7 Quick Takes

More Quick Takes over here!

1.  This week has been the busiest week since I started at St. Edward. It was a combination of three major events this weekend, two funerals including one with a visiting Vatican priest, two sick children, one sick mother, and all the regular stuff we do every week.  Somehow, I have managed to not be going in to the office today.  Instead I will work from home and bake for Saturday's retreat.

2.  Saturday's retreat, ah yes, Confirmation is in April and so tomorrow we will have a short retreat, just six hours but packed full of faith, fun and food.  Food being especially important in helping to reach ninth graders. It is a small group and our pastor is spending the whole day with us.  The retreat will be in the rectory and yesterday I rearranged the T.V. room and have taken over the refrigerator as well.  Fr. Tom really is good about all of this going on and I know will add much to the day.  Our goal is to let the youth know we care and that the Church is for them to be a part of now.  We'll also have Mass outside which I think they will enjoy.

3.  Coffee is ready, be right back.So, it is just 6:30 in the morning and I am wide awake.  Every morning I wake up earlier and earlier.  Today I just got out of bed and decided to start my day.  I can always nap later.  What else will I do today?  Bake something yummy for the retreat, go for a walk, a bit of shopping, read of course, go to Adoration, birthday celebration tonight after Ultreya, finish up tasks for the retreat and whatever else comes along.

4.  I am sitting on my new pink chair in my (blank)room.  I need to fill in the blank!  It is our daughter's old bedroom which I took over when she left for college.  Her room was moved to the smaller room without the great light.  I wanted the light for sewing.  So, in the room is my sewing machine in its' cabinet, our desktop computer ( which makes very strange noises when turned on, today it sounds like a hamster on a wheel), a desk, three bookcases, a work table, pink chair, desk chair, sewing chair and various organizer bins. This room has gone from looking just the way I want it to all the way to please close that door so no one sees that disaster area and back more times than I can count.  Right now it is somewhere in between.  Need to fix this.  Lenten project? And what shall this room be called?

5.  Today when I go to Adoration I will bring my iPod with me.  I have come to learn that some people think this is just awful while others think it is okay.  First of all, I listen to Catholic contemporary music, not Black Sabbath; secondly, how is listening  different than reading while you are there?  Sometimes I have the rosary on or the Chaplet, but mostly it is music.  I don't have music on the whole time I am there, I sit in silence and try to listen as well.  I find it helps me focus and unwind before getting down to the nitty gritty.   Anyone have an opinion on this they'd care to share?

6.  My NOOK went wonky on me this week.  It may be the SD card.  I took it out and now it is working fine but I need the SD card to run Evernote.  The tech told me to check if the SD card is damaged, but I have no idea how to do that.

7.  Lent is still a bit hazy for me but I have a great book to read, Simplifying the Soul:  Lenten Practices to Renew your Soul by Paula Huston.  I started it after Lent began but it has been helpful to me in that the focus is on simplifying; I tend to complicate things.