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To the left is one of our attempted Christmas picture photo shoots. The final version ended up being a combination of these that were all photoshopped together, but I wasn’t able to find the final version.

But this series of shots pretty much sums up a typical photo shoot with our boys!

Thanks to Father Frank Pravone from Priests For Life for stopping by the program today. Be sure to check out his new website at PoliticalResponsibility.com.

Thanks also to Harald Stuckle from Beck’s Brewery in Germany for being on today’s The Catholics Next Door.

Harald successfully made me very, very thirsty for some Beck’s!

And below is the family photo that was in our parish directory, complete with Hawaiian shirts. We trimmed this particular photo so unfortunately you don’t see the full effect of the ugly black square the photographer made Tommy sit on, but it was fully in view in the final directory.

Got a great family photo story? Share it!

Last night we watched Run Fatboy Run (Rated PG-13 for some rude and sexual humor, nudity, language, and smoking) and have to admit to laughing quite hard several times during the movie.

Watching it, of course, got us thinking about my first (and so far only) marathon that I ran last Thanksgiving. I’m sad that I didn’t get to keep up with training to run the race again next month, but I think after watching the movie last night that I do want to start training again.

There were definitely some problematic elements with the movie, but overall we enjoyed it. It had been a long time since a movie made me laugh so hard I had to wipe my eyes, but this happened one time while watching. Maybe it was just because I could relate to being out of shape and still training for a marathon.

If you haven’t seen it, check out the video below that our friend Father Roderick filmed while I was running the race last year.

I have this crazy idea (and I’ve had it for almost 11 years now) that I can actually sit on the couch in the living room and attempt to get some work done while the kids play around me.

I usually end up with kids crawling all over me and toys on the top of my head.

Case in point, the photo to the left.

Well, thanks to Dr. Meg Meeker, one of our guests today, I think I’m actually starting to look forward to having a baby girl, and not just another baby.  Dr. Meeker has written a ton on the subject of raising kids, including Strong Fathers, Strong Daughters, as well as the new book, Boys Should Be Boys.  Super books, both!

We also spoke with Phil Lenahan, author of 7 Steps to Become Financially Free: A Catholic Guide to Managing Your Money.  Be sure to check out Veritas Financial Ministry for more information about getting out of debt and using your money wisely according to Scripture and Catholic teachings.

And thanks to the caller (Bob? Rob? Don?  I’m terrible about remembering names) who suggested I check out Hale’s Pale Ale.  I’m going to track it down!

Amazing topics on today’s show. For those of you keeping track, Universalis is the place I recommended for Liturgy of the Hours online. Someone else called in and recommended eBreviery (sorry, I can’t remember who it was!)

Thanks to Paul Snatchko from Magnificat Magazine for stopping by the program, as well. You can request a free sample copy of Magnificat from the link above, or by calling 866-273-5215.

While discussing potential Bible Studies, Deacon Bob from New Jersey called in and recommended the Ignatius Study Bible, which, to my surprise, I discovered we already own several copies of this. Guess I should open them up again! Oops! I thought these were more like the Navarre Bible series, but apparently there’s an actual study section to them, too. Go figure! Thanks, Deacon Bob, for the heads up!

Thanks also to Fr. Bill Kessler from the Technopriest Podcast for his regular Monday morning visit to explain Sunday’s Gospel to us!

OK, so onto the pictures for today, including the gross one we promised. We’ll save that one for last.

For starters, the above is today’s studio shot taken during the show. It’s a prayer card of Pope John Paul II. It actually belongs to our friend Paul Camarata (from the SaintCast Podcast). We had a close call with Jennifer’s pregnancy a few months ago, and Paul gave this card to Jennifer. It’s actually a relic (third class, I believe) of Pope John Paul II, taken from one of his garments.

Anyway, Jennifer put it on our desk the other day, and it’s nice have JP2 staring at us during the show.

Paul – um – I guess we should probably send this back to you, eh?

Oh, and that’s not the gross picture we mentioned.

Below, for our producer Adam, is a photo of a Cheesy Biscuit with Butter from a local BBQ restaurant. During a break, Jennifer and I were talking about how hungry we were. When Adam was here during our first week of shows, we took him to this restaurant. He remembered the Cheesy Biscuits and today he reminded us of them. So we went and got some. And then we sent him this picture to taunt him.

This isn’t the gross picture, either.

OK, this, too, isn’t the gross picture. But we’re getting closer. This is our dog Jody. Oftentimes during a broadcast, she comes into the room looking very needy. This means if we don’t pet her, she’ll start making noises. While we’re on the air. That wouldn’t be good. So we pet her. A lot.

Lately, Jody has had nasty dry skin. When we scratch her back to keep her quiet, she sheds. A lot.

Now THIS is the gross picture, at least to me. During every show, I put my laptop on the ground behind me. So it’s there on the carpet, out of harm’s way.

So during today’s show, I’m petting Jody for about five minutes to keep her quiet until we go to break when I can take her downstairs and distract her somehow.

After just a few minutes of petting her, my laptop was covered with shedded dog hair, and flakes of nasty dry dead dog skin.

You can’t see it very well in this smaller picture, but click on it and see it bigger. I dare you.

To some, this is probably no big deal. But this is probably the hardest part of having a dog to me. Hair, hair, everywhere. The sheer amount of shedding is just utterly disgusting, especially with the added doggie dandruff.

Just pulled up to a gas station that had no gas yesterday. Two lines have formed that are approximately 10 cars deep, so I have about 20 cars ahead of me.

Now, a few minutes later, it’s a parking lot.

Jennifer filled the van this morning and had to wait about 25 minutes. I’ve got a lot of trucks and SUVs ahead of me.

I can see why, in a commuting town like Atlanta, that people would get a little panicked.

We’ll be talking about THIS on tomorrow’s show!

A video! Click to see it!

A show wouldn’t be the same unless Greg got in his morning stroll with a cup of coffee in hand just minutes before we go on the air. Friday looks to be a promising day weather wise for us Southerners. Here’s Greg, at about 8 minutes before we go on the air, finishing up his daily jaunt up and down our street:

When we break at the top of every hour, Greg usually scrambles to the kitchen to heat more water for another cup of tea. Our studio desk often has the look of sudden desertion.

To make sure our timer in in sync with the studio in New York, we’ve started using an atomic clock widget on our Macs:

And during one break, Greg was rather naively hopeful that he would quickly find a component tower in the latest IKEA catalog.

Have a great weekend, everybody! Major thanks to Father Leo Patalinghug from Grace Before Meals for joining us on today’s program!

Well, what do you know! Our friend Moose was right!

And, as evidenced by the picture to the left, our dog really likes him, too.

On Sunday night we started our project of running some wires through the wall in order to hang a television above our fireplace.

The problem is that there weren’t any electrical outlets on that wall, and there were thick supporting beams around a window and door that would make it difficult to run wires from the television to the component units like the satellite or DVD player.

Our good friend Moose, he from Kaiteur Coffeehouse, came to our rescue.

What a saint, this guy. After working 12+ hour days every day, he still come over to our house about 3 or 4 times this week to pretty much do most of the work on this project.

I’ve learned quite a bit, myself, and after Moose spread the first coat of compound on the walls, the rest is up to me.

Moose did something this week that I, in my selfishness, don’t think I could ever do. He graciously and willingly gave up so much free time just to help a friend run some stupid wires through a wall. He never lost his patience, and he never complained.

I could learn a lot from Moose. I certainly did this week.

You rock, dude!

Below is the wall, coming back together. Like a puzzle, we re-inserted all of the drywall that had been cut out.

And here’s the wall in its current state. The gaps have been taped and compound smeared on quite liberally. I put another coat on this morning, and will do another later in the day. It’s actually looking like a living room again!

Another great guest joined us on today’s “The Catholics Next Door” – Tim Drake, head writer for National Catholic Register and author of a new book about the stories and behind the scenes of the movie, Bella. The book is released today, and you can pick up a book and DVD combo here. Thanks for joining us, Tim! We hope to have you on again soon.

And, as always, below are some behind the scenes photos and other things we talked about:

Below, during one of our breaks, Jennifer removed her headphones in order to remove a hair clip. The resulting effect was something that looked quite a bit like a haircut straight from a 1980’s John Hughes movie.

I never thought of my wife as a fluff chick before.

This photo shows her in a whole new light:)

Random photo of the day: Jennifer’s coffee mug with her name on it, in the same style as the font used for our That Catholic Show video series.

Here’s all the stuff we left out in our driveway to donate to charity. The truck actually showed up during recording the show and they quietly took it all away. And our dog Jody didn’t bark a single time.

And lastly, here’s a photo of the picture Sam drew at school when asked to draw a picture of himself in the future. We always wonder what his public school teachers think whenever he tells them he wants to be a priest.

As always, our friend Moose rocks. He was here until almost midnight last night as we continued the living room renovation.

Gone now is the entertainment center and old television. Moose has successfully installed a new electrical jack above the fireplace, and he assures me the hard part is complete. Possibly tonight we start the drywall repair.

Our bedroom and the living room look like bombs went off.

Below is a picture of Moose, cutting another swatch of drywall out of our living room. He assures us in the end it’s going to look awesome.

I trust the man with my coffee. Why wouldn’t I trust him when it comes to drywall?

Lots of fun on today’s show! Thanks for hanging out with us. Here are some photos taken during (or right before or after) the program.

Here’s Greg stapling shownotes. Minutes before going on the air!

Pregnant Jennifer, knowing we’ll be talking with wine expert Lettie Teague, and knowing she can’t have any wine for another five months.

Lettie Teague’s “Educating Peter: How Anybody Can Become An (Almost) Instant Wine Expert.” Super fun book! And Jennifer just gets water.

Greg shows his DECADES (pronounced DECK-AIDS) of his current all-twine knotted Rosary. Get a free one of your own from Rosary Army. Jennifer is actually doing her job in the background.