Mardi Gras Fat Tuesday Dinner

Well I’ve been procrastinating long enough. I’ve got pictures from way back in February. We had been without a computer for a while, and just got a new one (thank God!) and now I have to play catch up.

For Fat Tuesday this year we had a really fun celebration, just us. I can’t wait to do it again next year.

We decorated. Hello Dollar Tree…

 

 

In the spirit of excess, we had fantastic jambalaya AND traditional (ok not exactly traditional) pancakes with blueberry whipped cream, topped with fresh blueberries, strawberries and M&M minis.

Oh yeah and fantastic queso and mardi gras colored chips from World Market. So delicious.

The blueberry whipped cream in theory was to be purple but for whatever reason the blueberries didn’t tint it too purple-y.

I just like to smile. Smiling’s my favorite. –Buddy the Elf

Finding M&ms hidden under her jambalaya. Oh the decadence.

And Pandora Zydeco.

Can’t wait to do it again next year. Definitely a fun tradition!

 

–Jeni

 

 

Immaculata Ora Pro Nobis

Our home is immaculate right now which is how yours would be if your landlady was coming over to inspect it to decide if she should release it to you. Which, if you think about it, is really cruel considering we have a one-month-old.

She came over last night, complained minimally and said she’d sleep on it. How very gracious of you.

So we started poking around the web for listings in our price range with three bedrooms and a backyard–folks, gonna need some intercession. Our Lady and St Joseph, ya’ll had to move your family several times.

Please pray for ours.

Please pray we have a place to call home. We’ve moved 4 times since Josie was conceived and this was supposed to be “ours” with the option to buy in a few years. The offer seems it will be reneged and again the future is wide open.

But how can I be sad when I have this face to cheer me up?

I mean, right?

Lots of love,

jeni

Me Tarzan. You Jane.

You know that verse, John 15:5

“I am the vine…”

If God’s a vine, I feel like Tarzan. No wait, Jesus is Tarzan — I’m… Rosie O’donall.

You know, the side kick gorilla that trashed the camp?

 

My husband just came in, leaned down, read what I wrote and kissed me on the top of the head, turned, and walked out laughing.

 

 What I’m trying to say is, I have a lot of those free fall experiences where I’m going down, down, down saying “Ok, God you’re going to catch me right?”

Swinging vine to vine, relying on God and when he lets me I drop — fast — and then again before I hit the ground, eyes swished tight shut, body tense

I’m flying through the air again.

 

Let me try this again.

“I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.”

That’s how the verse really goes. Nothing about monkeys.  Apart from Him though, we drop pretty fast.

So we’re looking at eviction possibly soon. Which sucks because our baby is one month old, and I’m just completely exhausted keeping up with our four-year-old’s medical stuff (stuff because its so broad what term encompasses it all?), then of course let’s not forget the two-year-old and the fact that we just finally got settled into this place. We’re not behind on rent even. We haven’t been. She just tried leasing her house to us to help us out and is deciding maybe she’d rather not be a landlady and put it up for sale. She’s coming to take pictures of the inside of the house tomorrow. I don’t know if she’s thinking its going to be trashed or we’re hoarders or just wants to instill fear into us and make us question her motives but, trivial as it sounds, I’m nauseated over the thought of moving again. And not knowing when and where and how we’re going to have a place we can call home.

So swinging. Tarzan Jesus. I’m the goofy gorilla with the bad hair. There’s a tiger down on the jungle floor, but my strength is the joy of the Lord — and the fact that He’s got wicked muscles, rules the jungle, conquers the bad guy and loves me. So wait, maybe I’m Jane after all. Working on reflecting His image — but that’s a whole ‘nother metaphor.

 

Believe it or not its been at least a decade since I’ve seen the Disney Tarzan. Yet I have that wrecking the camp song stuck in my head now.

 

Sometimes I really wonder if any of this stuff translates to normal people when it makes it out of my head.

7 Quick Takes of the New Year

1. How ’bout a quick mini update on how the week went as far as my resolutions go?

I did pretty good with mass attendance. My up and down days fell by the wayside as my mom sabotaged me with a Paula Deen toffee recipe. And it was so good. I swear I want to lose weight. Counting calories starting Monday. Also making a menu plan and grocery list for the week. I haven’t done that in a while and we’ve been eating a lot of random dinner combos from the pantry. But our pantry is Mother Hubbard bare. Well actually we have 2 pounds of cheese. To do: food shopping. Oh and lastly, exercise was nonexistent as well. Technically one is supposed to rest for 6 weeks postpartum anyway though. But I’m still going to do some workouts next week. I swear! Really!

2. Speaking of menu planning and dinner and food (I’m hungry) — Publix has pork tenderloin on sale. And I can’t make up my mind what to do with it. All of this sounds amazing. Especially the rosemary and garlic rotisserie! Drool…

3. I’ve been rocking the 3 down for a nap thing this week!

Every day this week, I’ve put the girls and newborn down for a nap at the same time, and they’ve slept at least an hour or so. Most of the week, I’ve been laying down too. Today thought I’d blog a minute.

4. So I have had this weird mole-thing. It’s quite attractive actually. Ok things you shouldn’t blog about. But anyway, it (actually fairly positive its a seborrheic keratosis) has gotten larger in the past 6 months or so, plus I have about 5 new ones that popped up in the past 6-9 months. One I just found because it was on the underside of my belly whilst I was preggo. Oh hello there new random growth. Anywho, apparently there’s this Leser-trelat sign thing that Google showed me. I know; I know Googling medical stuff is bad. But so I’m a little freaked out and going to the dermatologist sometime soon. I tried calling today but the office was closed. So Monday making that appointment I guess?

5. Also Monday is Josie’s endo, immune, genetics, check up and big cardiology day. I’m exhausted already.

6. We did blood work yesterday. It was miserable. First I had lost the paperwork. Then in desperation I prayed / cried to St Anthony. About a minute later I found the paperwork buried in Josie’s closet. Thanks St Anthony! Grabbed said paperwork and went to lab core where we normally are always sent for labs. Waited 20 minutes before someone told me it was for TMH lab (duh). So big waste of time. Go to TMH lab and they have so much procedure (including leading you through the hospital and getting a poor directionally-challenged person easily lost), and they had to band Josie which sent her into panic mode. Then FINALLY an hour later, 3 people held down Josie as she sat in my lap. Why don’t people just stick her and go. They always have to try to placate her with tons of chatter and it freaks her out. Just don’t make a big production of it. So. exhausting. Then found out their turn-around for labs is over twice the time of Lab core. So we won’t even have labs for our appointment Monday. I’m a loser.

7. Please pray for Dustin. Breaks my heart. A 28 year old mutual friend who has a wife and new baby just diagnosed (like December 2012 just diagnosed) with stage 4 cancer. He is asking for Frassati to intercede. It would be a miracle. Praying for that miracle!

Conchita

So ask me how I did with my first day of a new year’s resolutions (she asks, wiping the chocolate muffin crumbs away from the keyboard).

Ha — it’s a feast day! Happy Solemnity of Mary, the Mother of God. As for resolutions, I obviously made mass being a holy day and all. The calorie counting fell by the wayside however, and I had a good time with it.

So being the start of a new year, I had figured I needed to find a new saint for the year. In the past, I’ve chosen a saint who’s strong character represented some trait that I wish I had, or who’s story resonated with me because we both lacked a certain virtue and needed to rely hardcore on God to make up for it.

This year, I wanted to find someone I wasn’t yet familiar with, and lo and behold, the Internet  mercies of Heaven pointed me to her. Well, she’s not a saint yet. She’s in the process of beatification. JP2 declared her venerable in 1999 and that’s good enough for me: Venerable Concepcion Cabrera de Armida (Dec 8, 1862 – March 3 1937). Conchita for short. A mystic from Mexico city. I cannot wait to learn about her life and absorb myself in her writing.

Amazingly, my brief cry to Heaven for helping me find a guide for the year went like this: God, I need someone who knows about crazy daily living and still a passion for You.

Get this — the saint I “randomly” found in like 2 clicks on the Internet was a mom to 9 who lived through the Mexican civil war. Her notable writings are the books and meditations, I am: Eucharistic Meditations on the Gospel, Seasons of the Soul, and A Mother’s Letters which Wikipedia notes,

[it] “reflects the fact that she was not a cloistered mystic but a busy mother with nine children and a widow during a turbulent time in Mexico’s political history. The letters provide a glimpse of her warm, human side as she communicates with her family.”

I’m super excited to learn more about her and hopefully receive some intercession from such an amazing lady. Right now, I am 14 minutes late at one of my goals for the year, putting the girls to bed on time. So, I’ll be smartphoning amazon for those books shortly.

Happy Solemnity!

New Year. New… Me?

In roughly two hours the ball will drop, and we will usher in 2013.

Brand spankin’ new and untarnished. ’Tis the time for making new resolutions and rethinking your lifestyle and goals and yada yada.

Yeah, we just ushered in a brand spankin’ new baby on the twelfth, and he has just hit his 3 week growth spurt, so I’ve done nothing much today besides breastfeed (and the two-year-old decided she wanted in too, so yey, tandem).

sweet baby

My goals, decidedly, should be fairly basic.

Like, take showers, remember to eat, put gas in the car.

However, being insane as I tend to be, aka an overachiever with no ability to manage time, I have some impressive goals for myself for the coming new year. You’re welcome to scoff at them as no doubt I will in about 3 months.

Long term goal #1: Graces and peace in 2013

Daily Habits: Daily mass, nightly rosary, evening and night prayer (Divine Office)

Goal #2: Improve health with diet and exercise

Daily Habits: diet and exercise.

Ok, I’ll elaborate.

Diet: Intermittent fasting of the up day, down day variety. Starting very gradually since, as I noted, I’m breastfeeding. Shooting for a pattern of down days (1800 calories) M, W, F. Up days Tues and Thurs with no soda. Sunday I can do soda through this month. Starting February I’ll crack down a little and reevaluate. Baby steps!

Also I want to add the following supplements / foods into my day:

krill oil, spirulina alternated with chlorella, and cruciferous veggies.

Exercise: Three workouts a day, between 15-30 minutes each.

(1) Morning, premass fasted-state workout of high intensity

(2) Midmorning, pre-protein cardio medium intensity

(3) Afternoon walk (hauling 3 children).

Goal #3: Keep a blog for more than 2 days.

Daily habit: Write at least 3 posts a week. It’d really help if our computer wasn’t a decade old, and I didn’t hate it.

Goal #4: Become more organized <— this is gonna bring a good chuckle later, I’m sure.

Daily Habit: Rise daily at the same time (aiming for 5:40) and bed by (10:40). Also, going to try to “unplug” by 10. 

Follow a schedule. (New 2013 Winter / Spring schedule to follow post… aka more scoffing material)

Anywho–

Wish me luck! And happy new year!

And the quote of the day…

Ever have a quote that just summed up the whole day? 

Credit goes to my hubby for this quick-liner:

“It’s like a poop-a-thon!”

Yes literally and figuratively. Metaphorically and very actually. Philosophically and existentially. The diaper-changes and life-changers keep on coming.

Yes and in other news, I had my first dentist appointment in, oh about 15 years, today.

And I have 7 follow-up appointments scheduled!

And they shoved a prescription for Valium at me.

Oh. Boy.