Answer Me This

Here are my answers to this week's Answer Me This hosted by Kendra at Catholic All Year.

1. Any big plans for the summer?

Not really. I am singing at a wedding or two nearly every Saturday afternoon in June and July. I've been considering a family trip in mid-August. Where should we go? I don't know, I'd better start thinking about that soon. Oh, during the first week of August we will be pet-sitting our friends' guinea pigs which should be a riot. I had hamsters as a kid, and they were so cute. But they were mischievous. The little things could wriggle out of their cage, squeezing themselves through the smallest opening imaginable!

2. What is the strangest thing you believed as a child?

At one point, I believed I would win any contest I entered. It started when I entered a "draw Mickey Mouse" contest put on by the local Venture store. I got an Honorable Mention prize (a Mickey Mouse sweatshirt). Around the same time I won a first prize in a writing contest at school. That was it. My star was rising! From that point onward it seemed that I believed I would win, with all my heart, any sweepstakes or contest I entered. I was going to win tickets to Six Flags by answering the phone "Nick or Treat!" I was going to win the Toys R Us Shopping spree by entering the contest by mail! I was going to win tickets to Disney World by drawing the most accurate Princess Jasmine anyone had seen outside Disney Animation Studios! Did any of those happen? I will let you guess.

3. What is your favorite amusement park ride?

My favorite amusement park ride has always been the carousel. When I was a kid it was just magical to me that I could choose any one of the amazingly beautiful painted horses or creatures there. I was a dreamy sort of kid.

4. What's on your summer reading list?

I'm halfway through The Fellowship of The Ring, and I'm really liking it. Maybe I'll have time to finish that this summer? I find myself starting books constantly and only finishing some of them. I also just started reading Re Jane, a modern re-telling of Jane Eyre which I like so far, and I plan to finish it.

5. Have you ever fallen asleep in public?

Yes! At the opera. I love opera. I love to sing. But many operas I've been to are way too long for a woman who has small children at home. I'm already sleep-deprived and they expect me to stay awake until 12 am listening to a five hour show? Ha!

6. What is your favorite smell?

I love the smell of incense.

If you're still with me, thank you. God bless you. I'm very new at this. :) Head over to Kendra’s blog and link up your own post or just answer the questions in the comments. 

An old post resurrected

How do you feel about blogs? I don't know if I'm entirely comfortable with this but I've got to get some thoughts down.
Here's an old post from December that I never published. I was surprised to find it, and I had forgotten about it.

I don't know why, but my two-year-old seems to pick the worst time to pitch a fit about getting in the car. This morning when it was negative 10 degrees, she was crying and screaming and refusing to get in her car seat. The reason for her fit was that she dropped a tiny red rubber band that she had found in Julian's classroom on the floor when we dropped him off, and I wouldn't let her go pick it up from the ground. Ahhh!

My five-year old son told me that we have to get out our Elf on the Shelf. Ugh. Let me say that I would never have bought this thing myself. It was a gift from Grandma. Do you know about this phenomenon? A little retro-looking elf comes packaged with a storybook about him which lays out his mythology and gives a list of rules for his operation. You read the story to your child and introduce the elf who must be named. Then the magic begins. You're supposed to put this elf out and then every night move it to a new spot in the house. The elf's job is to watch the kids and make sure they're being good, giving a report to Santa. God help me, I just don't have the energy. But I'll probably end up doing it :)

One more Christmas tidbit: Claire can't wrap her brain around the name of  "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer." She calls him "Reindeer the Nose!"

Planning Dinners

I've found
new respect for my
husband who usually cooks
dinner. My early attempt
at meal planning has been
hapless, to put it mildly.
Everything has been
edible but not
too crazy good.

A Prayer

Veni, Creator Spiritus
Come, Holy Spirit and
Fill me with your love.
Inspiration, truth,
love and enthusiasm.
Above all, love for the
Other who dwells here
with me on earth.
Amen.

My First Post

So I am going to give this a try. Hi, my name is Natalie and I am starting a blog. There, just like everyone else I am starting a blog. Why? I don’t know. Maybe it’s because I have too many ideas running through my head and I need to get some of them down.

Allow me to introduce myself. I am a 32 year old married woman with two kids, age 4 and 2. I have been married for 5 (almost 6) years to my wonderful husband. I sing. I love to sing, and I majored in music, earning two degrees. My husband also sings, and we met in school. At that time, one of our professors was fond of saying, “someday when you’re making hundreds of dollars in the music business you’ll thank me.” 

Music pays some of the bills, but shortly after we married I stumbled into a wonderful job with the Church. You see, my husband was in graduate school and we needed some income. I answered a help wanted ad for a church receptionist in the local paper. It turned out the church also needed someone to re-design the weekly bulletin and to jump start a new website, and I ended up being hired as the Communications Director.
Right now I edit and design the weekly bulletin, update the website, design all print publications, manage our email lists, send a weekly email newsletter, plan the annual appeal...does this sound like a lot?

Sometimes it feels like I am on a treadmill! This blog will be my place to share the day-to-day and more. Maybe I'll come up with some interesting insights about being a working mother, an artist, a liturgical musician, a chorister and a Gen-Xer (on the cusp) who is trying desperately to keep up with all the technologies!

so, how about you, dear reader? Care to introduce yourself? Please leave me a comment.