Your Two Cents

I've been writing this blog for just over 10 months now and what you may not know is that I've secretly been getting a bit frustrated. It's hard coming up with new and interesting things to post about every day.

As life happens each and every hour I'm thinking, "Could that be my next best post?"

I lay in bed at night waiting for dreamland to come over me and in my head I'm writing out the first sentences of how I'm going to start my post for the next day.

Or I might come upon something that William has done that is funny or maddening and before I react I think, "I've got to grab my camera so that I can post a picture of this!"

Sometimes I accomplish something that I'm really proud of. A wonderfully put together meal or a rearranged room and again, I snatch my camera so that my life can unfold before your eyes.

And as this blog has continued I've watched my daily hits rise and rise. I've got a little thingamabob called Google Analytics that helps me track how many people come to visit my blog each day. Right now the average is about 40 unique hits per weekday. I have slowly been gaining about five new readers each month.

But the problem? The amount of comments left on my site has not been proportional to the readership.

Sure a lot of you email me directly or when you see me in person you say, "Hey, great picture on your blog the other day."

But I need your comments. I'm begging for your comments. Comments are the footprints that remind me that when I wrote that one post, that one day, way back when, someone read it. Otherwise the only proof I have that anyone was ever here is my very impersonal Google Analytics thingamabob.

Now I'm certainly not asking that you post a comment each time I make a post but just a little feedback every few days would be tremendously appreciated. And the best part? I don't even have to know who you are. You are more than welcome to post anonymously. That's the beauty of Blogger my friends.

So what's got me all worked up? I read this post on another mom's blog a few days ago and it really hit the nail on the head for me. Pay attention to the part where she talks about how comments = pay day for bloggers. That is so true.

Hope to be hearing from you soon!

Hope in a Crucifix

Four years ago Brian was just getting ready to graduate from the University of St. Thomas. I, being a year ahead of him, had already made my way into corporate America.

As is tradition at St. Thomas, the senior class was collaborating on a gift to leave for the campus. The committee consisted of 19 members from the student body. And Brian, being the Senior Class President, was included in the committee. The idea was for the committee to decide what their gift to the university should be and then solicit the students for monetary donations toward that gift.

One member of the committee offered the idea of giving the university's chapel a permanent crucifix. Something the chapel had not had since it was built. He could not have predicted the uproar this would cause. The controversy stemmed on whether the crucifix would represent the entire student body. On the other hand, was a gift meant to represent the giver?

Being the Senior Class President, Brian was caught in the middle of this argument. But as a Catholic and being appreciative of the four years of Catholic education he had just received, he obviously was in support of the crucifix. Below is an excerpt of an article that was printed in the campus newspaper. The complete article can be found here.

Senior class president Brian Nash is also on the senior gift committee, and he said he supports giving a crucifix as a gift for a number of reasons. He pointed to a past class that gave a flagpole as an example that no senior gift will fully represent the entire class.

"We have international students in the senior class, and that American flag may not be representative of their country," Nash said. "You would hope that after four years they would see the ideals of the American flag. They may not believe in it fully or think America’s the greatest, but they’d at least respect it and see the good in it. I would hope that we could see the same for the crucifix."

Nash said he will focus on making the senior gift a good experience for everyone.

"I certainly don’t want people’s emotions and their ideologies getting trampled on," he said. "I really want respect around this issue. The gift has been voted on and it’s been decided on. We’re really trying to keep this as positive as possible."

The class of 2004 gave $5,000 toward a gift of a crucifix to be included in the campus chapel. A few private donors (to cover the remaining costs) and four years later and the crucifix and a renovated sanctuary have been finished.

Yesterday Brian and I attended a mass to celebrate the blessing of this new crucifix and the renovated altar.

A picture of the new crucifix adorned the invitation that was sent to us to attend the blessing mass. But nothing, including that picture, could have prepared me when I first walked into the chapel. The crucifix is absolutely breathtaking. It is 11 feet tall and is suspended from the ceiling over the altar.

In his homily, Father Dease (University President) spoke about hope. He talked about how he had met with the Holy Father when he was in America and how the Holy Father's message to Catholic education was one of hope. And I thought how appropriate that theme was for this day.

Here we were, in this beautiful chapel, where Brian and I attended mass so many times while we were students. A chapel where we also vowed to spend the rest of our lives together in our sacrament of marriage. And now, four years later, we were back in support of our hope for the university, Catholic education and the Church as a whole. And hanging above us was the symbol and testament to it all.

As I wrote this I searched high and low for a complete picture of the new crucifix inside the chapel. I came up dry. At first I was kicking myself for not taking a picture yesterday. But now I think that it's only appropriate that I tease you with this post with hope that you too will someday walk into the chapel and be just as awed as I was.

Friday Night Spread

This weekend we were celebrating a big deal that came in for Brian at his job. These are the small victories that allow me to stay at home with William and forgo daycare. I thank God that I am able to even have that choice. So of course this victory couldn't go by without a little celebration. And since we didn't have (or really want/need) a babysitter for the evening I got creative. And I think I did pretty well. Check it out.

Some Big Shoes to Fill

I Really Want to...

...buy this for William. But I just can't seem to justify the $70 price tag when I know he'll outgrow it by the end of this summer at the latest.

Thursday Night Recap: May 1

Eats: Turkey burgers on the grill

Dessert: Raspberry smoothie

Drink: Well I wanted to put some Triple Sec in my smoothie but Brian didn't think it would be any good. So I didn't have anything to drink.

Entertainment: A new episode of both The Office and Grey's Anatomy

Lions, Monkeys and Giraffes, Oh My!

Our bedrooms and upstairs bathroom are desperately begging to be cleaned. But this morning I talked myself out of holding my 17-month-old hostage inside all day and decided to take advantage of the semi-nice day outside. We went to the zoo.

I was disappointed to find out that our favorite exhibit from last year, the polar bears, are on vacation at the Detroit zoo while their pen gets remodeled. But we still had a blast watching the lions, giraffes, zebra, seals and penguins. But William's favorite by a mile was the primate exhibit. He got ample use out of his monkey sounds: "Ooo ooo ooo, Ahh, ahh, ahh!"

To hear William's monkey sound click here.

Now he's down for an extra long nap so I suppose that means I should get out my dust rag.

Reader's poll: Do you think William looks like a girl in these pictures? Some lady (who had a baby boy herself!) called him a she! I suppose red is kind of a neutral color but c'mon people!