7 Quick Takes

I haven't had (made?) the time to read or write blogs lately, so here are some snippets of news:

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We marched for life today.

Daniel rose before dawn to attend the youth Mass and rally. David hung out with some Christendom College friends. Lauren met her boyfriend, who rode a bus all the way from Notre Dame. The homeschoolers and I went to a dance/acrobatics show at the Kennedy Center. Then we marched.

The route these past two years is shorter than in the past, making for a start-up traffic jam. But the most striking aspect of the March to me is its youth. It seems to me that the overwhelming majority of participants are teens and young adults--hope for the future. Lauren looked online and told me the crowd is estimated at 300,000, the most ever. Who knows? The prayers and lives and work of the participants is more important than how many made it to DC.

What can you do to help pregnant women or struggling mothers?

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Many good habits fell by the wayside between Thanksgiving and the New Year. I have fallen off the weightlifting bandwagon, for one thing. Time to get back to work!

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My current shift in Joe's orchestra carpool is over until March. Hurrah! Added bonus: with the help of college and high school breaks, I had babysitters available for three weeks. No need to drag the little girls along on that 4 hour excursion. Double hurrah!

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We haven't gotten it together yet, but I'm still intending to follow Anne's example of choosing a virtue for each family member to work on over the course of the year.

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Recently updated: the recipe for beef barley soup.

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Becca's mini pizza slid face down onto the family room carpet on Wednesday. In my effort to clean up the huge tomato sauce blob, I pulled out the carpet steamer, which I had never used before. (Yes, I know, I have a fabulous husband...)

With some phone training I managed to soak the rug but not slurp enough water back up. A more complete training workshop was held that evening (oh yes, it was lots of fun). More steaming followed on Thursday. Such filthy water! The furniture will probably move back tomorrow, when we are sure the carpet is dry, dry, dry.

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It was sleeting lightly when we left home for the March this morning. The forecast was for temps in the low 30's, with a 50% chance of rain changing to a wintry mix. How pleasant! As it turned out, the precipitation ended and we enjoyed a cool, pleasant January day. Enduring rough elements can add to the sacrificial nature of the day, but I'm glad we didn't have to.

Jennifer at Conversion Diary hosts 7 Quick Takes Friday. Check out her post for links to MANY more (74 at press time!).

7 Quick Takes

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Jennifer at Conversion Diary hosts 7 Quick Takes Friday. As I understand it, the idea is that one can share 7 bits that are interesting but not "big enough" for a real post. I love reading hers, but was sure I'd NEVER try it myself. I usually post a few days a week, and couldn't imagine having SEVEN extra things to write about. Well, never say never...

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In a similar vein, when we moved back to Virginia (more than 20 years ago), I remember laughing with disbelief on learninig that the library's limit is 50 books per card! I was checking out a maximum of three at a time so I wouldn't lose track of them. Fast forward to the homeschooling years. Now I manage 7 cards--14 digit account numbers memorized, placing holds and renewing books online, etc. Our record as a family was having over 230 books on loan at once! (And no, I hardly ever pay fines--due dates are on the main calendar and the ability to manage renewals from home makes it do-able.)

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It was supposed to go up in October, but yesterday I finally put up my fall wreath.

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Speaking of fall, my walking wardrobe has been progressing with the season. First came the jacket, followed by the sweatshirt, jacket, and gloves. Then the hood went up. Now I'm wearing my coziest socks and thermals under my sweatpants. Still to come: the winter coat and scarf/hat combo under the hood.

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Yesterday Len was home so I had the privilege of running errands by myself during school hours--bliss! In under two hours (door-to-door) I made it to five stores, returning, shopping, etc. I hardly ever stray from my grocery store/library/kid activity routes, so making it to so many "out of the way" spots seemed like a big deal.

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But the biggest deal for me lately is my age. Since I have a September birthday, I tend to look ahead, feeling just a little older than I really am. I subtract my birth year from the current one and think, "I'm almost ____." So I just turned 48 and I am still TOTALLY FREAKING OUT. It feels like I'm going to be 50 any minute, even though it's almost two full years away. Turning 30 was nothing; good grief, I only had one child. Even 40 was no big deal. But 50 sounds OLD-OLD-OLD. Time to take a deep breath...

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Fun fact: You know how you can see your breath on a cold day? That's what we notice when a whale is exhaling. It's not spouting water; warm (mammalian) breath is condensing and becoming visible water vapor. I love homeschooling! :-)

Have a great weekend!