Promise

On Love

Thomas a Kempis (1379-1471)

Love is a mighty power, a great and complete good.
Love alone lightens every burden, and makes rough places smooth.
It bears every hardship as though it were nothing, and renders all bitterness sweet
and acceptable.

Nothing is sweeter than love,
Nothing stronger,
Nothing higher,
Nothing wider,
Nothing more pleasant,
Nothing fuller or better in heaven or earth; for love is born of God.

Love flies, runs and leaps for joy.
It is free and unrestrained.
Love knows no limits, but ardently transcends all bounds.
Love feels no burden, takes no account of toil,
attempts things beyond its strength.

Love sees nothing as impossible,
for it feels able to achieve all things.
It is strange and effective,
while those who lack love faint and fail.

Love is not fickle and sentimental,
nor is it intent on vanities.
Like a living flame and a burning torch,
it surges upward and surely surmounts every obstacle.

March 15, 2008 proved to be so much more than most would expect. As a matter of fact, it exceeded all of my expectations. It marks the day that Eileen and Scott made "official" the lifelong promise they made to each other long ago. There will be a wedding next year and we could not be happier for the two of them than we are this day. What started out as an annual St. Patrick's Day celebration transformed into an opportunity to celebrate love in its truest and most honest form. With both the Moores and McNamaras present, we toasted Eileen and Scott and wished upon them every good thing in the coming year and beyond. Scott has been with our family through some of our most tested and trying times and has handled himself as you would expect anyone in his situation to do - like a brother, a son and a soulmate. We have no doubt in our minds that we have grown stronger with him by Eileen's side and cannot wait to publicly validate what we have already known for so long - that he belongs in our family circle and makes it more complete. Eileen is a treasure in my life - at one time you might say an undiscovered treasure during my very obnoxious "older sister" years - and I care for her and love her as anyone would a treasure and would stop at nothing to be sure every good thing comes her way. So, to say that I am overjoyed for both her and Scott doesn't seem adequate but it will have to do. I am looking forward to watching them solidify and make sacred what they have worked so hard at creating for each other and feel blessed to be a part of it. Many blessings and best wishes to you both.

A Banner Day

Where do I begin? I arrived home from work tonight to find Chris and Maeve at the kitchen table preparing to fill me in on Maeve's accomplishments for the day. Here they are, both big and small, in no particular order:

1. Maeve walked up the concrete stairs at our back door without any help and without holding on to the side of the house. She just sized them up and started climbing.

2. Maeve recited the days of the week for Chris on the ride home from day care tonight. We had no idea she knew ANY of the days of the week let alone all of them! I must give props to Pat, our awesome day care provider for this one...

3. Maeve can catch a ball now. Seems like it's not a big deal, but it is...

4. And if all of that wasn't enough for one day, as I was in between diapers before putting on Maeve's pajamas, we headed into the bathroom to do "tinkles" on the potty (for which she receives a sticker and has 6 so far), I suggested to her that she also try doing poops (or "poots" as we like to call them). She immediately did her tinkles with a satisfactory grin on her face and then, within 15 seconds of my suggesting she give "poots" a try, there was a small thump in the potty and lo and behold, there it was in all its glory. Her first official "potty poot!" Another sticker for Maeve.

Does it get any better than this? I'm one proud Momma.

A Cultured Maeve

So Chris and I tried out a new recipe the other night. It was a layered dish with Chinese Noodles and tofu on the bottom, a layer of deep fried eggplant on top of that and a layer of cold bok choy & shitake mushroom salad on top of everything. As we brought the bowls to the table, I realized it would be appropriate to eat it with our chopsticks and then I further realized that Maeve too had some chopsticks just waiting to be opened. Her Aunt Katie McNamara brought them back for Maeve (amongst other goodies) from her most recent trip to Japan! Maeve was a real trooper about trying to use them and never once complained. Here is some footage on how she adapted to the change:

The Winter Games...in Hanson

I have very fond memories of my sisters and I sledding down the hill next to my parents deck, each winter and each year at least one of us would incur some nasty injuries as we headed full speed ahead for a gigantic briar patch. Well, wouldn't you know, with the arrival of grandchildren came the clearing of that sledding hill which is now a beautiful glade with a couple of random trees here and there and nothing but a blanket of white straight in front of you. Here is some video of Maeve enjoying her first trip down Mount Moore.



And here is a shot of Chris, who may have found his second-calling or at least a part time, side job, making life-sized snow bunnies. Hmmm..