A Tag

Amy at the Green Bathtub tagged me:

Are you hot?

My husband says so :)

Upload a picture or wall paper you are using at the moment.

My son took this picture and I love it because it reminds me of the Holy Spirit.

When was the last time you ate chicken meat?

This evening after a lovely day at the zoo, I had a chicken sandwich with bacon, lettuce, tomato and guacamole. Yum.

Songs you listened to recently?

Jesus My Lord, My God, My All

Divine Mercy Chaplet

What were you thinking as you were doing this?

How grateful I am that the Lord gave Himself to us in the Eucharist. Tomorrow is the feast of Corpus Christi, where we celebrate the Body of Christ that is consecrated during Mass. I blogged about it here.

Do you have nicknames?

Oh, yes. My brother is responsible for them. In fact, I don't recall knowing my real name until I went to school because I was always called Winkie, Venkat, or Venkatli at home. The only nickname that has survived is Winkie, though when I visit my brother he often refers to me as Venkat.

Tag eight blogger friends.

Boy, this is hard. Most folks have already played. If you haven't and want to play, consider yourself tagged.

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Reading

Let not thy left hand know what thy right hand doeth. Matt. 6:3


My 12-year-old son just finished his first adult novel based on the passage above: Magnificent Obsession by Lloyd C. Douglas. It was the first adult book that I read as well, at age 12, so we had a great long talk about it and I told him he is free to read any of Douglas' books. I have most of them -- some are actually my mother's old and tattered copies. Just fingering them, and seeing how she underlined some of the text brought tears to my eyes.


I wanted to share Adventures in Two Worlds by A. J. Cronin next, since he is another one of my heros. Actually he planted the seed to become a writer since he was a physician-turned-writer. I thought I'd be a grandmother before I'd pen any books, but I'm delighted I didn't wait. But my copy is missing. I don't remember whether someone borrowed it or if it's just misplaced it, even though I have all my fiction in alphabetical order by author.


I thought this book was out of print, but I see that it's been reprinted. I no longer have to fret over my missing copy. Hooray!


I love passing on my mother's legacy. These books changed my life and for the better. Even though I have shared many books from my childhood with my children, I don't know why MO makes me feel like we've reached a milestone. There is no celebration per se, but my heart is full.

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The End

It's not just the end of the regular baseball season, but also the first big revision on my novel. This time round, I paid attention to structure and pacing and plotting. There are several things I wanted to have happen, but I know my characters better and know they wouldn't do certain things. My critique partner, Jen, was always good about catching them. Some events I made happen by changing the circumstances or raising the stakes. The major events remained the same, but this draft is so much truer to the characters. More organic. I can imagine the lives of these characters well beyond the "The End."

I have loved revising this book and can't wait to revise on a micro-level with language, word choice. I can already see that I need to add more interior thoughts, but I am going to let it rest and ruminate a while. I also discovered that although I began writing this book with one idea in my mind, it is about something deeper, which I wouldn't have understood had I not written the book. I wonder what I'll discover in subsequent revisions.

In the meantime, it's time to pen some of those baseball shorts. I've got half a dozen stories that have been percolating for several years now and methinks it's time to Play Ball!

About the scores: we won the league championship but not the city one. What a great season. I am so proud of my son for playing all these years even though he takes after me (the non-athletic parent). He's had a great time and improved so much and he sure has a good time out there. Just as his Little League career is getting over, my daughter has begun hers. Fun, fun, fun. Perhaps my son will umpire with his dad.

Endings are always the beginnings of something new.

My children will agree. School's out. Summer's here.
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The Ordination and First Mass

This was a very special weekend, not just because it was the feast of Pentecost, the birthday of the Church, but also because five new men joined the royal priesthood. We are so blessed to be able to attend. Here is Dwight Peter Lewis, entering the sanctuary of St. James Cathedral.

The heart of the ceremony is the laying on of hands. The bishop anoints the hands and blesses the men and the priests in attendance (over a hundred?) shower their blessings upon the newly ordained. The lay faithful pray.

Today, Pentecost Sunday, Father Dwight celebrated his first Mass at St. Charles Borromeo Parish. He said, "If the priest is on fire, the people feel the heat!" Oh, yeah!

Come Holy Spirit! Fill our hearts. Enkindle in us, the fire of Your love.

A head of the household is responsible for his whole family. A priest is responsible for leading his entire flock to God. It's a tough job, often thankless. But if you are called, what will you say?

Thy will be done. Amen!

God bless you always, Father.
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Summer, Finally

Summer's here! We had a gorgeous weekend filled with baseball, softball, hot dogs and hamburgers, lying in fields like this, soaking up the sunshine.



These are my chives in the garden. I won't post a picture of my sad tomatoes. They'll start shooting up if it stays nice and warm.

And lilacs. I picked these to keep in the kitchen and the kittens have been munching on the leaves. They are soooo naughty. They were climbing the screen trying to get to the fuzzy, buzzy bees. Wonderful sound.

For three days in a row I've been able to hang out clothes to dry. They smell absolutely heavenly. See our dog? She's enjoying cooling off in the dirt.

And I'm so close to finishing my revision, I can almost taste the pleasure of typing "The End."

What are you soaking up this June?

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Open Door

Catholic Digest has just published our family's journey to the Catholic Church.

Vivat Jesus!

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Memorial Day

We went to Memorial Day Mass today at Holyrood Cemetery. Archbishop Sartain celebrated Mass and spoke about goodbyes. It means: God be with you.

The first Memorial Day service I went to was in Belgium. We lived for two years there in the Ardennes, while I did my post-doc work at the Max Plank Institute in Cologne, Germany and my husband worked in a machine tool factory in Andenne, Belgium. To see the places where fifty years ago these men and boys lost their lives and to see their graves made me appreciate their tremendous sacrifice. Before, Memorial Day was just a holiday with scant thought to the ones who have died so that we may have the freedom to live according to American ideals.

On the way to the cemetery we prayed the rosary. On the way back, we were listening to Matt Maher's album. And this is what I'm singing tonight: O death, where is your sting?

Listen to this song Christ is Risen: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o8QVwC6RWUc

God bless our armed forces. God bless America!
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The Owl and the Pussycat

I just came across this and have to share: http://wimp.com/catowl/

I can't believe May is almost over. I have just three weeks to complete a revision, and get through two ball tournaments, plus end-of-the-year school stuff. I'm looking forward to summer holidays.

But surprise, surprise. I got complimentary copies of Nature Friend, which reprinted my Surprise Squash story. Fun. I have all sorts of short stories bubbling up to the surface, but I have to be content to scribble them in my notebook. Novel revisions take priority right now.

Gee, this post feels like I'm telling myself to behave. But then again, I'm glad I give in to temptation sometimes. I just got a check for a shorty short book review to appear in the SCBWI Bulletin at a future date. Magazine writing rocks!

Oh, and anybody else obsessing over the Highlights Fiction Contest?
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Cautionary Tales?

Alas, I don't have a happy ending to the story unfolding in our backyard. The baby bird fell out of the nest and died. It was such a cutie, too, opening its mouth wide to be fed. I saw Mama making over a dozen trips in just one hour to feed it. I wonder whether the baby got too greedy, or was simply fidgeting.

I suppose we could come up with a cautionary tale about all this, right? PB, anyone.
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Babies and Blossoms in the Backyard

It's finally spring here, though it's wet and soggy. I want the sunshine to stay now. Of course, the rain makes it easier to stay indoors and write. I'm more than halfway done through my revision and it feels good to be plugging along.

Last month, the dog discovered this abandoned nest in one of the beds. I'm not quite sure what they are -- probably baby rabbits. But the dog would not leave them alone. She'd carry the babies out of the nest, roll them in the grass, and nuzzle them. My daughter ended up tucking the babies back. We finally moved them into the woods.

This month my daughter discovered a junco nest. Last week one of the eggs hatched. Today, the baby bird has some fuzz. You can see the heart beating through the translucent skin. It'll be so fun to watch the babies when they're all fluffed up.

Mama bird wasn't one bit happy about exposing her nest. She'd fly to a nearby branch and scold me. I love these beautiful nests -- it's architecture at its best.

And here are the promised apple blossoms!

Spring -- Life bursting forth!

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