24th
May 2013
When I was growing up, my immature self believed that the family rosary was something that had to be endured. Through no fault of my parents, the nightly ritual was anything but idyllic. My siblings and I were called into our parents' bedroom where we knelt facing the crucifix. My older brother and I would sneak jabs and pokes at each other and then my mother would scold and separate us. I would often rush through the responses hoping that ... (Continue reading)
He gently leads his dad down the aisle. Mass is about to begin and he knows it will take a few minutes to get him settled. The son's hand firmly grasped around dad's elbow, they continue slowly, carefully, to their favourite pew. The younger instructs the elder to hold the back of the pew in front of him and he guides his father gently down into the seat. He places the sturdy cane on the floor and then helps dad ... (Continue reading)
First, a clarification: All moms work, whether they stay at home or go out and earn a paycheque. For this post, I am defining "working mom" as those of us who work outside the home. In the twenty-five years that I have been a mother, I have worked as a full-time and part-time RN. I was also a stay-at-home mom for a few years, homeschooling for three of those years. Currently I am an RN in independent practice and own a ... (Continue reading)
So here we are on the far side of Christmas day. The sleepless nights of knitting and wrapping presents, hours of trying to find the perfect present for each person, the cooking, the cleaning, and the decorating are all finished. We made it to Mass, we had enough food for everyone, lots of nice presents (a few good gag gifts of course!), and a ton of family to spend the day with. The presents are all unwrapped (I think) and ... (Continue reading)
Each year between January and March, my family moves out into the wide world. Some of us go to college, others go to work, and the rest of us fall into the travel plans wherever we might be useful. Then, usually sometime in November, my family returns from our travels across the country and hops back into life as one big happy family in Alabama. My dad and my brother-in-law both work jobs that require a lot of travel in ... (Continue reading)
Yesterday, my sister (who is no longer pregnant), my new nephew, my niece, my brother-in-law, and I went grocery shopping. This was my sister's first post-baby shopping trip and, understandably, she got a bit tired about three quarters of the way through. She decided to go sit down and leave my brother-in-law and me in charge of finishing the shopping and looking after the kids. Just a few minutes after my sister left us, the ... (Continue reading)
It all begins with a bruise: a little clover-shaped bruise. While bathing her two-year-old daughter, Sarah finds a trail of little brown bruises running down Kate’s spine. Sarah and her husband Brian follow the trail to an oncologist, and from then on, Kate’s childhood becomes a whirlwind of specialist appointments, emergency surgeries, and nauseating chemo-therapy sessions. Her parents face a mountain of medical bills, pools of blood, and a devastating diagnosis. How far are they willing to go to save ... (Continue reading)
Anybody heard of Pinterest? If you haven’t, count your lucky stars because you’ve just "gained" back hours and hours of time to waste on something else. Pinterest is a virtual "ideas" cork-board—a place where anyone and everyone can put up a picture, post an idea or website, or browse and gather ideas for things like wedding stationary, recipes, Halloween costumes, or nailpolish tips and tricks. Occasionally I will come across some fascinating cultural tells, and this morning was one of ... (Continue reading)
Running a phone line is, according to every tutorial on the internet, one of the simplest, most basic, and least dangerous wiring tasks that an amateur can attempt. There are only two wires involved—a red one and a green one. The task begins with simply locating the Network Interface Unit (the outside portion) and the phone jack that the wire has to go to (the inside portion). The Network Interface Unit gets unplugged from the network, so as to prevent ... (Continue reading)
A few weeks ago, on my birthday, a bunch of friends and I got together for drinks and ...
When I was growing up, my immature self believed that the family rosary was something that had to ...
"I'm heartbroken to announce that last week, we discovered a crushed consecrated Host beneath one of the kneelers," ...
Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter. - ...
Several years ago, when I was working on a community theatre project, I overheard two little girls having ...