Gathering my Thoughts
/
::noticing God's glory
Rain. Rain. Rain. The weeds are proliferating and everything else is rather soggy. I'm going to "unorganic" my roses this morning and bring in some big guns to take care of black mold and insects. I wasn't planning on eating the roses anyway...
::listening to
Quiet. I got up at 4 AM for this privilege. Seriously, I so love to have the house to myself for a little quiet first thing in the morning.
::clothing myself in
Right now, I'm wearing one of Mike's T-shirts and a pair of pajama bottoms. He's in Miami. I awoke to the news that the Heat pulled it off in OT last night. Awesome. Not really. Means he's due home later than sooner.
::talking with my children about these books
::thinking and thinking
about a family social media/screen time policy. I have it drafted. It's a bit wordy;-). Still pondering, but nearly ready..
::pondering prayerfully
“As an antidote to time-wasting and sometimes even alienating indulgence in superficial media programs,” the document proposed that the students should be “guided to the love and practice of reading, study, silence, and meditation. They should be encouraged, and be provided with the necessary conditions for community dialogue and prayer. This will serve to remedy the isolation and self-absorption caused by the unidirectional communication of the mass media . . .” [emphasis mine]
as quoted in this great article sent to me yesterday by Elizabeth Williams.
::carefully cultivating rhythm
So, about that email thing. I somehow stuck all my email in the trash. I can't restore it unless I restore one message at a time. There are now 19,951 conversations in the trash. Ever since I last wrote about email (oh, 3 weeks ago?), I've been retrieving email from the trash. Dumping the whole inbox might have been a good idea for someone else, but for me, not so good. I've been pulling important mail (for me and for Mike) like crazy. The clock is ticking; that mail will be permanently deleted 30 days from when I trashed it. So, there you go, I somehow managed to take my email mismanagement anxiety and make it so much worse.
::creating by hand
Somehow, the costumes for the Tiny Toes little girls came in in a GIANT size. This week, I set up in the studio with my sewing machine, took a deep breath (or two or three), and cut those sparkly lovelies down to size. Then I stitched them back together. They're so cute! Only 5 more to go...
::learning lessons in
Eating well. I just finished Heather's 30 Day Vegan. I was surprised by the things I learned. I very much benefitted from the workshop. I especially enjoyed essays by Renee Tougas (looks like her site is down today). At the outset of the Whole Food Kitchen workshop I took last winter, I commented to a friend that I was skeptical because it seemed like the goal was to move in the direction of veganism. And, I said, that wasn't a good option for me because how in the world can you be a vegan without wheat or corn? Turns out Renee's family eats a plant-based diet without wheat or corn. Imagine that?! Plant-based. No wheat. No corn. No sugar. I'm learning lessons in what works for me.
::encouraging learning
Yes, we are doing school all summer. We absolutely are. I'm no longer in the running for favorite neighborhood mom.
::begging prayers
for teenagers: mine, yours, and those they befriend. It's really challenging to be a teenager these days. They need us to cover them in a mantle of prayer and to beg showers of grace on their behalf.
::keeping house
We're working on it;-)! The reality is that this is recital week. I'm trying mightily to make sure we don't get behind in housekeeping, but I'm not making great forward strides either.
::crafting in the kitchen
We did a big brunch for Father's Day:
- Strata with asparagus, manchego, and prosciutto
- Mixed berries smothered with berry puree and served with a Greek yogurt/lemon curd sauce
- Homemade Belgian waffles with toppings
- Muffins
The dads were happy. I lived on berries for 48 hours after Father's Day because I definitely wayyyy overbought. Not a bad problem to have.
::loving the moments
when I see him standing, waiting for me at Arrivals at Dulles Airport. Counting the hours.
::giving thanks
for you. I'm so grateful you come back and find me here, despite my sometimes erratic publishing schedule.
living the liturgy
This is not some earthshaking revelation, just a simple truth: the most effective way to live the liturgy is to go to Mass as often as possible. It’s all there, available every day. You don’t need a craft closet. You don’t need a grocery shopping list. You don’t even need much advanced planning. You just need to show up. And a priest who gives relevant homilies is plus, too.
::planning for the week ahead
Let's see...We have rehearsals this week for this weekend's spring recitals. We have training this week to get ready for Nick's team to go to the Regional tournament, following his State Cup win (thereby extending soccer season by a month). Turns out Stephen lost his State Cup game. Three days later, he tried out for the team which beat him (and which is the closest team to us geographically). He made that team and now he's training in advance of their trip to Regionals (thereby extedning his soccer season by a month, even though he's not eligible to actually play in the Regional tournament.) Christian and I will take a trip to James Madison University for an IEP sort of meeting. Mike will depart with the boys for the Regional tournament in Rhode Island.
And, by late next week, I will revel in at least three calendar days with absolutely nothing written on them.
I will.
Sarah performed for the first time ever last weekend -- a Circus Tea at the Ritz-Carlton. She had so much fun, she just didn't want to take off her stage makeup. She and her biggest fan fell fast asleep within seconds of arriving home Saturday afternoon. Takes a lot out of a girl to be a dancing clown!
