The best man, Jerry, already has a website full of wedding pics. Which is especially nice since I still cannot figure out why I can’t post photos to our website. But this is great... all I have to do is link to it. Thanks, Jerry.

(We clean up quite well, don’t we?)

Oh, life is like that. Sometimes, at the height of our revelries, when our joy is at it's zenith, when all is most right with the world, the most unthinkable disasters decend upon us.
Still recovering from the wedding.
All is most right with the world.
Except for the upper respiratory virus working its way through the extended family.
And the dog who ran away on Tuesday who still has not returned. This does not look good.

Charles Joseph!!!
Mama and Papa-Lu get a wonderful gift on the fourth day of Christmas.

Marvelous!
Too tired to say much. Except that the wedding was marvelous. Absolutely marvelous.
Will write more later.

Distrust any enterprise that requires new clothes.
What can I say? My father was right. I thought the Thoreau quote was just a stock phrase he pulled out anytime I wanted a new outfit. Wish I had more time to write about my week-end, especially the test run of “can we get dressed and to the church on time?” (aka the 1:00pm wedding of the daughter of close friends. Just Rick and me. At our parish. An hour later than Emily’s noon wedding. How complicated could that be?) The answer: NO. It was a beautiful wedding. And the kind of week-end that will be really, really funny...in the future. I’ll just drop a hint. By Sunday afternoon I was pumped full of Tylenol 3, watching Rick try on suits at Nordstrom Rack. (Don’t worry Em and Ed - they didn’t have the bright blue Burberry suit in his size. But if we had the money to blow on jokes it would have fun to get him one. Just to see the look on your faces. Of course, if we had a lot of money the whole disaster would have been a non-issue. But sometimes a lack of money is a blessing. It keeps one from doing rash, unnecessary things. Like buying the cool neckties - in von Huben family orange - that would have been very funny to give to all the men in the wedding party....)

You would think I would have absorbed more by osmosis...
How low would my score be if I didn't live in a house of geeks?

Oh?
Like people who need food from a food bank need germs more than we do. Like people who can’t afford enough food can afford Nyquil, Halls lozenges and potential emergency room visits:

”As for polite cookie disposal, Tribune advice columnist Amy Dickinson says that if you're nervous about eating anything--for dietary or for any reason at all--then simply don't eat it. Thank the person graciously, take the treats home ("I'm saving these for dessert") and do with them what you will.And if you feel guilty about tossing them in the garbage, Janse suggests donating them to a food bank or "leaving them in the downstairs cafeteria for others (just not anyone you like!)." “ (bold emphasis is mine)

As for microbes on the office copier...I don’t worry so much. Since the copier at work is more of a potential source of apoplexy than infection.

Eggnog martini? Blech!

You Are Blitzen

Always in good spirits, you're the reindeer who loves to party down with Santa. Why You're Naughty: You're always blitzed on Christmas Eve, while flying! Why You're Nice: You mix up a mean eggnog martini.

Which of Santa's Reindeer Are You?

Via Happy Catholic.

Greetings...
from the land beyond panic.

Two weeks from today is Emily's wedding. The reality is sinking in. Em has it all together, but I still have a few minor details to take care of. (Shoes, hair. And proper fitting dignified pants for the brothers of the bride.)

Christmas is perilously close, too. But I don't like to be overprepared too far in advance. Hence, no tree. No lights. The listening for the UPS truck bringing the stuff I've ordered online. Not to mention the details we're taking care of at work.

Come for the bickering beavers...
stay for the marvelous story.

Being short on willful suspension of disbelief and possessing little interest in fantasy (OK, I like “Bridadoon” but that is probably an anomaly) I had never read any of that Narnia stuff. Was The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe made into some cartoon movie a few decades back? Well, I didn’t see that, either. So it was because it was Eddie’s birthday movie choice* that I went along to the movies yesterday. The trailers we saw last summer made it look tolerable if not somewhat interesting.

What a marvelous time we had. Charming and profound...not an easy feat of filmmaking.
I see on the back of the Cheerios box that I can enter a Narnia Online contest to win free tickets. I think I shall do that. This is definitely a movie we want to see again. Oh, that Tilda Swinton is cold...such an exquisite depiction of evil. Cold, selfish, impatient, false...

Tickets had been on sale since the fall, but not knowing what time our plans would accomodate we just jumped in the car and headed out to ShowPlace 8 for the 3:30 show.
It was nicely attended**, but we were in no danger of not getting a seat. (My worst case scenario was a vision of standing in the lobby with Rick and the boys, saying, “We either come back when tickets are available or we go to see RENT.)

* Talk about great family planning. Big Christmas movies often often on Eddie’s birthday. The early summer blockbusters (such as last year’s Star Wars whatever) open on Chuck’s birthday.

** Whenever we go to the earliest movie on a school day, I am tempted to stand up and shout, “How many homeschoolers do we have in the house?”

Still checking hearth...
for bags of gold. Maybe I'll eat a Peep Snowman and few chocolate coins. Traditional December 6th breakfast.

Thanks to St. Nicholas for favors received.
Now about Embot's dowry...

Oh...
I noticed that I misspelled Christmas in a previous post. That's going to be in my dreams (nightmares?) tonight. There are tasks I do at work in which letting Christmas pass out of the office as "Chritsmas" would be quasi-disastrous. I've had a few moments when I answer the phone "good morning" in the pm or "good afternoon" in the am. Let's just hope that callers think perhaps I have been outsourced to a different time zone.

3 Weeks! Oh my!
The countdown has me hyperventilating a little. Sort of like waiting for Emily to be born. Except I know the exact time and date. And I have to look good. (Not that Em gets off easy...she has to do more than show up naked, slippery and screaming for everyone to find her adorable this time.)

Primum non nocere
or
Doctor says he just wanted to get rich with lice 'treatment'
Parents who paid $285 for an experimental head lice treatment for their children might be scratching their own heads, now that the doctor selling the stuff says it's really a skin cleanser available for less than $10 a bottle at drugstores nationwide.

This is the kind of thing that sticks in my mind when a doctor is adamant about a specific treatment. Eroded trust in the medical profession is hard to heal...

What sheer delight to draw back 'the blue velvet curtain' of the day and then revel in the beauty of its masterpiece. ..
or
At least no one tried to eat it.
Back in August, when money was more abundant and Christmas seemed so very far away, I sent away for a Madonna & Child Advent Calendar. Exquisite. And a justifiable educational expense. On the evening of November 30, having realized several weeks ago that I was the only one truly psyched about the art calendar, I was once again assembling a Playmobil advent calendar. Eddie still likes Playmobils and the advent calendar always adds some nice pieces to the collection. (And my self-esteem is enhanced as I realize that with each passing year I am better at the assembly. The first year was a disaster of frustration. This year I completed the job in under 30 minutes with only two paper cuts.) Martha bought a chocolate advent calendar...having heard the cries of those who realized you can digest, but not eat a fine art calendar.

Too many choices. I’m nostalgic for the advent calendars of my youth. Printed in Germany. Glitter. Angels. Baby Jesus at the end. And we used to have those in our public school classrooms, too. Working out to approximately one window per child. Not just at home.

The dinner time attempts at discussing the work of the day are not the enriching experiences I had hoped for. The boys know more than they let on...but like to yank my chain when I least appreciate it. (“What do we call this type of painting? Anyone, anyone? You know, when the angel visits the Virgin Mary?” “A mosaic?” “A tondo?” Nyuk, nyuk, nyuk) This week we’ll shoot for short research during the day and then light discussion at dinner. My nerves are stretched pretty thin. Work is fun but a little wacky this time of year. Chritsmas mailing not ready to go yet. That’s OK - last week’s paper cuts are still healing. Altar servers to be scheduled. (After determining who isn’t leaving town...and if everyone is leaving town why is it so hard to find a place to sit when we go to Mass on Christmas? ) And the phone. Already an up-tick in phone calls. The same urge to reply, “Same as it ever was...” And then the wedding details.

Sorry. Gotta go...have to be up early tomorrow so its time for prayers and then curling up in the fetal position.

Boot liners!
If they are on eBay and are priced in British pounds, chances are they will not fit in my size 10 Sorels. Must. Refine. Search.

...maybe the dust of some ancient civilization.
Slowly pulling out some decorations. (I’m really not into putting Christmas before Advent. Or Thanksgiving. But some pre-paration is needed. Trust me, the house won’t be ready until Christmas.) What am I to make of dust found on doo-dads hastily packed away last January? Dust that’s been waiting in a box for eleven months to co-mingle with the current dust. This makes me think of Pigpen. So why don’t we put on Charlie Brown and cool our heels a while.

Or mayber not...
Modem may have healed itself.

So much for the on-line shopping...
or blogging. Or any thing. For the next couple of days. Something about needing a new modem. This may be my chance to make good on promises to clean and organize. Maybe one quick stop at amazon before I leave for home...

RINUNCE E NOMINE
and Congratulations to my old boss.
Il Papa ha nominato Ausiliare dell’arcidiocesi di Chicago (U.S.A.) il Rev.do Sacerdote George J. Rassas, del clero della medesima arcidiocesi, Vicario Generale, assegnandogli la sede titolare vescovile di Reperi.
And to think I almost blew off work because of a wretched headache. And I didn’t check the Vatican daily “bollettino” (by which I am teaching myself pidgen Italian) and I could have missed a day of such excitement. Head still hurts but we’re feeling happy. So it’s off to bed to channel surf between Pope movies and watch the news.

And, hey Em, with all due respect, what did you think Il Papa had nominated him for? A Major Award! Well, yes, it came from Italy. But not in a crate marked F-R-A-G-I-L-E. Four years of Latin? Hmmm. Or is it wedding on the brain?
We have enjoyed the the 30-Second Christmas Story with Bunnies. About 50 times since I talked to you!
I do think it’s weird that they waffled with the politically correct Holiday Greetings on the start up screen. It’s called A Christmas Story, for crying out loud. If you find Christmas offensive, you probably have stumbled into the wrong bunny movie anyway.