…this morning, my soul doth soar.

I managed to get out of bed this morning with little resistance. I took Greta for a run. I sat down with my husband to do morning prayers and remembered it was the Feast of the Immaculate Conception. I love Marian feasts.

Despite the early hour, I would have sung this if I had known the tune. I’m sure I’ll be humming Marian hymns all day long. I am so grateful that the Holy Spirit has filled me with joy today. The next 48 hours are rather daunting, and I’ll need all the extra graces I can get. And so, I say for now, my soul doth soar. We’ll see how I feel tonight after the kids go to bed!

What’s on the agenda?

Daunting Activity #1: Mass with the kids

Today is a Holy Day of Obligation. No begging off because Bill isn’t here to help. God is all the help I need, and I must trust Him to get through it. The last time I did this was very frustrating, but I’m sure it will be different this time. Sure. Perhaps what will be most different is Mom’s attitude!

On a good note, I had one of those half-awake revelations the other day. The Mass here on post is at noon, which doesn’t work for the baby who likes to take his nap at that time. I go to another church not too far away. I went there on November 1st, and I went there on August 15th – another Marian feast. On August 15th, they sang no Marian hymns. I was a bit…flabbergasted. Disappointed. Shocked. Sad. And really, really angry. As I was lying in bed, not motivated to get up, I remembered this incident and reminded myself to go to another church, one more likely to honor Our Mother through a few of the many beautiful hymns about her.

This is good, because beginning the day angry does not set a good tone for other activities scheduled like…

Daunting Activity #2: Christmas party at the boss’ house

The boss is a three star general. The whole family is expected to attend. You military folks will know that this is not optional, and that my husband, for good or ill and as unfair as it may be, will be judged by how his family behaves (or doesn’t).

For you civilians, this means probably very little. A three star is like the CEO of a very large corporation. And he’s friends with all the CEOs of all the other corporations, so if a worker bee is a bad worker bee and one CEO knows it, it would be difficult for that worker bee to find another hive.

I’m not one to stress about appearances, and my children are fairly well behaved. But they are just children, and they are young children at that. I fully expect my kids to do just fine. But I fully expect it to be due in no small part to my constant vigilance. And that’s not much fun.

Daunting Activity #3: another Christmas party

This one, on Saturday night, is more optional, but not really. One of those professional acquaintance situations. My friend Stacy was there on Thanksgivng and warned me about all the child unfriendly decorations at child accessible heights. To make it worse, there’s a 50/50 chance Bill will have to work Saturday night. This does not let me off the hook. Especially since Stacy will be going sans her deployed husband. And her two littlest ones are the same ages as my two littlest ones.

Ah, the stress. Gotta love it.

And now, off to scour the house for Jenny’s church shoes. Won’t she look nice in pink tennies and her dress at the general’s house?