Monday Musings--6 August 2012

Right now...it is 5:00 a.m. and still very dark out.  The days are certainly getting shorter.  The upside is that the kids seem to be sleeping it a bit and not getting up at 5:30 anymore!  I awoke at 3:45 when Sebastian awakened me because of a malfunctioning doorbell.  Some rain must have gotten into it and caused it to ring repeatedly.  I pulled it out of the socket, but couldn't get back to sleep.

This weekend... Dominic turned 6!  On Saturday morning I cleaned the house and decorated Dominic's birthday cake, which I had baked Friday.  Bret was working on the house.  It was really soggy outside (we'd had a really impressive thunderstorm in the wee hours), so I had the kids indoors.  When they got too crazy and I needed some space to finish the cake, I told them they needed to do something quiet and something that would keep everyone occupied for a while.  They put on a Popeye dvd I think...Anyway, got the cake done and then finished the first two tiers of a 3-tier skirt I am making for Una.  I had the pieces cut out for months but haven't had the time.  Now I am thinking that I would like to see her in it before it gets too chilly to wear it.

So, in the afternoon, after baths and Bret's return and lunch, we celebrated Dominic's birthday.  He was delighted with his new cowboy pistol and new hat (the old one looks like a horse trampled it!), and with this book (we'd checked it out from the library, but he and Adrian loved it so much I had to buy it) and Lego set.  I made him a pillowcase from cowboy fabric, but naturally that isn't all that exciting--really, I just wanted to have him open at least one gift that was made by mama!  Last year all but one of his gift were...

Yesterday we went to the early Mass in Gallatin and before we left the house received a call that my friend April had her baby the night before, on Dominic's birthday.  Her last baby--my Goddaughter--was born on Gabriel's birthday.  Sure makes it easy to remember their birthdays!  Welcome to the world, A.J.!  Lucky number 7!  After Mass we had to go shopping.  Hate to do that on a Sunday, but gas is up and we live in the sticks.  Still, having gone to the early Mass, we were still home by lunch.

I managed to work a bit on my writing, read a bit from The Ball and the Cross (I'm loving it!) and get 6 rows done on my sweater.  So that was nice.

Some plans for this week:  bill paying, house cleaning, submitting a list of resources we'll be using this year to our umbrella school, siphoning off my wine into clean jugs, finally ordering some of the resources for school (submitting the list will sort of finalize it for me, forcing me to finally make some decisions), and trying to make a few appointments for various things.

If I finds some time for myself, I would like to...finish Una's skirt, finish The Ball and the Cross, and work on my writing.  I also am thinking about what things to knit for Christmas so that I can order yarn accordingly.

I am grateful for...rain.  It makes me crazy to have the boys inside all day because of all the mud, but I am hoping that it will do well for the second hay cutting.

Some prayer intentions for this week: for baby A.J. and April's family; for the father of Sr. Mary Jude; for work to pick up at the cabinet shop where Bret works (he's had a number of days off lately); that I might finish all my school purchases--or at least finalize my choices this week!-- for a marriage in jeopardy and finally for the continued mental, physical and spiritual health of my family.

Something that makes me smile (sorry for the poor photo): Dominic deliberating on what to wish for.  We waited...and waited...and waited...

Have a great week, everyone!