Faith Tradition.....

This weekend my family joined in the celebration of Msgr John Wall's 50th anniversary of ordination to the priesthood. It was a phenomenal event, and I am so happy to have been invited. Even more, I am happy to have been blest by Fr John's friendship and ministry. Will post links to the pictures when they are available. It was an amazing weekend.

Quilt Raffle - Success!

We were successful in raising the money needed to retire Katherine's debt. Thanks to everyone who participated.

The winner of the quilt directed us to forward the quilt to a shelter for women & children, so it is being delivered to the Sisters of Life in NYC - to a shelter for pregnant women and their infants.

Thanks for following along, for prayers and support.

Happy Advent

Sara

The raffle and the internet

Well, I guess it was bound to happen at some point.

My email account was hi-jacked and all my passwords reset by some other person who then lurked around waiting for my friends to email a response to the bogus email sent out saying that I desperately need help.

Do I need help? Not the variety that was being solicited by the fake me.

Am I stuck in the UK? No, I am living on the east coast, waiting for Earl to come ashore.

Did my anti-virus software protect me? Not yet, but we're working on it.

Is the raffle still going? Yes. Tickets are still $10 each and can be found at the Giveforward web site.

What do I need? Prayers for peace amidst the chaos that is swirling around me!
:)
Sara

Cutting out fabric for the Quilt for the Convent has commenced.

Hooray! I started cutting out fabric today.

Mom and I met today to review the pattern options.

Mom and I laid out all the fabric, found 25 combinations we could agree on, and started ironing the fabric out and cutting it into 4 inch wide strips.... the sewing machine will be out and running tomorrow.

And we have a plan to piece together the back so that we can quilt the quilt without having to roll up the whole thing under the sewing machine.

Very excited.

Very pleased.

And everyone I've talked to so far has sounded positive.

Continued prayers appreciated.
:) Sara

Particulars of the Quilt for the Convent....

The quilt will measure 72 by 84 inches (6ft by 7ft)

There are three variations of the pattern I can use:
Option 1: Complete pinwheels only
Option 2: 42 complete pinwheels with the fill in pinwheels random - some partial, some complete Option 3: Complete randomness - with complete pinwheels only happening once in a while.


Will post pictures of the graphics describing these three options later today and get suggetions.
:)
Sara

Have decided on option 2.... Each pinwheel will occur within a 12 inch square. Each pinwheel will be on a unified background (ie each 12inch square will only have two fabrics).

Day 2 - is this insanity or inspiration or both?

OK. So I have a plan. Sort of. And a pattern. In my head.
And I have fabric! After pulling out my entire stash - 3 good size boxes -
I realize that I have a large piece of fabric to be the back, and I have enough random other fabrics to make up the front. And my mom has decided to add some of her stash as well, so I am sure I have more than enough.

However, what I don't have is time - between now and July 6th, I have only 8 (maybe 10) free days. Is this crazy? Am I manic? Oh well. I guess I'll just have to work a little bit EVERY day and then work ALOT on my free days.

Will post a picture of the backing fabric soon.

Please keep me in your prayers for success.
Keep Katherine in your prayers for perserverence in her vocation.
Thanks in advance
:)
Sara

A quilt for the convent

So, today as I was taking a shower and pondering my day, I had a flash of inspiration....

I have been thinking about four things:
1. My sister Katherine is finishing up her year of canonnical study and will be home for a visit at the end of June.
2. I have a stash of fabric that I have been thinking about purging, or at least thinning out.
3. I want to make a quilt.... something to do with it being summer and too hot to knit comfortably makes me want to sew.
4. My sister Katherine's student loan debt is still around $3000 and my DH will NOT let me write a check to pay it off. (and I don't like the idea that my parents are saddled with that debt)

And then it came to me! If I make a quilt (for a double size bed) and then raffle it off for $10 a ticket, I think it is possible to raise the money to pay off her student loan debt. It's 300 tickets.
My sister Mary is willing to help sell tickets. My parents are willing to help sell tickets. I am willing to sell tickets. I think it is do-able.

Then I talked to my mom some more and realized my parents had also taken out loans to help put Katherine through college. So if I go beyond the goal of $3000, anything in addition will go toward retiring the rest of the debt incurred by my family to put Katherine through college. If we somehow manage to retire ALL of that debt, the rest will go to a charity. Unclear which charity at this point.

So keep me and these efforts in your prayers.

I'll have pictures and updates shortly.

:)

Sara

A sunny, sad day

Today, I attended the funeral of my neighbor Dic Wells. Mr Wells was 88 years old. I wasn't really sad for him as much as I was sad for his widow, Eunice. I cannot imagine being married for 65 years and then losing my spouse. It's just more than I can wrap my brain around. I was sad because I imagined what I would feel like if I lost Mark now, after 7 1/2 years) and the grief was overpowering. And yet, Eunice was remarkably well composed, all things considered.

The funeral was at a church one mile from my house, on my street. There are sidewalks on both sides of the road. It was sunny and relatively warm, so I made the decision to walk to the funeral. Partially because it was a beautiful day, partially because it gave me an excuse to walk and get more steps on my pedometer, and partially because by walking I could be excused from going to the cemetary. One regret - wearing heels, oh well. It was so nice. I was able to walk and pray and think enroute to the church - I prayed 4 decades of a rosary, and on the way home I completed the rosary. I thought of Mr Wells, of his wife/widow Eunice, of how his passing will change the landscape of the little block of houses around me. Mr Wells is my second neighbor to die in 3 years. Helen passed 3 years ago, and her house just sold 2 months ago to a young man. Now Mr Wells has passed, I wonder what will become of Eunice and the house. I hope we get a good neighbor. I hope there are children, or at least not crumedgeons. I hope whoever is there gets along well with us and with Jim and Frances.

After I got home and collected Paul from the baby-sitter, I baked a blueberry pound cake in 3 loaf pans and delivered one loaf to Eunice and her family. The second loaf went to my parents and the third loaf remains in my kitchen.

I managed to take the crib down from Christmas visitors as well. Now to get the shelf moved from my room into the guest room closet before Mark gets back from Texas.

So much to do... so little time. And realizing that even with 65 years of marriage, Dic and Eunice still felt like there was too little time.... must take advantage of the moment. Remember what is important. Mark. Paul. My parents. My sisters. My larger family.

Stories vs Real Life

I have realized something this week....

I can talk about my life and make it sound funny, but living in it is not so funny.

I suppose that's why I've heard so many times that I should think about writing a book to capture what is going on....

Case in point: PMS/PMDD
Have realized over the last few months that I have severe PMS. How do I know? Well in Novemeber when chaos was breaking out around me, did I stay calm? NO, I threatened to take the dog to the vet and have her put down.

In December when I was getting ready for out of town guests, was I ready well in advance and cheerful in the process? NO, I was asking my DH to take me to the hospital for a few days..... fortunately? he didn't.

In early January, I decided it would be best if I was just quiet, since I didn't know what would come out of my mouth....

Now, it's late January - I chose to shovel snow with a short handled shovel rather than sit inside drinking hot chocolate with my little one..... my period is due in a few days. I wonder if I am safe to be left with Paul alone this week while Mark is in Texas.

One of my co-workers constantly tells me that living in my house must be very funny..... but I really don't think so. If I can flesh out the stories, I might somehow manage to give Erma Bombeck a run for the money. I guess I'd better start writing!

Of baking soda and vinegar

Today, Paul and I cleaned the oven.
I scrubbed, he had fun.
Paul referred to it has his 'scrubbing mission', but mostly, I spread baking soda onto the bottom (lift out) pan of the oven, and he sprayed vinegar and laughed as it sizzled.
He would squirt vinegar, and say something like "good one!" or "Wow! Great Shot - it's really sizzling!"
The best part was that when I finished with working on the sides of the oven, I went over to the sink prepared to scrub the pan and ta-da! The baking soda and vinegar and totally dissolved everything! All I had to do was rinse! It was a great moment for me, and I felt like I had accomplished something AND had fun with Paul at the same time.

Not bad for a day when hormones were still coursing through my veins making me somewhat CrAzY!

We also dismantled the Christmas tree and put the majority of the decorations away.
Paul threw most of the decorations on the floor - thank goodness for carpeting and not being in the room at the time.... I carefully packed everything away into boxes. Paul commented on how much he loves the red bell that he made and how much he doesn't love the green one that Miriam made..... methinks there is some jealousy there - cousin rivalry perhaps? At any rate, all decos are put away into the Christmas box until next year.

And I am hoping to start writing more often, and including pics as I go. Need a spot to start journaling again....

Here's hoping the rest of the week goes so smoothly.