Bless me.

Many thanks to my friend Mary at The Eleventh for resurrecting memories of my first Confession. It was 25 years ago, but funnily enough, I think I'm still committing the same sins: Not listening to my mother, not helping to clean the house, and hiding in the bathroom for just FIVE MINUTES OF PEACE to read my book!

Anyway, St. Isaac Jogues had two priests then -- one Italian and one Irish. (Just like my parents!) Both made the 9-year-olds squirm that night, but I purposefully lined up for Fr. O'Malley, figuring he would have a more understanding view of sin. (And what does this say about my own family??) Anyway, he listened to my carefully selected mid-sized list of mid-sized sins and then said, "And have you attended Mass every Sunday?" And I think he must have known I did NOT -- he probably thought, "Who the hell is this girl?? I've never seen her before!" So I thought, "Oh dear..." but I didn't want to actually LIE to a priest with a direct line to God, so I said, "Well, you know, my father doesn't get home from his bar until very, very late on Saturdays and he's much too tired to go to church on Sundays... And, um, it's an Irish bar..."

This actually was the truth. But I got a way-too-big penance anyway and I complained to my mother, and she hissed at me, "I told you to tell him we go to St. Rose's!"

And my grandmother, who had been ex-communicated for divorcing a pea-brain man who hit her, said, "That priest is just a MAN." And the way she said it, you knew that was pretty much like being a worm.

Nan also said, "There are church rules and there are GOD rules." And the way she said it, you knew that mandatory weekly attendance was definitely one of the former, as was the notion that you'd have to shamefully report your weekly absences to a humorless Irish worm.

And, "In my next life, I'm going to be a Buddhist."

In other news, the girls had their check-ups at the developmental specialists. They're doing well. Margaret is amazing, actually. She's not so far behind the real 6-month-olds. She gets up on her hands and knees, and can sit with some support. Josephine still has some strange flexion in her hips, which could be -- at worst -- something like a mild case of cerebral palsy. More likely, it's just a remnant of prematurity, which hopefully will go away soon.

The developmental specialist also got a taste of Margaret's temper when she gave her a very cool toy...and then took it away! Oh, the temper! Margaret was not happy. The specialist had hoped to see Margaret reach for it. But she had to give it back. There is no resisting the beast. Later, when her penance had been served and Margaret was feeling more beneficent, she did lots of reaching. Interestingly, although Josephine doesn't make as much noise as Margaret, she actually has a more "mature" sense of communcation. She listens! And then responds!

Soon I'm going to learn how to do that too.

What else? I got a speeding ticket today on the way home from the zoo. It's this new fancy minivan! I was such a good driver in the Volvo. I don't think I've had a ticket since 2001 -- it was such a very calming car. (Plus, it started to shake if you went too fast!) Funnily, the Opie told me she thought the officer was going to ask her for her papers! Good grief. Yes, that's right, for 42 in a 30, they take you to Gitmo.