A break from break

Goodbye! For three weeks, at least. Maybe four. Back to campus to work in the Fin Aid office, followed by a week long stay in Oregon with friends. It'll all be pretty awesome and fun. I'll be back with pictures and stories no doubt :D

Fine line

It's all too easy to lose charity amidst orthodoxy. Take a look?

Reading the above blog post, I found too many things rang a bell with my own self. It's so easy as a TAC student to look down on others who don't perform as many "acts of piety" as we do. We are so blessed in our liturgies and atmosphere of Catholicism, that we can lose our perspective. Jesus is in everyone... and He resides most of all with those who do the will of His Father. And I'm pretty sure that being judgmental is not in His Almighty plan for us.

Time for this little girl to take a tablespoon of gentleness and humility so I can share a bucketful of love.

Continued Conversation

Tuesday
8 year old: "Bridget, why aren't you married? Aren't you old? Shouldn't you be having babies by now? Shouldn't you find a boyfriend?"
me, laughing, "No, I'm in no hurry."

Tonight
8 year old: "Did you find a boyfriend yet?"
me, slightly surprised, but bemused, "Nope, not yet."
8 year old: "Why not?"
me, "Well, none of the boys are mature enough yet to get married."
8 year old, wrinkling her nose, cocking her head to the side, and placing her hands on her hips: "But you don't need to marry them, you just need a boyfriend so you can have fun. I mean, you can't have fun unless you have a boyfriend."

Then I laughed. And laughed. And laughed. I think she was pretty confused by my laughter, but I couldn't help it. I guess I'm doomed to a boring existence for a bit... :)

Remedial Elementary School

I've come to discover that I need to go to elementary school again. I can do advanced calc, physics, philosophy, theology, biology, chem, etc. For some reason, however, I can't do basic mathematics. Like addition. I had to sit and think about 5 + 2 = ? I knew it was 7, but for some reason I second guessed myself for a long time. Oh, and then yesterday, at 5:53 pm, I could not, for the life of me, figure out how many minutes there were until 6 pm. 6? 7? 8? gak!

Oh, and I finally figured out why I'm "dyslexic." I'm not really dyslexic, but I have this tendency to get the order of the letters in words backwards. I don't read words from beginning to end, but I look at the whole thing, get the general size, shape, and a few of the letters, and make a guess. Of course this is completely subconscious (and contributes to the obscene speeds at which I can read), but it wreaks havoc on my spelling. I know approximately what letters belong in a word, but the order is rather... uh... hazy.

An example of this occurred yesterday when I was reading aloud to the kids. I read the word "honary" and automatically supplemented the extra "or." I didn't notice that the word was, in fact, misspelled until another character in the story corrected it. Oops.

Insubordination

I had to put the 8 year old in time out tonight... and the 3 year old in time out twice. I don't know if these children are just more of a handful than I'm used to or if I'm losing my touch as a babysitter.

They just throw me the dirtiest looks and keep on doing whatever it is they shouldn't be. Y'know that, "are you talking to me?" look with the wrinkled nose and a noise that corresponds to the dismissive face? yeah, that one. I don't allow cheeky and they have cheeky down like professionals. There are corresponding consequences for the misdemeanors... these, of course, make me the bad guy. Ah, well. Maybe they'll learn to stop screaming/painting on each other/screaming/stealing each others things/screaming/standing in the refrigerator/screaming. (Can you tell that they scream? All the time???)

When it rains, it pours

My summer has been relatively relaxing. Not going anywhere, not doing many urgent things. Just sleeping and letting my mind, body, and soul get back into sync after the craziness of junior year. Things are going well on that end and I'm just about ready to lead a normal life again. Life, however, has other plans.

I seem to have skipped the "normal gear" in the car I'm driving through my earthly pilgrimage, and gone straight from "neutral" to "highest speed possible." There are so many little things to organize, people to talk to, stuff to arrange... and if I forget to do any of it, I'm in trouble. I have nannying, duties to fulfill, sewing to get done, packing, and then leave on Sunday to go back to campus to work for a few weeks. I finally got the roommate situation straightened out (it took about three times as long as it should have), got a ride from the train arranged (thank you, Mr. B!), etc., etc., etc.

One foot in front of the other. Keep swimming. :)

10, 8, 3

Three small girls with bucket loads of energy were in my charge this evening. It's so hard not to laugh at the things they say sometimes, especially the two younger ones. For example:

8 year old "Bridget, why aren't you married? Aren't you old? Shouldn't you be married and having babies by now?"

3 year old "You are a bad drawer." I'm pretty sure she meant "draw-er", as in someone who draws, but she said it just like the part of a dresser... I suppose I'm a bad drawer as well

8 year old "I am feeling trivialized... I don't know what that means, but I like the sound of it."

Inexplicable

You know when you're nervous and your stomach gets all cramped up and you get the classic "butterflies"? I've had them all day long and I have no idea why. Seriously! I don't know what's wrong with me. I've just been nervous and all jittery today.

You know what else is inexplicable? The Trinity. From Fr. Mel's homily on Sunday:

"Today [the solemnity of the Holy Trinity] we are invited to contemplate the mystery of the Holy Trinity. It isn't called a mystery because it's a riddle to be solved by us. It's called a mystery because it's beyond our human ability to understand. If we tried, our heads would explode from the sheer awesomeness."

Philosopher Jokes

It wasn't a joke, strictly speaking. I just found it hysterical. Unfortunately, it was a moment where I realized that philosophy has been ground into me a bit more than it has into others. Things that are forever written on my soul because of the massive amounts of studying I did, don't come to mind as immediately as they do to a TACer.

This was our conversation:

me "Every soul has all of the faculties of the lower types of soul as well."
N, "Yeah, so there are three types: vegetative, rational, and... uh..."
me "Animal. Basically, sentient beings without rationality."
N, "Right, like a dog. Or maybe not. Wait. Would that be...?"

cue me laughing hysterically

N's brother S came over and inquired about what was so funny. I couldn't answer, but only started squeaking. "He... heeee.... he he he... !!"

It was just so funny to me. N, A, and K didn't see quite why this was so funny, but S did (once I had the composure and air to explain it to him).

S, "A good joke for a philosopher's party."

The Story

have you ever tried to buy eight things in an hour for twenty dollars? and not just any eight things, but a very specific eight things. we did. it was awesome.

at about 11 o'clock, the girls gathered at the starbucks in the mall. clutching cups of caffine, we were read the rules. we had an hour and twenty dollars to find eight things that every bride needs. we weren't told directly what those things were, but were given eight limerick riddles, each one answering to a particular item.

so we ran. literally.

the items: a dress, shoes, a ring, flowers, something old, something new, something borrowed, and something blue.

after running from one store to another, trying to locate these items cheap, we realized that we were going to have to stretch the non-existent rules a bit. in other words, borrowed didn't strictly apply to only one thing. she had my shoes and earrings (something borrowed), katie's jacket (something blue), her mum's scarf (something old). that left the dress, the ring, the flowers, and the something new. even that was a challenge.

but we did it.

she modeled the outfit at N's apartment after we ate a delicious lunch prepared by the boys.

best bridal shower ever.

Coming soon...

Today was So. Much. Fun. Ridiculously fun! (and maybe a bit ridiculous... I had bows on my head for goodness sake!)

I'll tell ya the story tomorrow :)

The Amazing Race: Bridal Edition

Seriously. I'm playing it tomorrow. I'll tell you more when I know more.

Hee Hee!

gotta love N's crazy bridal shower ideas :)

In the meantime, smile :D

Multi-tasking

I always do this. Without fail. Every time I get out of school I start reading books. And books and books and books. But instead of reading one at a time, I pick up four or five. Then I can't figure out which one to read when, causing a great inefficiency in reading speeds. Maybe I'll learn this time.

Maybe not.

Fun Stuff

In all of the stress and chaos of this weekend, I had one very, very safe, comfortable refuge: Grandma and Grandpa's house. From the time we were very little, it's been a second home. To unwind and relax, I wandered around the backyard Sunday afternoon, snapping bits of spring beauty:

Apples with a backdrop of Redwoods

Asparagus plants

Yes, they really were that bright

(not exactly spring beauty, but I thought it was kinda cool)

Scott's favorite of the 25 pictures I took

Da Vedding

What a weekend.

Instead of giving you details, which will simply be too negative to be appropriate for a post about a wedding, I'll just show you pictures. You can't sense family drama and heresy in photographs. ;)

My cousin and his new wife

(doesn't he make charming faces? :P)

First dance

Aren't they sweet? :)

AJ dancing with Aunt Abby

I love how he has his mouth a little bit open, too. :)

Don't get me wrong, it wasn't all bad. The deacon gave a fabulous wedding homily, the couple seemed sweet, sincere, and happy, and they're now tied together with Sacramental grace. That's all that really matters. :)

Goin' To The Chapel...

... but not to get married. To watch someone get married. Dad and I are off to SF-ish to go to a cousin's wedding. Let's all pray for a happy, holy marriage for AJ and Ana. :)

... and non-heretical homilies at the wedding Mass and Sunday.

(Have I ever mentioned how much I hate flying? Oh, well...)

The practical liberal arts education

Many, many, many people assert that, although TAC offers an excellent classical education, it does nothing for the practical skills of its students. Now, there are many good responses to this claim, which approach it from a very serious, logical, satisfactory angle. My angle is a little less serious. Tongue-in-cheek, even.

Using geometry (from freshman math), patience (from the seminar method in general), and creativity (from living on a campus in the middle of nowhere), I constructed a soccer ball with my sewing machine. HA! You can't possibly claim that TAC doesn't give you practical skills.

Every thing is known by its fruit. The fruit of my TAC education? A fabric soccer ball. :)

Like I said, tongue-in-cheek. But funny. :P

Summer Love

Sand under your feet.

Water splashing up your legs.

Sun warming your skin.

Cool breeze blowing in your face and tousling your hair.

Summer beach.

Love it.

6 June 1944

Soldiers, Sailors and Airmen of the Allied Expeditionary Force!

You are about to embark upon the Great Crusade, toward which we have
striven these many months. The eyes of the world are upon you. The
hopes and prayers of liberty-loving people everywhere march with you.
In company with our brave Allies and brothers-in-arms on
other Fronts, you will bring about the destruction of the German war
machine, the elimination of Nazi tyranny over the oppressed peoples of
Europe, and security for ourselves in a free world.

Your task will not be an easy one. Your enemy is well trained, well
equipped and battle hardened. He will fight savagely.

But this is the year 1944! Much has happened since the Nazi triumphs of
1940-41. The United Nations have inflicted upon the Germans great defeats,
in open battle, man-to-man. Our air offensive has seriously reduced their
strength in the air and their capacity to wage war on the ground. Our Home
Fronts have given us an overwhelming superiority in weapons and munitions
of war, and placed at our disposal great reserves of trained fighting men.
The tide has turned! The free men of the world are marching together to
Victory!

I have full confidence in your courage and devotion to duty and skill in
battle. We will accept nothing less than full Victory!

Good luck! And let us beseech the blessing of Almighty God upon this great
and noble undertaking.


SIGNED: Dwight D. Eisenhower

Language

Everyone has something (or more than one something) about themselves that they find embarrassing. For me, this (or one of these many, many things in the case of this lil' missy) is my horrendously bad understanding of my native language. Sure, I can churn out a decent paper, spell decently, and know a large handful of words to make my vocabulary more interesting. But my grammar... isn't what it should be. I don't know the rules. Never have. Probably never will. *sigh*

I learned more about the English language in my sophomore year Latin class of all things. Mr. D is a grammar nazi, who knows all of the rules and applies them with great... enthusiasm. He openly laughs at those who don't know them. He would go on and on about some very, very important grammar rule that 11 of his 12 students hadn't heard of (or remembered, as the case may be). We would all look at our books, or the floor, or the ceiling... anywhere but at him. Conor, of course, always knew the rules, and would nod emphatically in agreement and then shoot a look at me like, "what, don't you know what he's talking about? this is kindergarten stuff!" and I would turn redder than ever. Mr. D always called me out on it, and the depth of my ignorance would be revealed for the whole world - well, the tiny section - to see. I didn't really mind. I loved Mr. D as a teacher (anyone who can make me like doing latin is sheer genius!), so I was willing to learn, even at the cost of my appearance of intelligence. :)

One example of this, which will probably stick with me til the day I die, is the difference between "less" and "fewer." Apparently, one uses "less" for continuous quantity and "fewer" for discreet quantities. For example, if you have a tub of ice cream (big blob of one item), one can have less ice cream than someone else. If, on the other hand, you have a box of ice cream bars (discreet items), one may have fewer bars than another. Sounds logical, right? I nodded my head in agreement. This made sense. I had never heard the rule enunciated as clearly, but it didn't go against any of my experience... or so I thought. My little wishful-thinking-bubble was popped when Mr. D brought up his pet peeve: grocery store express lanes. You know, the ones that say "10 items or less." Well, according to the wonderful, amazing, brilliant Mr. D (and Conor backed him up on this), it should be "10 items or fewer."

I was incredulous. No, that couldn't be right. Ever since I could read signs at the store (at about age 3), I had been accustomed to the language of "or less." It sounded right. It just couldn't be wrong! All of the stores in America could not have gotten that wrong. It was too big of a mistake. But Mr. D was insistent.

I eventually (after about 30 more seconds of absolute incredulity) came around and saw the absolutely logic of it. I was slightly disconcerted (ok, maybe more than slightly, given the clarity with which I remember this episode), but I was resolved to always use "less" and "fewer" correctly. And if I couldn't figure out which one was correct, I would just avoid it entirely. Completely. Absolutely. At least in front of Mr. D

Fast-forward 1.5 years. Going through the express lane this morning, I noticed that the sign above me read "15 items or fewer." HA! It was right!!! A grocery store got it right! I could barely contain my excitement. I barely restrained myself from congratulating the checker on the grammatical miracle.

Mr. D was right. And the brothers Stater agree with him.

Soooooo excited right now. :)

C.S. Lewis

from his marvelous book, "Four Loves"

"The sternest feminist need not grudge my sex the crown offered to it either in the Pagan or in the Christian mystery [of marriage]. For the one is of paper and the other of thorns. The real danger is not that husband may grasp the latter too eagerly, but that they will allow or compel their wives to usurp it."