Gemma's Birthday

Here is what we're doing about overpopulation.



Once again, my wife has borne me the world's most beautiful daughter.

Gemma Noelle Drapeau came into the world at 8:25 PM, December 10, 2009. She weighed 7 lbs, 6 oz and was 18" long. She is fantastico.

We named her after St. Gemma Galgani.

St. Ambrose

My last post concerned the Immaculate Conception whose feast day is celebrated on my twin's birthday. I've often complained that my sister gets to be associated with the Virgin Mary while I, having been born on December 7, am forever linked to "a day that will live in infamy"--Pearl Harbor Day.

December 7 is also the feast of St. Ambrose, someone I've mocked for having been named, well, Ambrose. My friend Cory insisted that, in spite of his delicate name, Ambrose was in fact a "Bad- A" and bought me a print of a copy of the picture shown here to prove it.

This painting is called "St. Ambrose and the Emperor Theodosius" by Peter Paul Rubens*. It shows Ambrose facing down the Roman Emperor, Theodosius, after he massacred a bunch of women and children in Macedonia. St. Ambrose denied the emperor entry to the cathedral at Milan and refused to lift the emperor's excommunication until he made public penance. This might not be a bad policy to adopt with some of our more "ardent Catholic" politicians. . .

Ruben's disciple, Anthony Van Dyck, painted an almost identical painting to this one. It's this copy that I now have a matted and framed print of, thanks to Cory. I would have included it in the post, but the best version I could find had a digital watermark.

*not to be confused with Pee Wee Herman

Look Who's Four!

Annamaria Francesca turned four last Saturday! Hooray for Kecka!

Happy Birthday to Amy

I love my wife. Love her. (That's her on the left.)

She's great. She's greater than great--she's super great.

She makes me feel like a s'more. She's just terrific.

Today is her birthday so I bought her the song below on iTunes. Everyone in the whole wide world knows it from the Mac commercials. There are many things to like about the song, but I like it because it's like Amy--delightful and it makes you smile when you think of it.

I dare you not to smile when you hear this song or when you think of Amy. It can't be done.

My Birthday

 

Here is a picture of some of the loot I got for not dying last year. The stuff on the left side of the table is from my kids: 2 Jiffy Pop popcorns, a single chocolate chip cookie, 3 previously-owned figurines in various states of repair, one cracked Narnia snowglobe from McDonalds, some stuffed things, 2 cards and a counterfeit dollar bill. On the right are gifts from my Kolbe students (they went with a coffee theme): a customized travel mug with pictures of my students that are a few years old, a balloon on a stick, an enormous Starbucks mug (which says "Established 1971", like me), a bag of coffee, a can of coffee, German cookies, a ziplock bag of sugar, 2 creamers, and--my favorite--gift wrapped coffee filters.

This is why I love my birthday and why every one is better than the last. You couldn't script better gifts. They're great and they practically beg to be worked into a reflection on how our gifts to God are just like these, but, you're all smart and I don't have the time to write that reflection, so fill in the blanks. I'm just sure that God must be as pleased with our efforts to love Him as I was with these kids' efforts to please their grumpy (now old) teacher.