Have no anxiety at all, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, make your requests known to God. Then the peace of God that surpasses all understanding will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.
Phil 4:6-7



Monday, July 25, 2011

Daybook...Dog Days of Summer

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Outside my window...
...hot and muggy. I used that term the other day...dog days of summer...and the kids thought it was odd. I guess they'd never heard it. Of course then we had to look up why they are called the dogs day of summer -- the hottest, most sultry days of the year. Apparently people used to think Sirius the dog star was responsible for the heat. So there you go...now you know.

I am thinking... 
...about the weather. Can we get away from it? Apparently not for now. We had a flash flood over the weekend and the creek in the backyard became a raging torrent. It swept our shed from one end of the ravine to the other -- about 30 feet, and it crashed into the swing set, probably saving it from being swept away for good (with the lawn mower, power washer and a variety of other power tools inside). Because the creek is still very high we are now worried each time a huge storm pops up. More predicted this afternoon.


I am thankful for... 
 
...air conditioning

...iced tea and margaritas

...prayers

...hot, (strong) black coffee, always


From the lesson plans...
...nada...and I am putting off the inevitable, which is called sticking your head in the sand. Unfortunately it only results in getting sand in one's ears.


From the kitchen...
...nothing and I need to grocery shop but who wants to go out in this heat? My brother and his family are in town but, fortunately, he is bringing pizza tonight. Hurray!

I am wearing...
...brown crops, a light blue top, Our Lady of Guadalupe earrings, and sandals

I am creating...
...a baby quilt (actually two) but I took a break from them this weekend and made a purse. Now I need to get back to the quilts because the babies were born yesterday -- twin girls next door. Too fun!

I am reading...
...The Distant Hours by Kate Morton the author of The Forgotten Garden. I'm sure you must be bored with my reading by now and I certainly am. I need to give myself permission to give up. But I was raised to not be a quitter.

I am hoping...
...for cooler weather. Can you say "one track mind?"

I am hearing...
...Faith typing a title into Netflix on the Wii. Now that we have joined the land of the living and obtained a wireless router, we can watch movies on TV. Of course, that just set me up as the 24/7 movie cop, with two different pin numbers and multiple parental controls. I need to make a list of suggested programs that are rated appropriately and are of interest to all audiences. That just sounded absolutely impossible.

Around the house...
...mountains of laundry. And ironing, but we'll think about ironing tomorrow. Tomorrow's another day.  
Still no progress on the basement. Procrastination seems to be my middle name. ;-)


I am going...
...for a mammogram at noon (a "pressing engagement" Doug likes to say) and to take Joshua later this afternoon to have a couple warts removed. Eeewww.


One of my favorite things...
...homemade ice cream (I made orange this weekend!)

...a bowl of cherries, dark red and sweet

...air conditioning
 
...clean sheets
 
...freshly painted toenails

...projects to choose from

...Our Blessed Mother. Always.



I am praying for...
...my children, especially Noah who is giving me a lot of angst these days, and my husband
 
...our next door neighbors' new twin girls. They were born C-section yesterday but one was transported to Children's Hospital. The doctors were concerned about spina bifida. Lighting another candle today.

...our priests and all religious (include our new baby priest)

...several soldiers

...all of the babies whose mothers are contemplating abortion this week



A few plans for the rest of the week...
...working on the chore charts. They helped. A little.

...seriously going to work on the basement. At least we picked out a paint color -- Hazelnut Cream. Sounds yummy doesn't it?

...finish Faith's CAT tests. Or review (again) for them since we have put so much time between school and the tests.


Thought for the day...
 
From yesterday's Gospel -- worth another thought (and we so love the phrase "wailing and grinding of teeth")
 
 
"Thus it will be at the end of the age.
The angels will go out and separate the wicked from the righteous
and throw them into the fiery furnace,
where there will be wailing and grinding of teeth." Matthew 13:49-50

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16 comments:

  1. Your poor shed and equipment...hope nothing broke. Laughed at your husband's name for a mammo...;)
    The cherries are yummy looking and it's hot and rainy here too...too rainy.

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  2. Not sure if this idea will work for you, but what we did is put all of the movies that are appropriate for everyone at the top of our Netflix Instant Watch Queue and the ones that the grownups want to watch some day down below with a heavy middle ground of documentaries so that when the kids are scrolling through looking for something, they stop when they get to the documentaries. Also, ours never get to just type in a title because I'm always concerned about what an accidental typo might bring up. Anything they want to watch, they ask us to put at the top of the Instant Watch Queue. I wish Netflix would let you create different profiles within the same account with password access for each. That way, you could have just a kids profile for them to access.

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  3. I'm adding Noah to my prayer list. When I read your post, the title of an old Gospel song popped into my head: "Noah Found Grace in the Eyes of the Lord." Praying for grace. :) Rosemary

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  4. Bummer that you're not enjoying The Distant Hours. I really did like it, not as much as The Forgotten Garden though. My mom got me her first novel The House At Riverton for my birthday, so I hope I like it too. But you should let yourself give up if you're not liking it ;o) In some ways the end is kind of a disappointment.

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  5. LOVE Charlotte's documentary idea! Too funny!

    Adding my prayers for the intentions you listed, especially the neighbor twins.

    I vote for giving up the book if you're not into it by now! Life's too short to read boring books. It took me a while to get into "Forgotten Garden" but not THAT long. Not every book is for every reader.

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  6. Cheryl,
    We lost a chain saw but fortunately he got the (brand new) lawn mower running -- a Honda!-- and the power washer. Then he relocated the shed. Ugh. Hanging on until autumn!

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  7. Charlotte,
    Thanks for the suggestion. I have the parental controls on Netflix set so the only movies they can watch are PG or G, but I still have to put in a pin for the Wii and Netflix. (some old PG movies can be pretty risque!) Thanks for the suggestion to put movies in the instant queue.

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  8. Thanks, Rosemary, prayers much appreciated! I always tell my son "Noah was a righteous man!"

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  9. Thanks for the tip, Anne. I kept thinking the end would be awesome. You really gave me incentive to start something else. And I have "The House at Riverton" in the wings!

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  10. Thanks, Barb, for the prayers, and the vote! ;-)

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  11. We haven't let our sons stream other than for "family movie night" yet - we choose them ahead of time after reviewing them. But as the oldest is 14, not sure how long that will last. And I totally hear you on the old "PG" movies compared to today's ratings!

    Loved your hubby's comments - just had my own engagement this morning!

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  12. We've been contemplating getting Netflix and doing away with cable. I was worried about not being able to have parental controls though. What do you think?

    That must have been quite a torrent through your backyard! Wow.

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  13. You have a password on the wii? I'd like that. I'd also like to know how you do Charlotte's method---how do you rearrange the categories? (I could probably ask my kids!)

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  14. Mary,
    My teens now stay up later than I do so the parental controls are definitely needed!

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  15. Jenny,
    If you stream through the Wii you have two lines of defense -- the Wii has parental controls as does Netflix. I also have the rating setting on Netflix set to PG or below. So really three lines of defense (except for the issue with older PG movies being pretty mature). We, however, use cable for more than movies, like HGTV and Fox News. I guess if you can live without other cable channels (I could live without them for certain, but not mu husband!) you would certainly have plenty to watch on Netflix. There are lots and lots of non-fiction programs -- I saw over 500 pages of History Channel programs alone, not to mention National Geo, etc. I bet you can get a month for free to try it out.

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  16. Sara,
    I set the password on the Wii so the kids couldn't use it to get on the internet. I take the wireless router to bed with me, but if I ever left the house and the router was plugged in they could get access.

    You have to be a police officer these days to protect your kids!

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I appreciate your comments -- sometimes I feel like I'm talking to myself!