Grandson's First Holy Communion

Tyler celebrated his First Holy Communion last Saturday.  How nice it is for him!  He has been waiting for this day anxiously, lately asking us each Sunday if it was time for him to receive.  It was a lovely ceremony.  The day after we had a big family party.  Lots of fun with family!

Before the ceremony, all spiffed up.

His banner for the pew.  Da and I helped him with the shapes, and then I stitched them to the banner.

We gave Tyler a small cross to wear.  

Mama and Ty at the church after the ceremony.

Up Late Studying

For work, I have to train and be tested for Neonatal Resuscitation.  There is a 300 page book to review, and online tests for each of nine chapters.  Next week I will go in and need to demonstrate the techniques, and then be evaluated.  I finished the book and tests tonight.  What a relief.  It was a very good review however, and some things have changed from 10 years ago when I previously worked in the NICU.

A Blessing From The Pope

Paul and I celebrated our wedding anniversary this past Monday.  The day before, I wanted to find our wedding album, not remembering where it was (it turned out to be up in the attic).  While looking, Paul found a box of wedding memorabilia.  How fun!  One of the things we found was a parchment sent to us by Bishop Vladimir Tarasevitch, who married us.  He had brought it from Rome, a blessing signed by then Pope John Paul II.  The funny thing was this: the day we found it again was the same day of the canonization of Pope John Paul II.  Anyway here it is.  I feel this blessing has been a special gift these past thirty years!

Easter Table

A long, but beautiful weekend: the Triduum, tons of choir music to sing each day of Holy Thursday, Good Friday, and the Saturday Vigil Mass, working a day shift Easter Sunday morning, and then coming home and cooking and baking with family for our meal.  I am grateful for Christ's sacrifice and Resurrection, for family, music, and good food.

Breakfast for Dinner

Ty's go-to meal, made more interesting and fun 

once Nana remembered the pancake molds hidden in a cupboard 

Losing a Friend and a Fellow Nurse

I received very sad news the other day.  A friend of mine died unexpectedly.  She was only 57.  She leaves behind her husband and three children, all of whom are still so young, late teens and early 20's.  Her name was Norine.  I met her when we were both attending St. Francis Hospital School of Nursing.  We had a lot of laughs during school.  Later, we met up again when I first began homeschooling Robert and Kristin.  She was a wealth of information, gave me lots of ideas and some books.  After our kids grew up we still kept in touch, sometimes for "tea lady" events, and most recently when I called her for advice on a situation with my grandson in the fall, and then more recently when we just called to chat.  We had a good long talk that I am very grateful to have had.

I went to the Shen Yun dance performance today (stunningly beautiful performance).  The themes of many of the dances dealt with the divine and the struggles of life.  I found this to be great comfort.  In particular, one of the songs sung made me think of my grief at the loss of Norine.  Although this song comes from a different faith practice than mine, the sentiments are universal, and I was particularly touched by this:

Life's True Meaning
by D. F.

Human life is ever changing
Joy and happiness always go hand-in-hand with worry and grief
Happiness is paved with hardship
When wishes don't come true I often wonder
What is human life after all?
Dafa helped me to understand the truth
Most people come from various heavenly paradises
When the heavens faced disaster we came to earth
To wait for the Creator to purify our lives
I have no more sorrow and am no longer lost
Because I waited, and now the Creator,
King of the Fa (Great Way of the Universe), has arrived
Because I am on a god's path to home

Thawing Out The Garden

Finally, our area is feeling warmth (i.e. 40° "warm" today).  Tomorrow is supposed to be even better (52°!).  This got me thinking about my garden for the first time in months.  Last week I had gotten an indoor basil kit (when it seemed like it would never get warm - gotta have some fresh veg in the house), and Tyler and I prepared it today:

The Kit

Ty watering the newly planted basil seeds in the cute metal container

After this I thought it would be a good idea to go ahead to the garden center and get some supplies in anticipation of tomorrow.  I wanted to go today while it was colder, because on the first day of the first sign of true warmth in this area, the garden centers are flooded with people.  In spite of the cold though, I donned my boots and at least got started with some prep work outside.  It was great to be outside for longer than a few moments.  My body was in shock from fresh air and exposure to sunlight!

I cleaned leaves and dead stalks from the garden beds.  The soil in the raised beds is loose, but below it is still frozen.  Fortunately I can plant cool-weather crops in the raised soil and not worry about that.  There is still more clean up to do, but at least I got it started.

I mixed up the first batch of a soil to replenish soil lost in the boxes last year.  

I used the Mel's Mix recipe from the Square Foot Garden website (although I use cow manure rather than compost).  I was lucky that Paul had found some packages of vermiculite - very hard to find nowadays.

  

At the center I also bought cool-weather seeds: broccoli, carrots, leeks, romaine lettuce, 

buttercrunch lettuce, spinach, and sugar snap peas.

I also bought a pair of extra-small gardening gloves.  

In case a little pal might want to help me plant.

Quittin' Time!