7 Quick Takes. I don't know what volume, cuz I'm not counting.

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Boy, are three-year-olds fun! I've been at my job for a couple of weeks (except I had to cut out today to pick Moe up from school early with some kind of icky virusy thing), and I am loving it. I'm busier than I've been for a long time. And the kids are SOOO adorable! Some of them have never been away from Mom and Dad, and it's a big adjustment for them. We've had a few tears, and a lot of, "Put the dinosaur away now, we're listening to a story. Please keep your hands in your lap; your friends don't like it when you bonk them on the head." The Barney Cleanup Song and "Head and Shoulders Knees and Toes" are on a permanent loop in my brain. I love that Jesus is a central part of our school and our classroom. Every morning they pray,

Good Morning, Dear Jesus,
This day is for you

I ask you to bless

all I think, say, and do.

We say Grace Before Meals at snack time, and the Guardian Angel Prayer (Angel of God, my guardian dear, to whom God's love commits me here, Ever this day be at my side: to light, to guard, to rule, to guide.) before the children go home. We are teaching the children that God made them special and unique, and remind them every day how much Jesus loves them. Sister M. comes and talks to the children in the Monday, Wednesday and Friday classes; and yesterday, Father R. poked his head in to say hello to my Tuesday-Thursday class. The preschool director and all the teachers I work with are FABULOUS. It's a lot of work (even for a part-time job), but I'm blessed.

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A while back I saw this post on Faith & Family Live, and couldn't pass up a good contest. If I left a comment about my fitness and spiritual goals were, I'd win a T-shirt from the Mamas Movin' with Mary. (About a year ago, a group of moms in Columbus, Ohio, started meeting regularly to walk and pray together to train for the Columbus Half Marathon. Soon they began calling themselves "Mamas Movin' with Mary." They've got a great website full of lots of resorces on fitness and Marian devotion, as well as information about their adopted charity, Run the Race Club.

The other day I opened my "new" email--the one I need to start checking more often because, after all, I set it up SPECIFICALLY for this blog--and there's a week-old email from Danielle Bean. Danielle Bean!! She emailed me to tell me I had won the shirt! Wow. The Mamas had emailed me too, and I had to contritely apologize to all of them for not getting the message sooner, because this is a new email that I always forget to check, etc. etc. So anyway, the other day I opened my mailbox to find this:

The Front

The Back

I put it on right away, and I LOVE IT!! I hope it will inspire me to get off my butt and get some exercise, and to get to know Mary a little better, too.

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I'm pretty sure the "3" above and to the right of the "M" means the 3 M's in the group's name: Mamas, Moving, Mary. The boys asked about it, too, and when explained it to them, I said, "You know, like E=MC squared, except its M cubed." When Larry reminded me that in Einstein's formula, the M stands for "Mass," I said, "THAT'S IT!! EUCHARIST equals MASS x COMMUNION squared." The boys just rolled their eyes.

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Did I tell you that I love that my job, where I go every day to work, is at my church? I love that I get to go every day to the place where I worship on Sundays, where I go to confession (although not often enough, I'm afraid) and where I receive Jesus in the Eucharist?

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On Monday, our parish's Religious Education program begins. I'll be teaching third graders again this year. Last year I only had four students; I have nine this time around. I'm looking forward to getting started, even though my life will be even busier.

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Tonight Larry, Curly, and I saw the movie Inception. (There was a fourth very special person with us, but I'm not sure if Larry wants me to blog about that. I was the chaperone and Curly was my, erm, son-who-went-to-the-movies-with-me. I'm not allowed to use the D-word.) The movie is quite a ride, let me tell you; although you've probably already seen it--we seem to be the only people we know who still haven't Until now, anyway. It's the kind of movie you're thinking about long after you've left the theatre, with all its dreamscapes and mind-melds; if there is a message in the film it's this: Power is meaningless; it's the people we love that matter. All that other stuff is only fluff and spinning tops. (Click here to read the USCCB review of the movie.)

After I brought the older boys home, Joe and I watched another movie about telepathy and Jedi mind tricks: The Men Who Stare At Goats. Not quite the same. (Although, I've always liked Ewan McGregor, even when he fakes an American accent.)

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Next Wednesday, September 22, is the start of the Fall 2010 campaign for 40 Days for Life! Forty days of fasting and prayer to end abortion. If you happen to drive past an abortion facility, you're likely to see people standing there praying, and maybe holding signs; give them a honk and a thumbs-up! Better yet, plan to spend an hour praying with them. Every year many babies' lives are saved from abortion by the power of prayer. Click here to find out how you can get involved, and where there is a local campaign near you.

Have a blessed weekend! See more Quick Takes at Conversiondiary.com.

(I just thought of one more quick take. I'll save it for tomorrow--I hope--but I will tell you this: St. Anthony is my new best friend.)