catching up

So....where were we?  Back on the weekend?  Saturday evening?

Sunday found us up early again to shoot guns with our scout group.  Not officially a scout function, but the only people who were there were scouts.  I took my handgun along, since it had been nearly a year since I fired it.  I wasn't very accurate this time, but it was the prevailing opinion that if I just shot it in the general direction of an intruder, that they would not stick around to see if my accuracy improved.  Sunday evening was an "adult only" scout meeting to take care of details related to summer camp. 

Monday.  Mass. Plumbing issues at home.  And a visit to my parents who live an hour away.  My sister and my 2 year old godchild were there, as well as my grandfather and my godmother/aunt who is visiting from New Jersey.

Tuesday.  Mass.  The homily was about the fact that sometimes "the enemy" is the person we see when we look in the mirror.  Haircut. A little cleaning and decluttering around the house - we're talking very tip of the iceberg.  Returning paint from the parking lot project.  Dropping off receipts and invoices for the weekend's adventure to the church secretary.   Continuing plumbing issues that were eventually resolved. I really, really wanted to go to the little adoration chapel down the road, but I didn't make it.

Wednesday.. Mass at Our Lady of the Holy Library.  The library was standing room only today.  Father was celebrating his 20th Anniversary of Ordination.  He took a little stroll down memory lane during the homily, introducing us to many of the priests who had had an effect on him. It was, at times, emotional for him, at times humorous.  Mass was long - 45 minutes for a daily Mass.  Upon leaving, I gave him a hug - he is a hugger, even on a regular day, but this was a good one - and I thanked him. He asked us to pray for all priests and gave us a holy card for a priest who had been a mentor to him.  Once I exited, I was dragged back inside by the good ladies who were having a "little something" for Father.  It seemed a little too early in the morning to have cake and punch, but we did.  The people there are so welcoming and caring.

I had an inservice in the afternoon to learn how to better utilize some of the technology in my classroom.  Interesting.

I grabbed pizzas for dinner, talked my friend into skipping an evening workout, and went to the little chapel.  There is such peace there.  I wanted time to look into my life and see what needs fixing, to sit there with Jesus and see how he sees things.  I was somewhat successful, I think. 

Thursday:  That's today.  Confession.  Mass.  Workout.  Dentist with my oldest.  And now I'm sitting in my recliner.   It had been a while since I'd been to confession.  The living is easy right now, so there wasn't a lot of pressing stuff.  I have found that prayer is almost always an issue during times of transition.  There is the whole thing of where to fit it and the realization that summer time is still God's time - not all Karen time.  It was good.  Good advice/spiritual direction.  I'm going on a retreat this weekend with my SIL, and I wanted the graces to be able to flow.

The dentist.  My older child had a tooth with a deep cavity.  Several months ago, we tried to fill it, but in April when he went for his check-up, he told them that it was still hurting and the x-rays showed that there was decay under the filling.  It has continued to hurt, while we debated what to do - root canal and crown or extraction.  $1200 vs. $70.  In the end, it was purely an economic decision.  Thanks to our illustrious president, my husband who works in an oil-field related industry will soon see a dramatic reduction in his work.  God willing, he won't be totally unemployed, if his company manages to stay open, but he is likely to make only a fraction of what he now makes.  And since he won't be totally UNemployed, we won't be eligible to mooch off the government.  We are trying to prepare, and the tooth was a casualty.  Hopefully his wisdom teeth will help compensate in a few years.