Six Nations

Six Nations rugby is a big deal over here. I discovered this first-hand on Saturday, when we went to see Scotland play Italy at Murrayfields in Edinburgh (the six teams that play in this league are Scotland, Italy, Ireland, England, France and Wales). The match was at 2:30, but we decided to go into Edinburgh early and make a day of it. Edinburgh’s main tourist area is the Royal Mile, a mile long street that links Edinburgh Castle and Holyrood Palace. It’s a beautiful wide street, buzzing with activity. Italians were out in droves on Saturday, all decked out in their national colours. Brendan inserted himself into a photo with some of them. As I took their picture, they erupted into song, clearly enjoying the spectacle they created with their hats and flags!

Edinburgh Castle

Brendan and the Italians!

After a quick walk in and around the castle (we’re hoping to get back with Brendan’s parents when they come), we met up with Diego and Chris for lunch, and then headed to Murrayfields. I had not been to a live sporting event for a long time – it was fun to be in a stadium again and to feel the energy of the crowd. I also enjoyed watching the match. Rugby is an exciting game, fast-paced and engaging to watch. Of course, having Brendan there to explain things to me definitely enriched the experience! He used to play and is itching to get back at it, especially after Saturday. Scotland took the match 21-8 – we were very proud of our adopted country!

Singing the National Anthems before the match

 We returned home that evening quite worn out but pleased with our day. On Friday we had invited a couple friends over to celebrate St. Patrick’s Day with stew and Guinness, and on Sunday we went to Mass, had lunch with the Catholic Society, I worked in the afternoon, and then we went to a marriage workshop at St. Mary’s in the evening. Another busy weekend for the Marshall’s!

Reaching for the Guinness on St. Patty's Day!

Our evening out on Sunday was definitely the highlight of the day for me. Christy came over to watch Liam while B and I attended the first of evening a “Growing Married” program that Catriona and Fr. Kenneth are piloting this year at St. Mary’s. The program follows a book called Spiritual Blueprint: How we Live, Work, Love, Play, and Pray. The sessions will be held once a month for the next three months to discuss material from the book. After each session, couples are encouraged to go out for dinner to have a bit of time alone together. B and I are both battling colds and thought we would be too tired to go out for dinner, but the session energized us and we changed our minds! After making sure that Christy could stay the extra time with Liam, we headed to a nearby restaurant to enjoy a quiet meal together. Catriona had given us discussion questions as a follow-up to the session, so we talked about them and about life in general. I treasure moments like that with my husband. I really could not imagine having a better mate.

Stay tuned for news of our next big adventure: a trip to Ireland and Malta! (We’re leaving soon – can’t wait!)

Since Last Time

An update on our recent activities:

The Friday before last, I participated, on Catriona’s invitation, in the World Day of Prayer. Catriona had been asked to bring a couple students who could read during the service. So she, Colleen (a student) and I dutifully participated, representing Catholics and youth (we were by far the youngest participants!) The event was held at St. Ninian’s Free United Church, about a half hour walk from our house. I had never been to the church, and inevitably got lost on the way there. I had the good fortune, however, of stopping a lady on the street who was actually headed to the same event! When I asked her for directions, she said I could just follow her to the door. The service went well and Liam behaved perfectly (if only he would stay so quiet at Mass on Sundays – we are told every week that he should join the choir!). He was doted over afterwards by many an admiring lady, and lapped up the attention with characteristic charm.

Once all the admirers had cleared out, Catriona, Colleen, Liam and I pilled into the car and went to lunch, stopping to pick up Christy on the way. We had a lovely time at The River House, a new discovery for me – I hope to return with Brendan one of these days.

The next evening we went to a birthday party for Paola, German’s girlfriend (German is in Brendan’s program and was his roommate before I came to Stirling). They made traditional Columbian food: arrepas and chicharrones and other things of which I now forget the names – all delicious! We also made some new friends – a Venezuelan couple living in Glasgow. The three South American women at the party terrorized me by telling stories of all the crazy things that bad guys on motorcycles do in their countries. My desire to see that part of the world wavered slightly, but they did assure me that if we ever wanted to visit, they would be more than happy to look after us. German also offered a word of comfort, saying that he has lived in Columbia his whole life and never once been killed! Paola then showed me all kinds of photos of a beautiful national park in Columbia she and Germane had recently visited. We may make it there yet…

Sunday, March 6^th was Liam’s half birthday. I really can’t believe our little guy is already half a year old! It sounds cliché to say that (people are always not-believing-how-quickly-time-flies) but it’s true: I just can’t believe it! My newborn can play with toys and eat vegetables and sit on his own… how is this possible?! A few days after Liam was born, Patrick (my 6-year-old brother) asked Brendan if Liam could “go on his bum” (i.e. sit). Brendan said no. “Well, does he play?” No. “Does he talk?” No. “Then… what does he do?” “He does lots of things!” replied Brendan. “He can sleep or not sleep; he can poop or not poop; he can cry or not cry. And he can do combinations too. He can sleep and not cry, or he can not sleep and cry, or he can not sleep and not cry.” Patrick seemed only mildly impressed. But things have changed, Uncle P! Now Liam has nailed playing and going on his bum. Not quite at the talking stage yet, but that will come (although he does try – I think he’ll take after his dad in that department)!

My dad's reaction to this photo: "Look at those skinny legs!"

Liam on his bum!

We attended Mass on Ash Wednesday at the university chaplaincy, as we do every Wednesday (the Catholic Society meets there weekly for Mass and lunch).

The next day, we went with a few members of the Catholic Society to Durham, a small city in Northern England. Peter Cardinal Turkson (President of the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace) was giving a talk there on the social doctrine of the Church, and Fr. Kenneth had gotten tickets for a group of 10 to attend. The drive to Durham and back was long, but I think we all enjoyed the day. Durham is a lovely city, similar to Stirling. It boasts a beautiful cathedral, a castle, and a university. It also has quite a nice downtown area, which we enjoyed walking through before dinner. The talk was at 7:30pm, so we didn’t make it home until very late.

Friday was a quiet day. In the evening we shared dinner with our friends Johanna & Alex, and their little girl, Zoia.

On Saturday we had an Italian night at the presbytery. On Brendan’s request, Fr. Kenneth taught us how to make supplì and a couple other Italian dishes. Brendan was pumped about the supplì. He had eaten loads of it when he lived in Rome but had not tasted it since. “I’ve been trying to learn how to make supplì for eight years!” he said with classic Brendan enthusiasm – as though his chief concern for the past eight years has been to learn to make deep fried risotto balls stuffed with mozzarella! The quest is over: Brendan now knows how to make supplì. After gorging ourselves with these little handfuls of deliciousness, we enjoyed pasta and wine and a good old fashioned dance party (Fr. Kenneth kicking off the latter part of the evening with We Will Rock You – of course).

Carlos polishing off the Penne alla Vodka

Brendan insisted I put this picture in the blog:
The First Miracle, Cana Wedding Wine
(with a cheesy picture of Jesus on it - apparently it actually came from Cana!)

Yesterday was quite ordinary (except that I went to bed at 7:30pm, which I consider an extraordinary accomplishment!). And that brings us to today. Which is also quite ordinary. Update complete!

Spring

Spring has come to Stirling. It made its first appearance a couple weeks ago, but I was incredulous. This can’t really be Spring, I thought. Must just be a few nice days.  But day after day of blue skies, warm air, and birds chirping their little hearts out is not a coincidence. It’s Spring. Of course, this being Scotland, we’ve also had rain, but I don’t feel I have the right to complain about a bit of rain when my loved ones are still buried under 10 feet of snow!

Liam is feeling better now and we are both enjoying our daily walks in this new and most welcome season. Yesterday in particular. He was complaining about anything and everything yesterday – filling my ears with his infant ennui. On the brink of insanity, I packed him into his pram and headed out for a stroll and a latte. Much better to be outside than in on a day like that. As I walked, I remembered a conversation Brendan and I had a few days earlier. We dipped in and out of various topics, as we often do, but one theme stood out to me: gratitude. At one point, Brendan said in a celebratory tone, “You’re living the life you want to live!” And it’s true – I am. I thought of that as I pushed a stroller through the streets of Stirling yesterday. A stroller holding a nearly six-month-old. My nearly six-month-old. Admittedly, his whining drives me nuts sometimes. And I’m exhausted. But I’m a mom! This is what I always wanted to be! I am a wife and a mother, I’m working at a new job I enjoy, I have a loving family, good friends and fun hobbies. And I’m happy.

I know life will not always be this easy. There are times when peace can only be scraped from the very depths of sorrow and gratitude feels thin and strained. These times will inevitably come. But for now peace is abundant and gratitude flows fast. My foolish little ego sometimes feels guilty for being so happy, as though I should have done more to deserve this blessing. I’m sure St. Therese would just nestle into the Father’s lap and relish his sweet attentions, knowing she could not have earned them had she been the most perfect soul alive. So I’ll try to follow her example by joyfully accepting the gifts I have not earned but which enrich my life inestimably. And the next time Liam catches the whine bug, I won’t hesitate to pack him up and head out – it did wonders yesterday!