Full House

When life is full, the blog is hopping.  When life is abundantly filled above and beyond all I could ask or think with more blessings, challenges, and activities than I can count, blogging comes to a halt.  I have some time to squeeze in an update on my abundantly full weekend before things start hopping around here again this morning, so I’m grabbing the opportunity before the trumpet sounds and we are off to the races once again.

First of all, it has been our joy to have Malinda and little Efrain Jr. staying with us for the past week.  It’s been a few years since I have home-schooled with a toddler in the house, and when I did, all my kids were much younger, so it’s actually not quite as big a challenge now as it was then.  I have more hands on deck to assist in keeping his little hands occupied, and I must say, he is very good at keeping himself occupied… maybe a little too good! 😉

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Secondly, there was the matter of Saturday.  It was kind of crazy and fun to get everybody – kids, grandma and all – up earrrrrly and hit the road to get our major shopping done first thing.  We had grabbed our breakfast at Circle-K (six of us trooping inside while Oma waited in the nice warm van, grabbing our munchables and drinks, standing in line, and merrily mobbing the counter to plunk our wares down, causing the quizzical clerk to wonder if we were on a road trip), and were inside the Lowes by 7:30.  While there, I picked up paint color-zines, chose a ceiling fan, and even managed to find a perfect piano lamp.

Our next stop was the Wal-mart next door, and we spread out in myriad directions immediately upon entrance, meeting up periodically via cell phone to keep track of our progress.  With all of us on task, we made relatively short work of it and were back home in time for Paul to take the trailer to the dump so that we could THEN load up and go over to Jeff’s apartment.  We were aiming to see how much we could get cleared out that day, and by the time the van, the trailer, the blue car, and Chris’s truck were loaded, we had everything but his computer desk (and that will require dis-assembly to be removed from his bedroom).  Then it was back across town to our neighborhood to stuff as much of it as would fit into his tiny storage unit, and finally, everything else was unloaded into our living room, where he is bunking for this coming week until his new room is completed.  When I talked with Mr. Rob yesterday, he said he will be painting today, and tiling Wed/Thurs, and should be finished by the end of Thursday.  When we move Jeff out of the living room and into his own space properly, the house will feel all empty again! Lol!

In the midst of our busyness on Saturday, we also learned that Mother Heidmann had been taken to the hospital for a leg pain that would not subside.  We learned sometime Sunday that they thought it was due to a blood clot.  So that was an unexpected addition to our prayer intentions for sure!

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Sunday was yet another day of busyness and blessing.  Everyone, including Paul’s Gonzales crew, had to be at church by 8am, because two of his crew, Desiree and Joanna, are in RCIA this year, are finishing strong, and were to be part of the Rite of Election.  The Rite of Election is a ceremony just for catechumens (those who are preparing for their baptism at the Easter Vigil) and has two parts.  The first part occurs during the morning mass, when the catechumens and their sponsors come forward and they sign their names in the Book of the Elect.  The Book of the Elect is a formal record of the names of all those from the parish who have been elected for Baptism. This included people from the RCIA class, the Spanish language class, and the children from Sister Loreto’s Religious Education class, so it was a big group.

After the morning mass, we hit Costco for pizza with everybody, and then Paul took off with Megan and Geneva to go over to the East Valley and visit his mom in the hospital.  Laurent, meanwhile, drove home with Oma, Jacob, Malinda and Jr., and I dropped off the Gonzales kids.  Then it was home for about one hour, before heading back to pick up Desiree and Joanna to go back to church again!

The second part of the ceremony occurs in the afternoon, when all the catechumens from the entire diocese, with their sponsors (god-parents), come to the cathedral to present the Book of the Elect from their parish to the bishop.  Typically there are hundreds of people at this ceremony, and it is so full that nobody except catechumens and their sponsors can get a seat.  During this ceremony, the bishop then signs each book, and thus the names are formally enrolled for baptism, and the catechumens are, from that point forward, known as The Elect.  This was my first chance to experience this ceremony, since I have only been  an RCIA sponsor to baptized candidates before this.  It was quite impressive to see the procession of each parish and to watch as the stacks of books mounted steadily upon the altar as the bishop signed each one.

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Before we began the process of going through RCIA as a family, I pondered the difference between the simplicity of joining the many Protestant churches we have been members of before (which often required nothing more than a decision and a pastoral handshake, although sometimes there was a membership class required), and the lengthy and involved process of joining the Catholic Church.  I think I’m not alone among protestant converts in chafing a little at the requirements and the waiting.  Why do I have to wait?  I know I want this, I’ve wanted it for so long, why all these rites and ceremonies and whatnot?  But I have come to see the wisdom in this ancient practice of thorough preparation.  It is no light matter to enter into full communion with the Catholic Church, and I’m especially thankful for the solid and faithful catechesis offered at our cathedral, since I know that, unfortunately, such is not to be taken for granted among American Catholic parishes.

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We got a good update on Grandma yesterday: they did an angioplasty on an artery that was bleeding internally, cauterized the artery, stopped the bleeding, and now, Lord willing, and with all our prayers, she will recover quickly be back to her usual energetic self  before too long.

Today is a work from home day for my honey, who has been fighting a germ, and some late nights in sequence have made it tough to kick.  Also on tap for today, I am looking forward to posting some pics of a completely painted room, Megan has ACT prep, the younger two have the usual school lineup, and Geneva has a piano lesson.

Non sequitur QOD from yesterday at dinner, when Jacob was disinterested in green beans, and busying his hands with an unusual craft:

“Mom, Megan just ruined my washcloth oragami.  It was a flower.  The kind that poisons people.”  (?!)