so a few items I splurged on for my birthday:

a Sansa Fuze









Elliptical Machine









and a new mattress, we know how I feel about sleep






overall, my birthday was fantastic...
my teens gave me a bunch of items from the dollar store...the highlight - a rubber chicken!!! i LOVE rubber chickens...gah, I miss my NET years...

then I went over to LF's for fun, pizza, and carrot cake...literally 5 minutes after consuming one piece of cake, her younguns' were bouncing off furniture...J asked if he could get on the treadmill...uh, YEAH! J ran on said treadmill for a good 10 minutes...wow, what white sugar can do to 3 children...

I am looking forward to D and J eating LF and JF out of house and home in a few years...

Gosh, I love being HOME!

now, its off to take apart a CARGO bed and haul it downstairs so that there's room when SEARS delivers the mattresses and Elliptical.

tonight...ok earlier this evening...

let's start off and say I have had extremely productive days at work. I love my ministry position. there are a few things that I have not started, but I am not worried...I still have a few weeks before its crunch time on those projects...

tonight was our first Confirmation class for YEAR ONE...that concept is difficult to explain...the parish switched to 2 years of actual sacramental prep for Confirmation...meaning the teens attend 10 Confirmation classes their FIRST year and 10 Life Nights...and 15 service hours....AND then 8-9 YEAR TWO Confirmation classes and 10 Life NIghts and 15 service hours...

you would think that would not be that difficult to understand...but we are just in our 2nd year of this 2 year sacramental prep....so we have parents coming up and calling to say they have a 10th grader who is going to be confirmed this year...BUT was not in Confirmation class last year...AND who they want to be Confirmed this year...

so, because this is my first year at the parish, I am giving TWO choices to these 10th graders: go to ALL 1st and 2nd year sacramental prep classes and do your service hours and attend 10 Life Nights, and you can be confirmed in March...but starting next year, they won't have that option, they'll be in FIRST YEAR sacramental prep their 10th grade year and receive the sacrament as a junior...sorry, ya'll just need to get with the program...

its no longer 9th grade class and 10th grade class...its YEAR ONE and YEAR TWO...I think we need new names so as not to be confusing...I'll work on that for next year...

ok, on to what happened earlier tonight.

after class, I went to Starbucks with a few teens and a parent. Driving on my way home (a few miles away), I get a phonecall from AB who says they have left their wallet in the youth room...

so I gently laugh, cuz its funny, and don't tell me you have never left your wallet somewhere...I then turn around and head back to the parish...its now close to 11pm...after a few phone calls about alarm systems, I unlock the front door and retrieve said wallet...

then off to drop AS off so that AB doesn't get in even more trouble...

and I phone a friend to help keep me awake who also tells me the most direct route home...


Movies this week: 27 Dresses and Enchanted.


oh, and I had a great birthday...I am now the proud owner of a rubber chicken. I have missed it since my NET days...

oh, yeah, please pray for Fr. Joseph who is in the hospital battling an infection; he has leukemia.

babysitting today...but then!!!

their cat got scratched by something, so I got to accompany LF to the Emergency Vet Clinic

that's right, folks, I didn't even know these places actually exist...and it was just like a human hospital...we got our very own room!

then, LF had to fill in some patient paperwork, just like at the ER where they ask you all sorts of interesting questions:

when's the last time your animal appeared normal?
when did the symptoms start to occur?
what kind of symptoms?
is your pet sexually active?

ok, that last one isn't on the paperwork, but really, don't you think it should be? :)

hahahahaha!

I am still laughing...

For $200 and 20 minutes of face time, LF took the kitty home along with anti-biotics and blood serum that she has to administer every two hours!!!

they also had a few pet insurance brochures, and thankfully LF's hubby understands pets the way I do, and said pet insurance is a bullet...my apologies to those animal lovers out there...but really, come on! animals do not have souls. ..they do NOT need chemo for their leukemia...I am sorry. DUH!

If I am to lose blog readers after this...oh well...

ok, i do have to admit something -- i really do not like cats...i volunteered to go with LF because I'd never been to an Emergency Vet...but I don't like cats...and her kitty didn't have a carrier...so it was just loose in the van...not good for me...i didn't have a panic attack but i did use my land's end tote for protection...i think it was more stressful to have me in the car than the kitty...so sorry again LF; next time I will take my own car if the kitty is taken for a ride again...






movies I have watched this week that were good: Juno, Dan In Real Life, Transformers, Bella

who's visiting my blog from Germany? I'm racking my brain with that one. Hmmm...Care to identify yourself?

nothing new...

I am getting into the swing of things at work. Today I wrote up the Fall schedule for the CORE...RB assisted me with the Confirmation class postcards - they'll be going out tomorrow...

also wrote up a scripture reflection for the Mighty CORE on Saturday...as well as a novena for more CORE leaders.

tomorrow - babysitting, dinner with parents, and shopping for groceries for CORE for Saturday...friday brings me in the kitchen cooking teriyaki tofu and my Enchilada casserole...as well as cleaning up the youth room as much as possible...

i have to think of a few more activities for the CORE on Saturday.

Opossum! in my yard! walked right next to my car! scared the pee out of me, but not literally...on the phone in my driveway tonight and I am looking under our porch and I'm like "what is that?"

its totally an opossum...I have NEVER seen one in person ALIVE and walking...they truly are ugly creatures...scared me so bad...I had to back out of the driveway and pull back in....yeck!


moving on...

The retreat was so spirit-led. Thank You for your prayers! I kept telling the teens they were working in a vineyard and tonight at Ignite, the gospel was the workers in the vineyard and the just wage...AWESOME!!! and the teens totally remembered and thought it was cool how a "vineyard" kept coming up in scripture...

Yes, Lord, you are stupendous!

tomorrow, I print and address the Confirmation class postcards and work on the CORE's fall semester Life Night schedule...and of course finishing touches on the day of reflection...

today I was able to meet up with a NETTER for lunch. CDO is a seminarian for the Diocese of Savannah but he hails from Baldwin Park, CA. It was fantastic. Hadn't seen him in about 5 years. Email really keeps people in touch. Pray for Chris during his formation; God-willing he will be ordained a priest in 2011.

Designed the affirmation paper for the retreat today. And sent in the list for t-shirt sizes. Will call tomorrow to make sure they received it.

Called a priest friend who is Southside to see if he's available to hear confessions on Saturday b/c it seems that only one priest from the parish is available. ahhh! please pray for more confessors. We should have about 70 teens on retreat! I am praying for at least 4 priests.

Need some more sleep, but also need a NEW mattress. It is my only birthday wish. Alas mattresses are expensive, so we shall see.

I have a chest cold and have to watch how much I talk because after awhile I start hacking away!

I am attempting to start a side biz in t-shirt quilting. I signed up with Flickr and below is a gallery of quilts I have made.

Quilts I have made

$10 a square. Cost includes all sewing, fabric, batting, and backing. Either you or I decide where to place the shirts and what fabric to use. Also, 30% is due at start of project; 70% at completion. I am very inexpensive compared to other quilters.

I forgot to mention that HS gave me a fantastic gift - a guitar...a Fender...I could not have been more surprised! I started crying I was so happy.

THANK YOU HS!

exhausted...and we're just getting started...wowza!
lots to do tomorrow...PRAY and put God first...take shirt design over to Sportsprint...clean out a few buckets at work...figure out sound and pa system...ask about payroll...skit practice...order crosses for retreat...further organization...

and mail a box of goodies up to Summit for August 8th - St Dominic.

also create a birthday present for LF!

been busy this week...

Wednesday went down to Newnan for a 'slumber party'...had my first taco since before entering...YUMMY!!! had 2 more...will be eating a lot of TACOs...as Mexican is my favorite food group...

Thursday, they wanted to get their toes done, and they offered to pay for mine...hadn't had a pedi since the last wedding, so about 10 years ago...very cute toes...

saw how everything has developed down there...wow! its a bit insane...

and realize that traffic has gotten a lot worse...a whole bunch...but we won't talk about it cuz i am sure ya'll know what i mean...

house-sitting again...the puppies drive me a bit mad in the early morning and evening as they get their 'caffeine' fix and are chasing each other around...mostly around my feet...but they are both sweet...