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From the monthly archives: March 2010
Pastors:
Positions on the current healthcare legislation taken by groups with “Catholic” in their name have caused a great deal of confusion about the official position of the Catholic Church. On Monday, we sent out a statement from Cardinal George on behalf of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops explaining the Church’s position in opposition to the legislation because it does not adequately prevent federal funds from being used for abortions. We continue to avidly support a reform of our healthcare system that provides coverage for as many people living in the United States as possible. However, we cannot support such an effort at the cost of taxpayer dollars funding the end of human life. We would like to stress the importance that you share this statement with your parishioners in order to overcome any confusion that your parishioners may have. Thank you.
Most Reverend Dennis M. Schnurr
Archbishop of Cincinnati
Thank You, Lord, for faithful bishops and priests.
When you get to the ads, click on the shirt images for close-ups. Haha.
Something’s seriously wrong with this ad.
She can dance the night away in these fantastic flats!
Really? Kids 3-7 years old??? No wonder we have problems in this country.
…. are really only lovely and adorable in books.
In real life, they are mean things that deserve to be put in paella.
Yesterday, I had 6 beautiful, unopened crocus buds. We were looking forward to taking pictures and sketching them this morning.
Today, I have 3 crocus blooms, and 3 bitten-off purple stumps. I am not amused. Maybe there’s a lesson out there somewhere that incorporates art, science and revenge. Maybe I’ll put cayenne pepper in the crocuses. Maybe I’ll put a picture of Mr. McGregor, large and menacing, beside those crocuses. Or maybe I’ll put a picture of the Fierce, Bad Rabbit with its tail cut off as a warning sign.
It’s 2:09 am and yes, I’m still awake. Made allergy-free brownies for Aisa’s party with her college friends (+the Walshes) and I forgot that I made it with regular coffee, STRONG-BREWED even… and now everyone’s asleep and I’m still awake. I’m going to be dead in the morning, just when little one will be running around wreaking havoc everywhere. But yum. Haven’t made those in a while and forgot how good they were!
Yena’s Question of the Day:
“Mom, when I’m older, will I go through “the phase” too?”
What phase?
“You know, the one that Paco’s in right now and that Ate Aisa went through….?”
Oh, *that* phase. 
I love eight-year-olds!!
So Michael and Amy Walsh and Josh, Aisa’s friend, were talking and talking and talking tonight. Bibles (Douay, 2 NABs, Navarre AND Google — we couldn’t find our RSV-CE) on the table. I interjected a comment or two here and there. Aisa too, of course. But wow, *love* these conversations. I wonder if that’s the kind of exhilaration Augustine and his friends felt all those centuries ago…. talking about the faith, asking each other questions, challenging each other’s beliefs, reasonings, etc., mulling, turning things over, digging, scrutinizing. I *love* being around people with this kind of passion for Christ and for understanding His teachings. It probably could have gone on forever were it not for the kids who were sleepy and the homework (and real work, as in JOB) that the college studes had hanging over their heads…. but yeah, we have to do that again.
Elvin and Candice, if you happen to see this, we missed you. You would have loved it.
Oh and yeah. The menu. We made/served
spaghetti puttanesca
crisp spiced nuts
mild cheddar
smoked whitefish salad with water crackers (I promised Paco we were going to get this and we did, finally!)
warm lentil salad
olive oil citrus cake with grapefruit glaze (Yena made this), and strawberries
iced chai green tea
allergen-free brownies
Michael and Amy brought salmon fish head curry and quinoa
PJ brought some potato casserole with chex mix something that was all kinds of delicious
Alyssa (?) brought a marbled yellow/chocolate cake with chocolate glaze
Josh brought a mesclun salad topped with blue cheese, pine nuts and cranberries
Aaron brought palmiers and pastry cream
and Joe brought quinoa and his guitar
Navid brought chicken that looked very tempting (it’s Friday!)
So it was actually a feast, on a Lenten Friday, no less…. but there were reasons the party had to be held today….
while they use the world and the things of this life, they use all such purely and honestly, and no further than is needful for their condition—such are the truly devout.
To the devout, EVERY SINGLE THING can and will be and is used solely as a tool to draw oneself closer to the Almighty.
Thinking:
Love is a fire, which when fanned into a flame, becomes devotion.
The love which we begin with early on is a tiny bud, which we water and feed and grow under the light of His Grace… until it becomes DEVOTION. Love brought us together, bound us together… devotion keeps us together. By constantly attaching ACTION onto the EMOTION, love is allowed to flourish and bear fruit. It’s when we try to live on EMOTION alone that we neglect the needful things…. and when there is no evidence of fruit then discouragement and disillusionment sets in, and we mistakenly think that LOVE has ceased to exist.
The same applies to our relationship with God. The action that proves our love for our God is also the food which allows this love to grow and bear fruit. It is a cycle that never ends. If we truly want to be DEVOTED to God, our love needs to be motivated into ACTION.
Reading: Introduction to the Devout Life
So I bought a bunch of pussy willow branches, just because I’ve always wanted some in the house. They are now at the fireplace, in a vase much too big for them… to look nice, it will need at least 5 more of these bunches. I guess I need a pussy willow vase for them to look “proper” but if I tarry too long even the vase will not be necessary. Nino (14 months) has been pulling the little catkins off the branches, at first attempting to eat them… and after being reprimanded he is now simply caressing them with his index finger. Pussy willow all over the carpet, the couch…. I suppose I should be glad I don’t have to get a real kitten for him.
He has also started to draw. We made him muffin crayons the other day from saved Crayola pieces. He seems to prefer the Derwent pencils though.
Unlikely place to find my favorite notebook, but there it is. My beloved Miquelrius, in the stationery aisle at Target. An even lovelier surprise: my beloved Miquelrius, in the CLEARANCE aisle at Target. I jumped and bought 5 of them, one for each of us. What I love about Miquelrius: the color coded pages, perfect for separating subjects without the use of tabs. Made in Spain. Quality paper that takes fountain pen ink really well. Yummy yummy.
The kids have started new notebooks. I was inspired by a conversation at the 4RealTL…. and was reminded that we haven’t done a proper notebooking project in a LONG while. (Did I mention I *strongly dislike* 3-hole-punched lined paper?) But the kids have been using it for years so it’s hard to break the habit — everytime I propose switching to notebooks they balk. But Miquelrius changed their minds this time.
Paco has started one for Technology, Migi for Weapons, and Yena is picking 4 different topics, Birds being the first one. She’s thinking of Engineering, Weapons, and Plants.
Mine is the “master notebook”, where I’m keeping track of all their projects and mine.
I was at Costco today and while passing the magazine rack the cover of The Economist caught my eye. Quickly perused the article on Gendercide: The war on baby girls | Killed, aborted or neglected, at least 100m girls have disappeared—and the number is rising. I’m not a regular reader at all of The Economist, but this one is worth your time.
I’m admittedly curious about the kind of response this article would generate, particularly from pro-choice people. If it’s okay to abort babies, why wouldn’t it be okay to choose which babies should survive? And if it’s not right to decide which gender is allowed to survive, could it be that it’s not right to decide which lives are worth terminating either? If you think it’s okay for people to terminate a pregnancy, then you should also be completely okay with the thinking that females are expendable. And you should agree that when people are given the opportunity and the means to do away with a particular segment of the population, they WILL use that opportunity for whatever reason they deem appropriate.
This is just one consequence of the abortion and anti-family mentality, and its implications reverberate throughout.
read by PMY:
– i did *not* like this book or the cd
, 
Ciabatta + My Favorite Dipping Oil
Ciabatta… an improvised one so I don’t have a recipe. I had some leftover poolish from making a celebration bread… so I added some flour and salt, a bit more yeast then some water…. too much flour, added water… which is harder to do so I broke the dough to bits and let it soak in the water and ran the mixer every 30 minutes or so, until it finally came together…. but then it was too wet, even for ciabatta, so i added a bit more flour. The end product came out very well, except it could have used more salt…. so, dipping oil to the rescue.
To make the dipping oil, heat up in a saucepan:
1/4 cup extra virgin oil
1 large clove garlic, crushed and minced
a pinch of red pepper flakes
a few minced manzanilla olives (the ones stuffed with pimiento — kalamatas or other olives can also be used here but I prefer the green)
2 minced anchovies
1 sundried tomato soaked in oil, chopped finely
pinch of sea salt
couple grindings black pepper
small splash of balsamic vinegar
…. until sizzling. Let cook for a bit over low heat until fragrant. Serve with the bread. Yum yum!
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