Monday Musings--14 February 2011

Right now...it is 5:52 a.m.  It is a mild 46 degrees this morning, and I am just seeing a bit of light on the eastern horizon.  The house is quiet.

This weekend...was wonderful, but incredibly full.   Friday and Saturday were full of cooking and baking, laundry and bathing, trimming fingernails and toenails, cleaning ears, cutting hair, ironing clothes and so forth, in preparation for Una and Sebastian's Confirmation.  Dominic, on Saturday, began to complain of another earache, and it may be that in a few hours I call to make an appointment for him.  He needed to be given acetaminophen during Mass yesterday, although he went through the evening and night without needing any.  I was so wiped out by Saturday evening that I kept dozing off during our rosary.

Yesterday was just lovely; sunny, mild, breezy.  No matter how early we rise, is seems that we are always rushing in the last 45 minutes.  One child puts on pants that are too short, another can't find one of his shoes.  We send another back to the bathroom to brush his hair.  We did manage, amidst a lot of shouting and chaos, to get out the door in time. We had an hour's drive to Our Lady of the Caves, and Father wanted the Confirmandi there to be confessed at 10:30.  We were the first to arrive.

After all the Confirmandi were confessed, there was a rehearsal with the sponsors, followed by time for a snack, since the little ones would have to get through the Mass and the Confirmations.  Mass was lovely, although my concern for Dominic--who fell asleep on my lap after taking the acetaminophen for his earache--kept me somewhat distracted.

The Sacrament of Confirmation was beautiful in the Extraordinary Rite, and really very simple.  Afterwards, there was a marvelous pot-luck reception for the thirteen Confirmandi in the recently built parish hall.

We didn't get home until just after 5.

Some plans for this week:  I guess I need to determine whether to take Dominic in.  I am hoping that he will have no pain today, but I am doubtful.  It doesn't help that the little guy is really sensitive to pain--a pin-prick or bumped head makes him shriek in agony, so I really can't gauge his pain.

I know today is Valentine's Day, but it was totally superseded by the Confirmations.  I have nothing at all prepared.  I was thinking that perhaps we can at least do a batch of cupcakes for this afternoon.  I never held much to Valentine's Day in the first place; for me--cynic that I was--it always seemed a day made up by card, candy and flower merchants to boost sales.  I still, after reading about St. Valentine, don't get the hearts, flowers and candy, but I don't mind having a day for the kids to show their fondness for friends and family with handmade cards and the like.

Other plans include making some jam with some frozen strawberries and rhubarb, trying to work out a bit of a lesson plan for history (we are studying the Romans, and I just don't know if we can do it in a mere five months--it is a huge topic!--and finding time to wash my floors.  Likely after the jam-making, as I am not a very tidy cook.  I also need to create some kind of a banner for our Etsy-shop-to-be and design some shipping labels and tags.

If I find some time for myself, I hope to...finish the watercolor sketchbooks that have been sitting on my worktable nearly finished for two weeks, and start thinking about things to make for the kids' Easter baskets. I also home to find time to work on my knitting a bit.

Some prayer intentions for the week:  I am praying that Dominic's ear trouble will not become a chronic problem for him; praying to Our Lady of Good Counsel for aid in putting my life in order.  Everything seems so wild and chaotic right now.  I have so much on my mind that I feel very scattered, and there are not enough hours in the day to get things done.  I am also praying to St. Philomena for my friends who are desperately trying to sell their farm right now.

Something that makes me smile:  The newly-confirmed (standing before the altar their Papa built!)

If  you would like to join in with your own musings, feel free to grab the header image, and then link to your post in the comments.  Have a great week!