Soooooo...Happy New Year?

I AM STILL ALIVE!!

Ahem.

Now that we have that cleared up...;)

I am terribly sorry for not posting in...what? Over a month? Yeah. Unfortunately, nothing really exciting happened in that month for me to tell you a story about. Unless you want to hear my final SAT story...well, okay. You talked me into it.

(Actually this is going to be more of a rant on how low the standards of our public school system have slipped...consider yourself warned.)

So...I walk into the highschool -- which is about as big as 5 hotels smooshed together...just sayin' -- to find my fellow SAT-takers dressed to the nines in...pajamas. Seriously, guys? I know it's Saturday morning, but if I can drag myself out of bed and at least run a brush through my hair and put a pair of jeans on, so can you. And it's not even that early. Work with me, people!! :P

Now really, it went pretty smoothly, for the most part. Except none of the kids knew how to write in cursive. Or sign their name in cursive (what are they going to do when they have to sign important legal documents to, gee, I don't know...get a student loan for college? Buy a house? Get a car?), or bring their IDs with them when they left the room during the breaks. *headdesks* Plus, they were loud. And talking most of the time. Which is weird, because I'm pretty sure you're not supposed to be. One of the guys was even making goat noises. I "kid" you not. (Hah! See what I did there? Ayyyyy?? :D)

But the one thing that made it really interesting was when one of the guys in my class got caught trying to use his cellphone. In the classroom. On the last section. Right before we were about to be let out. I almost felt bad for him. Almost.

Do public-school kids have any concept of the "real-world"??? Please tell me this is just a fluke, because....I mean, really?? :P I mean, I'm sure most of them did fairly well on the SAT, and I'm not saying they're all idiots. Not by a long shot. But they have no concept of responsibility, or being an adult! I mean, the whole reason they're taking the SAT is so that they can get into a good college, get a good education, and be successful adults, right? Btw, I don't actually think that college guarantees you a successful career, but it doesn't hurt. Neither does learning a little responsibility and good work ethic.

Anyways, end of rant. If y'all have any interesting SAT stories, please feel free to comment and share! :D

As far as New Year's resolutions...I have a million and one things I want to do this year. Whether or not I actually get them done is another story. ;) But I do have three main ones:

1. Be less of a smart-mouth. I don't know if you have noticed or not, but I tend to try to make "clever" remarks without thinking about whether or not I'm going to hurt anybody. Sooooo that's one of the faults I have that I'm hoping to at least minimize this year. :)

2. Figure out long-term plans. Let's face it; I'm a teenage girl. Stability is not really my middle-name at the moment. But I do need to try to set out and solidify some plans I have for the next few years, at least. I'll keep you updated. ;)

3. Learn how to really pray. This is one that I should have been working on for awhile now, but I'm finally going to stop procrastinating about it and do it. Starting with at least one rosary and one holy hour per week, plus reading St. Theresa's The Interior Castle. We'll see how it goes. Pray for me, haha. :)

So there you have it! Pretty much my life between Christmas and present! Except for my college classes this semester, but I'll save that for the next post...hopefully I'll have something more interesting to say next time! ;)

Happy New Year, y'all!

~Grace

Live-blogging the Apocalypse

So...

We're all still here?

Yep.

Ah well. On with Christmas-prep!

So if you walked into my house at the moment, you'd probably be seized with the irresistible urge to turn around and run away...or maybe to stay and help eat the cookies (just kidding; there are no cookies. There is fudge though. And as all of my IRL friends can tell you, that stuff's addictive).

Right now I've managed to escape to the dining room (the only empty room in the house, for now) and I'm listening to Straight No Chaser's Christmas album over and over again until I feel like jumping back into things. Because right now, I feel like I need something straight with no chaser.

Just kidding.

Maybe.

I'm actually not stressed at all about Christmas prepping this year. We host Christmas every year because in my family, it's customary for the household with the youngest children to host everyone else. And that's always us. ;-) So every year it's a bit of a mad rush (especially if my mom's expecting around this time of year...oy) to get everything ready and make sure there isn't any dirty laundry,  bits of fossilized food, or, ya know, embarrassing pieces of everyday life that accumulate in a house with six children. At least we don't have pets, right? :D

And we've actually gotten most of the cleaning done! It's a little nutty right now because we are sooooo close to the finish line, and we're actually a few days early! The relatives won't be here until Sunday, so we are in gooooood shape, my friends.

Of course, one of the littles will probably catch a last-minute cold, freaking out my asthmatic grandmother and great-grandmother (not because my great-grandmother is asthmatic, but because she freaks out when we're sick), and giving my mom a fit of hysteria. But we all have our dreams. ;)

Only 3 more days until Christmas Eve! Do you guys have any special Christmas traditions? Food, decorations, favorite Christmas carols/albums, etc.? :)

Merry Christmas!!!!!!!!!!!

~Grace

P.S. I finally got my SAT scores back! And I only have to take it one more time to bring up my math score! *happy dance*

May they Rest in Peace

I'm sorry I haven't posted lately...Christmas prepping has kicked into high-gear, and we still have half the house to scrub, presents to wrap, and cards to send.

But I wanted to take a minute to ask for prayers for all the families in Connecticut who lost their children last week in the most horrific shooting of our nations history. I can't even imagine what those parents and siblings must be going through right now...to have your young child/brother/sister massacred in their classroom is beyond belief. And for it to happen this close to Christmas....I keep thinking of those 20-some empty stockings hanging there on Christmas morning...

And please pray for the soul of the young man who committed this terrible crime. He above all others needs prayers. He was obviously a very disturbed soul. May God have mercy on him.

Requiscant in pace.

~Grace

Sorry!

I am truly, deeply sorry for the lack of posts recently...I have good excuses though! Things have been crazy...no wait, I use that one all the time. Errmmm....hang on, I'll think of a good one...

Seriously though, things have been rather nutty around here as of late. I've been cramming like crazy for the SAT -- which is this SATURDAY!!! -- and prepping for final speech [insert booming echo effect for "final speech"] for Rhetoric class...I'm supposed to stand and deliver a 10-12 minute speech on a proposition selected from a list of those the professor came up with for us. I think I'm going to pick this one:

"George Washington was a greater President than Abraham Lincoln."

Shouldn't be too hard, right?

So anyways, I will try to post something a little more substantial next week, but keep checking back in case I post something else fascinating over the weekend....like a pointless YouTube video including the Muppets. ;D

*shrugs* Oh what the heck.

(Psst. Disturbed yet? Well, my little brother does a really good impression of the big Muppet with the bunny ears...maybe I'll post a video of THAT sometime in the future...)

Oh yeah! And Happy belated Thanksgiving! I hope you all had a good one! :) 

~Grace

Happy Veterans' Day!!

Please remember our fighting men and women overseas and at home -- as well as their families -- in your prayers this evening! They need them now more than ever.

~Grace

My Post-Election Post

Since it seems to be the thing to do this morning. ;-)

(By the by, did any of you ever feel like this? *points to above image*)

I was talking to a friend last week who said (mockingly) that if the right candidate wins the election, next Sunday's homily will be about Heaven, joy, peace, love, etc. And if the wrong candidate wins, the homily will be about Purgatory.

I'm not sure if he was right or not, but I know it's feeling a little bit like Purgatory. And maybe that's a good thing. A lot of the bloggers I've been following this morning are writing encouraging, stick-it-out posts, and some of them are even quoting "Batman":

"I'm not the hero Gotham City wants...I'm the hero Gotham City deserves..."

Does this apply to our re-elected President? It makes sense. With rampant "tolerance" of homosexuality, divorce, atheism/agnosticism, promiscuity among teens and young adults, and the blood of millions upon millions of murdered children on our hands, who did we expect God to give us? God is a God of mercy, but He is also a God of justice. That's why we have things like Purgatory and Confession. It's so that God (in His infinite mercy and patience) can purify us. But that mercy is only granted when we get down on our knees and beg for it with everything we have.

And right now America is anywhere but on her knees. I once read something by a blogger who said her grandmother used to tell her that you will either get on your knees willingly, or God will put His hand on your head and force you to them.

Well.

We're being forced to our knees right now. And we'd better buckle up, because we haven't hit the ground yet -- not by a long shot. But this is what we need to turn ourselves around because we have shown time and again that we will not repent. And God will not suffer us to continue to affront Him to His Face. As faithful Catholics, all we can do is continue to keep going to Mass as often as possible, try to educate others about the Faith, and pray really, really hard, especially for our priests, bishops, Cardinals, and most importantly the Holy Father. We need to pray that they will recognize the state of the Church and batten down the hatches, and work harder at truly catechizing Catholics.

Get ready. Our Lady of Fatima, pray for us!

~Grace

Mr. Smith goes to Washington

Back in 1939, two years before WWII, Frank Capra directed a movie called "Mr. Smith goes to Washington." It starred James Stewart as the country-bumpkin-suddenly-become-junior-senator Jefferson Smith.

He was "ghost-appointed" junior senator by a man named Taylor, the infamous mastermind behind the political machine that runs half of the Senate, including Jeff's idol and fellow state Senator, Mr. Joe Pain.

Mr. Smith knows next to nothing about the political game, which is why he was appointed in the first place: to be a stooge for Taylor and his lackeys. To be an extra vote for whatever they want to be passed.

The first thing Mr. Smith does when he eventually gets to Washington is take tour. He's so much in awe of the history and the great men surrounding him that he can barely remember his own name. But he soon learns of a bill being presented to the senate which contains a graft (an illegal profit). In the face of this political corruption, one would think a man so obviously out of his league would just keep his mouth shut and go along with it, because after all, what does he know?

He doesn't. He gets up in front of the entire Senate and tries to expose the Taylor Machine for what it is. But Senator Pain, in a panic that his political career will be destroyed if his part in the bill comes out, instead paints Jeff as a criminal, and nearly forces him out of the Senate. But at the last moment, Jeff takes advantage of a rule allowing him to stay on the floor as long as he stays on his feet and keeps talking without stopping for a moment other than to take questions.

He does this for almost 24 hours straight, because he believes that the people from his state will support him and bring forth evidence against the Taylor Machine. In the end they do, but it is Jeff's amazing struggle against the powers that be in the American government that makes the movie completely amazing. His willingness to stand up even when everyone else is telling him to sit down because he can never win. They're telling him the battle is lost. But as he says several times in the movie: "The only causes worth fighting for are the ones that are lost." If you haven't seen this movie before, PLEASE go watch it right now. It is one of the best movies ever.

And it is extremely fitting for the election being held tomorrow. Mitt Romney is far from a country bumpkin, but Obama could have been cast as Taylor in a remake of the movie.

And in the face of this seemingly insuperable obstacle that is the Obama Machine, one wonders (especially as a first-time-voter like myself) if your vote will count for anything. You wonder if it will make any difference in the long run. Sure, you're going to vote anyway, but at the same time you're filled with a despair and a horrible knowledge that in spite of your vote, Obama will win anyway.

But that's not the way it works. Firstly, God will know which way you voted, and that will be recorded for eternity.

Secondly, your vote matters because you voted. At first this may seem kind of stupidly self-evident, but what I mean is that it's the fact that you voted that counts. It's the fact that you cared enough to vote. It's the fact that you are fighting. It's the fact that you are trying your best, and that's the best you can do.

And it's the fact that America is millions of "you's" who will get up in the morning and vote for the right person, no matter how many people in the media, or their parish, or their family are telling them to sit back down, to shut up, and to just go along with it because we are country bumpkins and we couldn't possibly understand.

But they're wrong. And we will stand up and have our say, even if we have to keep standing and talking for another four years. Because everyone has labeled our cause as lost. And there are no causes more worth fighting for than those that are lost.

~Grace