Five Questions

Squelly at The Dreamer's Day is passing along this interview meme. Lisa at arewethereyet-davisfarmmom graciously sent along these five interview questions for me to answer.
Here are the rules:
1. Leave me a comment saying, "interview me".
2. I will respond by emailing you five questions. (I get to pick the questions).
3. You will update your blog with the answers to the questions.
4. you will include this explanation and an offfer to interview someone else in the same post.
5. When others comment asking to be interviewed, you will ask them five questions.

Here are Lisa's questions and my answers:

1. If you could ask FIVE QUESTIONS to any saint who would you choose and what questions would you ask?
The saint is easy but the questions are difficult. I most definitely want to sit and have a good talk with St. Augustine. He has always been my favorite saint. When I was young I really identified with his phrase "Lord make me a saint, but not now, later." Question 1. How to deepen my prayer life and make my time with God better. 2. I would ask him to pray for me and for my family that we stay on track and gain salvation. 3. I would ask him to help me with understanding the catechism better and more fully so that I can better teach my kids in religion class. 4. I would ask him to explain to me how best to serve Our Lord. 5. I would ask him to help me to more worthily receive Holy Communion so that each opportunity is more of a way to praise God.

2. What has been the single happiest moment of your llife so far?
I have actually had 7 happiest moments in my life. When each of my children were born. The feeling was beyond description.

3. What do you consider to be you best skill?
I would have to say organization. I am an extremely organized person. So much so that I drive people like my husband to distraction because he is very disorganized.

4. If you could change one thing about the place you live, what would you choose?
I think that the only thing I would change about living in Vernon, New York is the cost of living in New York. The countryside is some of the most beautiful that God has ever made. I love the seasons. (the cold and snow bother me but I couldn't do without them) We have spectacular sunsets and a great growing season. The only thing wrong with this area is the cost of living here.

5. If you had unlimited budget and two free weeks, where would you most like to go on a vacation?
This is the most difficult question of all. I am not a vacation person. My dream, though, has always been to drive up the AlCan highway into Alaska. I think that God outdid himself when he created mountains and tall trees and that is what speaks to my soul the most. I would like to see mountains and forests of tall trees. I would like to see Alaska too.

Are we surprised that I am a non-conformist?

You Are 76% Non Conformist

You are a pretty serious non conformist. You live a life hardly anyone understands. And while some may call you a freak, you're happy with who you are.

Are You a Nonconformist?

Something about the cold

Nights have been below zero. Days haven't risen much higher than 8 degrees. It is snug and warm inside thanks to the efforts of my men. Matthew has banked the house with copious amounts of snow pushed up with the Kubota. We used to tease him that the tractor was permanently attached to his bottom he likes running it so much. Now I am thankful for his skill gained from so many hours in the seat of that tractor. He braves the cold to take round bales to the animals and to break the ice on the creek to make sure that they have plenty of water. There is wood piled up in the basement and the garage aplenty to get us through until it warms up again. Again, Matthew braves the cold to bring wagon loads of wood inside to fill the woodbox next to the stove in the diningroom. Mary-Kate dutifully goes down into the basement and puts wood into the furnace and fills the stove when it is in need. It seems as though this cold makes their hunger even greater.


It all reminds me of a song that we sang a few years ago with the Chorale, In the Bleak Mid-Winter. But somehow this midwinter doesn't seem bleak but more comforting. I look around me at the cooperation of my older children. they work together to keep our home running in the face of my inability and their father's being away so much. There is no complaint, no comment. They merely shoulder the responsibility as the s that they have become should. And there is a certain comfort in that. Their father knows that after a 14 hour day of work he will come home to a well run home, warm and cozy and welcoming. A tribute to his example and his raising of them. A tribute to his faith in the God that guides his life and work.

My Christmas Present

I have a great bunch of children. (a friend says I should start calling them young s) They have one major fault, though. They avoid the camera and having their picture taken like the plague. They say that it is understandable because I always have my camera in my hands and am taking pictures of everything and anything. I suppose that explains everything. For this very reason it was not only a surprise but a reason for tears when I opened my present from my sons on Christmas morning. That they would get their picture taken voluntarily is more than shocking, it is a sign of love for their mother that is indisputable. When I found out later that Ryan, the big one on the left, was the originator of this idea was absolutely shocking. He is the one who coined the oft used phrase "at ease the camera!"
I absolutely love this gift from my sons!!! The only thing that could make it better is to include my sailor in the picture but that was not to be, so I am thrilled with what I have. Thank you boys. I love you too.

Happy 19th Birthday

Happy birthday yesterday to our treasure. We love you Mary-Katherine Suzannne and are very proud of the woman that you are becoming. How were we to know that on January 4, 1990 we were going to be blessed with such a beautiful, generous, giving, and loving person as you have become. God bless you.

Four Generations

I have been sitting here working on some long overdue scrapbooking and I came across these pictures of my grandmother (mother's mother) and my mother. After reading the beautiful post by mooncatblue it got me to thinking about the similarities between the four of us; my grandmother, mother, myself, and my daughter.

My grandmother was a wonderful woman. She never stopped learning all of her life. I can remember when I was a teenager and the movie "Saturday Night Fever" came out. She wanted to see it as much as her grand-daughters did. And she bought the tickets and drove us to the theater and we all saw it together. She is the person who taught me to drink shots of Irish Whiskey.
Just before she died I was expecting my daughter. I already had four sons and had given up hope of having a daughter. I had also not announced to anyone that I was pregnant as yet. She seemed to know, though, she also seemed to know that she was near the end. She grabbed hold of the front of me one day in the hospital and told me that not only did she know that I was having a baby soon, but that it would be a and she wanted her to be named a certain way. She wanted her named Mary-Katherine and she even spelled it for me so that I would spell it right. I didn't take her seriously at the time because I didn't know she was going to die and I doubted that I would have a . Two days later she died of a massive heart attack. Four months later I gave birth to a baby that I named Mary-Katherine Suzanne. I wouldn't dream of going against the wishes of my grandmother. How I miss her still to this day.

My mother, her oldest daughter. I am told as often that I look like her as that I look like my father. I think I look like my mom but I act like my father and that is where people make their mistake. My mother is very serious where my grandmother would as soon laugh as be serious. My mother taught me to be organized and to do everything that I do the best that I could do it. To do a job until it is done and not leave until all is complete. She is the reason that I have been able to homeschool all of my children and survive. She is why I do what I do and do it well. My father is why I am willing to try anything but my mother is why I have the stubbornness to keep at something until I can do it right.

I have my mother's eyes and nose but I have my father's smile. My father smiles and everyone around catches it like a cold. My father is contagious.

My daughter is beautiful. She is everything that is good in both my husband and myself. She has my goofiness and stubbornness when it comes to doing things and my husbands intelligence. She has the grace of an athlete at times and the clumsiness of an elephant at other times. She has a wonderful talent for not taking herself too seriously (comes from having a lot of brothers) and being able to laugh at herself.
As much as my family drives me crazy sometimes, when I look at my daughter I am glad to see the result of all of us all together in her.