Monthly Archives: October 2008

10.06.08
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Carnival

Sarah is looking for submissions to the Mary Moments carnival over at Behold Your Mother:

Mary Moments: the Upcoming Rosary Edition

The rosary has a special place in my life, and I can’t wait for this month’s Mary Moments carnival! We’ll be celebrating the rosary with our monthly Mary Moments at Behold Your Mother.

Share your stories, your reflections, and your enthusiasm.
What is your “relationship” with the rosary?
What are some tips you have to share with others?
How has the rosary impacted your life?

Submit your posts by October 10 using the online form or by emailing me at peerybingle [at] gmail [dot] com. If you don’t have a blog, I’d be happy to host your guest post here at my blog. We’ll have Mary Moments live by October 15.

She even suggests combing your archives if time is a constraint!

10.05.08
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Please don’t forget the slice of lime

The kids all like Kenny Chesney’s music. I do too. We all sometimes need some music that doesn’t require thought. But I can see why some people restrict their children’s music diet to Bach, Mozart, Strauss, and all that. If your three year old is going to be singing at the grocery store checkout line, wouldn’t Handel’s Messiah be nice? It would be perhaps a little less embarrassing than:

Which is the only line he knows, so he repeats it ad nauseum.
10.03.08
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Owl bet they can catch that mouse

Years ago, my dad (or my mom?) gave me the book Club the Bugs and Scare the Critters. It has lots of useful information about natural pest control, although at least half the suggestions will not appeal to those who think killing rodents is not nice. Even I balk at some (most) of their ideas.

But it’s good to know what works.

Ever since this incident, I’ve been reading (and re-reading) the section on mice. According to the book, gadgets that use sound waves to deter mice are a waste of money. Peppermint oil, though, is a natural repellant. I can see me putting cotton balls soaked in that on the kitchen counters, especially at night. Might even be nice, although it may make me hungry for candy canes.

I will not follow the suggestion of putting out instant potato flakes and a bowl of water. Apparently, the flakes will expand in the stomach causing a rupture and a torturous death. Not my style.

I have seriously considered getting a cat. But not all cats are mousers. A friend suggested one of the strays in her neighborhood. That increases the odds they know what to do. Hmmm…

The book says that some dogs are good at killing mice. I have a dog. She has demonstrated an ability to catch small furry things. Maybe I don’t need a cat, methinks.

This morning, I finally met IT. I had started a load of clothes last night, but failed to close the lid. The washer and dryer are in a closet to the right of my kitchen counter where I have my coffee pot. I was on my way to get my cuppa when I noticed the lid. Closing it, it immediately began the spin cycle, startling IT. As I was pouring my coffee, I noticed IT, and IT noticed me, stopped short, made an about-face and disappeared among my laundry baskets on the floor.

My brief, but classic, cry of eek woke Bill (sorry, honey) and brought the dog. But she, like me prior to this past Monday, was not expecting a non-human life-form, and could not understand what my pointing and gesturing was all about.

To appease my mouse-loving Franciscan commenters, I just ordered a non-lethal trap. I’m not sure exactly what I’ll do with the ones I trap (release them on the median of a busy highway?), but I’d prefer to handle a live mouse than a carcass.

I didn’t intend to make a long post (this one was begun hours ago), but one more possibility for mouse disposal presented itself this morning. We were getting ready (in that insane chaotic way a household of 8 gets ready) to take Bill to physical therapy when the dog started barking. Wondering what could have gotten her riled, beyond the usual repertoire of local dogs barking, cats howling, joggers passing and kids acting like maniacs, I stepped out of my bedroom and looked out the sunroom window. There, perched at the top of a post holding our bird feeders and staring right at me, was a barred owl. It took my breath away. I tried to get Bill over to see it, but the kids report that another owl attacked it and the two fell off the deck and away. Such excitement for 7 am!

Anyway, if an owl or two wants to show up every morning, I could plan a release then. It wouldn’t be cruel. I’d be helping the food chain, that’s all. The book doesn’t mention getting a pet owl to help you out, but I’ll bet they’re the best mouse catchers of all.
10.02.08
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U Can’t Do It

“Awwww! I missed my turn!” It’s only the second time going to fencing. I got in the next left turn lane.

“Mom, you can’t do a U-turn here.” The kid noticed the sign at the same time I did.

We moms work so hard to establish a sense of “other” worldness: recognizing that you are not the center of the universe, being aware of how your actions affect others, noticing things happening farther away than the TV screen, and, of course, understanding that if everybody obeyed the rules, we would have a much nicer world in which to live.

But, by golly, why do they have to take these great leaps forward in their social development when you are late and wishing to make a U-turn where it clearly says not to?

I listened to the kids talking about what I should do. A U-turn here was clearly out of the question. Perhaps that road to the left connected to the road we needed? Or maybe we could make a legal U-turn over there.

As I listened, waiting for the light, I myself wondered the best course of action. What message does it send to children to break the law? Would I not scar them for life or certainly teach them that rules are optional? How could I expect obedience when I myself did not demonstrate it?

What would you have done? What do you guess I did?

10.02.08
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It can’t be October already

It can’t be. Because if it’s October, then there must be feast days like the Little Flower on the 1st (no, not today, some other day) and heavy hitter Teresa of Avila on the 15th (of some other month). And sandwiched exactly halfway in between (on the 8th) is the birthday of a little girl whose middle name is Therese.

But not this month.

No, sirree, we do not have any babies turning into toddlers this month. Nope nope nope.

10.01.08
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New Month’s Resolution for October

Is it possible to go an entire month without complaining?

I shall try. It will be a difficult month. I may as well embrace the cross.

What is a New Month’s Resolution? Every month I look at where I need to focus my attention. Perhaps I’ve been procrastinating on certain chores. Perhaps I need to spend some extra time with one or more of the kids. Perhaps I’d like to try a new habit. New Month’s Resolutions are not grandiose plans to lose ten pounds or declutter the entire house or give up smoking (of course, I don’t smoke, but if I did, this would not be the venue in which I would give it up). New Month’s resolutions are short-term commitments; they are easily attained goals; they focus on what is needed right now, instead of what is best for a lifetime.

Do you have a new month’s resolution?