Odds and Ends

With all the business of the past few days, I sadly did not find time to blog in celebration of two of my favorite feast days, Friday's feast of Saints Michael, Gabriel, and Raphael, archangels and yesterday's feast of St. Therese of Lisieux. I will remind you again to take a few moments to read a great article by Patrice Fagnant-MacArthur at CatholicMom.com entitled "Lessons from St. Therese". Unfortunately, at the time of my confirmation, I wasn't wise enough to select St. Therese as my patron saint, but since then I've adopted her as one of my favorites. St. Michael has been a favorite owing to my fondness for a certain Irish priest named after him. Also, I will never forget the sight of my second grade Eric dressed up as St. Michael for his All Saints Day presentation.

This Sunday, we celebrated Respect Life Sunday at our Parish. The focus at our church this year is on supporting Project Rachel, which ministers to women following abortion. Click here to learn more about Project Rachel and their work.

Today, we celebrate the feast of the Guardian Angels. My mother loves to remind me that my guardian angel works overtime. It's true! He's either one severely overworked dude or he has a tribe of part time assistants. He watches over me, my children, my SUV (he's happy with my recent attempts to eradicate cell-phone talking while driving) and my computer! "Angel of God" remains one of my favorite prayers - a gift passed to me from my own parents that I now share with my sons daily.

In football news, perhaps you saw the Irish convincingly defeat Purdue (35-21) on Saturday. In a moment of sudden clarity, I finally figured out why I keep hearing the stupid Michigan Fight Song at my son's high school football games following every touchdown. One of my fellow football moms, noting my distress at hearing it played, informed me that it is the official Fight Song for San Joaquin Memorial high school. For Irish fans who are still recovering from this year's devastating loss to Michigan, that song is almost as bad (but not quite) as the USC fight song. I guess I'm going to have to get used to it - no one is taking my suggestion that Notre Dame's fight song would be a more appropriate selection for our Catholic high school.

Eric's team, still looking for a victory, did a little better Friday night but still lost. He started at Center and played there for about half the game. I need to figure out a legal and healthy way to help him grow six inches and gain fifty pounds if he really wants to be an offensive lineman. He looks so big at home, but very small out on the field!

Speaking of Eric, he and I participated in the annual Heart Walk on Saturday to raise needed funds for heart research. We always walk together in honor of my dear friend Michelle who suffered a freak heart attack eight years ago. From the AHA website:

Did you know that heart disease kills more people in America each year than any other disease? And that stroke is a leading cause of disability and the No. 3 killer? Read on to discover ways that you and your loved ones can help reduce your risk. And learn how to recognize and respond to the warning signs of a heart attack or stroke. Just 30 minutes a day of physical activity can lead to a stronger, healthier body. Take a small step toward better health by being physically active just 10 minutes 3 times per day. Click here for some heart healthy tips. An hour spent walking and talking with my wonderful fifteen year old did my heart a lot of good on Saturday!

This morning, I had a weird moment when I was reading my daily "Google alert" email. I have it sent to me daily, and it contains headlines from major news stories containing the word "Catholic". I typically just scan the headlines and hit delete. This morning, one of the headlines sounded familiar: it was for my recent story on Apprentice contestant Tarek Saab. That was kind of exciting for me - I hope it brings more attention to Tarek's new company Lionheart Apparel.

In the last news note for Monday before I have to go pick up Adam at school, I am happy to announce that we're about to begin posting Spanish translations for some of the wonderful Puppet Show Ministry scripts at CatholicMom.com. Lisa Mladinich has been working with the talented Maria Rivera to make this dream a reality. I would love some day to have all of our kids resources available in Spanish (and Chinese, Japanese, and Russian would be great too!). I continue to receive emails from around the world from teachers and families who are using the CatholicMom.com resources and it never ceases to amaze me how the Holy Spirit is using the internet to reach hearts and souls.