7 Quick Takes and a Prayer

--1--

Isn't it a blessing to be comfortable enough to have the means for all of life's true necessities and yet to be working hard enough to get them that a bag of coffee and a quart of cream makes for a fine, fine Christmas gift? Of course, it's easy to be grateful for a bag of Mystic Monk. Thank you oh so very much, neighbors!

--2--

Everyone waiting to see Sissy's gift!

By American standards, we celebrate a small Christmas. We try to keep the focus on our faith and each other and not on an ever growing pile of goods under the tree. For the past few years we have chosen not to go into credit card debt but instead have set a cash budget and have kept to it in spite of all temptation. We actually give the majority of the funding to the children to spend a modest amount on each present they need to buy for each other, my husband and I, grandparents and Godparents. Most of their Christmas gifts and most of the excitement come from what they carefully choose for each other. It's sweet to watch the children hover around the recipient as each gift is opened, to hear them calling out, "That's from me!" and "You got that from her?" We think we're on to something. This year, as every year, was the very best.

--3--

A No-Filing Filing System of Monthly Bills
From Echoes of Laughter

We had our first test of our new bill paying system the other day. Our propane company called concerned that we hadn't paid our bill. All it took was a quick look in my notebook to be able to say, "It was mailed a week ago Wednesday." Before they even found their clerical error, I already knew the check had cleared the bank and all was well. It was a nice experience compared to the frantic search through a pile of unfiled paperwork that was my previous system for responding to such phone calls. If you are interested in changing the way you track and file your monthly bills, this is the system we're using. I can recommend it from personal experience. It works!

--4--

Enough crowing! How about a nice wife fail to round out the list? Last Sunday, my husband was sick and staying home from church and work. The kids were also sick and were dozing and quiet so while I was getting ready, he and I had the rare opportunity for a real adult conversation. It got pretty deep into the usual topics of the New Year, self-improvement, and I wanted to give him a little boost. Meaning to remind him that nobody is expected to be perfect but to simply persevere I said cheerily, "You know you are going to fail, right?" I meant to go on and explain myself better, but his look prevented much more than some stammering and apologizing. It took me awhile to untangle what I really meant from what I'd said and by the end of it we were laughing at my failure to communicate. He isn't teasing me too hard about it yet, but he has whispered in my ear once or twice as I'm beginning a job, "You know you're going to fail, right?"

I already did, babe. Got that skill down pat.

--5--

"Resolving to Sin No More"

Garden of Holiness Podcast for Deeper Truth

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Wednesday's podcast on combating sins with virtues turned out pretty well. My friends over at Deeper Truth are putting it in their "Best Of" list. Since it expands on some of the points I made in Wednesday's post, I thought I'd share it. I had a chance to talk about some of the ways even the practice of Virtues can be twisted around on you if you aren't careful. Speaking from personal experience, of course. *ahem*

--6--

No word yet on the foster care paperwork. It's all in and undergoing review. I'm waiting as patiently as I can, figuring our social worker is taking a few days to spend some time with her family.

--7--

Speaking of, thank you for your understanding and patience when I took some time off from blogging to be able to relax and enjoy the season with my family. In fact, the entire crew of Martins thanks you and wishes you a very happy New Year.

 --A Prayer--

Two of my blogging friends need prayers. Both are pregnant and both have been hospitalized this week: Jennifer Fulwiler at Conversion Diary (an update) and Kelly at The Careless Catholic (an update). Thank you.

7 Quick Takes

--1--

My spiritual director gave me quite a penance yesterday. We got to the assigning of a penance portion of the Confession when he said with a twinkle in his eye, "How do you take your coffee?"

A cup of blech coffee...

He had watched me doctor up a cup mere moments before, so I said, "Oh, no! You're going to take my coffee!"

He laughed at me, "Answer the question."

I bowed to the inevitable and answered, "I mess with it a lot. Cream, sugar. The works, Father."

He nodded and bowed his head. "For two days, drink it black."

"Can I do without?"

"No."

"You know, I can do without it. I thought you were going to tell me to do without."

"You are to drink it and you are to drink it black."

"I can do that," thinking I'd drink one cup and call it penance.

"I want you to drink it and I want you to be sure that you are not drinking any less."

I wondered if he could read minds.

He had that twinkle in his eye again, "Think about the bitterness of sin with each sip."

I laughed, "That won't be hard."

"It could be," he said.

He knows me well enough to know me. I'd rather do without than put up with.

Lord, have mercy.

--2--

As I was reviewing the above, I realized something about myself--I am constantly bargaining. It's not just me in the Confessional, it's me everywhere (just ask my mom sometime). I don't think I accept authority very well. I also think I need to quit blaming my husband for our son who does the exact same thing to my authority.

Mea culpa!

--3--

Today I had the pleasure of going to Mass. It's First Friday. We Martins haven't managed to ever complete the First Friday Devotion, but we do go frequently. Any day with Mass in it is a good day.

--4--

I am also fasting today. The first coffee penance was served today, too, and yet today wasn't as bad as I imagined it would be. It did take me until 3:00 p.m. to choke down my usual dose of morning coffee. I thought of the bitterness of sin with every sip, too. I can not believe that this is all it takes to tame me. I am an incredible wimp.

--5--

The weather has been so cooperative that I decided to work outside. We are renovating an old farmhouse that we moved onto an acre of land we purchased a few years ago. Last year's massive drought took us down to bare dirt, though I had managed to section off and compost a large garden bed out front. This week I began transplanting bulbs and perennials. Today, my neighbor and I hit the town's free mulch yard. We loaded up a trailer full of mulch and dumped it on the new plantings. I'm watering it all in even as I type.

I'm also hoping for snow on Sunday. It's been the only promise of moisture for months. C'mon snow! Ice? Anything!!

--6--

My neighbor and I are going to share our resources for gardening in other ways, too. Next year I will be in charge of all the gourds here at my house. She will grow everything else. We began pooling our resources because I wanted to garden but didn't have the soil ready. Instead of struggling to produce a measly crop in poorly prepared soil, all last year I churned the dirt and added manure to my future garden and earned my summer produce by working in her garden and helping with the harvests and canning. Gardens around here take tremendous effort and much preparation. I'm only just to the point where enough compost has been added to enrich the soil in my main garden bed to consider being in charge of the gourds. We'll still pool our resources, we've just increased the pool for next year. I'm excited.

We're moving all the gourds to my new bed because the ongoing drought has created a surplus of squash bugs. We're hoping to get a better harvest than this year if we move next year's crop of pumpkins, butternuts, and squashes to my plot. You think maybe the bugs will simply get lost between here and there? I am happily working on the project now at any rate. Next year I will have some flowers and some greenery about the place.

So help me!

--7--

Well, I promised a special Advent Post and then I went and took all my notes and made a Podcast out of them. I was able to go so far afield and so much more in depth talking about Advent that I now have enough material to write a small book on the subject. Gracious sakes, I'm not up for that at the moment (though I will take this opportunity to announce that I have two children's books being penned as well as a sci-fi story bubbling around in my cauldron of Too Much To Do Stew), so I've decided to leave it as a Podcast for the moment and let you listen to the post I had fully intended to write for you.

Here it is...

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7 Quick Takes

1

Image Source: http://www.mindcomet.com

If you haven't checked out Pinterest.com yet, it's worth a look. It is the new technology's version of a cork board. People pin things on their boards from around the web that catch their interest or have proved useful. It's entertaining and visually appealing, and as you may have guessed, a lot of it is pure fantasy.

For more information, this article describes Pinterest and its marketing potential pretty well.

2

An Example of Something Pinned

A friend of mine, Alice Simmons, pinned this on her Pinterest Page and I repinned it on mine. It is a recipe for homemade antiseptic ointment made of beeswax and oils. Pinterest makes posting such an item so much more streamlined than blogging or Facebook. Because only the people who have signed up to follow a particular board of mine will see the pin on their page, I did not have to share it with anyone who doesn't like this sort of thing (until now). It's also a handy place to keep something as a reference. I just repin it to my board and come back to it later. Pinning is an interesting new development out in the Internet.

Meanwhile, here's a link to the recipe page for the homemade ointment. Sorry if the ointment doesn't interest you, but Pinterest just might.

3

History in Living Color

Image Source: "Captured: America in Color"
A More Riveting Image of Rosie

If you love history or if you teach history, you simply must check out "Captured: America in Color from 1939 to 1943," an archive of rare color photographs of America in the 1940s. The collection of Library of Congress prints brings that era to life. There are links at the sight for other such historical photo collections. Go, enjoy the visual feast!

4

Pope Paul VI Institute Now Accepting Insurance!

Image Source: Pope Paul VI Institute Facebook Page

Pope Paul VI Institute, an innovative and internationally recognized center for natural fertility regulation and reproductive medicine, just announced that it now participates with several insurance plans. As both a patient of the institute and a member of one of those plans, I am delighted with this news! I won't have to self pay for my women's health any longer. I won't go into the details of my personal health issues, but suffice it say that the run of the mill OBs in the habit of prescribing The Pill for every female ailment were unable and uninterested in pursuing an accurate diagnosis. It has been worth every penny spent going to Dr. Hilgers. If you haven't heard of him yet, feel free to go investigate his practice by clicking here.

5

I Have Been Remiss!

Simon with my mother in 2010.

While posting 4th of July pictures Wednesday, I thought I'd take the opportunity of a working computer and some quiet and post a few backlogged photos as well. A few? I discovered to my embarrassment that I had a backlog of photos--from 2010! I have been remiss. So, if my children look younger lately on Facebook, it's just me, catching up.

6

Worth Rereading

I've been rereading Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen. This time around I'm looking to see how Austen foreshadows Lydia's relationship with Mr. Wickham. What I'm noticing is how Wickham advertises his interest in Lydia from the very start. He talks with Elizabeth but his attention is always being drawn to Lydia when she pushes the limits of politeness. The predator knows his prey and you can see how he is drawn to the weaknesses of her character. This has always escaped me until I watched the television series again on a download and saw the actor performing it. That is what sent me back to the book in the first place. It's only taken me a half dozen times through the book and twice through the television performance to catch on. I take comfort in the fact that Elizabeth was just as clueless as I've been.

7

In Other News

We have our coffee in a more timely manner.

Our coffee maker was dying a slow and clogging death. At the end, it was taking so long to brew that exactly half of the water was turning to steam and in an hour we would have a lovely half pot of espresso. Although delicious, it was probably dangerous to have the water boiling away, and it was surely dangerous to delay the clarity and sustenance that is our first cup. We are now the proud inheritors of an "extra" coffee maker my mother had in her back room. The coffee is weaker, quicker, and very much appreciated. Mornings are much smoother now. Thanks, mom.



_____________

Thanks to Jennifer Fulwiler, a fellow Texan, for hosting

7 Quick Takes Friday 

over at Conversion Diary.com

Because it's Monday and you need more coffee...

After a brief, shining moment the week is back, and it wants revenge for all the fun you had without it over the weekend. Distract it with this and maybe it will forgive you and play nice.

Speaking of coffee...