• Skip to main content
  • Skip to secondary menu
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer
Catholic Review

Catholic Review

Inspiring the Archdiocese of Baltimore

Menu
  • Home
  • News
        • Local News
        • World News
        • Vatican News
        • Obituaries
        • Featured Video
        • En Español
        • Sports News
        • Official Clergy Assignments
        • Schools News
  • Commentary
        • Contributors
          • Question Corner
          • George Weigel
          • Effie Caldarola
          • John Garvey
          • Father Ed Dougherty, M.M.
          • Guest Commentary
        • CR Columnists
          • Archbishop William E. Lori
          • Rita Buettner
          • Christopher Gunty
          • George Matysek Jr.
          • Father Joseph Breighner
          • Father Collin Poston
          • Robyn Barberry
          • Hanael Bianchi
          • Amen Columns
  • Entertainment
        • Events
        • Movie & Television Reviews
        • Arts & Culture
        • Books
        • Recipes
  • About Us
        • Contact Us
        • Our History
        • Meet Our Staff
        • Photos to own
        • Books/CDs/Prayer Cards
        • CR Media platforms
        • Electronic Edition
  • Advertising
  • Shop
        • Purchase Photos
        • Books/CDs/Prayer Cards
  • CR Radio
  • News Tips
  • Subscribe

Abundance in the New Year, Rubik’s cubes, random selfies, and more (7 Quick Takes)

January 15, 2023
By Rita Buettner
Catholic Review
Filed Under: Blog, Commentary, Open Window, Uncategorized

~1~

Whenever I have avocado toast for breakfast, I remember the year that my New Year’s resolution was eating avocado toast more often. I didn’t make any resolutions this year, trusting instead in slow growth and small steps.

This weekend, though, I saw that Laura Fanucci shared a link to a poem by Amy Schmidt called “Abundance.” It’s absolutely beautiful. I’ve been carrying it with me since I read it.

Maybe, just maybe, instead of approaching life and thinking there is never enough time, or I’m failing in many ways, I can think instead of the abundance of what I have been given, all that I can bring to the day, all that I have achieved, and all the opportunity that lies ahead.

Abundance. Now there’s a word for the year.

~2~

It’s still Christmas over here, and I’m holding onto it for as long as I can. I’m so happy that our tree and some of our other decorations are still up. I am also never in a hurry to put away the Christmas flyswatter wreath on our front door that my friend Cherie made for me.

Cherie and I met our children on the same day in China in 2009, and we became forever friends. She created this beautiful wreath and sent it to me years ago, and it makes me smile every time I look at it.

I recognize that Christmas will have to end at some point, but I’m really only interested in that happening so we can celebrate Chinese New Year.

~3~

I haven’t purchased lots of Year of the Rabbit items, but I did get some red envelopes. Traditionally, you fill them with money to give to children—and we will do that for our sons. But I will also slip some Year of the Rabbit fortune scratch-off cards into some of the envelopes and share them with people as the opportunity arises.

We used to have a big Chinese New Year bash every year, but Covid took that away for the past few years. Maybe we can bring that back next year in the Year of the Dragon, which just happens to be my year.

~4~

Earlier this week, out of nowhere, I suddenly thought of the father of a friend, whose funeral I attended a while ago. I had a vague sense that he had passed away in the winter, but I would never have been able to tell you a month. I Googled him, and when his obituary popped up, I saw that he had died that very day three years earlier.

It felt like a nudge from the Holy Spirit. Being able to text my friend on her dad’s anniversary to tell her she was in my thoughts was so special. I love how God connects with us throughout the day, sometimes gently tapping on our shoulders to get our attention.

~5~

Who’s reading Spare? I’m listening to Harry read the audiobook in his very British voice. Should I be spending my time on this? Perhaps not. Am I? Yes, yes, I am.

~6~

One of my favorite things about being a parent—and it’s a long list—is watching my sons’ interests develop and change over time. I love seeing them discover what they like and really pour themselves into new adventures.

They lose me completely with the Rubik’s cubes, but I enjoy watching the rows of squares fly around one another as they solve the cube. I have absolutely no idea how they do it, and I don’t really want to watch all the YouTube videos to figure it out. But I admire the skill.

~7~

Sometimes when I look through my phone, I can’t believe some of the random selfies I’ve taken—like this one of me with some stuffed animals.

But I remember why I took it. I was shopping and saw a large stuffed unicorn. My gift to my sister Treasa was sending her a selfie of me with it so she could appreciate the unicorn’s size—and appreciate even more that I wasn’t buying it for the unicorn enthusiast in her family.

Maybe other people have the same approach to shopping and selfie-taking. I like to think I’m not unusual here. Or maybe I am a unicorn, after all.

Copyright © 2023 Catholic Review Media

Print Print

Primary Sidebar

Rita Buettner

Rita Buettner is a wife, working mother and author of the Catholic Review's Open Window blog. She and her husband adopted their two sons from China, and Rita often writes about topics concerning adoption, family and faith.

Rita also writes The Domestic Church, a featured column in the Catholic Review. Her writing has been honored by the Catholic Press Association, the Maryland-Delaware-D.C. Press Association and the Associated Church Press.

View all posts from this author

| Recent Commentary |

Question Corner: Jesus became man so I could become God?

The mental health crisis crosses all boundaries and ages

Hold the tuna casserole; pass the crab cake this Lent

Question Corner: Do we relax our Lenten fasts on Sunday?

Pope Francis: 10 titles for 10 years

| Recent Local News |

Sister Joan Cooper, O.S.F., dies at 94

Pathfinders: Five Archdiocese of Baltimore women who made history

Sister Elizabeth Ellen Kane, O.S.F., dies at 81

RADIO INTERVIEW: Dining with the Saints

Archdiocese dispenses with meatless obligation for St. Patrick’s Day

| Catholic Review Radio |

CatholicReview · Catholic Review Radio

Footer

Our Vision

Real Life. Real Faith. 

Catholic Review Media communicates the Gospel and its impact on people’s lives in the Archdiocese of Baltimore and beyond.

Our Mission

Catholic Review Media provides intergenerational communications that inform, teach, inspire and engage Catholics and all of good will in the mission of Christ through diverse forms of media.

Contact

Catholic Review
320 Cathedral Street
Baltimore, MD 21201
443-524-3150
mail@CatholicReview.org

 

Social Media

  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Twitter
  • YouTube

Recent

  • Federal judge’s pending ruling could block abortion drug from nationwide sale
  • Papa Francisco: Sin la fuerza del Espíritu Santo, la evangelización es publicidad vacía
  • New Orleans Auxiliary Bishop Cheri dies at 71; archbishop thanks God ‘for his life, ministry’
  • Confession, indulgences express and strengthen communion, speakers say
  • Pro-life groups seek commitments on federal abortion limits from 2024 GOP contenders
  • Pope: Without power of Holy Spirit, evangelization is empty advertising
  • West Virginia parishes, people help Ukrainians find safe haven in Mountain State
  • Rosary project supplies ‘long-range, heart-changing weapons’ to Ukraine
  • Bishop calls ‘reproductive justice’ lecture series with abortion doula ‘scandal,’ ‘unworthy’ of Notre Dame university

Search

Membership

Catholic Press Association of the United States and Canada

Maryland-Delaware-DC Press Association

The Associated Church Press

© 2023 CATHOLIC REVIEW MEDIA, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED