Dude? Who put in a request for this?

The weather people predicted 100 degree temps for the Heartland of America today, and guess what? This snapshot of our rear-view mirror on the way home from mass today confirms it:

Fizzy Refreshments

Finally, the Catholic Peeps and I are back to the regular weekend schedule, complete with Saturday afternoon mass and eating frozen yogurt treats at TCBY immediately afterward. Call it a ‘reward system’ for good church-like behavior. The system works, so we’re sticking with it. Only, today Catholic Girlie scored a fancy new TCBY treat called the “Sorbet Fizz” which basically consisted of strawberry-kiwi sorbet mixed with Sprite. Who thinks of these newfangled things anyway?

Dynamite Day

So the Catholic Family’s Friday July 3rd party got started early with my 8:00 am salon appointment and Hubs having the day off from work, meaning a breakfast of homemade waffles and steamy espresso to tide me over while sitting in that blessed salon chair for 2+ hours. Then, for wasting time purposes, I paid Kohls a visit and picked up 3 new outfits of skimmers (pants somewhere in between walking shorts and capris) and summer tops, because quite frankly, I needed a lil’ wardrobe update that didn’t bear the name of Nike or Adidas. (Father Chi frowns on that kind of thing during mass, you know.)

Meanwhile, Hubs & the Catholic Kids were home watching Roger Federer kick some tennis bootay at Wimbledon, out-and-about taking taking the car for a much needed oil change, and subsequently working up a good appetite for sub sandwiches. So guess what? I met those peeps at Barnes & Noble, because it just happens to be right next door to Kohls and a birthday gift card was burning a hole in my wallet. But we only left with a few books for the CK’s and my card intact. (BTW: Spent that baby online later in the afternoon, per Becca’s sweet book recommendation – thanks!) And finally, lunch at Subway where we replenished our starving bodies. *whew*

Then what? In search of a fireworks stand! More specifically, one bearing the Knights of Columbus logo, as we prefer buying fireworks in support of those nice Catholic gentlemen in our Archdiocese. Although, despite the fact that Catholic Son had his sights set on bringing home a 3-foot tall monstrosity of pseudo-dynamite, we settled with a nice grocery bag of fireworks fun to keep us safely entertained yet another year:

Rude Awakening

Here’s how not to wake up on a Saturday morning: with a certain child bursting into your bedroom as you sleep announcing that he/she found a present cat poo outside his/her bedroom door upon opening it. Dude. As if hubs and I need heart attacks bright and early in the morning? Ok, so clean-up time and then we’re over it. Breakfast wasn’t quite as appealing after that disgusting event, but you just move on with things. Ew.

Anyway, so Books-A-Million was having a huge ‘Summer Sale’ today forcing the Catholic Peeps and I to seek out a few book bargains. And that we did: 3 ‘Crime of Fashion Mysteries’ by Ellen Byerrum (me), ‘Darkest Fear’ and ‘Subterranean’ by James Rollins (hubs), 3 manga books (son), 3 chapter series novels (daughter) – all for $59 + tax. Crazy, I know! We were completely pumped after walking out of that place, and ready to read every single one of those sweeties. BAM rocks the planet with us right about now.

The afternoon barreled right on with Catholic Girlie trying out my new EA Sports Active and me cheering her on as I completed a few bicep curls & stretches, because my entire body was screaming after completing 2 days of my own personal EA Sports Active workouts. Lord have mercy on me. Then in no time flat, mass beckoned us over to the local parish where we put in a few extra prayers, thanking God for our blessings – with chlorine being very close to the top of that particular prayer list.

Speaking of which, we made a quick pit stop over to Kohls on our way back home, because apparently CS sent up his own personal ‘wish list’ to God: funky-rad new swim shorts.

Father’s Day: Part 1

For Father’s Day this year, we actually have a PLAN for Catholic Hubs/Dad thanks to the swanky survey we created especially for him to fill out. The Father’s Day Survey consists of selections for all kinds of meal choices and events, complete with little check boxes next to each item. Not only that, but we even put that convenient “other” option with a blank line next to it for many of the selections just in case our options weren’t up to snuff. Then with CH’s completed survey, we set out to achieve all of his requests over the weekend. Aren’t we amazing? I know!

So here’s what happened today, the first half of Father’s Day weekend:

• Shopping, Dad-Dude Style: With a Sports Authority gift card burning a hole in Hub’s wallet, we took him to the shopping center where he bought a few workout duds. But shopping didn’t end there, oh no. Best Buy and Books-a-Million beckoned from the curb for us to bring Hubs inside for a little more perusing, for Dad of course. Ok, so I walked out with a BAM membership for future savings, but I had good intentions.
• Lunch at Subway: This seems to be a recurring Saturday event , so who were we to keep Hubs away from a usual favorite? We’d never do such a thing. The menu: toasted Italian Herb/Cheese turkey footlong (split between Hubs & me), pepperoni & cheese 6-inch on white (CG), ham/turkey/white American cheese on wheat (CS) all complete with Lay’s BBQ chips on the side with carbonated beverages.
• Pool Time & Mowing: Hubs wanted to mow the lawn this weekend, so I took the CK’s to the pool for a couple of hours as a way to keep people busy. The weather was perfect for both: a little overcast and free of rain showers. I even snuck in some reading time while checking out the over-abundance of tattooed people swimming at the pool. How fun is that?
• Mass, Frozen Yogurt, Barnes & Noble: Next, we took CH to mass where Father Chi bestowed a Father’s Day blessing on Hubs and all of the other dads in attendance. So nice to have our weekly obligation out of the way on Saturday so we can sleep in on Sunday. Then we headed over to TCBY and treated CH to a cup of chocolate frozen yogurt topped with Heath bar crumbs, while the CK’s slurped down strawberry smoothies and I savored a cup of white chocolate mousse with fresh strawberries, whipped cream and Lactaid on the side. Then finally, because it was nearby and why the heck not, we visited Barnes & Noble where I left without buying a single book for myself. Miracles do happen.

Next: Day #2, Sunday (6/21), the OFFICIAL Father’s Day

Wedding Crashers

Watching your children’s babysitter walk down the aisle getting married is a total surreal experience, as determined by today’s events. I still can’t wrap my head around the whole thing, even after watching said bride cut cake with said groom, the same cake I drooled over not even an hour ago. I just can’t believe our former sitter is now a married woman, meaning the Catholic Kids are not too far behind. So hard to fathom that thought. It’s sort of like an out-of-body-experience where I’m watching the future take place before it even happens. Scary.

Anyway, the entire wedding event was simple, elegant and screamed class at the top of its lungs. The Catholic Family and I expected no less, as we’ve known the bride’s family from the time Hubs and I started working for the Corps of Engineers 15+ years ago. Daughter of a favorite Corps technician (someone whom we add to our emergency contact list at school every year), the bride is a fellow parishioner and long-time friend who was there in our time of need when we were new parents. We attended her High School ‘Open House’ after graduation and even rooted from afar when she earned her Master’s degree in another state. And yet tonight while walking through the receiving line, those same CK’s she babysat back in the day can just about look her in the eye, leaving her equally amazed at how fast the years have passed. *sigh*

But scary as it is, all I could think about during the wedding reception was sucking face with sweetly kissing my own groom every time I heard the *ching ching* of silverware hitting those water goblets. Makes a person want to get married all over again. Just once.

Screams of Joy

Hear that noise? Yes, you are hearing the sound of a multitude of catechists rambunctiously cheering with happiness this week, mostly due to our resident priest’s offer to teach CCD classes about how the Catholic mass takes place in his home country, Nigeria. And Father’s offer to do this kind act means:

WE’RE COMPLETELY OFF THE HOOK IN THE TEACHING DEPARTMENT! WOOHOOOOOOOO!!!! YOU ROCK DUDE!!!

Catechists are allowed to celebrate excessively on occasions such as these. Carry on, peeps.

Junk in the Trunk

This week’s Gospel reading during mass generated quite a buzz in the Catholic Family, which means more blogging material to share with my favorite blog readers. Yay for that!

Yesterday Father C delivered The Parable of the Wedding Banquet ever so eloquently, at least as smooth as any priest who happens to be a Nigerian native, but we got the point. Father then proceeded to explain several ways in which we, as parishioners, are expected to join in the banquet feast as members of the Catholic Community. One of these ways caused us all to sit up a little straighter in our pews and became the source of our buzz as we ventured home after mass:

• Me: You know, I liked the way Father C gave that ‘lil tongue lashing about dressing appropriately for mass. Some folks really need to clean up their act.
• CS: He said people were dressed HALF NAKED, Mom! Who’s doing that?
• Hubs: I think Father was referring to girls who wear tank tops and short-shorts. People aren’t really half naked during mass.
• Me: And he mentioned t-shirts with offensive words. I’ve seen some of those, and they really are distracting. What are the parents thinking in letting teens wear that kind of thing to mass?
• CG: Yeah, that one guy with the long hair. He wears t-shirts like that.
• Me (quietly to Hubs): Reminds me of that school function we went to last week. This mom-chick had all kinds of cracks on display. Absolutely no. shame. whatsoever.
• CS & CG (from backseat in unison): I saw her! She was so DISGUSTING!!!
• Me: Ok then. So much for thinking only adults notice that stuff… great.

So, wow. Not only must we appear as rude Americans to folks visiting the USA, but we also look like disrespectful parishioners at church. It’s always the bad peeps who ruin it for everyone else, isn’t it?

I’m officially moving to Italy.