Grains of Gratitude

There is ice all over everything outside, and as I sit inside, warm and content, I am grateful. I am grateful for all the blessings that are stuffed into this house. Most of all for the men (big and small) who I can hear rumbling around, just out sight, but not out of earshot. They bless me daily and I cannot imagine my life without them.

I've not been blogging very well, have I? Not keeping up with all my friends who live somewhere besides this little black piece of plastic, but I can only "see" them here. I am grateful for you if you are still reading this.
I am grateful to have been called to jury duty. "Really?" You might be asking. Yes, really. And here is why: over three years ago my name came up, I had two little boys, my husband worked outside the house, I didn't have a babysitter and we had limited transportation. Being excused due to circumstances wasn't an option. The timing was horrible. Thankfully I ended up being dismissed and we just experienced a little anxiety about logistics. I prayed that sometime I would be able to do my "civic duty" when it wasn't so traumatic. I couldn't have asked for a better time for this to happen, there is never a good time, but I know how important this is, so I am grateful. I am supposed to report mid-March. I think it will be interesting.

Thankfully, Boo's foot seems to be improved. We go to the orthopedic's office on Tuesday to see the nurse-practitioner. The handsome footwear is NOT exciting, but he's been a champ about wearing it faithfully. I am praying that it can come off. He's ready. I'm ready. I've been inclined to give him piggy-back rides from the van to the house when the ground is covered in snow so his foot stays dry.

I'm grateful I can give him piggy-back rides. I don't think I could do that this time last year, certainly not as far as from the vehicle to the house--involving steps. I'm really struggling in the dieting area. Not going up, but not going down, either. Time to move more and ponder the eating plan more carefully.

I don't like giving dieting advice, but I will tell everyone the thing I think is most important is WATER!! Drink, drink, drink your water. So often I think I am hungry and what I really am is thirsty. This was advice from the weight-loss group I joined and it has been the best. Seems so simple and yet, the first thing I forget or put off.

I am grateful the Holly Jolly Valentine's decorations are stowed away. It is Lent, and during Lent I don't want the distractions. I've been feeling the need for Lent lately. For the time to refocus, remove distractions, revise the habits and rearrange the priorities.

I have a couple people in my immediate relationships who think I am a bit..., well a bit off for getting all worked up about Lent. Lent leads me, like no other time of the Liturgical Year to the foot of the Cross. The desert experience is a time of reliance only on the LORD. It is hard to explain and oftentimes makes one feel very much an outsider.

Lent is so much more than what most people think they know about it. It does include fasing, but also, almsgiving, repentance, and self-denial. These are things I know a lot of people do randomly during the year, or maybe when they feel led, but there is something about coorporate worship, knowing you are joining with a body of believers to unite in a very historical form of worship.

Really? We should be doing these things all year long, but the urgent call of the world to hurry up and join in the bustle get to most of us and we fall into bad habits. If you don't have that problem, hats off to you...but I am soooooo flawed in this area that I need the seasonal reminders and Lent leads me as I said to the foot of the Cross, but more importantly to the joy that is the Resurrection. The holiday that is to me THE HOLIDAY.

I'm grateful for my church and my priest. I'm so often moved to tears while I'm there. God is so good and so merciful.

The readings for Saturday and Sunday were especially powerful and poignant:

Saturday
First Reading: Isaiah 58:9b-14
Responsorial Psalm: Psalm 86:1-2, 3-4, 5-6
Gospel: Luke 5:27-32

Reading I
Isaiah 58:9b-14
Thus says the LORD:
If you remove from your midst oppression,
false accusation and malicious speech;
If you bestow your bread on the hungry
and satisfy the afflicted;
Then light shall rise for you in the darkness,
and the gloom shall become for you like midday;
Then the LORD will guide you always
and give you plenty even on the parched land.
He will renew your strength,
and you shall be like a watered garden,
like a spring whose water never fails.
The ancient ruins shall be rebuilt for your sake,
and the foundations from ages past you shall raise up;
“Repairer of the breach,” they shall call you,
“Restorer of ruined homesteads.”

If you hold back your foot on the sabbath
from following your own pursuits on my holy day;
If you call the sabbath a delight,
and the LORD’s holy day honorable;
If you honor it by not following your ways,
seeking your own interests, or speaking with maliceB
Then you shall delight in the LORD,
and I will make you ride on the heights of the earth;
I will nourish you with the heritage of Jacob, your father,
for the mouth of the LORD has spoken.

Sunday
First Reading: Deuteronomy 26:4-10
Responsorial Psalm: Psalm 91:1-2,10-15
Second Reading: Romans 10:8-13
Gospel: Luke 4:1-13

Second Reading
Romans 10:8-13
Brothers and sisters:
What does Scripture say?
The word is near you,
in your mouth and in your heart
—that is, the word of faith that we preach—,
for, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord
and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead,
you will be saved.
For one believes with the heart and so is justified,
and one confesses with the mouth and so is saved.
For the Scripture says,
No one who believes in him will be put to shame.
For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek;
the same Lord is Lord of all,
enriching all who call upon him.
For “everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”

For “everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”
I don't think there is anything that can top that.

Count it all joy,

Julie

Blog Book Tour--Swinging on a Star

Swinging on a Star by Janice Thompson

Ever since I finished Fools Rush In by Ms. Thompson, I've been waiting to go back to Parma Johns to dine on themed pizza, listen to Mambo Italiano and catch up with Bella Rossi and her cowboy knight in shining armor, D.J. Neeley. I felt so at home and had so much fun with Italian wedding coordinator, Bella and her carpenter cum deejay, D.J. that I wanted to find out more about their opposites-attract relationship.

When I got a chance to review Swinging on a Star I didn't realize that D.J. would have a few more knights, also in shining armor, to contend with. Bella is working on a new themed wedding, even bigger than the last hoedown she engineered. The bride and groom to be want a medieval wedding complete with a castle, a moat, madrigal music and horse-drawn carriages.

Ms. Thompson fills her book with complications for a renaissance wedding from the very first chapter. Bella's life seems like it cannot get more complicated--oh, but it does!! With wayward actors, Food Network filming her aunt, complicated relationships, a night in jail (really!) and much hilarity, Swinging on a Star kept me turning the page, "Just one more!" until the wee hours of the night. I just had to finish.

The soundtrack to this guaranteed-to-make-you-smile novel is, once again, my favorite Dean Martin. Oh, and she lets Ole Blue Eyes, Frank Sinatra sing a few too.


Swinging on A Star is available January 2010 at your favorite bookseller from Revell, a division of Baker Publishing Group. And if you enjoy it as much as I do, be on the lookout for It Had to Be You, Janice Thompson's third installment of herWeddings by Bella series. I can't wait!!

Until then I will just have to listen to Dean Martin and dream!




Many thanks to Revell/Baker Publishing from whom I received Swinging on a Star.

Happy Valentine's Day

Strolling down memory lane with three that are favorites.

Hope your Valentine's Day is lovely.

Just for the Record...

I really love my husband.

O Beauty Ever Ancient and So New

Late have I loved you,
O Beauty ever ancient and so new,
Too late have I loved you!

You were within me, but I was outside to seek you. Unlovely myself, I fell heedlessly upon all those lovely things which you created.

And always You were with me, but I was not with you.
Created things kept me from you;
yet if they had not been in you they would not have been at all.

You called, you cried,you broke through my deafness.
You blazed, you gleamed, and you drove away my blindness.
You breathed your fragrance on me;
I drew in breath and now I long for you.

I have tasted, now I hunger and thirst for more.
You touched me, and now I burn with desire for your peace.

Amen

~ St. Augustine, Confessions of St. Augustine

More to Be Grateful For

Within a couple hours of my last post Boo decided to do what he usually does--run, jump and "explode." Well he exploded a little to much and landed wrong. Ouch!!

He's sporting a walking boot now to accessorize his buckle fracture on his left foot. He's received good and proper sympathy from our sweet friends Miss H & her daughter E. He got many well wishes, prayer and attention this evening while he audited (read: sat and took notes) his ballet class, because...I've already paid for it...and you just can't dance in that stylish footwear. Doctor's orders.

I've spent the last two days with him in doctors' offices, and radiology offices. We've met some awesome, incredible health care professionals. What could have been a miserable experience has been at least made bearable by kind and gentle people who have been very sweet to my youngest boy. I have been blown away by the quality of care. His teachers and the director of the dance school have been quite helpful, solicitous and encouraging. My friends K and C have listened to me vent, whine and boo-hoo. And offered priceless advice.

God is good--all the time. This could have been so much worse, he could have been hurt worse, the care could have been less. We could be without such a marvelous support system of good friends.

We've dragged our schoolwork with us for the waiting areas and Boo has been a trouper about getting it done!! But my other praise is that our wait times have really not been too bad. Roo has been able to stay home with my telecommuting husband and has been so good about staying on task by himself.

While I am praising for all this wonderful care we've received...I am praying to be bored silly tomorrow! I am behinder (it is too a word) than I was--and that was bad--on my blog visiting. Looking forward to calm...Okay, I'm not holding my breath.

Grains of Gratitude

Why do we (or at least I) always fall out of the good habits and fall into the bad ones?

One of my best habits was Grains of Gratitude. Is it really possible that my last "Grains" post was in July??? Really? Shame on me. There is so much to be grateful for.

We are one month into 2010, I am grateful that my husband doesn't mention the Christmas decorations that are still up. Yes. Really. Usually I leave them up until the Feast of the Presentation of the LORD, but can I just be honest and say...ummm...likely it may be a holly, jolly Valentines Day. So there's some green with all the red...really who's going to notice? It has just been too cold to deal with the garage and opening it up--the way the decorations come in and go out. What this really means, is I am grateful for a husband who puts up with my faults and silliness.

I am grateful that Roo has had a good time auditioning. Boo was going to try an audition, but we decided where we are going and now are on the "actively saving for summer" program. Yes, this is all about ballet. Again. Ballet moms have two seasons. Nutcracker and Summer Intensive. Everything in between is a whirlwind of trying to catch up. Did I mention the Christmas decorations are still up?

A new van has found its home on my driveway. I am grateful we were able to swing that. I don't know if I mentioned, but on New Year's Day my car went kaput halfway between home and my father's house. I limped it back home to be met with two trips to the mechanic. It still is in the driveway, but will be limited to in-town driving. The new van will allow me to go visit my father and to head east for five weeks this summer. It's not fancy, but it will do nicely. I don't need "fancy." I just need "works."

Friends are always something to be grateful for. My mom friends who listen to my parenting concerns and my friends from way back who remind me of where I come from. Friends are certainly a gift. Always something to be grateful for.

I could go on and on, but I need to do some work and focus on getting ready for a new week. I am grateful for blogging friends who visit and share their time and joy with me. Getting back in the grove has been slow, but I see a light at the end of the tunnel. I'm grateful for this little blogging place. Christine at Brady's Bunch was the originator of Grains of Gratitude.

What are you grateful for?

Count it all joy!

Julie

Notes From the Sofa

Well, January has been more difficult to accomplish school, or anything else for that matter, than I planned on. There has been flu, malaise, inertia, and much frustration (to be quite honest). There have been auditions for summer intensives and much angst over going to summer intensives. And there has been drama...Oh yes, most of it was me.

The Nutcracker that Ate Christmas consumed seven days a week from mid-October until the end of December--past Christmas. We had a car crisis New Years Day and are still trying to recover from that. As a result, the house is stacked and piled high. I am, as I said the other night, "overwhelmed and spinning in circles." I am living in the crisis of the urgent--everything being urgent. But it will sort itself out, I am sure...okay, I am praying.

But amidst all of that, some schooling did get done. Some decisions have been made. And some directions have been changed.

I am surrounded by organized homeschoolers. They are working vigorously on their lessons plans--for next year! When I am still scraping by on my duct tape and baling wire approach to this year (which I'm still pleased with the results of--amazed, but pleased).

It appears we have acquired a piano teacher for Roo. Roo has been so out-of-my-league and over-my-head for awhile we needed a teacher, but we were looking for someone who would not take a cookie cutter approach with him. The gentleman we've approached is not a piano teacher per se, but a a professional who is going to take some time and assess and direct Roo's progress. A quick five minute conversation last week to discuss some details gave Roo more direction than I've been able to for a long time. It really was time to let go of those reins. I hope and pray this is something that will work.

There was a complete math overhaul for Boo. The results have been astounding. As in, "Why did I not do this, sooner?" We switched from a more traditional format to Miquon. We are going to back up a little and refocus, regroup and then go into the Keys to...program. Hopefully this will be a good direction. It seems to be so far.

Roo finished his essay and I assisted him with writing a resume for a dance scholarship he is applying for. He has been creating a video audition tape with the help of two of his teachers who are graciously donating their time. Anyone with suggestions to say, "Thank you?" One teacher is a woman and the other a man. Advice welcome!

Boo is doing some piano of his own. Besides the traditional workbooks (Bastien is what we use here) I've assigned him the task of adding to a song we both like. I've heard him do some improv with it and I asked that he make his own variation. He seemed to think that might be a good piece of homework.

Most electronics have been banned this week for the boys from Monday morning until Friday at about three p.m. I'm allowing computers for necessary schoolwork, texting while we travel in the car, and MP3 players when schoolwork is done. Bedtimes have been earlier and amazingly they have seen just how tired they are. I know this is normal for a lot of families, but we are bad habit night-owl-ers and everyone was getting cranky.

On that note, I need to close up shop and get myself to bed. I'm trying to regroup with my exercising in the a.m. It is getting back up to speed, but a little more slowly than I would like.

Have a blessed rest of the week!

Count it all joy,

Julie
This is where I found that Tiger-sofa.

Not Enough Coffee Today

Up until 2:30, last peeked at the clock at 3 a.m. There is not enough coffee in the world, right now. But I am also not foolish enough to drink more than my usual morning jolt, lest I repeat the scenario again tonight; switching to tea, shortly.

In the absence of brain cells, but in trying to get back in the posting habit I give you the two big questions on my mind at the moment:

What Kind of Coffee am I???

You Are a Plain Ole Cup of Joe

But don't think plain - instead think, uncomplicated You're a low maintenance kind of girl... who can hang with the guys Down to earth, easy going, and fun! Yup, that's you: the friend everyone invites. And your dependable too. Both for a laugh and a sympathetic ear.

What Kind of Coffee Girl Are You?

Yeah, I am plain...my husband will attest to the fact I am much more low maintenance than my friends. Not that I don't offer my share of quirks and complications, but he says he'll keep me.

Question 2: Where is the perfect shade of green?

A few days ago I was on the knitting path trying to find the perfect shade of green for a scarf. What do you mean, "Did I bring a color swatch?" That takes the challenge out of it. How many shades of green could there be? Well...this and that take a stab at the answer...sigh...Yes, I am getting that swatch.

You Are Mint Green

Balanced and calm, you have mastered the philosophy of living well. Your friends seek you out for support, and you are able to bring stability to chaotic situations. You're very open and cheerful - and you feel like you have a lot of freedom in life. Your future may hold any number of exciting things, and you're ready for all of them!

What Color Green Are You?

Blogthings: Cheaper Than a Therapist

Mint? Really? I was thinking Basil or Sage, maybe Oregano...hmmmmmm...mint...This is like the Purple question.

The Trouble with Tribbles...

Space: The final frontier
These are the voyages of the Starship, Enterprise
Its 5 year mission
To explore strange new worlds
To seek out new life and new civilizations
To boldly go where no man has gone before...

Cue the Star Trek music...

The Trouble with Tribbles
Episode Summary

Kirk must defuse a Klingon scheme to destroy a grain shipment...and cope with a seemingly benign creature known as a tribble, which reproduces at amazing speed.

Well, space is the final frontier at my house. Making space, creating space, finding space...daily goals of mine.

When we moved into this tiny duplex, it was with the largest U-haul truck and our mini-van. Our living room furniture was a futon and when company came we set out lawn furniture. Yep, really.

So what does that have to do with Star Trek? And tribbles?

Well, there is a law, kind of like the law of gravity or Murphy's law, or the law that says if you only have one pair of pantyhose it will get a run in it before you leave the house...I digress...this law says people's possessions will increase to fit their available space. I tried to Google that one, but couldn't find it exactly. But I know it's a law. I am sure.

Anyhoo...we've exceeded our "five year mission" and stuff has accumulated. And I think I mentioned once or twice or maybe a few times..."I am a packrat A-hem...crafter. And 2009 was an especially good year because I learned to knit!!!

Ahhhh...and here is when we come to the point of the knitting needle...

I have accumulated a stash!!!!

And let me tell you Space IS the final frontier and my room has become the space where no man (read my husband) wants to boldly go.


My partner-in-crime knitting mentor and I went to the yarn store recently and I was petting stroking drooling on admiring some beautiful faux fur yarn and I announced to her at the top of my lungs (she was across the store and I admit I was a wee bit wound up) "TRIBBLES!!"

Being the good friend and having the same sad background of being a Star Trek junkie, she knew immediately what I meant and we were both rolling on the floor LOLOLOL...Okay...we did manage to not really roll on the floor, but you get the idea. The salesperson helping her really did not see the humor. Sigh...

After I wiped the yarn off, I realized the price was such that, if I bought it we would not be eating anytime soon. And while that might be okay for me, my husband and children do not survive well on a steady diet of yarn. So I put it back and bid a sad farewell to the lovely skein.

I swear it purred at me.

To my delight, Hobby Lobby (my husband calls it "Rob-me Lobby") had a sale on yarn this week. Low and behold I found a furry friend for the cost of a cappuccino or mocha latte (which I no longer consume).




The lovely, little creatures jumped obediently into my cart and snuggled in the sack all the way home. They are now purring contentedly amidst the more sedate non-furry yarn awaiting my inspiration to create something with them. Or they might just be objects d'art if I fall under their charming spell and name them.