Elena 
1. I think every blogger who has been blogging for years starts to look back at their blog and ponder how times have changed, or even how the blogger has changed! Over the holidays I was looking at the blog at one of my old nemeses and she mentioned that she had given herself a Christmas present by eliminating the majority of her old blog posts. To paraphrase she said:
I deleted all of the posts on this blog… there were over 2,000 posts and I was tired of wading through them, seeing things that no longer reflected who I am as a person.
I gotta tell you – that sounded appealing on some levels. I look back at debates and other discussions on this blog that were so important at the time and now they simply aren’t. Some things like old memes were just silly.
But at the same time, one of the reasons for keeping the blog was to have something my children could look at in the future as a snapshot of the times as they were! Erasing bits of it seem like re-writing history. So I’m slowly going through and deleting things that were more time sensitive like announcing blog carnival updates etc, and some of the sillier memes, but keeping the bulk of it. Hopefully by looking backward to forward, growth will be evident! At least I hope so.
2. Speaking of old nemeses, Jennie, one of my apologetics debate partners wrote me a very nice e-mail a few weeks ago. A few excerpts:
I am writing to you because over the years I have been undergoing a change of heart and understanding about my past blogging and commenting…
I truly believe that Catholics who love and follow Christ are my brothers and sisters, and I hope and pray that the church will be united in love for Christ and one another.
That was very sweet of her to write and it touched my heart deeply that she took the time and trouble to do that. Thank you friend, and I wish you all the best as well!
3. Izzy was born with a bump on her foot. I remember noticing it one day when I was changing her diaper. I would press on it and she wouldn’t wince in pain or even seem to care, and as she grew into a toddler, it didn’t stop her from walking either. I had her pediatrician look at it a couple of times and he didn’t think it was anything to worry about. About five years ago he referred us to a surgeon to have it removed, but this pediatric surgeon started talking about skin grafts from her stomach to cover the bottom of her foot after it was removed, and that just sounded strange to me. He also seemed very concerned about our insurance coverage and just overall gave me a bad vibe so we never went back. During one of her sports physicals the sports doctor looked at it and said, “I can take that off!” Although I thought the first surgeon was overkill, I thought this one was underestimating the job, so we didn’t take him up on the offer. Izzy ran cross country and we hardly ever thought about the bump on her foot.
But as she started wearing more fashionable shoes, her bump started to bother her, and now that she is 5 foot 8 and 129 pounds, it has become more of an issue, to the point that I started noticing her favoring that foot. So I did some research and found a foot surgeon and we went in to see her last week.
This doctor examined Izzy’s foot in a way that I never saw the other doctors do. I could tell that she really knew her foot anatomy and physiology and was particularly knowledgeable about all the nerves and vessels in the foot! Nothing showed up on Izzy’s x-ray so in a week and a half we are having an MRI done to see the structure of this thing and then talk about our options. This will be quite an adventure.
At the end of our visit the doctor told me that I looked so familiar to her! We tried to figure out how we knew each other and then we finally figured it out- I was the wedding coordinator at her wedding at my church back in 2012 – small world!
4. We got our pre-cana evaluations in and I was so relieved! I thought that my talk had gone well, and the evaluation seemed to confirm that.
I had been afraid that some of my anecdotal stories didn’t “ring true” to the young couples, or perhaps were not relatable to them. But one couple wrote:
“It is nice hearing experiences of others that are able to genuinely share the hard stories/facts of life.”
Another couple said that I was “relatable, honest and open.” So maybe there’s some tread on the old girl yet!!
I told them I’d be happy to do it next year if they want me to – but I really want Mr. Pete to be there too!
5. Yogurt. I’ve been making the SCD yogurt in the yogurt maker and eating it daily without fail for the last two weeks and I’ve learned a couple of things. First, that its probiotic power is better than the over-the-counter probiotic my gastroenterologist recommended. I can truly tell the difference from when I was not eating it daily. However, because it does take some time and effort to make, I’m not going to bake with it any more. Baking destroys its probiotic powers, so I’m just going to use regular Danon Yogurt for baking. Lastly, it has done wonders for my feminine health (ladies will know what I mean!) The only downside (no pun intended) is that I have to eat it every day, and for my body, that means throughout the day. I’ve been using it in a smoothie for breakfast and then in place of sour cream for dinner. I’m going to experiment with making the yogurt into a salad dressing to get some variety with it.
6. Rosie art started studying with Izzy’s art teacher this month. This is her first creation.
6. Izzy art!
