! I stayed awake and kept him company for the drive back.

We got to our hotel at 11:00 PM – although I did call to tell them that we would be arriving late so that they would hold our room. How is our room? The room itself is fine. King size bed, separate livingroom and a little kitchen. The bathroom is nice too – really big tub – awesome shower. The view? Not so much. Our balcony overlooks the dumpsters (honestly, why even put a balcony on?)

We walked to Johnny Rockets for a burger since it was the only thing open and we were a little hungry from our journey and then went back to go to bed.

End of day 2 – thanks for journeying with us.

Rosanna Rosanna Danna here

2007-01-23T11:37:00.000-05:00

at least that is who I looked like this morning. Apparently it is really humid here and my hair sucked all the moisture out of the air and made itself really big and frizzy. What did I do, you ask? Bun with bangs of course!

We are just about ready to hit the road from the hotel and head down into town again. Here is another webcam for ya:

http://sloppyjoes.com/sloppycam/sloppycam2.htm

We will be there later too.

In a friendly cometition last night, Jim became the designated driver for the 3 hour drive back to Miami ... so that by default makes me the designated drinker. Woo Hoo!

We met an older couple on the shuttle heading downtown who are from Falmouth (small world!). We discussed the disappointing Patriot loss and what we would have done differently if we had been coach!

We walked downtown from the shuttle stop and we watched the sun set at Mallory Square. I had a frozen key lime margrita, jim had a Skip and Go Naked, which was a strawberry banana daqueri. I got some great pics of the sun setting and we watched some street performers. Then we headed up Duval Street and onward to our dinner location... where we were seated next to our friends from the shuttle.

First of all - dinner ROCKED!! Here is what we had in addition to our free bottle of wine: Paula: app - Angels on Horse back (a delightful starter consisting of dates infused with garlic and wrapped in bacon served with a hot pepper olive oil) then entree: hog snapper (an elusive fish that can only be caught by divers) served with a fantastic sauce the ingredients of which I can not remember) Jim had for app: Conch chowder entree: yellow fin snapper with tropical fruit salsa. For dessert we shared fruit sorbet and a dessert trio consisting of berry mixture, creme brulee and (of course) key lime pie.

Needless to say we were stuffed to the brim when we left... our friends left a bit before we did. We were glad to have a mile walk back to the hotel shuttle to walk it off! However when the van drove past us on the road heading to the stop, and the driver beeped and stopped to pick us up, we were even more glad for the ride!

When we got to the shuttle stop to pick up other returning passengers,our friends were there waiting for the shuttle. They laughed that we got a ride!

So that was our night ... and now it is time to check out and we are not out yet! So gotta run. Thanks for traveling with us!

Until later!

we are here!

2007-01-22T16:15:00.000-05:00

We have arrived in sunny key west! Change in plans though, we are going to southernmost point tomorrow daytime. The Sunset area is about a mile away from there that is where we are going tonight. Then we are strolling through town to a little restaurant that our concierge made a reservation for us at, Cafe Sol.

It was a 3 hour drive from Miami to Key west. We have a brand new PT Cruiser rented from Hertz. It had 84 miles on it this morning. Jim drove from the airport for about 15 minutes. Then I took over and Jim moved to the passenger seat ... where he had an attack of restless leg syndrome, so we stopped so he could walk it off. Then he moved to the back seat and slept for the rest of the time.

For me, the drive was spectacular! The water is so blue it looks fake. I will post pictures later when I have time to download them.

Our hotel room looks out at the gulf of mexico. Great view.

We are taking the shuttle van downtown at 5 to get to the sunset area ... this way we can both have a few drinks toight - like Las Vegas, you can walk around with open beverages here - I am, of course, going to try to find a margarita by the yard. Woo hoo!

I LOVE VACATION!!!!

I am most like...

2007-01-19T21:58:00.000-05:00

You Are Most Like John F. Kennedy

You live a fairy tale life that most people envy.And while you may have a few dark secrets, few people know them.

What'>http://blogthings.com/whatmodernuspresidentareyoumostlikequiz/">What Modern US President Are You Most Like?

Planning ahead

2007-01-19T16:54:00.000-05:00

So, Monday Morning, Jim and I are off to Miami, where we will get into our rental car and drive to Key West. We should arrive in Key West somewhere around noonish if we don't stop along the way ... which we may since we have no real plans. At any rate since we are only staying there one night, you can be sure that we will be near the southernmost point at around sunset - it is our one shot to watch the sunset there which I hear is beautiful. Here is a webcam that is pointed at the southermost point. If you check in near sunset (roughly 6:00pm) you might see us ... might.

http://www.southernmostpoint.com/live_cam.htm

Then we are off to Miami to stay in the crazy expensive hotel that we bought a 2 night stay in at my cousin Leanne's auction.

We leave to come home Thursday night and arrive late late that night.

I will try to blog something while I am there, but we al know how that worked out in Vegas, sooooo, we'll have to see. The good news is that there is free internet in Key West at our hotel. I am not sure about in Miami.

The forcast is "isolated thunderstorms" for Miami and Key West during the whole time we are there but the temp is roughly 80 degrees. There is a 20 = 30% chance of rain ... so start praying! (Incidentaly - you are praying that it does NOT rain while we are there, k?)

Thanks much!

Happy Birthday Everyone

2007-01-17T22:08:00.000-05:00

So tonight I had an "Everybody Birthday Party" for my middle school kids. Reminder - I have 53 Middle School kids total. I had 21 kids there tonight! Grand success for my first middle school event!! I am so pleased with it. I also had 3 parents helping me. Also a great success. Here was my day today:

Shopped for last minute party items
Picked up cupcake tree from sister (no cupcakes do not grow on this tree - it is to display them)
Drove to work
Baked cupcakes - 12 chocolate, 12 vanilla, 24 1/2 and 1/2
set up hall - filled goddie bags - attempted to eat my lunch which I never finished and my tummy is growling - blew up helium balloons - pluged in donkey for pin the tail game (blow up donkey, velcro tails - very cool)

kids arrived
played games
they decorated their own birthday cupcake
they each made a candle
they each decorated a goodie bag for someone else
they all played pin the tail
they also made up some games - kick the hat - (hey they are MSers - don't judge)
and then it was over - time flew
they all thanked me on the way out - so nice!
the adults totally cleaned up except for the stuff on the floor that needs to be swept - they rocked

I forgot to take pictures - darn it!!!!

and now after getting everything in order here in my office I am going home to sleep - well I think I will eat something first so that my stomach does not eat itself - could happen!

peace out

Keep your eyes on where you are going

2007-01-10T13:43:00.000-05:00

So, I was driving to work today, traveling down the twisty road that leads to my parish - and traveling at a good clip since I was supposed to be presenting at the wednesday lunch group meeting which was to start at 11:30 and it was 11:31 at the time - when a car came into view traveling in the other direction toward me. It is a narrow road and one slip of the grip on the wheel can easily put you over the middle line. I always get nervous when a car is coming toward me on this road ... but especially today as I was travelin gslightly faster than recommended by those speed suggestion signs - and so was this other car, and I know that 2 wrongs never make a right. I navigated the curves of the road skillfully by focussing my eyes on the right hand side of the road - staying as close to the right as possible and did not look (except for a glance) at the car coming toward me ... I remembered this trick - or skill - from my driver's ed days. Keep your eyes on where you want to go. If you look at the obstacle, you will naturally collide with the obsticle. The obstacle used best is a car with high beams on coming toward you - remember that lesson?

SO - I realized something about ministry in that moment! (incidently, I did just fine on that road this morning for those who may be concerned) I learned that I have to keep my eyes in the direction that I am trying to go, and NOT on the "obstacle". Sure, recognize the obstacle for what it is ... and where it is, but LOOK at where I am going.

Then I did a write up about what youth ministry looks like where I am heading with it as if it is already happening. It looks great by the way! I will share it in bite size pieces. Knowing that there are 8 components of youth ministry: Advocacy, Catechesis, Community Life, Evangelization, Service and Justice, Leadership Development, Pastoral Care and Prayer and Worship.

Here is my vision of advocacy:
ADVOCACY

Within St. Ann parish, the youth are encouraged to be involved within as many facets of parish life as possible. Through our Confirmation retreats, we encourage the teens to be involved in the Mass. With encouragement, many have gone on to serve in various ways within the parish. There are youth involved as lectors and Eucharistic ministers. There are youth serving as members of the Parish Council. St. Ann Parish has an outstanding youth community, and we recognize them when possible through bulletin announcements, newspaper articles, TV coverage when appropriate and by nominating those dedicated teens for national and archdiocesan awards.
We are in the process of developing a newsletter written and formatted by youth, for youth which will include an adult and a parent insert. This newsletter will be distributed to the entire parish.

What I learned last night ... that I sort of already knew

2007-01-09T18:38:00.000-05:00

I'm baaaaack!

Sorry for the long delay in posting ... I did come home from Vegas ... had a surprise b-day party for my husband at Gabe's ... had a Christian rock star stay at our house ... put on 2 whole community catechesis events we like to call faith festivals ... had another surprise b-day party for husband (he did turn 40 afterall) ... remembered my cousin Leanne on what would have been her 18th b-day ... celebrated Christmas eve with Jim's family ... then at my parent's house ... Christmas day at my cousin's house ... had a dinner with some wayland kids and returning college kids ... had a mexican fiesta new year's party ... ate tacos for 3 days after ... got a really bad cold which I am still recovering from ... had a catechist meeting that did not leave me with a warm fuzzy feeling (will get into more about that later) ... and now that you are completely up to date ...

Last night I went to a talk given by Dr. Michael Thompson (DMT), who wrote such books as "Raising Cain", "The Pressured Child: Helping your child find success in school and life", "Mom, They're Teasing Me: Helping your child solve social problems", and many others too.

It was so great! He is a psychologist who has spent his life studying the development of children through to adulthood. He has spent many too many days shadowing kids through their typical days and writing books to help parents better understand what their kids are going through and how to best help them.

Why was it so great you may ask ... you don't have kids to worry about yet, so why was this interesting to you? Well, see I do worry about kids every day. I have 13 6th graders, 14 7th graders, and 25 8th graders who are relying on me to be their voice in helping people understand what they need from their faith community. That is a very big responsibility. And this brilliant man said things that I have been trying to say - but in brilliant words that got the parents" attention and apparent buy-in.

I know that you are on the edge of your seat waiting to find out what he said, but first a little catch up.

I am having difficulty with the Religious Education programming at my new parish. I don't think it is bad - i just think it is not hitting the kids with what they need. For instance the MS kids are social by nature ... it is just how they are built ... yet we have them in classes of 6 or 7 per room (8th grade has 10 in one class and 15 in the other), with 15 minutes at the end for a large group activity (which they LOVE). Then our HS youth, who are still social by nature, but more able to discuss things deeper, we have them in large group sort of lecture style experiences wher ethey have 15 minutes at the end for small group time.

I watch some of our more disconnected youth in HS during the large group lecture style things with their blank looks on their faces, some with cell phones in hand texting each other, and before Vegas I would get very discouraged. In Vegas, my attitude changed when I sat through a Sunday morning keynote (after a night of, shall we say, margaritas by the yard). This speaker could have been good - but what I saw was that she did not know her audience very well at all. She scolded us for not doing more service and justice with our young people and worse that that but I won't get into what things she blamed us for in this public forum. Well I was very turned off by her. I was mad that she did not know her audience better, and prepared for this audience better. I was on a high from the whole weekend and I was not about to let this woman bring me down by blaming me for things that I did not own blame for ... and so ... I spent the remaining 2/3 of the keynote with cell phone in hand texting my friend who was sitting 3 seats away from me and who felt the same way - that this was a waste of our time.

Ironic isn't it?

OK - so what DMT said that was briliant? Kids are doing the very best that they can at any given moment. In fact, we all are doing the very best we can at any given moment.

So when a kid is staring blankly at the speaker - or texting their friend 3 seats down - or paying full attention - it is the very best that they can do at that very given moment based on the factors that are in that person's life at that moment. Make sense? Sure it does. If it doesn't, you weren't paying attention - not your fault though, you were doing the very best at that very moment that you were reading my post, but you got distracted. I am not insulted, just go back and read it when you can focus better.

Just go back and read it when you can focus better ... ponder this with me. I am a 6th grader. It is my first year in MS, with the added stress of being low man on the totem pole and the increase in homework. You with me?
I spend Monday in school... go home, take my piano lesson, do homework, work on scince project, go to bed. Tuesday school, home, tutor, homework, practice piano, bed. Wednesday ...

Do you think that the 6th grader has much energy to give to another classroom style class on a Wednesday night?

Do you think that the 6th grader might benefit more from having class on Sunday night? And maybe in a different style ... more interactive ... not so "school" like?

Yes - you are with me.

One of my 6th grade catechists will be out of town for the next 2 Wed night classes. So, this past Sunday from 10am - noon, she held a make-up class to cover the materials. These kids were so GREAT! The learned a lot and worked on projects for 2 hours without a "break". We cannot get them to focus for 1 hour on a Wednesday night. The difference? I asked 2 6th grade boys as they were waiting for their rides which they preferred - 1 hour on Wed night or 2 hours sunday morning. They said - without even thinking about it - Sunday! We have too much homework on Wednesdays - It is so hard to get it all done before we come here.

Why do we toruture our young people?

Here are my other snippets of truth from DMT:
1. (to repeat) Kids are doing the very best that they can at any given moment in time.
2. kids' capacity to be useful is under used in school. (IOW, they sit an listen - but they can do more than that) kids want to feel like what they are doing is meaningful
3. 1/3 of kids think school is cool; 1/3 kids struggle with certain elements (like lunch cause they don't do the social scene, or PE cause they are not athletic, or whatever) but they get through it; 1/3 of kids drop out
(ratios a bit different in church ... but still applicable)
4. Many educators feel that the system is deeply flawed ... but it is the best that they've tried

I will in the coming days talk about these snippets in terms of how I relate them to my ministry ... I promise. Until then, if you ever get the chance to hear this man speak - DO IT. Maybe even drop a note to your PTA to think about bringing him in to speak to your school parents / teachers. He spoke at Middleton / Topsfield / Boxford Regional HS last night.

Peace out!

VEGAS-baby!

2006-11-29T10:59:00.000-05:00

Oh yes - we are here.

Our flight was a little shaky ... Literally. It started pretty much right after they served the drinks. It did stop without incident, but then the captain came on the speaker and said that they were turning the fasten seatbelt sign back on as they were expecting some turbulence up ahead. (Kate and I looked at each other across the aisle like - uh oh... why are they telling us about the one coming up but mentioned nothing about the other turbulence) Then the co-pilot came out of the cockpit and walked back into the plane down to the rows just in front of us ... the emergency exit rows ... and was checking out one of the doors. Again Kate and I exchanged concerned looks. Jim slept through it all. We never did hit that expected turbulence. But we did hit more later ... after the second set of drinks were served, of course.

We arrived and got our luggage and headed for the taxis. Apparently EVERYBODY leaving the Vegas airport takes a taxi from the airport. The line was huge. Then the taxi coordinator man said watch this - true vegas style - as he pointed to people in line ahead of us ... Eanie, Meanie, Mynie, Moe - and landed on the guy in front of us - and he put him right into a taxi. Why couldn't WE have been moe! Oh well 30 minutes later we were on our way to the hotel... The Riviera ... one of the original hotels in vegas ... and not-so-pretty. But functional. Jim and I got a deluxe room - so we have electricity (j/k) We have a mini fridge ... but I did read the fine print on the thing I signed when we checked in that said that there was a $500 fine PER DAY for having food/drink items in room. I will be very careful when I get my 12-pack of Diet Coke later for that fridge to keep cold for me.

We me up with Jen C when we arrived. She has been here for the last week with her sister checking out the sites. We went to lunch at a place next door to the Riviera ... cant remember the name - but we were starving and the taxi driver told us the portions are good there. We wanted to fill our tummies and then nap for the afternoon. Portions were good ... food was okay. Won't be going back there by choice, but it is close so that could play a factor in our lunch plans during the week as we only have 90 minutes between sessions for lunch.

On our way back from lunch we found a half price ticket place and scored tickets for David Copperfield and a half price dinner voucher for this Brazilian steakhouse. So that is what we did after our naps! Dinner rocked. Meat galore. They just keep bringing it to the table until you are stuffed. We got a pitcher of Margharitas and Jen and I were a bit tipsy when we left.

David Copperfield was good (not great) and a bit cheesy - but a vegas thing to do so we are glad we did it. He is a bit full of himself and pulls up by "randomly selecting" the little hottie Brazilian girls up on stage for help with his illusions. Really he should be called David Coppafeel, if you know what I mean.

Today we have a retreat from 2:30 - 9pm. We can get our registration materials starting at 1:00 and I had planned to sleep in until then ... no such luck. At 6:20 my eyes popped open as my body's internal clock (which I can't seem to find the snooze button for) told me that it was 9:20 and a reasonable time for me to awake. Why can't the internal clock check with the brain before it does the wakey wakey thing?

Well now that you are all updated, I am going to try to go back to sleep. Wish me luck.

My first visitor!

2006-11-20T21:07:00.000-05:00

Today, a wonderful thing happened. I got my first visitor to my partially remodeled office / youth room. It was so great to sit and chat for an hour with one of the youth that I was hired to minsiter. Oh how I missed that in my old parish. Ministering to 900 teens means that you are cranking out programs but never really getting to know anybody one on one. Now that I have 84 in religious ed and another 40 who have already been confirmed I have time to hang out with them more.

This young lady came by just to hang out and chat. Yay! She is a great young lady who is really beautiful - not just physically though. She is beautiful through and through. I have spent quite a bit of time with her in various ways since I arrived here. She helped me run a retreat where the 6th graders just migrated to her. She was what we call "on fire" that day. She had them eating out of her hands (not literally ... unless you count raw spaghetti and gum drops) She is a natural in leading kids into prayer and leading games and just sitting and chatting with them too. Amazing really. She was a participant on another retreat where we had amazing small group discussions - great parish bonding time - super fun late night chats in the cabin with everyone. But today we had a great chat that really got me thinking. She spilled her heart (which I won't spill to you) but I realized that you can look at someone and think you know someone but until you stop along the journey and speak with your heart - you never know someone.

Basically I know what I am saying is don't judge a book by it's cover - but it is more than that. You can read a book and not know what it is saying - really saying.

Ponder that.

Then say a prayer for all young ladies out there who long to know who they really are - and for youth ministers everywhere that they all have time to sit and chat with the teens whom God has entrusted to their care. Amen.

Hmmm... I wasn't heading in that direction when I began my post ... must be the Holy Spirit at work.

Peace friends.

Post, they say.

2006-11-13T17:49:00.000-05:00

and then they ridicule ...

nice, just nice

IT?
Web-footed?

interesting, very interesting...

Go Wayland!

2006-11-07T12:55:00.000-05:00

So last Friday was the big Wayland vs Acton-Boxborough football game. It is always fun when Jim's town plays my town in football! I knew I would be spending some time on his side of the field so I had to make it perfectly clear which side I was on. Did I make it clear?
Oh ya - by the way - Wayland crushed AB 48 to 6... I think the hair did it for them.

Ya know James Taylor?

2006-10-17T18:06:00.000-05:00

Yes - that is him - huge mega music man - that is the one. Well, last Thursday night I skipped my class to go to his concert at the Wang Center. See Jim went to get the tickets during the AMEX presale and he asked me which show I could go to. I told him I could go to his first show in the area which was in RI, or I could go to the 2nd show at the Wang. That is what I said... but what he heard was I can go to the first show at the Wang. He's cute isn't he? So that is the one he got the tickets for ... and when he called me all excited I had to break it to him that he got them for the wrong night. THey were REALLY good seats. But, being the great person that he is, he went back into the Wang and got tickets for Saturday night's show too only by the time he got them they were not so good of seats (in fact they were pretty far up in nosebleed area).

So presented with the option of the REALLY good seats or the pretty crappy seats, I picked really good (wouldn't you?)

Jim was going to send an email out to try to sell Sat night tickets ... didn't get that email? THat's b/c he never got around to sending it. Oh well.

So, Thursday night we went with Gabe and Una to dinner and then over to the Wang for the "really good seats" show. IT was great - really great - really really great. During intermission Jim excused himself to go to the men's room. Gabe broke out the desserts and the 3 of us chowed on cheesecake - YUM! Intermission was about 20 minutes long and Jim never came back. Gabe went to the men's room and came back a couple of minutes later saying there was no line and nobody in the men's room... then JT came back out on stage ... still no Jim ... oh wait there he was walking up toward us from the stage. Yes, that is right he went up to the stage during intermission leaving his friends behind. His motive was good though. He bought a t-shirt that he wanted JT to sign for me for our aniversary ... but he did not have a pen and JT didn't have one either and nobody would let him borrow one.

Sad - I know. BUT

the security dude told Jim to go to a particular door after the show and JT would come out and sign it. So we went and after about 45 minutes JT came out, sharpie in hand, and signed it ... and a poster ... and some of our tickets ... and posed for pictures. He was so patient and nice.

SO

Saturday, I had the pictures printed and enlarged to 8X10 which we took back to the door on Saturday night and had him sign the pics too!!

So cool!

FOr those of you thinking "wow - I thought the summer of Paula ended!" And your next logical thought is of Fall, please use the word Autumn instead. Yes - it appears to be the Autumn of Paula too! (When you say it using "Fall" it just sounds bad - try it ... see - bad)

Will post a picture later. Until then then.... (Update ... I posted the pic, if you missed it go get your eyes checked ... it's huge at the top of this post)

Oh the Irish social club story?

2006-10-03T14:37:00.000-05:00

Well, if you don't know the infamous Irish Social Club Story, let me take a moment to tell you:

It was St. Patrick's Day, 2002
My mom had staked out our table most of the afternoon for our arrival at around 7ish at the ISC, which, you can imagine, was packed.
We decorated our table, tied balloons to chairs, confetti et al
There were about 12 of us I think
Well at around 8:30 ish, we all were up dancing our hearts out and when we returned there were 2 little old ladies and one lille old man sitting at our table in our seats.
I kindly let them know that we were sitting there and one of the ladies said something like "well there are more chairs over there" and pointed to a stack of chairs.
I responded delicately that we would like to remain seated with the rest of our rather large party.
She barked back at me that we could sit with them if we went and got our own chairs, for they were keeping the ones they were sitting in since our names were not on them, and incidentally neither were our butts.
I skipped over and got us our new chairs and the night continued on pleasantly.
... I think that is how it went ... that is how I remember it anyway.

It doesn't matter...

2006-09-29T08:33:00.000-05:00

That was the theme of our class tonight, which you can imagine was a difficult concept for me because of how competitive I am. So we would play a game and half way through he would say - now try it with the mantra "it doesn't matter".

For all you ym types who are looking for the new games that I am learning here are 2 fun ones:
Colors (small group): One person in the middle - the rest in circle around close up with hands palm up. Each person picks a color including the person in the middle (each one different) then one person in the circle calls out a color - the person who is that color calls out another color before the person in the middle can slap their hands... if the person in the middle slaps the hands of the other person before they can say another color, then they switch places ... now play like it doesn't matter ...

Checkout: Two people in the middle of the circle "facing off". A location is given and the two people have to name things that you would find at that location while pretending to scan them like at a supermarket checkout. Example: Cemetary: headstones, grass, flowers, candle, pictures, rosary beads, incense, insects, prayer cards, etc...........now play like it doesn't matter

What did you learn tonight P? Well, I learned that I am a very competitive person ... ok I REALLY learned that years ago when I broke up with a bf because of a minigolf game. Well, before you judge, I wanted to have a do-over and he wouldn't let me. A - it was just a game, why can't I do a do-over ; B - chivalry anyone ; and C - well, like I said, I am competitive - soooooooo end of relationship. NO - I was not 15 either!

Oh - you are probably wondering what ever happened with B and his crass foul mouth. Well, I had gotten to calss early and asked E if he could give a little "lets keep it clean" talk at the beginning of class, which he did, but B was not there yet. But it was all good cause after B arrived, E gave the keep it clean speach again and it was all good.

We did a bunch of character building activities - prefaced by a statement about "we are not what we do" in other words, we sometimes do things that are not who we are ... if we like the way somebody else does something and we start to do it too - we can become what we do and it all intermingles. Deep, eh? So back to the "we are not what we do" statement - rememer the Irish Social Club ... the old lady incident? Ya - I am not what I do.

Until later then.

MLB

2006-09-26T07:29:00.000-05:00

hmmm this is interesting - MLB means Major League Baseball - which J and I are going to a Sox game tonight ... so exciting ... Fenway Franks ... or maybe a sausage sandwich ... the crack of the bat (if they get any hits tonight) ... the roar of the crowd (same assumption). We were supposed to go with my little cousins, Cam and Brian, but apparently Cam "did something bad" and could no longer go and that dumped Brian too. So their older bro Chris is going with one of his friends. It saves us a trip to Franklin to do a pick up ... and it still is a night with a cousin afterall. These are the tickets we got in the silent auction for their sister's foundation (Leanne Schmall Foundation)

BUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUT MLB ALSO reminded me that I never shared with you that I went to Chelmsford last week to hear Mary Lee Becker talk about Middle School youth. I love that woman! She just reminds us of where the MS youth are in their development (physically, spiritually, intellectually, socially and morally) which is all over the place and also of their needs - to be social and loved. She uses the example of how when she goes to Mass, especially in a strange place, she finds the altar servers and thanks them for servicng the parish in that way. She says that they way they look at her is comical - like huh? you are thanking me? um - your welcome?

So I did this on Sunday. I went up and thanked the older one for serving (and introduced myself too) and told him that he was such a great witness and example for the younger one. He seemed genuinely pleased to be noticed. I then went out to the altar to thank the younger one. He was so little and cute - he said um - your welcome? so cute! I will continue to do this and will start to remember their names and thank them by name. Simple thing but meaningful to these young people ... and it is truly nice to have them up there serving with ease (sometimes not with ease - but that just keeps things interesting)

How we view influences how we value ... think about that for a minute... Now think about the MS youth that you know ... ok got a group in mind? MLB reminds us that with MS youth we have to minister from the inside out ... view them from the inside not from what comes out on the outside ... make sense?

that they are concrete (can I draw a picture of it? good that is concrete) and they have these 3 questions with what you are teaching: What does it mean? Why does it matter? How does it make a difference in my life / the world?

and that they are limit pushers by design - it is their job ... so those MS youth who push and push and push until you want to scream? They are overachievers at their job. love them for that ... remind me of that sometime please!

So that is my post on MLB!

Guess who I met this morning...

2006-09-25T21:50:00.000-05:00

Conaaaaaaaaaaaaaan OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO'Briiiiiiiiiiiiiiiieeeeeeeeeeennnnnnnnn That is Conan O'Brien. Woot! Woot!

J and I went to the press event for the grand opening of Cor Unum Meal Center (means one heart in Latin). It is a place where people can go to get a meal 365 days a year. It is supported by Labels Are For Jars see more on it at www.labelsareforjars.org

The project was started by the pastor of St. Patrick Parish in Lawrence Fr. Paul O'Brien (aka Fr. O'Dreamy). Fr. Paul and Conan were roommates in college and have remained friends ever since. Conan is a central committee member of Labels and was on hand this morning fo rthe ribbon cutting and bread breaking ceremony.

So it was cool to be there for a number of reasons - first that a couple of years ago, O'Dreamy took J and me on a tour of the area behind his parish. Down and embankment, across the railroad tracks and up a hill was an old gravel and sand storage building which then was housing many of Lawrences homeless population as did the banks of the railroad tracks at the time. He took us inside the building and showed us where people had made their homes and then to a hole in the side of this building and said --see here - look across the railroad tracks - my vision is that there in the vacant lot will stand a meal center to feed these people and many other people who are hungry in Lawrence. First and formost, (he was pointing to the vacant lot) people will know where they will get their next meal. Eventually as they begin to be able to hold their head up high again they will see where the meal came from and he raised his hand up to the church - it comes from the love of God. Well today that vision is a reality, and it was great to be there for the opening.

During the press conference, Conan looked down to where I was standing and looked directly at me. I almost waved before I realized that while I knew him because he comes into my livingroom (or sometimes bedroom) each night, he did not in reality know me. A few minutes later as I was wondering aroung the rooms of the center checking everything out, a woman stopped me and said hi in a very familiar tone. I stared blankly at her and said um - hi. She said, Oh don't you remember I met you last night ... I was with so-and-so. I said, um ... I am a youth minister in Wayland and I had a parent meeting last night .... so .... unless you are one of my parents... and she said Oh my gosh no! There is a woman who could be your twin who was here last night. She is on the leadership team. Really you could be her twin.

As the morning progressed I noticed that many people were looking at me funny - like they knew me and were waiting for me to say hi. Then this guy on the leadership team was walking by me and patted me on the pack. I turned and looked at him and he looked right at me like - Hey. So I said - um hi? He said, OMG I am so sorry. You look just like this woman I know - I mean JUST like her. I said that mistake had been happenning all morning. He said it was really uncanny how much we looked alike. He said - If you ever need a stunt double I know just the person for you... I told him to tell her that I would be her stunt double whenever she needed one cause stunt doubles get paid the big bucks.

So then there were all kinds of press interviews going on all around and fianlly conan and o'dreamy emerged from the kitchen and o'dreamy introduced conan to j and me. (incidently - wet noodle handshake - ick) but then outside, I asked o'dreamy if I could get my picture with conan and he said sure - quickly b/c he had to get him to the airport. and there it was! I am thinking of sending the picture to my twin since she could claim it is her - apparently everybody would believe it!

2 newbies

2006-09-23T12:26:00.000-05:00

So week 2 of class. 2 new students in class. One male (B) one female (C). C - great addition. Very quick learner - got up to speed very quickly and integrated right in with the rest of us. B - not so much. He was an F bomb dropper from the get go. And really aggressive and confrontational. He really changed the dynamics of our group ... I don't like him at all (can you tell)

We played this really embarassing game - really to get us to react quickly and save each other. One person in the middle sings a song - when a "related" song popped into your head you tapped the person in the middle on the shoulder and took their place and sang your song and on and on. Everyone in the circle sings along with you or if they don't know the words, they can beat-box or accompany you in whatever way they can. So it is going along rather well until B jumps in and sings "Let's all get drunk and screw" We all accompanied with gasps and uncomfortable laughter until our instructor jumped in and saved the game.

Ya know that conversation game I talked about last week? Well when he got his first topic he decided that "dentists suck" so let's talk about something else ... little did he know that one of the students is a dental student. Nice going!

Then we did a new scene game where we did not play ourselves. E, our instructor, gave us a location and whatever we said was true. So B get in a scene with R - the guy mentioned last week. The location - on a yacht. B says something like "ah - i love being out here on the fn water - it's fn gorgeous out here" R has no idea how to react - as you can imagine. so it was a very uncomforatble scene. eventually B tells R that he follows all of his financial advice which is how he got the yacht. R tells B that he thinks that B should build a sidewalk on the ocean so he can get off of the yacht and back onto solid ground. B says what are you fn crazy? I thing a better use of money would be on a shrink for you and your crazy ideas. E then reminded him that he had said that he follows ALL of R's financial advice. So the scene starts to play that way until B asks R what else he should do with his money and R says I am thinking of a rain drop escalator. B gets this look on his face that says he is about to go off on R for his crazy ideas again and E calls scene just in the nic of time.

I am planning on getting to class early next week and asking E to address language and name calling and hope that B takes the hint.

Can I get a witness? No?

2006-09-14T22:51:00.000-05:00

Ok - so I am not going to rant about the training. It is as ridiculous as everyone else says - and frustrating too. 'nough said

S - cool hanging out with you in between things tonight. Thanks for being available.

Sooo the improv class. It is great! We started with the name with and action game - Jim's old favorite. It had a newer twist though. It was actually fun again. then we played some quick on your toes word association games, an emotion icebreaker and then I learned my first lesson: In Improv - Things are not right or wrong, they just are. and so it is with life ... now for those of you who know me even a little bit, this is BIG. I am a rule person, a procedure person, an order person (really, you? Yes it is true)So this concept was interesting and life-changing too. I am sure I will do more processing with that one, but for tonight, it was freeing.

So we played a saying yes game ... interesting twist since there is so much talking about saying no in my day job... TAT and all, ya know. Very fun to say yes!

So who is in my class you are wondering? Are they socially inept, or normal, or strange people? Well, yes. There is one guy and the rest are women - except the instructor who is also a guy. So, apparently telling the instructor that I am a youth minister and work with MS and HS kids made me a target to go first at most games and exercises tonight. That was a bit out of my comfort zone as those who know me know well. I like to hear how something is done, watch it be done, then do it. Tonight was just do it.

Anyway, I came into the circle at the beginning of the night and sat across from the guy - not the instructor, but the other guy. He had this arrogant look about him and I wondered what his story was ... was he a theatre guy and thinking "what am I doing with these amateurs?" "i can't believe I am the only guy" what gave him that look? Well apparently it was nerves because he is the sweetest, strangest guy I have ever met. I would probably be afraid of him if I met him in a bar, but in this setting he is sooooooooooooo funny - partly because he does not know he is funny and partly because he has this amazing comedic timing. Maybe he is playing us all and he is really play-acting, but holy cow I need a witness.

So here is a part of his story, let me set the scene. One of our games at the beginning was "name 7" where the person to our right gave us a topic and we had to list 7 things related to that topic. I got "things you had when you were little", I gave "common pet names", there was "languages", "green vegetables", "favorite foods" so when it was his turn he got "TV shows" He said - oh can you pick something else, I don't watch tv" ok then he got some other benign thing that did not apply, can't remember what it was ... so then he got "articles of clothes" and he did it. So I go the sense that he was sheltered or at the very least, a little different. No problem - that gives you a sense though of who he is - not the arrogant guy he came off as, but rather an insecure little lamb. SO later on we had to pair up and one pair at a time we had to hold a conversation on a topic that the "audience" (the rest of us) came up with. Topics were things like shopping, restaurants, travel - really run of the mill stuff. If you knew nothing about the topic, you could begin by saying something like, so - what is you opinion on __________. When it was his turn, he was paired up with the quietest girl in the group. Our instructor, sensing disaster, quickly shot out a very benign topic hoping the ball would roll rather quickly for them... animals. Here is the conversation s-she h=he
s: So, what is you opinion on animals
h: Well, I didn't really know you could have an opinion on animals. Animals are animals. Do you have an opinion on animals?
s: Yes, I don't care very much for them.
h: Oh that is too bad, why?
s: I think it stems from trauma as a child.
h: oh really? What happened?
s: Well when I was around 5, I went into a pet store and a goldfish jumped out of a tank and landed on me.
(room erupts in laughter)
h: Wow - it just jumped out? How strange!
s: ya - so pretty much I just stayed away from animals after that. What about you, did you have any pets growing up?
h: No. well - when I was little I had a puppy for a little while ... like a couple of months …until one day my parents took him away.
s: oh no! Why did they do that?
h: they said he was eating up the house, I don't really know. And well, I had a cat once too until my parents threw him out on the highway ... well it just kept having kittens ... it had like 11 litters and those cats had a bunch of kittens too ... it was bad ... there were lots of cats being born retarded and stuff …
(nervous laughter still filling room)
h continues: and I had a bunch of bunnies too, but my parents just like let them go in like cemeteries and stuff. so, ya I don't know what about you, do you have any pets now?
(total eruption of laughter again)
s: no, I have really stayed away since the goldfish incident. But I do work in a lab and do testing on mice.
h: REALLY!! I read an article in the paper about how rats can have totally different personalities - like one can be evil and the other not even if they have the same parents.
s: Well, I don't really know anything about that... but the mice I work with definitely seem to have feelings.
h: really, how so?
s: well sometimes I have to anesthetize one or even put them down and the others nearby get all nervous
h: wow, how can you tell they are nervous?
s: well, they like run around in their cages and stuff, you can just tell – so I guess I can see how you could have one evil rat and one not within the same family
Instructor: and scene.
(insight into my mind … holy shit, what just happened here? I want to laugh, but I want to cry. That was the most bazaar conversation I think I have ever witnessed … too bad this guy has no idea how funny he is, he could make millions)
Instructor: Ok, next time someone else give the topic. I am done.
(pent up nervousness released in total eruption of laughter)

Yes – I think this class will be quite fun! What do you think? If he were under 18, I think I would have to file a 51A – true?

Until later…

A Day Off

2006-09-13T20:10:00.000-05:00

Ah - a sabbath... not really though. I spent most of the day doing some type of job related internet searching, then I had a fantastic meeting with my boss at 4:30 and dinner with the staff at 6:00 to bit farewell to our PA, who is just a wonderful person. So sad that she is leaving even after only one week of working with her.

So the meeting was GREAT - we are SO on the same page! Love him!!

The dinner rocked - my boss and shared this spicy hot calamari that was out of this world and I had almond encrusted salmon which was the best I have ever had ... and those who know me know that I love my salmon. (my own grilled salmon is the best though)

Now I am getting some things in order at my desk as I will be out of the office for the next 2 days at the crazy off-site meeting that everyone is talking about. I guess it is a doozy so watch for future posts on that.

Tomorrow (September 14th) is the 1-year aniversary of my cousin Leanne's passing. It is a very very sad time for my family so please keep us in your prayers. It is so hard to believe that she is really gone. I was explaining to a friend yesterday that it seems like it is just settling in that she is really not coming back - I know that sounds strange, but it is suddenly "real" - and it is really sad. Then I read my cousin's website last night and read that her mom is feeling that too. The saddness is so so overwhelming at times it is like it is happening all over again. I have never experienced this before. So - as I said - keep praying.

On an upnote - I am taking a class on Thurday nights for the next 8 weeks in boston called Improv for Life. It sounded intriguing so I signed up. THis was the description:

Is there some aspect of your general interactions with other people you would like to improve? Do you worry that you are shy, have trouble with interviews, are not social enough at parties, or have problems expressing your feelings well? Learn how to look at each aspect of your social life for what it is - a skill. As with any other skill, your social skills can be improved with practice. Using the basic building blocks of improvisational comedy, hone your social skills in a supportive environment, while having a great time and learning improvisational comedy techniques used by professionals. Not an ordinary improv class, Improv for Life flips the usual priorities - instead of learning how to perform on stage and having social development be a pleasant side effect, focus on you in your greatest role ever - playing yourself, in your life.

While I don't feel that I am socially inept - I do struggle coming up with conversation when meeting new people and since all I am doing these days is meeting new people I thought it would be good. Plus - there are bound to be improv-ing games that would be great for youth ministry too... of couse if everyone else in class is a social outcast this could be very interesting indeed ... will keep you posted ...

Until later...

Soda Machine in office!

2006-09-10T15:47:00.000-05:00

I went to target today and got the best thing!! A personal soda machine that holds 18 cans of soda ... diet coke of course. It was on clearance for $50! Much cheaper than the little fridge that I had intended to buy. It is 3 sleeves with 6 cans in a sleeve, so I can put DC in 2 sleeves and my lunch in the 3rd ... if it is a sandwich of course. The place where the cans come out has a door too so I am waiting to see if that area stays cold too. If so, my lunch could go there and I can put fresca in the 3rd sleeve. So excited!

So, yesterday was the Ride for Leanne - my cousin who passed away last year from Melanoma. The ride raises money for the Leanne Schmall Foundation which gives scholarships in her memory. So there was this silent auction going on in one corner and Jim and I got so much stuff for a fraction of what it would retail for. We got a portable grill - really cool for camping ... so now we have to go next year! We got a 2 night stay at this AMAZING hotel in Miami that is worth $300 per night ... so now we will HAVE to take a couple of days off this year to go there. We got 2 tickets to a Red Sox game ... ya, I know they stink this year but my little cousin Cameron got the other 2 tickets and we are trying to convice him to take Brian (his little brother who is also my godchild) so it could make for a very cool night. We got a Frank Malzone autographed baseball (he played for the Sox for 11 years 1955 - 1965 and is said to be one of the greatest, if not THE greatest 3rd baseman in Red Sox history). Oh - and cool vase that will be filled with a $75 floral arrangement next weekend when I go to Franklin for the 1 year anniversary Mass. Also, I won the 50/50 raffle for $114 AND Jim won a pasta cooker pot, a little carry-on bag and a $10 GC to Applebees. All in all it was a great day and Leanne was definitely with us in spirit.

Today was our outdoor Mass and cookout! It was great! Everyone was so welcoming and friendly. It is all done by a volunteer team and is just a great way to start the new year. It was perfect weather AND the food was ready as soon as Mass let out so there was no waiting. I love it here. (sorry M - but please let me spill my joy a little while longer ... I deserve this, don't I?)

Yawn...

2006-09-06T22:18:00.000-05:00

Well here we are at the very end of day two. I had a meeting with my boss and the PA today about the outdoor Mass that is on this weekend ... oh and taking on the CORI/CAP tracking. Then a tour of my new town, the schools, the oreo cows, the places the kids work, the eating establishments, etc. Very extensive! Then tonight I had a meeting with a group of involved adults on service type stuff, which was great. It seems like the parents may be on the same page with my own goals and such. I am sooooooooooooo tired though. I think I have allergies to something in the building so I am stuffy and hence have not changed the outgoing VM message cause you only get one chance to make first impression and I don't want to be all nasally.

Now onward to sleep - and sleep I will. Tomorrow we are having lunch near home with an old youth group kid of my husband's. He (this kid ... who is not a kid anymore) is studying for the priesthood in Rome. We ran into him in Piazza Navona on our honeymoon - which is when we found out that he was in the seminary and in Rome too. Weird! Sooooooo because of that lunch, I get to sleep in! Yippee!!

No sores from the new saddle...

2006-09-05T21:27:00.000-05:00

So day 1 of the new job is over. It was a strange feeling driving in today. I had no idea what my day would look like. I had aimed to get there at 10:00 but I actually arrived at 11:00. No problemo.

I met with my new boss first. He basically said that his hope is that we will remain status quo for the beginning and then he looks forward to seeing where my creativity will take us. And if there is anything I need from him, just let him know. We talked about the location of my office ... in the basement ... and the possibility of moving up a floor. After much analysis we decided that it is better for right now to stay in basement. I have my own entrance so people coming after hours will not distur after hours activities in the rectory as he has living quarters on the first floor too.

Then I met with the DRE for the lower grades and she had a list of things that were waiting for me to start... need for catechists ... checks received for retreats that were not accompanied by any forms ... book order needing to be placed ...showing me how to access calendar, email and vm ...

I made a list of questions to ask the YM at the neighboring parish... I im'd with her and spoke with her ... we are meeting tomorrow and she will give me a tour of the town, show me where the schools are, where to get a sandwich ... and aspirin, and answer any questions I came up with as I began to sort through the stuff I was given today.

Then, to my surprise - my boss stopped down to ask me how my first day was going. He said he wanted me to know that he is happy that I am on board and that I am valued here. How great is that!! Such a simple gesture, yet full of meaning.

I think this is the beginning of a great adventure.

Oh the places you've been

2006-09-03T15:58:00.000-05:00

Today we had brunch with the former director of the OYM and spent a few hours reminiscing about the various programs and people of memory throughout the last 15 years. Some of the memories are to be cherished, some are to be learned from to say the least. It was great to hear funny stories that happened before my time in ministry and reminisce about the stories that included me too. Fr. Tom quipped that as he has spent some time processing all that has occurred during the past 15 years and he had to say that it was a bit like the Dr. Seuss book "Oh the places you'll go" but from this angle it was "Oh the places you've been".
Paris and Denver and Rome and Toronto and Germany ... Mississippi, Alabama, Peru, Bolivia and Honduras ... Youth ministers who came through the ranks as youth themselves ... youth who really left their mark - good and bad! ...

While it was a great few hours of laughter – and a GREAT brunch btw … check out Paparazzi for a top-notch brunch if you get the chance – it did leave me wondering what the future holds for youth ministry in our Archdiocese. Many opportunities have been available throughout my tenure because of the ability for many parishes to each bring a small group of youth and adults together to create a memorable experience... YOW, Gospel Road, CLI, World Youth Day, Regional youth and regional adult gatherings, National Youth and National Adult gatherings, Conventions, Rallies, Resource days … we have already seen the demise of the conventions and rallies in our Archdiocese. Now that there are only 2 full-time employees for Youth Ministry, the question lingers in the air, are we launching a new release of “Oh the Places You’ll Go” or are we truly at “Oh the places we’ve been”?

2 more days of summer

2006-09-02T21:05:00.000-05:00

Well I am freshly home from our overnight stay in Wareham with some of our closest friends. It was a laughfest - I don't think I have laughed that hard in a long, long time. Inhonor of our evening game of things I will take this opportunity to list: Things... that I loved about my summer:

Sunny days in the convertable
Lunch at the Red Parrot on Natasket Beach
The retreat in Vermont in June
Joining the gym AND actually having time to use it!
Getting side bangs
Getting my video ipod
2 mission trips to Mississippi
The annual Conway softball game
P-town overnight with family including drag show where my dad got picked on
Whitewater rafting including the wheelie that ended with all boatmates swimming downstream
Hike in vermont
Day in Falmouth ... especially the adventure to the lighthouse
T's 40th Birthday celebration
Overnight in Wareham ... especially DDR Christian version, Nunchucking, Things with friends, Photo booth and Extreme Jenga

All that AND 2 days left to go...

40 years ago today...

2006-08-31T21:04:00.000-05:00

This morning 5:30 (if you can really call it morning, I mean REALLY 5:30 is still night in my book ... and, I believe, in God's book too as it was still pitch black outside) I arose to begin my day of torture. You see, today is my OLDER sister's 40th birthday and for me this meant that I had to find many ways to torture her.

Last night, I made a big lawn sign out of foam core board, stencil letters and an iparty sign that said "Sign Here for the 40th Birthday!" And I added "BEEP HERE" on top (and covering the sign here words) and "Honk Honk!" on the bottom. This morning at 5:30 I drove over to her house and strategically placed it on the front lawn for passersby to gleefully read and beep at. (Did I mention that she lives on probably one of the busiest streets in Norwood? mmwwwaaahaaahaa) I also taped up a big vinal "LOOK WHO JUST TURNED 40!!" sign on the front door for all who were leaving the WOW gym across the street to see. hee hee

Tonight we (my parents, nephew and I) took her to Bugaboo Creek for a very filling dinner. I, of course, got there a bit early to set up the continuance of torture. On the table I place a centerpiece that draped "40"s and balloons - very tasteful. Then when she arrived, I met her at the door with a sash that said, "Congratulations 40", beautiful big beads that had "40" disks all around witha big disk at the bottom that said "Behold the ageless wonder" and, of course, a purple cane that squeeks as you walk with it and had various old age jokey things all down it. She gacefully accepted the torture and followed me to the table where I crowned her with a brilliant tiara with a flashing 40 - still gracious she sat wearing all of her additions through the entire meal. She, of course, thought that the surprises were over, but no. As we finished our meal, our server Julie returned with the rest of the waitstaff (many of whom stopped in throughout the meal with birthday wishes) singing a very loud peppy birthday song with her warm cookie dessert topped with the black "40" candles that I had slipped to her prior to my family's arrival - and her coffee in the big black mug that said "How the @#$#@*& did I get to be 40" which I also slipped to her earlier. Haaaaa Haaaaa Haaaaa I love being the younger sister! She of course reminded me that I am but 18 months behind her, but still it is fun to torture.

We ate at 6:00 ... it is now 10:30 and I am still uncomfortably full. I can't wait to sleep this off! Actually - I just can't wait to sleep in general! 5:30 is NOT a good time to start a day, EVER. At least I have 10 years to recover before the 50th celebration!

An introductory trot

2006-08-28T22:39:00.000-05:00

Tonight I joined a "roundtable discussion" on how to get the parish to take ownership of youth ministry ... subtitle How to Get Volunteers. It was a great discussion and helped me to generate some ideas for starting anew in youth ministry. While I have been re-reading "My First Two Years in Youth Ministry", which has helped me to put a plan together, this discussion with other real live ministry leaders was a great jumpstart. Here are a few highlight thoughts:

Asking people to volunteer is our opportunity to help people grow closer to God and serve him. (this one kind of makes it easier to make those personal invitations, doesn't it?)

Never say "I don't have enough volunteers" but rather, "I have so many volunteers that I don't know what to do with them all" To achieve this, one great idea is to create a database of parents and youth. In this database, include the occupations and hobbies of the parents so that you can target the right people for the right volunteer opportunities. This assists people in finding their niche to offer their gifts and talents. (i.e. there is a mom who scrapbooks as a hobby. Ask her if you can send her your pictures all year and she would create a scrapbook for you... you can display her work in your youth room / office after each event and when the next event pages come in you can put the older ones in a book and display the new ones)

Another idea that came up was to send b-day cards to the kids - this is one that has been tossed around for years only I have never worked in a parish where this was feasible UNTIL NOW!!! Yipee - I can actually do this one!!!

Working for a small parish will surely have it's challenges, but right now I just see a world of opportunity. What will tomorrow bring?

Lobstah delays the preparation one more day

2006-08-27T08:59:00.000-05:00

Who could possibly pass up a drive to the cape, a casual walk around Falmouth, lunch at the Firefly - an outdoor cafe, an adventure to find a lighthouse and a lobster feast with friends? Not I - so that is how I spent my day yesterday with my husband in the convertable. It was a great day! The sun was shining all day with a slight breeze - perfect summer beach weather. This is exactly the type of day that always got in the way of school preparations too! However, I have now realized that these types of days do not "get in the way" of preparations but rather are a different kind of preparation. In order to be fully prepared for a new year, we have to have the lazy days of summer to rest and recharge or body, spirit and mind... I will try to remind myself of this next summer when I am gainfully employed for the summer months! For now - onward to recharge!

New again

2006-08-25T20:50:00.000-05:00

Well in just 11 days, the summer of Paula officially comes to a close as I begin my new position. I have to admit I really enjoyed having the summer off even though it came as a surprise in the beginning. I feel like I did back in elementary school when summer would come to the end and I would realize that there was so much more I could have / should have done with my lazy days of summer. Funny thing is that usually my summer reading took a back seat to lounging by the pool... same this summer. I had wanted to sharpen the saw by rereading classic YM books and refreshing skills and developing a plan for starting over once again. I had wanted to study for and take the certification exam for muscular therapy to re-up my certification. I had wanted to file the paperwork to bring my long battle with my old tenants to a close finally. I did none of this (but I do have a GREAT tan) and am now filling my days with all of these in a race with time before my summer comes to an end. Some things never change I guess - I work best under pressure, a pattern that I learned waaay back in elementary school.