Thursday, June 28, 2007

Missing: Der Tommissar


Where oh where can der Tommissar be? Oh, where, oh, where can he be?


The Latin Mass will soon be free; oh, where can der Tommissar be?

Tuesday, June 26, 2007

random questions meme

Aimee did this one and while she didn't specifically tag me, I'm going for it anyway on account of I have a large post in the works over here and I haven't been posting faithfully.

Were you named after anyone? No, but my mom and I have the same middle name (Marie).

When was the last time you cried? April 26.

Do you like your handwriting? Um. I guess it's OK. It's mostly legible.

What is your favorite lunch meat? Head cheese. NO-just kidding! I like scrapple, but you won't catch me near that stuff. Roast beef with horseradish sauce. yum!

Do you have kids? yup. They are why my blog has the word "Mommy" in the title.

If you were another person, would you be friends with yourself? Yes. I'm pretty awesome. ;)

Do you use sarcasm a lot? No, but I can be sarcastic.

Do you still have your tonsils? Yes.

Would you bungee jump? No. I'd like to say I was daring enough to do it, but in reality I just couldn't.

What is your favorite cereal? Special K with red berries. Why don't they just call it "with strawberries?" It says on the box that they are strawberries, and they taste like strawberries. what's the deal Kellogg's?

Do you untie your shoes when you take them off? No, much to my husband's chagrin. He's trying to get Primo to untie his shoes before taking them off. I don't see why its such a big deal.

What is your favorite ice cream? Ben and Jerry's Cherry Garcia.

What do you notice first about people? noses

Red or pink? red

What is your least favorite thing about yourself? That I talk too loud too often.

What is the last thing you ate? Ghirardelli dark chocolate

What color pant and shoes are you wearing? Khaki shorts and no shoes. I hate shoes.

What are you listening to right now? The air conditioners hum. It's hot here dudes.

What are your favorite smells? The beach, dinner in the oven, bleach (I'm not huffing or anything, it just says "Clean" to me), my husband's deodorant (He can't wear cologne. My wacko sense of smell deserves a post of its own someday. It hasn't been the same since I had kids).

Who was the last person you talked to on the phone? a lady from church; we're going to a workshop together tomorrow.

What are your favorite sports to watch? college basketball (Go Pirates!)

What is your hair color? mousy dishwater blonde, going gray.

What is your eye color? blue

Do you wear contacts? no, but I want to . These glasses make me insane.

Scary movie or happy ending? Happy ending.

What is your favorite food? chocolate

What was the last movie you saw? In the theaters: Cars (last summer); real movie at home: Dreamgirls (Friday night). The local Shoprite has a redbox. I love it. Also, I watched Veggie Tales' "Josh and the Big Wall" with the kids before bed.

What color shirt are you wearing? I believe they call it orchid. Light purple anyways.

Summer or winter? summer. I'd much rather be hot than cold.

Hugs or kisses? hugs

What is your favorite dessert? I have never met a dessert I don't like.

What are you reading? Divine Mercy in my Soul by St. Faustina Kowalska

What is on your mouse pad? no mouse pad, I'm rolling with the laptop.

What did you watch on TV last night? The Colbert Report.

Rolling Stones or The Beatles? The Beatles

What is the farthest you've been from home? San Diego, CA.

Where were you born? Philadelphia, PA

Thursday, June 21, 2007

Great series at my parish

If you know any young adults in North Jersey, please invite them to this series being offered here at St. John's. We're easily accessed from the Garden State Parkway and the NJ turnpike:
"Waiting, Dating, and Mating: the When, Who, and What God’s Calling you to…"
Dating and Relationships for:
College Age Students & Young Adults in their 20’s & 30’s

5 Sundays:
June 24th, July 1st, July 8th 4:00-6:00pm

July 15th 3:30-6:00pm

July 22nd is 4:00-6:30pm
*Ceremony and reception to follow.

St. John the Apostle Church/ Msgr. Price Room
1805 Penbrook Terrace, Linden NJ
(on Valley Rd, Clark, off Stiles St.,Linden)

Refreshments Served
Cost: $50 for 5 Sessions
Student Discount: $40 for 5 Sessions

$60 for 5 Sessions if paid for after June 20th
($12 for individual Sessions)

Registration: Call Enza at 732-264-1865
or email at enza19(at)hotmail(dot)com

Topics Include:
Sex-it’s a Language of Love- God’s Invention!
Differences Between Men and Women…
What is your personality type?
Characteristics of Healthy Relationships…
Is it Love or Lust?
Life is Sacred
Dating & Waiting
Giving the Gift of Self in Marriage
Including: Dr. Philip Mango, Nationally known Speaker and Psychologist

Sponsored by: LIFENET www.lifenetnj.org
Co-Sponsored by: Spirit and Truth
www.spiritandtruthnj.org

For directions to St. John's log onto www.sjanj.net or call 908-486-6363

Friday, June 08, 2007

Feels like home to me

Last June, my Grandmom passed away after a long illness.

This Wednesday is the settlement date for the young couple who bought her house.

I knew the house was going on the market. My dad, handyman extraordinaire, has been fixing it up for my aunt to sell. When I talked to him last night, I asked when she was putting it on the market. "Oh, it's already sold," he said, "Settlement's Wednesday."

I felt like I'd been sucker punched.

"Well, we're going to empty the house on Sunday; pack up the POD, if you want to come and help."
"I gotta work Sunday."
"I'll be there on Saturday if you want to come down."

So tomorrow afternoon we're going to go and say goodbye to the house on Radcliffe Ave.

It's more than a house that this wonderful, with-child, couple is moving into. They're moving into the storehouse for my childhood memories of my grandparents. Memories of summers spent swimming and eating way too much watermelon and corn on the cob. 4th of July parties where friends and family would come and have burgers and drink gin slurpees and we'd watch the fireworks over the house. You could see them from the back yard. Later, when Grandpop and Grandmom split up and not as many people came (and there was less drinking) we'd drive over to the high school and see them up close.

When I walk into the shed in our backyard and breathe in the smell of gas and grass, I am seven again, standing in my grandpop's huge shed with his lawnmower and his motorcycle inside. He was a carpenter and all of his tools were organized on pegboard lining the shed walls. they kept a port-a-pot in there for us to use if we had been swimming. That way, we didn't get water all over the carpet in the house.

When I make macaroni salad, I am a little girl again watching my grandmom chop green bell peppers and carrots into the tiniest pieces for her macaroni salad (hers is much better than mine; I don't have the patience to ultra-petite dice the veggies). Making the potato and macaroni salad would always take her about 4 hours because hse took such care with it. And I remember her telling me that when Grandpop would help her peel and slice the potatoes, they had to do extra potatoes because he would eat them raw.

When I make a tomato salad, I think of my aunt and her garden. She grew what seemed to be the largest tomatoes. Sometimes they would crack on the top near the stem, but they were so good. I could eat them like an apple. My aunt was then and still is the most glamourous woman I know. I loved getting into her jewelry and playing dress-up. She really taught me how to be a lady (I'm still working on that, Aunt Patti!)

So, tomorrow, I'm heading down there and I'm going to look around one last time. My aunt has done a great job of keeping the place up and she's made some great improvements. The kitchen where Grandmom and Grandpop peeled potatoes together in happier times is bigger now, expanded out the back of the house just like Grandpop had always intended to do, but never had the chance to (My family jokes about the carpenter's house being the worst-maintained home on the block.). The shed is gone too. There's nice lawn growing there now. Some of the stuff might be missing or different, but aside from the place where I live now, where I brought my babies after they were born, from the home that I'm making, the house on Radcliffe Ave. is the closest thing to home there is.

We have a first word

Go!

La Bebe's first word is "Go!" Go! means "I'm on the move!" and "I want that!"

She has also tried "car" doubtless because of all of the Matchbox vehicles strewn around our living room.

She also said "Boobah" when Bubba was watching it on TV yesterday. I tried getting her to say Bubba to call her brother, but she can't connect the two (He mostly goes by his Christian name around the house. I think I'm the only one who calls him Bubba.).

Aimee has a great post up right now about her baby girl's first words. It's much more well written than this one, so go read it.

Thursday, June 07, 2007

How cute is this?

Saw this at Shouts in the Piazza; It's a recruitment poster from the Diocese of St. Augustine, FL.



You go, Bishop Tobin!

You can read here Bishop Tobin of Providence, RI's column addressed to Rudy Guiliani regrarding his, "I'm personally opposed, but..." stand on abortion. It's great.

I used to feel the same way as Rudy. Then I had a talk with God. You can read about it here.

Thanks to Whispers in the Loggia for the link to the article. Read Rocco's post here. And he's got the YouTube clip up from when Rudy tries to defend his wishy-washy position and lightning struck (at St. Anselm's college. Coincidence?).

Sunday, June 03, 2007

too close to home

Heard about the terrorist plot to blow up JFK Airport in New York? Do you know where the other end of that jet fuel pipeline is? Across the street from the Little League fields where Primo plays Tee Ball. Right here in Linden. Our family was there yesterday morning.

As if the sky high property taxes and home prices here weren't enough to send us looking for real estate in the middle of nowhere.

Thank God that the guys got caught. I love the FBI.