When a Priest comes to dinner! ...or TWO!

Yesterday, a priest friend of ours was back in town and called in the late afternoon/early evening to surprise us and ask if he could stop by that evening for dinner.  I was out running an errand and although I was so happy to hear from him, my mind was distracted by the picture of an empty refridgerator (what will I feed him?) and the image of a livingroom floor and dining room table FULL of paperwork (I've been looking for an important paper for my taxes and had an "ADD" moment when I decided to sort through ALL the papers I've been meaning to for some time.  I was in "mid-sort" when I headed out to run a few errands.  The house was "A MESS!"  Though happy to hear from him, I'm at first tempted to think up some excuse.

"SUUuuuuure you can come for dinner!  We'd love that!  In fact, I'll invite my Mom!" 

I'm tempted to forgo daily Mass (which I was trying to attend during Lent) as this would leave me exactly 15 minutes to prepare before everyone shows up, but go to Mass anyway (and while there invite my Pastor to dinner as well.  Might as well!)  *note:  BOY am I glad I chose to go to Mass.  Totally worth any embarrassment of a messy house*

When a priest comes it's sort of like Jesus is coming to dinner for me.  This moment of reflecting on my house not being ready was a great meditation on how Jesus could come at ANY time... would we be ready?  I couldn't help but think of this as I was cleaning up and running through the grocery store to pick up something for dinner.  I didn't want to feel as if I wasn't ready to welcome him at any time to come and enter in and join me and my family (expected or not).

What a good meditation this spur of the moment visit was.  "You do not know the day or the hour that the Son of Man will come"  It really got me in the Lenten "mood".

In the end, we had a great evening with lots of smiles, warm conversation and a great dinner of fresh wild haddock (whenever you're in a rush, fish is quick!) with stuffed topping, broccoli crowns, summer squash (prepared the day before), and Jasmine rice!  My mom brought crepe suzettes with strawberry topping that she just "happened" to have made (she's always cooking something awesome), YUM! and all ended well!

 Ava was SO over-tired that she did NOT stop talking (but she wouldn't go to sleep because she didn't want to miss anything)!  Here she is with Nana telling her a story.  She eventually went down an hour early.  The night proved too exciting for her.

 Ava meets Fr. Jeff!

 Ava's a bit more interested in her feet than anything right now.

 She LOVES Fr. Conrad!

 Some great conversation (and a messy table that didn't quite make it before guests arrived... oh well).

34 Weeks along and only 6 weeks to go!!!

34 Weeks along ...and only 6 weeks to go!!!

Lately, I find myself now very "in tune" to the little girl inside of me.  (She's got the hiccups as I type.  Gets them a number of times throughout the day).  She really has my heart and I think of how it is said of Our Lady that she concieved Our Lord in her "heart" before she did so in her "body".  I can really see that now.  I have certainly grown to love her and am getting excited to see her face.  With all this excitement comes moments of anxiety and fear as I'm well aware of the responsibility that comes from being a parent and the helplessness that comes with raising a person endowed with "free will".  Still, I have to trust that if God is giving her to us... he trusts us.  Whoa... what a thought... he trusts us with another human soul.  Much to ponder there, hmmm?

As we get ready for her coming, we're aware that there will be many changes to our schedules and are trying to enjoy the company of some good friends up until then (and of course beyond, but it may be more challenging).

This weekend was lovely and busy.  Saturday took on a mind of it's own and we dubbed it "Priest day" as we ended up after morning Mass having a marvelous impromptu breakfast with our pastor, Fr. Conrad...

and later a visit from our good friend Joe Amaral.  Joe has always been a wonderful friend to us and we love his visits!

...later in the evening, Joe came back for an impromptu dinner with his lovely wife Anne Marie...

...and the doorbell rang with visits from Fr. Jeff Obniski (humoring us in Joe's hat)...

...and Fr. Hugo (the hat made the rounds)...

both are priests from the Institute of the Incarnate word, which I was incidentally first exposed to in my trip to Honduras years ago. 

What a great day with great company and lively discussion long into the night.  These are two of my favorite things!  We loved our day with them and did not want it to end!

On Sunday after Mass we visited with Shaun's Auntie Louise and Uncle Dave.  The cutest couple!  ...we joke that they are "us" when we get older!  Auntie Louise is the "talker" and Uncle Dave is the "Quiet Laid back type".  They work together, though and after all these years you can still see how much they enjoy each other's company.

Later on in the evening, my brother, Michael even stopped by to visit.  It was SO good to see him!  The uncle to be!!!  He's going to be a GREAT Uncle!

Don't you just love good company???