Overheard (Out of the Blue)

Isaiah, 4, says to Daddy as he is leaving for work this morning, "Bye, Daddy, I love you.  Don't break both of your legs, okay?"

Overseen

(As opposed to overheard)

Printed on every service van of a local plumbing company: We Make House Calls!

... as opposed to what?  I bring my plumbing to you?  Really?  That's all you could come up with?

Spilled Milk

She looked a lot cuter before she took the bowl, looked straight at me, and poured it on the floor.  Maria, you little urchin!

Challenge 6: Chores

Part 1

Chores aren't fun.  Let's face it.  Who among us visualized--during the somewhat carefree years of college--that we would make a living sweeping the floor three times a day, changing seventeen dirty diapers on two or three different children, folding two loads of laundry, singing Itsy Bitsy Spider twenty times, and Shouting out blueberry-pomegranate stains on a Onesie?  Not me!

But here we are.  We're wives and mothers.  We stay at home with our children and we love it.  Still, there is always a long to-do list of chores that nags at us, mocks us when we are tired, and taunts us when we would rather be cuddling our babies.  Ever heard the saying, "So quiet down, cobwebs, dust go to sleep.  For I'm rocking my baby and babies don't keep."  It's beautiful, but accurate and even kind of funny.  When I'm feeling particularly frazzled, I'm actually thinking Shut up, dishes!  Go shove it, dust!  What is that awful stink coming from the kitchen!?  Chores, go away and leave me alone, for the love of all things holy!

I'm thinking that and I "say" it out loud here because I think that most hardships, most difficulties should be laughed off.  Why stress out over things I cannot control?  What can a girl do?

How do we get past the dread of chores and work them out of the way?  What have I found to be helpful?

1.  Unloading the dishwasher doesn't really take that long.  When the toddler who loves to climb into the dishwasher and play with the knives and throw the dirty dishes on the floor is distracted, I set a timer for ten minutes.  Ten minutes is such a very small part of the day.  I see if I can beat the timer.  I always do.  I've found that, uninterrupted, unloading the dishwasher takes seven minutes or less.  Whoop-de-do, right?  Then it's done, and all the dirty dishes that are screaming insults to me from their place on the counter and in the sink can be loaded into the dishwasher and out of sight.  I feel so much better when it's done, especially when it's done by 9 a.m.

2.  I have to exercise a large amount of self-control in order to do the little things that need doing.  I always have a bigger project to work on, perhaps sewing or painting.  I want to skip the boring chores and do the fun project.  So I force myself to get to a certain point in house cleanliness and tidiness so that if DCF came to my home they wouldn't take my children away from me before I move on to the project.  I'm surprised how quickly I can get my house up to subpar good standards when I've got something fun to do afterward.

That's all for now, but I've got more in mind.  Have anything to add?  Which chore do you dread the most?

She Can Read & Write

I love getting notes from my kids! I LOVE it! Can't get enough!  I especially love phonetic spelling!

First Day of School!

These are my three full-timers.  Isaiah will attend pre-school this year.

My brother-in-law snapped this picture of Madeleine greeting and hugging Father this morning.

My brother-in-law (also Noah's godfather) snapped this picture of Noah waiting for his teacher on the first day of school.

Overheard

At the lunch table, I was explaining to my sister Sophie how we put Isaiah, 4 years old, on the phone when a telemarketer calls.  One conversation began with Isaiah saying the following, "Hello, this is Isaiah ... what are parents?  ... I went to swimming lessons this week!  ... Yeah, my mommy is here.  ... But I'm talking now...."

Then the kids laughed and I said that he knows now what parents are.  I asked Isaiah outloud, "Who are your parents?"  Isaiah replied, "You and daddy ... and my fake parents are Carrie and Joel." 

Punchline?  Carrie and Joel are his godparents. 

Enjoy the laughs!

Overheard (Overread, really)

I take the children to a local pool for swimming lessons in the morning.  Every so often, there is a minivan parked there with the bumper sticker to rule all bumper stickers.

SUBDUCTION LEADS TO OROGENY

Get it?  You probably don't.  The first time I saw it, it made me laugh until I cried.  Who would put that on their car!?  A geologist, of course! 

Let me explain: Geologically speaking, subduction is what happens when one of earth's tectonic plates moves under another (SUB).  When this happens, the possibilities are endless: earthquakes, mountain building, volcanoes, etc.  So that explains subduction.  What is orogeny?  Get your mind out of the gutter.  Orogeny is the geological term for a mountain building event.  Now do you get it?  Subduction leads to orogeny ... the movement of one earth's tectonic plate beneath another builds mountains.  If you still don't quite get it or my explanation leaves much to be desired, read THIS article at Wikipedia.  It explains it well, with illustrations.

P.S. For those of you in love with America's Rocky Mountains, it was the Laramide Orogeny which formed them in the late Cretaceous.  Read about that HERE.

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The Simple Woman's Daybook

FOR TODAY, July 31, 2011

Outside my window ... it is HOT and MUGGY.  A missionary priest from Ireland said Mass this evening.  He said that he had been to Africa to work and had lived many places but didn't know Hell until he spent a summer in the midwest.  No kidding!  I can handle heat; it's the humidity that kills me.  I walked outside this morning and thought maybe I needed my swimsuit and goggles just to be outdoors ... at 8 a.m.  At 11:08 p.m. (now) it is 86 degrees.  People who live here break a sweat as soon as we walk out the door.  Sometimes I'm not sure what I dislike more: three-foot piles of snow with ice and below freezing temperatures, or 86 degrees (feels like 91ish) with 86% humidity.  I'm not making that up!  The numbers really do match.  Fact of the day: 100% humidity is fog, not rain, as often thought.  (P.S. As I finish this post an hour later, it is now 80 degrees and 89% humidity.)

I am thinking ... about the school year beginning.  We send our children to our parish school.  They begin in three weeks.  *sigh*  I'm not ready.  I'm not ready to send my kids away for seven hours a day five days a week.  I'm not ready for the crucible of homework.  You'd think that elementary school homework would be a breeze, right?  No.  Morgan does her homework on her own, but Madeleine needs a lot of help staying focused and a lot of help to understand the material.  What should take 20 minutes actually takes a couple of hours.  I anticipate that Noah's homework will be much the same as he adjusts to first grade (I think he'll need a lot of help).  I had so many plans for the summer, things we didn't get accomplished.  I imagined whole days at the lake, mornings at the park, hikes, picnics, zoo trips, bike rides, and I don't know where all the time went!  On the other hand, I do love the structure of our school-year schedule. 
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Dr. Gianna Emanuela Molla  (Photographer unknown)

I am thankful ... for the opportunity I was given to see Dr. Gianna Emanuela Molla speak.  She gave her testimony at our diocesan cathedral in a thick Italian accent and a high-pitched voice.  She is the daughter of St. Gianna Beretta Molla, the same daughter for whom Saint Gianna gave her life.  I'll post more on that later, when our diocesan paper publishes an article and summary.  I went with my friends Sarah and Staci and we sat in a side chapel in the front row.  The Cathedral was full of people eager to hear Dr. Molla's testimony.  St. Gianna, pray for us!

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Learning at school and at home ... Swimming lessons will begin again tomorrow!  Our children are a little behind in the swimming department; they didn't have swimming lessons last year, they had chickenpox.  We head to a public pool at 10:30.  Instructors teach Morgan, Madeleine, Noah, and Isaiah, and I sit and gab with my girlfriends and keep Maria from eating dirt and bugs.  It's a good time!

In the kitchen ... BLTs tomorrow!  Our garden's tomato plants have grown as tall as me!  They're producing tomatoes like mad.  The good news is that many of them are cherry and/or grape tomatoes. 

I am wearing ... My USS Abraham Lincoln T-shirt and a skirt.  That's for you, Seth!  ;)

I am creating ... many things at my sewing machine!  My friend Jen posted THIS LINK and I followed its instructions to turn one of my shirts (pictured below) into a dress for Maria (at left).  Then I used another shirt to make another dress.  It's easy, and it's fun (because I love to sew).

I am going ... to love, love, love my kids up in this precious last three weeks that we have together before school begins again. 

I am wondering ... whether the American government will ever figure out that they can only spend what they bring in?  I wonder whether the people who borrow, borrow, borrow, and want to increase our debt actually comprehend the magnitude of what they're doing.  I wonder if they realize that we actually have to give back this money WITH INTEREST.  Aaarrrggghhh!

I am reading ... Weightless, by Kate Wicker and Imitation of Christ, by Thomas a Kempis.

I am hoping ... that my brother Eli does well in Marine boot camp.  He is in a hotel right now with other recruits and will be on his way to California tomorrow for the 12 weeks of general training.  After that, he'll have 10 days of leave, then off to training for Marine Recon.  He qualified for Recon and he wants it so very badly.  Please pray for him!

I am looking forward to ... bedtime, sleeping, tomorrow, and the days to follow.

I am hearing ... sweet silence!

Around the house ... I think that it's a really sad day when I find myself crushing chips or Cheerios with my shoe so I can vacuum them up with my Shark rather than pick them up with my hands.

I am pondering ... always, the many mysteries which define the God-given Catholic Faith.  (No sarcasm.)  I've been reading a lot of Thomas a Kempis and Josemaria Escriva lately and it offers a lot to ponder.

One of my favorite things ... White Chocolate Reese's Peanut Butter Cups.  Also, little babies.  Go "visit" Colleen's new bundle of joy!  Baby arrived on July 26.

A few plans for the rest of the week: Swimming, Bible Study, swimming, Summer With the Saints, Swimming, a get-together Thursday evening, Swimming, and laughter.

Here is picture for thought I am sharing...

This wonderful man delivered all five of our children.  Not only did he deliver my kids, but also my sister's three children, and a niece and a nephew on Jeremy's side of the family.  Want to know where to find Catholic, pro-life, moral health care?  Come to Nebraska.  God has given our community many good health care providers.  This is our family physician--the kids' doctor, Jeremy's and mine, OB care, etc.  We were at his family's home for a pig roast Saturday evening.  What a treat! 

Deep Thought (not by Stuart Smalley)

I'm okay with my current size.  Yes, I'd like to take off another 10-15 pounds or so, but more for my own well-being than my appearance.  It's easy to allow one's self to be dissatisfied with a post-baby body.  It's hard to have a post-baby body.  Few women I know go back to their original size after a baby ... or two ... or three ... or five.  I don't!  My tummy will always be a bit poochy and my girls, well, my "girls" will never be the same after the nursing of five children.  The "maternal stores" will probably not disappear, and the stretch marks will always be there.  I managed somehow, probably by a lucky gene, to escape the scourge of varicose veins.  I do have one long shiny scar on my abdomen that, although it faded from red to pink to white, will not shrink, will never disappear.  That's okay with me. I've got five healthy kids to show for it.  And if I'm leading those five healthy kids through the grocery store, through the zoo, or on a walk, I'd hate for someone to think that I'm their hot college-age nanny.  So I'm okay with my body the way it is.  God used it to make my children and my children are my crown jewels.

7 Quick Takes Friday

1.  Dear Noah, it was soooo hard to watch you fall and hurt yourself last week.  You are six and a half and have just taken the training wheels off your bike.  You were riding downhill, doing well, and hit a lip in the cement that sent you over the handlebars onto the pavement.  I remember watching you go through the air as if in slow motion and watched your bike land on you.  I watched your helmet hit the pavement first and remember thanking God, in that split second, that I had insisted you wear the helmet.  Then your face hit and you were scraped so badly.  There was so much blood; your nose was bleeding from the inside and on the outside, your lip was bleeding, your forehead was scraped.  I picked you up and assessed your situation.  I could find nothing broken, nothing in need of stitches, so I carried you over to the park bench and held your head in my lap while you wailed in pain and humiliation.  I smoothed your hair, remembered how I had first noticed the dark spot of hair when you were two.  I noticed the way your hair lay over your forehead, the way your swelling nose was shaped, and the shape of your blue eyes and thought how very much you look like my six year old self.  You cried and I stroked your thin shoulders, ran my hands gently over your bruised chest to feel your ribs, and pushed gently on your tummy to see if you had any hard spots.  I checked your bleeding elbows, and used a straw to hold water and gently wash away the gravel and blood.  As you calmed down, I was reminded just how much I love you and just how much I hurt when you hurt.  You were a brave boy.  On to less serious things....

 2.  My sister-in-law came to our fourth of July festivities with these firecrackers in hand.  She bought them because they were funny.  Part of the idea makes me laugh--pride in the US and its military--and part makes me want to cry (I HATE war).

3.  This guy and his girlfriend came into the parking lot behind downtown Estes Park as we were setting up Teek for his first pictures.  They got it right away, that Teek was a Flat Stanley of sorts, and asked if he was our traveling gnome.  I said that he was, excited that someone else would recognize what we were doing without an explanation.  He said that we should take a picture of him on their car, and what a funny picture it makes!

4.  I spotted this window in downtown Estes Park.  Someone needs to add a sign that says, "WILL YOU MAKE UP YOUR MIND!?"

5.  It's summer time and therefore time for swimming lessons!  Our lessons are fairly inexpensive (though still costly when you add two sessions and four children) and are held at a local pool mid-morning.  It's nice because several of my girlfriends and I signed up for the same session, so it's a big gab-date daily for two weeks.  The downside is that although lessons take only an hour in the morning, they take up the whole morning.  We can't make other plans for that two weeks.  This is a mixed blessing.

 6.  My maternal grandpa died recently, and his funeral was June 8th.  As with any large family, it is difficult to assemble all the members.  But eight of the nine of us were able to come to Grandpa's funeral, and the one who wasn't had a really good excuse: he's on an aircraft carrier.  It was nice to have (almost) everyone together for a little while.  Because Grandpa lived a long life and because of all the scares with him over the last couple of years, his death wasn't a source of grief for most of us.  Please pray for his soul and for my grandma, who is still here.

7.  I bought THESE cups at Pier1 recently.  When we have a crowd at our home, as we often do, I pull out these glasses.  As my siblings and I were getting lunch (see #6), I pulled one down for my brother Eli and wrote #8 on it, because he's 8th of the 9 of us.  The others followed suit, and I got a laugh out of the glasses all grouped on the counter later.

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Do visit our lovely host Jennifer to read her Quick Takes and those of other bloggers!

Deep Thoughts by Thomas à Kempis

Our bible study is reading Imitation of Christ by Thomas à Kempis.  One night, I was frustrated and stressed out.  I grabbed my book and headed for church ... at midnight.  I let myself in and sat with Christ, reading and meditating.  The chapter I read was Chapter 16 in Book One: On Bearing with the Defects of Others.

I want to state one thing right away.  I hate to think that I actually bear the faults of others because I have so many myself that others must bear.  I want whomever is reading this to understand that I share this chapter with humility, realizing that I have faults--many faults--that others bear patiently, for which I am very grateful and of which I am very aware (and some which I am unfortunately unaware).  But the night that I was sitting in church, I needed to read this chapter.  Christ was truly speaking to me through the words of this monk, this author.  

These are his words: (emphasis added by me)

  There will always be defects in ourselves or others which we cannot correct.  These we must simply tolerate until God in His goodness sees fit to change things.  After all, this may be the best possible way to prove our patience, without which our good qualities are not worth much.
  Nevertheless, you must pray earnestly that God in His mercy will help you to bear these impediments with patience.
  2.  If once or twice you have warned someone and that person does not comply, do not contend further with such a one, but leave all in the hands of God, that His will be done and that He be glorified in all His servants, for He knows well how to turn evil into good.
  Learn how to be patient in enduring the faults of others, remembering that you yourself have many which others have to put up with.  if you cannot make yourself be what you would like, how can you expect another to be as you would like?  We wish to see perfection in others, but do not correct our own faults.
  3.  We want to have others strictly reprimanded for their offenses, but we will not be reprimanded ourselves.  We are inclined to think the other person has too much liberty, but we ourselves will not put up with any restraint.  There must be rules for everyone else, but we must be given free rein.  It is seldom that we consider our neighbor equally with ourselves.
  If everyone was perfect, what would we have to endure for the love of God?
  4.  God wills us to learn to bear one another's burdens.  No one is without faults, no one without a cross, no one self-sufficient and no one wise enough all alone.  Therefore, we must support, comfort, and assist one another, instructing and admonishing one another in all charity.
  Adversity is the best test of virtue.  The occasions of sin do not weaken anyone; on the contrary, they show that person's true worth.

It was not that I needed a reminder that I also have faults.  I know this very well.  I didn't learn anything new from #2 or #3.  I do NOT feel that I should reprimand others at all, that others should be reprimanded, or that I should not.  I'm not under the illusion that I'm perfect or that I'm better than others.  Far from it.  When I read #3, I thought that I would like to be gently reprimanded for my faults.  If someone is willing to point out my mistakes/faults/sins with charity, then I have been given the opportunity to correct them.  I really mean that.

The parts that I put in bold and italic were what I needed to hear.  For many years, I have been bearing the burden of the disorder of another person.  This person cannot help the disorder that they have been given.  They cannot help how it affects me and how deeply it affects my life.  In fact, until recently, this person was more or less unaware of just how completely it affects me (I am not at liberty to be more specific because this person has requested privacy).  The distress was too much this particular night, and it's what landed me at church in prayer.  I was seeking the calm that can only be found by sitting with Jesus.

What God was telling me was that He wasn't allowing me to bear this burden without reason.  He had given me this burden to refine my spirit in His holy fire, to test me, to increase my patience, and to make me stronger.  What a revelation!

I shared what I had learned with the person whose disorder I bear.  I explained in detail how they had borne my own faults and how much I admired them for bearing my faults with humility and patience.  I said that I would do the same.  We talked for a long time.  We were both at peace.

Thank you, Brother à Kempis!

7 Quick Takes Friday

1.  The other night, I thought to myself, "Sometimes I wish we still had cable ... I miss watching Hoarding on AMC and Hoarding: Buried Alive on TLC.  It makes me want to clean, purge, purge, and clean."  After I contemplated this for a moment, I queued it on Netflix.  Seriously.

2.  Last night, I was talking to my friend Jane on the phone, asking her a question about a certain vacuum cleaner that she has and I was considering (When I was a teenager, I NEVER thought phone calls to friends would be made with the purpose of obtaining information about domestic housekeeping).  When I said that I was going to run errands late, she asked if she could come along and I thought, "perfect ... I'm grumpy and could use the company of a girlfriend."  So I picked her up at 9:45 p.m. and we stayed out waaaay too late at Super Target and Wal-Mart.  Household shopping is so much more fun with a girlfriend.  As a teenager, I also never thought I'd stay out til closing time with a girlfriend, buying groceries.

3.  I'm thinking about a post about the devil and his title The Great Accuser because I think this is the most successful way for him to tempt me.  So ... more later.

4.  I wonder sometimes why my life is so simple (see #3) when a short distance from us, people's things and live are being buried under the Missouri River in floods.  How scary.

5.  My kids have been fighting non-stop this summer.  They're driving me nuts.  During the school year, I met with my spiritual director and told him about how the kids start fighting in the van on the way home from school and I didn't know what to do.  He suggested that I pull over and pray with them when the fighting starts.  This is actually a very effective prayer.  But now the fights are so abundant and happen as soon as I leave the room/get in the shower/step outside to the garden/use the restroom that it's driving me crazy.  Yes, I still pray with them, but I'm up for suggestions from other moms.  The fights are not about anything important.  In fact, I think that they are mostly antagonizing one another and failing to control their tempers.  I can't tell anymore who started it and who needs to be punished and who owes who an apology.  Oh, and one just broke out while I was typing this paragraph.  And don't tell me to get off the computer and watch my kids more closely.  I already do that.  Pretty soon I'm going to need a straight jacket and a padded room.  (Wouldn't that be nice?)  Help me out here.

6.  On unopened (new) children's toys, I often see the warning: CHOKE HAZARD!  NOT FOR CHILDREN UNDER THREE YEARS OF AGE!  Here's what I think they should replace it with: WARNING!  You will need superhuman strength and industrial tools to get this package open.

7.  Maria is finally walking.  She's sixteen months old, chubby, and cute.  I call her fatty because she's too little to understand and I think it's funny.  (This is my blog and nobody gets to tell me not to call her fatty.  Yes, I know better.  No, you probably don't understand my sense of humor.)  I love to squeeze her fat little thighs and her tummy and cuddle her and smell her hair and kiss her chubby little cheeks.  But she's WALKING!  Part of me is relieved and part of me is mourning the loss of her babyness.  *sigh*

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Check out Quick Takes at the blog of our lovely host Jennifer.

P.S. Please leave me a comment or two today.  My [five beautiful healthy and wonderful] kids are driving me closer and closer to  the nuthouse.  I could use the distraction.

Summer Fun & Family Reunion

Everyone should have the family that Jeremy has.  His mother is one of 13 plus spouses, there are about 33 first cousins plus their spouses and at least 37 second cousins (the category into which our kids fall).  Since someone is always planning a wedding, having a baby, and fostering/adopting children, these numbers fluctuate.  The point is, there is a huge extended family on Jeremy's mother's side, and we love to be a part of it.  Every year, we gather at the family farm for Easter, Thanksgiving, and Christmas, and we have a summer reunion at a state park.  Whomever can come, comes.  Since we are of Czech descent primarily, there is always lots and lots of food.  Everyone should have a family like this. 

Madeleine

Noah bears the marks of a recent bike accident.  Since he had a helmet on, it took the brunt of the fall and his poor nose took the rest of the impact ... and his forehead and upper lip.

Jeremy & his dad

The Platte River is swollen!

Grandma, Isaiah, and Maria play in the cupboards (in the cabin).

Noah eats a plum.

There is so much food and so many people to provide it.  I laughed when someone walked by, dumped a pint of blueberries into a tray on the table, and kept walking.  The bottom of the tray was just barely visible, but someone is always watching, always cooking, always refilling.  Uncle Steve prepared his amazing ribs, Chrissy made her kolaches, Franny made fried zucchini.  There are always coolers full of soda, water, and beer.  Even when it's not meal time, there is fruit, there are junk-food-snacks, and food, food, food everywhere.  Did I mention that we're Czech?

Maria & Grandma

Grandma & Isaiah

There are swimming pools set up, water guns, bikes, and games, and PEOPLE.

Noah rode this trike up and down the hill, in spite of having fallen off of his own bike just 24 hours earlier.

I love grubby-little-boy pictures.  Love them.  Can't get enough.

There's a reason Isaiah never gets in trouble ... he looks just like his father.

He rode the trike too.

Maria Maria will not walk.  She is a beautiful princess and does not have to.  Grandma and Daddy walked her around all Saturday long and she was happy.  Go, princess, go!

Jeremy's sister Jessica was in from California.

Oh, Maria, WALK ALREADY!

Maggie, Morgan, a Texas cousin whose name I can't remember, and Mikayla

Did I mention that there is a lot of people?  There is always someone to talk to, always someone to watch my child(ren) for a minute, always someone to help a newbie with names, always someone with whom to take a walk, shoot water guns, play baseball, or just talk.  In fact, there's always a dull roar inside and out.  There are always at least 20 children running around screaming and laughing, and everyone loves it.  Everyone there loves children.  I love it.  There are verbal jokes and jokes played on people, there is a lot of laughter, a lot of fun.  You couldn't know by looking what this family has been through: deaths, cancers, and other troubles, yet there is so much joy.

Oi, Maria!

She's my daughter, after all.  Of course she's gonna reach for Grandma's soda.

Isaiah toted a water gun most of the day.

Why does Isaiah rarely get into too much trouble?  Because he's too stinkin' cute.  When I look down, this is what I see.  Who could resist the blue eyes (mine) and the face that looks just like Daddy's?  And the 4 year old lisp.  Love the lisp.

Mychal helped the little boys play baseball.

There is always an aunt or uncle handing out treats, candy, popsicles, sodas, cookies, kolaches, chips, and treats, and snickering as they get away with it.  Even Isaiah's older cousins pulled blueberries out of his ear, a plum, and an apple.  I think he really thought he had an orchard in his head.  Everyone loves children here.  In fact, they were urging us to go for six!  (I hope so, someday!)  There are many, many laps for children to climb on and the adults are happy to provide laptop time.  There are grandmas and grandpas everywhere, and aunts and uncles who just adore the children.  There are bigger cousins who are happy to play with the littler cousins, take them fishing, or just tickle them.

They would swing....

... then run around the tree and head for home plate while Mychal followed them slowly with the ball, as if he was going to tag them.  There was lots of giggling.

Oh, for the love of food!  This picture shows only the kitchen island, not the bread table or the junk-food table!

Oh, for the love of people!

Uncle Steve and Aunt Judy (brother and sister) took the school-age kids down behind the cabin where...

... the children wrote their names on the cabin's foundation in chalk....

... and listened to a story about the people who used to inhabit this land....

... and were made part of the secret society and given special rocks and arrowheads.

Look at Isaiah's face (center, by his cousin Ethan).  It's soooo serious!

This is Maddie's treasure.

Maggie blew bubbles.

Jeremy talked with his mom while Maria reprogrammed the television.