Facie’s Ramblings

As I contemplated writing this post, I could hear my mother saying, "Stop putting everything on Facebook" or "Your whole life does not have to be on Facebook." I don't put everything on FB. I typically do post something nearly every day. Mostly, I post pictures of things (Phipps gets a posting pretty much every month since I am there that often). I also try to include whenever I get together with a friend (after asking them if it is okay if I post the picture), and my family. I don't post nearly the number of pics of my kid as I used to, mostly because she hates my taking her picture (the dog hardly sits still, so forget that). I also complain about something and/or make some topical comment on average once a week. I guess thanks to the Pens' early, but not surprising, exit, there won't be any hockey posts for awhile (though I had really cut back on those this season). Most notably, I rarely post things about my kid's school, other than I end u...

Four years and two weeks ago, I wrote a blog post that contained the good-bye email I wrote to my coworkers on the occasion of my last day of work. I was pretty proud of that note, which was quite hard to write as it reflected almost 13 years of being with one company, which is pretty rare in this century. I reread that note this morning to remind myself of what I had said, as that time feels like a lifetime ago. One sentence struck me: I am not sure where I will go from here or what I will do (although I fear cooking will be part of my immediate future), but I like to think onward and upward. I really had no idea what it was I was going to do or how long I would be without steady employment. Never did I suspect I would more or less be a SAHM who subbed and freelanced on occasion (sometimes the subbing and freelancing were often; other times I could go weeks without working). But here I am, just over four years later, getting ready to head back to steady employment. ...

Wishing all of you a blessed Easter! I normally sing at my church's vigil mass, which is starting in a few minutes. For the unaware, the Catholic Easter vigil mass can be two, two and a half hours, which is certainly long, yet I never mind it. I find the service to be beautiful, particularly when I see people becoming Catholics. I can't imagine becoming a Catholic as an adult, what with some of the archaic rules and strictness, yet these people willingly want to do so. I also like the fire at the beginning of mass (who doesn't like a fire, when it is not a structure burning?!). And as a choir member, I enjoy all the singing. Best of all, unlike Christmas Eve's midnight mass, this one is over by midnight! Anyway, I am here at my mom's, with my brothers and their families, and as much as I am disappointed to miss the vigil, I am happy and feel blessed to be with these people I love and glad that my mom is back in her own home and hopeful that she can stay that way...

I know in previous posts I was all like, yeah, Santa, you rock. I was embracing the jolly old guy because of the magic he added to Christmas. Well, my Santa love has faded a bit, I am afraid. And I am not exactly a fan of Prospirit watches either. Santa brought Jordan a water resistant watch for Christmas. She wore said watch to the pool yesterday. As soon as she hit the water, the watch stopped working, even though it was supposed to be water resistant to 30m. I realize that resistant is not the same thing is waterproof, but I guess I just expected it to last literally more than five seconds into three feet of water. Fail. Because Santa brought this watch, as you can imagine, complications arose. Jordan questioned why the elves would have made something defective. Jordan was worried we would not be able to get in touch with Santa. Jordan wondered how and when she would get another watch. So I told Jordan I would email Santa to see what he had to say. After all, as I said to Jordan...

I guess I can't fool my kid as much as I used to. Christmas of 2006, I was with Jordan at Target, and I asked her which Ariel doll she wanted to Santa to bring her. When she was not looking, I threw it in the cart, hiding it under some other things. I managed to check out without her ever having seen it. And when Christmas came, she was happy that Santa had brought her the doll she wanted. This past Christmas, my mom and I took Jordan shopping and had her pick out some things. One week later, when she saw the presents, her reaction was, "Oh, Santa brought me a princess cash register! Look, Santa brought me a baby Cinderella doll!" I have no idea why she said that, but it worked for me. So yesterday, I was at the toy store buying birthday presents for my nephews. Jordan wanted some Barbie clothes, and I said that maybe the Easter Bunny would bring them, that we were there for her cousins, not her. So, when she was not looking, I grabbed the box and hid it, taking a cue fro...