7-Quick Takes

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1. I did pretty good so far in this month of November remembering to pray for the dead, especially mama! I made it to mass on All Saints day, met the requirements for All souls, and have visted the cemetery three times. Hoping that this all helps mama if she needs it.

2. Noah went with me. Noah always goes with me if he thinks I need help or companionship. I think he might have a vocation but I try not to push him too hard – although living in the rectory as the pastor’s mother appeals to me as a retirement plan. I plan to keep up my office skills for that reason – just in case!

3. 21-year-old Calvin has taken 12-year-old Noah running now three times. They push and challenge each other which I find to be just astounding!! Last week they also took Izzy and although she fell behind a few times, she did pretty good most of the way. At least Calvin wasn’t annoyed and that’s the main thing if I want to keep this running relationship between the three going.

4. The tamborine and finger cymbals parts for Riu Riou Chiu is just… hard! You’re counting in 4s, 5s and a couple of 2 beat measures with dotted quarters and ties all over the place. We have a sectional next week on it – ugh! At least Gabe has his bongo part down.

5. To feed my need to debate and discuss I have become a commenter on a popular liberal political site. I find that I am not the only conservative on the site which is a pleasant surprise. I do not link my blog there, and I will not link to the site from here, at least not to my own discussions there (learning from past experience that it’s a good way to draw unwanted attention both places). But mostly it is fascinating to read what the other side thinks and how they arrive at their conclusions. That helps me a lot to understand and to form my own thoughts and opinions.

6. I gave in and signed Gabe up for Kolbe Academy. I’ll probably do an entire blog post on that later, but basically Gabe reminds me a lot of his father- no idea what he wants out of the high school experience, no idea what he wants to do after high school, struggling with math and writing. And the struggle isn’t that he can’t do it, but more that he doesn’t want to do it and doesn’t see a reason to do it! So I’m hoping that by having to be accountable to Kolbe he will be more amenable to getting his work done.

7. Rosie lost her bottom baby tooth. It occurs to me that I am living through a lot of last firsts. This is the last time one of my children will lose a first baby tooth. Exciting to see them grow up, but it’s a little sad too.

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