Outside my window… sunny and in the 80’s. We might see some rain tomorrow and I’m looking forward to it.
I am thinking… about many many things that I’ll journal out later after I do the watering and shower.
I am thankful… that I got to be present for Rev. Kate’s last Sunday at the Episcopal Church in Almaden, the church that loved me as I was a teenaged convert trying to figure out my salvation with fear and trembling.
In the kitchen… Jimmy chicken, a family recipe. I made a normal batch for myself so I’d have a few days of dinners.
I am wearing… my Reclaim Hope shirt and running shorts.
I am praying for… a call for Jon, for a few intentions for people in my life, and for discernment as I’m kind of in a crossroads of my life.
I am going… for lots of walks this week.
I am wondering… where my parents’ Maine Coon cat is.
I am reading…Evolving in Monkey Town by Rachel Held Evans. It’s a re-read.
I am hoping… for rain tomorrow.
I am looking forward to… more quiet time and maybe even coffee with Rebecca later this week.
I am hearing… the whirring of the fan on my computer.
Around the house… cat fur.
One of my favorite things… solitude.
A few plans for the rest of the week: walks, taebo, prayer, journalling, and resting.
Outside my window… dark. It was in the mid 80’s today which is so wonderful compared to the triple digit temps of a week or so ago.
I am thinking… about all I need to do before leaving for San Jose on Wednesday morning.
I am thankful… for a fun day: singing with the contemporary worship team at church this morning (“contemporary” in that everything we sang was written in the 20th century — the “contemporary” period in classical music) and heading to the birthday party of Jon’s best friend’s oldest daughter who turned 6 today. Her mom was in labor with her when I found out that I was pregnant with Daniel. It was a Frozen-themed party (surprise surprise) and they had a bouncy castle. Daniel enjoyed himself and I even got to bounce a little bit in the bouncer under the guise of making sure Daniel was OK in there. Other moms were looking at me and telling me that I was brave for going in it. I shrugged and told them about how much fun I was having.
In the kitchen… cleaned up after making my dinner (black bean and jack burrito from Trader Joe’s).
I am wearing… gray v-neck and capri sweats.
I am praying for… travel mercies for my drive on Wednesday, some special intentions, and a call for Jon.
I am going… to see if I can’t get some more CD’s at a heavily discounted price at the Office Depot which is going out of business.
I am reading…Evolving in Monkey Town by Rachel Held Evans.
I am hoping… to get some decent sleep tonight.
I am looking forward to… seeing my parents on Wednesday.
A favorite quote for today… “I have learned now that while those who speak about one’s miseries usually hurt, those who keep silence hurt more.” — C.S. Lewis
One of my favorite things… listening to good music.
A few plans for the rest of the week: dental work tomorrow, various things on Tuesday, and driving to San Jose on Wednesday.
A peek into my day…
It was Contemporary Sunday today so I ditched some of my prettier clothes in favor of a simple v-neck shirt and my faded denim skirt.
(Ignore the smudgy prints on the mirror. I have a small child who is entranced by his own image.)
Shirt: Foot Locker Skirt: Hand-me-down from my sister-in-law who probably thrifted it. Flip-flops: Old Navy
Here’s a picture showing how long my skirt actually is:
Outside my window… dark. It was near 100F today which I think is hideous, even for October. I miss my -20F temps (not including windchill) in Montana!
I am thinking… about worship today. It was the Blessing of the Animals for the Feast of St. Francis of Assisi and people brought their pets to church to be blessed. Most people brought their dogs, a few (like me) brought cats, and one family even brought their chickens!
I am thankful… for Edda doing so well at church this morning. I didn’t know if she’d be OK or if I’d have to send her home with Jon partway through or what was going to happen. She was pretty content to stay in her crate and nap. I barely heard a peep out of her.
In the kitchen… lemon ricotta ravioli from Trader Joe’s for dinner tonight.
I am wearing… my Momcat shirt and black capri sweats.
I am praying for… a call for Jon, healing for various people, and some special intentions.
I am going… to have some pretty epic errands to do tomorrow morning on account of Daniel having a surprise three-day weekend.
I am reading…Evolving in Monkey Town by Rachel Held Evans. It’s a re-read.
I am hoping… my walk goes well tomorrow morning and resting my foot this weekend has helped.
I am looking forward to… various things this week.
I am hearing… mostly silence given how late it is.
Around the house… again, silence as I’m the only one up.
A favorite quote for today… “Human will becomes truly our own when it is wholly God’s, and this is one of the many senses in which he that loses his soul shall find it.” — C.S. Lewis
One of my favorite things… my choir director’s face upon finding out that he’d have to play the “arky arky song” during the blessing of the animals. (He hates it.) Given the ferocity with which he was playing the postlude by Mussorgsky, I think he was working out his frustrations on the piano afterwards. (He has a Masters and DMA in piano performance and is a piano professor at Azusa Pacific so we get some pretty amazing preludes and postludes on Sundays.)
A few plans for the rest of the week: errands, Daniel’s IEP on Tuesday, and whatever else comes up.
A peek into my day… Edda being blessed by Rev. Kelli Grace.
The cute story behind this picture: the little boy is Rev. Kelli Grace’s grandson (she so does NOT look old enough to be a grandma) and at the end of the blessing, I heard her say “Do you see the ‘at’? Can you say ‘God bless the ‘at’?'” I looked up and her grandson had his fingers stuck into Edda’s crate and my princess was nuzzling his fingers. His mom told me later on that I had completely made his day because he loves “ats”.
How Contagious Is Ebola? It turns out, not very. Unlike measles or mumps, you have to seriously come into contact with bodily fluids containing the virus. Measles and mumps also have vaccines to prevent them, unlike Ebola and a few of the other diseases mentioned.
Giddy. My boys (the Giants) are in the playoffs after beating Pittsburgh! My other boys (the Cardinals) are playing Jon’s boys (the Dodgers) and of course, I’m rooting for the Cardinals in that one. Ah… I love October — I just wish I had a TV so I could watch all of this.
Girding up my loins. I thought this was an interesting show of what it actually meant to “gird up your loins” back in the day. It satisfies my “history geek” side.
The War on Rosh Hashanah. I’m very thankful that my friend Neil posted this on his Facebook. It should give me something to be self-righteously indignant about until after Thanksgiving when I can obsess about the War on Advent.
The Benefit of Family Dinner. A friend of my bloggy friend Calah wrote this and I absolutely love it. (It’s about how eating dinner as a family saved her.) Calah expounds on it and I can relate. It’s really hard to eat a family dinner because everyone here is on a different schedule with work, medication, and childcare. We do manage it on occasion and it’s something I’ll be making an effort to try when Jon gets into his next parish.
An interesting view on waiting until a later age to date. I love Michelle. I love her blog. I love her family and wish I could be adopted in because they are so insanely cool and they seem to have so much fun! The particular post I’m sharing is on why one should wait until age 16 to date. She’s Mormon so it is written from that perspective but I found a number of her arguments compelling.
Super Woman. On days I torture myself on my core ball, I usually go for a 1 mile loop around the neighborhood for the purposes of getting some cardio as well as getting in some prayer time. (I pray for people while I walk and usually I’m walking a 5K.) I run into a lot of the same people every morning and one of them is an older man walking a dog. He jokingly asked me which lap I was on and I told him that I was just doing my 1 mile loop because I was going to go do a bunch of core exercises.
Outside my window… dark. I didn’t get onto my laptop today until Daniel was asleep. On the plus side, the weather is 20F cooler than it was last week.
I am thinking… about worship today. We didn’t end up doing the awesome Doxology below (our organist accidentally played the one to the hymn tune “Old 100th” instead) but I’ve got it stuck in my head anyway.
I am thankful… for my incredibly awesome mother-in-law watching Daniel so I could go do choir and church. I have to church-train him one of these days.
In the kitchen… I think my mother-in-law’s stuffed zucchini is still on the counter.
I am wearing… my Momcat shirt and navy running shorts.
I am praying for… a parish for Jon and some special intentions.
I am going… for a long walk tomorrow morning if my foot isn’t flaring too badly.
I am reading…A New Kind of Christian by Brian McLaren. A friend recommended it and I’m having a hard time putting it down.
I am hoping… to have a smooth week without too many major surprises.
I am looking forward to… this coming weekend when I get to go to San Diego with Jon where he is supplying at the church his great-grandfather started.
I am hearing… water going through pipes or something.
Around the house… I think I’m the only one awake.
A favorite quote for today… I found this today while reading A New Kind of Christian and loved it:
“Actually, if there’s one thing I wish I could tell every Christian about evangelism in the postmodern world,” he replied, “it would be about that word [conversation]. I would say to stop counting conversions, because our whole approach to conversion is so, I don’t know, mechanistic and consumeristic and individualistic and controlling. Instead, I’d encourage us to count conversations, because conversation implies a real relationship, and if we make our goal to establish relationships and engage in authentic conversations, I know that conversions will happen. But if we keep trying to convert people, we’ll simply drive them away. They’re stick of our sales pitches and our formulas.”
One of my favorite things… cuddles with Jon.
A few plans for the rest of the week: the only major plan is a lunch date with a family friend on Wednesday.
A peek into my day… So, I decided to use this space for my “What I Wore On Sunday” post again. 🙂
I was going for something that would be cool under my choir robe. I ended up deciding on this:
Here’s a better shot of my pants with the shoes. (Pardon the belly shot. I promise that I’m not pregnant — it’s just the angle of things.)
For those wondering about the foot, it’s one of three things: a strain from overworking it, arthritis, or bursitis. In any case, I’m putting the principles of RICE into action and the compression part is being handled by athletic tape because there’s not a brace on the market that sufficiently covers it.
Scottish independence vote. For those who want to know the result of the Scottish independence vote and don’t want the commentary, here’s your answer. For everyone else, here is commentary and information.
A sign that I’m getting back to “normal”. I don’t know if it’s serious cabin fever from the heat or the fact that my foot is probably sprained (foot injuries make me more peripatetic than usual — perhaps my body not wanting to be told what it cannot do) but I have been *DYING* to go for walks every morning. After not doing it for at least 4 years, I’m covering 2-3 miles without a problem… even in 93F heat! Thankfully, it was only 73F when I went out today. I’m happy that I have a doable course for the Run for the Little Flowers worked out.
Prerequisite baseball take. The Giants are still 2.5 games behind Jon’s boys. They could still take their division… provided Jon’s boys lose a few more. (Of course, I’m also living in Dodger country so my opinion is not popular.)
Two truths and a lie. While I was on my walk this morning, I had a random thought for a Quick Take: play the game “Two Truths and a Lie” which is one of those weird mixer games from college and youth group. The rules are pretty simple: make three statements about yourself and people have to guess which one is not true. Leave your answer in the comments and I’ll let people know which is which next week.
Oh. Em. Gee. My shows start again next week!!!!!! I am so incredibly excited because The Big Bang Theory, and the various NCIS incarnations start again on Monday. I don’t have access to a TV so I have a feeling that I’ll be doing a lot of watching while crocheting on the morning after each show comes out.
Neutrogena Clear Pore Oil-Eliminating Astringent.I’ve got a bit of cabin fever I needed to pray over some things and clear my head so I went for a walk this morning. Have I mentioned that it’s bloody hot here right now (93F when I got home from my walk) and that I have a stress injury in my right foot? (Yeah, I’m desperate.) Considering that I sweated off all the water I drank, I thought I might need something to clean my face. This stuff works amazingly and I smell like witch hazel and eucalyptus.
Two
MapMyRun I use MapMyRun to calculate my route. Today it was 2.06 miles which was not half bad. I’m aiming for 3 so I’m ready for the Run for the Little Flowers 5K.
Three
My Saucony running shoes. Considering how discalced I am most of the time, I need something comfortable for walking/running/chasing Daniel. (My policy on running is that I only run when chased.) These shoes are seriously helping with the stress injury because it’s compressing my foot in a way that my flip-flops don’t.
Four
Trader Joe’s pumpkin ice cream. I’ve been eating it for dinner for the last few nights because it is so freaking hot and I don’t want to use the stove. I think one of the best things about being an adult is that I can eat whatever I want. 🙂 Anyway, I’m a huge fan of pumpkin ice cream and it’s a seasonal item.
Five
Montclair Plaza. Daniel and I needed to get out of the house and walk a lot of energy off yesterday. It was 106F outside so we went to the local mall and did laps around every floor. Interestingly, it started pouring rain when we got there — enough rain to trigger flash flood warnings. It was bone dry when we got back outside an hour later.
