Quick Takes Volume 54

~1~

Is it just me, or did Advent zip by pretty quickly this year?  I realized Thursday afternoon that I still hadn't made it to confession this Advent and that I essentially only had two possible days left in which to go.  Thursday or this Saturday.  So I decided that I had better stop procrastinating and get my butt over to the church before I wound up standing in the world's longest line on Saturday morning.  I didn't realize that I'd be standing in a line that was twelve deep when I showed up two minutes after confessions started.  I blame Ellie.  First, because we had to stop at the school to get something she forgot (we couldn't get in so that was a fail).  Second, I'm telling you this child is a guarantee that the line for confession will be long and slow moving.  Every time I've brought her along I've waited at least 30 minutes for my turn.

~2~

Do you know how much a seven year old can talk in just 30 minutes? It was a good test of my patience.  She had what my mom would have called diarrhea of the mouth.  I seriously wanted to die.  Some of her questions were good, but things she knew the answers to.  Adoration was going on in the church while we waited in line for the confessional in the narthex.  So there were questions about the monstrance, the humeral veil, the tabernacle and the eucharist.  I answered her questions.  I wanted her to be quiet, but I didn't want to pass up the opportunity to explain the things she asked about.  How I wish she had stuck to asking questions about the church and not making some of the comments she made. 

~3~

I made Christmas tree press cookies on Friday.  They taste good but they flopped.  Instead of holding their shape they melted and went flat.  I honestly don't know why I can never get these cookies right. It's very frustrating.  At least the cookies the girls made last weekend came out the way they should.

~4~

A friend put this up as her FB status a few days ago and it really resonated with me:

"Why should we defend ourselves when we are misunderstood and misjudged? Let us leave that aside. Let us not say anything. It is so sweet to let others judge us in any way they like. O blessed silence, which gives so much peace to the soul!" ~Saint Therese de Lisieux.

~5~

The girls had their Christmas parties at school yesterday.  Going to these parties makes me miss the public school system like you wouldn't believe.  I can't place my finger on it, but there's something about the overall atmosphere that doesn't sit well with me at all.  It's obvious that the school is very cliquey.

~6~

Are you all set for Christmas?  I have a few little things here and there left to do and we should be ready.  I was hoping to have a clean house, but I have a toddler and I think anyone who has or has had a toddler knows how that goes.  On the bright side, the Christmas trees have gone largely undisturbed by little hands.  I don't think Katie likes getting tinsel stuck to her so it sort of works as a deterrent.

~7~

I'm looking forward to hearing my girls sing at Christmas Eve Mass with the children's choir.  This group of girls really sound great.  It's too bad they only get to sing at Mass once a month.