Time Marches On

Time keeps on slippin', slippin', slippin'
Into the future
Time keeps on slippin', slippin', slippin'
Into the future

Holy cow!  I look at the calendar and am amazed that it is the end of May already.  Where has this month gone?  I had such big plans for May; so much to do and such great weather.

I ordered my mulch and had it delivered a couple of three weeks ago with the intention of having it done by the end of the month.  Unless the mulch fairies show up, that isn’t going to happen.

We wanted to take a short weekend getaway and have a blogger meet-up.  Maybe next month??

I finally got the material for the new living room curtains and wanted to have those sewn and hung up.  Really?

It seems the BIG plans took a back seat to a whole lot of little things.  I did quite a bit of weeding, baked bread often, took more picture than I have been. 

We watched the neighbors’ dog Lucy while they attended the funeral of Kim’s mom and visited with relatives that came in from out of town for the services.  Lucy is a good dog, though a bit of a handful and high maintenance.

We prepped the land for the new vegetable garden.  We listened to the birds sing while we drank our morning coffee. 

We had a morning visit from this creature whom we named Sunny.

And several visits from this guy and a couple of his friends.

I sat on the patio and watched a terrific lightening show roll on in and rejoiced in the rain that followed.

So what if the mulch isn’t done.  We enjoyed the little things.

AMDG

April showers . . .

. . . brought May flowers!

We need to find God, and he cannot be found in noise and restlessness. God is the friend of silence. See how nature - trees, flowers, grass - grows in silence; see the stars, the moon and the sun, how they move in silence... We need silence to be able to touch souls.

Blessed Mother Theresa



 

AMDG

Support groups???

Hi!  My name is Jack and I am a kleptomaniac.

Hi Jack!

It started when I was just a puppy.  My humans were doing yard work so I ran off.  When I finally came home, running through the mud and the muck, they had this shocked look on their faces, staring at what I was carrying in my mouth.  They thought I killed a baby raccoon or bunny.  It was just some other dog’s toy that I liked.  So I took it.  To this day they don't know from where I snitched it and I'll never tell. 

My cousin dog, Hershey, has a few good toys.  When we went to visit last time, I took her puppy.  Hershey’s old, she’ll never miss it.

My next door neighbor, Lucy, has really great stuffies.  I went over there yesterday for a visit and left with my fourth toy from her this spring.  It’s an unstuffed bunny.  She’ll never miss it!  Himself tried to return it, but I snatched it back from Lucy’s human and she just laughed.  She thinks I’m adorable!

My female human just looks at me and shakes her head.  She thinks I need help.  I don’t think so, do you?

AMDG

Great oats, Batman!

A while back I was looking for breakfast ideas and someone suggested steel cut oats. (was it you JB?)  Several months later I finally tried them and, I've got to say, am hooked.  They are so, so much better than rolled oats and I can make them ahead and just reheat as needed.

If you haven't already, give them a try.   They're Grrrrreat!  (wrong cereal, but oh well!)

AMDG

A good read – Bake and Be Blessed

We have been trying to change what and how we eat, and, as part of that, I have been baking bread from scratch each week.   I have a terrific whole wheat recipe that I make frequently, but was ready for something new.

I remembered a show I use to watch on PBS, Breaking Bread with Father Dominic, and did a little research to see if the show was still on.  Unfortunately, it is not, but Fr. Dominic has a series of books based on the show.  While checking those out of the library I came across his Bake and be Blessed.  Only a few pages into it I knew I had to have my own copy.  It’s one of those books I read with a pencil at hand, underlining his thoughts that strike me as important. 

He relates different steps in bread making to different components of our spiritual life.  Mixing the dough, letting it rise, punching it down and baking the loaves can be seen as metaphors praying, meditation, carrying our crosses, and growing in God’s love. 

I find the bread making process very satisfying, more so than cooking or baking other things.  In reading this book I think I finally found the reasons why.

Bread baking is a not cure all of modern society's ills, but it can be a means by which, on a given day, we reintegrate our fragmented selves by engaging mind, body, emotions and spirit in an intentional act of creativity.

PS.  I couldn’t find a copy of this on where I normally buy my books, so I ordered from his Abbey’s  website.  The book arrived quickly and with a little surprise – it was autographed!

AMDG

Anniversary of a special day

Many, many years ago, on this date, I made my first Holy Communion. 
How awesome was that?!

AMDG

Leaves of three. . .

. . .or four or five. . . run!  Run away as fast as you can!

I should have known.  Really.  I should have.  In that particular garden especially.  I know it's there.  But, being pig headed and stubborn, I didn't wear long sleeves or gloves.

So now I am paying the price - the worst case of poison ivy I've ever had!  It's on both arms, neck, face, lips, and now, even a little on my belly.

If you see that ivy, back away slowly, put down the garden tools, head to the patio and grab a beer.  It's much less itchy!


AMDG

Funny Foto - #2

Yesterday I took the day off from work and we did some antiquing down in Amish country.  Just when I think I've seen it all, I came across this.

And I thought my dog was spoiled!

AMDG

Thankful Thursday (16)

Today I am thankful for. . .

* Online shopping.  We are doing a little bit of redecorating and I have been able to find things online that I would not come across otherwise. 

* FedEx and UPS. For delivering the above items.  

* Redecorating.  We haven’t done much to the house since we moved in eight years ago.  Thankfully, the previous owners’ taste was similar to ours.  But, now it’s time, at last, to put our mark on it.  New paint, curtains and lights are breathing new life into our living room.  Yeah!

* Himself’s photos.  As part of our redecorating we are replacing some things we had on the walls.  Himself has taken some awesome photos and it’s about time we showcased them.

Check out more things to be thankful for over at The Road Home.

AMDG

Octo Mom & Dad

On the way back into the office at lunchtime I had to wait for this brood to walk by. Mama and Papa Goose were taking their 8 little ones for a walk across the parking lot. They didn't seemed to be bothered by all of us watching them. Too cute!

AMDG

Oatmeal question

In the last week or so I saw a recipe on someone's blog for oatmeal
made with steel cut oats and coconut milk and a blueberry sauce. For
the life of me, I just cannot find it. Anyone remember seeing it?
Where?


AMDG

The birds are back in town

 The birds are back in town, (the birds are back in town).
I said The birds are back in town, the birds are back in town.
 

Every year we put out a hummingbird feeder just off of our patio.  You can almost tell the month and day by when the birds return.  They usually arrive Mother's Day weekend and disappear right around Labor Day.  With the crazy spring we've had this year, we weren't at all surprised when they arrived earlier this week.

Himself has much more patience and ability to sit still than I ever will and was able to capture a couple of great photos.

AMDG

Funny Foto - #1

My friend Michael has been doing a series of pictures of things he finds funny and/or absurd.  After seeing this, I've decided to join him.

The other day I ended up taking back roads rather than the highway home from work.  I saw this sign and it had me curious.

I drove by yesterday to snap a picture and verify what I thought it was.  I was right.

Someone had a goofy sense of humor what they came up witth the name of this bar!

AMDG

Choices

I tend to be a little slow when it comes to responding to some current events.  I need to take time to mull them over, digest them, and make my thoughts coherent.  I generally know, intrinsically, what I think and feel about a subject, it just takes me time to find the words to somewhat eloquently state it.

Which brings me to the big brouhaha that occurred when Hilary Rosen stated Ann Romney had no clue to economic matters since “she never worked a day in her life.”  I think anyone that reads this blog most likely agrees that raising five children and running a home pretty much qualifies as work.  And, as for economics of it all, Ms. Rosen apparently doesn’t know much about the start of the Romneys’ marriage.  They didn’t always have much money.  In fact, they had very little.  So Mrs. Romney’s economic reality was she had to be able to do much with very little.

It seems our society at large as gotten to the point that having a job, working, and employment are deemed to be the end-all-be-all goals for today’s “modern” woman.  Why? 

Some women didn’t get married until later in life or at all, so a job was an economic necessity.  Some  live in areas in which a single salary might not cover even the basic essentials, so once again, a job is an economic reality.  Others find fulfillment and purpose in what they do as employment. 

I somewhat envy the last of these women.  To me, my job is a means to an end.  We need a place to live.  We need food to eat and clothes to wear.  That takes money.  Defining computer systems and business processes does not fulfill me.  Do I want to do well at it?  Yes.  I take pride in a job done well.  Do I care about it?  Only to the extent that it helps the company that employs me do well.   Does it give me joy?  Heck no!

What is the point of ridiculing a woman who has chosen to stay home and raise her family?  Isn’t the feminist movement all about choice?  Oh, that’s right, the only choice they care about is killing their babies, not deciding how to care for them once they are born. 

 

I see so many women who would gladly walk away from money, careers, education if given the opportunity to raise a family or run a household.  My guess is that the ones ridiculing those that would do this have one of two issues.  They are overly confident about their importance or they wish they had the guts to do the same. 

Now get back to work!

“A good man’s work is effected by doing what he does, a woman’s by being what she is.”

- GK Chesterton in Robert Browning 

AMDG

Getting the giggles. . . at the completely wrong time

During our pastor’s homily on Sunday, he spoke of the Christ as the good shepherd.  Sheep are very docile animals and definitely are not leaders.  They don’t herd very well.  But they are great followers and know their master’s voice.  Talk to them and they will go right along with you.

Fr. Joe then segued into the next part of his sermon – he had to ask for money.  Our diocese is in the midst of a large fundraising campaign.  We’ve heard the talk a number of times.  I think I might even be able to give it.

Anyways, we all needed to fill out the pledge cards, again.  We just did it last week.  But, he told us, he had to have us do it.  He was just following the directions of his leader, the bishop.  As a parish we’ve exceeded our goal and “it’s all good.”

It’s all good.

That line struck me as so funny.

I started giggling. And then laughing. 

So hard I was crying.

It’s all good.

I could not stop laughing.

“We’ll have a couple of minutes of quiet so you can finish filling out your cards.”

The glasses came off, the tissues came out.  And I was still laughing, mostly silently of course.

Then we stood to pray the creed.

“I believe in one God,

the Father almighty,

maker of heaven and earth,

of all things visible and invisible.”

The giggles finally stop, mostly.

“And in one Lord Jesus Christ,

the Only Begotten Son of God,

born of the Father before all ages.”

It’s all good.

AMDG