Seven Quick Takes Vol. 10

1.  I am going to do 7QT's today even thought I said last week that I wouldn't do the Mr. Linky group stuff unless I wrote two posts of my own.  I did not get around to doing anything other than The Simple Woman's Daybook this week but I am going to do 7 QT's anyway.

2.  We have been relying more heavily on convenience foods this week.  I have been spending a lot of time on house work and once again too much time reading blogs. Convenience foods this week have included:  frozen burritoes with added salsa and shredded cheese, pizza with homemade crust (relatively fast and easy), and Burger King hamburgers.  My goal is to be more organized next week. I will make a menu this weekend for next week. 

3.  One of the cleaning projects I accomplished this week was to clean off the mantle and the top of the entertainement center this week.  I tried it the way that Leila of Like Mother, Like Daughter recommends in this post.  She takes everything off of the surface that you are going to declutter so that what you put back is placed there deliberately, not because you are used to seeing it there.  I have tried this a few times and both times I did not put everything back to where it originally was.  It truly helped me to declutter the surface better than I would have otherwise.
4. Wild Flowers and Marbles is another one of my favorite blogs.  Jenmack shows pictures of things like a newly cleaned desk and a newly organized room.  There is nothing like looking at the results of someone else's hard work to organize to inspire yourself to do the same.

5.  I think I'm going to try and get out of the house alone for a few hourse tomorrow morning.  There's nothing like getting out of the house by yourself to improve your perspective.  I need to make this a regular thing.  It's always difficult to break out of the inertia of the routine. 

6. I basically wrote qt's  1-5 yesterday and I am currently at the library finishing this post.  See, I did get out of the just like I said I would and I am finishing what I started yesterday. 

7.  Well I'd better get going. I would like to stay a little longer but I am expected at home. 

For more quick takes go to Jen at Conversion Diary.

Simple Woman's Daybook

For today.. from Julia's Daybook

Outside my window...A consistent, pretty snowfall with some moderately chilly wind.

I am thinking...about how I get bent out of shape about things that may mean nothing as little as an hour later.

I am thankful for...I am never thankful enough, thanfully there is God's mercy and forgiveness.

I am wearing...Blue jeans, light blue t-shirt husbands green hooded sweat shirt with rip in the cuff.

I am remembering...how I felt hopeless about something this morning that I now feel hopeful about.  Emotions are fleeting.

I am currently reading...Frequent Confession I read a little at a time when I get the chance.  Last I read it talked about three kinds of examination of conscious: general examination--reflecting on your actions and thoughts for the whole day; particular examination--examining how well you are doing with a particular weakness or virtue; and continual examination-- throughout the day asking where is my heart at now?  A periodic attitude check so to speak?  I think that is the jist of it.

I am hoping...To get to the grocery store today.

On my mind...(but not as much as it should be) My dad in the nursing home.  He hasn't been doing as well as he had been.  He's having delusional thoughts.  Could be dimentia or he needs an adjustment to psychiatric meds. 

Noticing that...It's still snowing and it has gotten quite windy.
Pondering these words..."Paul's conversion reminds us that a sincere change of heart is essential for the spiritual progress of individual Christians as well as for full unity among them.  Only by a change of attitude and behavior toward one another can Christ's disciples remove the obstacles to such unity."  -John Paul II  Thinking about how this applies to marriage.

From the kitchen...Made scones this morning.  Not sure what's for supper.  I'd like to go to the grocery store tonight but Angelboy has a concert so I don't know if I'll make it.

Around the house...Got my kitchen tidied after lunch as is in my new daily routine.

One of my favorite things...Sushi

From my picture journal

Delicious chocolate mousse cake that we order for Christmas from the local co-op. 

Thanks for reading!.  Go to http://thesimplewomansdaybook.blogspot.com/  for more day books.

Seven Quick Takes Vol. 9

1. I have been writing on my blog a lot this week.  Meanwhile I have probably been neglecting other things like working on getting organized.  I need to pick my blogging time and stick with it.

2.  When I started this blog I was afraid of getting comments because then I knew people were seeing what I was writing.  When I started getting a few comments then it was so exciting that when the comments stopped coming that it was let down.  Not that I ever got that many comments, but...

3. I have been trying to write more of my own posts and do less of this Mr. Linky group stuff.  I decided that I will have the option of participating in one group blog acrivity for every two posts that I write on my own. The group stuff is fun, but I don't want it to be the majority of my posts.  I'm not exactly sure why that is.   Could someone put it into words for me?

4.  I started this blog in December of 2006.  I didn't really start writing regularly until the past few months so it's not llike I have a lot to show for a blog that has supposedly been around for the last three years.  I started writing thinking that I would write about my own conversion back to the Catholic faith.  I haven't done a lot on this but that's o.k.  I'll just keep writing and see where it all goes. 

5.  One of my favorite blogs right now is Like Mother, Like Daughter.  Leila writes a lot about cooking, housekeeping, and crafts with a dash of Catholic Spirituality, common sense and humor.  I am always blown away by her creativity and skill.  I really don't have the writing skill to give it the description it deserves.  You'll just have to go and look for yourself.

6.  My two-year-old has truly become a terrible two.  She is really quite awful at times.  We consistently put her in her room for tantrums and we may be acutually seeing a decrease in bad behavior as a result.  However, it does seem that any progress being made is very gradual.  It's hard to beleive that anyone could be as stubborn as this girl--except myself of course.  The battle of wills has begun!

7.  Speaking of gradual improvement, I have been working on a schedule using suggestions from A Mother's Rule of Life by Holly Pierlot.  Even with just the beginnings of a schedule I am seeing improvement in the running of my day.  The key is to keep tweaking and improving.  Perseverence and consistancy are key! 

Thanks for reading my quick takes.  For  more quick takes go here.

Knowing When Enough is Enough

It's difficult to know what to do with people you love who have a lot of chaos in their lives, and therefore, bring a lot of chaos into your life.  It seems there comes a certain point when all you can say is enough is enough.  They are not doing you any good by knowingly, or unknowingly, trying to get as much as they can from you; and you are not doing them any good by giving them more help than they need.  This only results in having them become overly-reliant on you for your support when they should be learning to take care of themselves.  There comes a point when you have done all you can do for them.  The only thing you have left to give them are your prayers. The rest is up to them to provide for themselves.

Am I Crafty Yet?

This is the scarf that I crocheted for my sister.  I think I started it last year.  I ended up getting the yarn tangled and so I kept putting off working on it.  Finally I just picked it up again and decided to untangle the yarn (with the help of my husband.) We got it mostly untangled without cutting it, though I did end up cutting the yarn and adding it in  And that is the story of this scarf.  It is my first completed crochet project.  Don't look too closely.  I'm happy to say that my sister really appreciated it.

FOR TODAY, January 18, 2010

Outside my window...it is gray and cloudy.  The temperature is in the upper twenties so it will be relatively comfortable for going on a walk.

I am thinking...about dealing or rather not dealing with extended family who tend to drag me into their problems.  Screening calls, right or wrong, may be an important part of this.

I am thankful for...God's grace. 

From the learning rooms...My son is taking care of getting his work done on his own.  He has been planning his own days.

From the kitchen...Something easy like spaghetti for supper tonight.  I will also soak pinto beans tonight.  I will use some to make a bean casserole and we eat the others plain or with a bit of seasoning whatever suits our fancy at the moment.  It's a low cost nutritous way of eating...albeit somewhat penitential. 

I am wearing...Jeans and husbands green computer science sweatshirt.

I am creating...I gave my sister the scarf I made her on Saturday.  It was my first crocheted project.  I want to learn to knit. I want to make longies for the baby but am afraid this may be too adavnced.  We'll see.

I am going...focus on meeting the needs of my family by avoiding unnecessary anxiety.

I am reading...My husband and I are reading For better...Forever.  It is a book about marriage combining  both a Catholic and a modern psychological perspective.

I am praying ...for my brother and his family.

I am hearing...The baby is starting to fuss.  He is "playing" on the floor in the living room.

Around the house...I need to clean the basment.  We have a finished basement with computers and a large table.  It is cluttered with Christmas wrapping paper among other things.

One of my favorite things...is making a new dish that turns out well. 

A few plans for the rest of the week:  I need to keep working on getting organized by making a daily schedule that includes prayer times.

Here is picture for thought I am sharing...

Pumpkingirl standing by her new Christmas rocking chair.

For more day books click here: http://thesimplewomansdaybook.blogspot.com/

Doing Without my Dryer Revisited

Last month on the Feast of the Immaculate Conception I found that my dryer was broken and wrote about it here. I had decided to hang up my clothes to air dry until the dryer was fixed and indicated that maybe I would even continue to do so after the dryer was fixed. Well I told myself that, in an effort to save on utilities and to use less of the worlds resources, I would hang up at least one load of laundry each week to air dry.

Did I follow through?

Well... I did this exactly once since I got the dryer fixed. I hung up dish towels and other whites on my drying rack. There are three things I told myself as to why I was just going to go back to using my dryer for now:

1. My pesky cat insisted on sitting underneath the drying rack and that left me with cat hair on my dish towels, which would leave me with cat hair on my dishes if I used these towels in the way they were meant to be used. That is undesireable I'm sure even for the most ardent cat lover.

2. Even with my newly purchased drying rack, it is still difficult to find a place to hang everything and we end up with laundry hanging up all over the house.

3. I'll just wait until warmer weather and hang it outside then.

Next Day--Another Try--Another Perspective
I wrote the above yesterday. Last night, however, I did , once again, hang up my laundry to dry and it seemed so easy.  I moved my drying rack to the bedroom where my cat would be less likely to get it and I also hung up a lot of laundry on hangers on the shower rod. 

I have come to the conclusion that , once you work out the logistics, hanging up clothes to dry doesn't add any more work than using the dryer because, in the act of hanging up your clothes to dry you are also taking care of most of the work of sorting and folding.  Dare I say that taking the time to put clothes in the dryer is just an extra step that adds more work? 

For more on the subject of air drying your clothes here is an article and a web site on the very topic.  Isn't that a hoot?  There is a web site about this. 

Love is...

Love is saving the last scoop of ice cream for your husband for when he gets home from work. I am getting better at things like this, but have to admit that I did eat the last scoop of ice cream an hour ago.

Perhaps One Less Thing to Worry About

Thinking about making a high school transcript for Angelboy should we still be homeschooling next year, is a stress triggering idea for me.  However, after talking to a couple of homeschool mom's I know, I have learned that it may not be as bad as I had first thought.  Both of these mom's said they didn't really keep records.  This was a happy thought indeed and may have filled me with both feelings of relief and awe at their devil-may-care attitudes. 

Then it occurred to me that, considering we live in a state where recordkeeping for homeschoolers is at a bare minimum, that maybe this isn't that crazy after all.  Perhaps keeping track of subjects studied and knowing that they have a good understanding of the concepts and subjects studied are the most important things.  This would be something that I can do and perhaps even enjoy. 

These mom's had only first year high school students so it is possible that they will start thinking more about recordkeeping further along in their child's high school career.  In the meantime I feel that I don't have to let this stand in the way of homeschooling Angelboy through highschool.  I still feel I need to do more looking into what is required of me for homeschooling highschool but for now I feel less daunted.

Okay, With a Few Adjustments---Maybe It Won't be so Bad After All

Well, we are back to the dreaded homeschooling.  That's right. Dreaded. 

I was not looking forward to starting again.  I was seriously thinking of sending Angelboy to the public Jr. High full time as soon as Christmas break was over. 

I dreaded the task of organizing the week and telling him what we were doing and when.  But you know what I did?  I gave him the books and had him organize the week and what we would be doing from each book.  This included: math, science, and language arts so far.  I'm giving the resonsibility (well a lot more of it anyway) to Angelboy to make sure we get schooling done.  He just tells me what to do and I will do it.  I'm here to help out if he needs me.  Well it probably won't be that simple but the idea is that I need and expect him to shoulder more responsibility for his own education.   I think he will do well with this.

O.K. the other reason I was dreading it was because he is fourteen and sometimes it seems like he has an opinion about everything which means that it seems like he contradicts me on everything.  When did this start to happen? It has become more and more apparent that the teenage years are here. 

There does seem to be a glimmer of hope though.  We both agreed that everything seemed much clearer after the break and we actually enjoyed the schooling that we did together.

Maybe we can do this.

Seven Quick Takes Volume 8

1. I had a beautiful Christmas. Although there were disappointments like my sister not coming and not being able to get very much alone time in with my husand, I felt that the consistent practice of our Advent devotions had the effect of making a little bit more room in my heart for Jesus. For me this meant things such as being touched by the fact that Almighty God became a helpless baby subject to human care. God is truly humble.

2. Here is a picture of the dutch oven my husband gave me for Christmas:

It's really beautiful. The picture doesn't do it justice. My husband also got me the cook book Soups from a Monastery Kitchen by Brother Victor-Antoine. Here is a picture of my cut-up vegetables, carrots, celery and turnips, that I used for making soup out of the book:

Many of the soups have relatively simple ingredients and are surprisingly tasty despite that.

3. I find myself looking forward to Monday when we will begin homeschooling again after a looooong amount of time off. I am having Angelboy plan what he will do next week with Math, Science, Language, and Geography. I may plan history, religion, and whatever else. I hope having him plan his own work and take more responsiblity for his own learning helps cut down on what I have to do. I was seriously thinking about having him go to public school full time after Christmas break because I didn't feel I was doing a good job of keeping on top of things and was worried about him getting a good education. We will at least finish this year at home. Next year is high school so we will see.

4. I think Angelboy would probably do well with keeping his faith and morality if he did go back to public school. I think having him home for the past 3+ years has been wonderful for grounding him in the faith. It's also been 3+ years since I have been in public school teaching. I am certain that much has changed in that short amount of time. They were just beginning to deal with the cell phone issue back then, but now I think that cell phones among teens is much more prevalent. Face Book is also much more widespread than it was just a few years ago. I know there is a lot of bad things that go on in public schools but there are also a lot of good kids and teachers. Its difficult deciding what to do.

5. One thing I would really like to do this year is get up earlier in the mornings on a more consistent basis. I would exercise and blog among other things and have time to plan my day. I need to reflect on what I would like to accomplish this year and make plans. Some solid plans to change certain behaviors and attitudes would certainly be a good idea. I need to work on patience and accepting times when things don't go as planned.

6. Last year I made the resolution to go to monthly confession and followed through even when I really didn't want to go. I need to make another commitment like this. First Friday Mass? Weekday mass at least one day a week? Daily rosary? Any ideas?

7. Well I need to get ready to go to church now. My husband is making blueberry muffins. Yum! One of the accomplishments I can claim for this year is more regular posting on my blog. Granted it started later in the year but it happened none the less. I look forward to another year of regular blogging. It is certainly one of my favorite things.

For more quick takes go to conversiondiary.com