Words of Wisdom from Fr. Rich...aka "The Rockstar Priest"

Dear Parishioners and Friends,

Given all of the financial woes we face today, it is
tempting to read today’s Gospel – the parable of the tal-
ents – only from an economic point of view. Jesus tells
a story of a master who puts his servants in charge of
unbelievable sums of money; two of the servants invest
it and make great windfalls, one buries the money in the
ground. Maybe Jesus is giving us sound advice on how
to invest our money. I doubt it. Jesus rarely gives finan-
cial advice.
Nor do I think the parable is simply about using the
talents God gives us. The parable uses the word talent
which throws us off. Originally, talent did not mean “a
person’s special gifts or abilities.” It was the greatest,
most fantastic measurement of money. It might translate
today as “gabillions.”
God gives us gabillions of love and mercy, gabillions
of compassion, justice and peace. God gives us gabil-
lions of gifts of the Holy Spirit.
As a church, as a community of disciples, what are
we doing with the gabillions of love God has freely given
to us? Do we take a risk and invest it? How? In whom?
Where? Or do we bury it, hide it, keep it to ourselves?
Big institutions, big corporations tend to be fright-
ened of innovation, of taking bold risks. GM is paying
dearly for its fear.
The Church is a community of believers in Christ Je-
sus who conquered sin and death. We should have
nothing to fear.
When we meet our Lord and Savior in heaven, what
if He says, “I gave you all that gabillions of love. What
did you do with it?” What will we say?
Peace!
Fr. Rich

5 Months

Well, the fifth month of pregnancy is rapidly coming to a close. I have hit the 22 week mark today, so only one more week and I'm in my 6th month. We are blessed to be having such an easy pregnancy. Only 4ish more month until we meet our little boy!!!
My fabulous mother-in-law has also been hard at work on the fabric items for Gabriel's room. :) She finished the crib skirt this week. :) Isn't it great?! And how beautiful it looks on the crib my mom and dad bought for Gabe. :) I think they look great together.
Here is the crib and our glider. Hoping our gliding ottoman turns up sometime. :) It was on back order. Soooooo comfy though!!! I like to sit in there and rock and pretend he is asleep in the crib.
Here is the hide-away desk with a bunch of junk on it that needs to be put away, or Chicco stroller stored in the corner for now, and our dresser/changing table with changing pad on it. (Those are my paintings lying on top as they are still a work in progress and need to be framed.) The TV was going to be in there, but due to a lack of space and it's inability to get an array of channels it will not be staying in that room. Oh well...I have the laptop in there. :) Don't you just love his beautiful furniture? And my mother-in-law tells me that the curtains are on their way to being finished soon, so stand by for more baby fun!!!

Slow, slow, quick, quick...

Took a dance class with some friends this Saturday. I didn't think the instructor was all that great, but we had a fun time anyway!

We also ate at The Cheesecake Factory in The Galleria afterwards, and they had an ice skating show going on for the lighting of the Christmas tree there...and guess who was there???? ILIA KULIK!!! If you don't know who he is, first off, shame on you, second...go read about him here. Sadly there are no pictures of my own as Brian had the camera in the restaurant while I ran out to watch him warm-up...but I did see him, and he was amazing!!! (The highlight of my day for sure!)

Gabe Update

I had another dr. appt. today.  Everything was great.  He had a healthy heartbeat at 152 bpm.  He's a consistent little guy.  :)  He's kicking around like crazy, but always stops when his daddy puts his hand on my belly to feel it.  He likes to move when I'm still.  It has caused me to wake up in the wee morning hours recently.  I guess I should get used to it though, huh?  

Next appt. I do my hour long glucose test.  Hopefully that goes well.  I think it will.  Brian and I have to pick a date to do our birthing/hospital tour class for sometime in December or January.  I can't believe how fast time is going!!!  Before you know it our little Gabriel will be here.  Every time I think about that I feel like I need to get more done in his nursery.  lol  

Oh well...otherwise things here are quiet.  Last weekend we had our friend Randy's wedding.  Congrats, Mr. and Mrs. Miles!!!  :)  This weekend we have a dance class in Houston with some friends...we'll see how that goes.  lol  I promise to take lots of pictures.  It has been rainy and it seems as though it will stay that way.  I guess I shouldn't have postponed going to the grocery store this weekend.  Oh well....  Maybe tomorrow after work.  

Colbert Style

One of my favorite parts of the Colbert Report is "Tip of the Hat, Wag of the Finger."  So with that said...

Tip of the Hat to The United States of America for electing it's first black president Barack Obama.  How exciting to be a part of something so historic!  Three cheers for America for taking a giant leap forward!!!

And...

A Wag of the Finger to the state of Alaska.  Who on earth would reelect Sen. Ted Stevens...a convicted felon?!  Moral standards alone should prevent people from voting for him no matter what he has "done for Alaska."  So, a big slap "upside the head" (as they say in Texas) for the state of Alaska.

(Side note:  Yes, I am aware that all of the votes are not counted in Alaska yet, but this is just a preemptive post for the  inevitable and disheartening outcome.)

I am SAHM

I am excited to announce that I am going to be a SAHM.  That's right people, I will be a Stay at Home Mom!!!!!  It's thrilling!  I told my principal yesterday and turned in my letter of resignation today.  I am still on until Christmas break, but I couldn't be happier with my decision.  :)  

Of course I will miss my students, and I will probably be going up to help the new teacher transition in in January.  I adore my school and still want to be a part of what's going on there.  I just don't want to have the obligation to anything but my family.  My coworkers are being very supportive and are happy for me.  :)  And I know we'll meet up for dinner or coffee some.  So, as sad as I am to be closing that chapter of my life I am over the moon about getting to be home with my darling little boy when he arrives!!!  Woohoo!!!!

What Little Boys are Made of...

Frogs and snails, and puppy-dogs' tails...
That's what little boys are made of!

Here is my latest piece. I'm making it for Gabriel's room. You can see I have them sitting in the crib (well, some of them), and the bottom portion isn't quite finished. I ran out of red paper. I did all of the drawings, and of course they are painted with watercolor. The outlines of the animals are done with oil crayons, and the lettering was done with my die-cut machine. It's been a fun project...I can't wait to get it finished and framed!!! :) It will look so cute in Gabe's room!

Here are the first three in the crib. (They're more vibrant in person, but are too large to scan, and I forgot to adjust them on my iPhoto before posting them. Sorry!) These will be hung above the crib with the last picture underneath them. I still haven't decided if I'm going to put them all in one giant frame with a mat that has windows in it, or 4 seperate frames. Whichever is cheaper I guess. Oh, and the fabric laying on the crib matress is going to be used in the quilt for the bed and whatever else we can use it for. :) It has snails and peapods on it. My mother-in-law is making the fabric items. :)
This is a really long piece (below). As you can see it is not close to finished yet. It will say, "That's what little BOYS are made of!!!" The "o" in BOYS is going to be the darling baby face I made on my die-cut machine. I'll post more when they're complete and framed...and maybe even on the wall. Yea!!!! Sorry, Mom and Dad, I'm not posting any pictures of the furniture until I at least have a sheet on the mattress. ;) We do LOVE it though. Sometimes I sit on the glider and just think about my beautiful baby in his happy little room. :)

Oh boy, oh boy...

In the third picture below the hand is up by the nose and forehead. :) In the picture above (bottom photo) he is trying to find his hand again after he pulled it out of his mouth. lol
Meet Gabriel William Lipscomb everyone! :) Isn't he adorable?! We are so excited to be having a little boy. We couldn't be happier that Brian will have someone to play with airplanes with and fish with...the list goes on and on. He is perfect!!!! He is 7 oz. and his heart rate was 151 bpm. We got to see him turn over, move his legs, and suck his thumb. He even had his hand around his nose and scratched his forehead with his index finger. And he was most definitely all boy. :) TOO CUTE!!! I can't wait to see him in 5ish more months, and am so glad that Brian could take off of work to be there, and my mom was able to join us from New Jersey. :) We missed you, Dad!!!! I hope y'all enjoy looking at my beautiful baby boy!!!!!!! I know we did.

A twister! A twister!

Well, we may not be in Kansas, but apparently it's tornado season.  Who knew?  This morning at school we had a "Duck and Cover."  I knew it wasn't a drill when my principal started running down the hallway yelling at the Pre-K about to go on a field trip to get off of the bus and get inside.  There was a tornado!  I ran to my fourth graders who were in their "special" classes practicing for their play tomorrow in the cafeteria, and we "duck and covered" for about 20 minutes!  And the tornado was right there in Freeport!!!  Craziness!  The picture above is of the tornado.  Man...hurricanes, tornadoes...what next?!

Scarecrows

One of my favorite things in the fall is the scarecrow competition in Peddler's Village (in Pennsylvania). Sadly I don't get to see it anymore, but my parents went this weekend to enjoy them. Apparently there weren't very many good ones, but my mom sent me Wall-E since I just think he is the cutest little robot EVER!!! (A close second...R2-D2.)

Happy Birthday, Brian!

We were so happy that our friends Chris and Marissa were going to be in the area that we decided to meet up for dinner. And what better day to do it than Brian's Birthday!!! :) The big 2-8. We ate at The Grove in Houston's "new" Discovery Green Park. Brian's step-brother Stewart is a chef at the restaurant and he treated us to some fabulous appetizers and a yummy birthday cake! Thanks, Stewart!!! We had a great time and the food was amazing.

Chris and Marissa are also expecting a little one. Their baby is due exactly, to the day, one week before our little one. And, yes it is the first for both of us.

At The Grove: Amanda, Brian, Chris, and Marissa.

There was no planning for the best friends to get pregnant within one week of each other, but it is so fun that it has worked out that way!!! Here I am at 16 weeks 5 days, and Marissa 17 weeks 5 days. On Sunday I finished up my 4th month. And only 4 days until the anatomy ultrasound. I am SOOOOOOO excited. I miss seeing my baby on the ultrasound.

Random Things...

So, I was tagged by the lovely Kristi to reveal 6 random things about myself.  So here it goes...

1)  I hate feet.  I hate my own, and I hate other peoples.  I just think they're ugly.

2)  I can't stand touching used napkins.

3)  I like to sing show-tunes and songs from Disney movies in the shower.

4)  I think pancakes are inferior to waffles because of the wonderful little squares that hold all of that melted butter and syrup.  They also have a nice little crunch to them when cooked correctly.

5)  I have cut my own bangs twice as a kid.  
The first time I wanted to look like Rainbow Brite, and I did it right before my ballet recital.  The second time they had been cut uneven and I was trying to even them out...yeah...I cut them down to short little spikes and tried to hide it from my mom with a wide headband.

6)  Although I was born and have spent over 2/3 of my life in Texas, I still refuse to admit that I'm from here.  I always claim the Northeast (Philadelphia/New Jersey) as my home.  (Granted that is where I feel most at home though.)  On that note...Go Phillies!!!!!!

Alright, so I tag Sonja, Rachel, Angie, Matt, and Brian to share 6 random things about themselves on their blogs.  :)

16 weeks and counting...

Well, today I hit the 16 week mark. My fourth month is rapidly coming to a close, and before you know it I will be at 20 weeks...the half way mark. Less than two weeks until our "anatomy" appt. And equally as exciting...my mom will be here!!!!!! :) I LOVE seeing my mom. Anywho, my little baby "bump" (for lack of better terminology) is growing at a steady pace. I now have people touching my belly. That's a strange feeling to have people just touch you on your belly, but I don't mind it as much as I thought I would. Well, mostly this is just random, but I wanted to post the picture we took today so you could see the "progress." :) Keep your fingers crossed and say a little prayer that Baby Lipscomb isn't feeling modest on Oct. 17th. ;) See ya soon, Mom!