Well, I can tell you that today was anything but ordinary for the Facefamily. We started the day out early and headed to the south side of Columbus, to a town called Grove-tuky, I mean, Grove City. There my friend Patty fed us some yummy chili and even more yummy cookie bars. (Complete with spelling time, so the kids wouldn’t understand. Pretty sure the first words they will spell will be cookies, ice cream, treat and candy.) Joshua helped Patty with things around the house while I kept the kids occupied. It was actually pretty easy since Patty has this awesome second floor with nothing to keep the kids from running, rolling, crab walking and playing “ring around the rosary”.

After we left Patty’s house, we went to the Vigil Mass at Holy Family in Columbus. Mass was wonderful, except I have a one year old who screams and screams and screams. Not unhappy per se, just does not want to sit in the pews. Any tips?

Since we knew it was going to be a late night, we decided to stop for dinner. Where to stop? Where to stop? Joshua suggested BigBoys and I was all like “HECK YEAH!” and may have actually clapped. I love Big Boy, I really do. On our sllloooow drive up High Street, through The Short North, Campus (which, I have to admit is pretty darn nice looking these days) and North Campus, I decided to text our favorite seminarian to invite him to dinner. After some hilarity, the type seen from time to time on Three’s Company, we arranged a meet up point to pick him up.  (Note to self and others don’t assume someone has your phone number saved in their phone, even if you know they have in the past ;))

Dinner was fun, Karol was THRILLED to learn about the invention known as the Salad Bar. Lettuce and hard boiled eggs? The kid was in heaven.

I was elected to drive home. So, we dropped our favorite seminarian off at the PCJ (one of my favorite places on this earth) and headed home.

On the ride home, I couldn’t wait to get home and in to bed. The kids mostly agreed at two of them fell asleep in the car and one, well, one she serenaded us with music from Advent “O Come Divine Messiah”, Star Trek – TNG (she hummed the opening song), Storytime “Put your finger on your head on your head…” and many more. If I could bottle this type of entertainment and sell it, we’d be rich. Alas,  we finally got home, the kids snug in bed, me, resting in comfy pajama pants, and now I can’t sleep.  Off to read something. Have  a great night.

I do not know how many of you are on Facebook. If you are, though, you may have noticed lots of women have a color as their status update. This supposed to be their bra color. The premise behind this is to help make more awareness for Breast Cancer. I will go on record as saying, there was a huge sadness in my heart to see so many woman participate in this “meme”. First, I will state my reason then I will post the comments of two very wonderful, striving to be holy, men and their takes on the subject.

My bra color is only to be known to my husband. Other men do not need to know what color bra I am wearing, nor for that fact, do other women. I know, just reading colors, I pictured what sort of a bra that my woman friends are wearing. Not in a sexual way, just in a “hmmm, wonder what that looks like?”. However, for some men who are reading this status update, this is a slippery slope. We cannot know what is in other’s hearts and where their struggles lie. If they are trying to live a chaste life, knowing the colors of the bras that their female friends may send them down that slope to unchastity.

Now from the two wonderful, striving to be holy men:

Consider this: By telling people the color of your own undergarments, you are effectively saying to them, “it’s okay for you to think of me in a way that only my spouse or someone in my same-sex locker room should see.” Effectively, you set yourself up to be objectified.

In addition, I see it as an offense against many men who, in this day and age are struggling horribly to maintain a chaste lifestyle. As a priest, I can tell you the number of men whose confessions I’ve heard who are struggling with sex addictions. It is hell. What this whole deal has done is spurred their curiosity: “What’s the color thing about?” The whole secrecy thing makes it worse. Then the guy knows. And then he starts to think and imagine…and about people he never would have thought of otherwise.

The man quoted above, is a priest, as stated in his comments. He hears the confessions of the men struggling with purity. He knows how a simple trip to the grocery store to pick up milk can turn in to an assault on a man and his struggle for that purity. He also hears the confessions of the woman affected by the man’s struggle for purity. He knows how much one little slip can cause damage that can take time to heal.

If you don’t realize the trouble that mentioning undergarment color can cause for perfectly healthy and normal men (not to mention the majority who are less than perfectly healthy and normal), you’ve got a bit of studying up to do.

It is *not* just a color – it’s a reference to a very personal and sacred part of humanity that shouldn’t be opened up to the general public. Otherwise, why do we wear clothes at all?

The above quote is the response of another man (not a priest) to those who might say “It is just a bra color, it is not a big deal”.

Breasts themselves are not bad, in fact, they are very good. They are an important part both the feeding of a children and the intimate relationship of a husband and a wife. It is that desire for an intimate relationship between man and woman that can lead to curiosity about a woman’s breasts.  Curiosity, if not mastered, can lead to unchaste acts, be it the viewing of pornography or inappropriate actions with a woman.

Women, in particular, need to be aware of how their actions can and do affect men. The simple act of sharing your bra color with your 187 friends on Facebook may seem like just a way to support breast cancer awareness, but it can also open up that curiosity and lead to unchaste acts.

Visit Peggy at The Simple Woman for more Daybook entries!

Outside my Window….Snow! Each day we wake up to another inch or so. It is so wonderful and pretty. If only it weren’t so very cold, we could go out and enjoy the lovely snow.

Thinking…lots of things, mainly trekking back down to Columbus tonight…and wondering if I can get to Holy Family for Mass.

Thankful for…a roof over my head, a wonderful husband who loves me even when I am a shrew. Also for little 4 year old boys who talk with their hands.

From the kitchen…leftovers tonight! Turing the leftover pot roast in to Italian Beef Sandwiches, yum. Think about lunch right now and thinking that the kids will have cheese, pickles, crackers and carrots, their favorite.

Faith and learning… planning on starting back with the kids and schooling next week. We were given lots of books for Christmas/Epiphany, so it will be fun to make up more lesson plans.

Creating…I put my sewing machine away right before Christmas and plan on leaving it there for a while!

Wearing…Paris pajama pants, Mystery Spot long sleeve tee shirt.

Reading…The Faith Explained, still. 

Praying…for Mary, that she have her baby before Friday! (Please join me in this intention, if the baby comes before Friday, she is free to have him/her naturally, if the baby doesn’t come on his/her own, she is scheduled for a C-section).

Hearing…Monster’s Inc. and C making lots of fun noises.

Around the house…need to clean up for a gathering this weekend. The main floor seems to be pretty clean, just need to scrub bathrooms and floors.

One of my favorite things…when C sees food and claps her hands for some.