It’s the first week of summer break, which means I’m trying to accomplish all the things I couldn’t accomplish since Easter break. So, it’s not much of a break at all, I’m just redirecting all my empty threats towards file folders, random drivers on the road, and my cats.
Why am I angry with my cats?? Because one of them seems to think that going for a car ride in a cat carrier is the kitty apocalypse and uses these few opportunities to pee in our car (after using his face as a battering ram to bust out of his carrier). We even tried wrapping his carrier in a large sheet so he couldn’t see what was going on (at the suggestion of our vet) but instead his pee just got on one of our sheets and the car seat. Our other, older cat, used to be cool with car rides and cat carriers but apparently the wails and antics of the younger cat inspired the older one to rise up against the human overlords in a mutual spirit of revolution. So it was just a lot of wrestling and cursing to get these two beasts up to date on their shots.
The older three have been busy with activities most weekends and evenings. That means there’s been several nights when it’s only been Tony, Fulton, Teddy and I sitting down to dinner. I’ve found myself saying, “Well there’s only going to be four of us. It hardly seems worth it to make [insert whatever large dinner is on my meal plan].” And then I remember that most families (like the one I grew up in) only ever have four people at the table for dinner. So, I go ahead and motivate myself to make whatever is on the meal plan even though it’s “only for four people”. Somehow, the food all gets eaten eventually. The late night grazing of the teenagers seems to be good for something.
Despite Byron working at McDonald’s eating fast food has not become a weekly occurrence. Even Byron tries to pack food when he works so he doesn’t consume too many burgers during the week. But we made an exception recently with the release of the BTS meal. BTS is a K-pop music group and like many popular stars and influencers, they partnered with McDonald’s to create a signature meal that is sold for a limited time. Addie of course needed to purchase a BTS meal (and document it for Twitter) so we all got McDonald’s the day after the meal released. It’s not anything special; just a 10 piece McNuggets deal with a couple special sauces. It led to a discussion of what each of us would create as a signature McDonald’s meal. No one really had strong feelings about their meal except Teddy who wants the ‘Teddy Yeti’ meal to contain a double fish filet sandwich with Big Mac sauce, a large fry, and a Sprite.
I wrote a great piece for Accepting the Gift on two informative books that can help empower parents, and educate parishes, about how to make sure special needs children receive their sacraments. Thanks to author Michele Chronister for writing these books and taking the time to talk to me about an important topic. Because yes, in America there are still kids (and adults) being denied Communion and Confirmation because of their disabilities. Not sure who should recieve the sacraments? The USCCB explains it nicely here (TL:DR everybody).
On Wednesday Teddy and I went to Shriner’s to check on his back. Not surprisingly, we were told to pick a date for surgery. It doesn’t need to be this summer thankfully, but when I told the doctor I want to make sure Teddy is fully recovered and able to do summer camp next year, he suggested planning surgery for 6 months prior to the camp date. That means we’re looking at surgery by the end of this year. It’s fine. I’m fine. Teddy is as fine as he can be when faced with some big unknown that’s months away. I have calls and appointments to make but once I know the specific date I will, of course, be sharing it in order to soak up as many prayers as people will throw at us. For some “back story” you can read about Fulton’s surgery and recovery here. Teddy will be having the same procedure with the same expected recovery period. Thankfully, the bedroom situation, and ceiling mounted lift will make his recovery about 2938 times easier…in some regards.
I suppose that’s enough of an update for now. How was your week? Let me know what your custom McDonald’s meal would be, and link up a post if you’re so inclined. Be sure to include a link back to this post so your readers can find the rest of the Quick Takes. I look forward to reading your posts!