The Month of January (With a Christmas and New Year Bonus)...in Three Installments

Installment 1: Christmas and New Year's

Ok...my life since Christmas has been nuts, wonderful, but nuts: Christmas, New Year's, back-to-school, make-up concert, Confirmation retreat, Giving Voice, and now this week is Catholic Schools Week! All good...just a lot on one month! So I thought I'd share a bit about these days and some pics to catch ya'll up on the life of this "fun nun". (This one is really the "photo album" installment)

I had a few good Christmas Celebrations (which have some photos to share!)...the family one, my White House group one...just to name a couple.

My grandma and grandpa always put on such a great celebration on Christmas Eve!

Here's my mamma...opening her gift from me! Yay for Jill!

And there's me with two of my most favorite people in the whole wide world: my grandma and Judeen. (after the gift opening, if you couldn't tell by my accessories)

I also spent my Christmas vacation with Judeen at the White House; the other Sisters were visiting their families for the holiday! We had a really nice time together. Judeen's sister Jeanne, from Arizona came to visit too...another great time. It was nice to have some time off of school to relax and slow down a bit.

Judeen and Jeanne were making this nostalgic meal "slicker noodles", (sounds gross, tastes pretty yummy!) and I had the pleasure of photodocumenting it. Jeanne to the left...Judeen to the right! (Stand up, sit down, ...oh wait...nevermind.) For me it was entertainment, watching those two go at it in the kitchen (I think it would be much like my sisters and me in a few years).

For New Year's Eve, I was in Chicago with two of my other most favorite people in the whole wide world! We had a very relaxing time. I made a New Year's dinner for them. They requested Vodka Pasta (yum!), salad, and chocolate raspberry mousse. The mousse didn't turn out like I had hoped, but like Mary Ann said, "I guess you'll just have to practice on us some more!"

Now, my dear friend Mary Ann...she is all about goals (for OTHER people). So I decided to make my 2009 goal right away and get it over with. I am not a fan of the fish-type foods and neither is Mary Ann. She does take a walk on the dark side by eating herring on New Year's for prosperity.

I've watched people eat herring for years and just can't figure out why cold, scaly, fish in cream sauce on crackers is a good idea. So my goal for 2009, was to try herring! Mary Ann took the opportunity to make sure there was photo documentation (I was happy she was taking them for proof that I set and met my 2009 goal). She claims that the best faces occur ed in between shots, don't believe her...these are good enough!

Sr. Katy Sets and Meets 2009 Goal

Operation: Herring

Here's the play-by-play: Does she like it? Will it become a "fun nun tradition"? You be the judge!

Katy, slightly apprehensive, picks up the jar and says,

"Herring? Really? What is this stuff?"

Peering into the jar, hesitantly, she calls out,

"Here fishy, fishy, fishy! Oh...my...they have scales!"

"Buck up skippy! Put it on a cracker," Mary Ann calls out from behind the camera. "Ok, ok...I'll do it. Just let me ease into this...I don't know that I've ever accomplished my yearly goals in 7 minutes before, geeze."

Glancing sheepishly toward the camera, Katy puts herring a la cracker into her mouth. Recognizing the familiar look when Katy stops breathing, Mary Ann cries out, "Breathe! Chew! Swallow! Get a grip! Gotta have goals!"

Is raising those eyebrows in delight? Is she making a kissy face because she's just recently joined PETA and realized that fish are people too? Is she grimacing because she has a slimy, scaly, cold fish in her mouth? Dun...da...dun.....What will be next? What will she do?

Oh...she's swallowing, but it looks painful, folks. Poor herring? Poor Katy? Was it worth the prospect of prosperity? Is she internally joyful that she met her goals? Should canoes be made out of wood? Or Aluminum? (Veggie tales anyone?)

Well, Katy of course never walks away from any experience and challenge without the opportunity for growth. This is what she learned from Mr. Herring and Sr. Mary Ann:

Sometimes you set goals and when you achieve them it's like waiting for the right moment and then enjoying a tender, medium-rare steak; can't have it all the time, but when you do, wow.

Sometimes it's like eating herring on New Year's: short, sweet, over...but still a mouthful of YUCK.

All in all...you did it and there's the sheer glory of just doing it and meeting the challenge...and there's always the opportunity for chocolate afterwards.

Stay tuned for Installment #2!