Seven Quick Takes Vol. 15

1.  I got a haircut on Saturday!  I think it has been at least a year since I got my hair cut.  It's amazing how good I feel.  It was really long and I wore it in a pony tail all the time.  I had it cut above my shoulders and layered.  I'm just thrilled with it and my husband likes it too;)

2.  It was hot at the beginning of the week: the upper 80s and maybe 90; but the past couple of days have been so beautifully perfect.  Yesterday I went on a weed pulling rampage.  It was easy because the ground was just the right amount of wet.

3.  It looks like we may have to look for other options in my wish for a clothesline.  We got an umbrella clothesline that requires a hole to be dug in the ground for installation.  

We called to have the underground utilties marked but it seemed like no matter where my husband dug he always ended up hitting an underground cable t.v. line anyway. Some other possibilities are  Mrs. Pegg's Handy Line and something that attaches to the house like this one.  They are kind of expensive but it seems that these may be the best options for our limited space and it will end up paying for itself (though maybe not as quickly as I would like).

4.I hate Facebook.  When someone says something that rubs me the wrong way (i.e. discusses politics) there are times when I feel I just have to comment and tell them (politely of course) that they are mistaken and here is why.  That is in the heat of the moment and then comes the next day when I feel embarassed and am loathe to check my email in fear that they may have responded back.  Sometimes they don't but when they do I just delete the response and hide from the whole situation.  Isn't that silly?  I recently did yet again but this but this time I moved the email with the with the response to a special folder and will perhaps look at it later when I have time to think about it and not become upset or preoccupied about it.  I think I have a misplaced sense of guilt about speaking my mind. 

5.  Memorial Day weekend is the annual Renaissance Fair.  We may go to this as we haven't been in a long time.   Much of what goes on isn't purely "Renaissance" but a mix of many time periods and there seems to be a certain Wiccan element as I recall.  Something cool I remember from last time I went was a woman who made cookies form medieval times.  She talked about how it was the man's job to beat the eggs because they didn't have mixers and the eggs had to be beaten for a long time.  The cookies were beautiful as they were made with a cookie mold.  I think it will be fun.

6.  Smileyboy's first birthday is July 3rd and I often find myself thinking how hard it is to believe that at this time last year I was pregnant.  He was due July 2nd and I was sure he would come late as my first two children were induced at two weeks past the due date.  My water broke on July 2nd and my labor wouldn't get started because of how he was positioned.  Thank goodness he moved to a better position before it was time to push.

7.  Our garden is starting to look really good.  I wish I had a picture handy to post.  It will be interesting to see how much stuff we get.  It's a small garden but maybe we will get enough tomatoes to do a little canning.  We have beets so I may be able to try pickling some and maybe freezing the greens.  I have never done this before so it will be interesting to see how it goes.

Have a good Memeorial Day weekend and for more Quick Takes go to http://www.conversiondiary.com/.

Seven Quick Takes Vol. 14

1.  I posted about Angelboy and my husband putting together a frame for a raised garden here.  Well here is a picture of the garden with the dirt in it just waiting for the plants to come and live there.  Hmm...I guess it depends on how fond of gardening you are as to whether or not you find this picture very interesting.

2.  There is a woman I know who just had her 9th child at the age of 42 and she had her first child at around the age of 30.  Isn't that amazing!  I love it when older women are able to have large families.  It's unorthodox to have nine chlidren in todays society, but it is even more unorthodox to do so beginning in your thirties and continuing on into your forties.  I can appreciate this as I had my second and third child at the ages of 37 and 39 and am hoping God gives me the strength I need to accept more if it be his will.

3.  I had a really bad attitude last week.  Then I saw the above mentioned woman with all her nine children and her new baby and my attitude changed.  If she can have her 9th baby at the age of forty-two with the oldest child being 12 how can I claim to be stressed out as a housewife with two little ones who gets mostly plenty of time to herself and has plenty of help.  (O.k...I don't have nine, but it is still hard to get it all done sometimes.)

4.  Speaking of older women having children...I had an ultrasound done of my ovaries on Tuesday.  It was kind of depressing as the ultrasound technician told me my ovaries were small.  She then said that this was good in that it is normal for your ovaries to get smaller as you get older, and then added, "unless you want more children."  Ugh. 

5.   We finally got an offer on our condo and the closing is scheduled for May 25.  I pray that it goes off without a hitch... or at least minimal hitches, anyway.  I dream of the day when we will be paying only one mortgage.

6.  We got a Brill reel lawn mower today (Those are the push lawn mowers without motors).  Our power lawnmower died and we had been thinking for a long time about getting a reel lawnmower.  Our grass hadn't been mowed yet this season so our grass was pretty long and we had even longer gone-to-seed Dandelions  sticking out of the grass.  The mower did great with the grass but it didn't mow the dandelions so we have a yard full of dandelion stems sticking up.  Very ugly.  We may have to power mow these some way and then start over again by mowing them with the reel lawnmower before they get very long again.  I guess you have to mow your grass pretty regularly as the manual lawn mower doesn't do as well with tall grass as the power lawnmower.  We'll give it a chance.

7.  Tomorrow is May 1st and the feast of St. Joseph the Worker.  Wow!  Goodbye April.

Thanks for reading!  You can read more qt's at conversiondiary.com.  Have a good weekend!

Seven Quick Takes (Vol. 13)

1.  This hasn't been the best week.  Does anyone else ever wonder if they should really be a stay at home mom?    Does anyone feel like they are missing out by not working outside the home?  Is it one of those green grass on the otherside things?  I think I will feel better when I start playing in the symphony again on a regular basis.  I also plan on getting out for a "Mother's Sabbath" tomorrow. 

2.  I'm naturally introverted so sometimes its just hard getting started with the ideas I have for doing things outside the home, which include:   Working up some music to play with my son (and husband?, and sister too?)at nursing homes, playing at church (I have inquired about this before but nothing ever seems to come of it), just picking up my bass and playing at home would be a good start. 

3.  I have mixed feelings about homeschooling.  As of today we are planning on sending Angelboy to the public highschool.  I feel a little sad about this and of course wonder if it is the right thing to do.  But I also wonder of continuting to homeschool would be the right thing to do.  When homeschooling goes well I really enjoy it (and maybe he does too), but at the same time sending him to highscool may quite possibly free up a lot of my time and I may have more time to spend with Angelboy doing things other than schooling.  He really likes the idea of going to highschool as I think he wants to know if he can handle the academic challenges of a more structured environment.

4.  Pumpkingirl no longer gets herself into a tither whenever I suggest she "goes potty."  Perhaps this is a sign that bigger things are to come. 

5.  Tonight is "date night" and I don't know where we are going as I insisted that it be a surprise.  I am looking forward to it.

6.  My current blogging goal is to get at least two posts a week in anyway that I can; the rest is gravy.  This is my third post this week so I'm doing fine.

7.  I haven't done any quick takes since before Lent so it feels good to be back...though I don't know how regularly I will be doing quick takes.  It seems like Friday isn't a very good blogging day for me and (as has been said before) quick takes aren't always so quick.

Have a good weekend and stop by to see Jen at conversion diary for more quick takes.

Seven Quick Takes Vol. 12

1.  For Valentine's Day my husband made lobster tail and pork chops; and as if that were not enough he made chocolate mousse also. (I made the home made whip cream.)  Neither of us had had chocolate mousse before.  It was heavenly and it makes me so happy just thinking about it.

2.  Angelboy and I are seriously thinking that he will go to high school next year.  I think it will give us both more space and perhaps strengthen our relationship.  We may decide to go back to homeschooling but you don't know what will work until you try. 

3.  I am making French Lentil soup, salmon croquettes (recipe on back of can, I was originally going to make tuna salad using salmon), and homemade bread.  That sounds really good for a Lenten Friday supper.

4. I read a lot of the benefits of menu planning.  The only time I really plan a menu per se, is when I am going to try a new recipe and I need to make sure I get the proper ingredients from the store.  Otherwise I mostly buy the same stuff at the store and work with this.  Could anyone tell me why they think or don't think planning menus is helpful?

5.  One thing I am trying to do this Lent is to keep my in between meal eating to a minimum.  I think this will help me to be more mindful of what I eat.  Am I hungry?  How much do I need to eat to satisfy me?  What can I choose that is healthy?  I try to focus on the fact that I need Jesus more than I need that slice of cheese and learn to rely on him for happiness.  O.k. I am trying to loose a little weight too.

6.  I wasn't going to do seven quick takes but its much more fun to read everyone else's when you have some of your own to share.

7.  I'm trying to teach pumpkingirl how to help me clean the kitchen by sweeping, wiping, scraping off her plate and putting the recycling in its proper place.  That should keep her busy for a while.

For more quick takes see Jen and http://www.conversiondiary.com/.

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.

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

Seven Quick Takes Vol. 7

1. Last night we went to a free Christmas Show downtown at our local theater. Carolers sang outside as people were coming in. There was free cookies and hot chocolate. We had gone to this two years ago when Pumpkingirl was a baby and really liked it. We had decided to go at the spur of the moment. It is always a little uncertain how things will go when a toddler and an infant are in the mix so I was a little hesitant about dragging everybody out into the cold and trying to find a parkng place but it turned out to be really nice. That change of routine was a Godsend!

2. I have been baking cookies this week and intend to make some today and over the weekend. I have always baked cut out sugar cookies for the past few years but this is the first year that I will be baking more of a variety. I am going to try and get in at least four different kinds. I know this isn't a lot to some people but for me it is a good start. I have really been enjoying it. I have to remember to include my oldest Angelboy though. I enjoy it so much that I tend to leave him out and want to do everything myself. He did bake a whole batch of his own sugar cookies though. We should strive for more togetherness.

3. I feel God has really been blessing our Advent. I feel our Advent devotions, though simple, have been bringing us closer to God and to each other while keeping the true meaning of Christmas in mind. This doesn't mean I haven't strayed and let myself become stressed out and grouchy but it has been a good foundation for our Christmas preparations.

4. Speaking of the true meaning of Christmas, I only need to buy a gift for hubby and then I am pretty much done. We really don't have that much Christmas shopping to do. We buy a few things for each other and I buy a few things for my sister, brother and 3 nephews. That's pretty much it. We haven't been buying for our parents. They usually get a picture of the kids. We have a little more time for this since we ususally don't see them until New Year's Day. Gosh, writing all that down makes me think I have more to do than I thought. Better get hoppin'. I'm sure others put a lot more on themselves than this though.

5. I am always hesitant to make cookies because I am worried that I will eat a lot of them myself. This hasn't happened so far. I think it is because I am rather proud of them and want to save them to show off on Christmas Eve when my brother and sister are coming over. My vanity is keeping me in line.

6. We haven't gotten our Christmas Tree yet but will get it next week when hubby takes the week off. We are going to get a live tree this year I guess. We are going to go and pick one out and chop it down ourselves. We had done this three years ago on the day before Christmas Eve. We thought it was cool to get our tree just a few days before Christmas like stories you read or see on t.v. More traditional? There wasn't quite the selection of trees by then of course, and they still charge you the same for the tree but we didn't care. We were caught up in the joyful spirit of the day.

7. It looks like we will be having a white Christmas for the third year in a row. You never know what the weather is going to do in Iowa so all the snow could melt before Christmas:) Merry Christmas!

Click on the above link for more Quick Takes.

Seven Quick Takes Vol. 6

1. I am looking for a sewing machine. The only sewing machine I have ever used was my mother's White M77 series. This was made in the late 1940s and was made of cast iron. Oh how I wish I had it now. My sister got rid of it when she had moved out of my mother's house after she died but I had no place for it back then and it probably didn't hold as much interest for me then as it does now. I have been looking on ebay. There are lots of old sewing machines to be found there. These old machines are so heavy that many people will not send them out but require them to be picked up locally. I'm going to keep researching and see what I can find.

2. I have not sewed since high school (or was it Jr. High?). My mother taught me how to sew because it was something that I was interested in learning how to do. I would like to pick it up again and when I see something in the store that is simple yet expensive I can say, "I'll make one myself." Some things I have in mind to start off with are: an apron, a cloth, stuffed ball for a baby, baby and kid clothes. That should be enough for starters.

3. I think some of these simple things can be made easily enough with hand sewing too. I have a little pillow that I haven't finished yet. This project was out of a sewing book for kids that I checked out at the library to help teach my son how to sew. He finished his pillow.

4. I am pretty much done with the crocheted scarf that I am making for my sister for Christmas. I need to weave in the ends from where I started a new skein of yarn and figure out how to finish.

5. I have been hurrying my 14 year old son to bed so I will have the living area of the house all to myself. Everyone else is in bed and sleeping. Ahhhh peace.

6. My husband wants a saw and miter for Christmas. He is interested in learning wood working. I think he will be good at this as this is something that requires a lot of precision and attention to detail. He is a detail oriented person.

7. We are at the end of the second week of Advent and it is time to make a few cookies. This is what I may be doing for the rest of the evening. But first I am going to go to Conversion Diary and read other people's quick takes.

Seven Quick Takes Friday Vol. 6

1. This weekend is another concert weekend. The program is the Dvorak Cello Concert and Shostakovich Symphony No. 5. When we get new music I have been looking for performances of it on You Tube for a free way to listen to the music. Lately I have viewed performances of such old greats as Leonard Bernstein and the New York Philharmonic, and Mislav Rostropovich. I am so grateful that access to these historic performances as well as newer ones are so readily available right in our own homes. This is the internet (and You Tube) at its best!

2. I have had a sick toddler this week. She has a really bad cold and the runniest nose I have ever seen. She wakes up with her hair stuck to her face with snot. Her hands always need to be washed because she is always wiping her nose with them. Her little nose is chapped and she has some gunk coming from both of her eyes. She is one messy little girl. She has actually gotten better in the past few days in that she doesn't wake up crying like she did the first two days and she is sleeping better. She was still pretty messy yesterday though. If her eyes don't clear up soon I'll probably take her to the doctor.

3. I think I may have this breastpumping-when-I'm-away-playing-in-rehearsals-and-concerts thing down now. I arrive to rehearsal an hour early, bring my bass in and pump in the bathroom downstairs. I have learned to put a sticky note outside the door saying "done in 20 minutes" so that people know that there will be a wait and they can go find another bathroom if they like. For rehearsal breaks I feel self conscious using this restroom because I will be in it for the whole break so I use the multiple stall restroom in the lobby. I also feel self conscious about the noise of the breast pump but I gotta do what I gotta do, and once the bathroom gets busy the noise of the toilets flushing, and the people talking, and coming in and out covers up the sound of the pump. I didn't want to pump during break before because I didn't want to get back late, but I realized that I don't need to wash out the pump until after I get home and this saves a lot of time. I wasn't pumping as often as I wanted to last concert set and I was worried about milk supply decreasing so now I am pumping about as often as I think necessary. Ahh, the things shared on blogs.

4. So now that I think I have the where and when of pumping milk I decided not to play in the next two concerts in February and March. But that's o.k. because I am happy that I can forego the anxiety of going some place an hour away from home in the worst of the winter weather. On the other hand, once I do get to rehearsal I am usually as happy as a clam to be playing and I will probably miss it though I will have the last concert of the season to look forward to in April.

5. The baby has been taking his binky regularly, and boy has this been a help in getting him to take longer naps. Thank you to my husband for getting him to this point.

6. It is as cold as it has been in a while today. It is not supposed to rise above freezing for a while and it is flurrying off and on. It was peaceful lying in bed and nursing the baby while watching the snow fall gently from the sky.

7. I am finding that if I make writing my blog a priority over reading blogs I feel a much better sense of accomplishment. It is really tempting to spend a lot of time reading blogs and then feeling like you have no time to do all the other things you wanted to do leaving you resentful about not having enough time to yourself. So making use of the time that I have given me is what I am working on.

For more Quick Takes click on the link above.

Seven Quick Takes Vol. 6

~1~

We are going to my mom and dad-in-laws for Thanksgiving. They live about an hour away on the farm where my husband grew up. Then we are going to go to my aunt on my mom's side. She also lives on a farm in the same are. I am going to make whole cranberry sauce and sweet potato casserole to bring. We've been making cranberry sauce for the holidays for a while. I remember going to my aunt and uncle on my Dad's side and having home made cranberry sauce and just thinking that it was the homiest thing ever. I love cranberry sauce.

Sweet potato casserole was something we just discovered last year. I was looking up recipes for sweet potatoes for Christmas Dinner and happened to run across the recipe that is linked above. I had never heard of sweet potato casserole before. Both of these things are something that no one else makes in our families so we are always proud to bring something that is our very own.

~2~

There is always the temptation to be a little anxious about Christmas or more specifically about preparing for Christmas. I always want to make sure to use my time well and make the most of it for preparing for Christmas spiritually and materially. In theory, I think it is important to do a little each day and keep things simple. For example, I think it would be fun to do crafty things with the kids in preparing for Christmas. When I think of all the options there are for this I get overwhelmed, but if I just make a decision to do a particular thing and do it then I feel good because we accomplish something and create good memories. So, for me, I guess it's important not to get hung up on trying to make the right decision and just make a decision.

~3~

We need a new vacum cleaner. I'm thinking off a Eureka Boss. I did some research on line and it looked like this one may be the best for the money. I'm excited about getting a new vacum cleaner as the one we have now is about 15 years old and has lost a lot of its suction capacity. I love the rattling sound of dirt being sucked form the carpet into the vacum cleaner. It's very gratifiying to clean entry ways where this is particularly noticeable.

~4~

Hmmm ...let me think of Thanksgivings of childhood. In the morning we would watch the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade. Santa Claus was always at the very end. I remember that my Grandpa bought us a color t.v. especially so we could watch the parades in color. (That makes me sound old.) I also remember watching this at Grandma's house some years but when we got older we would go to my grandma and grandpa's house in the afternoon. There was one Thanksgiving when there was a lot of snow and we brought our sled. I ended up getting a bloody lip from falling off the sled I think.

~5~

I'm not going to read anyone elses's seven takes before I do mine. I think it makes it easier to think of things that way without being influenced by someone else's style or content. If I read some really good quick takes (and I usually do) it tends to make me feel self-conscioius about what I am writing and things don't flow as well. Does that make sense? I'm sure there are other seven quick takers out there that feel the same way.

~6~

My husband is taking next week off from work. This means a vacation for me as much as it does for him. I will try to get some ideas in mind of what I would like to get done around the house (Christmas and homeschool planning?), and of course some ideas for doing some recreational things as a family too (don't want to be all work and no play).

~7~

I am always encouraged by all the good people who blog out there. I can't get over the fact of how cool it is that blogging allows regular people to express their ideas in a somewhat public way. It is amazing how many talented people are out there who we would never know about if it weren't for blogging.

That does it for this week. Happy Thanksgiving and for more quick takes click on the logo above.

Seven Quick Takes Vol. 5

~1~

Dh has been getting into country music recently. He can't get the station he normally listens to on his radio at work any more so he is listening to the country music station along with his classic rock station. He never liked country music before and always disparaged it in his younger days. I on the other hand, while not super country music fan, have always enjoyed listening to country music every now and then, especially on my way home from symphony rehearsals. So country music has been the new thing that we have in common these days. When he gets home from work he tells me about a new song he heard and I usually know exactly which one he is talking about. I'm kind of amazed with how many country songs I know from my minimal listening. We even watched the Country Music Awards on Wednesday.

~2~

I finally took a nick out of baby's thumb when I was cutting his fingernails this week. I had done the same thing to my two older children and was trying to be really careful so the same thing wouldn't happen to baby boy. But alas... I was cutting his nails while he was nursing. He didn't cry at all but he did look up with a little bit of surprise and he did bleed quite a bit. (poor kid)Their fingers and fingernails are so little and their fingernails are so sharp when they need to be cut.

~3~

Last night I tried a new recipe. They were Jacques Pepin potatoes via Rachel Ray. Apparently they were a recipe he grew up with. They use baby Yukon Gold potatoes but any small potato will do. It turned out pretty well but I think its one of those things where you need experience to get things the right consistency. The trick is to get them soft enough to slightly "pop" them open a crack but not so soft that they completely turn into mashed potatoes. I tried cutting the larger potatoes to make the potatoes all the same size but it works better to have whole potatoes because they are less likely to fall apart. Don't get me wrong, even the potatoes that fell apart were scrumptuous but they look fancier when the potatoes stay together I think. Here is the picture from the recipe web site. I should have taken a picture of the ones I made but I didn't think of that at the time.

Anyway, it is always invigorating to try new recipes. I had the usual chicken with these but taking the time to try something a little different always makes me feel so much more creative.

~4~

We had a basement waterproofer come and look at our problem egress window yesterday. He says there are no guarantees but he was for starting with the cheapest solution first and adding more pricey things if they were needed. Dh and I were thinking more along the lines of going with what is more sure to work even though it may be more expensive. What the basement guy considered more pricey didn't sound that bad to us as we were thinking that things could get much more expensive. However, we forgot to tell him about the problem of sometimes water coming in at a particular angle so that it shoots directly into the basement window itself which is one of the worst problems because you can't do much but roll up the carpet in that area and put towels down until the heavy rain is over. A fix that included draining water out of the window well like a sump pump wouldn't work with water coming directly into the window so we may have to talk about putting in a new kind of wall for the window well that doesn't allow water to come in through the cracks like the railroad ties do. I still think it might not be as expensive as we were thinking at first but we'll see.

~5~

Last night I went to my every other week Thursday night adoration at the perpetual adoration chapel. My husband and I take turns going every other Thursday night. This has worked out well for us. We have chosen a night and we stick with it for the most part.

~6~

Yesterday I took my toddler to the library musical story time for kids under three. I left the baby napping at home with my oldest. It was nice to take this time to be alone with her. She was somewhat interested in the story time but she wanted to play with the puzzles which were right next to where the story time was happening. So she played with the puzzles while keeping an eye on what was happening at the story time and would participate when it interested her.

~7~

On Sunday we visited my husbands mom and dad. It was a nice visit. They are in their early eighties and I am so thankful for each moment we get to spend with them. I always pray that they will be around for a while longer.

Seven Quick Takes Vol. 4

1. Up early this morning. Since the time change I have been trying to get up at 6:00 regularly. My husband has been getting up around 4:30 to 5:00 to work a few hours on his second job. I went to bed fairly early last night so I was awake when he got up at 5:00 this morning. I have a full day today so I wanted to start the day with the Seven Quick Takes as to at least get this post in this week.

2. I have an orchestra concert this weekend. We are playing Beethoven's 3rd Symphony and a piece that is a musical setting of Martin Luther King Jr. 's I Have a Dream Speech. The speech is narrated by a local woman who has done much for the community.

3. It is a pain to find a place and time to pump milk while I am out away from the baby playing at the symphony. I try to get there an hour early so I can pump before rehearsal. I was planning on pumping in one of the dressing rooms but I found they were all locked. In past experiences this had not been the case. The stage set up guy came with me to see if he had a key to open them but he did not. So I had to explain to him that I was a nursing mother and I wanted to pump milk and that I reallypreferred a more private place to go than the public rest room in the lobby. He showed me a bathroom that I did not know existed which worked perfectly. I pumped after rehearsal too but when I was done the theater was dark and everyone except a few of the stage crew was left. What a lonely frightening feeling! I still hadn't packed up my stuff yet so I ended up doing that in the dark. Thankfully the lights back stage were still on. Another option is to pump during break but that usually doesn't allow for enough time and I am late getting back which I also hate. I have a car plug in so I could pump in my car but I found that it is really difficult to do this without seeing and if I turn on the light to make sure I have everything in the right place there is a good chance of revealing myself to someone I really don't want to. Waiting until I get home is longer than I would like to wait because it is an hour drive but maybe I'll have to do this. I don't want my milk to go down but then again it's not like it's every night.

4. I really want to finish a scarf that I started crocheting for my sister last year. The only reason I stopped is because the yarn got all tangled up. I had to cut the yarn and then my husband helped me get the yarn untangled. I need to make sure I know how to attach the cut yarn to the rest of the scarf properly now. I will look this up online when I get the chance. This is the first thing I have ever crocheted. It took a little while to figure it out but eventually I did.

5. I never got a chance to take a picture of the Jack O'Lantern's that dh and ds made last week. They were really beautiful.

6. I really love playing for the symphony but I feel really busy. For my two year old I took the whole year off after she was born. My baby boy is only 4 months and I have started up again. There is the pumping milk issue and I just feel more inclined to work on stuff around the house. It's probably really best for me to get away so I can appreciate being at home more. Yesterday I had no rehearsal and felt really good too stay home.

7. It feels like it is more difficult to get started writing this early in the morning. Its more difficult to think of stuff to write about. But that's it I made it through once again.

Seven Quick Takes Vol. 3

1. Pizza for supper tonight! I make pizza with home made, whole wheat crust. It turns out pretty well. Recently I have started pre-baking it for a few minutes before I put the topping on. This really helps with the texture which was rather soggy before. Now it has a nice chewiness. I started doing this my first year homeschooling after we had been to our first function with our homeschool group and the hosting mom had made pizza with home made crust. I had visions of being an earthy homemaker. I guess my vision of an earthy homemaker was someone who made home made pizza crust. The Earthy Homemaker: Sounds like a good name for a blog.

2. Grrrr. We are having problems with our window well filling up with water again. Last night while I was away my husband had to bail out water during a downpour, and a cold downpour at that. The most frustrating thing about this situation is that a large portion of the water comes from our neighbors yard. You see she has a bare track of land where her dog used run when he was out all day (that issue has been taken care of). The water forms a stream here which runs down hill and a large quantity of water drains onto our property as well as out into the street. We tried talking with her about it but said in not so many words that it was our problem. We thought we had a solution but we are having problems again. I'm going to try and call some dry basement specialists and see what they can do. My husband says fix it and then move. Maybe he's right.

3. On a better note the baby is starting to take a bottle. My son had some luck with this last night when Dad was bailing out the window.

4. Last Friday I noticed some comments on my blog for the first time. These were from Chelsea at Roots and Rings. It turns out Thru Pink Curtains had also left a comment way back in December. I never noticed until this week. It felt so good to get comments. It gave me a whole new motivation to blog. Thanks to both commenters.

5. Well we have two pumpkins that we bought last weekend. We will carve them into jack-0-lanterns tonight. Actually my husband and 14 year old will carve them tonight. That will give me something to post except I really need to get batteries for my camera before I can take photos.

6. I'm going grocery shopping tonight. That is, if I don't wimp out. I'll get batteries then,God willing.

7. It's windy, sunny and rather warm in my neck of the woods. Hopefully no rain for a while. Pray we find a good solution to our egress window problem.

Seven Quick Takes Vol. 2

1. I am going to make it a blogging goal to do the seven quick takes every Friday if I do nothing else that week. So here I am. Will I do it next Friday? Wait and see.

2. It was rainy, windy and cold yesterday here in East Central Iowa. It is rainy and cold today minus the wind. Husband has been home three days in a row. He stayed home Wednesday because he had to take oldest son to a doctor appointment so he figured he would take the whole day off. He stayed home yesterday and today because he wasn't feeling well. He really didn't get much sleeping and laying down kind of rest but he sure was helpful to me to have around. He helped son with math. We all read about Mecca together from The Book of Marvels by Richard Halliburton for homeschool geography and he helped out with the little ones. So really it was more of a break for me than for him.

3. Husband is presently taking our 14 year old son to his classes at the local Jr. High. He will be back soon and I will... He cam back so I moved down to the basment for a little privacy. I feel self conscious writing on my computer when he is around. It's hard to concentrate too.

4. If I want to be a better writer I just need to do more writing. Right? And do it on a regular basis. Do I really like writing, or am I like most aspring writers and just like the idea of writing. I sure do love reading blogs. I like all of the buttons and gadgets that people have on their blog sites. Sometimes I like that part better than the actual writing part of the blog. Is part of the fun of blogging supposed to be setting up the layout and all that. I suppose for me it is.

5. Halloween--Many Catholic homeschool types don't "celebrate"Hallween in any form. I, however, ususally love handing out candy and even going out trick-or-treating with the kids. In a time when people rarely know their neighbors it is a great opportunity to get out and meet neighbors. Unfortunately you probably won't see them again until next year.

6. Where do bloggers get such great photos/graphics for their blogs that actually fit in with what they are writing. I have noticed these at Conversion Diary and at Wesley J. Smith's Blog Second Hand Smoke.

7. My first symphony rehearsal is a week from this Sunday. It is a double rehearsal so it will last from 1:30 until 8:00 with a two hour break for supper. The baby will not take a bottle yet though husband actually got two ounces into him last night when I was out for about four hours. He was hungry when I got home though. I may have to skip one of the reahearsals on Sunday.

Seven Quick Takes (Vol. 1)

1

I am sitting in the basement which is where my sons bedroom is. He is sleeping but has his radio set to public radio classical music. I am down here because I really needed to get away alone to concentrate. My husband is doing dishes up stairs. It's been so long since I could get away by myself. I don't think he understands how I need this alone time right now.

2

No one knows I blog. I wouldn't be surprised if no one has even seen this blog. To tell you the truth I am a little shy about anyone seeing my blog, even people I don't know. I am shy in real life and I am shy on line. For a while when I would come across some really well written blogs I thought maybe I would just give up as my writing was definately not as good as these. I then started reading some of my own posts and I kind of liked what I wrote. There is nothing wrong with doing something that you enjoy despite the fact that there may be others better at it than you. I've been thinking that I would like to get out and mingle in the blogosphere. Blogs are way cooler than Facebook.

3

Popcorn. This has been my snack of choice lately. I make it in a four quart sauce pan. Heat two tablespoons of oil at a nunber 7. Add one half cup of popcorn. You should hear a sizzle. Put the lid on and shake the pan every once in a while so the popcorn doesn't burn. DO NOT remove the lid until the popcorn is done. This may result in the oil catching on fire as it has with me. (Fortunately it was contained in the pan until the flames went out.) Shortly you will hear a few pops and then many pops that will eventually subside. Take the lid off now and pour the popcorn in a big metal bowl. Add salt to taste. Yummy!

4

Tomorrow we will try and do house cleaning stuff that doesn't get done during the week.

Hubby's jobs are:

Mopping kitchen floor

Finish washing the windows

Get tool box out of our bedroom and put it back where it belongs

My jobs are:

Vacuming

Laundry

Cleaning the basement

Cleaning oven and/or washing bathtub

GA's jobs are:

Cleaning his room

We'll have to think of more for him.

5

I'm planning on saying a prayer to St. Joseph every day until we sell our condo. Good Lord willing, once we sell our condo we should be well on our way to getting out of debt. It is such a financial drain to have to pay two mortgages. Things are very tight. However, I am thankful that we have been able to keep up with our bills and be able to buy most things we need with a few extras here and there. We also haven't had to put any more on our credit card until recently and that was to have a few things in the condo repaired.

Be that as it may I would really love to be able to go on a trip. I am debating whether or not we should take a trip to the Shrine of Our Lady of Guadalupe in LaCrosse, WI for my 40th birthday. This would require us to put a few hundred more on our credit card for a hotel and a little bit to eat but it may prove to be worth it. I always think about what I hear others say about the many graces that people receive when they go on a pilgrimage. Would it be presumptuous to spend more money we don't have and then trust the Lord and Our Lady to make it work out?

6

Hubby and I went out for coffee this morning. It was so good to get out even if just for a small excursion down for coffee and bagels. Mmmm it was good coffee too. French Roast.

7

Hooray! My first edition of seven quick takes. That was fun.

See Conversion Diary