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



Thursday, July 25, 2013

Good/Bad Thursday

I'm bringing back the good/bad posts because I'm afraid if I don't, I'll never post again. I don't even have the brain to come up with paragraphs anymore.

Besides, I was having a very nice morning, did my prayer and spiritual reading (and before I read any blogs), almost finished a St. Michael chaplet (making not praying), and then, during cup of coffee nombre trois (which was probably where things went downhill) I wrote a very long comment on a favorite blog and blogger ate the whole thing. Urgh. No, I mean URGH!

Thus the rebirth of good/bad blog posts.

But let's start with good, it's always a better idea.

Good
I taught a class yesterday evening. And they were all (except for two teens) adults! I warned them that I am a terrible teacher, at least that is what my children tell me (well, they have a few times, but in anger mostly, I think), and that I am a mean teacher (I believe that), but they consented anyway. It was a chain rosary class and I taught it at our parish. I think most of my students were happy, and at least nobody cried (always good).

Bad
Blogger. Or maybe it's bloglovin', I can't tell who the culprit is. Blogger keeps logging me out, which could be why I am losing comments every time I try to leave them. But maybe the root is bloglovin', which I thought I was liking, but when I click to go to a blog I stay in some sort of bloglovin' zone, and that might be the problem. It's not good whatever it is. Bloglovin' sure was easy to switch to from Reader, but maybe easy isn't necessarily what I want here. What are you doing? Maybe I need to just use my own blog as home base. I do think that encourages more commenting because, hey, if I'm at your place, I am much more likely to say "hey!" And I do think we need to get back to saying "hey" a lot more than we are. Agreed?

Good
Say "hey!"

Bad
I started washing and packing for my second son to move out in less than a month. Josh will have a studio apartment on campus this year, which is good for him -- no commute -- but bad for me. I will have half of my children left at home (and the half left is the half that don't get along very well -- really bad for me). Josh is not home a lot now, but he does still touch base every once in a while. I guess as long as I still play grocery fairy (which I still do for Geoffrey) I will see him pretty often. The tricky thing is going to be dropping off groceries for both boys at the same time because what are the odds that they will be home at the same time during the day? You may be wondering why they don't live together and I am somewhat embarrassed to say they would probably kill each other if they did. Two boys could not be more different. I often wonder how it is that all four of my children grew up in the same house with the same parents. I could have just as likely picked them up from opposite ends of the earth. Besides, living alone forces them to be responsible for their own messes (because you can't blame anyone else when you live alone).

Good
Our pastor is coming to bless our home tomorrow. Not only will our home be holy (yay!), but it will be clean. All the bedspreads, draperies, nooks and crannies are getting cleaned -- not only so that I am not embarrassed by my dirty house, but so the holy water doesn't get caught in the dust bunnies and cobwebs.

Bad
With all the rain we've had, the weeds have taken over the garden, so let's hope Father doesn't venture out there.

Good
It cooled down incredibly. I could definitely love this weather for the rest of the summer (sorry kiddies -- it's too cool to swim, but we can all breathe).

And one last Good
Here are a few pictures of "the stole." Father's mama and papa received it (yay UPS!), and though Father himself has not seen it, he doesn't have a clue about this blog, so we're safe.















21 comments:

  1. What a beautiful stole! I am sure the new priest will love it.

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  2. Hey! :-)

    I switched to feedly (also easy) and I like it just fine. It's easy to pop on over to a blog and comment, and the ones I don't read if I'm short on time can be easily skipped because they're all in their own skippable category.

    But that stole is beautiful! You do such beautiful work, Barbara. I know, because we've been recipients of some of it! (Tommy still sleeps under his "lovey blanket" every night. A tuck-in wouldn't be complete without it!)

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    1. I will have to check out feedly. Hopeful it will take my list from bloglovin'.

      I am so happy that Tommy still loves his quilt. :-)

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  3. Beautiful stole, Barbara! It sure is a lot of work turning these grown kids into adults! :)

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  4. Hey Barbara!

    Gorgeous stole! What a treasured gift! It really does make me emotional thinking about this new priest wearing this stole while doing God's amazing work—healing, forgiving, baptizing, celebrating Mass, loving as Christ loves ... Awesome!

    Hang in there with the bad! It is good to balance it with good! Hopefully, just expressing it makes things feel more peaceful ...

    I switched to feedly, too. It's pretty easy to go back & forth ...

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    1. Thank you, Sarah. And I will check out feedly.

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  5. Hey! :)

    That stole is beautiful; you do such wonderful work.

    And I am not lovin' the BLoglovin' lately either. Mine doesn't update when people put up new posts, which is the whole reason I use a reader! Thanks for nothing, Google.

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    1. If I had known bloglovin' was a google thing I would have found something else. Shoulda done my homework!

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  6. The stole is breathtaking. You have such a talent.

    My first two kids are also polar opposites. I do not see them sharing an apt. and living to tell about it.

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    1. Jenny, are your two girls both going to be at Franciscan?

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  7. Hey!
    You're stole is so beautiful! Such lovely, lovely work and such blessed work!
    Hey! I haven't tried Bloglovin but was planning on it since I'm not happy with The Old Reader (it's down like half the time I try to check it).
    I cracked up at the holy water/dust bunnies comment. (although one of my kids once told me we don't have dust bunnies - we have dust groundhogs or cows or something way larger than a bunny)
    Enjoy your time with Father and hey, isn't this weather grand!

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    1. Thank you, Kimberlee. And I had a few dust cows down in the basement rec room. More like plates and wrappers glued with dust! I told Noah he had to pull out the sofa and clean under it (mostly his mess) and told him that if there was anything alive he would have to kill it with his bare hands. If you could have seen his face!

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  8. I switched to Feedly pretty quickly after we got the news about Reader shutting down. I really like it, except that some blogs didn't migrate. I've remembered one of them (maybe it was only 1), but I can't seem to add it easily without some complicated maneuvering. Other than that, I am very happy with it.

    I can hardly believe that my 2 oldest are moving in together next week! A boy and a girl, for those who don't know. When I remember how much my brother, sister, and I fought as kids, it does my heart good to see my children become friends. For some of them, it will take more time, ;-) as it did with the 3 of us!

    I doubt that you're a bad teacher! Kids are mean, esp. to their moms.

    Beautiful, beautiful stole.
    Hugs,dear. Have a better day!

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  9. You must be a great mom that your kids get along so well. I really did something wrong! ;-)

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  10. Wow, those stolls are beautiful...such a treasure and such a sacrifice.

    My 2 oldest girls are like your boys. It's like they try to be opposite on purpose. "Oh, she likes Red? Then I like Green." So, they do not share a room, which, if they got along, would solve rooming problems...so I get it.

    I've found that on Bloglovin' when I click over and once on that blog, exit out and then I'm out of Bloglovin with that blog, and only on that blog. Does that make sense? You comments were going to my spam for some reason...

    Great to see a post from you-miss you, God bless you!

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    1. Jamie, praying your girls change as they grow. My boys don't even "check out" what the other likes. They are just complete opposites.

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  11. Barbara -- I cut and pasted this from part of the email I sent to you - but it all bears repeating! Fr Howe will spend an overnite at the homestead THIS SUNDAY - and will see it for himself - and take it with him to be put to good and holy use. We now have it hanging in the foyer and love walking by it every day !!

    All actual words Jeff and I voiced regarding the stole on day of arrival:
    royal, ancient look and feel, very masculine, nothing like it today, substantial,
    perfectly sewn, the trim is all hand done, better than I could have imagined,
    able to imagine St Philip Neri wearing it, the kissing cross is waiting for Fr Howe's kiss,
    hangs so beautifully, can see it on Fr Howe now!, how did this all happen - who is this lady?,
    imagine - the donning of this is a sacramental that will save souls!!!
    Love beyond measure, gratitude beyond measure,
    Fr Howe will love this!
    THANK YOU, Jesus! THANK YOU, Mary!

    Gratitude without words...

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  12. My two older boys are opposites. The older one builds..the other one reads. You are right..funny how you have children and they are so different.

    Thanks for the info regarding the skunk. It is the worst smell evah.

    Good to see you blogging either good or bad stuff!!!!

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