Answer Me This...Home Sweet Home

1. How long have you lived in your current home?
We have lived here for about a year.  I like our home. It is nice and cozy. It is almost a hundred years old.  We moved from my husband's bachelor pad that was about 20 years old and pretty cookie cutter, and had some awesome forest green carpet ;) (although we changed that in order to sell it.  So we did the three things in one year that we are supposedly not supposed to do :) Get married, buy a house together, and have a kid. 

2. How do you find out about news and current events?
Mostly the internet, but sometimes the radio. (We have Netflix, but not cable and our tv isn't even hooked up to an antenna, so unless we are at someone else's house it is not tv)

3. Would you be able to make change for a twenty right now? For a dollar?
Ummm...since I am at my house and we have a bucket of coins, I think I could. You would just get quarters, dimes, and nickels.  Maybe some pennies too.

4. What's the craziest food you've ever eaten?
I am kind of a wimp when it comes to food, so I am not sure I have a crazy food to report....I like different kinds of food: Chinese, Mexican, Italian, Indian, but none of it was too crazy....

5. Which of the commonly removed parts have you had removed? (tonsils, wisdom teeth, appendix, etc.)
Wisdom teeth...I was actually having one of them removed on 9/11 so that is part of my memory of that crazy day.  I think one of the buildings was coming down as I sat in the chair :(  I haven't been back to that dentist office.

6. What's your favorite sport to watch on TV?
I love to watch football, but just college. I suppose it is because of the state I live in.  We are big into our home team here and don't have a pro team in the state.  I have been watching since I was a kid and have fun memories of watching with my dad.

Linking up with Kendra at Catholic All Year for Answer Me This!

7 quick takes...midsummer edition

Summer is has been fun and relaxing for us.  As we head toward the middle of summer, here are a few things we have done.

1.  Learn the Rosary...just kidding.  He likes the feeling of the Rosary and is gettng a feel of it in his hands. Sooner or later he will learn the prayers.

2.  Going to baseball games with friends.  We have gone to a few of the hometown team and watch my niece and nephews play t-ball.  Usually hot and steamy, but fun to have a little bit of time at the ball park!

3.  Support vocations....at the ballpark.  Two of the diocese in our state had a softball game with the priest playing against each other.  The proceeds of the the tickets went to the vocation funds in the diocese. It was great fun.  I have taught with some of them, did retreats with some and had some as assistant pastors.  Good clean fun.

4. Going to garage (rummage or yard) sales.  No pictures of this, and I have already wrote about it.  But we have gone to plenty and the big early summer season is winding down.  I may or may not have gotten too many clothes....

5.  Getting ready to go on vacation.  My husband has been working quite a bit of overtime lately and we are looking forward to going with some of my extended family to Branson soon. 

6.  Trying to maintain going to daily Mass. We are blessed to be in walking distance  to our church and summer days make it easier to do this.

7.  Hang out with friends....especially teacher friends.  Being a teacher for so many years, I have many teacher friends so summer is high time to see them. 

Things I want to do as the summer goes on: read more and attempt to organize and tidy the house up. :)

For more quick takes, visit This Ain't the Lyceum!

Friendships and Being an Older First Time Mother....

Becoming a mother is quite the adventure, and there are many things that are quite difficult.  From being responsible to a living, wiggly human to dealing with ups and downs of hormones for the first few months, there are so many things that make you feel almost like a different person.  I suppose in some ways you do become a different person.  You become a mother.

I became a mother at the age of 36.  Old by some folks standards.  It's not like I put it off.  I just didn't find my husband until later in life, so I had lived a single person's life for a quite awhile.  Since I haven't ever been a young first time mother, I don't want to say it is easier, or harder, but there are things that I noticed or think about being a older first time mother.

You are kind of in between worlds of different groups of moms.  Many of the moms that are my age in our area have been moms for 5, 10 or sometimes 15 years and so have 3, 5, or maybe 8 kids.  So although they are my age they have a vastly different life experience then me.  They have things to share, we can be friends, but our life experience are just so very different. In addition, they have established their routines as moms, and have their solid group of mom friends which sometimes can be hard to break into.

Then there are the moms that have their first babies in the last year like me but are a lot younger.  They got married during or right after college.  Again we can be friends but our experiences of life are as different as the first group. It is sometimes hard to hang out with folds that are a lot younger than me. I find myself stuck somewhere between these two groups of people when trying to find moms that I can share my thoughts and mom experiences with.

I am lucky to have friends that are also older first time moms, but we sometimes find ourselves wondering how to break into the groups of other moms where they seem to have their set of friends firmly in place. 

Then there are my single friends.  I have many strong relationships with my friends.  Some of them are married with kids but many are not. I was single along with many of them in my adult years until I got married at the age of 35. Even though now they are not living the same kind of life as me now, we have such a strong bond that we have stayed friends.   It is neat to see these relationships evolve as they come to love my family and not just me.  I definitely have seen different sides of my friends when they interact with Dominic than when we are all hanging out with only adults around.

This is just my experience of becoming a mom when I was older.  I am sure others have different stories of how their life changed when they became a mom and how it was effected by where you live, how old you were, or whether or not you work or not.   I was reminded by my spiritual director that I do have awesome friends that are sharing my experience, and how Dominic has blessed the lives of my single friends who find much joy by sharing his life with them.

 I think this has been a lesson for me learning how to live that saying "Bloom where you are planted."  Because if I had my way, I would have gotten married earlier in life, but this is where God placed me, and this where I am supposed to be touching the lives of those who have been planted where I am too. 

7 quick takes..books I love (fiction edition)

Before I taught elementary school, I graduated with a Bachelor's in English.  I loved creative writing and literature.  Here are seven novels (or series of novels) that have stuck with me through my life of reading....

1.  A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens.  Actually I am not sure if I made it through this in college,  it was one of those books that was hard for me at the start.  However, once I got into it pulled me in and made me fan of Charles Dickens.  It is probably the part of me that loves mystery and crime stories.  He weaves things throughout the story and then brings them together at the end.  I am always like, oh that's why he brought that crazy character in at the beginning.  I have enjoyed many BBC versions of his stories on the tellie.

2.  Pride and Prejudice...and others by Jane Austen.  My university actually had a class one semester just on her books. The characters in her books seemed to be women I could relate too even though they were removed by many years and many countries.  They were real to me...although I did always wonder what the story of their maids or cooks would be like.  Maybe more like a story of Charles Dickens.


3.   The Anne books by L.M. Montgomery.  I think I know many a girl that has love these books and I have to say that I am one of them.   They were different than other teen fiction out there.  Although they were about a young girl growing up, they seems to have more substance than other things I was reading like....The Babysitters' Club.

4. Father Elijah by Michael O'Brien.  I am not sure what to make of this book still, it was kind of futuristic, kind of foreboding. However, the prose in the book was so fantastic that it kept me interersted.

5.  The Chronicles of Narnia by C.S. Lewis (I am just grouping them all together as one).  I actually read these for the first time as an adult.  Lewis had a way of creating a world I could picture even with the fantastical elements swirling all around the story.  

6.  David Copperfield by Charles Dickens.  The way this story of a boy growing into adulthood and all the different things he encountered in England long ago is another great Charles Dickens story.  I don't love all Charles Dickens (Oliver Twist wasn't my favorite)  but I could add a few more to a list of my favorites including Nicholas Nickelby and Our Mutual Friend.

7.  The Lord of the Rings by J.R.R Tolkien.  Now I have to admit some of these stories got a little wordy for me but the again the ability to create a whole new world that pulled me in was great and kept me going through some of the slower parts.

There you have my 7 Quick Takes of the week.  Join Kelly at This Ain't the Lyceum for more!

Answer Me This!

This week I am joining with Kendra of Catholic All Year for the return of Answer Me This...here it goes...

1. Any big plans for the summer?

We are going with my extended family to Branson.  It is our first trip with Dominic.  We have had many of these trips with aunts, uncles and cousins for the last fifteen or so years.  They are always lots of fun!  My family is pretty drama free.  We just have fun :) Since we have campers in the group, we usually have campfires--breakfast through s'moretime.  We will probably go to Silver Dollar City, visit the lake, go swimming.  We are staying in a cabin that is air conditioned :) No tent camping for us this time!

2. What is the strangest thing you believed as a child?
That I would become a world famous writer...well not sure I ever believed it, but the strange part is that I loved writing as a kid, and still do now. So even, if I am not world famous,  I think it is interesting that some things that we love as kids do stick with us throughout life while others drift away.  


3. What is your favorite amusement park ride? (can be a specific one at a specific park or just a type of ride)  I haven't been for a while, but I love the roller coasters where your feet hang down.  I think it may be that somehow I feel more secure being strapped in from the top, but still get the thrill of the roller coaster.  I have been on a few different ones, and have like them all. 

4. What's on your summer reading list?
I am currently reading a Dorothy Sayers murder mystery-The Five Red Herrings.  I seem to be going through them recently starting from the first one she wrote and working my way through them. Also, All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr....this is the second time I checked it out, and haven't made it through yet.  Still working on other parts of the summer reading list....perhaps some parts of Introduction to the Devout Life.  Oh and also Fundamentals of the Faith by Peter Kreeft--this is a book I am reading as part of a book study.

5. Have you ever fallen asleep in public?
Not that I can remember, close though during a biology lecture in college.  I don't think it was the subject, just a professor that was better suited for research than lecturing...

6. What is your favorite smell?
Incense--it brings my thoughts to my Lord.  It was awesome to have it as a part of our Nuptial Mass!
Another favorite is a campfire.  I love sitting around staring at the flames, listening to the pops and cracks, and feeling the warmth, and smelling the smell.

Garage sale-ing quick takes

I am a self admitted garage saler.  I like the challenge of finding the good sales even when it means showing up at some stinkers too.  Here are somethings I have learned about having a successful garage sale run.  Some of these I have known for awhile...others I had to adapt when bringing Dominic with me.

1.  Scout out the garage sales before hand.  There have been times that I have just followed a sign that said garage sale, but most of the time those garage sales aren't too successful for me.  Sometimes the sign is old from the weekend before and hasn't been taken down yet.  The best way for me to plan ahead is to search craigslist.  If I am looking for something in particular, then I can use the search function and look at all the sales that have what I am looking for.   Then I write down the sales and group them by areas of town.  This way I can make the best use of my time.

2.  Shop neighborhood organized garage sales.  This is where a whole bunch of houses in the neighborhood have them at the same time. The association will organize advertising.  Some of them will print maps for people to take with them.  I have come to learn the neighborhoods that have the best turnouts.  There is one neighborhood that I will go back to year after year because of this and it is kind of fun when there are lots of people around shopping to...kind of festive in a way. Bargain hunters unite :)

3.  Shop church garage sales.  I like these because they are inside usually and usually have many families donating to them.  They also usually have fairly good prices.  In addition, some have bake sales too, which is nice for a little yummy treat.

4.  Take out the stroller for Dominic.  This is something I learned this year.  It is hard to look at stuff and juggle Dominic.   In addition if I see something I like it is hard to hold onto it.  Even if I am just thinking about something, it is nice to be able to pick it up and carry it with me while I think about it, which leads me to my next piece of advice....

(Disclaimer--this is not a picture of Dominic at a garage sale. It is much hotter here now. However, he is usually that happy. He loves all the people that he sees at garage sales--he is a "people person".)

5. If you see something, you might like to buy, pick it up.  This doesn't mean you have to buy it, but then you have time to think about it without someone else thinking of it.  I don't know if it is the power of suggestion of me simply looking at something, but at least twice this year I have been seriously thinking about something and meaning to come back to it, and when I walk away for a minute, someone else decides they can't live without it.   (Which is why the stroller is important.  The time this week that this happened to me, I was carrying Dominic and couldn't hold both him and the item I was thinking about at the same time).

6.  Set a price limit for certain types of items.  For example, there are lots of garage sales with baby clothes in them.  I have set a general limit of $.50 which for my area isn't to unreasonable.  I have found plenty of clothes at this price.  Now if I see something I think is particularly cute, I do go over from time to time, but having this limit reminds myself that I can find plenty of items at other sales for lower prices.  Some people simply have a higher idea of what they can sell there stuff for, which I am sure they can, but that sale is then not for me.

7.  Remember you don't have to buy something at every sale you walk into.  Sometimes I feel like I should, especially if the person is nice and friendly.  However, I know that is just silly and that I should buy things only if I want and can use them.

I know garage sales aren't for everyone, but I enjoy the search for a treasure among the garages of my town.  For more quick takes, join Kelly at This Ain't The Lyceum !

Summertime...not-a-break quick takes...

Summertime....is no longer my break.  Funny as a student and teacher this is the time of the year that I wouldn't have my regular routine, my job, or schoolwork.  Many times I would have summer jobs, but it wasn't the same as the classroom rigamarole.   Here are seven things that I am looking forward to this year even if it isn't a "break".

1.  Going to the zoo with this guy

We have a membership for the year and so have already been many times. It is a nice little zoo and it is close to where we live, so it is great for a nice little break from the day.

2.  Visits to the farm.  My husband grew up on the farm.   I love going back there and am really blessed with my in-laws.  It is also fun to see Dominic react to the parts of the farm that he doesn't get to experience in everyday live.  Last time we went, he loved the cows :).!

Isn't it beautiful!

3.  Two words: ice cream.  I admit I enjoy this year round, but it tastes even better when coming in from the heat.

4.  Swimming:  Personally, I love to swim, but I am looking forward to more swimming with my litle guy.  He loves the water!

5.  Vacation:  We are going on a trip to Branson this summer with my extended family.  I always like getting away but it's even more fun with my dad, aunts, uncles and cousins.  It will be our first longer trip with Dominic so that may be a little tricky, but we are looking forward to it.

6.  My anniversary: it will have been two years since we married this summer. So, summer time will always have that bit of sweetness to it....

7.  Spending time with this guy:  

Just watching him discover the world around him. He is quite the curious and observant little guy.  Fun to watch (although also tiring chasing him around while he does it)!

Thanks for joining for my beginning of the summer quick takes, visit Kelly at This Ain't the Lyceum for more!