A Day in my Life- a "Bit of Reality"

fair warning: The only thing 'typical' in a typical day for me is that every day is atypical. Here's today, Wednesday....

6:00 AM- I pray SERVIAM in my mind and get priest-husband up for his gym workout. I go back to sleep.

6:45- I pray SERVIAM again and get out of bed, knowing that I am most certainly not the type of woman that satan says "oh no" about when I start the day. I try, but as I've said, I am a lazy, low-energy introvert.


then...breakfast, kid stuff, make school lists for the big girls, go to the car rental place to get my name on the rental agreement so I can drive Fr's rental (his car has been in the shop with a dead starter for almost a week) while he takes part of the day off from his hospital work so he can drive Boy and preschool friends to the zoo about 45 minutes north, pack lunches, give instructions to bug girls who will be with our house guest until I get home at 2


8:45- Fr. takes Boy to preschool to pick up other riders and then drives to zoo for field trip. I leave for my college to observe my boss teaching for her required evaluation. After my observation, I drive the forty-five minutes north to the zoo to relieve Fr.


11:00- the changing of the guard. We switch cars so Fr. can drive back down to get to work at the hospital. I join the preschool field trip; baby girl is also there. I highly recommend the 'Sit and Stand' double stroller fort activities like this.


12:00 PM- Fr. makes his important meeting with the new CEO and president of his hospital. I sit down to peanut butter crackers, bananas and water with the preschool group at the zoo. Boy bites his lip and stars wailing. I'm glad I decided to be a parent chaperon because there are simply not enough adults to attend to all the minor drama swirling around.


2:00- I get back to town and drop off my passengers. Boy and baby girl are exhausted but not sleeping.  Finally, we are home. I check to make sure the girls did their school work. Fr. is celebrating a Roman-rite mass at the hospital.

3:00- I take the big girls to ballet, then go home and start dinner- a variation of my 'easy Lenten pasta.' I throw in some laundry, putz around, throw away junk mail, etc, etc, Fr. is putting out fires at the hospital. 

5:45- We pick up the girls from dance and go to the Pre-Sanctified Liturgy, hoping that the littles don't fall asleep in the van.

7:30- We go home, eat dinner and put the two littles to sleep while Fr. and the big girls stay for Bible study.

8:30- I serve dinner to the rest of the family- big girls do the dishes and then start to play some chess.


9:00- Fr. and house guest go back to the hospital for end-of-life sacramental ministry. I don't know when they will be back. I should finish the laundry and prepare for my class tomorrow, but I  think I'll watch an episode of Castle on Hulu.

so, that's that. One day in our life and it will get crazier; our bishop is here this weekend! Our life is busy, crazy, but not that interesting. It is what is normal for us. I guess that is why the following comment stung:

"Yes, because only positive, happy-clappy takes on Catholicism are the experience of most Catholics. Get real. What your blog needs is a bit of reality, rather than rank-and-file parsing of Catholic thought and teaching, which gets boring, and which is the fodder of hundreds of other Catholic blogs as it is."

It is always a bad idea to take one comment to heart, but my post calling for guest posts last week got over 200 views the first day but only one comment. So, the commenter must have had some strong feelings that I should consider if I am trying to write a blog for others to read and perhaps benefit from. First of all, there are 100s of orthodox Catholic blogs, 100s of anti-Catholic or liberal Catholic blogs, 100s of atheist blogs, 1000s of mommy blogs, 1000s of lifestyle blogs: we are spoiled for choice. So I am writing about my generally happy Catholic life where I am not at odds with my Church. Am I writing 'happy-clappy' stuff if I usually don't complain about the bad stuff in my life? Should I be writing bitter stuff like....there was black mold in our clergy housing which might have led to my 20-week miscarriage about seven years ago? Should I write and complain about the cantor  who is bitter about his church experiences? Should I write about how we are all sinners and hypocrites in need of salvation? Should I write and complain about parishioners who come in very late and light candles in the front of the church, crossing in front of Fr. while he is preaching the homily (actually, the last time this happened it was so ridiculous I had to stifle a laugh)  What good does it do to be bitter? Sometimes I write about the hard stuff (click on the labels 'disappointed' and 'loss') But if this blog is boring- oh well. It is what it is. 

linking up with Like Mother, Like Daughter's Pretty Happy Funny Real 

A Prayer for Priests

PRAYER TO SAINT JOSEPH FOR A PARTICULAR PRIEST 

Saint Joseph,
I present to you this day
Father N., priest of Jesus Christ,
and beg you to be to him
advocate and defender,
counselor and friend.
Open your heart to him
as you opened your home to the Virgin Mother
in her hour of need.
Protect his holy priesthood
as you protected the life of the Infant Christ
threatened by cruel Herod.
In darkness bring him light;
in weakness, strength,
and in fear the peace that passes understanding.
For the sake of the tender love that bound you
to the Virgin Mary and the Infant Christ,
be for him, Saint Joseph, a constant intercessor
and a shield against every danger of body, mind, and soul
so that, in spite of his weaknesses and sins,
his priesthood may bring glory to Christ
and serve to increase the beauty of holiness
in his bride the Church.
Amen.

Please pray this prayer for my priest-husband (St. Gregory Nazianzus is his patron) and for any other priest in need of prayers- prayer found at wdtprs

Bad Poetry for Overwhelmed Mommy-types

Oh, give me a home
where the children can roam
& they sometimes pick up their mess
where seldom is heard
a complaining word
& they spontaneously do school-ish work
home, home with the kids
where the dad has a lot on his plate
metaphorically
'cause I was doing laundry
instead of packing his lunch.


Oh, give me a home
just outside of Rome
where the kids live out of one case
where there's no random clutter
no random junk, just what we actually need
home, home with the kids
where the two-year-old's having a fit
Boy has a sore throat and pink eye
& the girls wait for their personal chauffeur
(that's me)

 image source- not always safe for the kids- I don't read it all!

A Call for Guest Posts

Do you like to write about family or Catholicism but you don't have or want a blog? Or maybe you have a teensy tiny blog in comparison to my wee blog and you would like to reach a different audience? I would love to begin posting guest posts; perhaps you would like to write one to be posted here the same day you post it on your blog- if you have one.

Some subjects that probably will get a thumbs up for posting

family life

homeschooling/education alternatives

culture/art from a Christian viewpoint

organization/decorating/crafting

a day in the life at your Catholic parish

Church unity

answered prayers

feasting and/or fasting 

marriage/single life/discerning vocations

pro-life stories

Eastern Catholic/Christian life

a day in the life of a clergy wife (Protestant, Catholic, Orthodox)- it would be fun to compare 

My blog is not the spot for these subjects- just because:

specific politicians

politics

negative Catholic/Orthodox discussions

Email me your ideas at remnantofremnant@gmail.com

7 QuickTakes- You never know...

...when your words or actions are just what someone really needs.

1. Years ago, I was teaching English in Gaming, Austria to a group of Central and Eastern Europeans. This teaching situation was an ESL paradise. The little village is my island from Lost. Like many, I didn't fully appreciate the gift that those four years gave me. It was a very intensive teaching experience. I started there at 22 years old, new to teaching, new to travel, new to Europe, new to living off a $100 stipend plus room and board. One year, I made a long list of optional activities for my students to do during the long ten day break in Fall. The Americans would travel to Ireland or Greece. The post-communist Europeans would normally stay on campus. In the middle of the week, I came home to see a beautiful Fall leaf wreath on my door. The colors were magenta red and neon yellow; colors that only seem to get that awesome there. I had put 'make a wreath from the fall leaves" on my assignment list. I didn't think anyone would take me up on that suggestion. I'm glad someone did, and I'm glad someone secretly put it on my door. It was a ray of sunshine during a beautiful, but lonely time.

2. Sometimes a random conversation can have seriously good consequences. I was talking with a friend of mine and she was telling me of yet another surgery for her hands that she'd be going through soon. She had to quit being an ER nurse because of this disability. I said sort of off the cuff: "I hope you are 'offering up' all this pain and stress." She looked at me with wide eyes, "What's that?" I explained in my very non-theologian way that all suffering can be offered to God for a specific intention, uniting us in a small way to His cross and giving a concrete benefit for our suffering. I was surprised she hadn't heard of this before. I thought nothing of it until last week when she said that it was an earth-shattering concept for her that has helped her through a lot of physical pain. A simple conversation helped her. Wow. And then, it got even better. She now thinks of her hand disability as a blessing. She can't work full-time as a nurse, but she and her husband are training to be infant foster parents to expand their family of four. 

3. A big 'you never know' moment in my life was when I picked up a hitchhiker and her two young children. I was a poor, full-time college student, living at home and working full-time. When I saw her in the rain, I just had to pick her up. If I didn't, maybe someone bad would have picked them up. You never know...I bought them some fried chicken and a big jug of milk and made my way to a shelter in the next city. Then, I got into a minor fender bender. Milk dripping from the ceiling, the car could be driven, but I had to exchange information with a very elegant, very peeved lady. I had to wipe the milk off my glasses to see the paper where I wrote down my information. I don't pick up hitchhikers now, but I am glad I did that day.

4. You never know who is going to be an important part of life. Five years ago, I made a meal for a woman on our homeschooling list who had had a back surgery. I didn't think much of it then, but our relationship has grown so that she was the one to babysit the children for a doctor's appointment that grew to me being in the Labor and delivery for two days before Baby Girl was born. These kinds of relationships are so important when the closest family in almost 1,000 miles away.

5. "How far you go in life depends on your being tender with the young, compassionate with the aged, sympathetic with the striving and tolerant of the weak and strong.  Because someday in your life you will have been all of these."  ~George Washington Carver

"You cannot do a kindness too soon, for you never know how soon it will be too late."  ~Ralph Waldo Emerson

"By swallowing evil words unsaid, no one has ever harmed his stomach."  ~Winston Churchill

"No kind action ever stops with itself. One kind action leads to another. Good example is followed. A single act of kindness throws out roots in all directions, and the roots spring up and make new trees. The greatest work that kindness does to others is that it makes them kind themselves." Amelia Earhart

6. Right now, a two-night guest is turning into a one-month, probably a three-month guest. You never know, this might be what we need. But in any case, this bit of life won't be blogged.

7. Yes, I wrote this blog post just a few days ago, but it might be 'just what you need' right now and I don't want you to miss it. The actual post, links inside the post or the comments  might be what you need- Family Size Does Not Equal Birth Control Usage.....food for thought....

find more quick takes at conversiondiary.com