Friday Quick Takes

Joining Jen at Conversion Diary for Quick Takes Friday!

~ 1 ~

I so agree with Jen's Quick Take about wanting to keep going on some of her Lenten fasting. It feels funny for Lent to be over--no structure, like I'm going off the rails. What do I eat? Just how much Diet Coke should I be having, really? What if I miss Mass or my daily prayer time? Did I even miss Facebook at all?

Just maybe, it should be year-round Lent around here, at least for some stuff.

~ 2 ~

From the "Kim = Spaz/Dork" files...yesterday morning while shaving in the shower, I somehow bumped my forehead with my razor in my hand. Would you believe I nicked off a little tuft of my bangs? What the heck?!? Not so noticeable right now, but I can't wait to see what it looks like when the razor stubble starts growing in...

~ 3 ~

From those same files, only not quite as dorky--yesterday I figured out that I've been taking KLD to the wrong gymnastics class for the past two months. Duh! I've been cluelessly dropping her off at the beginner class, when she graduated from that, like, a year ago. I did think she was looking a little tall compared to the other girls, but it never occurred to me that I had the schedule confused. The good news is that her real class doesn't conflict with soccer practice, which the other one would have. If not for that, I probably would never have figured it out. Again...DUH!!

~ 4 ~

I was hoping to write a whole post on this, but that's looking like it might not happen, so I must tell you about the book "Still Alice" by Lisa Genova. When Jamie first recommended it, I thought "no way--too depressing," because it's a novel about a woman's experiences as she descends into early-onset Alzheimer's.

Well, I was totally wrong with that early assessment. It's not at all depressing--but quite fascinating and deeply moving. It especially resonated with me, of course, because of my mom's sudden stroke at such a young age and her subsequent memory loss. It helped me understand, just a tiny bit more, how my mom must feel. I also found the book quite life-affirming--although I'm not sure that the author intended that message, or developed it as much as she could have. While following Alice's transformation from a woman at the peak of her highly cerebral profession to a whole different kind of person, at least on the outside, I was struck by a profound message about the value of human life for its own sake and the definition of, and relevance of, the concept of "contribution to society."

Do go read this book. It's awesome. But I must warn you that it might make you paranoid whenever you lose your keys or forget something from your to-do list! See #3 above for an example of early-onset Alzheimers paranoia!

~ 5 ~

And then this one too: "Tinsel" by Hank Stuever. It's a current peek at Christmas in America, as seen through the experiences of three families who live in the modern-day boomtown Frisco, Texas. I thought it was interesting that some of the reviews on Amazon call Mr. Stuever cynical and the book depressing. I didn't find this one depressing either--but also a profound picture of what life is all about.

It's the sociology of Christmas; Mr. Stuever examines our rampant consumerism, the phenomenon of the mega-Church, over-the-top Christmas decorating, the inner workings of Christmas charities, and lots and lots of gift-giving. While he doesn't leave out the part of Christmas I like best--you know, the Nativity?!?--he doesn't believe in it, either, and that part is quite cynical, and pretty sad.

I think it's that aspect of the book that led me to think, this morning on my way home from dropping off my sweeties at school, that I wish he'd included some "normal" people in his Christmas research paper. But, of course, he did. The families in his book are very, extremely Normal, which is the whole point, of course. And so am I (really?), but I guess I'm not in the representative demographic that he chose to include in the book.

Anyway, Hank Stuever's cool. I'm looking forward to reading his other work. And whenever he wants to write a book about a midwestern Catholic family's Christmas, I'll invite him to hang with us.

~ 6 ~

During the past few months, I've been toying with the idea of pursuing writing a bit more seriously, with a column on family life and Mom musings for the Catholic Herald. Well, I must tell you that I've determined that now is not the time for me to work on that. I've found that when things--like my Little Flowers group for the girls at school--are God's will, He greases the skids for me to make them happen, and I'm getting just the opposite from Him on this writing pursuit of mine. Spending time working on my writing is too much about me, I think, and not about living my domestic vocation. So for now, that's the story.

~ 7 ~

WWD and I are off the the state basketball tourney this weekend--SO excited! I'll post some pics early next week! Go Cardinals!