Where credit is due

Photo credit: Notre Dame Right to Life

 Patrick called home yesterday. It was our first chance to talk after his return from Monday's March for Life in Washington, D.C.  He had a great trip.

So much so that he wasn't even all that disappointed to hear that our next home will likely be in the D.C. area. This  is not definite by any stretch of the imagination; we are just running out of time on other options, and John hasn't heard from anyplace-yet. But as much as that is always on my mind, it isn't the subject of this post, so...

Notre Dame, Patrick reported, took seven busloads of students and faculty to the march.  Seven!  He had a chance to see an old Misawa friend one day there. He visited museums, prayed at the Basilica of the Immaculate Conception, and stopped by to see my brother and his wife, who are "dorm parents" in the honors dorm on the Catholic University of America campus. He spent most of the weekend with a couple of guys from his architecture program, and the three of them also dropped by the arkie studio while they were on the CUA campus to meet their competition compatriots.

Photo credit: Notre Dame Right to Life

The next day they and more than 300 others from Notre Dame joined the March for Life.

Photo credit: Notre Dame Right to Life

This article gives more details. If their information is correct, Notre Dame had more people there than any other college or university. To be fair, we're not talking about percentages. Christendom College, of Front Royal, VA, would win that contest. They cancel classes and bring their entire student body every year. But when you consider that the Notre Dame trip involves getting excused from classes, taking two overnight bus rides and sleeping in a parish hall,

Photo credit: Notre Dame Right to Life

it's pretty impressive to see such a large number from ND.  I'm grateful to the Notre Dame Center for Ethics and Culture Fund to Protect Human Life for making this possible for Patrick and so many other ND students.

The administration gets a lot wrong with regard to being a Catholic beacon in our dark culture, but the Notre Dame Center for Ethics and Culture is making sure that on the issue of life, they are getting things very right.

Deo gratias.

Departure

Patrick is out for the evening: his last night in Japan. He won't be coming back before we move this summer. A few minutes ago, I went out to put away mittens and snowpants that had been hung up in the front hall after today's romp in the ever-falling Misawa powder. I glanced out the window at the front walk and saw the footprints from Patrick's earlier departure. They are half-filled with snow now. By morning, they will be gone.

More Skiing at Hachimantai

We went back to Hachimantai Ski Resort (it's on the north slope of Mt. Iwate) today, so Patrick could have one more outing before heading back to school.  The snow conditions were much improved over last time and we had a blast!  Here's some pictures of everyone in action.  Meghan had her first lesson and Matthew his second and third.  In the afternoon, he was skiing the main slope the rest of us were on!

Patrick

Joseph

Meghan

Katie

John

Matthew - Before Lunch

Matthew - After Lunch

I am pondering...

If you don’t have a plan of life, you’ll never have order. -St. Josemaria Escriva

So. far. behind.

I don't even know where to begin to catch up. We went to see so many awesome things this summer and fall. Should I go back and post about them? Does anyone care when the events are so far in the past? Is the purpose of the blog to update family and friends about current events or to keep a diary of our time in Japan or both? What to do? What to do?

I know I want to be writing more again. I am trying to get my life in order. Everything has been so scattered for almost a year. I guess I would like to blame that on the 3/11 earthquake. It is partially that. And other things. Like Facebook. What a distraction with almost no substance!

I fell completely off the wagon on exercise and healthful diet and home baking over the past few months and am barely keeping to my daily prayer plan. And God is tapping me on the shoulder saying, "Hey, remember me?"  And I do. So He comes first. Then the laundry. lol! the life of a mom. :)

Speaking of laundry (or more specifically, the laundry room), I have found the "Happy Home: The Reasonable Clean House!" posts on Like Mother, Like Daughter very helpful. Who knew there was an actual, do-able method of deep cleaning a room? John and I tried it in the laundry room over Christmas break. Nothing like starting with the smallest room in the house. ;-) BUT...what a breath of fresh air that room is now. Laundry seems much less like drudgery in a clean room. Katie laughingly suggests doing schoolwork in there, since it is so clean. As if we could all fit--lol! But truthfully, she is my best encourager when it comes to cleaning and organizing the house. Thanks be to God for daughters. :-D

I would still ALWAYS rather read a book than clean my house, but I definitely see the advantages of deep cleaning. The feeling of clean is so peaceful! And I suspect we will work better as we bring things into order, even if we can only manage to clean one space at a time.

Notice where I am, though. At the computer writing about cleaning instead of doing it. I still have a long way to go in this area. The Christian life is all about new beginnings, though. Every season, every day. For me sometimes every hour.

So let's get going.

Oh, Katie... remember that little matter of the upstairs linen closet? (We're starting small, remember.) :-)