Eight Things About Me Meme

Kitchen Madonna kindly tagged me with this and so here goes:

1. I am the oldest child in my family, and the only girl, with three younger brothers.

That means I have no sisters, obviously, and I have been alternately happy and sad about that my entire life. I have noticed some of the tightest bonds between sisters, and have felt that absence at times. But, I have also seen the deepest and most painful wounds happen between sisters, and am grateful to have dodged that bullet. Besides, now I have 5 sisters by marriage, and, I get all the good stuff without the hurt. Couldn't be better.

Being the oldest means I was (am) uber-responsible, nervous and a worry wart.

Being the only girl also means I spent most of my youth either reading alone in my room or playing football, baseball or other such thing with the boys and their friends and doing my best not make any of them regret having me on their team. I kicked butt out there, and it was fun!

2. I was the "new kid" in school due to my dad's job transfer in 5th, 6th, and 7th grades. I have not recovered from that trauma. Seriously.

3. I was raised Roman Catholic in the early seventies, and my parents were somewhat freaked out by the " Spirit of Vatican II" they were being inflicted with. So, I spent my youth going to "clandestine" Tridentine Masses and had my first confession in a broom closet in the basement of a bank. I didn't attend Mass in a real church building until 7th grade, when we attended a Pius X mass. I am grateful for my parents efforts in preserving Tradition for me, for showing me how important Liturgy is and for building deep love for the ancient and beautiful and the true in my faith.(There was no such thing as an "Indult Mass" in those days, nor was there any Tridentine Mass in the Ordinary Church. That didn't happen til much later in the end of the eighties). After meeting my husband, who loved the Tridentine Mass but wasn't so at ease with SSPX, we found a beautiful church that allowed us to have a Tridentine wedding (first in 40 years there), church hopped for 7 years, and then finally found our spiritual home at an
Eastern Rite Church. What a journey, and we are still loving and getting benefit from the true, beautiful and ancient in our faith.

4. I am most certainly not a morning person. Nor are any of my children. This is one of the greatest and best benefits of home schooling to me. We do not have to drag everyone out of bed at the crack of dawn. That fact alone has practically made all the difficult parts of home schooling worth it. The rest is just gravy.

5. I positively loved being a physical therapist before I had children. I was made to be a physical therapist. I don't know if I will ever do the job again, but I still have it in me, and it is now part of who I am.

6. I have never been really good at anything until I began learning about iconography. I was a solid B+ student, could play the piano and flute well enough, but not great, I was on Varsity Softball in high school, but as a utility player, not a star. I am a "good" cook, but not great. I love to write, but it is spotty at best as far as skill goes. Iconography has been a new experience for me in as much as I feel it was in me all the time, but was just waiting for the time when it could be expressed. I am more "me" now that I have iconography as part of my life.

7. I love being a mother, but do not feel entirely at ease in that role. It hasn't come naturally to me, and I didn't feel the same thing about mothering as I did about physical therapy or iconography. I deeply love my children, and I think that will have to be enough to see us through. I have often felt very cheated when I read the writings of other mothers regarding the naturalness of their mothering, or when I have been around a mother who absolutely is delighted by the title of Mother. I have had to work at it, struggle with myself to submit to the duties of the job, see past the inconveniences and noise to find the joy. I have often wondered what God was thinking giving someone who likes quiet solitude seven children, but so far, it seems to be working out for us!

8. One of my favorite poems since I was in my early twenties was the "Red Hat" poem. I felt somewhat exploited when the "Red Hat" marketing scheme hit all the stores. I really have been working on being that kind of old lady ever since I was twenty. I figured you can't be a unique, secure, happy and creative old lady unless you work at being a unique, secure, happy and creative young lady. So I have been planning out my old age most of my life. I am not certain if that is entirely healthy, but I don't really care.

Warning

When I am an old woman I shall wear purple
With a red hat which doesn't go, and doesn't suit me.
And I shall spend my pension on brandy and summer gloves
And satin sandals, and say we've no money for butter.
I shall sit down on the pavement when I'm tired
And gobble up samples in shops and press alarm bells
And run my stick along the public railings
And make up for the sobriety of my youth.
I shall go out in my slippers in the rain
And pick flowers in other people's gardens
And learn to spit.

You can wear terrible shirts and grow more fat
And eat three pounds of sausages at a go
Or only bread and pickle for a week
And hoard pens and pencils and beermats and things in boxes.

But now we must have clothes that keep us dry
And pay our rent and not swear in the street
And set a good example for the children.
We must have friends to dinner and read the papers.

But maybe I ought to practice a little now?
So people who know me are not too shocked and surprised
When suddenly I am old, and start to wear purple.

Jenny Joseph

I would like to tag some people for this, but do not currently have the time to see who hasn't done it, and then do all the linky links. So consider yourself tagged if you would like to share, and let me know in the comments.