Convicted by a Three Year Old

Today when I was in Adoration, a woman and her young children came in and knelt behind me.

I heard a cooing baby and a spunky toddler and wanted so badly to casually glance over my shoulder (who can resist chubby cheeks?). But my siblings informed me when I was a little kid that if you look behind you in church you see the devil's face. A few decades later, and I'm still not takin' any chances.

From the little girl came a squeaky stage whisper, "Mother Mary looks a little bit upset in that picture. Why?"

I stifled a guffaw. She was referring, of course, to Our Lady of the Angry Stare -- the stern-faced modern stained glass image of the Blessed Mother in our Adoration chapel. Because we're grateful to have stained glass at all in these days of warehouse churches, nobody ever comments on the fact that the ones we do have are rather... um... well... "a little bit upset."

"Is somebody being naughty to the Baby Jesus? Is that why she's upset?"

Wow. I knelt corrected and convicted.

Henceforth, I will never again be able to look at that image without offering prayers of reparation for myself and the world. Whoever you are, little girl: thank you.

The Unresolution

I resolve to make more desserts.

Like this one.

My husband likes them.

Desserts terrify me. They cook in the concealment of the oven; I can't watch them. The line between underdone and burned is a split second. Exact measurements (instead of eyeballing it) are needed. The results can be influenced by the weather. If it's raining you might have to add more flour; or if there's too much humidity in the kitchen! What they hay?? Chemistry is involved! There's just too much that can go wrong.

Plus, we never had them growing up. As my dad says, "I'm a salt and grease man." We just didn't have them in the house.

My husband eats desserts after every meal. And sometimes before. And often in between.

His family excels at making them. There's always a pie, a cake, cookies, or sweet bread lying on the counter. If not, there's backup candy in the cupboard.

I don't know how he maintains such a slim athletic physique, but he can handle them (I, meanwhile, am still working off the piece of coconut cream pie I consumed the Christmas of '07).

With fear and trembling, then, in the interest of self-sacrificial love (of course), I resolve to bake at least once a week for my husband. Tonight I'm making choco-mallow bars.

The timing of my unnerving unresolution is perfect.

Lent starts in two weeks.

Of Mice and Mortgages: Successes

1. In the last 72 hours, I've earned about the equivalent of a minor in both Real Estate and Accounting (from the University of Google). I've been trying, furiously, to figure out how we could a) qualify for and b) afford the mortgage on our little dream house. After calculating, recalculating, fudging, figuring, and finagling, I think we might be able to do it. Maybe.


2. We only have four more days of the month, and I think we can finish it without another trip to the grocery. This is a success because we've got 30% of our grocery budget left to spend for the month. It would be nice to put that into savings.

3. ♪♫ Three dead mice, three dead mice, see how they lie, see how they lie... they all ran after the Farmer's Wife, she set out the traps which was extra nice, did you ever see such a sight in your life as three dead mice? ♪♫

Three down, who knows how many to go. We've been praying for the pitter patter of little feet, but not that kind! I haven't heard any today; I hope the infestation is over and the mice have called a truce. I've got more peanut butter traps if they want to keep this war going, though.

Read others' small successes and share your own at Faith & Family Live.

Giveaway Winner

Let me just say: if you want to recommit to blogging, host a giveaway. My goodness, thank you all so much for your kind comments!! They'll keep me fueled up for a good long while.

At the start of the year, I was really trying to hone in on a focused niche for this blog (e.g. just recipes, just marriage, just homesteading...), but after hearing from you all I think the variety is what makes this blog work... and also what makes it utterly unmarketable for advertising revenue, hehe.

Without further ado, the winner of the:

is...

Commenter #52: "Thenotsoperfecthousewife." 

Congratulations!! Please contact me to claim the code.

So again, thank you all! You've really helped me to refocus.

Pick Your Poison

"If you were a mouse..."

Any conversation that starts like this gets my attention pretty quickly. I stopped mixing the mashed potatoes and lent an ear to my husband, who was loading up the traps with peanut butter.

"If you were a mouse... would you rather die eating creamy or crunchy?"

I used to think they were cute. But when they ate a hole in my wall and floor, and scampered fearlessly across my bedroom in daylight hours... well... they declared open war.

 

Image credit: T.H. Taylor Homes

"Creamy."

Are you a creamy or a crunchy fan? (I actually prefer crunchy, but I was trying to think like a mouse).

Don't forget, the Amazon gift card giveaway entries end tonight!