Hello, Old Friends

Alright, so I had no real intention of coming back here.  Life is kind of crazy these days, and blogging was beginning to feel like just one more thing I had to do.  In an attempt to streamline my life as much as possible, I let go of the blog.  I don't even read blogs anymore.  I check in on my Facebook perhaps once a week, just to check in on a few people I'm close to who don't use email much.

But I have this blog to thank for a special friendship.  Six years or so ago there was a follower of mine who became a frequent commenter.  Over the years we exchanged emails as well, sharing our small triumphs and commiserating over our struggles.  It is ironic that she lives not many miles from where I used to live in Charlotte, NC.  Annita and I hoped to meet one day, but we couldn't imagine how or when that would ever take place.

Enter Rachel, her nutty, energetic, 21 year-old daughter.  She emailed me to tell me that she had a plan to get us together.  She wanted to drive out here (8 hour trip), pick me and Una up, drive back to North Carolina, take us to a Scythian show (if you don't know about this band, get to know it.  Seriously. You won't regret it), and then drive us back the next day.  She planned to do two 16-hour round trips in 3 days.  No way.  I couldn't let her do it no matter how good the intention.

Then my husband suggested I call on a young pilot friend of ours and find out what it would cost to fly there.  Our friend, R.B. said it would be a 2 hour flight, and the price he gave me was affordable.  I contacted Rachel and told her we could pull it off, weather permitting.  She managed to keep it a secret from her mother almost to the last day.

Sooo...last Saturday morning, Bret and the kids took me to the little airport in Portland, TN, and Una and I flew in a small plane to Matthews, NC to meet my friend Annita and her family for the first time.  It was thrilling.  I really loved it, right up until landing, as there was quite a bit of cloud cover and it caused significant turbulence.  My stomach felt a bit off for a while afterward.

Rachel picked us up and we were taken to Annita's home and introduced to the whole family. I finally had faces for all the names in the emails!  There was no discomfort in our meeting, maybe a little initial nervousness, but more like a meeting of old friends.

After a rest at the hotel where Rachel put us up for the night, since they were doing home renovations and worried that we'd not be comfortable there, we went to a vigil Mass, and then we drove into Charlotte for the Scythian show at the Double Door Inn.  I'd introduced Annita to their music when they played in Charlotte last year ("You MUST go and see them," I told her), so it was great to be going to their show with her.  Rachel, Una and Annita's 13 year-old daughter, Hope, came with us.  It was a blast.  They sold out and the place was packed to capacity.  Una had a bit of a hard time with it, as crowds make her want to curl up into a tiny ball and disappear.  Luckily, I brought some Valerian tablets, and she began to enjoy herself once she was able to relax a little.

We didn't get back to the hotel until 1 a.m. (that's 2 a.m. Central Time!) and had to leave for the long drive home with Rachel at 9:30, so the drive home was pretty quiet.

The kids gave us a lovely homecoming, and Rachel spent the evening and night with us. The kids wouldn't leave her alone!  They were pretty unhappy about her having to leave so soon.  But leave she did at 7:30 the next morning.

It took two days before I felt myself again...I'm too old for this!

Okay, now for a lot of photos:

Monday Musings--26 August 2013

Right now...it is nearly 6:30 and the house is quiet.  Una is up and on the office computer.

This weekend...was very nice, although not terribly eventful.  We did our grocery shopping on Friday, as we tend to do when Bret isn't working, and had pizza for dinner and watched How to Steal a Million from Netflix.  Audrey Hepburn and Peter O'Toole--oodles of fun, and so nice to look at!  The kids always get a kick our of some of the "fashionable" hats women wore in the 60's, and I do, too!

On Saturday Bret was working up at the KY property, and I was home cleaning and spending too much time on the internet.  Happens some days that I just feel sort of lazy and don't get much done.  Usually on days when I have a chore list a mile long.  I did manage to pack up some Etsy orders for the mail, give Bret a haircut in the evening and work on my French for quite a while, so the day wasn't a total loss...

Yesterday was pleasant.  Gabriel served at Mass and did very well.  He was cross-bearer, and when I approached the sanctuary for Communion I glanced over at him and he winked at me.  So sweet...Mass was very good, and I had a nice chat with one of the priests after Mass.  Una, poor dear, spent two hours after Mass working on algebraic equations with a dear man who has offered to help get her over her mathematical stumbling blocks in preparation for the PSAT, which we are hoping to have her take this year and again next year.  Like many home-schooled kids, she has no experience with standardized tests, and so taking it more than once is probably a good idea.

Some plans for this week:  I have a number of appointments and phone calls to make, and I hope to get to at least a few this week.  I have to find Una a dentist in our area, as she is now too old for our pediatric dentist; I need to make a doctor's appointment for her, too.  I have to set up my new school year online with our umbrella school and submit our curriculum list.  I have to renew my HSLDA membership. I have 2 Etsy orders to pack up for mailing, and a stack of receipts to write into the checkbook.  And I still have a lot to do in our school room before we begin school.

If I find some time for myself, I would like to...keep up with my daily study of French (I try to do at least 30 minutes), work on my writing and cast on a pair of socks, as I'm hoping to make all the kids woolen socks before the weather gets cold.

I am grateful for...lovely weather, progress made on the house, the help with Algebra Una received yesterday, friendship, this fantastic CD of music for kids called Cake for Dinner (really, check it out, listen to the samples; it's so good that I myself enjoy hearing it, which is good since I have to hear it every day, per Gemma's request!), not having to take Dominic to the dentist this week to have 3 teeth pulled (explanation below).

Some prayer intentions for this week:  I am praying for a very special intention, very dear to my heart.  If you feel obliged to do so, please offer a prayer for this special intention of mine.  It has to do with someone very dear to me. I am also praying for my Mother-in-law who has a birthday this week.  And I am praying that I can get my act together and ease into this school year not too far off schedule.

Something that makes me smile:  Dominic had 3 loose teeth, all up front on the top.  They were sticking out at all angles, and he wouldn't try to loosen them himself or let us mess with them, and one of them was hurting.  I resolved to make a dental appointment this week with a nearby dentist (not the kids' regular dentist, who is almost an hour away) to have them pulled, although I figured that the loosest of the 3 would probably come out over the weekend.  Dominic told me he didn't want to go, that he was afraid to have them pulled.  Well, on Friday I heard a shriek, followed by Dominic coming out of his room crying, with a bloody mouth, holding all three teeth in his hand!  Apparently his brother Adrian gave him a little unasked for assistance during some roughhousing, by banging Dominic's face into the bedroom carpet.  I did scold Adrian for his actions, but Dominic made out like a bandit with the Tooth Fairy!

Ring out, Solstice bells!

Yesterday was grim; the sky was dreary and the wind howled all day, bringing much colder temperatures.  It was a good day to be indoors, baking Pepperkakkor and Coconut Buttons, watching Heidi and reading from The Best Christmas Pageant Ever.  The day has dawned still very gusty, but with that piercingly bright  winter sun.  The children, other than Una, are all sleeping in rather late.

We don't "celebrate" the solstice, but as with the summer solstice, we do acknowledge it with joy.  On the heels of the longest night of the year comes the return of the Light of the world...and that is cause for joy.



Okay, I'll admit it: I have seriously eclectic taste in music...
Happy solstice!  Christmas is nigh!