Give Me A Child......

After the laissez-faire attitude of my younger days produced two non-Reds fans, I took a different approach with my younger children. I truly believed that strict adherence to the Jesuit motto "give me a child until she is seven and I will give you a Reds fan" would work! Note the mismatched, yet stylish outfit - a sunflower print skirt with Reds shirt and hat in this picture of Alyssa & Caitlin taken at Riverfront Stadium in 1997. Years later, my faith is shaken.


Caitlin competed in the National Catholic Forensic League Tournament in Albany, NY this past weekend. She had a great time, made some new friends, but didn't break (meaning she didn't advance to the next round). She was polite to others, chewed with her mouth closed, took a shower every day and was generally kind to babies and small animals for the entire trip. All this Good Behavior took its' toll. Before she got on her plane at the Albany airport, she bought a NY Yankees t-shirt!

O M G !!!!!!

Even worse, she has not shown ANY remorse! And she plans to WEAR the shirt to school tomorrow. Top layer of clothing, right side out. The logo of The Team We Love To Hate right out there for God & everyone to see. I may not be able to show my face at the grocery store for a month or more. And I can just imagine what my "friends" will be saying behind my back. Woe is me. The only bright spot in this otherwise horrific evening is that she had the good sense to pass on the Cubs t-shirt when they changed planes in Chicago. Thank God for small favors :)

In the spirit of locking the barn door after the horse has been stolen, I sent a strongly worded email to her Forensics coach, suggesting (nicely of course - Caitlin gets those manners from me :) that perhaps her chaperoning skills need some updating to prevent a similar ugly incident with an Atlanta Braves shirt later this summer at the NFL National Tournament. I remain a baseball fan by birth, Reds fan by the grace of God.

Too Much To Do, Too Many Places To Go

Just a week ago, my TO DO list combined with my calendar felt like a weight more than I could handle. Today, my list still has 30-some items to be done before Wednesday, when I leave for Chicago, but... A big BUT! So many things are finished!!

Opening Day came and went. The Reds lost Dusty Baker's first game. I'm so happy that baseball season is here!

"Joseph" finished a successful run at MNHS this week. Caitlin celebrated her birthday as one of Pharaoh's dancers. Alyssa successfully tested for her TDK green belt AND was named Student of the Month. I finished our taxes!! We owe less than $500, so I'm a happy camper. I dyed over 50 yards of fabric, dyed two dozen onesies, rusted about 10 more yards of fabric. I got a new credit card machine. No more knuckle-buster swiping!

We ordered new appliances (range, microwave, dishwasher & fridge) a couple of weeks ago. Choosing them was WAY more work than I expected. Delivery was scheduled for Saturday. When Al unhooked the dishwasher on Saturday morning, the shutoff valve broke. Water everywhere, so we had to get a plumber in at weekend rates. On Friday, we learned that the range we ordered didn't come in. Of course, we had already pulled the old one. Nebraska Furniture Mart came through with high marks - they gave us another model (an upgrade!) so we could get everything at once. All but the microwave are installed & beautiful!! Kudos to the NFM delivery guys. They did a fantastic job.

The new dishwasher is SO quiet! The new range is intimidating. The ice-maker is spitting out cubes faster than we can use them. I'm faced with the daunting task of sorting through all that stuff from the freezer. How long DO you keep frozen vegetables? We really have to get to the zoo to feed the fish all those bread crusts! There were pots and pans in the bottom drawer of the stove that probably hadn't been touched since we moved into this house. Which magnets and pictures and comics move to the new fridge?

Today, we are shopping for a prom dress. If I survive, I'll get to work rinsing and ironing all that fabric!