An Early Christmas Present

Yesterday I got the most wonderful news.  I was informed, via e-mail, that my novel Finding Grace had been awarded the Catholic Writers Guild Seal of Approval.

When I filled out the application a couple of months ago, I was far from confident that my book would earn this seal.  I had mentally prepared myself for rejection, knowing that God always knows better than we do what's best for us and trusting in His will for me.  If Finding Grace didn't earn the seal, there was a good reason--and I was determined to accept my disappointment with as much grace as possible...but still, I awaited the decision of the reviewers with a great deal of excitement and hope.  Today, I feel like I've been given an early Christmas present!

One of the big pluses about this award is that now, my book will be showcased in an upcoming issue of Catholic Book News, an on-line newsletter that is mailed out to over 500 Catholic bookstores and libraries in North America.  My publisher warned me back in August that the hard work for an author really begins after his book is published, when he is trying to get the word out to prospective readers.  Having my title included in this newsletter will be incredibly helpful as far as marketing is concerned.

I am truly humbled, and I feel so very blessed.  If there's anything under the tree for me on Christmas morning, that will just be gravy.  I've already gotten the best present I could ask for.

I'm Blessed--and So Are the Irish

Just when I thought my life couldn't be more blessed--when all of my girlhood dreams had been fulfilled (i.e., marriage, motherhood, grandmotherhood), I was fortunate enough to see the thick stack of 8 and 1/2-by-11-inch typed pages that I'd been working on for over 4 years get published and become a real, honest-to-goodness book.  I never believed--although I hoped--that I would ever be able to add the title "author" to the other titles I hold so dear: "Snooks," "Mom/Mumsie," "Grammy/Gra Gra."

God has been so good to me.  I know I don't deserve it; however, I am profoundly grateful.  I am especially grateful for the love and support of my husband and my kids, who always believe in me and are unflagging in their encouragement of any endeavor I undertake.  What would I do without them?

Recently, I had the opportunity to write an article promoting my book on CatholicMom.com. The woman behind this website is Lisa Hendey, a well-known Catholic author, speaker, and blogger--and she is also a graduate of the University of Notre Dame, Class of '85.  (She is an Irish football fan extraordinaire, so she has a lot in common with the people I know and love!)  In my travels across the Internet, searching for websites that might be willing to list my book in their suggested reading for young adults, I stumbled upon her name and contacted her.  She invited me to write a guest article, and on November 18, 2012, it was posted on CatholicMom.com.  As I am quite busy today, getting settled in back at home after a 2-week-long trip out west and back--unpacking and shopping and decking my halls with boughs of holly, etc.--I just thought I'd post a link to that article (if you're interested). Click on this title, "Finding Grace: A Novel to Inspire Young People," and it will take you there.

For the article, Hendey suggested that I include a photo.  So I had my hubby snap this one, staged to make me look very author-ish.

It's a little bit nerdy.  I posed as if I was sitting there at my laptop, writing away--with my ever-present cup of coffee by my side.  (It's not TOO nerdy, is it?  Please tell me it's not too nerdy.)

Before I go, I wanted to include a link to a blog article that Lisa Hendey posted recently about Fighting Irish linebacker--and probable Heisman candidate--Manti Te'o, who is beloved by Irish fans everywhere.  Click on the title "Manti's Mission, The Year of Faith & Me" to read it.  It's worth the time, believe me; you will be moved, touched, inspired. (And if you weren't a Notre Dame fan before, you might become one!)

Happy reading!

Fightin' Irish Christmas Tree

Yesterday, we took off in the morning from our hotel in Iowa City and stopped--as planned--to have lunch in South Bend with our youngest son.  We picked him up at the Notre Dame campus and took him out to eat at Buffalo Wild Wings, a favorite haunt of his.  Afterward, we went to Wal-Mart to stock him up on Gatorade and protein bars and then dropped him off at his dorm.  It was a quick visit, and we'll see him again in just a few short weeks when he comes home for his Christmas break--but it was so wonderful to see our baby!

Before we got back on the road, we stopped in at Notre Dame's awesome Hammes Bookstore, because I'd seen something in their catalog that I wanted to get for my hubby for Christmas and thought it would be a good idea to pick it up and save on the shipping charges.  In the foyer of the bookstore, we were greeted by this lovely sight:

Isn't this Fightin' Irish Christmas Tree simply gorgeous?  I'm not normally a fan of "theme" trees, but I'll make an exception for this one!  (Click on the photo if you'd like to enlarge it...go ahead, click on it.  Trust me, it's totally worth it.)

Seeing the bookstore all decked out for Christmas made me even more anxious to decorate my own house.  Usually, it's all done by now, but we've been away from home since November 17, when we began our westward road trip out to Indiana for the ND v. Wake Forest game...which turned into a road trip all the way out to Colorado to spend Thanksgiving with our beloved grandbabies.  We departed from Colorado Springs on Monday morning and made it to Buffalo last night; today, we only have about 9 more hours of driving to go before we're home sweet home again.

So this is what I'll be singing just as soon as I've had my morning coffee tomorrow: "Deck the halls with bows of holly, Fa la la la la, la la la la..."

Amazing Sights from the Road

Yesterday my husband and I--"Papa" and "Gra Gra," that is--had to say good-bye to our darling little granddaughters and their mom and dad, which was very difficult and sad.  The week we spent with them just flew by, and it was wonderful.

We drove for about 13 hours, from Colorado Springs to Iowa City, where we stopped for the night.  Just after we got on the road in Colorado, we saw a sight I'd never seen before in my life--except in cowboy movies.  As we were driving along, we hit a patch of highway where there were a bunch of large tumbleweeds sweeping across the road.  Before this trip, I really thought tumbleweeds were little more than movie props.  In westerns, they always seem to be tumbling down the dusty main street of the little prairie town when the bad guy and the sheriff face off at either end for a gun duel.  This was the only context in which I'd ever seen them, so how could they be real?  Well, they are real.  And yesterday I saw some.  I didn't get a picture of them, but believe me, I saw some.  And Black Bart wasn't anywhere in sight.

Hours after the tumbleweed sighting, my husband and I pulled off at a huge, somewhat unbelievable truck stop in Nebraska (complete with a shower area for the truckers, restaurants, stores, and even a chapel for Sunday services!), and I saw another amazing sight.  It was something I didn't even think existed anymore.

Remember these?  They're called phone booths.  I thought pay phones were obsolete, because they're not small enough to carry in your pocket and you can't check the Internet with them; but apparently, I was wrong.  And there wasn't just one of these dinosaurs; there was a whole hallway of them, each with its own vintage coin-operated pay phone and a little stool to sit upon.

It was kind of nice to see that pay phones and phone booths are not yet extinct in the good old US of A.

And speaking of dinosaurs, here's another incredible sight from the road yesterday.

That T-Rex looks almost real, doesn't it?  I only wish we'd passed this guy on one of our many car trips with our boys when they were little.  Heck, I wish they'd been with us yesterday.  They're all in their 20's now, except our baby (who will turn 20 in January), and they're still crazy about dinosaurs.

So I learned a few things yesterday.  Tumbleweeds are real.  And driving through Nebraska is like going through a time machine, where phone booths and dinosaurs are not yet extinct.

Today, we make a pit stop in South Bend, IN to have lunch with our baby at Notre Dame, and then we push on to Erie, PA.

Happy Birthday, Bigfoot!

No time to blog this morning--Lloyd and Harry have to get on the road.  We're headed back home, after an awesome week-long visit with our oldest son, our daughter-in-law, and our 18-month-old twin granddaughters.  We have three full days of driving ahead of us (2,130 miles in all!), so we're trying to get an early start today.

But I wanted to give a quick birthday shout-out to my father--better known to his intimates as "Bigfoot."

Happy Birthday, Dad.  We love you, big guy!  XXOO

Goin' to the 'Ship!

Well, sports fans, yesterday was indeed a great day for the Irish!  If you are a Notre Dame fan, or even just a fan of college football in general, I don't have to tell you that the Fighting Irish defeated USC last night, finishing their regular season with a perfect 12-0 record.  They are solidly ranked #1 in the nation (much to the dismay of ND-haters, like ESPN's Mark May and his ilk), and they're headed to the national championship game in Miami.  The only question now is who their opponent will be, and that will be decided next week when Alabama plays Georgia.

Mark May promised that if the Irish went 12-0, he'd don the leprechaun suit--and last night, he did just that on national television as legendary Notre Dame coach, Lou Holtz, looked on.  He didn't do it with much enthusiasm, but you've got to give May credit for keeping his word.

Now we'll have to see if sports columnist Rick Riley will honor his pledge.  He said that if Notre Dame beat USC last night (which he was absolutely sure they wouldn't), he'd polish all of their golden helmets.

It's been a long time since the Irish have been national champs--since 1988, to be exact, under Holtz--and Notre Dame fans across the US are jubilant, to put it mildly.  Last night after the game, our youngest son sent us a text that read, "Destination: Miami; ETA: January 7."  I guess, since he has a January birthday anyway, we know what we'll be getting him for a gift this year.  And my husband and I have decided to give each other the same gift for Christmas as well.  I think a whole lot of Pearls are busy reserving blocks of hotel rooms and putting in their ticket orders, so things are going to be hopping down there at Sun Life Stadium!

I don't know what else I can say about the amazing season this "team of destiny" has had, except, "WE ARE ND!"  And "WE'RE NUMBER 1!"  And "WE'RE GOIN' TO THE 'SHIP!"

And for all those college football talking heads who've been asking for years, "Is Notre Dame relevant anymore?"...I think now they've got their answer!

Hair Today, Gone Tomorrow

I've always had very fine, very straight hair--and envied those gals who have thick masses of glorious natural curls.  As I get older, my fragile hair seems to be falling out at an alarming rate.  I worry that one day, patches of scalp will be visible between the sparse strands (and when that happens, my friends, I intend to buy myself an awesome wig!).

I have been spending time lately with a couple of little girls who have hair very much like their grammy's.  My twin 18-month-old granddaughters have fine, straight, flyaway hair that often sticks up straight when there's a lot of static in the air.  Up until not that long ago, they were essentially bald, and there are still patches of scalp to be spied on their precious little heads.  On top of that, their hair is growing in as little mullets, with extra long strands in the back.  But you know what?  On those two, this redneck hair-do is incredibly cute!

Look at the back of Bonny Babe's adorable little noggin.  On this cute little monkey, the fine straight hair that I bemoan having looks right at home.

I'm not going to complain about my hair anymore.  (My husband will not believe that statement for a second, but at least I'm going to TRY not to complain.)  If hair like mine is good enough for my little darlings, it's good enough for me!

(My title today makes no sense, does it?  I guess I was thinking that, just as my granddaughters were bald not too long ago, I am probably heading in that direction myself!)