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Grace is… a cup of hot chocolate on a cold winter’s night, being
reminded that some of the kids you took care of ten or more years ago are
growing up to be really neat people, seeing cute pics of kids playing in the
snow all bundled up, hanging out with my sister and nephew one afternoon, an
hour of Adoration before the Blessed Sacrament…
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Snowmageddon 2014 Kevin and I have occasionally had a few moments of enjoying snow days. My husband has a more legitimate than usual reason for watching several hours of The Weather Channel. It's kind of cool to watch the Winter Olympics with snow falling in the background (out your window) while you're sitting warm inside drinking hot chocolate in the cute matching mugs your mom got your for Christmas a while ago.
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Another Snow Day Home with the Kids If
you’re dreading another late school opening or snow day home with the kids,
then I think you will
appreciate this video. I think my mom was one of the few parents who actually enjoyed having us home from school on snow days—at least most of the time. She’d make chocolate chip pancakes for breakfast. We’d play in the snow and, if possible, go sledding. We’d have fun doing arts and crafts, watching movies, reading books...
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Stuff my husband says: I am a voracious reader, and
Kevin prefers magazines to books and isn’t much into reading as an obsession or
even a hobby. A while back, I was
reading some of the books by Christian preacher Joel Osteen. Kevin came up with a great alternative title
for one of his books: How to Become a Better Ewe (as opposed to a better you). I know some of his jokes are pretty baaaaad,
but at least he tries. Now I laugh anytime I see something by Joel Osteen
thinking of what would actually be a fun title for a book about Christian
living. I know I could stand to learn how to be a better sheep.
-5-
Valentine’s Day Yeah, so this post is a day late, because Kevin and I have
been having a pretty awful week, few months...
Multiple things going wrong all at once, and the hits just keep on coming. I was in such an awful mood yesterday and was
so overwhelmed by all of the different things we’re dealing with that I simply
couldn’t sit around here any longer.
The needle that
pierced the camel’s eye (how’s that for a mixed metaphor) was that before 3pm
on Friday our kitchen cabinets had to be completely emptied, because our
ceiling was leaking again, though they’ve just put a new roof on our building. I got up on the counter to find out exactly
where the water was coming from to discover it’s running right down the wall
behind our cupboards.
That’s not
all. Oh no, that’s not all! Our kitchen cupboards which we have been
concerned about possibly falling are very, very likely to do so sooner than
later since there are several screws not just loose, but no longer touching the
wall that should be holding them up. So
yes, a few screws loose was part of the problem, but not everything.
-6-
It Could Be Worse I went to Mass at St. Benedict’s
by myself, then went to our parish to wait for my friend who I thought was
having a prayer meeting at church which finished at 8pm. I parked by the Columbarium where my dad’s
remains have been interred and ended up sobbing for a while alone in my car on
a cold wet night.My friend, who’s usually very dependable, never called me back, so I eventually left and went to Martin’s, the one where I used to take my dad shopping when he was too sick to do it on his own and later when he was too sick to go to the store at all. Of course, this brought back more memories.
I wandered around aimlessly, noticed they didn’t have any soup in the prepared foods section, and that’s what I’d really been hoping for. I bought 3 boxes of Puffs tissues, because I’d used up the box and the extra napkins in my car while sitting and crying outside of church, then I got some fruit and a cup of Krispy Kreme chocolate donut holes which I ate in my car.
Next, I decided to swing by my mom’s and see if I could come by for a cup of tea. She didn’t respond when I texted her, and I knew she was home, so I thought maybe she didn’t want company. No, that wasn't it. It turns out she didn’t get my texts because she was on the phone with a friend, so she didn’t see them until after I'd left.
I ended up going to Denny’s since they’re open all night, and it was one of the places my dad and I went for breakfast way back when. I sat in a corner booth facing the window, and that’s where I was for the next few hours: just me, a root beer, water, an English muffin, and some hash browns with a pen and my journal. (I know many mommy bloggers reading this are likely jealous that I got time away and could spend it alone writing, but under the circumstances, it was not the best of times). I texted Kevin to let him know I was there and invited him to join me. He said he had a headache and was going to bed. There's more, but that's enough for now.
The sad thing about yesterday is that I can’t honestly say it was the absolute worst Valentine’s Day I’ve ever had. There have been others that in the grand scheme of things were far worse for our family as a whole.
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Check out Jen Fulwiler’s tradition of 7 Quick Takes Friday at her tremendously popular blog Conversion Diary.
