A May Garden Tour: what I got from a lot of work and a little money

Last week I put the baby down for a nap, slathered sunblock on the other four kiddos, filled up the water sink, pulled the garden rake and spade from the shed, and went to work. For six hours I weeded, transplanted, watered, carried stones, dug, pruned, spread, and arranged. By the end of the day my body was exhausted but I felt fabulous. 

Last Fall the landscaping on the side of the house looked a little like this: 

Now it looks like this:

Obviously the bush is growing in nicely, and we were delighted with the peonies that came up. My neighbor, my mom's friend Patti, and my friend Molly all made some nice donations in hostas and flowers from their own yards. 

This St. Francis statue sits to the right of the stepping stones pictured above. It's supposed to be a fountain but I like it for a planter. He's got a little bird poop on him, poor guy.

The water pump came from our old house, and my husband kindly moved it for me. The rocks came from another friend's landscaping. Last summer they were getting rid of it and offered it to anyone who wanted to move it, for free. Travis spent the better part of an afternoon taking them up and moving them across town. We have enough that I think we can cover all the downspouts, but that job will have to wait for for mulch. 

The hostas in the corner, the peonies, and the ivy on the chimney were all planted by the original owner. I added some more hostas and the stones. Again, we need mulch through this area but I just can't afford that right now. 

Here's the same area but from the backyard:

And here it is now:

Those lilies also "came with the house" and I did cover this downspout with rocks. I love how it looks. Eventually we'd like to put a sidewalk from the driveway to the patio, one with a nice curve, but like the mulch that will have to wait. 

I rearranged the patio a bit, too, did some weeding, and laid down new mulch along the back of the house. I've been doing the mulching in sections - $20's worth here, $20's worth there. I still need to paint the bench, and I'm still not sure what color to use. A dark grey? A fun blue? Right now it gets lost against the red brick - you wouldn't even notice it under the picture window if it weren't for that green pillow.

 The grass is long in the left side because I had staged my pondless waterfall there. I still want to put one in but I'm thinking it's less and less likely. We have the stones for it - the stepping stones from the side yard plus the aforementioned rocks - but the pump and liner and electrical running stuff is pricey. My dream is to then put a fire pit to the right of the waterfall, surrounded by flagstones, but again, price.

This little patch of flowerbed is to the right of the patio. The plant on the left was transplanted from elsewhere in our yard. It may not make it. The hosta came from Molly, and the bush was wild when we bought the house but is lovely this spring. This downspout will also be covered in rocks but in a way that ends more like this. 

 Other side of the bush is basically just utility stuff and then a scary drop off to a door that goes into our basement. New peony from Molly, new mulch, and more rocks, and I think it looks nice.  

The other side of the house now has tomato plants, beans, and peas, plus a fence I picked up on from the curb one garbage day. Also, there was a freaking snake in that window-well and when I saw it I screamed so loud my neighbors came running. I was so grateful to the man next door who removed the snake for me and made sure there wasn't a nest.

The yard isn't done yet, but I've made good work on my summer goal extravaganza and I'm really pleased with what we've done for about $40 (that includes the tomato plants!)

And now I'm linking up with Cari because she's one of my blogging role models and I love looking at people's gardens and the work they've invested in them.

My summer goal extravaganza, OR All the simple things I want to do so I like my house and yard more

Here's two things you should know about me:

#1 - I do not have a lot of expendable money. Maybe $10 a week. 

#2 - I am pretty lazy. 

But I am not going to let those two facts get in the way of my Summer Goal Extravaganza! 

I spelled "extravaganza" correctly on the first try, which is amazing because:

#3 - I am a horrible speller. 

But this is me rambling. Back to the topic!

Now that the weather is getting warmer and windows may be opened and 32 degrees a thing of the past I am itching to get a few smallish projects done around the house.

For starters, the kitchen. Now if money weren't so tight I'd gut it and redo it all. White subway tile with a subtle, grey grout. Creamy, grey cabinets. Crisp, white countertops. A stainless steel fridge with the freezer on the bottom. A double oven and a great big stovetop. A new window with a stainglassed panel across the top.

But money is tight so instead I'd like to take down the floral wallpaper on the soffit and paint it white, then change the outlets and light switches for white ones.

Next, I'd like to buy a new storm door; one that doesn't drip grease and allows for a breeze and isn't dingy.

Instead I'll put a fresh coat of white paint on the front door... and maybe splurge for a new storm door anyways.

The main bath was filled with towel wracks and nail holes. It had ugly wallpaper and all I wanted was to take the paper down and paint everything blue. We didn't fill in any holes but everything got painted blue.

A pretty blue, but one that ruins the awesomeness of the tile. And it turns out that the holes drive me crazy. So my next little job is to fill in the holes and repaint the room white, possibly a very light grey. I'd love to rip out the sink and its cabinet and put something else in, add some shelves to the wall, put in a new floor. (We had this in our old house and I loved it. I don't like tile because it's too cold, hard, and difficult to clean. Give me linoleum!)


Now outside.

I want to paint this bench, which has a mate and together they convert to a picnic table. I was thinking of a clever almost charcoal color. What do you think?

From the back patio, which is where this bench sits, up to the sidewalk jutting into the yard below we would like to pour a nice, wide sidewalk. Next to the house I'd like to mulch and plant hostas, bleeding hearts, a butterfly bush, hydrangeas, yarrow, cosmos, snap dragons - a whole flower garden. 

To the right of the sidewalk there is a large oak and grass doesn't grow, as you an see from all the dirt. I'd like to throw down more mulch and place our St. Francis statue. This, in the cheapest version possible, may actually happen. (Depending on how many speaking gigs I'm able to book. so hire me! I'll make you laugh, cry, and praise Jesus, and then I'll plant me some flowers.)

Then there's this corner of the backyard. At the top of the rise is a rec trail so people cycle, run, and walk past our house all day long. And we will soon have new neighbors so we'd like to plant some bushes and get privacy. Evergreens, forsythia, maybe.

And then that nasty bump... well the twiggy mulberry bush needs to die once and for all, the burn barrel needs to be gotten rid of, and I'd be happy  to put up a simple but pretty fence and make it our compost (which it unofficially and rather sloppily already is). Maybe plant a boxwood or two. I love boxwoods.

Here's the back of the house. Not soooooo bad but you're not up close. We need a storage shed to store the bikes and some other toys. I need to get my benches painted, put flowers in some pots, and create a specific seating area. We also need to mulch along the house and to do some landscaping there. I was thinking oregano, lavendar, and a lemongrass with something flowering, too.

And I know you can't really see it but the space between the left of the patio and the trunk of the pine tree would be a perfect location for a cute, little pondless waterfall. I have the pile of rocks (you can see them in the bench picture above) so we'd just need to buy some river rock and the pump... and all the stuff to run electricity out there. I'd also like to fill the under boughs with white lights because: gorgeous. This part will not happen this summer, but I wish it could.


Then there's the front.

A few things:

 If the bushes don't start to regrow by mid-summer we will likely cut them down to the ground. I need some kind of edging to keep the yard out of my flower bed. The white columns need to be repainted and flower pots need to be planted and new mulch needs to be thrown down.


Some of those dreams are a bit too big: pretty fences, lots of shrubbery, and pondless waterfalls, but the cheaper versions will probably happen. And that's enough to make me happy. :)

Wish me luck on my Summer Goal Extravaganza and tell me about your goals. Do you have any plans for fixing up and prettying your house now that the weather's warmer?

TVP is coming soon

#WhatisTVP?

TVP is The Visitation Project and what it is, is a radio show co-hosted by Heather Renshaw, Rebecca Frech, and Bonnie Engstrom.

Did you see that?

The last name in that trio of names is mine! It's me! For some crazy reason Heather and Rebecca wanted to do a totally legit radio show with not-really-legit me!

I feel like my co-hosts don't need an introduction, but just in case, allow me the honors:

Heather blogs at Real Catholic Mom. She is a wife and mother, a speaker, a musician, and a fellow contributor at Blessed Is She.

Rebecca blogs at Shoved to Them as a part of the Patheos' Catholic Channel. She is also the author of Teaching in Your Tiarra, a CrossFit fanatic, and a homeschoolin' mom.

I was able to meet both of them at last summer's Edel. (I think Heather let me use her deodorant and Rebecca asked if I knew how to do a certain dance move. I did not.)

The Visitation Project is a show that is meant to meet women wherever they are. Mary went to the hill country to meet up with Elizabeth, we'll be coming to your hill country too, so to speak. We're going to chat about life, our faith, motherhood, womanhood, fun stuff, hard stuff, all of it!

And let it be known that this is not going to be a stuffy, super pious radio show. No way! One of the things I so love about the three of us doing this together is that we all come from different places and stages. If anything, this show will be proof positive that there's more than one way to be a Catholic woman.

Sounds great, right?!

Our website is currently under construction but you can stay connected and keep up to date with Heather, Rebecca, and all The Visitation Project awesomeness on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter. Our launch date will be announced next month so be sure to follow us on social media so you don't miss it!

It was a good weekend (I got Matt Damon)

Monday was a bit of a rough day but the weekend? The weekend was great.

For starters, I got a new laptop. My old one works well but a hinge had broken and it was just a matter of time before the other one went, too. With my upcoming travels we knew I needed a new one and with our tax refund in our bank account that's what we did. During set up the computer wanted to be named. I chose Matt Damon. Travis raised his eyebrows until I explained all the fun things I could say.

"I'm going to the coffee shop with Matt Damon."
"I'm taking Matt Damon with me to Portland."
"Travis, have you seen Matt Damon? I thought he was in the kitchen."
"Kids! Do not touch Matt Damon! He's mine!"

See?! Brilliant!

Then Travis told me he should name his computer Jennifer, for Aniston, Garner, and Lawrence. I didn't think that was funny at all.

~~~~

Do you remember my friend Laura? She wrote a fabulous guest post on being a creative mom (and if you haven't read it you really, really should!). Well, she won the "People's Choice" at QuiltCon over the weekend. It has nothing to do with me but I am really proud of my friend. I have admired her creativity since the first day I met her almost 20 years ago. I hope you'll forgive me for bragging on her.

But now that you've seen the quilt surely you understand, right? She designed and sewed that! Amazing. You can read about her quilt and see more of her craftiness at her site.

~~~~

Also, I started watching Doctor Who again a little while ago and this weekend I made it through the Donna Noble episodes. I always cry when the Doctor explains to her mom and granddad  how important she is. I'm to Amelia Pond now. Oh I love this show!

~~~~

Then, there was the competitive potluck we held Saturday night. I am feeling so restless from all the cold of this Midwestern winter. So Thursday I invited some friends over and a good handful of them came. There were so many kids and so much delicious food. Travis' pizza ended up winning for best in the Savory category and my friend's daughter's brownies won in the Sweet category. There was online voting and and jokes about the Illinois political machine.

Oh and when it was past bedtime and I couldn't take the kids anymore... there was Frozen.

~~~~

I also had a crazy dream about an upcoming, regional Catholic women's blogging conference I'm helping organize. I dreamed that I hadn't done all the work I was supposed to do so in the end, because of my ball dropping, the group of 30 women were sitting on wooden bleachers in my high school's old gym. A woman with crazy, red, Effie-like hair was doing a horrible introduction; I hadn't arranged for the photographer to do headshots; my college philosophy professor (not a woman, a Catholic, or a blogger) arrived in footie pajamas with a sweater pulled over - ready for his presentation. So today I dotted some 'i's and crossed some 't's. But that dream!

There's about 5 spots left in you will be near the University of Notre Dame on March 7th.

~~~~

I loooooove Abbey's #HolyLens photo series she does every Lent. If you use the hashtag and prompts let me know so I can follow you!

Mine are sometimes hard to do since Travis takes the ipad to school to use with his coaching, but I really do love that she does this.

~~~~

Also!

After so much searching I came to believe that someone had thrown away 2/3 of my record collection on moving day. It made me sick to my stomach every time I thought about it and I was so sad.

But then:

Billy Joel, Simon and Garfunkel, INXS, soundtracks, Christmas albums from my childhood, The Specials, and Springsteen's iconic Born in the USA. I am so, so, so, so happy!

~~~~

Finally, today, to fight a good case of the Mondays, Mary from Sometimes Martha Always Mary is having a couple of giveaways in honor of her blog relaunch. After working with me through my blog consulting business Mary hired a graphic artist and a tech guy to help her get her blog to exactly what she wants. The transformation is amazing.

I am really honored to be part of her Giveaway - head on over, tell her how great the site looks, subscribe to follow along, and enter to win a free blog consultation. I would love to work with you! Good luck!




Whew. My first post, written with Matt Damon. ;)

7QT - radio dj, cookies, Minnesota pics, and more

1 - I added this song to my Songs for November playlist from last week but in case you didn't see it I wanted to share it again. It's a really pretty song and a really lovely video - it's her real wedding video! I even tear up when her dad is walking her down the aisle.


2 - Today I'm fangirling out a bit and totally enjoying the opportunity to guest dj at my favorite local radio station: 99.9 WWCT FM. Their tagline is music for people who love music and they play a lot of the songs I share here on the blog - minus the country. Oh! Unless it's Johnny Cash. They play Johnny Cash.

I suppose I'm most excited about this because I'm not doing it because I'm JF's mom or a blogger. As a fan I submitted my name and playlist, and as a fan I was picked. They probably pick everyone who submits but I don't care. I'm really happy to be doing it.

And I'm going to give a shout out right here and now. My good friend Jen R. is babysitting my kids so I can do this, because she's great.

You can listen live if you click right here.


3 - Let's talk holiday cookies. A holiday season isn't a holiday season if I don't bake chocolate crinkles, snickerdoodles, peanut butter blossoms, and decorated cut out, sugar cookies. What about you? And I'm talking Thanksgiving - Epiphany, people! Let's get 'em ALL in!

4 - I had a lot of fun in Minnesota last weekend. I didn't really have fun getting there or coming home (missed flights and hours of de-icing make me want to cry, and what up O'Hare, with no free wi-fi?!! Lame!)

ahem.. But Minnesota was wonderful. Highlights include:
Nell and her family who hosted me in their dreamboat home.
Teresa and all the wonderful folks from Holy Spirit Academy
Being able to pray in gorgeous St. Michael's Church.
The amazing pretzel bread Nell served me for lunch.
Meeting so many wonderful bloggers. (like Marie and Anna and Jaqui and so many more!)

5 - My friends Haley and Christy have a brand new podcast that they launched earlier this week. I am SO excited for the Fountains of Carrots podcast. If you haven't listened yet, please do! So many great things to come.


6 - More exciting news for another one of my friends: Kelly is one of the keynote speakers at Edel '15! I am so proud of my friend and so happy for her and everyone else who gets to attend. She will be great!


7 - I'm really excited about the Advent Care Package giveaway that's happening right now on my blog. I'm not doing it to get more followers or because I was given something and now need to promote a vendor. I'm doing it in the hopes that whoever the lucky winner is, she will really benefit and have an easier Advent because of it. If you haven't entered yet, you can check it out here.

And now no more Advent from me until after Thanksgiving! I need to focus on gratitude and generosity a bit more.


And thanks to the aforementioned Kelly for hosting! 

SUPER Exciting news on James' alleged miracle and Fulton Sheen's cause

Early this morning I got a secret email and I did a happy dance.

While I was shopping at WalMart I got a phone call and I did a fist pump.

You probably know already but the 7 member board of medical experts who advise the Congregation of the Causes of Saints at the Vatican unanimously approved my son James Fulton's alleged healing through the intercession of Fulton Sheen.

I know there's been some confusion so I want to be really clear:

This is still an ALLEGED miracle. Only the Pope can declare it a miracle.

We've still got a little ways to go. The postulator for the cause will now provide the theologians who advise the Congregation of the Causes of Saints with information so they can decide if the healing happened because of Fulton Sheen's intercession. When they are done it will be forwarded to the the bishops who sit on the C of the C of S (not the real acronym). Then those bishops will need to decide on it and make their recommendation to the Pope. Pope Francis will have the final say.

There's still more to do! Please praise God today and celebrate this good and mega exciting news! And then tomorrow go right back to praying for the cause. You can also financially support the cause if you'd like. For more information check out the official website for the cause here.

And now let's all do a happy dance. Pharrell, do you mind giving us a beat? Thanks.



I know I should probably be talking about how awesome this is and all, but YOU GUYS! I'm just too busy dancing!

The official press release from the Archbishop Sheen Foundation is below.

Archbishop Fulton John Sheen Foundation 
Bishop Daniel R. Jenky, CSC, president 
Monsignor Stanley Deptula, executive director 
419 NE Madison Avenue 
Peoria, Illinois 61603 USA 
309-671-1550 
877-71-SHEEN 
ArchbishopSheenCause.org 

Media Contact: Msgr. Stanley Deptula 
 [email protected] 
 Office:309-677-7085 
 Mobile: 309-231-5689 
March 6, 2014 
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 

Peoria, IL -- The Most Reverend Daniel R. Jenky, CSC, Bishop of Peoria and President of the Archbishop Fulton Sheen Foundation, received word early Thursday morning that the 7-member board of medical experts who advise the Congregation for the Causes of the Saints at the Vatican unanimously approved a reported miracle attributed to the intercession of the Venerable Servant of God Archbishop Fulton Sheen. 

The case involved a still born baby born in September 2010. For over an hour the child demonstrated no signs of life as medical professionals attempted every possible life saving procedure, while the child's parents and loved ones began immediately to seek the intercession of Fulton Sheen. After 61 minutes the baby was restored to full life and made a full recovery. The child, now three years old, continues in good health. 

Today's decision affirms that the team of Vatican medical experts can find no natural explanation for the child's healing. The case will next be reviewed by a board of theologians. With their approval the case could move on to the cardinals and bishops who advise the Pope on these matters. Finally, the miracle would be presented to Pope Francis who would then officially affirm that God performed a miracle through the intercession of Fulton Sheen. There is no timeline as to when these next steps might move forward. 

"Today is a significant step in the Cause for the Beatification and Canonization of our beloved Fulton Sheen, a priest of Peoria and a Son of the Heartland who went on to change the world. There are many more steps ahead and more prayers are needed. But today is a good reason to rejoice," commented Bishop Jenky. 

Fulton Sheen was born May 8, 1895 in El Paso, IL outside of Peoria. His family moved to Peoria so that Fulton and his brothers could attend Catholic school. He grew up in the parish of the Cathedral of St. Mary where he was an altar server and later ordained a priest of the Diocese of Peoria. After advanced studies and service as a parish priest in the city of Peoria, Fulton Sheen was a professor of philosophy and religion at the Catholic University of America in Washington, DC. In the 1930s he became a popular radio personality and later a TV pioneer. His weekly TV program, "Life is Worth Living" eventually reached 30 million viewers and won an Emmy award for outstanding TV program. 

From 1950-1966, Bishop Sheen was the national director of the Society for the Propagation of the Faith in the United States, the Church's primary missionary apostolate. In 1966, he was named Bishop of Rochester of New York where he served until his retirement in 1969, when he was named honorary Archbishop by Pope Paul VI. Fulton Sheen died at the entrance to his private chapel in his New York City apartment on December 9, 1979. 

In September 2002, Bishop Jenky officially opened the cause for the beatification and canonization of Fulton Sheen. For six years, the Sheen Foundation, the official promoter of the Cause, gathered 
testimony from around the world and reviewed all of Sheen's writings, before sending their conclusions to the Vatican. In June 2012, Pope Benedict affirmed the investigation that Sheen had lived a life of heroic virtue and holiness. Sheen was then titled "Venerable." 

Pending further review by the theologians and the cardinals who advise the Pope through the 
Congregation for the Causes of the Saints, should Pope Francis validate this proposed miracle, Sheen could then be declared "Blessed" in a ceremony that could be celebrated in Peoria, Sheen's hometown. Upon the Holy Father signing the decree for the beatification, an additional miracle would lead to the Canonization of Archbishop Sheen, in which he would be declared a “Saint.” 

For more information about Fulton Sheen and the Cause for his canonization, visit: 
ArchbishopSheenCause.org. 

### 

Seven Quick Takes

 1 - Is it just me or have the past couple of weeks featured a lot of posts with rap music? Well, there is no rap music here, at least not this week. Instead I offer you Vampire Weekend. They're kinda odd, but I like them. Hope you do too.


2 -Dressing when I'm super pregnant. It's not fun. It's so hard to keep the "under-womb" covered. I don't think that's an actual word but you know what I mean, right? The bottom of my pregnant belly. Shirts creep up and pants creep down.

Also, as my hips widen in preparation for birth  (look out, July 8th! or 9th... around there) it has become incredibly difficult basically impossible to keep my knees together and sit like a lady. So last Friday I bought a maxi skirt and I have worn it every day since. I will continue to wear it every day until I give birth, and probably then for weeks following. It'll get washed like twice in all that time, I betcha $5.

Here's the skirt:

 I thought I looked better but I guess we can't all be Grace Patton. 

Quick note about the shirt I'm wearing. It's the only maternity top to have survived all five pregnancies and then today, at almost 37 weeks I snagged it on a table at a coffee shop. Ruined. But judging from the picture above that's not really a bad thing. 

Am I the only pregnant woman who does this to all her shirts? Seriously, it may be more annoying than the waddle and stupid comments.


3 - Earlier this month was the anniversary of L's baptism. Her godmother arranged a special day for just the two of them including donuts, a walk to the park, crafting, and lunch. L loved every minute of it.  You can read Katie's recap of it here and you can read about the awesome pearls L gets each year here. And here's few pictures of the fun:

L and her godmother, Katie.

The bag they made. Katie wrote the phrase and L traced it. And the owl is made from L's handprint.

A treasure box L made from Modge Podge and tissue paper. She also wanted to glue a holy card of the Sacred Heart inside. Sweet.

4 - How do people decorate for summer? I have one little Uncle Sam guy I put on the buffet and some patriotic banners on the front porch but otherwise I'm clueless. My mother-in-law was just in Florida and sent the kids a bunch of seashells she found on the beach. I put them in some mason jars and set them out because seashells are beachy and therefore summery, right? But I just don't think I have an eye for this decorating stuff. Seriously, what do you do?

5 - We hung balloons for Resa's first birthday party, which was almost a month ago. Some of them are still up and I think that if they can make it just a couple more weeks they can officially be "Welcome home, baby!" balloons. Perfect!

Truly, I am not getting on a chair to take them down. Even though I got on a chair to take a picture of my skirt. Whatever. Shut up.


6- I'm part of an awesome moms' group at my parish. It is a huge blessing in my life and I look forward to Tuesday mornings and guard them with my life. We pray and eat and discuss together while our kids play. The women in the group have also become great friends and have been very generous in supporting me in my vocation. For example, I have a very large project I've been working on, along with parenting and growing a baby. Travis has also been very busy picking up my slack and working on various projects around the house. To help out, just this past week  one of the women in the group took the boys for an afternoon to make for a lighter load at home. Another woman arranged for her teenaged daughter to babysit for free so Travis and I could attend Theology on Tap Wednesday night. And another woman spend the better part of an afternoon and evening playing with the kids, reading them books, painting with them and sweeping my floors, folding my kids' clean clothes, and washing my dishes.


7 - What's Travis working on? Oh, you know, just transforming this:

 To this:

Yesterday Travis and his dad poured the sidewalk that leads from the back door to the garage. Tomorrow he, his dad, and his brother will pour the patio. In what was once a horrible, bumpy patch of ground that was too shady to grow enough grass we will soon have a large patio with two flower beds on the side, a lovely maple tree to keep it shaded all day long, and plenty of room for the kids to draw with chalk, ride their bikes, and play outside while I watch them from the kitchen window.

The only thing that will make it better will be when I have given birth and can drink a beer, as I sit in the shade, while my kids play, and Travis grills supper. That, friends, will be a dream come true.


And now I'll say good-bye. Have a great weekend, all! And thanks, Jen, for hosting!

funk, future, fyi

Funk:
for Halloween week.


Future:
Advent is coming, people!  And if you want a book to read to help you prepare may I suggest this one

I actually haven't read it but I can tell you that Fr. Gary Caster is awesome and his books and writings have meant a lot to me.  And I am biased because he was my college chaplain and gave me a Miraculous Medal that Mother Teresa gave him (I know!).  But even if I wasn't biased I'd still think he's great.  You can check the book out here.

FYI:
I have an awesome little something brewing in my life and I need to focus my energy on it.  My blogging will probably be fairly sparse in the next few weeks but I will be back!  And I plan on posting random songs randomly.  And I won't miss the 7QT party.  And you're life goes on without me all the time and I'm not that important but I just thought I'd make you curious and ask for your prayers.  Thank you.

7 quick takes

1 -Hope you're not getting tired of all my The Head and The Heart videos I've been posting..  I love this band!

2 - Speaking of music I love: I will be doing an phone interview with Audrey Assad today.  I'm so excited about it!  I asked my friend Nancy for some tips on doing an interview since she is a professional journalist.  She assured me that a little bit of gushing at the very beginning is okay so I shouldn't worry if there's a little bit of "oh-my-gosh-this-is-so-cool-I'm-such-a-big-fan" in my voice.

3 - Thursday night the kids and I were on our own since Travis had to stay late at work for parent-teacher conferences.  Dinner was supposed to be a breakfast casserole with from-scratch biscuits.  Instead we had leftover pizza, cheese cubes, a can of mandarin oranges, green beans, and bacon.  I'd say it was a good meal.

4 - We finally had a call about our house.  All I wanted to do was have him come over for dinner, show him the house, sign the contract, and send him home with a bag of my freshly baked chocolate chip cookies.  The crazy thing is that the guy has actually been in the house twice already because he's one of our town's volunteer firefighters.  So he was here the night JF was born and the night I called 911 because a lightbulb went out.

5 - What if this is true?

6 - Just a friendly reminder that this coming Sunday I'll be speaking in Dixon, IL.  If you want more information, please check out this post here.

7 - I have a new post up at Ignitum Today called "Special Needs Etiquette".  It's actually Part I or a two part article and in it I interview two friends who are the parents of special needs kids.  They answer some good questions about how to interact with their children, and others with disabilities, so that we're not all standing around awkwardly as our toddlers ask loud questions in the Target check-out line.

7 quick takes

1 -  Ummmm I love this song.  Lovely.  Perfect.  No disrespect to The Magnetic Fields but this version is the best.  The. Best.  You're welcome, friends.

2 - So the lovely Maria won the Washboard Basics All Natural Laundry Soap give-away (yay, Maria!) but YOU still have the opportunity for a sweet deal.  The fantastic ladies at Washboard Basics (yes, I am partial) have offered a 20% discount to all my blog readers.  So head over to their Etsy store, pick out your product, and then type in "KNOTTED20" to get 20% off your purchase.  The coupon is good today (Friday, October 12, 2012) through next Friday (the 19th).  Megan and Laura believe that no one should have to pay a fortune to be able to clean their home safely and naturally - it's core to their business mission and this sweet deal just goes to show they mean it.  Plus, the packaging is cute.  So do it!  I'm going to.

3 - If you haven't hear about Taryn Watkins, please allow me to introduce you to this fantastic young woman.  Actually, I'll let Taryn do the talking:
Hello,
My name is Taryn Watkins For the last several years I have been discerning my call to religious life and I hope to join the Discalced Carmelites.  I am currently working to pay off my student loans because in order for me to enter, I need to be debt free. This is why I am in need of your help. Will you prayerfully consider buying one of my paintings online or offering a donation to help me fulfill my vocation? I have created a blog,ProDominoDeo.blogspot.com, that I would love for you to take a look at and share it with anyone and everyone you know because I very much desire to enact God's call quickly! I am an artist myself and I have made some prints of a painting of Our Lady because I place my vocation and the way in which that will be realized in her hands. Please consider purchasing one of my prints for yourself or a friend, they would make a great Christmas present this season!
Oremus pro invicem,
Taryn Watkins

3 - To add a couple of things to Taryn's letter:  I have no idea what the Latin says.  Also, I think "discalced" means "shoeless".  Lastly, the prints are beautiful, check them out:

In summary, "Help a (future) sister out" and pray for her and offer some financial support if possible!

4 - We are trying to sell our home.  Our beautiful, lovely, family-friendly home.  We need to move closer to Travis' work and my family but otherwise we love this house.  If you know anyone who wants to live in a small town, have great neighbors, low taxes, a great parish, 4 bedroom, 2 bathroom house, close to hospitals, schools, world headquarters for CAT and State Farm...  please have them contact us!  Let me entice you with some pictures:

It's so cute!  And everything in it is new!

Large living room with lots of windows!

Check out all that counter space!  

Large, beautiful dining room!

5 - So friends keep asking me for tips on how to live on a tight budget.  I'm wondering if I should write a blog post about it (I did write one for Cynthia's Mother-to-Mother "Living on a Budget" series) since Travis and I have recently learned a few new tricks.  So what I'm wondering is, should I write such a post?  I'm no kind of financial expert but if anyone's interested I would gladly type it up.  I just hate sounding like a know-it-all.

6 - I think I'm really going to like the show Nashville.  Anyone else?  You can watch it on Hulu if you missed the pilot.  

7 - Okay, and I just spent 10 minutes trying to find something funny to post here.  But I found nothing that fit.  And now I'm out of time and must go man my garage sale.  I'm de-cluttering, yo!  It feels good!