My children have been permitted to use my computer this past week.  I gave up on even checking my email during the hours of 8 am to 8 pm.  They will be so sad to return to our normal “no TV or computers Monday-Friday” rule tomorrow. 

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I cleaned some of the garage yesterday and pulled the storage bin marked “Advent” out to an accessible location.  I was going to make this the first year EVER that I had the Advent wreath out and ready to go before the first Sunday of Advent.  As I lay in bed last night, I remembered, suddenly, that I did not get the wreath out after all.  I have high hopes that I won’t be scrambling at dinnertime tonight.  But instead of getting it now, I’m blogging. 

Priorities.

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Sometimes I can really step in it.  As we adults were going around the Thanksgiving dinner table remarking on things for which we were grateful, I happily noted the presence of my two sisters who were not with me last year, and mentioned the absence of my brother and his family, whom we miss. 

Then my sister pointed out that I failed to mention her husband who is deployed in a war zone right now.

“Uh, but you are one!” I exclaimed.  Lame.

Happy 13th anniversary today to her and her Bill.

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Note for next year: if we’re going to do them on the same day, best to do family pictures first and then go to confession.  I mean, it’s like vacuuming the van before going to the beach if you do them the other way. 

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Do you compare penances after going to confession?  Fritz, Billy and I got three Our Fathers.  Bill was supposed to say something nice about someone else (I hate those kind of penances…too abstract).  Katie got four Hail Marys, which I think is comparable to three Our Fathers.  Then Jenny said she got five Hail Marys.

“Holy smokes, girl, what did you do?” I asked her.

This is the same young priest we went to last month.  Last month, I walked into the confessional and all I saw were black high-top Converse sneakers.  I wasn’t surprised when I got a whole decade of the rosary to pray.  The younger they are, the longer the penance.  By the time they are a Monsignor, they tell you to think nice thoughts about people for a few minutes.

It’s amazing that this same guy, a month later, was only doling out three Our Fathers.  But this time, we were in line before he got there, so he saw the whole family.  Since the kids went before me, maybe he took their confessions into consideration when assigning me mine.

Of course, Bill was last, and he only had to say something nice about someone else.  What does that say about my confession?

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I have six baskets of laundry that need folding.  Ugh.  Unfortunately, at this point, I think that chore falls into the necessary category.