Seven Quick Takes is hosted here by Jen.
1. I sat down to write these takes and realized that maybe I should be doing a Daybook, because for a change I have a great answer to I am hearing..... Kelson is in the kitchen with me, getting a snack, and he is listening to a song on his computer, beating out the bass line with his foot and drumming on the counter with his fingers. Definitely a percussionist (and probably a little ADHD, but not enough to make him more than twitchy.)
2. I just realized that I haven't given an update on the Quiz Bowl tournament we went to last weekend. Kelson's team didn't win any matches, but it was all right. Their first loss was to the team that eventually came in third (knocking the eventual winner into the losers bracket in the process) and their second loss was a well-played nail-biter that went back and forth repeatedly and eventually was decided by a question that our team had to acknowledge was correctly answered even though the reader's answer sheet was wrong. Final score 430 to 420, with a correct answer worth 15 points. A triumph or even a win would have been nice, but at least a good time was had by all. And the juniors get to try again next year.
3. Next week we will have our grandsons Matthew and Daniel here from Tuesday through Sunday, while Branwen and Larry take a well-deserved vacation. Larry is a top salesman for his company, and earned this trip. He earned one last year, too, but Matthew was still nursing and no provision is made for babies. (I would think this was a dumb rule even if my family weren't affected.) But this year they get the trip and we get the boys. I am looking forward to it, although I'm well aware that I don't have the stamina I had 15 years ago. Fortunately Miriel and Tirienne will be here from Wednesday evening on. I shamelessly admit that I might plug in the occasional Veggie Tales video if I get too tired...
4. As I sit here typing, Roger is burning the brush pile out by the side of the house. Because our new property was a foreclosure, the bushes and plants had been allowed to run wild. We've already done one burn -- of a pile that got so big the township cited us for breaking the brush-pile-size ordinance -- and this is a much smaller batch of branches and twigs. Roger would like, I think, to trim the pine trees on the other side of the house as well, but I'm not sure that will happen this year. Right now I'm enjoying the wood-smoke smell, and wondering if I'd still like it if I needed to burn wood for cooking and warmth. I think so, since I spent one winter in a situation where the thermostat was set at 55 and it was blankets and the fireplace if you wanted to be warmer than that. But then I didn't have to cook in the fireplace. Hmmmmm...
5. I just got some new shoes from Lands End. I ordered them several weeks ago, but they just arrived today because I forgot to update my online account. (Best I can figure is that I had in my head that this address was right for the things we unwrapped at Christmas here, not remembering that they were shipped to the now-non-existent old house. I'd have like to see the UPS man trying to deliver to a hole in the ground!) At any rate I am excited to have two pairs of shoes for such a good price, and can't wait to wear them the next time there is contra dancing. (The fifth point in the link is the relevant one.) Last time I had to wear my loafers, with socks to keep them from sliding on my feet, and I looked kind of dorky. But it was so much fun I didn't care.
6. For some reason I have gotten into a reading kick on food-related books. Right now I am finishing Knives at Dawn, about the US's 2009 team at the Bocuse d'Or competition. Very enjoyable, but the picture section gives away the ending. I hate it when that happens. The author is trying to build suspense, and the designer of the book messes it up by putting give-away photos in the center. But I won't tell you!
7. This weekend is first communion at our parish, and the kids are split into two groups for 9:30 and 11:30 mass. This really relieves the crowding of the church with proud relatives, but it means the choir has to sing two in a row. We make lemonade out of this by having a brunch in between. It's one of the few times in the entire year the choir is together but not singing. (We also have an ice cream social.) I am making a brunch casserole similar to the one in the link, except that I will also throw in the leftover bacon from tonight's BLT's and some ham that I froze after Easter. There will be fruit salad, and muffins, and... Yum.
And now my stomach is growling, so I've got to go.....
Friday, April 30, 2010
Tuesday, April 20, 2010
Daybook , 4/20/10
Outside my window... the trees have leaves. Some still tiny, some almost full sized. I can also see the extremely cut-back bases of some unidentified bushes, and dead stems from what may have been lilies. I need to get my black thumb repainted.
I am thinking... about how much I like being able to have the windows open. Right now it's just for a couple of hours in the afternoon, but soon we can have them open most of the time. And this house has way more working windows than our old one did.
I am thankful for... longer, sunnier evenings, that make me feel like I'm getting "more daytime" even though I still go to bed at the same time.
From the kitchen... Dinner was "cheesy tuna casserole." I was too cheap to use a can of mushroom soup, so I used white sauce with some shredded sharp cheddar, which helped to make up for the reduced protein in the ever-smaller can of tuna. I remember 8 oz. cans; this one was 5. If they make them smaller yet, I'll just use two cans and go back to my original recipe. (Roger voted it a success, by the way. Kelson won't eat tuna in any form, so we had this on a night he was going out withfriends.)
I am wearing... brown gauze pants (optimistic on my part), a cream cotton twinset and my L.L.Bean fuzzy slippers. Also the lovely amber necklace and earrings Roger got for me a number of years ago.
I am creating... the music planning sheets for our parish for the summer. A lot is stored in the computer from three years ago, but there are always niggling fact-checking and adjustments. I am procrastinating just a tad...
I am going... to the State Quiz Bowl tournament this weekend. Kelson's team "triple qualified*", so I'm hopeful that they will win at least a couple of matches before being eliminated. (It's double elimination.) If they win two on Friday they won't have to show up again until 1:30 on Saturday. If they lose their first match, they're back at 11:15. With a bunch of HS kids sleeping in a hotel, that will make a big difference in their alertness!
* A team can qualify by winning their league's regular season, or the league tournament, or another independent tournament. Some years our league sends three teams.
I am reading... The Weed that Strings the Hangman's Bag by Alan Bradley. I like his previous book, The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie, and this one is also good, if not quite so quirky.
I am hoping... to get all my week's worth of household chores done before we need to leave for the tournament Friday morning. So efficiency is my watchword this week. So far, so good.
I am hearing... the hum of the refrigerator, and my keys clicking. It's quiet right now!
Around the house... I have a new bookcase to fill. My brother bought it for me, since he didn't think a can of spray paint was an acceptable housewarming present. it will let me get most of the books that are sitting between bookend on top of other bookcases onto actual shelves. Don't even mention any new books, or Roger will buy some. I'm more frugal, and get most of mine at the library.
One of my favorite things... is the icon that is sitting on yet-another bookcase in my line of sight. Our then-future son-in-law brought it back from Europe when he spent a semester in Austria. I think it's actually from Ukraine.
A few plans for the rest of the week.... the Quiz Bowl tournament. Choir is singing at 5PM mass on Saturday, and I sincerely hope to miss it because the team is still playing!!
Here is a picture thought I am sharing...
Friday, April 16, 2010
Seven Quick Takes -- About "Being Moved"
Seven Quick Takes is hosted at Conversion Diary.
As of this coming Monday we will have been living in our "new" house for four months. In recognition of that fact, today's Quick Takes are themed around "being moved."
1. Our old house no longer exists. Roger posted here about not missing it as much as he thought he would and here about the irrational reaction he had when the demolition was in progress. I found myself bursting into tears last week when I realized it was truly gone. This was precipitated by "Oh, no, I never looked in the carpet where my dresser was for that missing earring!" ( Fortunately the earring in question was part of a multi-pack from Claire's and not something from Bryan's family's jewelry store.) Obviously it wasn't really about the earring.
2. At one point I told Roger that I figured I'd really feel settled in when I could unload the dishwasher and put things away without having to consciously think about where they should go. I'm almost to that point. Everyday items are easy, but odds and ends that I don't use all the time are trickier. I don't have any trouble finding them to use, but I can't put them away while thinking about something else.
3. Having all the books on the bookcases is wonderful. It will be even more wonderful when we get the unassembled one that is in the basement set up and I can relocate the books that are on top of the shorter bookcases (and a couple of random dressers) down there. They are sorted and neatly set up, but they look untidy because I don't have enough bookends. The last bookcase solves all! Until we buy more books. Which we will. If "bookaholic" were a word, our whole family would be poster children.
4. I still don't "own" the yard and things outside the house. That's reasonable since it's been mostly winter, but I am not a garden-y person, and there are some things I'm going to need to spend some time on, like the big raised (brick sided) flower bed under the picture window. Right now it's full of dandelions. Fortunately Kelson's class is selling potted flowers as a fund-raiser, so I may tell the kids to kill three birds with one stone and buy me some pots for Mother's Day. Then I can dig out the dandelions (already started) and just set the pots under the window. After that I'd only have to remember to water them!
5. Another good reason for flowers in pots is that we are going to need to paint the outside of the house this summer. (If the flowers are in pots I can move them out of the way when we are painting in that area.) Roger is only waiting for me to settle on a color before he goes and buys the paint. The problem is that I can't make up my mind. Blue? Or tan? Or white like it is now? Lighter or darker shade? (Not of white, obviously!) I have been playing with an online program where you upload a picture of your house and try out the colors, and I still can't decide. I don't know what my deadline is, but I'm pretty sure that if I don't decide soon we will default to white. And maybe that's OK? Aaaargh!!
6. Despite the dishwasher definition of "Moved In", there are times when I still don't feel quite at home. In the first few days I claimed a particular corner of the new couch as mine, and I sit there when I read the Bible and pray in the morning, and also at lots of other times. And yet what I see from that seat still isn't fully familiar. I suppose that's not surprising, since the couch and chairs are new. So are some of the bookcases, and the older ones were never all in the same room before. I would use the excuse that almost 25 years in the old house is a long time in one place, but we did remodel the kitchen, and move things around periodically, so I guess it just means I'm an old fogey, and set in my ways. If I still feel this way in a year I'll go see a counselor.
7. Actually, of course, I LOVE this house. It's convenient (except for a couple of things in the kitchen), and pretty, and closer to a lot of things. It has flowers that I didn't have to plant, and room for everything, and lots of wonderful natural light. And my family is/comes here. We had an Easter egg hunt for the grandchildren in the back yard, and the barbecue is set up on the deck, and I have enough room to seat everyone for dinner. I know where all my books are, and most of Roger's, and all my clothes fit in the same closet. So despite my moments of wistfulness-or-nostalgia-or-whatever-it-is, the "new" house is now "the house", and HOME. Thanks be to God!
As of this coming Monday we will have been living in our "new" house for four months. In recognition of that fact, today's Quick Takes are themed around "being moved."
1. Our old house no longer exists. Roger posted here about not missing it as much as he thought he would and here about the irrational reaction he had when the demolition was in progress. I found myself bursting into tears last week when I realized it was truly gone. This was precipitated by "Oh, no, I never looked in the carpet where my dresser was for that missing earring!" ( Fortunately the earring in question was part of a multi-pack from Claire's and not something from Bryan's family's jewelry store.) Obviously it wasn't really about the earring.
2. At one point I told Roger that I figured I'd really feel settled in when I could unload the dishwasher and put things away without having to consciously think about where they should go. I'm almost to that point. Everyday items are easy, but odds and ends that I don't use all the time are trickier. I don't have any trouble finding them to use, but I can't put them away while thinking about something else.
3. Having all the books on the bookcases is wonderful. It will be even more wonderful when we get the unassembled one that is in the basement set up and I can relocate the books that are on top of the shorter bookcases (and a couple of random dressers) down there. They are sorted and neatly set up, but they look untidy because I don't have enough bookends. The last bookcase solves all! Until we buy more books. Which we will. If "bookaholic" were a word, our whole family would be poster children.
4. I still don't "own" the yard and things outside the house. That's reasonable since it's been mostly winter, but I am not a garden-y person, and there are some things I'm going to need to spend some time on, like the big raised (brick sided) flower bed under the picture window. Right now it's full of dandelions. Fortunately Kelson's class is selling potted flowers as a fund-raiser, so I may tell the kids to kill three birds with one stone and buy me some pots for Mother's Day. Then I can dig out the dandelions (already started) and just set the pots under the window. After that I'd only have to remember to water them!
5. Another good reason for flowers in pots is that we are going to need to paint the outside of the house this summer. (If the flowers are in pots I can move them out of the way when we are painting in that area.) Roger is only waiting for me to settle on a color before he goes and buys the paint. The problem is that I can't make up my mind. Blue? Or tan? Or white like it is now? Lighter or darker shade? (Not of white, obviously!) I have been playing with an online program where you upload a picture of your house and try out the colors, and I still can't decide. I don't know what my deadline is, but I'm pretty sure that if I don't decide soon we will default to white. And maybe that's OK? Aaaargh!!
6. Despite the dishwasher definition of "Moved In", there are times when I still don't feel quite at home. In the first few days I claimed a particular corner of the new couch as mine, and I sit there when I read the Bible and pray in the morning, and also at lots of other times. And yet what I see from that seat still isn't fully familiar. I suppose that's not surprising, since the couch and chairs are new. So are some of the bookcases, and the older ones were never all in the same room before. I would use the excuse that almost 25 years in the old house is a long time in one place, but we did remodel the kitchen, and move things around periodically, so I guess it just means I'm an old fogey, and set in my ways. If I still feel this way in a year I'll go see a counselor.
7. Actually, of course, I LOVE this house. It's convenient (except for a couple of things in the kitchen), and pretty, and closer to a lot of things. It has flowers that I didn't have to plant, and room for everything, and lots of wonderful natural light. And my family is/comes here. We had an Easter egg hunt for the grandchildren in the back yard, and the barbecue is set up on the deck, and I have enough room to seat everyone for dinner. I know where all my books are, and most of Roger's, and all my clothes fit in the same closet. So despite my moments of wistfulness-or-nostalgia-or-whatever-it-is, the "new" house is now "the house", and HOME. Thanks be to God!
Sunday, April 11, 2010
Daybook. 4/11/10 -- Divine Mercy Sunday/Second Sunday of Easter
Outside my window... there is sunshine. The air is warmish, the trees are budding, the grass is green, and I am discovering that this house has daffodils. And lilacs. And violets, and hyacinths, and forsythia, and a couple of things I won't be sure of until they bloom. Whee!
I am thinking... that it will be good to get back to the routine, since this is the last day of Kelson's spring break.
I am thankful for... all the family and friends we've had here over the last ten days. I enjoy the opportunity to feed people without having to downsize my recipes for just two or three. ;-D
From the kitchen... I can still smell the yummy potato pancakes Roger made for breakfast. Having a Sunday breakfast chef is so awesome that I don't mind that I do the cleanup.
I am wearing... dark taupe pants, navy cotton twinset and socks, and black loafers. Yes, it is one of my favorite outfits. Why do you ask??
I am creating... a list of things that still need to be hung on the walls in various places. My desk will feel a lot bigger once the bulletin board and whiteboard don't have to sit on it.
I am going... nowhere much today, which feels awesome.
I am reading... blogs, and some forgettable chick-lit, and a couple of magazines. I am behind on First Things.
I am hoping... that this weather continues all week. I need to get my walking regimen back up to speed.
I am hearing... outdoor noises through the open windows.
Around the house... I am still awed by my "new" chandelier. My brother and SIL were going to replace the ugly-colored one that came with the house as a Christmas/housewarming present. When they came for Easter we couldn't find one I liked, so my brother took this one down, cleaned it, and spray-painted it a shade that fits in this house. I LOVE it. Thank you, Patrick!
One of my favorite things... is Wolfgang Candy, which I grew up with. The Easter order is almost gone, so there won't be more until Christmas, but it's awesome that internet ordering lets me have a taste of "home" at this distance.
A few plans for the rest of the week.... enjoying the weather, and getting my weekly disciplines back on track after break. Also having my van in the shop to get some niggling problems dealt with.
Here is a picture thought I a
This isn't my bush (we pruned ours back because it had been allowed to get seriously overgrown), but I can't think of a better picture of Spring!
Tuesday, March 30, 2010
Daybook, 3/30/10 -- Tuesday of Holy Week
Seven Quick Takes are taking Holy Week off, so I don't feel guilty doing this.Outside my window... it is dark, because I'm doing this after everyone else is in bed. Kelson may get up to use this computer in the middle of the night, though, because his has been sent to Dell for repairs. Not that he's not regularly awake at those times anyway....
I am thinking... that I was never up in the middle of the night at that age, but both my boys and a couple of the girls have been like that. I guess as long as they get the right amount of sleep overall it works.
I am thankful for... the end of the book unpacking, and the comfortable routines of Holy Week and Easter. Sometimes I get grumpy if the choir doesn't learn something new, but this year the old standbys seem to fit, somehow.
From the kitchen... well, it was leftovers night. But that was a deliberate attempt to clean out the fridge to make room for holiday food. We do a Seder meal on Thursday, and both a brunch and dinner on Easter, and there will be 18 people for Easter dinner.
I am wearing... Floral flannel nightgown, blue fleece bathrobe,and fuzzy-on-the-inside slippers. I never understood putting the fuzzy on the outside, where it collects dust and doesn't really keep you warm.
I am creating... a blog post. How prosaic is that?
I am going... to take tomorrow afternoon off from chores and Easter prep. There won't be another good time to rest until Easter Monday.
I am reading... a spring clothing catalog, and trying to figure out why anybody thinks bright pink jeans in size 5X are a good idea.
I am hoping... that everybody coming for Easter has safe travels. Seattle and DC are two of the starting points!
I am hearing... nothing much -- an advantage of being the only one up.
Around the house... sit bookcases full of books. Finally!
One of my favorite things... is a clock with Westminster chimes. Thank you, Arwen and Bryan.
A few plans for the rest of the week.... relaxation tomorrow, Seder meal and mass Maundy Thursday Evening, liturgy with choir on Good Friday, then come home and cook like mad. Easter Vigil Saturday evening; baskets, brunch and dinner on Sunday. Spring Break next week!
Sunday, March 28, 2010
Meatless Dinners -- or, What I blog if I can't get at Blogger to do Quick Takes
I really wanted to do a Seven Quick Takes Friday post, but Blogger has been down in my area ALL DAY, so I'm just going to post what's running through my mine whenever I finally get the chance-- (note; It was Sunday morning before I actually got to post this....._
As I was prepping the beans and rice for dinner tonight (Friday) it suddenly crossed my mind that there might be a whole month's worth of meatless recipes that Roger will eat. Kelson is another story, but he'll only be here through September. So, in no particular order, let's see:
Monterey Beans and Cheese (over rice)
Tuna Noodle Casserole
Carrot-Cheddar Soup
Chili Beans and Rice
Beer-Batter Fish and Onion Rings
Cheese Pizza
Spinach Pie (OK, he''ll eat it, but I like it much more than he does...)
Homemade Macaroni and Cheese
Grilled Cheese Sandwiches and Tomato Soup
Tuna Turnovers
Tuna Melts
Broiled Salmon
Popcorn Shrimp and fries
Shrimp Cocktail and Baked Brie with crackers (NOT penitential – we sometimes have this for an “evening in”)
Vegetarian Minestrone ( another “eh”, but he'll eat it, especially with bread on the side)
Pasta Marinara with fresh Parmesan
Cheese Quesadillas with Salsa.
“Easter Breakfast Fish” (marinated overnight and charcoal grilled – YUM!)
Cheese Omelets
Whole-Wheat Yeast Waffles
PB&J (although I leave the J out of mine)
Cheese Nachos
Lasagne (with chopped spinach instead of meat in the sauce)
Bean Burritos
Tuna Salad Sandwiches
Cheese and Crackers and Kippers (for a snack meal if we are going out for drinks and dessert later)
Baked Potatoes with Cheese (sauce) and Broccoli, and Bac-Os if we're going totally meatless, otherwise a little real bacon
Mushroom Quiche (Yes, he's still a real man....)
Lentil-”Sausage” Soup ( With soy sausage. I've never actually tried that, but with pork sausage the recipe is a favorite.)
Crumb-Coated Baked Fish
Poached Eggs on Toast (I've never actually tried Huevos Racheros, but they might work, too.)
Whew! I made it! I would say that a meatless month would almost certainly never happen around here, but it's nice to know that I could. (And yes, we eat breakfast for dinner a lot. It just usually involves sausage or bacon.)
Monday, March 22, 2010
In (Partial) Defense of Bart Stupak
(For anybody who comes here expecting to read nice family stuff: if the title of the post didn't tell you, this is a political semi-rant. Come back some other time for more of the usual....)
I, as a pro-life conservative (social AND fiscal), am very disappointed by the vote in the House of Representatives passing the so-called "Health Care Bill." I believe a more accurate title would be "Socialized Medicine Bill." But I am also very disappointed by the flood of articles I am seeing which state that passage of this bill indicates that there is no such thing as a "pro-life Democrat."
I was raised by a life-long (Old) Democrat who was also totally pro-life. When it became apparent that the modern Democratic Party had bought into abortion at the platform level, he faced a rough choice. He'd never voted for a Republican and wasn't about to begin, but he couldn't in good conscience vote for a pro-abortion candidate, either. I'm sure that the township clerk was regularly confused -- this was in the days of paper ballots -- by the write-in votes for some Minnick or another. My dad's solution was ingenious; if the Democrat wasn't pro-life, he'd vote for one of his brothers. Now of course, in terms of who won those elections, this was exactly the same as if he hadn't voted at all. But it satisfied both Dad's duty as a citizen AND his conscience.
I happen to believe that Bart Stupak made a mistake in judgment in believing that an Executive Order would prevent this bill from funding abortion. But I think those who are ready to write him off as "not pro-life" are also making a mistake. They forget that the second word in "Pro-Life Democrat" is Democrat. Representative Stupak wanted this bill to pass, badly. (I also disagree with his judgment about whether that is a good thing, but that's another post.) I suspect most of his detractors made the mental error of equating "pro-life" with "conservative." That's like equating "red" with "apple." Yes, many apples are red, but the two categories are only overlapping, not identical.*
Time will certainly tell whether Bart Stupak violated common sense in voting for the "Health Care Bill" on promises of an executive order. But I think in fairness that unless the future proves otherwise,we should believe that it was only common sense that he violated, and not his pro-life principles.
* Funny story for those of you who stuck out the politics -- The parents of one of Roger's boyhood friends took their son to kindergarten round-up. Afterward they were told by concerned school staff that he might be mentally slow; he couldn't tell the tester what color an apple was. The parents laughed their heads off! They ran an apple orchard, and the son wanted to know what kind of apple before he answered. Apple doesn't always equal red.
I, as a pro-life conservative (social AND fiscal), am very disappointed by the vote in the House of Representatives passing the so-called "Health Care Bill." I believe a more accurate title would be "Socialized Medicine Bill." But I am also very disappointed by the flood of articles I am seeing which state that passage of this bill indicates that there is no such thing as a "pro-life Democrat."
I was raised by a life-long (Old) Democrat who was also totally pro-life. When it became apparent that the modern Democratic Party had bought into abortion at the platform level, he faced a rough choice. He'd never voted for a Republican and wasn't about to begin, but he couldn't in good conscience vote for a pro-abortion candidate, either. I'm sure that the township clerk was regularly confused -- this was in the days of paper ballots -- by the write-in votes for some Minnick or another. My dad's solution was ingenious; if the Democrat wasn't pro-life, he'd vote for one of his brothers. Now of course, in terms of who won those elections, this was exactly the same as if he hadn't voted at all. But it satisfied both Dad's duty as a citizen AND his conscience.
I happen to believe that Bart Stupak made a mistake in judgment in believing that an Executive Order would prevent this bill from funding abortion. But I think those who are ready to write him off as "not pro-life" are also making a mistake. They forget that the second word in "Pro-Life Democrat" is Democrat. Representative Stupak wanted this bill to pass, badly. (I also disagree with his judgment about whether that is a good thing, but that's another post.) I suspect most of his detractors made the mental error of equating "pro-life" with "conservative." That's like equating "red" with "apple." Yes, many apples are red, but the two categories are only overlapping, not identical.*
Time will certainly tell whether Bart Stupak violated common sense in voting for the "Health Care Bill" on promises of an executive order. But I think in fairness that unless the future proves otherwise,we should believe that it was only common sense that he violated, and not his pro-life principles.
* Funny story for those of you who stuck out the politics -- The parents of one of Roger's boyhood friends took their son to kindergarten round-up. Afterward they were told by concerned school staff that he might be mentally slow; he couldn't tell the tester what color an apple was. The parents laughed their heads off! They ran an apple orchard, and the son wanted to know what kind of apple before he answered. Apple doesn't always equal red.
Friday, March 19, 2010
Seven Very Quick Takes -- 3/19/10
Seven Quick Takes are hosted here.
1) It is 70 degrees out, and I just went for my walk without a jacket. Snow is predicted for Sunday. Ah, Michigan!
2) Beans and rice for dinner tonight, as it is a Lenten Friday. Our governor has declared tomorrow as the "Great Michigan Meat-out", touting the benefits of vegetarian meals. Roger and I are thinking of buying steaks to celebrate, and there are rumors of a barbecue on the Capitol lawn, probably sponsored by Michigan meat-producers. (Ah, Michigan! :-p)
3) The books in our basement may be multiplying... I have been trying to unpack a couple of boxes every time I go down to the laundry room. This morning I unpacked two and then, because I wondered how many were left, I counted the boxes -- 26. That was higher than I'd hoped, so I unpacked two more. Counted again -- 26. Figured I must have miscounted. This afternoon I went down and unpacked three more, then counted -- 24. At this rate I may never finish....
4) Currently "Lucas Kitty" is sitting on Roger's chair at the table trying to decide if he wants to jump up on the table and go for the glass of milk sitting there. He doesn't know it, but the correct answer is "Not while she can see me, if I value my peace-of-mind."
5) Tonight we will be going to the Stations of the Cross at 7:00. This year our parish has been using the "Biblical Stations" originated by Pope John Paul II, using this booklet, which has added meditations. I like it a lot. In this form there is noting with which a Protestant could take issue, and I'd love to see it done as an ecumenical service.
6) Our new pastor has also decided to do the "long form" of the Easter Vigil, with all eight readings, done in darkness. This means eight responsorial Psalms, and some of the choir is feeling a bit rebellious. I am feeling excited; the whole thing done well is marvelous, and recapitulates salvaton history all the way from the Creation to the Resurrection. Getting to sing is a bonus!
7) I have exactly 15 minutes to do my 12 minute exercise routine and be ready to leave for our evening errands and so on. Goodbye!
1) It is 70 degrees out, and I just went for my walk without a jacket. Snow is predicted for Sunday. Ah, Michigan!
2) Beans and rice for dinner tonight, as it is a Lenten Friday. Our governor has declared tomorrow as the "Great Michigan Meat-out", touting the benefits of vegetarian meals. Roger and I are thinking of buying steaks to celebrate, and there are rumors of a barbecue on the Capitol lawn, probably sponsored by Michigan meat-producers. (Ah, Michigan! :-p)
3) The books in our basement may be multiplying... I have been trying to unpack a couple of boxes every time I go down to the laundry room. This morning I unpacked two and then, because I wondered how many were left, I counted the boxes -- 26. That was higher than I'd hoped, so I unpacked two more. Counted again -- 26. Figured I must have miscounted. This afternoon I went down and unpacked three more, then counted -- 24. At this rate I may never finish....
4) Currently "Lucas Kitty" is sitting on Roger's chair at the table trying to decide if he wants to jump up on the table and go for the glass of milk sitting there. He doesn't know it, but the correct answer is "Not while she can see me, if I value my peace-of-mind."
5) Tonight we will be going to the Stations of the Cross at 7:00. This year our parish has been using the "Biblical Stations" originated by Pope John Paul II, using this booklet, which has added meditations. I like it a lot. In this form there is noting with which a Protestant could take issue, and I'd love to see it done as an ecumenical service.
6) Our new pastor has also decided to do the "long form" of the Easter Vigil, with all eight readings, done in darkness. This means eight responsorial Psalms, and some of the choir is feeling a bit rebellious. I am feeling excited; the whole thing done well is marvelous, and recapitulates salvaton history all the way from the Creation to the Resurrection. Getting to sing is a bonus!
7) I have exactly 15 minutes to do my 12 minute exercise routine and be ready to leave for our evening errands and so on. Goodbye!
Wednesday, March 17, 2010
More Daybook, because I am Lame
Outside my window... it is sunny, and the mud is drying up. Roger is doing a terrific job of getting the random hedgy bushes removed and trellising the grape vine.
I am thinking... that spring may not officially come until Saturday, but it is doing a good job of acting like it's here already. 64 degrees today!
I am thankful for... the enormous progress I have made on organizing the books and basement AND the fact that the new bookcases were $5 off each when we went to get them.
From the kitchen... corned beef and cabbage. What else would I serve on Saint Patrick's Day??!!
I am wearing... Khaki pants and socks, green tee, cream sweater, and black walking shoes.
I am creating... two 8-foot tablecloths for Easter dinner. !8 people not counting the unborn grandchild.
I am going... crazy trying to find my cell phone. This is the second time I've lost it in a week and a half.
I am reading... Ina May's Guide to Childbirth by Ina May Gaskin. Once upon a time I thought I might become a midwife when my kids were old enough. Sadly, by the time they were old enough I was too old for the hours I'd have to put in, but my reading still includes "birth junkie>"
I am hoping... that this beautiful weather continues.
I am hearing... the sump pump working hard. The mud may be drying, but the ground is still soggy. Fortunately the water all seems to be in the sump and not the rest of the basement.
Around the house... sun is poring through all our wonderful windows.
One of my favorite things... is decaf Cafe Mocha, which I buy at Barnes and Noble Cafe almost every Wednesday. What a great way to drink milk! ;-D
A few plans for the rest of the week.... unpacking books, books, and more books. And lunch with Julie tomorrow "for our birthdays". Only a month late.
Here is a picture thought I am sharing....
This is me last summer, talking with my cousins at "the Hunt Camp". I don't know what I was talking about, but I certainly felt strongly about it!
Tuesday, March 09, 2010
That Daybook Thing
I've seen this a couple of places now, and thought I could give it a try.
Outside my window... are melting snow and bushes that are thinking about budding. The ground is deeply covered in some places, bare in others, and in most of the bare spots mud abounds.
I am thinking... that I wish I had just copied this meme by hand on a sticky note in the first place, because trying to cut and paste and reformat has been a royal pain!
I am thankful for... the fact that my out-of-whack back doesn't hurt as much today as it did yesterday. It does make planning to sort books and refill shelves kind of problematic, though.
From the kitchen... well, I'm in the kitchen, which is where my new computer lives, and the reason I have time to do this post is that dinner is very simple: sausages, frozen hash brown patties, and homemade applesauce from the freezer.
I am wearing... dark taupe pants, navy cotton twinset and socks, and black loafers.
I am creating... what I hope will be a template for doing this more easily if I ever try it again.
I am going... nowhere tonight, and neither is Roger, which is a marvelous treat.
I am reading... In the Presence of My Enemies by Gracia Burnham. She and her husband Martin were missionaries in the Philippines when they were kidnapped by Islamic terrorists in early 2001. He was eventually killed, but I haven't gotten to that part yet. Gracia is obviously feisty, and I am enjoying her view of things, even the unpleasant ones. (I'm also reading a chick-lit, but I won't tell you about it unless its a good one, and I haven't read enough to know yet.)
I am hoping... that my back will be cooperative and not wake me up in the night tonight, as it has for the last two.
I am hearing... the cat trying to huff up a hairball. I feel rather sorry for him, since he hasn't managed to do it in the almost two years we've owned him. All that work for no results. And I'd rather clean it up than listen to him as often as I have to.
Around the house... it is tidier than usual, because Kelson is on a college visit in Florida until Friday.
One of my favorite things... is the amount of natural light in this new house. Our living room window is ten feet long and faces south, but all the rooms are well-lit, even in the basement. I just hope I don't have to eat my words in the heat of summer!
A few plans for the rest of the week.... major grocery shopping, the pregnancy care center fund-raising banquet, and adoration and Stations of the Cross Friday evening, for which I am the cantor. I really love the way our new priest has added "Food for the Soul" to the "Food for the Body" of the Knights of Columbus' Lenten fish fry.
Here is a picture thought I am sharing....
Friday, March 05, 2010
Seven Quick Takes -- Wow, Two weeks Goes Fast!
1) As I updated my last post, our friend Fr. Paul died on Saturday the 20th. Since Roger is his executor, that swept us into a whirlwind of funeral arrangements usually dealt with by the family. (His niece was here, and two of his nephews were able to make it for the funeral, but we were the "local people" and had all the paperwork.) Archbishop Vigneron was able to come and say the funeral mass. There were another bishop and twelve priests concelebrating, plus a deacon to read the Gospel, and combined choirs from local parishes sang. At first I was disappointed at the size of the congregation, which looked about like 8AM mass on a Sunday. But the archbishop assured us that for a priest who had been officially retired for almost 20 years, the turnout was huge. I don't think anyone who knew Fr. Paul could help but love him, and as many as possible came out to demonstrate that.
2) The tiring part of dealing with Fr. Paul's death was not the visitation or the funeral. It was cleaning out his "apartment" at the senior care facility. The St. Vincent dePaul folks came and hauled away much of his furniture and any clothes and linens that were worth donating, but somebody (us plus his niece, nephew, and the nephew's wife) had to sort it, decide what to donate, what was trash, and what somebody might want. The nephew and his wife left with a van packed full of audio classes on CD and assorted decorative and sentimental items, some of which they were going to pass along to the other nephew, who couldn't stay that long. The niece took as much as she could cram into her suitcase for the flight. WE still have several boxes of photos and such which we are planning to distribute to local friends of Fr. Paul.
3) Cleaning out his apartment meant that I had no time to spend on organizing all the "stuff" in OUR basement, which I have determined to do by Easter. On the upside, I now have two more bookcases to fill. On the downside, I now have five more boxes of books to sort. I am hoping to donate a number of books to the Friends of the Library ( mostly Roger's collection of "airport books"), but all of Fr. Paul's books that nobody wanted have already been donated. I'm going to need those bookcases!
4) On a related note, I'm actually wistfully hoping to be able to BUY two bookcases to set in our living room corner. We have a couple that would do for the space, but I found some assemble-it-yourself ones for a great price, and I'd love to have something matching and new. We'll see! To this end I have measured all the shelves of our current bookcases, and when I sort the books I intend to measure the linear feet they will take up. If I need the new bookcases I will buy them..... somehow.
5) I do have a little bit of money toward a bookcase, a birthday gift from my mother-in-law. I turned 59 (!) last Saturday. I'm not a big fan of cake, although Roger offered to make one, but I did get to celebrate. A local musical group played for a contra dance in a parish gym in town, and for only the second or third time in our marriage, Roger and I went dancing! Full disclaimer: neither one of us really cares for "regular" dancing, and we've gone every time we were free if there was square or contra dancing. When I was single and lived in Ohio, a bunch of us used to go to square dances almost every weekend in some Grange hall or other, and just like riding a bicycle, lots of it came back quickly. There was some talk of repeating the dance on a quarterly basis or so, and if they do, we'll be there. (There is a video on the link to the band. Roger and I are at the right end of the gym; I'm wearing a green skirt. We show up at about 1:53 into it.)
6) Since our son-in-law Bryan had to make a business trip, Arwen and Camilla and Blaise came to visit from Monday through Wednesday. Blaise has apparently inherited Roger's "morning person" personality, since he seems to think that 5:30AM is a perfectly reasonable time for a one-year-old to start the day. Arwen was very glad to hand him off to Grandpa and go back to sleep! Camilla at the same age used to sleep until 9, so Blaise has been kind of a shock. ;-D I'm always glad to see them, but this time I heaved a tiny sigh. Arwen has been decluttering her house for Lent (40 Bags in 40 Days), and she brought back a great big plastic bin of books they have borrowed from us. (The first time I typed the last sentence, I inadvertently hit Caps Lock, and everything from "brought" came out in caps. I considered leaving it that way........)
7) Yesterday was our LAST EVER Quiz Bowl league tournament. Arwen started playing in 6th grade in 1994 (our town has a middle school league), and one or more kids have been involved at some level ever since. We know which teams have the buzzer system that makes that annoying "Brrrzat" noise, we know most of the coaches by sight, and we know how to find the restrooms in every school in the league. We also know a lot about how the league trophy looks, since it spends most of its time at our school!
Yesterday was no exception. Kelson's team had already come in first in the league (19 wins, 2 losses) and won a tournament sponsored by the local community college. They won the league tournament as well! I must admit I wish they didn't have a penchant for winning double-elimination competitions by working their way up the losers bracket. We could have been home an hour sooner if they hadn't had to beat the last team twice.
Now it's on to states, where they will do an acceptable job and come home in the middle of the second day. Many schools in the more urban areas make Quiz Bowl a regular class, where the teams study assorted topics and get graded on their performance. In our league it's strictly extra-curricular, and the kids play with the knowledge they bring to it just from pursuing their own interests. I like the perspective Arwen had when she played in her first state tournament -- "I think we had more fun losing than they had winning!" That's the way I want my kids to view knowledge and study; as a game, not a chore. I think they get it.
Seven Quick Takes are hosted at Conversion Diary.
2) The tiring part of dealing with Fr. Paul's death was not the visitation or the funeral. It was cleaning out his "apartment" at the senior care facility. The St. Vincent dePaul folks came and hauled away much of his furniture and any clothes and linens that were worth donating, but somebody (us plus his niece, nephew, and the nephew's wife) had to sort it, decide what to donate, what was trash, and what somebody might want. The nephew and his wife left with a van packed full of audio classes on CD and assorted decorative and sentimental items, some of which they were going to pass along to the other nephew, who couldn't stay that long. The niece took as much as she could cram into her suitcase for the flight. WE still have several boxes of photos and such which we are planning to distribute to local friends of Fr. Paul.
3) Cleaning out his apartment meant that I had no time to spend on organizing all the "stuff" in OUR basement, which I have determined to do by Easter. On the upside, I now have two more bookcases to fill. On the downside, I now have five more boxes of books to sort. I am hoping to donate a number of books to the Friends of the Library ( mostly Roger's collection of "airport books"), but all of Fr. Paul's books that nobody wanted have already been donated. I'm going to need those bookcases!
4) On a related note, I'm actually wistfully hoping to be able to BUY two bookcases to set in our living room corner. We have a couple that would do for the space, but I found some assemble-it-yourself ones for a great price, and I'd love to have something matching and new. We'll see! To this end I have measured all the shelves of our current bookcases, and when I sort the books I intend to measure the linear feet they will take up. If I need the new bookcases I will buy them..... somehow.
5) I do have a little bit of money toward a bookcase, a birthday gift from my mother-in-law. I turned 59 (!) last Saturday. I'm not a big fan of cake, although Roger offered to make one, but I did get to celebrate. A local musical group played for a contra dance in a parish gym in town, and for only the second or third time in our marriage, Roger and I went dancing! Full disclaimer: neither one of us really cares for "regular" dancing, and we've gone every time we were free if there was square or contra dancing. When I was single and lived in Ohio, a bunch of us used to go to square dances almost every weekend in some Grange hall or other, and just like riding a bicycle, lots of it came back quickly. There was some talk of repeating the dance on a quarterly basis or so, and if they do, we'll be there. (There is a video on the link to the band. Roger and I are at the right end of the gym; I'm wearing a green skirt. We show up at about 1:53 into it.)
6) Since our son-in-law Bryan had to make a business trip, Arwen and Camilla and Blaise came to visit from Monday through Wednesday. Blaise has apparently inherited Roger's "morning person" personality, since he seems to think that 5:30AM is a perfectly reasonable time for a one-year-old to start the day. Arwen was very glad to hand him off to Grandpa and go back to sleep! Camilla at the same age used to sleep until 9, so Blaise has been kind of a shock. ;-D I'm always glad to see them, but this time I heaved a tiny sigh. Arwen has been decluttering her house for Lent (40 Bags in 40 Days), and she brought back a great big plastic bin of books they have borrowed from us. (The first time I typed the last sentence, I inadvertently hit Caps Lock, and everything from "brought" came out in caps. I considered leaving it that way........)
7) Yesterday was our LAST EVER Quiz Bowl league tournament. Arwen started playing in 6th grade in 1994 (our town has a middle school league), and one or more kids have been involved at some level ever since. We know which teams have the buzzer system that makes that annoying "Brrrzat" noise, we know most of the coaches by sight, and we know how to find the restrooms in every school in the league. We also know a lot about how the league trophy looks, since it spends most of its time at our school!
Yesterday was no exception. Kelson's team had already come in first in the league (19 wins, 2 losses) and won a tournament sponsored by the local community college. They won the league tournament as well! I must admit I wish they didn't have a penchant for winning double-elimination competitions by working their way up the losers bracket. We could have been home an hour sooner if they hadn't had to beat the last team twice.
Now it's on to states, where they will do an acceptable job and come home in the middle of the second day. Many schools in the more urban areas make Quiz Bowl a regular class, where the teams study assorted topics and get graded on their performance. In our league it's strictly extra-curricular, and the kids play with the knowledge they bring to it just from pursuing their own interests. I like the perspective Arwen had when she played in her first state tournament -- "I think we had more fun losing than they had winning!" That's the way I want my kids to view knowledge and study; as a game, not a chore. I think they get it.
Seven Quick Takes are hosted at Conversion Diary.
Friday, February 19, 2010
Seven Quick Takes -- First Friday of Lent -- Updated
Seven Quick Takes are hosted here.
1. We have ants in our house. I'm not sure where they are coming from, and they are few -- maybe two or three a day. My first impulse when I see one is to grab a Kleenex and smash. But ... Lucas, our cat, takes a great deal of joy in playing with them. He stalks them on the rug, he bats them around the hardwood, he licks his paw so that they stick to it and then shakes them off. So if I see an ant and Lucas is around, I mostly do nothing. It doesn't matter very much to me if an ant dies smashed in a tissue or batted to death on the rug. Therefore, I let Lucas have his fun. But tell me -- am I kind or cruel to animals?
2. Our friend Fr. Paul is dying. He turned 90 last spring, and we teased him then that he had missed his chance to die young. This is not unexpected, as he's been moving slowly downhill for a couple of years. But there never seems to be a right time for somebody to die. I was going to say "I wish I had God's perspective on this." But I think, actually, that I do. There wasn't supposed to be death in this world, until Adam and Eve chose to disobey, so all times for dying are wrong, a sign that our redemption is not complete.
Updated: Fr. Paul died about 5PM Saturday. He was under hospice care and in no pain, and both his niece and Roger were with him. He will be very much missed. Fr. Paul Higdon, R.I.P.
3. Chili beans and rice for dinner tonight. Over the last couple of years I have realized that I really like most of the dinners that have become part of my Lenten Friday routine, to the point where I actually look forward to Lent so that I can serve them. I decided that this missed the point of "abstinence from meat equals self denial", so I'm serving my favorites some other day of the week and having canned beans and rice on Fridays. Of course, this is a meal that Kelson looks forward to.....
4. It is getting lighter out in the evenings. When we moved in here I was barely done with my day before I had to close the blinds. Right now dinner is cooking and outside my window there is blue sky and sun on snow, with a birch tree and some pines for contrast. And in three weeks Daylight Saving Time begins, so we will always be able to eat dinner with the blinds open. It also means that it will once again be pitch dark when I have to get up. Win some, lose some.
5. if I haven't mentioned it before, I now have my computer in the kitchen. This has proved to be a mixed blessing. On the one hand, I can write a blog post and keep an eye on dinner at the same time. On the other hand, I can get sucked into checking my email five or ten times a day instead of the two or three I used to allow myself. And let's not talk about the games on Facebook (though I have managed to avoid Farmville and that ilk.) If I still think my real-to-virtual-life balance is off in a year, I may have to give up the internet for Lent. This is a very good incentive to shape up soon!
6. Lucas the cat apparently likes the smell of warming chili beans. I just had to chase him off the stove! As far as I know this is the first time EVER he's gotten up there. Maybe for the rest of Lent I'll have to heat them in the microwave.
7. Why do Girl Scout cookies always arrive just in time for Lent? Inquiring minds want to know!
1. We have ants in our house. I'm not sure where they are coming from, and they are few -- maybe two or three a day. My first impulse when I see one is to grab a Kleenex and smash. But ... Lucas, our cat, takes a great deal of joy in playing with them. He stalks them on the rug, he bats them around the hardwood, he licks his paw so that they stick to it and then shakes them off. So if I see an ant and Lucas is around, I mostly do nothing. It doesn't matter very much to me if an ant dies smashed in a tissue or batted to death on the rug. Therefore, I let Lucas have his fun. But tell me -- am I kind or cruel to animals?
2. Our friend Fr. Paul is dying. He turned 90 last spring, and we teased him then that he had missed his chance to die young. This is not unexpected, as he's been moving slowly downhill for a couple of years. But there never seems to be a right time for somebody to die. I was going to say "I wish I had God's perspective on this." But I think, actually, that I do. There wasn't supposed to be death in this world, until Adam and Eve chose to disobey, so all times for dying are wrong, a sign that our redemption is not complete.
Updated: Fr. Paul died about 5PM Saturday. He was under hospice care and in no pain, and both his niece and Roger were with him. He will be very much missed. Fr. Paul Higdon, R.I.P.
3. Chili beans and rice for dinner tonight. Over the last couple of years I have realized that I really like most of the dinners that have become part of my Lenten Friday routine, to the point where I actually look forward to Lent so that I can serve them. I decided that this missed the point of "abstinence from meat equals self denial", so I'm serving my favorites some other day of the week and having canned beans and rice on Fridays. Of course, this is a meal that Kelson looks forward to.....
4. It is getting lighter out in the evenings. When we moved in here I was barely done with my day before I had to close the blinds. Right now dinner is cooking and outside my window there is blue sky and sun on snow, with a birch tree and some pines for contrast. And in three weeks Daylight Saving Time begins, so we will always be able to eat dinner with the blinds open. It also means that it will once again be pitch dark when I have to get up. Win some, lose some.
5. if I haven't mentioned it before, I now have my computer in the kitchen. This has proved to be a mixed blessing. On the one hand, I can write a blog post and keep an eye on dinner at the same time. On the other hand, I can get sucked into checking my email five or ten times a day instead of the two or three I used to allow myself. And let's not talk about the games on Facebook (though I have managed to avoid Farmville and that ilk.) If I still think my real-to-virtual-life balance is off in a year, I may have to give up the internet for Lent. This is a very good incentive to shape up soon!
6. Lucas the cat apparently likes the smell of warming chili beans. I just had to chase him off the stove! As far as I know this is the first time EVER he's gotten up there. Maybe for the rest of Lent I'll have to heat them in the microwave.
7. Why do Girl Scout cookies always arrive just in time for Lent? Inquiring minds want to know!
Friday, February 12, 2010
Seven Quick Takes -- Why Does Vaction Make Me So Tired??!
Seven Quick Takes are hosted at Conversion Diary.
1) We got back from Stratford about noon on Tuesday. We had a wonderful, restful time, but I got up at 6:30 AM so that I could pack. This is actually a good thing for me; for the first several years I insisted on packing the night before, thereby effectively cutting our stay short by 12 hours or more. How can you play Trivial Pursuit or read a novel by candlelight if games, candles, and books are all packed up?
2) Unfortunately, when I got home there was immediately a LOT to do. Some of it was the "whipping the house back into Mom-acceptable shape" that happens every time I leave, but a lot of it was the seven loads of laundry we brought home with us. Yes, we wear a lot of clothes in Stratford. Actually, I wear a lot of clothes. I have quite a bit of lounge wear I've accumulated over the years, and in a house with a teen-aged boy it rarely gets an outing. So I take a couple of outfits per day to Stratford and wear it all there. (Have I mentioned that the appeal of Stratford is doing NOTHING?!! We sit in the room, read and play board games, watch a movie, rinse in the Jacuzzi, and repeat. We go out for breakfast and dinner, and sometimes sit in a coffee shop while they are "doing" the room. Ahhhhh...)
3) I wouldn't, I suppose, really have needed to do all the laundry immediately (especially the stuff I won't wear again for a year..) But one of the things that makes our household work is assigned laundry days. Back when our six kids were all under 16, I was getting buried in the mountains of laundry. So we instituted "girls' laundry day", "boys' laundry day", and so on. They learned the job, I wasn't so stressed, and it was all good! But "my" laundry days are Tuesday and Friday, and even with only Kelson at home, woe to the person who does laundry on the "wrong" day. So I got it done on Tuesday.
4) Aside from getting up at 6:30 -- which I NEVER do on vacation, and as rarely as possible otherwise -- another reason I was tired by the time we left Stratford was the stairs. Bentley's Annex, where we stay, is an old, elevator-free building. Mostly we stay on the lower floor, but this year we had to change our reservation, and our favorite room wasn't free. I was reminded again why stair-climbing is considered such good exercise. And climbing down laden with too-many clothes and books; whew!
5) The week since then hasn't been normal, either. On Wednesday this part of Michigan got its small share of the Snowpocaylpse/Snowmageddon going on elsewhere. (A shout out to Tracy with three inches in a Gulf Coast state, and to Miriel and our friends David and Lauren who are awaiting another 10 inches outside D.C.) By Michigan standards this wasn't much of a blizzard, but the timing was such that schools were closed. Kelson went back yesterday, and today is the first day of mid-winter break. So I am seeking in vain for a nice, routine, day. The choir even has this weekend off, so Sunday will also be different! And did I mention that break includes Monday?
6) Tuesday, of course, is Shrove Tuesday. In some places that means "Carnevale"! Here in the Detroit area people celebrate with paczki, overgrown Polish jelly doughnuts. (In a sad misunderstanding of the point, they've been on the shelves for more than a week...) I will be making the more restrained German faschnachts I grew up with.
7) And Wednesday, of course, is the beginning of Lent. This year I am not giving up chocolate, or fiction, or lunch on weekdays. I am giving up the mess in my house, and the boxes that all our books reside in. Even before we moved, I knew that my "Lenten discipline" would be making my new house fully home -- and clean and organized to boot. I wish that didn't make me tired thinking about it... But tomorrow is a sleep-in Saturday, so my hope is to begin the week with more energy, and Lent with a heart open to more grace. I'll keep you posted.
1) We got back from Stratford about noon on Tuesday. We had a wonderful, restful time, but I got up at 6:30 AM so that I could pack. This is actually a good thing for me; for the first several years I insisted on packing the night before, thereby effectively cutting our stay short by 12 hours or more. How can you play Trivial Pursuit or read a novel by candlelight if games, candles, and books are all packed up?
2) Unfortunately, when I got home there was immediately a LOT to do. Some of it was the "whipping the house back into Mom-acceptable shape" that happens every time I leave, but a lot of it was the seven loads of laundry we brought home with us. Yes, we wear a lot of clothes in Stratford. Actually, I wear a lot of clothes. I have quite a bit of lounge wear I've accumulated over the years, and in a house with a teen-aged boy it rarely gets an outing. So I take a couple of outfits per day to Stratford and wear it all there. (Have I mentioned that the appeal of Stratford is doing NOTHING?!! We sit in the room, read and play board games, watch a movie, rinse in the Jacuzzi, and repeat. We go out for breakfast and dinner, and sometimes sit in a coffee shop while they are "doing" the room. Ahhhhh...)
3) I wouldn't, I suppose, really have needed to do all the laundry immediately (especially the stuff I won't wear again for a year..) But one of the things that makes our household work is assigned laundry days. Back when our six kids were all under 16, I was getting buried in the mountains of laundry. So we instituted "girls' laundry day", "boys' laundry day", and so on. They learned the job, I wasn't so stressed, and it was all good! But "my" laundry days are Tuesday and Friday, and even with only Kelson at home, woe to the person who does laundry on the "wrong" day. So I got it done on Tuesday.
4) Aside from getting up at 6:30 -- which I NEVER do on vacation, and as rarely as possible otherwise -- another reason I was tired by the time we left Stratford was the stairs. Bentley's Annex, where we stay, is an old, elevator-free building. Mostly we stay on the lower floor, but this year we had to change our reservation, and our favorite room wasn't free. I was reminded again why stair-climbing is considered such good exercise. And climbing down laden with too-many clothes and books; whew!
5) The week since then hasn't been normal, either. On Wednesday this part of Michigan got its small share of the Snowpocaylpse/Snowmageddon going on elsewhere. (A shout out to Tracy with three inches in a Gulf Coast state, and to Miriel and our friends David and Lauren who are awaiting another 10 inches outside D.C.) By Michigan standards this wasn't much of a blizzard, but the timing was such that schools were closed. Kelson went back yesterday, and today is the first day of mid-winter break. So I am seeking in vain for a nice, routine, day. The choir even has this weekend off, so Sunday will also be different! And did I mention that break includes Monday?
6) Tuesday, of course, is Shrove Tuesday. In some places that means "Carnevale"! Here in the Detroit area people celebrate with paczki, overgrown Polish jelly doughnuts. (In a sad misunderstanding of the point, they've been on the shelves for more than a week...) I will be making the more restrained German faschnachts I grew up with.
7) And Wednesday, of course, is the beginning of Lent. This year I am not giving up chocolate, or fiction, or lunch on weekdays. I am giving up the mess in my house, and the boxes that all our books reside in. Even before we moved, I knew that my "Lenten discipline" would be making my new house fully home -- and clean and organized to boot. I wish that didn't make me tired thinking about it... But tomorrow is a sleep-in Saturday, so my hope is to begin the week with more energy, and Lent with a heart open to more grace. I'll keep you posted.
Wednesday, February 03, 2010
Gone, and Back, and Gone Again (No Aliens Involved)
So I last posted on a Tuesday, and on the Thursday afternoon I drove to a town about an hour south and got on a bus. 51 other people and I then rode all night to get to Washington D.C. early in the morning so that we could participate in the March for Life.
Of course, many other people were also doing this. Our bus stopped in Breezewood PA about 2 AM, and there was literally a bus arriving and leaving about every minute. Our stopover lasted about 15 minutes longer than planned because there were so many buses needing to refuel. As an avid reader of British novels, I was reminded of the phrase that for certain events "there were special trains 'laid on'." I had thought before about the logistics of hiring buses, but never about having so many of them converging on the same place at the same time. There was a behind-the-scenes "cast of thousands".
If you got your information about the March from a standard media source, you may have thought that the entire march was merely thousands. According to an experienced police officer that one of the people on our bus talked to -- yeah, about 450 of those thousands. The thing was MASSIVE. Certainly bigger than I imagined, and I have been relying on alternative media for years. (Click here to see a short film about the media response to the March.)
And then, after standing for a couple of hours listening to the pre-march rally speakers, and spending TWO hours walking the mile-and-a half from the Mall to the Supreme Court building --because it was shoulder-to-shoulder and nose-to-back --, we got back on the bus and rode all night back to Michigan. I wasn't the oldest person on the bus (he had me beaten by almost 15 years), but I have decided that when I do this again, I am going to take several days and stay with family or friends in the D.C. area. But worth it?? Absolutely! It was beyond encouraging for someone who has been involved in this movement for 25 years to see the enormous numbers of kids who weren't even born then who turn out for this march. (Fifteen or so of them were on our bus.) A friend who also went wants to take the youth group she leads next year.
I was (not surprisingly) pretty tired for the next few days. And then our son-in-law Larry had to travel on business, so Branwen came to stay, with Daniel and Matthew. I am not at all repentant for not posting during that time -- reading Madeline and the Gypsies over and over was far more important! I could have posted in the last day or two, but I didn't. And tomorrow Roger and I leave for our winter week in Stratford. So I'll be scarce again, but I promise you, aliens have nothing to do with it! (Unless you count Canadians... but then we'll be in Canada, so I guess we'll be the aliens..... oh, never mind....)
Of course, many other people were also doing this. Our bus stopped in Breezewood PA about 2 AM, and there was literally a bus arriving and leaving about every minute. Our stopover lasted about 15 minutes longer than planned because there were so many buses needing to refuel. As an avid reader of British novels, I was reminded of the phrase that for certain events "there were special trains 'laid on'." I had thought before about the logistics of hiring buses, but never about having so many of them converging on the same place at the same time. There was a behind-the-scenes "cast of thousands".
If you got your information about the March from a standard media source, you may have thought that the entire march was merely thousands. According to an experienced police officer that one of the people on our bus talked to -- yeah, about 450 of those thousands. The thing was MASSIVE. Certainly bigger than I imagined, and I have been relying on alternative media for years. (Click here to see a short film about the media response to the March.)
And then, after standing for a couple of hours listening to the pre-march rally speakers, and spending TWO hours walking the mile-and-a half from the Mall to the Supreme Court building --because it was shoulder-to-shoulder and nose-to-back --, we got back on the bus and rode all night back to Michigan. I wasn't the oldest person on the bus (he had me beaten by almost 15 years), but I have decided that when I do this again, I am going to take several days and stay with family or friends in the D.C. area. But worth it?? Absolutely! It was beyond encouraging for someone who has been involved in this movement for 25 years to see the enormous numbers of kids who weren't even born then who turn out for this march. (Fifteen or so of them were on our bus.) A friend who also went wants to take the youth group she leads next year.
I was (not surprisingly) pretty tired for the next few days. And then our son-in-law Larry had to travel on business, so Branwen came to stay, with Daniel and Matthew. I am not at all repentant for not posting during that time -- reading Madeline and the Gypsies over and over was far more important! I could have posted in the last day or two, but I didn't. And tomorrow Roger and I leave for our winter week in Stratford. So I'll be scarce again, but I promise you, aliens have nothing to do with it! (Unless you count Canadians... but then we'll be in Canada, so I guess we'll be the aliens..... oh, never mind....)
Tuesday, January 19, 2010
If I Keep Delaying You'll Think I've Been Kidnapped by Aliens...
I got my computer back* last Thursday. Miriel and I had been out doing major grocery shopping, and we pulled up to the house to see a FedEx truck blocking the driveway. The driver was on our front porch, somewhere in the process of writing the "sorry I missed you but I need a signature" note. Since Roger's replacement hard drive (also a casualty of the move) was part of the shipment, we were doubly glad we made it home in the nick of time.
Unfortunately, I didn't have any time that day to enjoy it, because by the time the groceries were put away I needed to be on my way to Kelson's Quiz Bowl meet. And after that I dropped him off at home and went straight to choir practice. And by the time I got home from that, bedtime was an awfully good idea.
Friday I managed to get several things set up, including installing Open Office. I spent a fair amount of time catching up on the blogs of family and close friends, but at that point I still believed I would be getting my Firefox bookmarks back from the old hard disk. They may very well still be recoverable--and I have a lot of informational sites I hope I don't need to track down again--but doing it is beyond my competency level, and it's not anywhere near the top of Roger's priority list.
Saturday we went out of town to celebrate Blaise's first birthday, and a grand time was had by all. (The computer stayed home and had a nice nap.) Sunday I realized that I was never going to catch up if I didn't put some work into it, especially after I found out through Arwen's paying site that the daughter of a blogger I read regularly but had not yet caught up on made it to the Hollywood stage of American Idol. Obviously I needed to be more on top of things.
I spent a good chunk of yesterday rebuilding my bookmarks (yes, I know there are such things as RSS feeds, but I like my way better, usually) and the rest of the day playing catch-up in between assorted chores and tossing three contractor bags of junk from the basement. Today I'm pretty much totally caught up, and so here I am. Finally!
*For those of you who don't know me on Facebook and Twitter, I got my new laptop on the fourth, and on the fifth we had to send it back for a replacement mother-board. Sigh!
Unfortunately, I didn't have any time that day to enjoy it, because by the time the groceries were put away I needed to be on my way to Kelson's Quiz Bowl meet. And after that I dropped him off at home and went straight to choir practice. And by the time I got home from that, bedtime was an awfully good idea.
Friday I managed to get several things set up, including installing Open Office. I spent a fair amount of time catching up on the blogs of family and close friends, but at that point I still believed I would be getting my Firefox bookmarks back from the old hard disk. They may very well still be recoverable--and I have a lot of informational sites I hope I don't need to track down again--but doing it is beyond my competency level, and it's not anywhere near the top of Roger's priority list.
Saturday we went out of town to celebrate Blaise's first birthday, and a grand time was had by all. (The computer stayed home and had a nice nap.) Sunday I realized that I was never going to catch up if I didn't put some work into it, especially after I found out through Arwen's paying site that the daughter of a blogger I read regularly but had not yet caught up on made it to the Hollywood stage of American Idol. Obviously I needed to be more on top of things.
I spent a good chunk of yesterday rebuilding my bookmarks (yes, I know there are such things as RSS feeds, but I like my way better, usually) and the rest of the day playing catch-up in between assorted chores and tossing three contractor bags of junk from the basement. Today I'm pretty much totally caught up, and so here I am. Finally!
*For those of you who don't know me on Facebook and Twitter, I got my new laptop on the fourth, and on the fifth we had to send it back for a replacement mother-board. Sigh!
Tuesday, December 29, 2009
She's Back! (Sort of...)
Well, the last two weeks have been interesting. It took four days instead of the 24 hours promised to get our internet back up. Our home phone number changed three times!! (I am not currently a fan of AT&T :-/ ) We moved. Our three-month-old grandniece in Maine died of SIDS, which cast a pall over Christmas festivities. Nevertheless we decorated, went to Christmas mass, and shared breakfast and presents with our kids and grandkids.
And oh, yeah, my computer did not make the move in functioning condition, so that I am currently using Arwen's Macbook while she and her family are visiting friends and having dinner with Bryan's parents. However, my very own laptop is now on order, so maybe you'll be hearing more from me here.... Have a Happy New Year celebration, and I hope to see you soon!
And oh, yeah, my computer did not make the move in functioning condition, so that I am currently using Arwen's Macbook while she and her family are visiting friends and having dinner with Bryan's parents. However, my very own laptop is now on order, so maybe you'll be hearing more from me here.... Have a Happy New Year celebration, and I hope to see you soon!
Thursday, December 17, 2009
Internet Silence
Sometime tonight or tomorrow our internet at this house will be cut off. At some point (shortly, we hope) thereafter, internet service will begin at the new house. But anyway, I'm going to be kind of busy this weekend... See you on the other side!
Monday, December 14, 2009
What I Should Have Said
My family all know that I have difficulty coming up with snappy comebacks. Unless I'm quoting an appropriate line from a movie, I mostly can't think of anything either funny or pointed in time. They all have heard the story about the one time I did manage the right line at the right time ad nauseum. ( I'll bore you with it in some other post.) But here's one that came late but is too good to sit on.
Over this last insanely busy weekend, at one point one of my children -- I forget which -- said "I didn't know Tiger Woods was married." I don't remember what I actually did say (probably along the lines of "Yeah, he is.") But I wish I had said " Yeah, apparently neither did he!"
Over this last insanely busy weekend, at one point one of my children -- I forget which -- said "I didn't know Tiger Woods was married." I don't remember what I actually did say (probably along the lines of "Yeah, he is.") But I wish I had said " Yeah, apparently neither did he!"
Sunday, December 13, 2009
House Update
The painting is done. It took three days to strip the kitchen wallpaper and wash the walls. It turns out there was primer under there; also at least two coats of paint and the remains of yet another kind of wallpaper (only the tiniest scrap in the edge of the electrical plate behind the refrigerator.) The hardest part was scrubbing off the sizing from the professional wallpaper job. I vow never to inflict that on any future owner of this house!
Yesterday the guys (Roger, Kelson, and sons-in-law Larry and Bryan) put in 800 square feet of pre-finished hardwood and 200 of vinyl plank. Today they did the trim, and tomorrow the carpet installers come to do all four bedrooms. I will be scrubbing down the kitchen, pantry, and bathrooms, so that we can begin shuttling things over before the big push on Friday afternoon and Saturday. Whew!
I hope to be back here before Christmas, but if I don't make it, have a Merry one!
Yesterday the guys (Roger, Kelson, and sons-in-law Larry and Bryan) put in 800 square feet of pre-finished hardwood and 200 of vinyl plank. Today they did the trim, and tomorrow the carpet installers come to do all four bedrooms. I will be scrubbing down the kitchen, pantry, and bathrooms, so that we can begin shuttling things over before the big push on Friday afternoon and Saturday. Whew!
I hope to be back here before Christmas, but if I don't make it, have a Merry one!
Friday, December 04, 2009
Seven Quick Takes -- Once-Again-Homeowners Edition
Seven Quick Takes are hosted here.
1. So we finally closed on our new house. But because we bought a HUD foreclosure, we had the bank closing here in town -- we took out a small mortgage to cover repairs and updates -- and then had to drive an hour each way to nearby-medium-city where there is a HUD office for their closing. It took five minutes. And a HUD agent was doing other closings in our town today, but "couldn't work us into his schedule". We would have had to wait ten days longer to get on his list. At least we had a nice lunch.
2. Who knew that new houses came with "goodie bags" from the realtor? Ours gave us gift cards to Lowe's and some gift certificates to The Raven, which is only my favorite coffee shop within a hundred miles. If houses weren't so expensive, I might buy one more often! ;-D (NOT!!)
3. I am beyond excited to get into the new kitchen and start stripping wallpaper. The wallpaper is not exactly ugly, but it is torn, and anyway I just like to strip wallpaper. Which reminds me, I think we need to buy more primer, because I think this is the original 1964 wallpaper, and there's nothing under it but naked drywall. I'm doing the kitchen in two shades of (aqua-ish) blue, and I'm also going to paint a couple of our older, cheaper bookcases in the darker (accent) color. The part of the kitchen that is designed for a breakfast table is going to become my office, and I want to preserve all the counter space for actual appliances and food. Until I packed them, my cookbooks took up almost 10% of our current counter.
4. Our bedroom is also going to be in the coordinating blues (Behr 510C-1 and 510D-4, if you want to Google them ; I can't figure out how to link it) and I get to choose coordinating fabric for curtains and to cover our current comforter. I expect that the actual sewing project will have to wait for January, along with the decorative shower curtain and bathroom window treatment. We decided to go with plain white paint for the bathrooms, and I found a mostly-green fabric that works with the pink I mentioned here. I'm optimistically hoping that this will turn the pink tile into an accent color. Wish me luck!
5. We did go with the local shop for flooring. They came in at almost 20% below Home Depot for essentially the same product. And we have been very satisfied with the job they did for us 10 years ago. So that's a win-win! Carpet in all the bedrooms (and the office, which is really a bedroom), industrial carpet in the basement, hardwood in the living and dining areas and hallway, and vinyl plank in the kitchen and half bath. The full bath and the entryway already have acceptable tile, so we're not going to worry about them.
6. My nose is recovering. I felt MUCH better after all the scabs finally fell off. Now it only hurts if I touch it the wrong way, or when a pressure front is going through. But I've always had sinus pain with a pressure front, so I'm not sure if this is really different. we nee to take a still-red-but-not-scabby picture soon.
7. I need to finish this and get out the door. We are eating out again in celebration. Buffalo Wild Wings by teenager request! See ya!
1. So we finally closed on our new house. But because we bought a HUD foreclosure, we had the bank closing here in town -- we took out a small mortgage to cover repairs and updates -- and then had to drive an hour each way to nearby-medium-city where there is a HUD office for their closing. It took five minutes. And a HUD agent was doing other closings in our town today, but "couldn't work us into his schedule". We would have had to wait ten days longer to get on his list. At least we had a nice lunch.
2. Who knew that new houses came with "goodie bags" from the realtor? Ours gave us gift cards to Lowe's and some gift certificates to The Raven, which is only my favorite coffee shop within a hundred miles. If houses weren't so expensive, I might buy one more often! ;-D (NOT!!)
3. I am beyond excited to get into the new kitchen and start stripping wallpaper. The wallpaper is not exactly ugly, but it is torn, and anyway I just like to strip wallpaper. Which reminds me, I think we need to buy more primer, because I think this is the original 1964 wallpaper, and there's nothing under it but naked drywall. I'm doing the kitchen in two shades of (aqua-ish) blue, and I'm also going to paint a couple of our older, cheaper bookcases in the darker (accent) color. The part of the kitchen that is designed for a breakfast table is going to become my office, and I want to preserve all the counter space for actual appliances and food. Until I packed them, my cookbooks took up almost 10% of our current counter.
4. Our bedroom is also going to be in the coordinating blues (Behr 510C-1 and 510D-4, if you want to Google them ; I can't figure out how to link it) and I get to choose coordinating fabric for curtains and to cover our current comforter. I expect that the actual sewing project will have to wait for January, along with the decorative shower curtain and bathroom window treatment. We decided to go with plain white paint for the bathrooms, and I found a mostly-green fabric that works with the pink I mentioned here. I'm optimistically hoping that this will turn the pink tile into an accent color. Wish me luck!
5. We did go with the local shop for flooring. They came in at almost 20% below Home Depot for essentially the same product. And we have been very satisfied with the job they did for us 10 years ago. So that's a win-win! Carpet in all the bedrooms (and the office, which is really a bedroom), industrial carpet in the basement, hardwood in the living and dining areas and hallway, and vinyl plank in the kitchen and half bath. The full bath and the entryway already have acceptable tile, so we're not going to worry about them.
6. My nose is recovering. I felt MUCH better after all the scabs finally fell off. Now it only hurts if I touch it the wrong way, or when a pressure front is going through. But I've always had sinus pain with a pressure front, so I'm not sure if this is really different. we nee to take a still-red-but-not-scabby picture soon.
7. I need to finish this and get out the door. We are eating out again in celebration. Buffalo Wild Wings by teenager request! See ya!
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