Right now...It is nearly 6:00 a.m., and is just beginning to get light, revealing a blue world. We had freezing rain last night, covered by a little snow. Frankly, I'm fed up with the cold weather. It's March and the kids have been indoors way too much lately. They are bickering incessantly (the youngest being the worst culprits). Can't very well send them out to play in this sort of weather...
This weekend...was good. Saturday was pretty much a day spent in the kitchen making kombucha, pre-baked pizza crusts and lacto-fermented veggies while Bret took the two older boys to the new house to clean up and pull some wire down below the house. We are hopefully just about ready for insulation, and then comes the drywall, and that will certainly make the house look more like a house on the inside.
Yesterday we had a very nice Mass and good homily. Also had fun chatting after Mass with some of the pleasant folks we go to church with. The weather was getting foul, and when we left the church, the temperature had dropped significantly. We stopped at Walmart for a few things I needed and noted the shelves going bare from the panic-purchasing.
At home we just relaxed and I worked a bit on my writing and responded to a couple of emails. Sloppy joes and oven roasted potatoes for dinner.
Some plans for this week: Getting ready for Lent. There have been years when I actually looked forward to the challenge of Lent, but not recently. Life seems challenging enough, and I am a wimp these days. I used to do things like rise at 3:30 on Fridays to do the St. Bridget prayers, and fast on bread and water, but I can't manage such penances now. I will give myself a few penances that I hopefully will have the strength to handle throughout the lenten season. I'll also put up our Lenten calender and the kids and I will decide this morning how to have a fruitful Lent. Our usual preparations include putting up Stations of the Cross around the house (we pray them in lieu of the Rosary on Fridays during Lent), putting out a bean jar for keeping count of sacrifices, and picking out some spriritual reading. If you look in my labels under Lent, you may find a few ideas...
I have haircuts to do for the boys. Ugh. Does anyone know of a home hair clipper that lasts more than a few months? I have been through possibly 8 or 10 clippers in the last few years, and it is always the blades that go dull, which results in hair being pulled. Don't they make replaceable blades for those things?
Not much else on the agenda, really...just school, writing, housekeeping, planning for Lent and Easter.
If I find some time for myself, I want to...just write and read lately. With limited time, I have to pick and choose, and lately that is where my heart is.
I am praying for...an ever growing list of people and intentions. For my sister and mother, who are both having some health problems; for friends with cancer; for friends with mental health and/or addiction problems and for friends who have kids who have these problems; for continued progress on the house and that at least one of our cows is pregnant. For two friends who are expecting, that they have good pregnancies and safe deliveries. For my aunt Donna, who, at the age of 60-something, is recovering in Thailand with 17 broken bones from (drumroll, please) having fallen off a spooked bull elephant. The list goes on and on.
I am grateful for...my family and my friends--the few, the true. For my health; for music and books and great movies that bring me such pleasure; for my faith, which keeps me grounded and hopeful. And for the fact that I don't need to go anywhere today in this really cruddy weather!
Something that makes me smile: WARNING--if you would be offended by a lot of exposed skin, and a certain amount of grinding, please forego watching the following. But a friend posted it on FB the other day, and I have watched it a few times now because it puts me in an instant good mood. It's our young men in Afghanistan spoofing the Miami Dolphins Cheerleaders. I think they nailed it brilliantly...
Have a great week!
Happy to see your musings! I am thinking about Lent... we've had so much in our lives lately... I hope I can make this a fruitful Lent for me and the children. The video was hilarious... those poor guys have to do something to let loose and keep their sanity! Praying for our troops! +JMJ+
ReplyDeleteHi Nadja,
ReplyDeleteI enjoy reading your Monday Musings. I always love to read about what your family is up to. How is the school year going for all of you? How are you feeling about homeschooling high school?
Just a note about the clippers. You can have those sharpened. If you have anyone local who does knife and blade sharpening, they should be able to do that also and probably less than purchasing new clippers when they go. I had ours done about 5 years ago, of course I only do my husband's hair but his hair is thick and wiry. Hope this will help.
ReplyDeleteThank you, Mrs. Doug! I'll look into that!
ReplyDeleteThanks, Mary. I have to admit that we are not very pushy about academics in this house. The kids do a heck of a lot of reading, and they like to write, and I make sure that they are learning math and meeting requirements for our state; other than that, I let them spend time pursuing their interests. Khan Academy has been great for that--so much available.
ReplyDeleteHigh school is a challenge only in the area of math, because I stink at it and am not very helpful to Una. I decided not to bother to do English with her, since we've done little in the last 2 years and she was in the top 1% on the language section of the PSAT...whatevever she's been doing, she's doing a great job of it, so I told her to carry on (she writes incessantly--fiction, blog posts and so forth). I have to breathe down her neck to get her to do French, however!