Update: Out of the Depths

Hello friends!

It's been a solid week since I last posted. Well, actually, that's not quite true. My last post was this past Saturday, but after I posted it, I had second thoughts about it and wound up pulling it. I don't normally do that (this was the first time), but it was a very personal sort of post and while I don't regret having written it, I questioned my judgment at the time that I published it as it was very late and I was very tired. When I looked at it again in the light of day, I realized that perhaps it was better off kept to myself. I apologize to anyone who might have read it and then went looking for it again later.

This has been a very difficult week or so since my last published post. To be honest, this illness that I struggle with has been kicking my butt up one side and down the other and has been rather unrelenting. I am very grateful to Gray and Pendragon both. They have been helping me to sort out my thoughts and try to work through things and process things. My dear "big brother" Chez has been praying for me like mad and has served as a sounding board for my frustrations during this too. To say I am thankful for all the support I have in my life is quite the understatement. Eventually, I want to do some writing about what has been on my mind this week, but now is not the time. For now I will say that after nearly a week and a half of stumbling and falling through the murky depths, I am finally starting to feel that fog lift a little. I feel a little more even-footed, if still a bit weak.

One good thing that has come of all of this is that I have come to realise through this recent difficulty that there is something I need to do for myself and as of tomorrow, I am going to be taking a rather huge step towards doing it. I will be talking about this in time, but for now, I'll suffice to say that it's something I have been discerning for a good year now.

Now that things are shifting back to some semblance of normal (although it's not really "normal" but a less intense state of depression that is easier to muddle through), I am going to endeavour to get back to writing more frequently. This means that since tomorrow is Friday, I'll have a Five Minute Friday post for you and I'm going to resume my Daybook Journal on Tuesday and Theology Thursday next week. There might even be another post or two thrown in for good measure if the mood strikes me.

Pax Christi! 

Doctor Who and Catholicism

If you've been reading this blog for any length of time, you will know two things about me:

1. I am Catholic
2. I am a fangirl.

If you put those two things together, you can reasonably say that I am also a Catholic fangirl. I converted to Catholicism and I love everything about it. As each year passes, my love for my Catholic faith grows deeper and deeper. That said, my second most serious fandom has to be the British sci-fi series, Doctor Who.

For those of you who don't know that series, allow me to give you a brief description. Doctor Who involves a character called The Doctor who travels through time and space having adventures, saving planets and peoples (and occasionally the whole universe), righting wrongs, and inspiring hope everywhere he goes. He looks like a human (or as he says, we humans look like Time Lords) but he is really an alien from another planet. He travels in a spaceship called the TARDIS (Time and Relative Dimensions in Space) which looks like a blue 1960s style London police call box on the outside, but which is MUCH bigger on the inside. He goes on his adventures with various humans (and the odd alien) who are referred to in the series as his "companions." The people who encounter The Doctor -- both his companions and others -- are forever changed by the experience.

Matt Smith (as the 11th Doctor) exiting the TARDIS somewhere in central London.

One of the reasons I love both the Catholic faith and Doctor Who is that they make me think and ponder deeper subjects. Naturally, through the past few years, my thinking in one area has kinda bled over into the other area and recently as I was brainstorming ideas for this blog, it occurred to me that there are a lot of connections between the realities of Catholicism and the fiction of Doctor Who. The following is just some of the things that kind of popped into my head. Some of them may be a little loosey goosey, so bear with me.

Ordinary Things

Doctor Who is brilliant at taking ordinary things and turning them into the stuff of nightmares -- shadows, statues, broken clocks, cracks in the wall, astronauts, and pretty much anything else you can imagine. The good thing is that The Doctor knows about the evil in these seemingly ordinary things and he helps his companions and others avoid a variety of terrible fates because he sees these things for what they are and knows how to fight them.

Satan is rather talented at taking ordinary things and using them to distract us from God, lure us into sin, and in some cases, destroy us completely. One of the things I love best about Catholicism is that it takes sin very seriously and as such, is very, very clear about the kinds of things that constitute sin and lays that out for us as Catholics. When we find ourselves tempted by these ordinary things that Satan has twisted for his own nefarious purposes or we have fallen for his lies and into sin, the Church, like The Doctor, is there to help us identify where we've gone wrong, avoid sin when we're tempted, and fight back when we fall victim to the lies of the Evil One. The biggest weapons in the Church's arsenal are the graces found in the seven sacraments -- particularly, the Sacrament of Reconciliation (confession) and the Sacrament of the Holy Eucharist (communion).

Companions = Saints?

As I said before, The Doctor almost always goes on his adventures with one or more companions along for fun and company. His companions are an exceptional bunch of folks and each one is very different and has a very different relationship with The Doctor. The common thread that they all share is that each of them is not only along for the ride, but each one helps The Doctor find his way to doing the right thing. They act as a sort of conscience for him at times, they help him fight his battles, and they encourage him when he's down. In Catholicism, we have thousands upon thousands of saints. The saints are very similar to The Doctor's companions in that they are a rather varied group of very special individuals and because of this, we relate to different saints in different ways. One of the great things about the saints is that they are not just our companions, but our brothers and sisters in the faith who are in a unique position (thanks to their being totally perfected and in the presence of God) to help us fight our battles by praying for us, to act as a sort of conscience for us by the witness of their lives, and to encourage us by the writings and accounts of their lives that we have here on earth.

Save ALL the People!

The Doctor is, at his hearts (he has two of them), a do-gooder. He wants to help those in need and when someone needs saving, he's your man. He's such a do-gooder that he wants to save all the people, even sometimes those who have long been his enemies. But he can't. He tries his best, but even on the days when he saves most everyone, there are always those who fall through the cracks because they were too proud to accept his help or too arrogant to listen when he tried to warn them of some impending danger. When he fails to save people, it really hurts him. Even if he carries on, makes a joke, or presents a stiff upper lip about it, you see it in his eyes, in a flicker of a frown that crosses his face, or in the slump of his shoulders. The Bible says in 1 Timothy 2:4 that God wills that all men should be saved and that is because the nature of God is love and His love is so great for all of His creation that He wants each and every one of us to be with Him -- even those who regard God as an enemy. He wants this for all of us and that is why He sacrificed His only son Jesus that ALL of mankind might be redeemed. Of course, as we also know, He gave us free will. We are redeemed by Christ's sacrifice, but we must do the work of accepting that gift. The problem is that some of us are too proud to accept it or too arrogant to listen when they are presented with the Truth of the Gospel or warned away from serious sin. The result is that although we as Catholics may hope that all men will be saved, the reality is that the likelihood of hell being empty is pretty slim to none. In the end, those who are saved by The Doctor are saved because they put their trust in his ability to save them and likewise, we find salvation by putting our trust in the sacrifice of Christ on the cross to save us from sin and death.

Words, Not Weapons  

In the Doctor Who universe, there are quite a few weapons at The Doctor's disposal, but he doesn't own a single one of them. So how does he save the day? By using his trusty sonic screwdriver (futuristic Swiss army knife + universal remote control + every sci-fi hand-held scanner device in existence) and his imagination, quick wit, previous experiences, and vast intelligence. He can stun an enemy into silence with a single word or turn back an entire army with a very well-crafted speech. When he speaks, it behooves you to listen. Just so, the Catholic Church has been fighting against those who would try to tear her apart by using scripture, logic, reason, and intelligent arguments based on 2000 years of prayer, experience, and tradition. She follows the example of Jesus who used words and not weapons to change hearts and lives and fight against those who sought to hurt others or entrap him and so derail his mission. True, the Church has had some less than stellar moments and yes, there have been some people who have used violence in the name of Christ and His Church (and this is most decidedly wrong), but this has a parallel in Doctor Who too. The Doctor doesn't use weapons, but sometimes -- most especially when he travels alone for too long -- he forgets his way and allows things to happen that he could prevent or even lashes out angrily when there is no just reason for it.


The Pope is a Time Lord?

For me, one of the most obvious connections is between the Pope and the Doctor. The Doctor is a member of a race of people called the Time Lords. As I said before, he appears to be a human on the outside, but he does have some unique things about his physiology that are most decidedly alien. One is that he has two hearts instead of one, but the most interesting difference is his ability to regenerate. When The Doctor is near death, instead of dying, his body goes through a process called regeneration where his whole body is transformed into a completely new and different looking body from head to foot. He looks, sounds, and feels like a totally new person. He has different tastes in clothes, food, and the things that appeal to him and yet, he retains all of his memories from his previous incarnations and if you, as the audience, look carefully, you can even see glimpses of his previous incarnations peeking through the eyes of the current one. He is a totally new person, but he is the same person too. The Pope has a similar sort of thing going on. Obviously, he doesn't almost die and then regenerate, but he does change -- either when the current pope dies or when he retires, like Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI did in 2013. Each new pope brings with him a new face, voice, personality, and way of doing things to the office of the papacy, but he retains and defends the 2000 years' worth of dogma, doctrine, and Traditions of the Church. Like The Doctor, even though he has a new face, you can often see glimpses of his predecessors in the things he says and does or even his pastoral style. He is most definitely a different person, but because his apostolic authority and the unbroken line of apostolic succession (the office of the pope is often referred to as the See of Peter -- the first pope), he is in some ways most definitely the same person as the men who came before him.


There are many other things I could say about how these two fandoms of mine are connected, but I think for now, that's quite enough to be getting on with. If you would like to read a little more, here's another blog post about the TARDIS and the Catholic Church by Catholic blogger Billy Kangas.

Of Fandoms and Fangirling

I admit it. I am a hopeless fangirl. Don't know what that is? Let me show you. It looks something like this:

Just imagine that she's flailing those hands a little and you'll have it about right.

Just in case the picture doesn't help, here's a definition from Urban Dictionary:

fangirl, n.
1. (derogatory) a female fan, obsessed with something (or someone) to a frightening or sickening degree. Often considered ditzy, annoying and shallow.
2. (playful, good-natured) less extreme, a female fan who can laugh at their own passion for their particular interest (or even obsession).

I definitely fall into the second category. Actually, very few people fall into the first category for the simple fact that the level of devotion required to fall into that category is very time-consuming. Usually it's the province of high school and college age girls who have both the time necessary to obsess over something to that degree and the immaturity level. Category 1 is something that most fans grow out of once they reach adulthood and its various responsibilities and demands. It is generally accepted that to be firmly rooted in category 1 as an adult is rather unhealthy. Some folks are and they usually wind up making a career of it (like professional gossip columnists, entertainment writers, etc.), but that's not me. I'm sure some folks might think I'm closer to category 1, the reality is that life just doesn't allow me to be too obsessed.

So what makes a fangirl? Well, in short, a fandom. Confused? Here's another definition courtesy of the folks at Urban Dictionary:

fandom, n. 

The community that surrounds a tv show/movie/book etc. Fanfiction writers, artists, poets, and cosplayers are all members of that fandom. Fandoms often consist of message boards, livejournal communities, and people.

Fandom may also refer to the object of a fangirl's obsession. In my case, this is science fiction, fantasy, certain book series, and television shows. Fandoms often refer to their individual fangirls (and boys) by a collective nickname that is specific to that fandom. For example, fans who love the Harry Potter series by J. K. Rowling (either the books or the movies) often refer to themselves as Potterheads. One of the more famous examples of this are the Trekkies (fans who love anything in the Star Trek universe).

As for me, I'm a Whovian (Doctor Who), Potterhead (Harry Potter), Trekkie (Star Trek), Browncoat (Firefly and Serenity), Sherlockian (BBC's Sherlock), and general all-around Anglophile (lover of all things British). I also have a love for Star Wars and the Tolkien sagas of The Hobbit and Lord of the Rings.

See what I mean? I think it must be the thespian in me... *sheepish look*

Some of these fandoms, I have grown up loving and were passed on to me by my dad. The others, I have found via friends and, more recently, the internet. My love of all things British began thanks to a tea party hosted by a co-worker of my mom's when I was a little girl. My Brit-love extends to a number of British comedies or "Britcoms" that I used to watch on Saturday nights on our local PBS affiliate. As an adult, I've discovered the joys of the Masterpiece series, Call the Midwife, and of course, my favourite British period drama, Downton Abbey.

Period costumes, lush sets, scandal, intrigue, romance, social class tension, witty banter, and all set in the gorgeous English countryside during the early 20th century -- how could I *not* be a fan?

You might think with such an extensive list of fandoms that I wouldn't have time for anything but TV watching or book reading, but it's not too hard. For the most part, I indulge in these fun escapes when I have an hour or so in the evening or if I know I'm going to have a lot of time on my hands, like a road trip or sitting waiting somewhere. I often keep a favourite book in the car or sometimes watch something on my phone via Netflix. Gray enjoys Doctor Who and occasionally Star Trek, so he and I sometimes watch those on a weekend night as a sort of date night in. Stuff that isn't available on Netflix or in book form is usually stuff that is on regular TV and gets recorded on our DVR to be watched at a later point. It may sound like a lot of work, but it's not really and for me, these fandoms are a source of fun diversion for me and help relieve a bit of stress at the end of the day. One of the fun things about being a fangirl is that it is an easy way to make friends and even bond with my family because the love of a particular fandom is a shared interest.

See what I mean about shared interest? Some fans even go to conventions and do what is called cosplay (costume play) where they dress up like their favourite characters. This is a bunch of Whovians at San Diego's ComicCon. Fun, no?

The other thing I love about my various fandoms is thinking about the stories and what they're trying to say that isn't readily apparent. I like asking questions about the characters' motives, the underlying themes, the direction the particular story arc may (or may not) be taking, and the myths that underpin everything. There are interesting ideas to be found and often, universal truths about human nature and the ways we relate to each other, to the world around us, and even our relationship (or lack thereof) with God. Sometimes, these ideas even lead to new insights about myself, my faith, or the world around me.

I also use my love of these various series of books and TV shows. How? Well, for one, I am sometimes inspired by them to create something of my own -- a poem, a story, or, more recently, a blog post. In a more practical way, many of the metaphors, quotes, and ideas found in these series have helped me to express in a concrete way what I'm feeling when talking with Gray or Pendragon about my struggles with depression. Sometimes too, in expressing these things about my struggles, I discover new insights that are useful in helping me understand my illness or take a tiny step forward in my journey toward recovery.

The Dowager Countess of Grantham always has the best one-liners and some of the most sage advice in the series. Plus, she is played by the amazing Dame Maggie Smith who is one of my favourite actresses.

So now that you know a little more about fangirls and fandoms, tell me what you love. Do you swoon over period dramas or get giddy about the latest sci-fi or fantasy novel? What is your fandom?

Five Minute Friday: Send

Note: This post is my weekly contribution to the Five Minute Friday community that is hosted by Kate Motaung on her blog Heading Home. Click here for more information about Five Minute Friday and how you can get involved! To link up with all the other entries for today's prompt word, click here.

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For all my modern geekiness, I sometimes think that I ought to have been born in a much different era. I started noticing this when I was a young teenager of about 13 or 14. I found myself attracted to a lot of vintage sorts of things. Now understand that when I say vintage, I mean like Victorian era kind of vintage.

We are not amused.

Part of this likely came from the influence of the big sister of one of my best girlfriends. Her big sister had these magazines and they were filled with pictures of lace tablecloths, pretty dishes, elegant clothes, cups of tea and dainty tea cakes, and all manner of lovely things. I remember being at my friend's house and flipping through her sister's magazines and wishing that I could send myself back to that era to live for a while.

Nothing like a cup of tea and a pretty magazine to flip through at your leisure. The magazine featured in this photograph is the one that my friend's big sister subscribed to and it's one I've taken myself in years past.

This feeling of being out of step with my own era continued to grow when I fell in love with Harry Connick Jr's music in high school. I was on a church youth choir trip and asked a boy I admired who he was listening to on his Walkman tape player. He told me who it was and let me borrow his cassette tape. I popped it in my tape player, put my earphones on, and listened as this rich velvety baritone voice and full big band orchestra came through the speakers. It was love after two bars. I was absolutely sent. At the next stop on our tour, I bought a copy of that album with my spending money at the local mall in that area and soaked myself in the jazz, blues, and big band tunes of this gorgeous crooner. Even today, some 20+ years later, Harry Connick, Jr continues to be one of my favourite artists and I still get a thrill out of listening to him sing.

On the left, the picture and album that won my heart. On the right, Mr. Connick today. Still crazy talented and crazy gorgeous too! Did I mention that he's my celebrity boyfriend? Yeah, Gray laughs at me for that one :)

As I got a bit older, I discovered calligraphy, fountain pens, and dip pens. I especially grew fond of dip pens and at some point in college, I bought a very pretty blown glass one that I still enjoy using. There's something about writing a letter by hand (in any pen) and sending it to someone else. Its one of the reasons I signed up for the #fmfpartysnailmail and am looking forward to writing notes of encouragement to others using my dip pen and sending them out. I might even use my pretty stationary!

This is very similar to what my pretty glass dip pen looks like. There's a learning curve to using it, but it's so much fun and sends me back to a bygone era every time I use it!

I'm a nerd and a tech geek and love my computer and gadgets and all, but there is something special about another, simpler era gone by when people sent invitations to tea or long letters to read by candlelight that just appeals to me. I suppose I was meant to be born when I was, but I wouldn't mind being sent back in time -- if only for a little while!

Join the Five Minute Friday party at Kate Motaung's blog!

Theology Thursday: Catholics and Communion

For the Catholic Christian, there is absolutely nothing more important than Holy Communion, or as the sacrament is more properly called, Holy Eucharist. It is so important, that the Catechism of the Catholic Church states that:

The Eucharist is "the source and summit of the Christian life." The other sacraments and indeed, all other ecclesiastical ministries and works of the apostolate, are bound up with the Eucharist and are oriented toward it. For in the blessed Eucharist is contained the whole spiritual good of the church, namely Christ himself, our Pesach. (CCC 1324, quoted phrase is from the encyclical Lumen Gentium, paragraph 11)

It is so important that the Sacrament of the Holy Eucharist is offered every day of the week, 365 days a year! Because the Catholic Church is represented in nearly every country on the globe in some way or another, it is often said that Holy Mass (and thus the Holy Eucharist) is being celebrated at every moment of every day. I mention Holy Mass, because that is, primarily, where you will find the Holy Eucharist being offered to the Catholic faithful.

For Catholics, the whole point of going to Mass is not about the scripture readings or the preaching or the songs that are sung -- although those are an important part of the liturgy too -- but about receiving Holy Communion. The very simple reason for this is that we believe that the Eucharist is Jesus's actual Body and Blood. It's not symbolic. It is Him, truly present under the guise of bread and wine. When we receive Holy Communion, we are receiving Jesus Himself into our bodies, not merely bread and wine that we are partaking in to remember Him. It is an intimate moment of worship unlike any other in that although we, like the centurion in Matthew 8, say, "Lord I am not worthy that you should enter under my roof" that the Lord of All Creation, Jesus Christ Our Redeemer, deigns to do just that and comes to us under the appearance of the consecrated bread and wine so that we might receive Him under our our roof and so be nourished body and soul by His Body and Blood.

The Biblical basis for this belief that Jesus is truly present in the Holy Eucharist comes from what is known as The Bread of Life discourse in John 6. The entire chapter is a really good one to meditate on and pray on, but the specific passage is John 6:22-71. Of course, there are other scriptures which also form the basis for this belief, but this passage is the main one. The basic thrust of the passage is that Jesus is telling his followers that He is the bread that came down from heaven and He will give them His flesh and blood to eat and drink. He also says that they must eat and drink of his flesh and blood or they will have no life in them. They take Him literally and are both shocked and confused. Many of his followers leave him to go back to their old lives. Had He been speaking symbolically or metaphorically and they turned to leave, He would have certainly have stopped them and explained Himself further as He did on a number of other occasions when those following Him misunderstood His meaning.

As you can see, it is a very, very serious thing and as such, Catholics are admonished not to receive Holy Communion if they are not in a state of grace because by receiving when they are in a state of mortal sin, they may, as St. Paul said, eat and drink judgment upon themselves (1 Corinthians 11:23-30). Catholics who are born into the faith (aka "cradle Catholics") generally have their First Holy Communion around the ages of 7-9 years old, although it may vary from diocese to diocese. Our eldest, M2, is preparing for hers this coming spring and we are very excited! :) It is a momentous occasion not only because it is a rite of passage, but more importantly, because it is the first of what, I hope and pray, will be many thousands of times in her life that she will approach the Table of the Lord and receive Him and the graces of this sacrament.

As Catholics, we believe that receiving the Holy Eucharist gives us graces from God to help us live holy lives, to resist temptation to sin, to follow God's will for our lives more closely, to love our neighbours with more charity, and ultimately, to reach our heavenly reward. We also believe that it brings spiritual and even sometimes physical healing to receive it and as such, it is often a part of the Sacrament of the Anointing of the Sick and is always a part of the Last Rites (which is comprised of three of the seven sacraments in one).

Holy Communion is a vital part of a healthy Catholic faith life and those who receive it regularly often report feeling weaker and less able to deal with the slings and arrows that life throws when they must, for some reason, go for a period of time without receiving it. I know this is certainly true for me. Our family attends Mass at least once a week and I always receive. If, for some reason, I must miss Mass (which is usually due to my own sickness or family sickness), I feel rather empty for having missed and sort of spiritually anemic. It really does help strengthen me and gives me food for the journey of life. 

There is so much more I could say (there are volumes upon volumes written about this sacrament!), but I need to wind this up so it's not too too long. To end, here's a little recap and a YouTube video which, I think, gives a lot of interesting information on the Sacrament of the Holy Eucharist (the video is a really cool cartoon drawn as you watch!):

Feel free to steal this graphic if you want!

Daybook Online Journal -- Week of January 13, 2015

Welcome to my weekly Tuesday post where I remember the ups and downs and big and little things of daily life for me and my family. I call it my Daybook Online Journal and it's an idea I found via fellow blogger Jenny at her blog, The Littlest Way. Thanks for the inspiration, Jenny! The prompts are a combination of several I've found as I've been researching this particular way of chronicling daily life. Come on in and reflect with me!

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Outside my window... the weather is overcast and grey today. Looks a bit like rain might come along later. It's in the upper 40s, so not too cold, but cold enough to necessitate a jacket when I go out later this evening.

Highlights from this week...

• Finally arrived home after being in Pennsylvania for over two weeks! So glad to be home!
• Big girls went back to school and Gray back to work after the break
• The stomach bug that just won't quit hit me on Friday about midday. This lasted into the wee hours of Saturday. It also meant that I went basically dormant for all of Saturday and most of Sunday too. 
• Monday brought with it a fantastic surprise in the form of a letter from the school system informing us that M2 is on her way to being chosen for the gifted education program! We are so proud of her hard work and accomplishments! She will be tested further (with our consent) and pending the results of the tests and the review of the results by a committee, may be chosen for the program. Both Gray and I were in gifted education programs as children, so we are naturally thrilled that she is being considered for this.
• Monday also brought report cards and both girls did well with AB getting a perfect "straight S-es" report card. She was so excited and we called both sets of grandparents to share her news and her big sister's news about the gifted program.

 This week I am thankful for...

• The return of Downton Abbey -- my favourite British drama
• Cracked pepper and olive oil Triscuits - a slightly spicy, savoury snack especially good with a bit of cheese
• A clothes dryer that works so well, especially with the mountains of laundry we seem to always have!
• My dear sweet Gray who was so good to me during my illness, bringing me water, tissues, and even doing helpful things like putting a waste bin near the bed in case I couldn't make it to the bathroom.
• Fuzzy blankets to snuggle up under on cold and rainy days
• My friend Chez who told me just this morning that he tries to always remember me in his rosary prayers
• Facebook Messenger so I can stay in touch with Jae and so many others
• Voxer messages with T and Jae -- such fun and a great way to stay in touch in real time
• The promise of a new oven to be purchased soon -- huzzah!!!

 Praying for...

• Peace in our world and an end to war, violence, terrorism, and the culture of death   
• My #write31days friend Anita who has been searching for something precious she's lost
• For all of you who so kindly read my blog and comment -- for whatever your needs are (please feel free to leave them in the comments!)
• For those who are hungry, that God would fill their bellies and provide for their needs
• For my three girls that they would make wise and holy decisions and always follow after Jesus
• For my beloved Gray that he will have a good work week as he continues to get back into the groove after our trip
• For my friend Jae and her specific needs and intentions -- love you, Jae!
• For my friend T that she feels better as she has also been battling this ridiculous stomach bug
• For Pope Francis as he is traveling for safety and for the Holy Spirit to guide his words and actions as he ministers to the peoples of Sri Lanka and the Phillippines 

Reading...

• The Hobbit by J. R. R. Tolkien
• Until We Have Faces by C. S. Lewis
• Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince by J. K. Rowling (a re-read)
• A back issue of Quilter's Home magazine given to me by my mom-in-law, Balinda   

Listening to...

• A talk on Sola Scriptura by my friend John Martignoni
• Our community radio station that plays a mix of current and older hits from every musical genre -- country, Christian contemporary, pop, rap, oldies, disco, funk, rock and everything in between. I really love this station because they're super local (although they have an app so I can take them with me when I'm out of the area) and their main focus is giving back to the community so they donate a portion of any revenue they make to local charities, fundraising endeavours, and food banks. Love 99.9!
• Open Line on EWTN radio - a call in radio show with different hosts and different topics about Catholicism each day Mon-Fri  
• The sound of our washing machine chugging away and the dryer thumping along as they wash and dry our clothes

I am wearing.... my comfy black leggings, a sort of dark magenta knit dress, and my very comfy blue slippers that I enjoy wearing around the house.  

 

I am learning... the true meaning of the phrase, "the best laid plans of mice and men often go awry."  

My favourite quote of the week: 

        "Let us step out into the night and pursue that flighty temptress, adventure."

             -- J. K. Rowling, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince

 

Some pictures from my week... Gray wearing one of the girls' hats to stay warm on a cold blustry morning, AB's weekly vocabulary words, and homemade beef stew on a cold night

 

   

See you next week!

A Week in the Life - My Daybook Online Journal

I'm going to try something new with regard to keeping track of day to day life. It's called a Daybook. I've seen several bloggers who do this and have yet to be able to find a format that I really like, but I do find the idea of prompts appealing, because it helps you think about things constructively rather than just casting about in your mind for memories of the week.

The main reason I want to do this is because, to quote Jenny at The Littlest Way, "the little things that seem insignificant in the day to day" are important to remember because they "end up being the things of importance in the long run." I want to have a record of the mundanity of life so that when I am old and gray and wondering where all the years went, I can look back and remember and tell my grown children and (hopefully) grandchildren about all the things that made up the fabric of life for me and for my family. Another reason I want to do this is to follow through with a goal (#oneword365 -- follow) to write a little each day in 2015 (#oneword365 -- write).

As I've said previously, I have always struggled with keeping a journal on a consistent basis despite a desire to record life in this way, but I think with this blog and this more structured way of writing about things, I may have hit on something I can finally do with some consistency. I think I'm going to start with some of Jenny's prompts that she uses for her daybook and I may switch it up as I go.

Next up -- my first entry in my new daybook!