First it was the hymnals. Pulling each of them out one by one and throwing them on the floor.
Then the squirming.
Then the jabbering. The loud jabbering. The jabbering that didn't quit when I walked to the back of church and tried to distract her. The jabbering whose volume seemed to be positively correlated with the importance of the Mass parts. The jabbering that just echos endlessly in a church when there are only 14 people in the entire congregation and they're all over 60.
Then it was my soaking wet feet from the entire bowl of holy water she managed to rip off the wall and throw onto the floor.
And just when I thought I couldn't take it any more.....
She pointed to her head and smiled when she heard the priest say "head" in the homily.
And she gasped when the priest elevated the host. All on her own. And smiled when I said, "That's Jesus."
And the cute way she bowed her head in embarrassment when she received her blessing that made it seem like she being reverent.
And the comments.
"My goodness she just sang like an angel today!"
"I needed to refill that holy water font anyway sweetie."
"May God bless you sweetheart," as the priest makes the sign of the cross over her head.
And the spontaneous kiss she blew Mary on our way out the door.
Sigh.
I guess we'll head back to Mass tomorrow and do it all over again!
Monday, April 30, 2012
Thursday, April 26, 2012
Hannah's Famous! (and a Giveaway)
Hannah's famous!
Well, actually it's Colleen who is famous. Hannah is just helping her become more famous.
Let me back up.
This is Colleen Nixon. She is my incredibly talented and beautiful new friend. She writes songs and sings them for people. And they're good.
Her style is self-described as "pop/jazz/indie/quirky" and I happen to LOVE it. Colleen released her first CD, Love is in the Details, in 2009 and is planning to go back in the studio this summer for a second CD-her first full length album.
Colleen was one of the first friends I met when we moved to Florida and I knew from the minute I heard the voicemail she left me that we would be fast friends. And we were. And I'm so blessed by her friendship.
Colleen and her husband Titus are full-time missionaries. They travel the country with their son, Benedict, speaking to teens and young adults about the beauty of the Church's teaching on sexuality. She incorporates her music into their talks-think of it as a Theology of the Body musical but without the dancing. She's also the vocalist of a Catholic musical group called Marian Grace.
The thing I love most about Colleen's music is that she finds the perfect balance of sacred, holy, pure and actually sounding good.
Don't get me wrong-there are some wonderful Christian artists out there. And not all pop songs are about sex. But honestly, most "church" music is pretty awful. And most everything on secular radio is just disgusting. Colleen manages to fix both of these issues with her two styles of music. Her secular pop album is actually good. And she's not singing about sex! Or her milkshake. Or Mick Jagger. Or any of those other songs that I can't even reference because I never listen to the radio. She sings about life. And love. As she says, "it's not Christian music, but it's from a Christian heart."
And her religious music is just breathtaking. Listen to the link above for some samples. Seriously. good. stuff.
Soooooo why am I telling you all of this? And what does it have to do with Hannah?
Colleen needs to raise money to pay for the cost of recording her second CD. A lot of money. Like 25,000 dollars. So she asked Hannah to help. I mean, who wouldn't? My little girl is a movie star! Or at least a music video star.
See for yourself:
Now wasn't that the most adorable thing you've ever seen? It was tons of fun to film. And Colleen and I are not-so-secretly hoping that we get to play this video at Hannah and Benedict's wedding someday. (oh my-wouldn't that just be cuuuute!)
And now for the giveaway. I have three prizes to offer-all three of Colleen's CDs. I'll draw three winners and you will be able to choose which CD you want.
Love is in the Details-her pop/jazz/quirky/indie album. It features the song you heard in the music video. If you're not Catholic/Christian you could still enter and just choose this CD!
Marian Grace-their self titled first CD. The first song Let All Mortal Flesh is bone chilling. Soooo good. I had to force myself not to listen to it during Lent (she says the A word) (Alleluia, not ass) and it was HARD! Scroll to the bottom of the page and press play to hear a sample.
What Wondrous Love-my personal favorite. Veni Sancte Spiritus is probably the most beautiful prayer I've ever heard sung. I find myself singing it all the time. Only to Hannah of course-I definitely don't sound like Colleen.
All you have to do to enter the giveaway is go to Colleen's link on Kickstarter, watch the video (or watch it above), and read about her project. Just leave a comment letting me know you did that and you'll be entered!
If you want to earn FIVE extra entries, share this post or Colleen's Kickstarter link on your blog/facebook/twitter/whatever. Then just leave a comment telling me what you did.
If you want to earn TEN extra entries, donate any amount to Colleen's project. Donations start at just one dollar. Leave a comment letting me know you donated-but don't feel obligated to include the amount.
And remember what she said in the video-if she doesn't raise ALL of the money, she doesn't get ANY of it. So help her out! She and her husband are full-time missionaries for goodness sake! The could definitely use the boost!
So go check it out! And no, I won't sway the results in your favor if you tell me how adorable Hannah is in the video. But feel free to do so. :)
Well, actually it's Colleen who is famous. Hannah is just helping her become more famous.
Let me back up.
This is Colleen Nixon. She is my incredibly talented and beautiful new friend. She writes songs and sings them for people. And they're good.
Her style is self-described as "pop/jazz/indie/quirky" and I happen to LOVE it. Colleen released her first CD, Love is in the Details, in 2009 and is planning to go back in the studio this summer for a second CD-her first full length album.
Colleen was one of the first friends I met when we moved to Florida and I knew from the minute I heard the voicemail she left me that we would be fast friends. And we were. And I'm so blessed by her friendship.
Colleen and her husband Titus are full-time missionaries. They travel the country with their son, Benedict, speaking to teens and young adults about the beauty of the Church's teaching on sexuality. She incorporates her music into their talks-think of it as a Theology of the Body musical but without the dancing. She's also the vocalist of a Catholic musical group called Marian Grace.
The thing I love most about Colleen's music is that she finds the perfect balance of sacred, holy, pure and actually sounding good.
 |
| Hannah rocking out during one of Colleen's live shows. |
And her religious music is just breathtaking. Listen to the link above for some samples. Seriously. good. stuff.
Soooooo why am I telling you all of this? And what does it have to do with Hannah?
Colleen needs to raise money to pay for the cost of recording her second CD. A lot of money. Like 25,000 dollars. So she asked Hannah to help. I mean, who wouldn't? My little girl is a movie star! Or at least a music video star.
See for yourself:
Now wasn't that the most adorable thing you've ever seen? It was tons of fun to film. And Colleen and I are not-so-secretly hoping that we get to play this video at Hannah and Benedict's wedding someday. (oh my-wouldn't that just be cuuuute!)
And now for the giveaway. I have three prizes to offer-all three of Colleen's CDs. I'll draw three winners and you will be able to choose which CD you want.
Love is in the Details-her pop/jazz/quirky/indie album. It features the song you heard in the music video. If you're not Catholic/Christian you could still enter and just choose this CD!
Marian Grace-their self titled first CD. The first song Let All Mortal Flesh is bone chilling. Soooo good. I had to force myself not to listen to it during Lent (she says the A word) (Alleluia, not ass) and it was HARD! Scroll to the bottom of the page and press play to hear a sample.
What Wondrous Love-my personal favorite. Veni Sancte Spiritus is probably the most beautiful prayer I've ever heard sung. I find myself singing it all the time. Only to Hannah of course-I definitely don't sound like Colleen.
All you have to do to enter the giveaway is go to Colleen's link on Kickstarter, watch the video (or watch it above), and read about her project. Just leave a comment letting me know you did that and you'll be entered!
If you want to earn FIVE extra entries, share this post or Colleen's Kickstarter link on your blog/facebook/twitter/whatever. Then just leave a comment telling me what you did.
If you want to earn TEN extra entries, donate any amount to Colleen's project. Donations start at just one dollar. Leave a comment letting me know you donated-but don't feel obligated to include the amount.
And remember what she said in the video-if she doesn't raise ALL of the money, she doesn't get ANY of it. So help her out! She and her husband are full-time missionaries for goodness sake! The could definitely use the boost!
So go check it out! And no, I won't sway the results in your favor if you tell me how adorable Hannah is in the video. But feel free to do so. :)
Wednesday, April 25, 2012
Saying Sorry
Yesterday was one of those rare days when I was actually able to take a nap while Hannah was napping. It was slightly chilly in the house, I slipped into the covers around lunch time and fell asleep almost instantly. Just a few minutes later I was awoken by the doorbell. Ugh.
I ran to the door to keep the ringer from ringing it again and waking up Hannah. It was a young male realtor and an older man-they had come to look at our duplex.
Our duplex has been up for sale since we moved in (it's managed by a property management company and the owner just collects her money) but no one has come to look at it. The management company promised us we would get 24 hours notice if anyone ever came to see the place.
This was NOT 24 hours. I was half asleep, the place was a mess, and my little girl was sleeping in one of only two bedrooms.
The realtor apologized and asked if the man could just see the kitchen. I let him in, although I felt very uncomfortable about the whole thing, and they left right away.
Later than afternoon, I called our property manager to give her a piece of my mind.
"I'm very upset. I was not notified. I was alone and my daughter was sleeping. This is unacceptable."
She apologized and assured me it wouldn't happen again.
When Ted got home later that night, I started ranting about it to him.....for about five seconds.
"She called my phone instead of yours. I told her I would tell you. I forgot. I'm sorry."
Crap. Well now I'm just a jerk. I felt bad that I had blamed the wrong person and told myself I would call her in the morning. I didn't really want to admit I was wrong-but I knew I had to own up to it.
When I called her and explained the situation she was very understanding and glad that it was just a misunderstanding. I almost ended the conversation there but I realized I hadn't actually apologized yet. I had excused, but not apologized.
"I'm sorry I blamed you. I'm sorry I accused you of not notifying me."
Forgiven. Done.
After the phone conversation I reflected on the difference between explaining what had happened and actually saying sorry for it. I could have easily just left it at the explanation-the manager didn't seem to mind-but she was owed a real apology. Out loud. With the words, "I'm sorry" coming out of my mouth.
And even though it was a bit uncomfortable-I gave her what she was owed.
And so it is with God. I offend Him countless times a day. I rationalize and explain away my behavior in my head. Sometimes I remember to tell Him I'm sorry in my prayers. But I need to do more. He's owed the same respect as my property manager-to hear me say the words, "I'm sorry." Out loud. And mean it.
Ah, confession. How I love thee. A chance to really tell God I'm sorry. To admit my faults out loud and not just in the clean, comfortable environment within my head. Jesus certainly knew what He was doing when He established this Sacrament.
And even though it was a little uncomfortable to tell the woman I was sorry, the words still came out of my mouth without too much effort. I think it's because I've had 18 years of practice apologizing to God. I've learned how to say sorry, how to ask for forgiveness. I've received the healing power of His forgiveness and heard the words, "Your sins are forgiven."
Having the opportunity to apologize to our property manager has me craving a good confession now. Forgiveness just feels so good.
I ran to the door to keep the ringer from ringing it again and waking up Hannah. It was a young male realtor and an older man-they had come to look at our duplex.
Our duplex has been up for sale since we moved in (it's managed by a property management company and the owner just collects her money) but no one has come to look at it. The management company promised us we would get 24 hours notice if anyone ever came to see the place.
This was NOT 24 hours. I was half asleep, the place was a mess, and my little girl was sleeping in one of only two bedrooms.
The realtor apologized and asked if the man could just see the kitchen. I let him in, although I felt very uncomfortable about the whole thing, and they left right away.
Later than afternoon, I called our property manager to give her a piece of my mind.
"I'm very upset. I was not notified. I was alone and my daughter was sleeping. This is unacceptable."
She apologized and assured me it wouldn't happen again.
When Ted got home later that night, I started ranting about it to him.....for about five seconds.
"She called my phone instead of yours. I told her I would tell you. I forgot. I'm sorry."
Crap. Well now I'm just a jerk. I felt bad that I had blamed the wrong person and told myself I would call her in the morning. I didn't really want to admit I was wrong-but I knew I had to own up to it.
When I called her and explained the situation she was very understanding and glad that it was just a misunderstanding. I almost ended the conversation there but I realized I hadn't actually apologized yet. I had excused, but not apologized.
"I'm sorry I blamed you. I'm sorry I accused you of not notifying me."
Forgiven. Done.
After the phone conversation I reflected on the difference between explaining what had happened and actually saying sorry for it. I could have easily just left it at the explanation-the manager didn't seem to mind-but she was owed a real apology. Out loud. With the words, "I'm sorry" coming out of my mouth.
And even though it was a bit uncomfortable-I gave her what she was owed.
And so it is with God. I offend Him countless times a day. I rationalize and explain away my behavior in my head. Sometimes I remember to tell Him I'm sorry in my prayers. But I need to do more. He's owed the same respect as my property manager-to hear me say the words, "I'm sorry." Out loud. And mean it.
Ah, confession. How I love thee. A chance to really tell God I'm sorry. To admit my faults out loud and not just in the clean, comfortable environment within my head. Jesus certainly knew what He was doing when He established this Sacrament.
And even though it was a little uncomfortable to tell the woman I was sorry, the words still came out of my mouth without too much effort. I think it's because I've had 18 years of practice apologizing to God. I've learned how to say sorry, how to ask for forgiveness. I've received the healing power of His forgiveness and heard the words, "Your sins are forgiven."
Having the opportunity to apologize to our property manager has me craving a good confession now. Forgiveness just feels so good.
Tuesday, April 24, 2012
Infertility Awareness Week
So it's Infertility Awareness Week. At least that's what I heard on Catholic radio this morning. And I feel as if I should write some profound reflection on what infertility has done for our lives and our marriage. On my fears of coming face to face with secondary infertility in the not so distant future and the crippling feeling I get if I let myself dwell on that. Or maybe an encouraging post for anyone out there struggling with issues of infertility.
But I just....can't. The well is dry. I have nothing to offer right now. I can't think about infertility while I'm in this middle land of wondering whether we'll get pregnant easily a second time, get pregnant after a huge ordeal, or never get pregnant again. My cycle is still MIA. So any efforts to conceive or test or meet with doctors are pointless. We just wait. And wait some more.
And I hate waiting.
But if you, dear reader, are sitting at your computer today and needing someone to vent to/talk with/confide in over the pain of infertility-shoot me an email.
And while you're at it-please offer up prayers for my friend Karen, who is awaiting very significant medial news.
But I just....can't. The well is dry. I have nothing to offer right now. I can't think about infertility while I'm in this middle land of wondering whether we'll get pregnant easily a second time, get pregnant after a huge ordeal, or never get pregnant again. My cycle is still MIA. So any efforts to conceive or test or meet with doctors are pointless. We just wait. And wait some more.
And I hate waiting.
But if you, dear reader, are sitting at your computer today and needing someone to vent to/talk with/confide in over the pain of infertility-shoot me an email.
And while you're at it-please offer up prayers for my friend Karen, who is awaiting very significant medial news.
Sunday, April 15, 2012
Our Engagiversary
Five years ago today, April 15th fell on a Sunday. It was also the first Sunday after Easter and Divine Mercy Sunday. And it just so happened that on that day five years ago Ted got down on one knee and asked me to be his wife.
Swoon.
We've had a date afternoon planned for over a week now and didn't realize the significance of this day until today!
It was oh-so-wonderful. A sweet friend that offered to watch Hannah for free. Christmas gift card from my Grandma covered almost all of dinner (thanks Grandma!). Free groupon to a cute frozen yogurt shop covered dessert. Walk in a beautiful park covered with gorgeous live oaks and perfect temperatures didn't cost a dime.
Total date: 8 bucks.
Yeah, we're cheap. But we knew exactly what were getting into five years ago.
Ted, I still do. And I always will.
Swoon.
We've had a date afternoon planned for over a week now and didn't realize the significance of this day until today!
It was oh-so-wonderful. A sweet friend that offered to watch Hannah for free. Christmas gift card from my Grandma covered almost all of dinner (thanks Grandma!). Free groupon to a cute frozen yogurt shop covered dessert. Walk in a beautiful park covered with gorgeous live oaks and perfect temperatures didn't cost a dime.
Total date: 8 bucks.
Yeah, we're cheap. But we knew exactly what were getting into five years ago.
Ted, I still do. And I always will.
Thursday, April 12, 2012
Quick Takes (35)
-1-
Does anyone know of a website that will let me upload all my videos and share them with family for free? I really don't want to pay for it-but we have so many cute ones of Hannah that I'm dying to let family back in Missouri watch. I know there's YouTube-but I'm really not wanting to broadcast Hannah peeing in the tub to the world, just her grandparents. Anyone know of anything?
-2-
Apparently I am a gasper. As in, one who gasps. I do it all the time to get Hannah excited, to look at something, or to come to me and see what's going on. "Gasp! Hannah look! Your dog is sitting on the couch! Come in here and play with him for 15 solid minutes so mama can pee and write a blog post!"
Well now Hannah does it. All the time. And it's the cutest dang thing I've ever heard. She walks into a room and just inhales as loudly as she can and points to something random. "Gasp!" Then she smiles. Love it.
-3-
I mentioned pee in my first two quick takes and am feeling like I should keep this trend going and mention it in the third.....but sadly I have no more stories about pee.
-4-
I'm addicted to this baked oatmeal right now:
It's sooo good. I've been getting baking the fruit and putting the wet and dry ingredients in jars the night before. Ted pours the jars in the pan in the morning and turns on the oven. Bam-hot baked oatmeal when I get out of bed.
-5-
Some friends have offered to watch Hannah this Sunday and Ted and I are going on a date!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! No idea what we're going to do yet-any suggestions?
-6-
I started typing number six and it got too long. It needs its own blog post.
-7-
My completely awesome giveaway/debut of Hannah's incredible acting skills is coming soon. You should be excited, very excited.
Tuesday, April 10, 2012
The Combo Pack
This post is buy-one-get-one-free! You're welcome.
Easter Recap
We were blessed with a wonderful Easter Sunday thanks to great weather, awesome new friends, and a pretty little girl who loved to hunt eggs. Our Holy Week and Easter Triduum were less than stellar, due in large part to the fact that we spent almost every night butchering an animal. :::wait-what?? You butchered an animal for Holy Week??::: Oh yes we did, read on.
Back to Easter. The three of us were able to sit together for the entire 8:00 am Mass. Hannah didn't need to be taken to the back (which was good because there wasn't any room back there anyway). The strap of my dress broke in the middle of the homily but the top managed to stay up. No one was flashed on my way to Communion.
We ate breakfast at a cute cafe we've been eyeing and enjoyed every bite of our sweet potato pancakes and very berry crepes. Hannah enjoyed her banana and playing with the styrofoam cup full of coffee creamer.
Naptime was spent cooking like a madwoman. I made a delicious salsa with purple hull peas and one of my favorite desserts: chocolate coconut candy bars. Of the 19 people we celebrated with, four can't have dairy, one can't have gluten, and three can't have sugar. So I also slaved away at making not one, but two, carrot cakes. One gluten-free and one regular. Both sugar and dairy free. And they both failed miserably and I left them at home.
After nap our Rosie had her first Easter egg hunt.
Two books for for taking to Mass, chalk, stickers, a little bunny from her grandparents, and.....a toothbrush. Guess which one was her favorite?
A yard, a toddler, a sweet husband to share it with. It's too much.
"I just can't hold in my excitement!"
No, this wasn't the feature of Southern Living. It was just our friend's back porch. And it was even better.
Yum!
Pretty in pink. And oh so big.
Happy Easter! Alleluia!
Why I Love My Husband
Ted is a do-it-yourself kinda guy. Actually, he takes do-it-yourself to a whole 'nother level. Combine that with the fact that we are incredible tight wads and you get some pretty interesting results. Take, for example, our TV antenna. Why pay 12 dollars for something you can make for four? Am I right? And it looks so nice hanging in our front window. I bet our neighbors think it's welcoming and trendy.
He also built some giant raised beds for the garden we're planting. Obviously a do-it-yourself project, but Ted found a way to throw in some cheapness. He got all the boards completely free from craigslist. He is proof that if you look hard enough and have some patience, you can saved hundreds of dollars. Dollars we don't have to spend for stuff we really need. So free garden beds! Picture coming soon.
And we needed a hose, obviously. So he found one of those on craiglist too. For ten bucks. Ridiculous? Nope-he saved 20!
AND he found me a free bike helmet. I traded mine with a friend for some artwork when I wasn't able to ride because Hannah was so young. (Sorry Linds!) But now we're getting back into biking and I needed a helmet. So I met some random girl at the farmer's market last week and took her brand-new-never-even-opened helmet off her hands. Sweet.
But this past week, he kicked Cheapo's Guide to Do-it-Yourself up a notch. We bought a half pig and a quarter cow from two local farmers. We're so sick of paying ridiculous prices for meat that's filled with all kinds of nasty-this seems so much better. (First we needed a deep freeze....which he got off craigslist for 85% off retail.) Then we decided to process the meat ourselves to save the cost of paying a butcher. The animals were killed and hung at the butcher-we just cut and packaged the meat. We started with the pig on the Monday of Holy Week.
Since we actually split the whole pig with some friends, Ted and Daniel cut it up together. It was actually kind of fun. They were both trained in the art of pig butchering...from some guy on You Tube.
Who doesn't want 20 pounds of bacon?
Nothing a hack saw couldn't take care of.
It was a wonderful idea. No major hiccups. Delicious pork. Self-cured bacon. An Easter ham. No hormones, steriods, antibiotics, nitrates, or anything else other than good meat. Hundreds of dollars in savings.
Then, due to poor planning on my part, the cow came on Holy Thursday. So no, we didn't make it to any Triduum services. We cut up cow. For hours. For days. The cow's live weight was several hundred pounds more then expected. We were up to our ears in beef and both felt like crying just a few hours in realizing what we had gotten ourselves into. It was not fun. No pictures were taken. It was a Holy Week miracle that we didn't kill each other.
Moral of this Why I Love My Husband story: Do-it-yourself saves lots of money. Craigslist is good. Never pay your butcher to process your pig. ALWAYS ALWAYS ALWAYS pay your butcher to process your cow!
Easter Recap
We were blessed with a wonderful Easter Sunday thanks to great weather, awesome new friends, and a pretty little girl who loved to hunt eggs. Our Holy Week and Easter Triduum were less than stellar, due in large part to the fact that we spent almost every night butchering an animal. :::wait-what?? You butchered an animal for Holy Week??::: Oh yes we did, read on.
Back to Easter. The three of us were able to sit together for the entire 8:00 am Mass. Hannah didn't need to be taken to the back (which was good because there wasn't any room back there anyway). The strap of my dress broke in the middle of the homily but the top managed to stay up. No one was flashed on my way to Communion.
We ate breakfast at a cute cafe we've been eyeing and enjoyed every bite of our sweet potato pancakes and very berry crepes. Hannah enjoyed her banana and playing with the styrofoam cup full of coffee creamer.
Naptime was spent cooking like a madwoman. I made a delicious salsa with purple hull peas and one of my favorite desserts: chocolate coconut candy bars. Of the 19 people we celebrated with, four can't have dairy, one can't have gluten, and three can't have sugar. So I also slaved away at making not one, but two, carrot cakes. One gluten-free and one regular. Both sugar and dairy free. And they both failed miserably and I left them at home.
After nap our Rosie had her first Easter egg hunt.
Two books for for taking to Mass, chalk, stickers, a little bunny from her grandparents, and.....a toothbrush. Guess which one was her favorite?
A yard, a toddler, a sweet husband to share it with. It's too much.
"I just can't hold in my excitement!"
No, this wasn't the feature of Southern Living. It was just our friend's back porch. And it was even better.
Yum!
Pretty in pink. And oh so big.
Happy Easter! Alleluia!
Why I Love My Husband
Ted is a do-it-yourself kinda guy. Actually, he takes do-it-yourself to a whole 'nother level. Combine that with the fact that we are incredible tight wads and you get some pretty interesting results. Take, for example, our TV antenna. Why pay 12 dollars for something you can make for four? Am I right? And it looks so nice hanging in our front window. I bet our neighbors think it's welcoming and trendy.
He also built some giant raised beds for the garden we're planting. Obviously a do-it-yourself project, but Ted found a way to throw in some cheapness. He got all the boards completely free from craigslist. He is proof that if you look hard enough and have some patience, you can saved hundreds of dollars. Dollars we don't have to spend for stuff we really need. So free garden beds! Picture coming soon.
And we needed a hose, obviously. So he found one of those on craiglist too. For ten bucks. Ridiculous? Nope-he saved 20!
AND he found me a free bike helmet. I traded mine with a friend for some artwork when I wasn't able to ride because Hannah was so young. (Sorry Linds!) But now we're getting back into biking and I needed a helmet. So I met some random girl at the farmer's market last week and took her brand-new-never-even-opened helmet off her hands. Sweet.
But this past week, he kicked Cheapo's Guide to Do-it-Yourself up a notch. We bought a half pig and a quarter cow from two local farmers. We're so sick of paying ridiculous prices for meat that's filled with all kinds of nasty-this seems so much better. (First we needed a deep freeze....which he got off craigslist for 85% off retail.) Then we decided to process the meat ourselves to save the cost of paying a butcher. The animals were killed and hung at the butcher-we just cut and packaged the meat. We started with the pig on the Monday of Holy Week.
Since we actually split the whole pig with some friends, Ted and Daniel cut it up together. It was actually kind of fun. They were both trained in the art of pig butchering...from some guy on You Tube.
Who doesn't want 20 pounds of bacon?
Nothing a hack saw couldn't take care of.
It was a wonderful idea. No major hiccups. Delicious pork. Self-cured bacon. An Easter ham. No hormones, steriods, antibiotics, nitrates, or anything else other than good meat. Hundreds of dollars in savings.
Then, due to poor planning on my part, the cow came on Holy Thursday. So no, we didn't make it to any Triduum services. We cut up cow. For hours. For days. The cow's live weight was several hundred pounds more then expected. We were up to our ears in beef and both felt like crying just a few hours in realizing what we had gotten ourselves into. It was not fun. No pictures were taken. It was a Holy Week miracle that we didn't kill each other.
Moral of this Why I Love My Husband story: Do-it-yourself saves lots of money. Craigslist is good. Never pay your butcher to process your pig. ALWAYS ALWAYS ALWAYS pay your butcher to process your cow!
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