Can a working mom be saved?

Sometimes I feel damned, doomed, whatever, just by the century we live in.........I read about saintly people and find it hard to relate. There's a standard answer, but perhaps more meaningful are some of the people I've run across lately who lived in this same crazy world. For me, they give hope, and I really love how they demolish some popular judgments and stereotypes, too.

Blessed Chiara Luce Badano - http://www.chiaraluce.org/ - was born in 1971 and died at age 18. As a teenager (besides being holy) she went to school, socialized with friends at a coffee shop, played tennis, and wore makeup.........among many other things. Saint Gianna Beretta Molla - http://www.saintgianna.org/ - I've known about for a while, but it was wonderful to see a photo of her dressed in pants! And she was a working mom, too, who enjoyed dancing and date nights with her husband.

Someone less well-known is Servant of God Charles Untz - http://catholicism.org/another-patron-for-boy-scouts.html - who died in 2000 at age 18. He was homeschooled with Seton (and lots of us can relate to that!) and was an Eagle Scout who was involved with the parish youth group and had a part-time job.

Obviously, all the things I'm pointing out aren't what make them great, but they do make a point about what's essential and what's not. Since my pants, job, and makeup don't disqualify me, it's time to start trying to be like them in what does matter.

(See Chiara Luce A life lived to the full, by Michele Zanzucchi)
(See Saint Gianna Molla, by Pietro Molla and Elio Guerriero)

The Surprise

Saturday was a long day. In the evening Tom fell asleep on the couch watching a movie, and that always means he stays there.............I learned about a decade ago that it's not really possible to wake him up without WWIII. :)

Sometime Sunday morning, I half woke up when he came in the room and thought, "Oh good, he got up and can go to bed for a few hours before Mass." I fell back asleep hearing - as I thought - Tom finding his PJ's and getting ready for bed. But when I kept hearing him, I started to wonder........so I cracked open my eyes and he was in his dress clothes.........the alarm hadn't even gone off yet.

"Watcha doin'?" "It's a secret. I'm going to Mass now because I'm doing something special for you." ?????????????????????
I had no idea what was going on, but he took Tommy and headed to the 8:30 Mass.

Still wondering, I got home later after 10:30 Mass and CCD, walked into the dining room and.............the room was cleaned up, the table looked nicer than it has in years - good table cloth and dishes, bouquet of roses. AND the dishes were done and he had bacon, scrambled eggs with veggies and bacon, pancakes with lots of toppings, donuts, and mimosas all ready to be served! (This from a man who loathes cooking BTW.) Of course it was wonderful to come home to delicious food, and it also brought back good memories since Tom and I used to make a huge brunch (including cocktails) on Sundays when we were engaged!

It was not hard to find something to be positive about this Sunday - thank you, Sweetie, you're the best!

Girls' Night Earrings

My sister-in-law Jeanne is more a friend than an "in-law"! A few years ago, she invited another sister-in-law and I on a late night outing with some of her friends from Northern VA. Now, to voluntarily invite your older-than-you, married sister-in-laws is a real act of friendship, but when she said that she was "bringing some friends along", not "can my sister-in-laws come?" our hearts were really touched!

Now that Jeanne is married and a mom, too, we have even more in common, and I'm so glad that she introduced me to earring-making this past year. A fast learner I definitely am not, but Jeanne has always been able to keep her tact and a straight face!  Her seed-bead earrings are, in my opinion, the highlights of our joint collection, and I'm excited to learn how to work with them. I invariably drop or lose a bead when we get together, so I've been hesitant to try these tiny beads!

For someone like me who doesn't draw, knit, sew, etc., making earrings is a rewarding way to be creative - not to mention a good excuse to get out of the house for a relaxing girls night! We also love that fact that we end up keeping and wearing our favorite pairs, and displaying the earrings at festivals has been fun, too. I've been a person with no hobby for years - thank you, Jeanne, for changing that!

Burning Candles not Houses

I've always loved burning candles; even the fact that I once lit our house fire with candles  has not deterred me! I just don't leave them burning in cheap glass containers on a plastic shelf full of papers in an unoccupied room anymore................. Right now there are candles all over the house, but for a while I've been terrible about actually thinking to light them!

Recently we bought a pure beeswax candle made by our friend, Michael Turner - http://www.etsy.com/shop/BeeswaxCandlelight?ref=pr_shop_more - and I've already lit it to brighten things up when skies or moods were a bit gray. Since winter means lots of gray days, I'm sure we'll be burning it often, and the beeswax candle is extra-special since it glows more brightly than regular candles and has a natural honey smell that we all love. We've also learned from Michael that burning a candle like this removes impurities from the air instead of adding them, and an interesting side note is that it takes about a quarter of a million miles of bee flight to make one candle like ours!

The candles come in lots of other shapes and are beautiful even when unlit. (There's one that reminds me of Winnie the Pooh that I want to get next!) Besides being on Etsy, Michael often sets up at local festivals and craft fairs, sometimes sharing a table with Tom and I, so if you love candlelight you might like to give pure beeswax candles a try!

Can two people fit in a bed this skinny?

Yep, as narrow as this bed is, it's where Tom and I both slept - for the brief stints when sleep was possible - on Sunday night. Tommy is happily at home now, but we were squeezed into this scrawny bed because it's in the hospital room where Tommy ended up when a cold turned into asthma.

Well, I thought I'd have written more posts by now, and I thought we'd be on a road trip to visit my family today. But not much has gone like I thought it would since Thursday night, with the unexpected trip to the ER and hospital being the best example. Mostly, we are thankful to God that Tommy is OK and grateful for the care he was given by the doctors and nurses at Warren Memorial. Along with that, though, we're so disappointed to miss our visit with my parents, four siblings, sister-in-law, two nieces, and three nephews, including one nephew whom we have not met yet!

I can't pretend to know why things happen the way they do, but I'm grateful for what the past couple days have taught me. I had been worrying and stressing about getting my work hours in, packing, etc. and none of it happened. What did happen was much more difficult than all the things I'd been stressing about, but in the moment I was given the strength I needed. Feeling awful on Sunday night, I told Tom I HAD to go to bed as soon as we finished Tommy's breathing treatment at 10pm. Instead of getting better, Tommy got much worse, so instead of going to bed, I spent most of the night helping with Tommy and driving home to pick up clothes, Tommy's stuffed animals, etc. Somehow, though, I made it to Monday at 7pm, when I REALLY had to go to bed and did. When I woke up at 2am it was with a great feeling of relief as I realized Tommy was peacefully sleeping and of gratitude to Tom to taking over and getting everyone to bed so I could crash.

At the hospital.

So, the moral should be trust and don't worry, but being a realist, I'll work on trusting more and worrying less!

St. Nicholas Coming to New Moms!

Today I want to write about my friend and sister-in-law, Naomi, as well as her new business and a great project she is working on. Naomi and I have been friends since highschool and are now happily married to Zepeda brothers, Ted and Tom. I am so blessed that Naomi and I have been able to stay close over the years and now watch our kids play together as cousins!

A few months ago Naomi began a business and is now a District Manager with Arbonne,  a company that offers health and beauty products with a focus on safe, natural, and effective ingredients. I"m already using the shampoo and facewash with good results! If you're interested in natural makeup, skincare, health supplements, etc., you should get in touch with Naomi. She knows a lot about the products and is just a wonderful lady to get to know. Right now Naomi is also using her business to brighten up the lives of women who are facing challenges this Christmas.

She is organizing a St. Nicholas project to give special Christmas presents to new moms through the Front Royal Pregnancy Center - http://www.frontroyalpregnancy.org/. A small, loving gift can do so much to lift someone up during a difficult time, so Naomi is hoping to provide an Aromassentials Awaken Gift Basket or  Pampermint Gift Basket from Arbonne to each FRPC client. She is offering these items at cost, which means that every donation of $35 purchases a Gift Basket for a mom in need of love and support. Donations of any amount are welcome and will go towards the purchase of more gifts. To contribute or get more details about Arbonne products, contact Naomi at tedandnaomi@gmail.com or (540)635-9785. To allow time to wrap and distribute the baskets, the donation deadline is November 29. What a great way to celebrate Christmas through giving!

My Love Hate Relationship with Woodworking

My two favorite Christmas presents - end grain cutting board and natural edge salad set - are the result of Tom's woodworking talents. So, the "love" part is easy to understand, but what's to hate? Well, not only do I love the beautiful and practical things Tom makes, but I'm pretty fond of him, too! This means that I "hate" the time in the shop that a woodworking hobby involves. Ideally, I suppose, the more I love Tom, the more I'll love knowing that he's enjoying creating beautiful pieces for people to cherish.

Tom's first bowl

On the left is Tom's first bowl and on the right and bottom are two of his latest pieces. In the past 3-1/2 years, Tom has journeyed from small, simple vessels to high-end works of art - often with a conspicuous lack of support on the homefront. Honey, I'm proud of you and what you've accomplished!

You can view more of Tom's work in the Plank and Nickel Gallery in Middleburg, The Good Life on Main Street in Front Royal, on facebook - https://www.facebook.com/BowlsByTomZepeda?ref=ts&fref=ts, and in his Etsy shop - http://www.etsy.com/shop/BowlsByTomZepeda. Also, he is often set up at local festivals and will be at St. John's Christmas Crafts Fair on November 24 and 25 as well as the Holiday Craft show in Leesburg - http://www.leesburgva.gov/index.aspx?page=572.

Praise and Worship

Writing shower door blogs for work gave me the idea of writing a blog for fun, and I've mulled over lots of different ideas - faith, politics, cooking, kids...........and unfortunately I don't have a shortage of opinions about any of them! I do often run short of "positivity", though, so the blog will be about the amazing things that I often take for granted.

That being said, I want to write the first one about a friend who put herself on the line to share her talents in a way that I truly appreciate. She has taken the initiative to get a Praise and Worship Mass started at our parish once a month, and while I haven't always been there, I've really been inspired by the joyful, prayerful music each time I've made the effort to get out the door on Saturday evening. It's so easy to see a need or have an idea and just leave it as a thought - thank you for making this a reality in spite of the sacrifice of time and the stress that goes with starting some thing new!

It often seems easier to go to God with sadness, repentance, and even reverence than with joy, but praise and worship music can help a person to pray happily. And with all the Biblical commands to rejoice, this is a good thing!