Monday, February 22, 2010

Um,

I'm not doing a great job with my Lent commitment. I just felt like I should tell someone.

I think I'm going to fast from Facebook and from my Google Reader for the rest of this week so I can get my game face back on.

Pray for me and for some precious time with the Lord.

Saturday, February 20, 2010

A New Hobby

I finished the scarf last night. Picture to come, I promise. This marks the celebration of my first knitted piece being complete! I have used this as an experiment to teach myself the basics. I sort of feel like an old lady, but you know, who cares?

On a related note, knitting is somewhat sweeping over the high school where I teach. A bunch of girls formed a new club, "The Knitwits," headed up by a guidance counselor and a couple of crafty teachers. They meet every couple of weeks, and sit around to knit and chat! How cool is that? And no, it's not just for the, um, dorks (I know what you're thinking...); this group is full of girls from all social circles at the school! The coolest thing is that they are working on a project to send knitted blankets to military hospitals. The girls knit squares of fabric and send them off to be sewn together into blankets. This article was in the town newspaper last week and gives better details if anyone is interested in participating. Pretty cool!

Wednesday, February 17, 2010

Happy Links and Thoughts

1. Lent starts today. I love this post which does a great job of explaining Lent. I'm Baptist, so this is not something we typically celebrate, but I learned long ago that setting aside time to focus on the upcoming Holy Week is good for me and my relationship with the Lord. I am often bad at spiritual disciplines and like having a time set aside to give to the Lord in order to grow.

2. So, for Lent, I'm taking on this. Actually, I've already started (and I'm already behind) but I want to commit to really sticking to this reading plan.

3. I really want to make this and this. I have the perfect spot to hang the family rules thing (in our dining area) but feel like I should hold off until...you know... I have a family. Keeping it in the back of my mind though.

4. I made this bread on one of my many snow days off last week. It is AWESOME! And good for sandwiches too, which I was having a a problem finding in terms of bread recipes. This recipe makes 2 loaves. I froze one and ate the other one. Like, by myself. It was that good.

5. I'm still doing this and up to Week 7, 2.5 miles!! Yes, I realize I have been doing this for longer than 7 weeks. A girl can take her time, you know. I've already started looking at training charts for 10k training. This may or may not take place.

6. I have been knitting a version of this scarf FOREVER. I'm about to call it quits and just wear the thing forgoodnessake. It's almost Springtime, so if I don't do it soon I may lose the opportunity! Even though it says "April Showers" the yarn I used definitely makes it a winter scarf. Although, we still have a hefty amount of snow on the ground so I think I'm good to go for at least a couple weeks.

7. Patrick let me buy this picture and this one for our house. We were looking for a couple prints for him for his new office so I was doing some browsing anyway. I think I caught him in a moment of weakness when he was too tired to tell me that I couldn't spend any money. I like them so much and think that they will make me happy to look at them.

Happy Wednesday, everyone!

Friday, February 5, 2010

Happy to Share

Patrick and I were supposed to have a date night on Wednesday night (and by date night I mean a "we are trying to save to go to Australia so we'll cook at home just make something a little fancier and eat at the table...oh and maybe go to Starbucks afterward" sorta date night) since he was leaving me on Thursday to go to Indiana.

I made lasagna because that's his favorite.

Five minutes before we are supposed to eat, Patrick answers his cell phone. I hear him laughing and talking really excitedly to someone on the other end. "You didn't have to do that! Oh my gosh!" I kept hearing him say. Apparently he had lost his credit card at work that day (and didn't tell me). His wonderful co-worker and friend, Mike, had gone out to the dumpster and gone through all the trash to try to find it. What a man! Patrick couldn't believe that someone would care enough to do that. He himself certainly didn't do any dumpster diving looking for the thing!

So Patrick invited Mike to dinner. Mike doesn't live here. He's actually a consultant for Patrick's company and many other companies. He comes and goes. He travels a lot. His home is in Florida, but he hasn't been there in months. Have you seen Up in the Air?? That kind of traveling. So Mike was thrilled to have a real homemade dinner with real people at a real table. He immediately accepted the invitation. Patrick got off the phone and was afraid I would be mad that he had invited an impromptu guest for our supposed date night. I was thrilled!! I shoved the lasagna back into the oven and set it on "keep warm" until he could get here, dumped some bagged salad into a nice pretty bowl, and put out another place setting. We also happened to have cupcakes because I was making them for the cheerleading squad and had extras!

God calls us to practice hospitality, and I love opportunities to open our home. They don't come often enough. And it was wonderful to sit around the table and chat. Patrick and I made it to Starbucks later and did have some "date" time. But we wouldn't have traded dinner with Mike for the world.

(Incidentally, Mike is a runner and is the one heading up this "marathon" we are supposed to all be partcipating in in April. He is running the 12 mile up-hill portion while the rest of us get 4 mile stretches on the flat ground. I did threaten his life and tell him that if he breaks a leg dumpster diving for my husband we are all in trouble. Don't do that ever again!)

Tuesday, February 2, 2010

Snow Day To Do List:

  • Drink hot coffee in pjs
  • Make broccoli soup
  • Hang new blinds (attempt to use the drill without my husband's supervision!)
  • Grade a few papers
  • Read new book
  • Take a nap

I have heard a lot of complaints about the weather this winter. I, for one, love it! I'm a winter baby at heart. I thrive on snow days and see them as little gifts of rest and peacefulness. I NEED them about this time of year to recharge. Yes, we will have to make up school on the teacher work-day in March, which pushes the work-day to a Saturday. But the good news is that I was already planning to work that Saturday (cheerleading tryouts are the same day). So really, this snow day IS a gift! I plan to enjoy it for all it's worth.