Out for a Walk

I found this picture when I took Happy Boy's birthday pictures off the camera. This was taken in December when we went for an outing. I think it's funny that Reeda is taking Happy Boy for a walk. :)

Too Funny Not to Read

I just found this blog post and wanted to pass it on. It is only three sentences, so you have time to read it.

Material Discontent

We* have had our vacuum since we received it as a wedding present. In other words, our vacuum is almost six years old. For quite some time, every time we use it we have gotten a strong dusty smell, even when the bag was just changed. This combined with knowing that with two children, the floor should be vacuumed or at spot-vacuumed at least every other day and increased knowledge of dust mites and allergens in the carpet has made me want a new vacuum.

I would read blog posts by people with a Dyson and think, "Wow. I would really like a Dyson. It is so powerful." Then I would visit people who had a Roomba and think, " This would be great to have. I would easily be able to vacuum every single day." Or I would have to get out the vacuum just to vacuum up a patch of dirt or food and think, "What I really need is a hand vac. It is just ridiculous to lug out this big thing just to vacuum up a small area of the carpet."

It was with great shock that I realized that I desired not one but THREE new vacuums. That was a bit extreme, especially when the vacuum I had was still functioning. How could this happen? How could I be so materialistic? I could give the excuse that "I want all" like St. Therese said, but I don't think that is a valid excuse for me. Rather, I think it is a consequence of living in a rich country where lots of people buy what they want when they want it regardless of their financial situation. We see the nice things that people have and want them too, not knowing whether they can afford them or whether those things just drove them deeper into debt.

For Christmas I was given a Roomba. However, ideally, I still would like both a Dyson and a hand vacuum. Having one object of my desire unfortunately did not quench my desire for the others. Even though these are only wants and not all-consuming desires, it disturbs me that I feel this way. However, I don't know how to rid myself of this greed (or is it envy? or merely covetousness?). Whatever it is, it seems to be a spiritual ill and I suppose I need to pray more for contentment. Lucky me: Lent begins tomorrow! It seems to be the perfect time to try to become less attached to worldly things.

*I say "we" because my husband vacuums just as much as I do, and more if I am pregnant.

Slumdog Millionaire

I don't watch the Academy Awards, so I am in no way desirous of watching a movie merely because it did well at the Oscars. However, there are times when a movie I enjoy is nominated for something (such as the Lord of the Rings movies) and then I hope that it does well.

The movie Slumdog Millionaire did surprisingly well at the Oscars for being a foreign film with no big-name actors in it. I don't really care how well it did, but its presence in the spotlight for the last few days has reminded me that it was a movie that I wanted to see.

I love the plot: a poor man raised on the street becomes a millionaire on an Indian quiz show and then has to prove how he learned all the facts he knew. There is a problem, though. I try to keep my standards high when it comes to movies and that means skipping the R rated movies. I simply don't want to subject myself to the sort of thing that contributes to the "restricted" rating. And unfortunately, Slumdog Millionaire has that rating.

I thought, "Well maybe the rating was only because of language." I don't mind that to an extent, so I might have been willing to watch it. I looked up the movie's review on the Catholic Bishop's website and found what I was looking for:

The film contains beating and torture, fleeting rear nudity, crime and prostitution themes, underage drinking, brief scatological humor and occasional rough and crude language.

Well, that settled it. I have no interest in watching that stuff. It's too bad that they don't sell movies edited for airplanes.

All Good Things Must Come to an End

Reeda is now able to climb out of her crib. This has made bedtime, naptime, and morning time quite a trial. The other night I went to check on the children about ten and found Reeda playing in their room while Happy Boy peacefully slept.

In the mornings she is now getting up between one and two hours earlier than she did ten days ago. Before when she woke up, she would make a sound or two and go back to sleep. Now she climbs out and by the time she has made it to my room she is too awake to fall back asleep. I will pull her into my bed and watch her yawn, rub her eyes and make sleepy-child noises, but she will not go back to sleep.

In anticipation of this unpleasant event, I bought a crib tent off Craigslist several months ago. I got it out after her first escape only to discover that the children had lost ALL the poles for the tent. After scouring the room I was only able to find half of them. Now we are stuck with a tired Houdini and a somewhat tired and very annoyed mama on an almost daily basis.

Happy Birthday, Happy Boy!

Happy Boy recently celebrated his fourth birthday. For several months he has frequently requested "a birthday hat and train cake" for his special day. He wore the hat most of the day and was very excited as he watched my husband and I assembled the cake. Now he is looking forward to Reeda's birthday so we can have the birthday hats again and more balloons.

For more pictures of the cake, visit my cooking blog.

Happy St. Valentine's Day

We normally don't do much for Valentine's Day. I would like to do something fun and romantic, but neither of us want to pay for a babysitter or brave the crowds. I love all the ideas for yummy Valentine's treats that have been floating around various blogs, but we are trying to cut back on sugar, so that eliminates just about everything.

However, we were actually able to do something special anyway! I was very happy when I realized that we had all the ingredients for the dinner we had the same thing the night we were engaged! It wasn't anything special; we just went to a local hole-in-the-wall sandwich shop and split a 12 inch grilled pastrami sandwich, but it was SO GOOD. So tonight I pulled out all the ingredients, assembled and grilled the sandwiches, and we reminisced about that long-ago night.