Lent Is Begun. Let Us Pray.

 

 

Crickles Is Over the Moon

There's a store/catalog:  www.CCS.com  where you can order skate stuff, including the skate gear.   Crickles has been pondering which board, struts, etc. to get since Christmas.  The person who lived here before us apparently had an older child (or her husband was into skating or such things; p'raps even herself!) and we started to thumb through the catalogs . . . eventually ordering helmets and tee-shirts ourselves.  We are satisfied customers (their shipping is quite reasonable, considering everyone likes to tack on extra dollars when shipping here or AK).  Location, location, location.

Anyhoo, the board is on its way in 8-10 days, but his grin will last a long time after it arrives!

Teenie is now asking for a helmet.  There are worse things, I suppose.

On another topic, my husband is working weird hours this week so I'll be dragging butt right along with him.  He goes in at 2am . . . and I have to get up and reset the alarm . . . and get up myself by 5:30am . . . I'm an exhausted heap of bones and fat today, folks.  Long week.

Oh, good.  Suffering is good.  It's going to be Lent in a few short hours.  The pancakes and syrup should sustain me!

And, who can sleep when someone's just had their baby girl and promises to post soon (w/ pictures).  Congratulations!!!  We think the new addition is grand!!

More Good Sports Stories

http://sports.yahoo.com/olympics/vancouver/speed_skating/news?slug=ro-holum021310&prov=yhoo&type=lgns

If a link doesn't appear, copy and paste into your browswer for a great read.  Another athlete gave up a promising sports career to become a Franciscan sister.  It was a few years ago, but c'mon, it's a great story!

Please look at the previous post as well.  Thanks!

CONTEST ALERT!!!

Julia is having a book give-away and you do not want to miss the opportunity to ONE - meet a fellow Christian on the path to the Catholic Church, and , TWO - possibly win some good books (even I haven't read these yet and I'm interested).  So, BEAT ME, by joining up and encouraging Julia!

Meet My New Bestest Friend . . .

Energy, Energy . . . At Last I Found Thee!

My God, I love iron tablets and pre-natal vitamins*!!!!  I feel bloody fantastic!  Yes, I have a cold that has jadded my voice (so bad I can't even sing at Mass), but my energy level is back! 

The wonderful truth about iron deficiency is that the effects of taking in iron generally happen quickly.  For me, it took three days, but wow!

I love coffee.  I mean I love coffee.  But, I no longer rely on it (falsely, I might add) for keeping my head from hanging as if a noose has done its job. 

Thank you for your prayers, friends. 

*i am not pregnant - the military dispensory only has pre-natals for a woman's mulit-vitamin.  i would love to have a baby again, but . . . that's not in my deck of cards nowadays.*

Iron

I do not know what my numbers are for my iron count yet, but I did give the necessary blood to find out this morning.  The doc sent me home with prenatal vitamins (huh? I guess 'cos it's the only multi-vitamin the military dispensory has???) and iron tablets.  Great!  I'll have energy and not be able to poop. 

But, I WILL HAVE ENERGY!

I think it will be key in my losing weight.  You do not move when you don't have energy.  I mean, I get things done, I go shopping, etc., but I do not have it in me to daily bring my heart rate up (and I can't count scaring the piss out of myself when I nearly crash down the stairs and my heart comes up my throat . . . which, this happens almost on a daily basis).

I will also, unfortunately, have to cut way back on my coffee consumption since it hinders iron absorption.

But, I'm psyched to get healthy again!

Laugh Today (Don't Wait!)

 

 

Reading More Lately . . . . Here's a Fun Series

I read the first two books in The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins this week.  The third, and final (assumption), book will be published later (not sure when).  I can wait, because what am I going to do, force the author to get her pencil in gear?!?

The only precaution I would throw out there for parents, since these books are labeled Children's Literature, is this:  there are themeatic problems (for parents with children who may read these books) of violence, war, oppression, and yes, even hints at human sexuality.  The author doesn't write about sex, but it is there in nature:  scenes where the main character is stripped down naked by her team of handlers for the games . . . scenes where she is sleeping with, but not having sex or even entertaining the idea thereof, her teammate (for warmth in a cave; for comfort later).   Unless your child is mature . . . they should wait on reading these for a few years.  There's no cussing I can remember, so . . . if there is, it's used "appropriately". 

I would say these books were written for high school readers (at least that would have been my take during the years I was growing up).  They are Orwellian, but with more hope.

I do not want to say much more about the books than what the books are described as on their jackets.  "Winning means fame and fortune.  Losing means certain death.  The Hunger Games have begun . . . "  It is a thrilling ride!

For God Alone

"If you put all the love of all the mothers into one heart it still would not equal the love of the Heart of Mary for her children."  - St. Louis deMontfort.

Let Me Get My Coffee

Bunko was super duper fun!  I can see why so many women enjoy this parlor game!  Twelve women playing an easy to follow dice game . . . snacking, drinking (it can be whatever; in our case:  wine), and chatting.  There was plenty of laughter, too, which I thrive on.

I had no idea that Bunko has been around over 50 years.  No wonder!  It is a great excuse to get together!  Not to mention, the $5 player fee got divvyed up between who won this or that.  Mind, I won nothing, but I had a good time and could care less.

I will host my evening the first Friday of December.  Unfortunately, about a quarter of the women there tonight will have moved away from Honolulu by then . . . but fortunately, there will likely be women to replace them that we can love just as much as those who have to leave us.  This is one thing that I dislike about the military.  I long for the day that I have neighbour friends that I can grow old with . . . you know?  It is just not possible with military friends.  Yes, some may stay in touch over the years (in my case, only a few, which I think is a blessing), but you lose many of them.

Okay, I'm going to go have my coffee now and ease into my day.  I'll be reheating the chicken tetrazenni (help me here, Therese - Musings of a Mom; I'm butchering your heritage dish in verbiage!) I made the night before last for lunch today.  I got the recipe from Giada's cookbook a friend lent me.  It was labour intensive to make (only 'cos it was new to me), but oh, so dern delicious!

P.S. Kissteen:  I loathe card playing games.  Loathe.  No one understands this about me at all, but everyone else loves card games.  My eyes almost fall outta my head when Chief watches poker on telly.  Why?  It's just beyond my comprehension!

What Am I Getting Myself Into?

In about an hour or so, I'll be playing Bunko for the very first time.  I've avoided it (not necessarily intentionally) since it started making the rounds of my friends . . . and oddly enough, those who knew OF me and would grab my arm enthusiastically with an invite to join their Bunko group.  "No, thanks," I always responded. 

I've thought about my response very little.  I love to socialize, but why does it always seem to be that when "friends" get together we invent some damn excuse to do so?  "Hey, I'm hosting a _______ party!" or you can imagine all the clever ways we sneak our friends into our homes . . . yeah?  I am told that Bunko is very different . . . I'm so looking forward to it!  I like to just be stupid silly with my girlfriends . . . playing a game at the same time, why not? 

I do not despise the tactics . . . but they are really weird. 

I do not need a Superbowl party, Tupperware etc. party, to be lured into your home, friends.  I'll come just 'cos I like ya.  If you want me to buy some stuff, I may do that as well (but really, I'd rather be real about these parties:  we may like each other, but the only reason you are hosting is you want free stuff or you got suckered into hosting the party). 

I am not certain what I'll think of this before the night is through.  I know I'll enjoy the company! 
I am not certain I like the catch that eventually 11 other women will be in my home to play some night.  I'm not a large group entertainer, and, there are prizes to be bought etc. (again, this is something I may have misheard - for my being hard of hearing, not a far-fetched truth) . . .

As with anything in life, I will cross that bridge when I come to it. 

I just hope it lives up to all the hype!

Tomorrow I Start With A Clean Blanket - Linus (Peanuts)

I have joined up on Facebook . . . mostly because it allows me to chat with family (and that aspect alone has made it addicting!) and catch up with old and new friends.  The upside to it lately has been this game I've been playing on it.  Yes, Cafe Ville.  It's mindless in so many ways and often times aggrevating because the system slows down or swallows up my stuff to never be seen again.  Anyway, being ill (as I have been and no longer am, thank God - and thank you for all your well-wishes!) provided the wasted time I needed to goof off on-line in a different area than blogging. 

The game, after a few days, has really started to disinterest me . . . as I feel better I am wanting to engage in real life more. 

Perhaps I do not have an addiction . . . and that is a good thing! 

Because, I now realize, too, that blogging has taken way too much of my time . . . before Facebook.  And, being on FB as made me waste so much time that I'd have spent writing here and reading other blogs.  I do not want to not do either so I'll have to limit my time altogether. 

I've realized I have a lot of time to waste and I'd rather use it up doing more productive things in real life.  In order to do that, I have to manage my time more wisely.  So, that said, I am going to do both, but more restricted than before.  I know every single one of you knows what this "struggle" entails so I know I do not have to say much about it, for which I am thankful.

For now, I'm reading "The Hunger Games" by Suzanne Collins (because Teenie has asked me to so that we can talk about the story and characters . . . so I'm busy reading . . . and it's a gem of a book thus far).  Tomorrow I join the world of Bunko.  Never played before so this should be interesting (Notice:  I did not say "hard" - apparently if you can roll dice and count to six, you will likely win!).  Anyway, as with many things in my life and perspective:  I play games to have fun; if I win, fine; if I lose, I congratulate the winner. 

Keep things pleasant out there, because people are precious, and, life is worth living.

Uh Oh

P'raps it's a virus. 

Continuing to rest and fend off the "I wants" from those who are already recovered.

Nothing Interesting Going On

I'm recovering from a minor foodborne illness.  Everyone else seems to be recovered fully (Crickles didn't get it; he didn't eat the salad).  So, I've been hovering over on FaceBook all day . . . on and off . . . playing that dern cafeville game.  When that gets dull (and, believe me, it does), I read. 

So, that's it.  Nothing much to report here. 

All is well.