Thanks be to God!

Michael is now off the ventilator completely and this morning, he was completely conscious, sitting up in bed and talking. He recognized his mother, too. He still has a lot of rehab ahead of him, so they moved him to a rehabilitation hospital today. He is expected to make a very good recovery -- hard to tell yet whether a full recovery will ever be possible, but this is a GREAT start.

Thank you so much for praying for him.

--Sparki

My kids want to be holy...

At least, you'd think that's what they want the way they go after the new holy water font in Zooey's room. It was a combination belated Easter/hooray for getting your own room/Kindergarten graduation gift. I thought I put it up high enough where he could reach it but his sisters couldn't. I was wrong. Edyn climbed up on his bed and stre-e-e-e-etched over to dip her fingers into it and bless herself. Lola saw that and mimicked her actions. My husband found her with her hair soaking wet, laughing with delight, unaware that she was about to tumble off the bed and knock out a tooth or two. So he swapped the holy water font with Zooey's cross. Now Zooey can't reach it, either.

I'm inclined to swap them back. The way my kids have been acting up now that school's out for the summer, they need all the sacramentals they can get!

--Sparki

Three bottles of Elmer's School Glue later...

My son graduated from Kindergarten! Boy, was he proud of himself. They all had little gowns and mortar boards to wear, made by the school secretary. Walked in to "Pomp and Circumstance," recited poems and sang songs. They also each told Fr. W. a joke, since he adores riddles and jokes. It was so darn cute. Then they got their diplomas and shook the principal's and pastor's hands and they were graduated! Photos snapping like crazy, video cameras everywhere.

It was a great celebration. We hosted a light dinner beforehand with my parents, who were in town for the occasion, my husband's parents and parents and a few cousins and uncles. Zooey was wired for sound, but managed to be gracious and polite.

Part of me can't wait for the next graduation, so proud and happy I am. Part of me thinks about my sponsor's son in ICU and wants to take this whole year back so my kids never grow up and I can keep them safe. I know, I know, it's an unrealistic and unfair fantasy. Growing up is good. It's hard to accept the risks, but accept them we must.

As I sign off, I beg you again to please pray for Michael.

--Sparki

Please pray for Michael R.

Michael is the son of our sponsors and godparents of all three of our children. They have six kids of their own, ranging from 29 (I think) to 6. Michael is their third child, and he's in his early 20s. He was attacked Saturday night by five men who tried to crash a small party he was having. One of his guests said she was going to go invite these guys, and he told her not to, since he just wanted to have a few friends over. She left and returned with the men, who insisted on being let into the house. Michael went outside to talke to them, intending to stand his ground -- his house, his rules, and they weren't welcome. Near as anybody can figure at this point, they smashed a beer bottle over his head and then kicked and/or stomped him repeatedly, leaving him with severe head injuries. Michael is in a coma and on a ventilator in ICU at a local hospital. He has already received Last Rites, although the doctor was hopeful that his injuries were not life-threatening. Nothing can be said about the long-term effect of his injuries and whether or not he will be able to make a full recovery at this point. We're almost upon the 48-hour mark, and the first 72 hours are most critical. Yesterday, he was responding to commands accurately. Today, he did not, which the medical staff attributed to some additional swelling in his brain.

Michael is an industrious and hard-working young man who comes from a really great Cathoic family. Please pray for him, I beg you. And if you have a blog and wouldn't mind posting this prayer request, I would much appreciate it.

--Sparki

St. Theresa Chain E-Mail???

This is a little bizarre. I received e-mail this morning from a far-away friend, but it was a chain letter with a St. Theresa prayer. The instructions were to make a wish, read the prayer and send it on to seven people, plus return it to the original recipient so that she/he would know you did the prayer. Then four days later, you're supposed to write the recipient again and say what happened.

Now, the first thing that strikes me as odd is that I've always considered chain letters to be superstitious bunk. But I've never received on that only required prayer, and prayer to a legitimate saint. I have no problem praying to St. Theresa at all, and I know there are many credible stories of people receiving roses in some way after praying to St. Theresa. But is this format credible?

And the really bizarro part is this friend of mine is a former Catholic!!!

THoughts?

--Sparki

Belated good wishes to all the Mommies out there!

Mother's Day was...interesting, anyway, at our house. Edyn (age 2.5) has a new trick: if she feels like she's being ignored, she runs up to the bathroom and pees...on the floor. Nothing like a big ol' puddle to get Mommy's full attention. Lola and my husband had a squabble over her shoes that resulted in about an hour and a half of constant crying. Zooey flew under the radar and I didn't even notice until dinner time that he was wearing shorts that he'd outgrown at least two summers ago! The dog ate some corncobs and half a rabbit and wound up with a stomach ache. But Mass was great and Lola cooperated enough for me to be able to stay in the Sanctuary for most of it. Then we went out to the farm to celebrate with my husband's mom, grandmother, aunts and most of the rest of the clan. The kids and the dog got lots of fresh air and exercise. And then we hurried back to town so I could go to the Hispanic parish to do some interviews and take photos for the story I was assigned this week.

The freelance checks are late (as usual), so no new washing machine yet. But Saint Clare and Saint Agnes of Prague are still watching my back, and the old washer is still stumbling along. I've been filling my soup kettle with hot water from the kitchen tap and lugging it downstairs to dump into the washer so I can do towels, sheets and undies in mostly warm water and that's working out. Think of all the extra exercise I'm getting!

Speaking of which, I've got towels to wash and more interviews to set up for my next assignment.

--Sparki

No daughter of mine...!!!

When I read this story about legal restrictions on high school cheerleaders, my first thought was "Where are their PARENTS?" Seriously! The story is right -- some of the "dance moves" you see from high school cheerleaders would be more appropriate in a strip club than at a school athletic event. But each one of these girls has a parent (hopefully two) out there who is watching her strut around in a short skirt and showing off her...errr...feminine wiles unchecked. The parents should be saying, "Sorry, honey, but you're too important to be put on display like a piece of meat."

I didn't cheer in high school -- I wasn't part of the right clique. Heck, I wasn't part of any clique. I'm okay with cheerleading as a "school spirit" thing -- you know, getting people to shout "D-D-D-DEE-FENCE" when your team is actually playing defense or cheering "Mike, Mike, he's our guy, he's from Central Senior High!" when Mike nails a three-point shot or scores touchdown or something. And I'm okay with cheerleading as a sport, with a trainer and advanced gymnastics stunts and all that. What I'm not okay with is cheerleading as the soft-porn entertainment on the sidelines during the boring part of athletic contests. Especially not when it involves young women who are still minors and still trying to figure out how to be themselves.

But the protection for these girls ought to come from their moms and dads, not the state.

--Sparki

YIPPPEEEEEE!!!

Not only did they buy my story, they assigned me another one for next week!!!!

I'm happy, my husband's happy, our checking account is happier...

--Sparki

Eek!

I...well, I...er...Okay, I'm just going to say it.

I submitted my first story to the local weekly Catholic newspaper this morning. It is about the 50th anniversary of a small parish school in a small community where the public school is about to close down.

So far, I've heard nothing except that they've received it. There's a pit growing in my stomach, fearing that it wasn't good enough, and they'll never accept a story from me, ever. And the pit isn't about personal failure or wanting to be creative or anything. We need the money. It's only $30 per story, but we really need it.

I was too chicken to call Fr. B and see if he was going to accept it. I guess I'll have to call tomorrow. Phooey.

--Sparki