Catholic Mom

The Catholic Family and I are officially on Summer Break '09 and finding ourselves going all crazy with activities.  So what's new with us anyway?  This is what we do!  Tennis lessons, basketball camp, pottery classes, library reading program, etc.  But wait - Catholic Mom smartened up this summer and added one big category of activities to the agenda, and it's called:

One question: Who in the world scheduled Spring Break for the youngsters in such a way that it overlaps Holy Week?  Well, it wasn't my idea.  But really, the whole thing might just work out all peachy despite the insane scheduling we need to do in preparation for Easter Sunday.  We're giving it our best shot anyway with the following 'To Do' list:

• Visit the Henry Doorly Zoo & IMAX theater, Omaha Children's Museum, Skatedaze Playdazium, AMC theather to see Monsters vs Aliens, view a couple NetFlix movies, and last but not least - check out books from the local library and/or visit Barnes & Noble.
• Maintain Catholic Mom's sanity over the course of the week, lest the Easter Bunny leave little rabbit nuggets in certain baskets on Sunday.  (What?  Worse things could happen!)
• Decorate eggs and eat the ears off Catholic Dad's chocolate rabbit when he's not looking.

Not a huge list there, but it will definitely keep us busy over the course of the week.  Meanwhile, I'll continue to pray that we make it out unscathed and salivating over Easter goodies when it's all said and done.  *deep breath*

Stopping in to post something on my "Live Space" is like visiting an old friend, one that kept me going when I was busting at the seams wanting to share all the craziness that was my world back in the day.  I remember back when I started this online existence while working at the administrative office for a certain order of Catholic nuns as the IT Guru and youngest employee on board.  While I enjoyed working for the Sisters, like the office of the President of the United States, that job was the loneliest position imaginable.  But this blog carried me through several years as I plugged away handling computer networks at multiple locations, dealing with a multitude of personalities along the way.  For that I must thank the MSN Spaces team - thanks!

Meanwhile, I haven't left Spaces completely; but rather, I've been off exploring the blogosphere and finding it larger than life.  So many endless possibilities when it comes to blogging, but the content is always unique to the author.  The voice stays the same.  It doesn't matter where a blogger blogs, all that matters is the site feels comfortable.  I must admit, MSN Live Spaces started getting uncomfortable for me back when I moved to Wordpress as I.T. Catholic Mom, but then that whole feeling of discontent snuck back in again and the blog went dormant.  But the need to blog is always there.  Moving on seems to be the way to go, yet returning to my original blog gives warm fuzzies all over again.  Full circle?  Hmmm...

Faith... Hope... Good Health... Happiness... Success... Prosperity... Joy... Comfort... Warmth... Contentment... Peace... Friendship... Family... Cheer... Balance... Security... Pride... Patriotism... Strength... Loyalty... Confidence... Wisdom... Vision... Laughter... Love...

Ok so we went to Vegas, I came down with some buggy virus thing, I blogged about it, and then I just let this Space of mine collect dust.  Meanwhile, bloggerville had visions of me kicking the bucket or something, right?  Garsh, did I really leave without posting ANYTHING all summer long?!  I did.  Sorry about that, but things just kept happening around the Catholic Homestead and blogging was the very last thing on my 'To Do' list.  And it was a very. long. list.

So here we are settling into a routine again, with me all creating a brand new 'To Do' list with things on it for Fall.  Only this time blogging is not at the bottom!  See?  Re-prioritizing is a very good thing, especially when I'm completely in charge of shuffling my to do things around.  Kinda makes a person feel powerful.

Now where was I, anyway?

Somehow, somewhere (actually my instincts are pointing to the flight home from Vegas), the Catholic Family and I contracted some sort of cold/flu-like virus.  It's trying to keep us down but isn't quite doing the job, completely that is.  I'm the last person on the totem pole to get over the dreaded upper respiratory threat, so Catholic Hubs took on the take-the-kids-to-the-pool job today.  He also did the take-the-family-to-mass at our local parish to pray for my personal wellness today, as I stayed home in total guilt.  And then he did the take-himself-to-the-grocery-store to stock up on items needed to grill me a pre-birthday BBQ dinner tomorrow. *sigh*

If anyone deserves an appointment for sainthood, you guessed it - the nomination goes out for Catholic Hubs.

Last week, the Catholic Family and I trekked ourselves to Las Vegas, Nevada and had the time of our lives. The reason? To get together with extended family while enjoying the sites in a fun new location outside of our usual digs. And after all was said and done, I must say that we accomplished that goal to the fullest, leaving me to blog about our favorite events of the week in Vegas listed by each of us individually:

ITCM (me): By far, the biggest WOWEE! moment for me happened when we stepped into the Forum Shops in Caesars Palace and witnessed the sky ceiling. Amazing. Given more time, I could've wandered through that place all day (and night) long. The fountains, sculptures and shops actually made my heart skip a beat as I walked around in complete awe. Next time, if there ever is one, I'll be sure to add more time to my personal agenda dedicated to the Forum.

CS (Catholic Son): Never had we seen CS light up as much as he did when we found the Shark Reef at Mandalay Bay. Up until that point in our vacation, we thought Vegas was completely lost on CS, then we entered the elaborate aquarium where we viewed rare and exciting sea creatures never to be seen before. All wide-eyed, CS looked at us and said, "I'm really having fun now!" His comment was made even before purchasing a stuffed shark at the gift shop, so you know he was being sincere about it.

CG (Catholic Girlie): Everything. CG simply couldn't put her finger on any one thing enough to call it a favorite, because she enjoyed every single thing about Las Vegas. From the Circus Circus hotel pool, to the resorts, rides, food, etc. CG loved the entire experience. Personally, I think the pool was her favorite. But that seems to be a given no matter where we stay.

CH (Catholic Hubs): After touring many of the resort casino/hotels, the Venetian was one that really stuck out in Hubs' mind above all. I really can't blame him, especially after walking into the grand lobby entrance so lavishly adorned from ceiling to floor with Italianesque paintings and sculptures. The Venetian folks spared no expense in duplicating a look & feel reminiscent of Venice, Italy. Having been to Venice myself, I can attest to that fact - even though the gondola moat-like canal was a little lacking IMHO. But I digress. It really was breathtaking.

All: The best part of our Vegas vacation on which we all agreed was sharing an experience with family traveling from all points of the USA just to meet. I mean, how fun is it to complete a bungee jump and run into Catholic Uncle walking by with Catholic Grandma & Grandpa? Or step out of the hotel pool to find Catholic Cousin ready to play water ball? And then to see Catholic Sister-in-Law while picking up a Cinnabon roll in the airport on departure? Those are the kinds of memories you just don't experience every day, and we'll treasure them always.

And I only lost $3 in a slot machine. Go figure!