Game Day Onesies for G-Man

You may have heard that our middle son and his wife Preciosa are expecting their first child.  The gender of this wee one has been revealed,

and he will henceforth be affectionately called "G-Man" on this blog.

My son is a Notre Dame alumnus and rabid Fighting Irish football fan.  Preciosa is a Florida State alumna and rabid Seminoles football fan.  Their two worlds are going to be colliding on October 18, when ND travels to FSU to play on the Seminoles' turf.  We were all planning to attend that game together, and my husband had already purchased our tickets.  But God had other plans...because not too long after their wedding in December of last year, those two kids found out that they were going to become parents.  And their little darling was due to make an appearance around October 12, making travel to that game for the parents-to-be something that just wasn't going to be happenin'.

That's okay, though.  We're used to curve balls like this in our family, so we just called an audible.  (I'm mixing my sports metaphors, I know.)  My husband is still going to be off for the ND-FSU game (and the week prior), having put in for the vacation time so that we could travel down to FL to meet up with the kids for the big game.  SO, new game plan: instead of heading to FL, we're going to VA, where we'll watch it on TV--and hopefully G-Man will have already made his appearance (if he's a good boy, and doesn't make his mama go past her due date!), and he'll watch it with us.

I thought I'd make G-Man some game day onesies for the big contest between his parents' alma maters.  If it seems like the ND appliques are a tad more substantial, that was purely accidental.  There was no intent to show which of the two opponents I hope will be the winner.  ;)

GO IRISH!

GO NOLES!

And before I sign off, just a word about boys--because after raising five of them, I think I have earned the authority to speak on this topic.

They're wonderful.  That's it in a nutshell.  They're noisy and messy when they're little fellas, and they make every single activity into an intense competition.  But with boys, it's all out there in the open; there aren't all those emotional undercurrents that you have with girls.  Boys can be at each other's throats one minute, and laughing together like best buddies the next.  I always tell my husband that I think males are simple creatures, and I mean that in the best possible way.

The sweetest thing about boys, though, is that they really, really love their mamas.  When mine were little rascals, my husband promised me that they would grow up into tall, strapping lads who treated their mother like a queen.  He was right.

And I know, women who have girl children will tell you that there isn't anything that compares to the unique bond between mother and daughter.  And moms of all sons get the "Oh, poor you, no girls?" thing all the time (I sure do!), as though we have been cursed or something.  Recently, I was reading a blog post by a mother of four sons that really hit home with me.  She said that she was irritated by people who are "unnecessarily sympathetic" toward her because she has only boys.  Yes, I thought!  All that sympathy I've gotten over the years has been totally unnecessary!  I feel blessed!   Maybe there's something a mother misses out on when she doesn't have a daughter...but I'm getting that now, with the wonderful young women our boys have brought into our family.

Preciosa, you are about to be blessed to a degree that you can hardly imagine.  And my prayer for you is that that little son of yours treats you half as well as his daddy has always treated me.  If so, you will be the luckiest woman on earth!

Let's Talk about Steel Cut Oats (Not Kitchens!)

Before...

After...





Oh yeah, that's right...I'm all finished talking about my kitchen makeover, and I'm not going to bore you with details about that anymore.

So, moving on to other topics: yesterday I was in the grocery store, and I saw a food item that I just had to have...to store on my new Lazy Susan (in that new kitchen I'm not going to talk about anymore).  It was a can of steel cut Irish oatmeal, and I just couldn't resist it.

Not only are the oats in this nifty vintage-style can Irish (and I am in love with Ireland and its people and pretty much anything pertaining to that Isle of Emerald--as you know if you read Finding Grace and will find out if you read the book I have in the works right now, Erin's Ring), but they're steel cut.

Why is the steel cut part so noteworthy, you ask?  Is it because this is one of the latest and greatest health food choices being touted out there (I assume, anyway, as I did find this can of oats in the organic/crunchy section of the store)?  No.  Is it because my husband loves oatmeal like Fighting Irish fans love to sing the Notre Dame fight song?  He does--but no, that's not why.  Is it because of a certain YouTube video, which my sons, to a man, think is hilarious (and as fans of the Christian Bale Batman movies, my husband and I must admit that we think so, too)?  Um, YES.  So enjoy this short Batman spoof (while realizing that some of these College Humor YouTube bits can be a tad inappropriate, although this one is not), and make sure to listen carefully, so you don't miss the steel cut oats reference.  (You may have to suffer through a short ad before the video starts.)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SVW6SH2bjYQ

My five darling sons (if you're reading this), that was for you!

And speaking of the Irish (we WERE speaking of them, before we got sidetracked by steel cut things, like Batman and oats), the many Irish-Catholic immigrants who came to this New England town in the 1800's, to escape poverty and famine in their native land, would give their eye-teeth to have what I take for granted: a local Catholic church, where one can attend Mass any day of the week.  And that's where I'm headed now , to celebrate the Feast of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary.

Well, have a great weekend, everyone!  And as an Irishman might say, may your troubles be few...and may your oats be steel cut!

Kitchen Makeover--Before and After!

Okay, as promised, here are the before pictures of our kitchen, taken with a cell phone by our cheerful and hard-working Home Depot installer, right before he started the job early Monday morning.

And here are the after pics he snapped late Wednesday afternoon, just after he'd cleaned up and loaded his tools into his van.

It's amazing that this could be accomplished in three days, isn't it?

The installer's shots are pretty good, but they don't really tell the whole story.  So I'm going to share some pictures that I took, after I loaded all the cabinets, drawers, and counters back up with our stuff.

I love the way this kitchen turned out!

The cabinets are absolutely beautiful, and they have bead board inserts that give them that "farmhouse" look that I've always loved.

Better yet, I now have these wonderful pull-out drawers where I used to have a cavernous space jam-packed with stuff that was so hard to get at, I dreaded having to reach around in there to find what I needed.

I used to let my Tupperware containers sit in the dish drying rack for ages, in order to put off putting them away--unless I was in the mood for a challenging game of Extreme Tetris, played while kneeling.  But not anymore!

My old Lazy Susan was in not-so-great shape.

So I'm loving this new one, which isn't attached to the door like the old one was, but instead has a separate bi-fold door.  And each tier of my new Sue turns independently of the other.  It's very cool.

My gorgeous new cabinets, topped off with classy crown moldings, are great for showcasing my decorative pieces (and by that I mean mostly my pig collection).

Hey, remember this window?

Well, look at it now! 

I decided to move a piece that I had across the room (a secondhand wooden pie safe that I use as a pantry), so that it's up against the end of the cabinets.  Now I have room for my cookbooks on top of that (they used to be almost inaccessible, on a narrow shelf in the back of the crowded cabinet where I stored my pots and pans); also, the back of this pantry forms a nice little niche for the Keurig, so that I have a cozy little "coffee bar" area at the end of the counter.  Love it.  (And those Command hooks that look like metal are my new faves.)

While we were at it, my husband and I decided to change the position of our table, a gorgeous tile-topped oak trestle table that he made years ago, specially designed to be long and narrow so that it would fit in our kitchen, which is not really set up very well to be an eat-in kitchen for a family of seven.  (Our dining room is enormous, but our kitchen is not.)  The trestle table is now pushed up against the wall opposite the window, since it is usually just two of us eating here most nights anyway.  It makes a nice office space for me, too, if I want to write in my new kitchen (which I DO!).  For the first time since we moved into this house 24 years ago, it feels like we have a wide-open, spacious kitchen.

On the wall opposite the window, we used to have an enormous bulletin board--3 and 1/2 feet by 7 and 1/2 feet.  My husband bought a huge sheet of thick corkboard from Home Depot, which he screwed into the wall, and then he fashioned a wood frame for it (he can do anything, that guy).  We felt we needed it when the boys were young, to keep track of all the school and sports schedules and newsletters, party invitations, and whatnot.  We have outgrown it, though; we started to weed through all those scraps of paper recently and found the funniest things up there: receipts from ten years ago, expired coupons, our oldest son's address from his deployment to Iraq in 2009, you name it.

So this summer my husband took it down, with our youngest son's help.

I'm not really sorry to see it go.  But sniff, sniff...first the big red 15-seater van, my old house on wheels that was perpetually filled with an assortment of candy wrappers and empty Mt. Dew cans, the dirt of a thousand football fields, and the faint odor of sweaty lacrosse gear--and affectionately known as the "garbage scow"; now the world's biggest--and some have said, most hideous--bulletin board.  I'm saying good-bye to a messy but happy era.  A wonderful, although not always picture-perfect, part of my life is truly coming to an end!

But there is a consolation prize: a pretty new kitchen.  :)

I'm currently at work on that very empty, very white wall where the bulletin board used to be, and I'll be sure to post pictures when I get it fab-looking enough to be in the same room with my awesome new cabinets.

Well, for those of you who said you were excited to see the "after" pictures, I hope you enjoyed these.  For those of you who weren't all that interested in taking a tour of my kitchen, sorry 'bout that.  But I'll leave you with this: if you can't afford to do a complete renovation but would like to give your tired old kitchen a whole new look, have your kitchen cabinets refaced--I can't recommend it highly enough.  Home Depot was so great to work with on this project, every step of the way (and they're not even paying me to say that!).

Update on the Kitchen Re-do

I guess I haven't quite gotten back to my roots as a daily blogger...yet.  It's just that right now, most of my writing juices are being poured into my new book.  (It's a Catholic YA novel that is due to be released by Bezalel Books in the spring of 2015, titled Erin's Ring.  Here are the last two lines of the first chapter: "Who were Erin and Michael?  And what story might this ring tell, if only it could talk?"  Does that little teaser make you curious for more?  I hope so!)

Okay, the pre-publication marketing portion of this post is now over.  Moving on--

For the past two days, I've been sitting in my dining room at my laptop working on Erin's Ring, surrounded by all the stuff that usually hides behind my kitchen cabinet doors.

I used to think my kitchen was too small and didn't have nearly enough storage space, but look at what it managed to hold.

I think I was wrong.  I realize now that my sweet little kitchen was like one of those houses that looks small from the street, but then you go inside and you're amazed by the square footage.

Kitchen, I'm sorry for dissing you all these years.  You've been wonderful!  And because you've been such a great friend to me, old girl, you're getting the facelift you've earned!

So Monday's post broke the exciting news that we are having our kitchen refaced--meaning the original boxes will be used, but covered in a laminate that will match the new cabinet doors and drawer fronts--and we're going to have knobs and drawer pulls, finally.  And crown molding!  All the rickety old drawers are being replaced, too, with those state-of-the-art soft-closing babies.  But the best part of all is that where I once had cavernous cabinets with everything stacked Tetris-style (and I had to practically crawl inside them to find anything!), I'll now have those nifty pull-out drawers, for pots and pans and such-like.  (Welcome to the 21st century, Laura!)

Two months ago, we had a Home Depot representative come and discuss our options, and we decided to reface instead of fully remodeling the kitchen, for a couple of reasons: 1) we'd finally paid off the new faux granite countertop that we had installed two years ago, when our old one just got too sad-looking--and we didn't want to rip out a perfectly good countertop; and 2) IT'S WAY LESS EXPENSIVE!  The guy told us that our kitchen was the perfect candidate for refacing, because the boxes are sturdy and in good shape.  So the next step was to have someone come out and measure everything.  And then finally, on Monday the installer came with all the custom-ordered parts and got to work.

Here's what everything looked like after he left Monday night.  Sayonara, 80's-style laminate!

And here's what everything looked like when he left Tuesday night.  Hello, new and improved 2014-style laminate!

By tonight at about 5:00, the kitchen should be finished, so I can post some "after" pictures here tomorrow.  This is so exciting!  I'm at that age where I could probably use a facelift, too; but I'd much rather give one to my kitchen.  Whether the nest is empty or full, a pretty, functional kitchen is a girl's best friend.  :)

Farewell to My Baby; Hello to My New Kitchen

At the crack of oh-dark-thirty this morning, our youngest son left to drive out to South Bend, IN, where he will be starting his senior year at Notre Dame.  He will be living off-campus, sharing a house with 7 other Army ROTC cadets; that's right: there will be 8 college boys living in one house.  Oy.  (More on that later, because I'm sure there are going to be horror stories starring dishes piled 4 feet high in sinks and tubs with fur on them...)

Our baby is driving cross-country for the first time in his life (so I have asked his guardian angel to be particularly vigilant today), at the wheel of the 1996 Mercury Grand Marquis that used to belong to my husband's late mother and became ours in 2009 or 2010.  For a '96, that big metal boat is in incredibly good shape, as my sweet mother-in-law was a stereotypical little old lady who only used to drive it to church or to the grocery store.  It has something like 130,000 miles on it--which over the course of 18 years is nothin'.  (We put that many miles on our vehicles in about 6.  We drive our cars pretty much into the ground before we buy new ones.)

None of our other sons ever had a car when they were out at Notre Dame; but there have to be some perks to being the baby of the family, and being the last one stuck at home with dear old mom and dad--right?

Here's a picture of our son's "new" wheels.  As you can see, this is exactly the sort of car any young buck dreams about owning one day.  The maroon color is just a bonus.  He has affectionately named her "Gertrude."

You're carrying some precious cargo today, Gertie.  We're counting on you.

My husband filled up the tank for our boy yesterday.  He also checked to see if Gertrude was due for an oil change (she wasn't), and then when he got home he gave our son a quick tutorial on checking the oil, using the jack to change a tire, etc.

He bought big jugs of antifreeze and washer fluid and loaded them in the car, and he also replaced a windshield wiper that wasn't working too well.  But the cutest thing ever was this:



Do you see that cup holder sitting on the hump?  It is usually the nastiest-looking thing, filled with Mt. Dew spills, dust, candy wrappers, and sticky stuff you can't even identify.  My guy cleaned away years of built-up gunk, making it look showroom-ready, and then filled up each coin slot.  Earlier, he'd had asked me if I had any spare nickels and dimes, and I didn't know what he was up to.  Turns out he was up to being the best dad ever.  (By the way, please ignore the gross rug stains and focus on the awesome cup holder.  It even has a handy area for storing cassette tapes, which doesn't date it at all!)

We went outside to wave good-bye when son #5 drove off at about 5:00 a.m.  As we stood in the driveway, he backed out; and then before he took off, he rolled down the driver's side window so that he could wave at us "through the trees."  (That was a childhood ritual of his; have I blogged about that before?  Do you want me to explain what it means?  Because that could provide me with a topic for tomorrow, and as you can probably tell from my low output lately, I've had a bit of blogger's block.)

Well, we not only said good-bye to our youngest son today, but we're also saying good-bye to some dated-looking laminate kitchen cabinets that have the 80's written all over them.  They are original to the house, and we've never loved them--but they were sturdy and functional, so we made do for the past 24 years; however, they finally got worn-out enough to warrant an update!  We're having them refaced--all new cabinet doors, new drawers, etc.  I'll be sure to do a post with all the before and after shots.

As is, our kitchen is really not that bad-looking...at a distance.

But when you get up close, you notice things like this.

And this.

And this.

And my personal favorite, this drawer front that was re-attached recently with the help of Velcro, duct tape, and contact paper--and is barely hanging on by a thread.

To sum up:

I'm sad today, knowing that after this school year, our youngest child will be a college graduate and our nest will be truly empty.  That's hard for a person who doesn't like change too much.  But I AM looking forward to having a new kitchen.  (There have to be some perks to being an empty-nester--right?)  So maybe change isn't always so bad after all.

Looking Forward to Christmas (Already!)

I know it's only August, but I have to tell you that I can hardly wait for Christmas this year.  We are going to have all five of our sons, their four wives, and all four of our grandchildren (one who isn't born yet, but will be making his appearance in October) here with us.  I can hardly contain my excitement about this.  I wasn't even sure we would ever be able to get the whole gang together at Christmas, now that three (soon-to-be four) are married and they have to split their time between us and their in-laws.  It seems like a miracle to me, and I am on Cloud 9 about it!

Apparently, our #1 son and his wife Regina have informed their little girls that they are spending Christmas at Papa and Grammy's house this year.  During a recent Skype session, Cutie Pie (one of the three-year-old twins) got very excited and said, "Grammy, we're coming to your house for Christmas today!"  (My daughter-in-law said, "I guess we shouldn't have told them about it so early--they think it's happening NOW."  But all I can say to that is, "I WISH!")

Our three granddaughters have never been to our house, the house in which their dad grew up.  We usually travel to see them wherever they are (and they've been in WI, NY, AL, CO, and MI--so far!); it's easier for us than it is for them, because we have those airline employee passes for flights.  And also because, well...twins.  And now twins plus an 18-month-old little sister.  And all the accoutrement, if you will, that is required for traveling with wee ones.  They've stayed at Papa's boyhood home in Upstate NY, once for Christmas and once for son #4's wedding, but they've never traveled to NH.

I have told our kids that they need bring NOTHING with them, except their adorable selves.  We will provide the diapers, the baby food, the Pack 'n Plays, the baby gates, the electrical outlet covers, and what-have-you--and even a goodly supply of toys and books (since I'm an extreme pack-rat when it comes to nostalgic items, and I've kept EVERYTHING that our boys ever had).  They just need to bring themselves.  And those grandchildren, of course!

Yesterday when I was shopping at Wal-Mart, I saw something I simply had to have.  (Yes, I shop at Wal-Mart, and I'm not ashamed of it.)  I thought it might come in handy for my little newbie potty-goers--who happen to be huge fans of ladybugs.

Grammy's ready for you, gang.  She's even got a potty chair all ready to use.  Not to mention friendly little woodland creatures lurking about in the most unexpected places (and I hope they'll be a big hit with the little ones!).

Christmas can't come soon enough!

Our Goddaughter, the Bride

My husband is the godfather of multiple Pearl nieces and nephews.  This is not surprising, as he is the most excellent choice I can think of to play this important role in the lives of young Catholic souls.  He has so many godchildren--he's like the little old lady man who lived in a shoe!  He has so many godchildren he doesn't know what to do!  (Not really; he knows exactly what to do.  More about this in a minute.)

I have only one godchild on the Pearl side; and I am privileged to share godparenting duties for this lovely young lady with my husband.  She is the only Pearl family member for whom we are godparents together, and therefore she holds a special little spot in both of our hearts.

I don't know how to describe this blond dynamo, a twenty-something beauty whose zest for life is rivaled by no one.  And I mean no one.  She has the most vivacious personality, and her effervescence is limitless and contagious.  She is the happiest, bubbliest, chattiest person on the planet.  Ask anyone who's ever met her if they know anyone else even remotely like her, and they will tell you she is absolutely one-of-a-kind.  Glass?  Half-full!!  Party?  Where is it, she'll be there!!  

If our goddaughter loves you, she loves you HARD, and she will be your biggest cheerleader, your most loyal fan, and your best friend forever.  She just might love everyone; but if she doesn't, I can't remember ever hearing her say a bad word about another living soul.  Being made of nothing but joy and love, I think she sees only those qualities in others that are lovable.  This girl is a pure soul if I ever saw one, a person who lives every moment of her life loving those around her with every ounce of energy she has.  How lucky then, is the young man she married this past Saturday and promised to love and honor all the days of her life?  Exceedingly lucky, says her godmother.  (But he's a pretty great guy, too, so this goes both ways of course.)

When I watched my sweet goddaughter throughout her big day, from the very holy and reverent nuptial Mass, through the delicious meal in an elegant setting (where every detail was thought of to make the event beautiful and fun--but most importantly, filled with love and appreciation for the couple's guests), and on through the wild and crazy dance party that followed, she was positively glowing.  She exuded her uncontainable delight in the fact that she was marrying the man of her dreams, that she was finally starting the life with him that she'd been dreaming about since that night she met him in college and sparks instantly flew.

Before we ate our meal, my husband said a blessing at the request of his goddaughter.  It was a very moving speech about how despite the fact that our niece is so spirited and fun-loving and at times, even goofy, when it came to their wedding Mass, she and her fiancé showed (through the readings they chose and the fact that the Cross processed up the aisle before the wedding party, among other details) that they were taking this step very seriously.  They showed that they understood completely that it wasn't just about the two of them and their romantic love for one another; they showed that they were well aware that marriage is a triune union, with God above all else.  My husband had been asked to do the blessing before the meal at our goddaughter's older sister's wedding a few years back, and he was honored to do so again this past Saturday for her.

Our goddaughter is not shy.  (Have I made that clear yet?)  She is an extrovert if I ever met one.  She relished the role she played on her wedding day, not nervous at all about being the center of attention.  She looked absolutely gorgeous, but what was even better was that her expressive face positively shouted how thrilled and happy she felt.  A blushing bride she was NOT.  I look back on my own wedding day, and I remember head-ducking shy smiles and the discomfort I felt knowing that so many eyes were upon me.  An extrovert I was NOT, nor am I one today.  But I wish now that on that happiest of all days, I could have pushed through that wall of shyness and walked around with a beaming "Look at me!" face that shouted what I was feeling: "Look at this prize I snagged!!  Look who chose ME to be his wife!!  How lucky am I?  The luckiest girl on the face of the earth, that's who!!"  I guess what I'm trying to say is this: when I grow up, I want to be just like my goddaughter.   (And for my family members or friends who were there on my wedding day and might be reading this: if you leave me a comment saying that my face actually DID express those emotions I was feeling that day, despite the shyness, then you will be--as my goddaughter might say--my best friend forever!)

Here are a few pictures of our girl and her Prince Charming--almost guaranteed to brighten up your Monday morning.

If you could bottle up this girl's happiness and spread it around, the world would certainly be a better place.  God bless our one-of-a-kind goddaughter and her new husband as they begin their married life together!