sleeping with the window open

 hearing the birds chirping in the morning (because the window is open )

 seeing the green green grass

 seeing the leaves on the trees

 having my family home for Mother's Day

 having no commitments for the weekend (except for lectoring at mass tonight)

 having Aaron's graduation/open house announcements mailed!!!

My week at work:

 continued to work on record keeping and year end processes

 took care of some files

 had lunch with the Faith Formation director of the parish that we will soon be twinned with. We had a good conversation about each of our programs, and what the future might hold. Of course, we don't know what the future will hold, but the conversation has begun.

 attended the annual diocesan retreat for parish faith formation staffs. It really wasn't much of a retreat....there was some prayer and reflection time after lunch, but mostly it was a fun presentation on the use of media with young people. Got some great resources.

 Coming up this week:

An appointment with the diocesan consultant for persons with disability differences to discuss a young girl we have in our program.

A meeting with the person who does our website to get my own page set up and learn how to update it myself

 

Courtney moved home yesterday for the summer while she tries to secure an internship (required for her degree) and find a job to earn some money before she leaves in the fall.

Tomorrow is Mother's Day of course and right now we have no specific plans. I told my family I didn't want to go out somewhere to eat (restaurants get SO busy on days like this) so we will get some nice steaks for the grill. I would like to find something to do, however, to get us out of the house. I plan to have FUN!!

Happy Mother's Day to all those mothers out there!

peace

Today was First Eucharist for 28 of our kids. The weather cooperated and it was warm, although windy. I got several thank-yous and compliments from parents on this year's program so that always makes me feel appreciated. When I got home the boys were out hitting golf balls for the first time this year. The sprinklers were running as well! Looks like summer might actually be on the way. I cleaned up the kitchen and started the laundry. It's time to get motivated and get some things done around here that have been put off. Somehow nicer weather makes that not so difficult.

Tomorrow is a day off, although I will probably be working on graduation announcements.

Courtney will be moving home on Friday for the summer. I guess life as we know it will be different for the summer, and then of course, totally different in the fall when both kids move out.

Yesterday we drove into Minneapolis for a birthday party and watched kids ride ponies up and down the alley. There were lots of little kids there and they were, shall we say, not exactly quiet and well-behaved.  Fun was had by all, and the cake was delicious! We really need to get together with these parents and have an adult night out. 

On the way back home we stopped at Texas Roadhouse for dinner, but the wait was soooooooo long that we didn't stay. And it was quite early, we thought....5:15 pm. I was disappointed since we had never eaten at one before and was looking forward to trying it. So we traveled down the road to eat at one of our normal standbys. We made it home and that was pretty much the end of the evening.

peace

Today I had my picture taken for the parish's 50th anniversary history book and the pictorial directory they are doing this summer/fall. They turned out okay I guess, and as the title infers, I had a pretty decent hair day, despite the fact that it really needs a color right now.

This week at work I've been working on my year-end record keeping in the computer program I use. Luckily for me I had made notes on these processes at my last job and brought my files with me so that is helping me. I'm posting the final attendance in preparation for adding the year's information to the kids' permanent records. I will be promoting the kids to the next grades and wiping out this year's class information. I will also set up the fund information for next year's registration fees. Registrations are already coming in for next fall's programs, and nothing can be entered until this year's information has been closed out. But...I won't be entering anything anything until after July 1, since that is when our new fiscal year begins.

Saturday morning we will have practice for Sunday's celebration of First Communion for 28 of our kids. After that we are heading into Minneapolis for a birthday for a couple little twin boys! And there will be pony rides! (depending on whether it's raining/snowing AGAIN. ) Once Sunday's First Communion celebration is over, my responsibilities will be drastically reduced...it will be a matter of finishing up some filing, cleaning out and organizing supplies, and ordering in next year's materials. Whew! I am ready for my vacation.

Aaron has pretty much made the decision on which college he will be attending in the fall so now it's just a matter of finalizing some of the things that need to be taken care, first and foremost, his housing application. At this point, his scholarships cover one third of this year's costs, and hopefully there is at least one more scholarship to be awarded. We wait and see...  This decision has alleviated quite a bit of stress for all of us. Now it's time to get those graduation/open house announcements out.

peace

The grass has greened up. The trees are budding. The river is quite high right now. The swans are long gone. Could it be? Has spring sprung? I thought it already had, but last weekend we woke up to snow! At least this weekend, they are only forecasting rain.

Tomorrow I must go and get my picture taken for the church history book. Joy.

Now, I'm off to get some cinnamon bears. Not really .

 

peace

I got my crown today ....well, my dental crown. I had struggled with a sore tooth for quite awhile. It had gotten so bad that I could pretty much only chew on one side of my mouth, but I kept thinking I could wait until my usual 6 month check-up, so I put up with it. That big day was about three weeks ago. I had my check up and scheduled my crown work, and today I received my permanent crown. Even with my temporary crown, my chewing was much improved, so I'm hoping now that everything will be back to normal.

It seemed that I was fairly busy at work today, even though looking back it seemed I didn't really accomplish anything major. But sometimes there are lots of little details that need to be taken care of and today was one of those days that was perfect for that.

peace

AJ and I will be heading in to St. Paul on July 19 to see Neil Diamond. He begins his summer tour there. Tickets went on sale this morning and I was online waiting to purchase them. He has a new album coming out next week. He will also be on American Idol this week. We have actually seen him in concert twice before, both times in Billings.

Another event we will be purchasing tickets for will be the Star Wars exhibit at the Science Museum, also in St. Paul. That should be fun as well. I suppose we will be getting four tickets for that....we will take the kids.

Yesterday was my "first First Communion" in my new parish as Faith Formation Director. We had practice on Saturday morning and the liturgy yesterday at noon. There were 30 of this year's kids at this celebration. Next Sunday we will do it again for the remaining 28 kids. There was also one older girl who chose to receive her First Communion separately at the 10:00 am regular parish liturgy. So in all, 59 kids. I think the largest group I ever had in my previous parish was 36, so this is a little different. But it seems easier, simply because the pastor takes a much more hands on approach here and pretty much directed the practice. And since it was my first time here, it was much less stressful for me. I always look forward to these sacramental moments with the kids...these "firsts" are some of the best things about a job like this.

Last weekend we were in Moorhead/Fargo for two of our daughter's  musical performances and a college day for Aaron. On Friday night we attended Courtney's jazz choir concert. You can hear one of their songs here   and her solo   here   Both thoroughly enjoyable

On Saturday AJ and I headed over to NDSU for a college day for Aaron. We got to tour the engineering complex as well as most of the rest of the campus, meet some of the professors, and eat a college lunch. I hope in the end he chooses to attend there because it is a very good engineering school, very well respected, and the cost is reasonable. Besides that, it's close enough yet far enough away from home!

Sunday found us back at MSU-M for Courtney's senior recital. She shared her recital with another soprano. They alternated sets, then closed the performance with a duet. I thought she was wonderful! Of course I'm her mother and I am allowed to think that.

After jointly serving a simple cake and punch reception with the other mother, we headed out for home. AJ had to get to Duluth for a conference yet that night. So it was just Aaron and I at home the rest of the week, until AJ returned on Thursday afternoon. Then Aaron left for Colorado on Thursday night for a band trip and returned this afternoon. Even though I was busy at the church this weekend, I had enough free time to do some chores around here and feel as though I am pretty much caught up. That allowed me to pretty much take today off and relax, do a little reading, watch some HGTV, and buy my Neil Diamond tickets!!

peace

Tuesday     Wednesday     Thursday     Friday High: 67 °F Low: 45 °F More High: 60 °F Low: 37 °F More High: 57 °F Low: 36 °F More High: 59 °F Low: 38 °F More

Finally, it looks like we may actually have some spring weather on the horizon. It's about time. Can you believe that Aaron had a snow day on Friday? No school....and I stayed home as well. I could easily have gotten to work that day - after all, AJ made it into the city, but in anticipation of the forecast storm, I made sure everything I needed for Saturday's faith formation sessions was ready on Thursday in case I couldn't make it in on Friday. So I just stayed home and had a nice day off. This weekend we will be heading to Moorhead/Fargo to attend Courtney's jazz choir concert on Friday and her senior voice recital on Sunday. On Saturday, we will be going with Aaron to visit the university in Fargo, where he has already been accepted and granted a presidential scholarship. We will stay with my brother and family in Fargo, and we will also be seeing my sister who lives in the area and my mom who is traveling there for the events. On Sunday afternoon, we will head back home, where AJ will trade vehicles and head off to Duluth for a conference. He will be gone until Thursday.  This is just another busy weekend of the sort I have been having for the last, oh I don't know, TWO MONTHS OR SO. Honestly I haven't had a free weekend since February.  The first two weekends of March were our usual faith formation weekends at church; the third weekend was Aaron's Eagle Scout Court of Honor (and my birthday!!). We had company come for that, beginning on Friday, and various company came and went from then through the Tuesday following Easter. Our company included (not all at the same time): MIL and her husband; my mom; my oldest sister; her husband; another sister who flew in from New Jersey; my niece and her baby boy; my nephew and his wife and their toddler son. And of course, Courtney was in and out as well. Whew...Barb's Bed and Breakfast was in full swing! The Saturday before Easter, AJ and I headed into the city to see The Jersey Boys. Wonderful! Fantastic! It was awesome...I am still singing the tunes from the show. This was actually my birthday present from him. This plan was made long before we knew we would have all this company, but we went in to the show anyway, and our company understood and were able to entertain themselves, with the help of our children! Easter was a very nice day. For the first time since we moved here three years ago, we actually had family for a holiday dinner. We did it simply, with a ham, pork tenderloin and turkey breast, fresh buns, three different salads, and relish tray, wine and punch. We were all able to sit at our dining table in our dining room and we got the silver and crystal out and everything. All in all, a very nice day, and we ate leftovers for two days!! The weekend following Easter, we had our Saturday and Sunday faith formation sessions. Last Sunday, we had Confirmation. This past Saturday, we held our final Saturday faith formation session of the year. This coming weekend of course we will be in Fargo, and the next two weekends we will have our First Eucharist celebrations as the church. Finally on mother's day weekend, I will have NO OBLIGATIONS. I will have a free weekend!!! I can't wait. Until then, I keep plugging along....   peace

I believe the first paragraph. But the second?? At my house anyway, being married saves my husband the seven hours that I picked up!!! Just doesn't seem fair, does it???

 

Exactly how much housework does a husband create?

ANN ARBOR, Mich.—Having a husband creates an extra seven hours a week of housework for women, according to a University of Michigan study of a nationally representative sample of U.S. families.

For men, the picture is very different: A wife saves men from about an hour of housework a week.

The findings are part of a detailed study of housework trends, based on 2005 time-diary data from the federally-funded Panel Study of Income Dynamics, conducted since 1968 at the U-M Institute for Social Research (ISR).


Overall, the amount of housework done by U.S. women has dropped considerably since 1976, while the amount of housework done by men has increased, according to Stafford. In 1976, women did an average of 26 hours of housework a week, compared with about 17 hours in 2005. Men did about six hours of housework a week in 1976, compared with about 13 hours in 2005.

But when the researchers looked at just the last 10 years, comparing how much housework single men and women in their 20s did in 1996 with how much they did in 2005 if they stayed single versus if they got married, they found a slightly different pattern.

Both the men and the women who got married did more housework than those who stayed single, the analysis showed. "Marriage is no longer a man's path to less housework," said Stafford, a professor in the College of Literature, Science, and the Arts.

For the study, researchers analyzed data from time diaries, considered the most accurate way to assess how people spend their time. They supplemented the analysis with data from questionnaires asking both men and women to recall how much time they spent on basic housework in an average week, including time spent cooking, cleaning and doing other basic work around the house. Excluded from these "core" housework hours were tasks like gardening, home repairs, or washing the car.

Click image to see more charts

The researchers also examined how age and the number of children, as well as marital status and age, influenced time spent doing housework.

Single women in their 20s and 30s did the least housework—about 12 works a week on average, while married women in their 60s and 70s did the most—about 21 hours a week. Men showed a somewhat different pattern. Older men did more housework than younger men, but single men did more in all age groups than married men.

Married women with more than three kids did an average of about 28 hours of housework a week. Married men with more than three kids, by comparison, logged only about 10 hours of housework a week.

 

peace

OK, I know these types of entries are the lazy way to blog, but today I am lazy, and I 've had these sitting in my email for quite some time and it's time to post them and remove them from my inbox.  Here's a quiz about Montana, my former home. See how you do (answers below)

 

I ran across this somewhere and since I just turned almost 50 I got a few chuckles out of it.

 

YOU KNOW YOU'RE GETTING “MARVELOUSLY MATURE” WHEN . . .

• It takes longer to rest than it did to get tired.

• The twinkle in your eye is merely a reflection from the sun on your bifocals.

• You look for your glasses for half an hour and find they were on your head the whole time.

• You hear “snap, crackle, pop” when you sit down to breakfast, and you're not eating cereal.

• You remember when the Dead Sea was only sick.

• You get two invitations to go out on the same night, and you pick the one that gets you home the earliest.

• You try to straighten out the wrinkles in your socks and discover you aren't wearing any.

• Your back goes out, and you stay home.

• Your idea of a night out is sitting on the patio.

• Your secrets are safe with your friends, because they can't remember them either.

• You're sitting on a park bench, and a Boy Scout comes up and helps you cross your legs.

• Your childhood toys are now in a museum.

• You start making the same noises as your coffeemaker.

• Half the stuff in your shopping cart says, “For fast relief.”

• You stoop to tie your shoes and wonder what else you can do while you’re down there.

• A rocking chair gives you the same sensation you once got from a roller coaster.

• People call at 9 p.m. and ask, “Did I wake you?”

• A group of campers form a circle and sing “Kumbaya” when you light the candles on your birthday cake.

peace