Sunday, November 2, 2008

MY HEARTS' HAVEN DAYBOOK 2008




My Hearts' Haven Daybook




November 2, 2008


On Sunday afternoon.....

Outside My Window.......gray clouds........snow on the mountains after our big three days of rain and wind.

I just checked out the ten day forecast.........looks like we could get some snow this week..........gee.

Matthew took Maddelyn, Garrett and Malachy for an afternoon walk to "our" meadow. It is not our property.......but it is behind our house. The kids have grown up there......and it is "theirs" as far as they are concerned. You know what I mean, Willa, don't you?

I am thinking........I am SO avoiding tomorrow........because tomorrow brings a crazy Monday...........followed by not one day of rest until.................I don't know when.........maybe two weeks from now???!!! ugh.......sigh. God grant me grace........and peace.......and rest!! :)

I am thankful for.............my strong husband, who drives safe............so safe I can just close my eyes and sleep for the whole ride..........in order to avoid the sea (car) sickness that was coming on! And, for keeping our finances so well, even when it is hard.

And, to Louise, for the gift of Lindt's Lindor Truffles: Limited Edition Dark Peppermint.....my very own package! I did not really care for the first taste........but now, I am used to them........and one a day every day or so is nice. Thanks, my friend!!

From the kitchen.........Anne has just made "snobby joes".........a vegan replica of sloppy joes......made from lentils. Also, she has garbanzo beans boiling for humus, for the week's meals. I hope to go try a new recipe with the last of our squash. I LOVE that the two older girls love to try new recipes.

I am wearing........a purple velvet dress...........a nice hand-me-down from Louise a few years back. I like to wear it to Mass in the cold months........keeps me warm, especially with my leggings, too. :)

I am creating........some sense of order...........but only a sense......wouldn't want it all to be going smooth around here. What would I do without chaos???? :)

I am going...........to finish cleaning my bathroom........and to finally pick a color for painting it. Today is my deadline choice for paint. I will give Marty the paint chip tonight so he can go buy it this week.

I am reading.........just 23 pages from the end of CS Lewis' The Four Loves......... Yeah, well, I did not get very far..................distracted by the weekly local newspaper and the local election coverage...........and Fetal Heart Monitoring Principles & Practices........also,
The Magician's Nephew, also by Lewis, to the wee folk in my house.....only FOUR chapters till we can start the last book in the series. yay!


Oh, I have been reading a paragraph or so of Saint Augustine's Confessions most evenings. That is about all my brain can handle late at night.............plus, I need to re-read some of the paragraphs a couple of times, so I "get" them. I had no idea one of his famous quotes was going to show up in the first paragraph......one I have always loved. Oh, you want to know the quote??? Let me see if I can find it.


Nos fecisti ad te et inquietum est cor nostrum donec requiescat in te.



Thou hast made us for Thyself, O Lord,


and our hearts are restless until they rest in Thee.


Saint Augustine




I am hoping.............I do not feel ill during the election evening.......I have been praying for peace.............but, I almost feel like I am just practicing denial.....psyching myself out..............it is strange how physically ill I felt during the time the election results were coming in over the last 4 elections. Having the Internet for minute by minute update is still so odd to me, even after 12 years of using it. We have no TV news to watch..........so, this is how we will find out our news.

I am hearing......the soundtrack of the Broadway show "Hairspray" on my computer...........fun sixties' rhythms........and water running from the faucet outside my bathroom window..........I wonder what they are doing???? And, the quiet wheeze of a slow train going by out back.


UPDATE: Ha, ha, ha..........it took over half an hour for me to figure out what was going on with the outside faucet. It turns out my friend Kathy's son was there in the backyard. He is autistic.....and his favorite thing to do here is to fill up my watering can and water things. Took me by surprise. I had no idea he was here.

I am wondering.......last week, I wrote: "why in the world did I sign up to take another class and exam??? More studying to do, but thankfully, in a topic I hope I am WAY more familiar with! It is a class on Advanced Fetal Monitoring, to be taken the first week in November."

Well.......now that I have the $130 book for my FREE (ha!) class........I find it is exactly the same book I used to study for the Fetal Heart Monitoring Certification exam I took 2.5 years ago. I sure hope I do not have to repeat that same exam........ugh. It was a weird exam. Very strange questions. Not all of us passed it.......but, I did! And, since I did so............I now have to take at least 15 educational units (CEUs) every 3 years to keep up the certification. This class will provide me with over 18 units FREE.......please pray I pass! At least I know the material............I will only have to skim and re-memorize a bit. And, I get to spend two days with my old walking buddy and colleague, Debbie. We get to go out of town for two days to take the class. Oh, and I guess it is an "intermediate" class, not advanced.

Around the house.......scattered clutter......easily pick-up........and lots of clean laundry......

HEY! That's what I wrote last week!!! :) But, some of the clutter is different :) I plan to finish this and then go and clean up, so I will be ready for my company at the end of the week.

Now Showing..........Iron Man.......I am the only one who watched this. I kind of liked it. I am so not a comic book person........though I grew up on free outdated copies of comics my grandpa gave me from the grocery he managed. But, I liked this. There is one scene I will leave out for the kids if they ever see it..........The Reduced Shakespeare Company's The Complete Works of Shakespeare (abridged).......it was kind of funny............but, the jokes were occasionally offensive, so, not for the youngins......but, neither is all of Shakespeare :) .........Disney's The Fox and the Hound for the little guys. Doesn't that movie just hit you hard?

In the schoolroom.........

Greek Myths, French and Indian wars

Fractions, skip counting by twos, fives and tens, tally marks, geometry, algebra

Garrett and Malachy are in their new Math-U-See books, Gamma & Alpha, respectively. I think they will both zip through these books...........even though the Hearts' Haven children are notoriously "behind" in math..............they already know this math, just from real life.

SAT prep........OVER, for now............just the wait and see how it all came out.

Learning lines........looks like almost everyone is off-book (that means they no longer need their scripts for their lines in the plays).......we have two plays going on here...............four oldest in one play at the charter school..........and the two oldest at the college play.......can't wait for the time consuming plays to be over :).......also.....I am excited to see the finished products.......they look promising!

Reading a book about Plato (Maddelyn), Struggle for a Continent by Marrin, Boston Jane (Sarah)......Book Two in the Box Car children set (Garrett), Go, Dog, Go (Malachy)

Matthew is studying Nathaniel Hawthorne for American Lit................kind of cool, having visited his neighborhood last year..........also economics......and Ancient Grrek history

Home Ec: ALWAYS :) it is a way of life here...............HAS to be!

Piano-Voice-eeeeendless singing here :)

One of my favorite things.........a day to go no where...........I LOVE to travel and explore...........but I am also a homebody! Twisted? :)

Signs of the seasons............RAIN & WIND!

And, a repeat from last week:

pumpkin bread for the baby shower??? I hope I remember!

The garden is now empty.........and the chickens are let loose to finish up the garden......they go nuts and can mow it down to the ground quite quickly....they are very impressive! :)

We are winterizing the property.......not quite ready.....but ready enough, if we must be.

Soups and chilis!

A Few Plans For The Rest Of The Week...........I have to repeat some of last week..........due to the fact that Gloria's wee lasses were ill last week and we delayed the baby shower by one week. WOW what a blessing that turned out to be for my household. Next week will be a much better choice.

Monday craziness ................
Tuesday........I work in the am for a few hours......and I teach childbirth classes at night
Wed.......Fetal heart monitoring class
Thursday......Fetal heart monitoring class
Friday, clean some more and bake two cheesecakes........mmmmm........for a double baby shower at my house on......
Saturday morning for Gloria & Maria

........hang for a few days with the G family

..........clean house sometime.....not sure when I can fit it in..........because Gloria and John will on their way up for their first visit since July 4th

Special prayer requests on my mind this week.............for the election..........for a group of local friends in India to help a Christian mission......for our government.........for two people I know who have recently been told they are going on the transplant list (heart, a little boy and lungs, a homeschooling dad).......continued prayers for my friend whose son needs help with special needs......for the plays the kids are doing......Continued prayers for Sabine's little Michael............for special private intentions.

St. Gerard's List..........Elizabeth , still on bedrest.......NOT!!! Elizabeth delivered her little Sarah Anne five weeks early...............gee, those names look familiar in this house. :)


Sarah is having pre-maturity issues with her breathing......so, please pray!!



Let's not forget .......Lissa, Alice, Bridget, Gloria (a different one!), Sherry, a local friend & Stacy, Shawna's sis, due in December and all of my patients.......esp one who is pregnant after losing a baby to SIDS.

I am currently scrapbooking...........Louise and I met last Monday to do some scrapbooking.......we had a fun, but busy day together......with dinner and playing, etc. It was almost too busy to scrap :) But, it WAS fun. I DID get the first page of my SSA completed.......and started the second and third pages. I plan to use the computer a lot to make this album.........so, I guess it will be slow going.................since I have a hard time getting to my PC to do things like that. I also have decided to try to use my Power Layout kit from Creative Memories, to put together about 15-30 pages at a time, so I can make my plans with the big picture in mind...........no pun intended. :)

Here is picture thought I am sharing........









The last of the summer's squash.


Many blessings to you.........see you soon!


Chari


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