Answer to the riddle, church and more riddle fun.

I'm very sorry for the delay. I've been so busy lately that when I get to the computer I check in on FF, the Pumpkin Patch and Facebook and then I have to get to other things.

So - the answer to the riddle..... A river.
And now when you see the answer you go...oh, yeah, that makes sense! I did too.

Mary Jo is making her first Reconciliation tonight. For my non Catholic friends this is our second of 7 sacraments. It is where we begin confessing to our sins and asking God for forgiveness. It's also a lead up to First Communion (which she'll be doing in the spring.)
Truth be told, it's one of the sacraments I'm not a giant fan of. I don't see it necessary to confess my sins to a Priest and ask him for absolution. I know what I've done wrong, God knows what I've done wrong and as long as I am truly sorry and ask him (in my own way) for forgiveness, He will forgive me.
But - in order for Mary J to be able to move on to her First Communion and Confirmation she must do it. And while I will encourage her to do so, the fact of the matter is my first confession when I was 7 was also my last. I'm always brought back to the line in the Alanis Morissette song Forgiven "I confessed my darkest deeds to an envious man"

This brings me to something else though. It's not secret that I am a buffet style Catholic. I pick and chose from my religion what works for me (no confession but Eucharist at every mass I attend) Up until now I only went to church when I needed to. Needed to because I was getting married or I was having a baby and wanted her or him Baptised or one of my kids is due to receive a sacrament. I'm a Chr-Easter Catholic. However, having to go and ask Father for a recommendation letter to apply to the Catholic school board, combined with Mary having her reconciliation have brought me back to going to church regularly.

The thing is, I'm discovering that I actually enjoy going to church. I feel comfortable. I feel peaceful (when I'm not telling Mary to be quite) I especially enjoy listening to Father's homilies. See, he's kind of a quite, straight guy and every now and then he'll throw a joke in and it's surprising which makes it ever funnier. And he's able to make the readings and the Gospel more relevant. The last few weeks I've come out of mass feeling more inspired. It could just be that I've found my way back to my church. Imagine that.

Of course, Connor is not ready for it, he can't sit that still or quiet and I don't like the location of our cry room so I'll continue to go as long as I don't have to bring him with me. He's got time before I have to start really bringing him.

And just for shiggles....another riddle for you.
First person to reply with the right answer gets a virtual prize!

What word becomes shorter even if you add to more letters to it?

A riddle

What can run but never walks
Has a mouth but never talks
Has a head but never weeps
Has a bed but never sleeps?

Rites of passage

I watched a movie yesterday, a documentary called "Don't You Forget About Me" It's about four Canadian filmmakers who are making a movie about the impact of John Hughes films on teens for generations and they decide to go to Chicago to try and interview him (he became a recluse in the 90's)

Several of the people interviewed in the movie (actors, directors, writers, regular movie going public) made a comment that watching John Hughes films is like a rite of passage for teens.
I do agree with that. For what it's worth I can recite the dialogue to The Breakfast Club and Sixteen Candles. (for the Breakfast Club I can recite the dialogue in both the original and edited for language versions)

Emily watched part of the Breakfast Club with me one time. Not all though, it was on the movie channel and therefore not edited for content. I did tell her though that one day she would be allowed to watch the whole movie, encouraged to in fact because it's just as relevant today as it was in the 80's. Teenagers haven't changed. And I have no doubt she will learn to appreciate the movie as much as so many of us have.

Which brings me to another rite of passage. Judy Blume. I have my old, ragged copy of "Are You There God? It's Me Margaret." Emily has just started reading it. I did warn her that it's a little dated, that Margaret has to use a belt to hold her maxi pad in place. But all the same, I remember so very well my love affair with Judy Blume books. I learned that I was normal because all the things I felt were the same things that Margaret felt. Admittedly I also learned a bit more than I bargained for. I remember the conversation with my mother, asking her what a hard on was after reading about it in "Then Again, Maybe I Won't"

I guess these rites of passage start early. I kind of like knowing though that there is this one thing we'll have in common as Emily gets older and, I fear, starts to pull away from me, the way teenaged girls do. It might be a silly bond but something to bond us none the less.

It's the little things....like ketchup

I'm out of ketchup. Not really a tragedy, I know. I can always pick up some more tomorrow. But I made hamburgers for supper. I really really need ketchup on my burger.

So I did what I always do when I'm out of something. I went downstairs to raid my mom's fridge.

When I was a kid my brothers and I used to joke that my Dad would put ketchup on his cereal if he could. My dad ate ketchup with everything. Sean used to say that my dad would ruin a perfectly good steak by smothering it with ketchup. My dad was so known for his ketchup consumption that my Uncle actually joked about it in my dad's eulogy.

So I went downstairs to steal some ketchup and lo and behold, there was none. My mom is not a ketchup connoisseur. Since my dad died she rarely buys milk (she's allergic) She buys small amounts of butter because it actually sits so long it goes bad. And, I guess, she doesn't buy ketchup. Those were my dad's things.

It made me sad. Not because I had to eat my burger without ketchup but because if he was still here with us, I wouldn't have had to. There would have been ketchup. Having no ketchup is just another reminder that he's not here either and that just plain sucks.

Ironically, my dad would have never, in a million years, put ketchup on a burger. Apparently ketchup was not made to be eaten on hot dogs or hamburgers (but was made for t- bone steaks?!?!)

So, in honour of my dad, I ate my hamburger Mike style....ketchup free.

A boy and his quirks

Yes, my boy is quirky.

When we go out, anywhere at all, he needs to step on the sewer grates. Every. Single. One. He can spot a sewer grate at the other end of a parking lot the size of a football field. It doesn't matter if it's raining or 20 below, he's got to step on those sewer grates.
He's getting taller, tall enough that he can see out the window in the van. He can now spot sewer grates in the road and he'll shout at every one of them. "Mommy!! Sewer!!!"

When we get dressed he likes to play a game. It's called 'stick everything that doesn't belong in that hole, into that hole" So when putting on pants he needs to first pretend to stick both hands in the one leg hole and then his head and my job is to say "Ha ha, you're so funny"

He loves dress up. In particular he loves the pink cheetah high heel shoes. He also loves the doll stroller. But now dolls allowed. I guess that's not manly enough.

When we're in the bathroom and it's time to flush the toilet, he needs to life both the lid and the toilet seat before flushing it. Kind of gross but it's his thing. He also need to put the plug in the sink when washing.

When we're out for walks he needs to hit post boxes. "Bang Bang Mommy!" He also needs to hit pillars at the mall or WalMart. Why? I don't know, it's fun for him. He just wants to give them a slap. "Bang Bang Mommy!"

I'm sure these silly little habits will wear themselves out but for now I think they're kind of sweet. My quirky little boy.

Tsk tsk

Bad little blogger. It's been too long since I wrote. It's not for lack of things to say, just a lack of time.

So let's get busy.

I'm pondering yet another career change, though with a lot of anxiety. I thought at first that getting into the school board this early in the transition to full day learning would be bad. There are going to be issues with the ECE's and the teachers, a pissing contest if you will, but I also see the merits in getting in. Union. Better pay. Pension. School holidays off with my kids. And the best part, fulfilling a dream to be a kindergarten teacher.
So I'm applying to all four boards (Durham public and Catholic and Toronto public and Catholic.) The clincher of this of course being that I need to have a Pastoral Reference Letter to apply to the catholic boards and I'm not entirely sure I'll be able to get one. I'm still waiting on the Priest to call me back and I'm a nervous wreck. I'll keep you posted.

I've discovered that I'm raising a mall walker. On Monday mornings I don't have any daycare kids here so Sean and I go to the mall. Of course, it's not open until 10 so we just walk and window shop. With the little old ladies and little old men. And Connor joins right in. He loves the freedom of being able to walk around the mall when it's not open because it's just us and the mall walkers and I don't worry about Grampa trampling him (though I do worry about him tripping Grampa!)
I wonder about my future. When the stores start opening the mall walkers all gather at Timmies or the food court and they drink their tea and eat their muffins and they all know each other (it's like the old people version of my high school days hanging out in the food court and Woodside Mall) The yell things at each other across the food court, they giggle and they seem to be in cliques.
I wonder if Sean and I will be like that when we're older. I wonder if my mom thought she and my dad would be like that now? And then I get sad.

Finally, today was my EDD for Violet. Had I not miscarried I would be planning a third birthday party sometime around now. As always I say how bittersweet this day is. If I hadn't have lost this baby I wouldn't have Connor now. And while this day three years ago was incredibly hard, it was also joyous because I had also just learned that I was pregnant with Connor. Everything happens for a reason. We may not always like it when it happens but I think in the end, the outcome is worthwhile.

And Connor is certainly worth my while.