Seven Quick Takes Friday--Volume 83)

One.

This hasn't been a banner week, but then, it hasn't been the worst of all weeks, either.  You may note that I did not participate in the Small Successes hosted by Faith & Family Live this week.  I really couldn't find three things to list.  Pathetic, eh?  

Two.

I've been on an emotional roller-coaster all week because of Max, our dog.  His brother Shiloh had to be buried on Saturday, and Max has been up and down all week.  At first we thought it might be loneliness that caused the decreased appetite, but now he has refused all but a tiny bit of sustenance for days, and he is completely listless.  We are making sure he is drinking plenty of water and praying that he will get over whatever it is he has.  I am hoping for the best, while preparing for the worst.

Three.

Not only did we have to bury a puppy, but our two oldest hens both dropped dead this week as well.  They were 5 or 6 years old.  The Light Brahma hen (the one Gabe is holding in a photo in my header) was affectionately known by me as "Aunt Bea", and was a favorite with the kids because she was slow and easy to catch.  Poor Aunt Bea went places hens were never meant to go--in wagons, on swings, down slides...she led one heck of a life...

Four.

We don't get TV reception, and I have never watched a single episode of Lost, so I don't know why so many people seem to be grieving over the end of it.  I do know that it is quite likely that I wouldn't  have liked the show.  The shows I liked when we had a TV were always the ones that were cancelled after a single season...

Five.

I need a 36-hour day.  I only sleep about 6 or 7 hours, but I just don't have the time I want for the many things I long to do!  I want to sew clothes, knit, draw, do lots and lots of crafts with the kids, read to the boys, go outside and take photographs, and still get my housework done.  The creative urge is nearly as strong as the desire to eat in me, and I am a happier person when I can play with my craft items each day.  But then there is the guilt:  Shouldn't we be doing geography today?  I ought to read to the boys. What about all that ironing piling up?  And what am I going to do about dinner?

Six.

In one week, Una, Gemma and I will be heading down to Alabama for the second year in a row (last year Gemma was still in utero) for a Mother-Daughter retreat at Casa Maria, the home of the Sister Servants of the Eternal Word.  Fr. Ben Cameron of the Fathers of Mercy will be giving the retreat.  This means a little extra planning this week, not just for the trip (and there is no packing light with a baby), but for Bret and the boys in our absence.  Easy food and stuff for snacks and lunches, and Sunday's church clothes all put together on hangers for each of the boys.  I also have to make the list of "Don't Forgets", which I am certain is never even glanced at once I walk out the door.  For me, the best part of the trip is that I go down with my friend Cindy, so that we have a good ten hours' worth of girl-talk round-trip.  I also get a lot of knitting done.  And I don't have to cook or wash a dish for three days.

Oh yes, there are other spiritual benefits as well!

Seven.

Last week I missed the second anniversary of this blog.  I wish I could afford to have the blog made into a set of books, as this company does, but that would break the bank.  It isn't always easy to be myself and to be honest before all the world, but I want to feel that my kids can read this and see me, and not some image I've chosen to project to the world.

I go back and forth in my mind as to whether to continue to blog.  There are better things, I am sure, to do with my time (like all that reading, sewing and knitting!), but I also have this need to journal my life, and this electronic journal/scrapbook makes it so much easier to do.  So I guess I'll go on...  

To read more Seven Quick Takes, visit Jennifer at Conversion Diary.  Have a blessed weekend!