Can't Believe We Get to Be Here

Who knew that when you are stranded in Italy and can't get back to the US, Greece is nearby and cheap!? We wanted to see family (read *Jenna*) in the US, but here we are! 

Captivated by Motherhood Episode 2

If you had ANY IDEA how hard creating videos for YouTube is, I would LOVE TO HEAR FROM YOU! You would NOT believe it. Getting the right camera, the video editing software. . . okay, that is an initial investment. Then watching enough videos to get a sense of what works and is not boring or tirelessly obnoxious. . . that is a project too. All that took me about a month. 

But creating the video--okay, so my desktop was set on iCloud because I don't have that much storage/memory on my computer. But the video editing software cannot process things on the cloud! So it kept "losing" the data!" The videos kept disappearing and I had to spend a week finding the files. . . from outer space. Finally I got the desktop not to go to Icloud. But guess what. Then I did not have enough storage on my hard drive to render or export videos. Uggh!

When you finish creating a video, you have to export it. I exported it as too large of a file. My computer almost crashed due to the large file. I deleted and tried again, with smaller specs. Today. I did that, which took a couple of hours but hooray, I accomplished it. But then tried to upload it to YouTube. Guess how long it took me to upload: 13 hours! I have watched this stupid computer say, "2% uploaded" and then ""3% uploaded" and the "5% uploaded" I am not kidding, all day long. Sometimes it was 30 minutes for 1%. Nightmare! 

So, here you go. I do not even know how it is. I cannot stand to look at it one more second! Forgive mistakes, please! Here is to all the young people who are earnestly trying to figure out their lives and futures. God bless you! This is for you!

https://youtu.be/zoDJON3NhTY

Piazza di Spagna

Rome has never been more beautiful. Preparing for our trip to Greece, I went in to Rome yesterday for a few things. I walked down Via della Croce and passed a restaurant that my family ate at 9 years ago. We had all flown over to Rome for Ron's first summer at the Summer Rome Program for University of Dallas.  We had landed, set down our bags, and then took the bus into Rome and walked around trying to stay awake. We rested at a little pizzeria on Via della Croce. Today it is just the same, with the red and white checkered tablecloths and little tables outside with umbrellas casting a comfortable shadow. We ordered several pizzas and my 5 year old exclaimed, "This one smells like fish!" We had mistakenly ordered a pizza napolitana, which has anchovies! We got a big kick out of that. Thank goodness we had many other mouth-watering options. 

I continued my stroll, thinking of the blessing of all the summers we have spent here for Ron's work, and now living here and my children being close to fluent in Italian. Soon Via della Croce led me into the Piazza di Spagna. I could hardly believe my eyes at the beauty and serenity of the scene. Romans meandered, children rode bikes, Bernini's fountain trickled and splashed. I could not help but notice the obvious absence of non-EU tourists. The piazza was spacious and glistening in the gentle sun. I walked a little further till I could see the statue of Mary on the pillar at the other end of the piazza. I stopped and took in the sight. 

"When would I one day leave Rome?" I wondered. I told my heart to remember this moment and keep it with me forever. 

Saying Goodbye

Saying goodbye to Jacob--taking him to the airport at 4am in Rome, sending him off to Dallas--was one of the hardest things I've ever done. And yet who could ask for more? Who could have more reason to give thanks and celebrate? This is my first-born child who has been faithful, loving, and totally committed to our family. He hopes that by going to the University of Dallas, his sisters will follow him there, and then they will all settle down in Texas near each other and raise their families together. Be still my heart! I do not think I could be more fortunate. 

  

So why are my eyes so red and puffy, my stomach in knots, and my heart broken in two? How is there such a huge, gaping hole in our home today? Why isn't there someone wondering where his next 3,000 calories are going to come from and if there is adequate protein in them? Why isn't there someone who brightens my mood when he walks into the room? How do we be a family without him? 

I cannot write this message without bawling! I can't even see the screen! {lease fgorive typos

Final Episode on "At Home With Jim and Joy"

Here is the second part of the interview--Jim and Joy are incredible in how much they appreciate our ministry, Mighty Is Her Call, and the notion of the Christ-like, Eucharistic notion of motherhood. I truly appreciate their enthusiasm for our vision of the sacredness of this call!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qiJxe5PkDro

First Episode of EWTN show

Here is the first episode of my interview on "At Home with Jim and Joy"! 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vf0G4S5R-Z4

Filming for EWTN

I am scheduled to be on EWTN's "At Home with Jim and Joy" show today and Friday. It has taken me two days to recover from the filming! The producer had send me a checklist of all the things I needed to have in order technology-wise. Although we have limited resources here in our house in Frascati, we had obtained real WIFI and gotten a LAN line so that the connection would be as strong as possible. I diligently went through the whole checklist, tested and re-tested the connection, had a microphone, earphones, the whole works. 

  Well on filming day, I suddenly had no WIFI. I told Ron and he came and discovered wires, jumbled and broken, coming out of our wall! 

I still have no idea what happened. Our kids covet WIFI so much that I know no one did it deliberately (even to sabotage their mother making a fool of herself on international television). The timing was surreal: 2 hours before the filming. 

 

It just so happened that I had gotten ready early, and was already prepped. So, we shifted to plan B: go to the UD campus and film there. I brought makeup, a wardrobe change, the mike, earphones, computer, phone, connection wires, adapters, the LAN line. . . the works. The kids carried to the car a huge Madonna and Child, a lamp, and a hammer and nails. 

It was about the most amazing thing I've ever seen--my sweet family worked so hard to help out! 

And then they waited so patiently when it went well past their dinner time. We went out to celebrate afterwards--the connection worked well and I was able to share the story of going from being a NYC feminist to becoming Catholic to being an open to life mother--and finding in that vocation my greatest fulfillment. 

New Video Series on Motherhood

For many months, I've been longing to share more of my love for the vocation of motherhood. I've completed a class at the Angelicum on the Eucharist, and am thinking about eucharistic themes in this vocation. Let me know what you think of my first episode of "Captivated by Motherhood"!

https://youtu.be/2Pkm3gxC6FM

Stitches

On Sunday, Sebastian busted his mouth while wrestling with his siblings. Blood gushed and we saw his lip was partially detached. So, Ron, Jacob and I rushed him to the emergency room here in Frascati. 

   

Sebastian was so terrified to get stitches that the fear of it was worse than the injury. But in the end, he got a little local anesthesia and two stitches which were just not that big of a deal. 

Two days later, much improved, he was dribbling a basketball and he re-injured his wound. He bled and we applied ice and told him, "No more basketball." 

Just like the "Five Little Monkeys Jumping on the Bed" song, he then dribbled the basketball again (when we were not looking), re-injured it again, and this time, he partially detached his lip again. The stitches are still in place, but part of his lip is jutting out in a way it was not before. 

We are not taking him back for more stitches. He is just "ALL BOY" and cannot keep a basketball out of his hands, even when injured. I think this is the second of many, many stitches and trips to the ER! 

Leigh Learning Greek

Leigh is such a superstar! She has been studying German as a hobby for the past 4-5 months. . . a hobby! Even during school months! She would finish her schoolwork and then open up her German textbook. 

   Now she is picking up ancient Greek! Here she is with Ron, her uber-qualified teacher! 

Happy 4th!

How do you celebrate the fourth of July when you live abroad? Clare's answer: Make fried chicken! We bought a deep fryer (we had been pondering this purchase for a whole year since we have ambitions to make suppli--Italian rice balls--and french fries). We spent several days trying it out and getting used to it. Then the big day arrived! Clare and I started cooking at 9am and we finished at 7pm. Her recipe was for buttermilk southern fried chicken, and so we made buttermilk from scratch. it turned out so well! So did the onion rings--they were incredible. We had a family over for dinner and had a delightful time! Clare's chicken was a big hit! Leigh was also a pro in the kitchen--she made mashed potatoes with the homemade butter (from the buttermilk event) and also made homemade peach cobbler and fruit salad. It was really to die for. 

   

My favorite part: there is an expression: "Too many cooks in the kitchen ruins the stew." In our case, most of the 8 of us were in the kitchen for 10 hours, and we got along so well. It was a really joyful time. Who knew that was even possible?

God bless (and help!) America! 

 

Dinner in Rome

I spent the day in Rome and then the family met me at a pizzeria near the Colosseum. Such a beautiful night with no tourists--except us (are we tourists? We're residents but not Italians. . . hard to know. . . ).  We walked around while street musicians were performing and soaked up Bella Roma!