The Questionnaire by Bernard Pivaut

You've all seen it at the end of "Inside The Actors' Studio." James Lipton asks these questions of the celebrities (because not all of them are stars, or for crying out loud, Actors-I'm looking at you Billy Joel!) he's been cozying up to for the last hour.

You've probably answered these questions yourself while watching the show. Now you can answer them on your blog. And I will be tagging this time. Get ready!

1. What is your favorite word? yes.

2. What is your least favorite word? no.

3. What turns you on creatively, spiritually or emotionally? positivity

4. What turns you off? complaining. Doesn't keep me from doing it, though!

5. What is your favorite curse word? Hmmm.... should I be like Faye Dunaway and say something like, "Oh Heck!" or should I be truthful? This is a family blog, after all. OK: s*&t.

6. What sound or noise do you love? Laughter

7. What sound or noise do you hate? Three: the alarm clock, jackhammers, whining

8. What profession other than your own would you like to attempt? professional singer

9. What profession would you not like to do? firefighter. God bless those of you who are firefighters. I just don't think I could do it.

10. If Heaven exists, what would you like to hear God say when you arrive at the Pearly Gates? Not too shabby, kiddo. Come on in.

I tag: Aimee, Barb, Penni, Kate P., and Maureen (who can answer as her real self or as "Maureen" would. I'd love to see how "Maureen Martin" would answer some of these questions.

And now for your viewing pleasure: Will Ferrell as James Lipton:

Yesterday, one of our diocese's bishops came to the parish for Confirmation.  It was a great day all around for everyone.  I'm glad the stress of getting ready for this day is over.  But I wanted to share with you something that happened yesterday that made me just stand back and praise God.

In our parish, the Sacrament of Confirmation is conferred in 8th grade.  The kids are all 13 and 14 years old and they bring with them to their classes and other sacrament preparation all of the things that 13 and 14 year old people are into (and not into).  

There is one young man who I had the pleasure of working with one-on-one for some of his Sacrament prep.  And he seemed really serious when he and I worked together.  

Then there is his other personality: the one he has when he is with his other 13 and 14 year old friends.  This is the personality I am a little bit more familiar with.  The "Why do I have to stalk you to get you to turn in your paperwork" personality.  The "Can I go to the bathroom 50 million times so I can meet my friend in the bathroom to talk" personality.  This "split personality" is pretty typical of the teenage animal  (But indeed, when it comes to "God stuff," don't we all suffer from this a bit?).  It doesn't bother me as much as it used to.  

Well, it being Saturday, Confessions started at 1:00.  Confirmation Mass was at 2.  This young man was in church at 1:30, when the kids and their sponsors were to be gathering to process into Mass.  I was sort of taken aback.  I thought at first he was hanging out, but none of his friends were there.  I thought about telling him to go on downstairs, but I'm glad I didn't.  He was there for confession.  When I talked to his mom after Mass, she said that he wanted to get to church early so that he could go to Confession.  I was surprised that he even knew that confession was going on then.  

You've really got to hand it to mom and dad.  They are doing it right.  They have set an excellent example for their son and they ought to be quite proud.  

Let's pray for T. that he will use the gift of courage that he received sacramentally yesterday to stand up for what is right, to set an example for his friends to stay close to Jesus in His Church.  Let us pray for his mom and dad that they may never tire of doing the right thing by their kids.  

Hello Bloggy Friends!

Well, we are in the middle of Sacrament of Initiation insanity here at the parish. We've had 2 of our 4 First Communion Masses and Saturday we'll have our 2 Confirmation Masses. I will be happy when Saturday at 6 rolls around!

I always like this time of year in spite of how busy we are. The Masses are always extra great and it's wonderful to see the kids receive Jesus and the Holy Spirit sacramentally. It's kind of like all of our hard work in the office is paying off.

So, pray for our confirmandi (113-small group this year) and for our First Communicants (120). And pray for the CCD ladies so we don't go too crazy.

Nothing you wanted to know and never wanted to ask

Well, not really, but it sounds better than "Another Meme."
My girl Aimee tagged me. Let's dig in.

The Rules:

1. When tagged place the name and URL on your blog.

2. Post rules on your blog.

3. Write 7 non-important things/habits/quirks about yourself.

4. Name 7 blogs.

5. Send an email/comment on their blog letting them know they have been tagged.


1. At home we use Macs. I work in PC land.
2. I am learning to love the Mac.
3. I consume some form of chocolate every day.
4. I am a pretty good singer. Maybe one day if God puts an extra day in the week I'll join the choir at church.
5. I use blond-enhancing hair products because I am trying to recapture my blonde hair. My hair is currently a lovely shade of dishwater.
6. I have developed allergies to peanuts and shellfish since Curly Sue was born. I miss peanut butter and shrimp. A lot.
7. I am a rulebreaker; I am not going to follow rules 4 and 5 above! wheee!!!!

out where the dandelions grow...

The boys have started baseball in earnest.  Scott is coaching both Bubba's T-Ball team and Primo's jr. pee wee little league team.  It's been fun times.  So fun that I'm looking forward to the end of the season already!  No, I'm kidding.  Mostly.  

Both teams are fun to watch for different reasons.  It's great to see the bigger kids (ages 7-9) put the basics together and play in a game.  They don't keep score at that level, but they do keep track of outs.  

With T-Ball, part of the fun is watching the little ones run after the ball, fight over who's going to get to throw it to 1st base, and to watch them dig in the dirt.  There is surprisingly little airplane watching, given the fact that the municipal airport is literally across the street and helicopters take off and land again with alarming frequency (I think there is a helicopter pilot school there).  

As we were watching Primo's game (which was right after Bubba's-we're there from 8am till noon or later every Saturday and Sunday-whoo-hoo!), Bub and I had the following conversation: 

me: So, Bub, how do you think Mike's Power Washing (his team) will do this year? Are you guys going all the way? (gives me a quizzical look)  You know, are you guys going to win the World Series this year?

Bub: Yeah, I think so.  

me: You do, huh?

Bub:  Yeah, but first we have to stop fighting.  And I have to stop diggin' in the dirt.  Then we can win the World Series.  

Wilkommen!

B16 is in da house!!!! Welcome Pope Benedict!

Watch EWTN for coverage, or log on to Whispers in the Loggia. Rocco's always got good stuff. And if you have a dime to spare our intrepid 20-something blogger friend and Vaticanisto, please help a brother in Christ out. His blog is his real job.

poll explanation

I feel the need to explain the poll at left: "Is the thumb a finger?"

Periodically, I do what many parents who send their kids to Catholic school do: lunch duty. At some places it's called cafeteria duty, but what it boils down to is me and (usually) 2 other parents trying our best to make sure that he kids eat and then don't kill themselves in the closed-off parking lot where they play after lunch.

The last 2 times I've been in for lunch duty, one of the first grade girls has asked me, "Is the thumb a finger?" It's a question for the ages, really. You say you have 5 fingers on your hand, or maybe you have 4 fingers and a thumb.

So, I'm going back there tomorrow and I want to be able to give this kid an answer.

Please do your part for Catholic education.

burn, baby, burn

My Bubba, age 4 1/2, likes to make his own special dipping sauce for chicken when we have it for dinner. He uses ketchup, barbecue sauce and a dash of Frank's Red Hot sauce. This was overheard at the dinner table last night:

Bubba dips his chicken in the "Bubba Sauce" and then chews for a long time.

My mother: So, how does it taste?
Bubba: Like FIRE!

I pity the fool who don't click these links

I was watching reruns of 30 Rock on NBC's website and I discovered that you can watch full episodes of "If you're in trouble and no one else can help-and you can find them-maybe you can hire: The A-Team," "Battlestar Galactica" (all the Dirk Benedict you need!) "Buck Rodgers" (I totally wanted to be Erin Gray growing up!) and "Miami Vice!" I am so psyched. I loved the A-Team. And the token girl's name was Amy. It just didn't get better. Wish I had more free time. I could spend so much time watching those shows. I just don't have enough hours in the day.

Edited to add: If you go to hulu.com, you can see a few Fantasy Island Episodes. There are whole movies here! And it appears to be free!!!!!!

Time for me and the laptop to go on a vacation together.

Blogs, RIP

It's so hard to say goodbye to yesterday...

The Angry Twins
The Donegal Express

Arthur and Tommissar, I'll miss you.

I guess I'll have to remove them from the blogroll.

my husband doesn't read my blog

It kind of bothers me. I try not to let it. He's busy and it's just a brain dump over here. But it's my brain dump and if he had a brain dump, I'd read it.

It's annoying that he doesn't stop by here.

I guess I can just use this space to rhapsodize about my mad crush on John Cusack, but my crush isn't as mad as Bossy's. I mean, I didn't make a You Tube video about it like she did.

Point of clarification: I would never leave my husband for John Cusack. But if I were to be widowed, I think John Cusack would make a great father for my children. I'm just sayin'.

Also, Scott does know about my crush on John Cusack. And he also knows about my crush on Steve Martin. But the Steve Martin crush is a secret because I think he might be older than my dad. Don't tell anyone, OK?

Do you think I'm looking for some attention? I might be. I should get back to work. I have a lot to do around here, actually.

'Bye, John. 'Bye, Steve.

Oh, and I'm back to blogging. Did you notice?

finally!!!

Beyonce and Jay-Z tied the knot! Now I can get on with my life.