Signs of Spring

I think spring has finally arrived here in New Jersey. The trees, shrubs and perennials are starting to bud, the grass is looking greener and track season is in full swing.

It is time to find the gardening gloves and start raking the yard so it can be fertilized. I love working out doors and would choose that any day over cleaning the house. I admire the women with blogs who have six or eight or ten children, home school them and have a "cleaning plan" that they follow on a daily, weekly, monthly and seasonal basis. I hate cleaning and will do anything to avoid it. I will mow the lawn, wash the cars, garden, iron, just don't ask me to clean. But it is time to start thinking about doing the windows, fluffing out the drapes in the dryer and all the other fun things associated with spring cleaning and I have no excuse for not doing it. So as the weather warms up, I will start my spring cleaning.

It is time for me to start cooking dinner. I think tonight will be clean out the fridge night since tomorrow means abstinence from meat. I'll use up the leftover chicken and meatloaf along with some veggies and salad so they don't go to waste.

Bummer man

My son received the news that he is on the waiting list for his first choice of colleges. Naturally he is very disappointed as are my husband and I. As a parent, it is heartbreaking when your child does not get something so important to him, but we are using it as a tool to teach him that you have to accept disappointments with grace and know that what ultimately happens is God's will. Perhaps he will get a spot and maybe he won't, but God will see to it that he will attend the right college for him. I guess it is even more difficult because he rarely fails to get what he wants. Not that every thing falls into his lap, but that he works hard to obtains what does not come easily. Regardless, we are so proud of him and we know that he will do well where ever he goes to school.

On pins and needles

We are sitting on pins and needles in our house. Our son, a senior at our county Catholic high school, is waiting to hear if he has been accepted to his first choice of colleges. He was accepted early to the other four he applied to, but then, they were not his first choice. So we wait

Things have certainly changed since I was a senior in high school some 25 plus years ago. Back then, it seems as if the colleges had more spots than they had applicants. Now the opposite is true and there are way more applicants than spaces. The competition to get accepted is fierce and I honestly don't know how the kids deal with the stress. It wasn't as joyous a experience as I remember my own college search being.

What surprised me most about the schools my son chose to apply to was the fact that four out of five of the colleges were Catholic colleges. I really thought that after 14 years of Catholic school (pre-K through 12) he wouldn't even think about continuing school in a Catholic college. I am proud of this decision and that he will continue to be educated with Catholic principles as a major influence in his education.

Go Rudy, go Rudy

While doing my daily cruise through my favorite blogs, I howled with laughter when I checked out Fr. Erik Richtsteig's Orthometer. Once again, he has tickled my funny bone with his obvious dislike of Hilary Clinton as a politician, a dislike I share. I was not impressed with her during her first two terms as president, oops I mean as a "First Lady" and I am equally unimpressed with her as a Senator. However, the thought of her as the president totally scares me.

On a happier note, my husband and son are feeling better and for that I am thankful. I am looking forward to Easter and spending some time with both of them as my son will be off on Easter break and my husband has taken the week off from work. This year we must powerwash and re-stain the deck and porch, a job my husband does not like to do, but it must be done. Hopefully with three of us working, we can get it done quickly and have some time for fun.

Paging Nurse Ellen

Sickness has hit my house and I have switched into nurse mode. My son, who spend last week in Florida on his class trip, finally decided that he was sick enough to see the doctor yesterday. Two extra days in Florida because of the winter storm, along with the trips to the airport to see if there was a flight available to get home and not getting into a hotel to get some sleep until late at night, plus the addition of spending time on a plane with other sick teens, resulted in strep and double ear infections. Fortunately it is easily remedied with an antibiotic.

And this morning, my hub calls me from a business trip to tell me that he has some kind of virus and is on his way home, and by the way, would I call the doctor to see if there was an appointment available. Of course, the doc was away at a conference, but they would e-mail hime and see what they could do. Some saltines, ginger ale and homemade chicken broth later and he is finally feeling better. Let's hope that neither one was kind enough to share their germs with me.

I am losing steam and feel the need for sleep.

Night all!

Welcome to my world.

Welcome readers, if there are any of you out there, to my blog.

My name is Ellen and I am a 47 year old Catholic wife of a wonderful husband, motherof a terrific teenage son and "dog mom" to a 13 year old Bichon/Poodle mix.

I am a stay at home mom thanks to a hardworking husband and our son is a senior at our local Catholic high school. I volunteer my accounting talents to my parish and enjoy reading, playing tennis, bike riding, swimming and skiing (badly!!!) and cooking. I love to entertain and we do so often, especially in the summer when we like to cook out and socialize by our pool. I love to travel and have been to several Caribbean countries, Hawaii, California and every state along the east coast.

I hope to post often, but like many, my intentions are good, but often my actions are not so good.