this week

This week,
I:

Took a half day off of school and spent 3 hours at the dentist while a child got a root canal and a crown.  

I love my iPad.
I sat in the waiting room and caught up on a couple of emails.

Did penance - above and beyond waiting in the waiting room at the dentist. ;-)

Spent a different afternoon at the pediatrician's office. 
We had exactly one ADD patch left. 
I hate going to the doctor with a well kid during sick season. 
I told him not to touch anything.

Went to Bible Study. 
I'm enjoying it, but this time around have not had too many "wow" moments.

Worked out.

Once.

Got my SD card stuck in the computer at school.

Went on-line to figure out how to get it out.

(Stuck a piece of cardstock in the slot.)

Found out that a piece of plastic had broken off of it.  

Panicked.  (How do you spell that.)

Inserted it into my personal laptop and downloaded 2,299 pictures from it.  

Figured it was time to learn more about Picasa.

Ran across this article:  

7 Reasons I Stink at Praying

(I don't usually borrow other people's things for my blog, but I thought this was great.)

Reason #1 - Because I am Awesomely Humble...

I could relate to oh-so-much of it.

Watched a History Channel Special on this guy.

I remember.  

This country needs another like him so, so bad.

Went to a training for a new IEP computer program.

I have said many times that if I go to hell when I die,
my eternal torture will be to use the IEP program we have endured for the past several years. 
Glitchy. 
Prone to PMS.  

It feels kind of good to dump a cross on the scrap heap,
though I'm sure another will come my way soon enough.

Was cold.

It just won't warm up.

Today was bone-chillingly cold.  

Damp.  Windy.  Gray.  Cold.  

What about you?  What's happened this week?

fount of mercy

Well, I don't imagine the fount of mercy is frozen.  It's a living fount, after all.  But I couldn't resist using this picture.  Had to tie it in somehow.  ;-)

I drove by this Saturday morning (after all the ice elsewhere had pretty much thawed) and thought it was beautiful..  But I didn't have my camera.  Drove back by an hour later and it was still there.  Melting, but there.  I was back in a few minutes with my camera.

And the fount of mercy...I did find my way to that, too.  It's in the back corner of our church.  Three doors.  Your church probably has something similar.  If you've read this blog for any length of time, you might recall that there is a thorn for me at work.  Lately, I try to avoid any interaction, and it makes life bearable for the most part.  But that's not always possible.  One of the things that I realized Friday afternoon in the darkness of the church was that I rarely - maybe never - give this person the benefit of the doubt in any situation.  I always assume less than honorable - evil - motives.  It was so easy to see that in the darkness; asking Jesus to be my light.  And so my penance fits.  A prayer of action, he said.  Self-denial of some sort for a day, offered for that person.  I get that penance from time to time, and generally it has good results. A little in our hands is something great in God's hands.

It didn't take long, though, before the Evil One had found another stumbling block to throw in my path.  If you've been around here for a while, you know that I love daily Mass.  If it's possible for me to go, I'll be there.  It's not a penance.  It's not a sacrifice.  It's a JOY!  You will also know that I am fond of my pastor. He is a gem!  Holy.  Reverent.  He says 4 Masses during the week, 3 on weekends at our Parish.  He says Mass at a monastery another day.  He is Chancellor of our Catholic school, and says Masses there a couple of times a month.  He has important duties at the diocese.  He ministers to the homebound.  There are funerals, baptisms, weddings.  Confessions before daily Mass and on Saturdays.  He facilitates adult education opportunities.  He is the only priest and there is no deacon at our parish. If it's happening, it's because he is there.  It makes me tired just to look at the list.

When I picked up a bulletin after Mass, I saw that Mass on President's Day is canceled.  It disappoints me, and I really struggle to be charitable here.  Only Satan - who knows where to strike us-  can take things that are essentially good - a love of daily Mass, and fondness for our priest, a man who is very busy about the Lord's business, but needs a day here and there to recharge and distort it into something ugly - disappointment, uncharitable musings.  Seriously?  Canceling Mass for President's Day?  I need to work on my reaction here.  Just being honest.

And so the struggle continues.

Lord, it is not the fount of mercy that is frozen, but our hearts,.  Melt them with the warmth of your love.  And Lord, send us priests.  Give those whom you call, the grace to hear and to answer your call.        ~Amen.

ice man cometh

We had snow last year a couple of times.  But I don't remember the last time we had ice.

School was canceled, and when I heard the rain coming down at 4:00 this morning, I knew it would be a day that I would miss Mass, too.  So I slept.  I woke up to a world with a light coating of ice.

It was kind of a winter wonderland effect.

The pine trees across the street were especially festive looking.

 

Ice shuts down everything here.  We don't know how to drive in it, and we don't have any equipment for clearing it off of roadways.  But by early afternoon, the temperature was above freezing, and things were melting away pretty quickly.  I took one of my offspring to spend the night at a friend's house, and thought I would stop in at the Adoration Chapel down the road.  Imagine my surprise to find a note on the door that said the Chapel was closed due to weather and would reopen on Saturday morning at 10:00.  That's nearly 24 hours away!  

So, I was left with Plan B.  I have plans to go to confession on Saturday afternoon - just because it's been a month, and the next few Saturdays are crazy and I probably won't have the chance.  [Preventive maintenance, my pastor called it in a homily a few weeks ago.]  But before I can just pop into the confessional, I need to have some kind of idea of where the problems are.  Maybe it's obvious to some, but when I'm in the midst of living, it doesn't always occur to me that, "OH!  That was a sin!  You need to confess/change that."  I have found that sitting in the Lord's Presence and asking for help often is just what I need. I ended up going to the church near my school, and just sitting there in the almost-darkness.  Lord, show me what causes pain.  To You.  To others.  To myself.  I had my journal, and there was just enough light to write.  In about a half  hour, I had a fairly decent assessment of where the problems areas are. 

One kid is sleeping at a friend's, so that was the opportunity for the other one to have a friend over.  Four people is about the limit to what this house can hold!  

Back to school on Monday!  But I must admit that this mid-winter break was quite nice, and that for once, the school system probably made the right call on a school closure!

Stay warm!

ice, ice baby

Don't laugh, my northern friends.  We don't see these very often at all here in the Deep South.  I'm sure it's been a few years.  And these are at least 2 inches long...some of them.  I hear you laughing! 

I did make it to Mass today.  All's well that ends well.  My sister-in-law met me at our adopted parish - the one that burned last spring.  I will be as happy as they are when their church is rebuilt.  I had asked for prayers for their pastor, Fr. H, a few weeks ago.  He looked SO much better today.  We celebrated the Feast of St. Blaise with the Blessing of Throats.

My plans to visit to the Adoration Chapel didn't work out today.  We made a family outing to Sam's, and there was icy rain around noon when we finished.  We dragged the generator out of the shed - just in case we lose power due to ice on the power lines - and made sure we had diesel to run said generator. 

More freezing rain is forecast for tonight, so tomorrow is another day off of school.  I'm sure there will be no Mass at my parish.  Hopefully once it gets above freezing tomorrow, I will be able to have a nice visit with the Lord.  And maybe a trip to JCPenneys to look through the winter clearance items.

Stay warm!

weather or not

The weather.  That's been about the most exciting thing this week.

Yesterday it was in the 70's.  My older child went to school in shorts.  My younger had short sleeves and no sweat shirt.  It was about 800% humidity, and there was absolutely no hope for my hair.  Humidity AND wind.  There was a strong south wind, until about noon when a front passed through.  It rained heavily for about an hour, and then the wind started blowing from the north.  My offspring were a little chilly when they got home.

It was clear and COLD this morning.  25, with a "feels like" temperature of 14.  We don't get that weather often here.  I had a student in shorts today. (My own didn't argue about wearing pants today.)   I don't know if he owns uniform pants...he said he did when I asked..  The wind was strong, and it was bone-chilling cold all day.

The highlight of the day came when school was canceled for tomorrow.  Freezing rain is expected during the day tomorrow, and we just don't drive in that stuff here.  School on Friday is questionable.  Who is more thrilled - the teachers or the students?  Hard to say!

Bible Study was tonight.  It focused on the need to RESPOND to the Word of God, and mentioned that the Word of God is not found in Scripture alone.  Revelations from God require an action - a response - on our part.  Noah didn't just go on with his regular life after God revealed the plans for the Ark.

The disappointment of my day came when our pastor announced that daily Mass for tomorrow (and probably Friday) was canceled.  I love daily Mass.  I love daily Mass at my parish.  I love my pastor's homilies.  I miss it when it is not available.  It seems like more and more often, daily Mass is canceled.  Any civil holiday - no Mass.  But on the other hand, I know that our pastor has other duties in addition to being the sole shepherd of souls at our parish.  I know that he needs to do what he needs to do to take care of himself so that he CAN be available for us.  And I know that he goes above and beyond in so many things - like the Bible Studies he facilitates in the evenings.  There will be Mass elsewhere...I am fortunate in that respect.  And so I will be at my adopted parish tomorrow.

If I can tomorrow, before the evil freezing rain sets in, I want to find time to go to the Adoration Chapel.  I am overdue for a stay there.  A nice stretch of time where I can be and listen and soul search.  

And this is the ordinariness of my life.  Finding beauty there?  It is what it is.

more winter

It's a picture of the sky at sunrise one morning last week. The sky was pink.

It seems like there is little of interest to write about these days.  One day rolls into the next without anything too remarkable to report.  Finding beauty in the ordinary, they say.

The weather was dreary on Monday and Tuesday.

Went to a conference on Tuesday.  My red-headed co-worker was there, and we enjoyed each other's company.  Lunch was really good.  Wish I could say the same about the conference, but there was only one session that was really interesting.  Oh well.  It's hit or miss with those things.  We finished up early.  I had about 45 minutes before my dear son got off the bus at my school.  I surely didn't want to go to school - so I went to the church nearby.  They were having Adoration, so I enjoyed some peaceful prayer time and prayed the Seven Sorrows Rosary.  Then I went and waited for the bus.

Wednesday I woke up with a sore throat.  That made for a long week.  Not sick enough to stay home, but not 100%, either.  A couple of early nights helped, I think.

Got word during the week that our principal would be out for "at least a month."  He is a good, decent guy who has helped to keep the forces of evil somewhat at bay.  It could be a long month.  Thank you to those who have prayed for him.  Last we heard, they had found that one side of his heart was enlarged.  He admitted that he was "scared."

Our Bible Study Wednesday night was about finding joy in trials and embracing the cross.  It looks like I might get some more practice in that.  I suppose it is a good thing, since that is how our faith is perfected.  I still don't get real excited when trials come my way...when"real life" happens.

I am working with a small group of boys on their Ad Altare Dei religious award for Boy Scouts.  We are just beginning our journey through the sacraments.  One of the things that was suggested for baptism was for them to attend a baptism, so we did that today. (I thought it wasn't going to happen.  After being planned nearly 2 months, I got an email from the secretary Thursday night asking that we not come, if it wasn't needed for awards being given out in a couple of weeks.  It just didn't really make any sense to me, so I approached my dear pastor after Mass Friday morning.  He looked at me as if I'd lost my mind.  Something was clearly lost in translation somewhere along the line.  Not sure where, but happily it all worked out.)  It was kind of neat to watch it from the "outside".  Neither of the children being baptized were too excited about having water poured over their head.  Simple rituals, really, but with deep meaning.  The water, the Sign of the Cross, the chrism, the candle.

After we got home from this outing, one of my offspring told me that his "hair hurt".  To me that sounds flu-like, but maybe I am jumping to conclusions.  He spent most of the rest of the day in bed, and appears to have some fever.  He says his back and head hurt, and he has a runny  nose, but no chills.  Nonetheless, I called and got a script for Tami-flu.  We shall see...

Meanwhile, my other child had to altar serve solo this evening.  He has never served alone, so this was a new adventure for him, and he did fine!

And so concludes another winter week.