Monday Musings--27 December 2010

Right now...6:00 a.m., 28 degrees, dark and quiet.  Outside the window, glistening in the light from our porch, a row of icicles hang from the gutter like the teeth of some wintery monster.

This weekend...was so blessed in so many ways.  I cannot say that the vigil Mass for Christmas was very nice...we went to a Mass other than the one we had hoped to attend because of the weather situation.  Rain turning to snow was expected, and we don't have great tires or 4-wheel drive on the van, and in our hilly area, that can be a problem.  Anyway, the Mass was packed, the incense of a heady, floral type which I find cloying (I'm partial to frankincense myself), and the music, although not bad, was much too loud through the speakers above us.  When the two hour Mass was over, I was quite ready to get home!

As I made our dinner--pasta with shrimp in a cream sauce and a salad--the snow began to fall in enormous, drifting flakes.  Christmas music played, the lights on the tree glimmered, and everything outside was hushed by the falling snow.

I was up until after 11, filling stockings and placing the gifts beneath the tree.  In the past I usually would go to bed earlier, and then get up in the middle of the night to put everything out, but having been short on sleep the previous nights, I feared I might not awaken and the kids would get up to no gifts and no stockings!

Naturally, the kids were awake at 5 or so.  I told them that Papa did not want to get up quite so early to watch them open gifts and that I was going to have my coffee and do my morning prayers and reading before I woke him.  They grudgingly agreed to try to get back to sleep (fat chance, eh?)

There were not overly many gifts, but there were several lovingly made--by me, by Bret, by Una.  I hope to post on that separately this week.

Snow had continued on and off through the night, and a beautiful white blanket covered everything.  The kids played nicely with their new things the entire day, and dinner (a ham, corn casserole, baked sweet potatoes and green beans) was stress-free and delicious.  In the evening we watched A Christmas Carol .  One could not ask for a finer Christmas.

Sunday we had a breakfast of French toast, cocoa and orange slices and went to a traditional Latin Mass at Our Lady of the Caves in Horse Cave, KY.  The Mass intention was for our family, and it was a beautiful Mass and an exquisite drive out there through the snow-covered Kentucky countryside.  After Mass everyone gathered in the parish hall, as is the weekly habit of the congregation there, and shared food.  Since the Mass is at noon and several families come from quite a distance, this is almost a necessity.  It was so nice to see families we'd not seen in a long time.

The evening at home was fairly quiet--except for a period of noisy play as the kids tried out the new wooden swords Bret made for them.  There are always a few smacked knuckles with these, and so a few tears as well.  As long as there are no cracked heads we will be alright!

Some plans for the week...Today will be busy enough!  I have so much laundry to catch up with!  There are drawers and closets to sort out, as I make room for some new things and weed out some old, threadbare ones.  There are Thank You notes to write and dental appointments for three of the kids tomorrow.  We have plans for a little treat for the kids later this week (can't write anything here, as Una reads my blog!) and I would like to find time to sit down and order a bunch of prints form Shutterfly, as I am way behind in that and in moving photos from my computer to a storage disk.  In truth, the week is so full of plans, it is a bit intimidating.  With the start up of school again next week, I also need to get some of that in order.  It seems like we have been on break forever, and getting back into the routine will be difficult.

Special prayer intentions...asking God to send some good jobs Bret's way in the new year; praying for a year ahead of good health and spirit of joy in our home.  Thanking God for all the blessings of this past year.

Something that makes me smile:

If you would like to share something of your weekend and what your plans are for the week ahead, join in.  Just grab the header image for your post, then leave a link to it in the comments.  Have a blessed week!