The Daily Prompt and The Short Story – My Dream Man (When I Had Given Up On Dreaming...... IV)

I met my dear husband IV in 2000, in the fall.

I was exploring the option of attending graduate school, and he was one of the graduate students chosen to lead me around.

He must have liked me too (I hope) because after the full day of scheduled activities he came back to my hotel room and picked me up like a gentleman (he's from Texas, after all.)

He brought me to a bar in the downtown area where he and some of his friends (pretty much male in my memory) all liked to drink.  Ha, ha.... if you know any chemists at all, either they drink after work or they don't drink at all.  There is no middle ground.  LOL

Anyway, this particular bar was actually a lawyer type bar.... meant not for graduate students (but they were humored because they were polite and paid for their drinks.)

So, since I was a very cheap date (always have been, actually) I had one drink.... I believe I let him choose, when I did drink, I didn't much care what.  As an undergraduate I would drink one vodka & cranberry all night and the nice bartenders would add soda to it for me.  I always left a good tip at the end of the night.

What I remember most about that night is that all the other guys (and they were IV's good friends) were having a grand time flirting with a new girl.  I, however, was not very comfortable.  IV, himself being shy, somehow recognized that I was shy and saved me from them.... and walked me back to my hotel early in the night.

And, he stayed up, very appropriately with me in the lobby into the very early hours of the morning.... talking and drinking coffee which I much preferred.  Now, the next day I had a very important interview with the professor I would go on to work for (my PhD mentor) with whom I still maintain a professional and personal relationship.

But, in my heart, I knew- this was it.  I fell.

I went home SO sad.  Because IV?  I was sure, he didn't know that I had fallen for him but I had.  For me since that evening there has never been another man in my life to take his place.

That is the meaning to me of love- and soul mates- and also, I had given up at that point in my life on looking for that.  I was all of 21.

Jennie

This was inspired by http://jitterygt.wordpress.com/2014/04/26/the-lonely-dream-maker/ Thank you, Jittery Goat for reminding me of why I love IV and why I love to write. :)

Enjoy the photo of IV and I below at a St. Valentine's dinner and dance at our Church that I helped plan and organize.... so I was quite tired, and I believe instrumental in building the arch we are standing under.  We also renewed our vows there.

Holy Saturday

Today is Holy Saturday.

A day of waiting.

A day of reflection.

The day that Jesus is dead... to us on Earth.... but not in the tomb either as we know now.

Tradition says that on Holy Saturday:

"What is happening? Today there is a great silence over the earth, a great silence, and stillness, a great silence because the King sleeps; the earth was in terror and was still, because God slept in the flesh and raised up those who were sleeping from the ages. God has died in the flesh, and the underworld has trembled.

Truly he goes to seek out our first parent like a lost sheep; he wishes to visit those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death. He goes to free the prisoner Adam and his fellow-prisoner Eve from their pains, he who is God, and Adam’s son."

This quote is from a reflection by Father Robert Barron at Word on Fire.  The more I look into Father Barron's page the more I get out of it personally.

But, what I wanted to say today is simple- it is HOLY SATURDAY.

Tomorrow is EASTER SUNDAY.

Holy Thursday, Good Friday, Holy Saturday and Easter Sunday make up the most holy time of the entire year!!!!

And, we as a people have forgotten.  We are asleep.  Wake up!  He is coming!  He is here!  Jesus is in your Church, in your brothers and sisters, in the sick, the poor, the forgotten, the children, please..... don't forget.

Especially today.

I would love to make a rosary today... even a simple one.  Every year I want to, and every year for one reason or another I cannot.  Again, it is not my year.

Is it yours?  If so.... here is a video of one way,  this one takes about 20 feet (I think) of twine and some knot tying.  That's it.

Jennie

PS- The video below was freely available on you tube and I am sure there are many more, but I watched this one and it looked great.  I once owned a rosary just like this, and recently gave it away.  I was looking for just the right home. ;)

Holy Thursday & Judas & Forgiveness

The tragedy of Judas is that he despaired of the forgiveness that Christ had promised he had come into this world to give. Bereft of faith in this promise, he remained lost. What "saved" the other apostles from this fate was that they believed that if the Lord truly passed from death to life as he promised he would, he would also be true to his promise regarding the reason he had come: "For the Son of Man did not come into this world to condemn the world, but to save it and to offer his life as a ransom for the many."

This quote is from the Word on Fire Blog.

Today is Holy Thursday.  This is a very important Holy Day in many Christian faiths, and especially in the Catholic faith.

I attended the Holy Thursday Mass tonight at my Church, and I had my feet washed by our parish pastor.  Why do holy priests stoop to wash feet?

Here is an image of the future Pope Francis washing the feet on an unidentified woman in a maternity hospital in 2005.

Forgiveness is not something that any of us should ever presume.  No one is obligated to forgive.  It remains a gift of undeserved compassion.  The startling surprise in Christ's revelation that he is willing to forgive us even when, as the circumstances of his death clearly demonstrate, he doesn't have to and in fact shouldn't.  He does forgive us, and if we are not surprised by this, we really aren't paying attention to what it meant to die as he did.  The problem for Judas, it seems to me, is that he despaired of this possibility of forgiveness for himself.  It is this despair that makes the outcome of his decision not just sad, but tragic.

Honesty demands that we admit that our own betrayals of Christ place us in the same spiritual space that Judas inhabited.  We may not be, as Judas was, thieves and liars, but we all have had the occasion to say "no" to Christ, and most of us if pressed would have to admit that we did precisely that- and more than once.  We have all in the course of our lives had the opportunity to stand up and be counted as Christ's followers and then slinked away, preferring as Judas did, the cover of night to the Light of the World.  How many of us have, through the free assent of our own will, delivered our faith in Christ into the hands of his enemies, allowing those enemies to use us against him, and letting them, through us, kill Christ's life in this world?

There is much in us that is like Judas.  What can only differentiate us from Judas is our willingness to accept what he could not- that Christ knows us from the inside, understands our predicament and is willing to set right what we have made wrong.  Christ is willing to not only call us out of darkness into light, but go into that darkness to find us.  That is, after all, what he did in his cross.  He went into the dark to find us and to forgive us.

We must believe that Christ is willing to forgive and this must be our act of faith, or the tragedy of Judas can be our own.
Father Steve Grunow is the CEO of Word on Fire Catholic Ministries.

Above is a continuation of the first quote from the blog.  To read the whole entry please click on the link above titled "Word on Fire Blog."

My pastor's homily tonight was about forgiveness- about forgiving others- washing their feet- as Christ washed the feet of the broken in the Gospels.

I truly believe the first step in forgiving others is being able to forgive our own failings, to truly understand:

The startling surprise in Christ's revelation that he is willing to forgive us even when, as the circumstances of his death clearly demonstrate, he doesn't have to and in fact shouldn't.

God is bigger than we can imagine.  Christ is bigger than we can imagine.  The Holy Spirit is bigger than we can imagine.  And together, in the Holy Trinity, and in the sacraments, that is where peace can be found.

Jennie

Appearances are not the end or St. Francis of Assisi

And this is why Francis loved the poor so much. It was in embracing the poor that he embraced Jesus. It was in serving the poor that he served Jesus. It was in loving the poor that he loved Jesus. All because Jesus first embraced, served and loved him. 

At the heart of Francis is the heart of Jesus. There’s nothing cute about that. 

This is a quote directly from a very insightful blog entry by Father Damian J. Ference.

The blog starts out talking about how everyone knows St. Francis- he is recognizable, he is a "comfortable" saint.  He loved animals.  This is true.

However, it is just one dimension of St. Francis.  I have read several biographies of this great Saint of our Church.

If you would like to know more about St. Francis in particular send me a message and I can recommend a book or check out the blog entry above, it is wonderful!

I wanted to reflect today on outward appearances- they can be deceiving.

Statues of St. Francis show him in general, holding a bird in his hand, sometimes with a bird feeder on his head.  As you can see from the photo above I own a statue of St. Francis- it belonged to my grandmother, who had a great devotion to St. Francis and knew his story.  That statue is a cement garden statute but has never been kept in the garden.

Our respect for St. Francis is too great. He is holy.  He is a Saint.  He is not in the statue, no.  But, he is somewhere better- he is in heaven! With God! And, because he is a great Saint those of us here on earth can pray for his intercession (we can ask for him to pray for us) as we would with a friend here on earth.

And because St. Francis is a great Saint, we hope that he is close to God in heaven, we hope that he hears our requests for intercession.  We hope that as we pray to God ourselves, and light candles, and say the rosary, St. Francis will also pray for us.

But, St. Francis is a Saint- he is in heaven, with God.  So he can more easily speak to God, because of his physical location.  It is always better to have more prayers in my opinion.  Prayers are so powerful.

In the end, what do we have?  Prayer, friends, God and family.

Also, I would like to say this- because I forget all the time 1. Love God  2. Love yourself  3. Love your neighbor as yourself

It is a very simple formula but actually very difficult to accomplish.  So I pray.  And I ask Saints to pray for me.  And I find Saints all the time that I personally admire and I ask them to pray also.

So if there is something about St. Francis that you like- the birds- the animals- whatever :)

Ask him to pray for you- he is a Saint.

For me this is the St. Francis I know- here he is, but there is no statue of this St. Francis only paintings.  This  St. Francis is embracing Jesus, loving our crucified Savior.   That is why I love and ask St. Francis to pray for me- because I would also like to embrace the crucified One.

Making mistakes... and being a good parent along the way :)

Another way to say the quote above is, you have to break a few eggs to make an omelet.  Ha, ha.

My last post didn't have much about chickens- so I thought I would write another one on this beautiful spring day.

My son, DV, came home from school yesterday with a note from his teacher stating that he was unprepared for class.  It was pretty serious to him- you know, one of those papers that they used to call carbon paper with triplicate copies :)  And, he's in 3rd grade- this was his first one EVER.

He forgot to bring his binder to school! He left it sitting in the living room.  On a recliner.  I told him twice to check his backpack.  He is 8 going on 9..... time to break a few eggs to make an omelet (or a responsible teen/adult.)

Someday, children have to accept responsibility for their own actions.  And I do believe that my job as a mother, although it can be unpleasant is to give him just enough rope to "swing for a while but not hang."  Ha, ha I think I made that one up.

I love my son, unconditionally.  And, sometimes in loving someone we have to let them make their own mistakes so that he/she can learn from their mistakes.  Without ever making a mistake (which I admit would be more pleasant) I think I would be pretty stupid.

Uh, oh.  I meant this post to be about chickens! And, it was about DV and raising kids.... guess I am in a deep thinking mood today.  I am going to call one of my girlfriends and see if she'd like to paint nails or something on this lovely day.

If you want to read about chickens check out this Freedom to Fail in a nice blog which actually IS about chickens!

Jennie

Spring vegetables the easy way.... from your local CSA!!!!

I found this great photo today in my facebook feed- you just have to LOVE facebook! My husband swears if you look long enough you can find anything on there.  

It comes from this GREAT CSA located here where I live in Southwest Alabama, Seasons In The Sun.  Actually, I haven't had the pleasure of visiting their farm yet- but I hope to do so soon.  They have a really nice facebook page and are very friendly on the phone.  They also have classes for children (which I like since I have DV) and all levels of adults.

I hope to get out there and visit them soon- they have a working farm with livestock and organically grown vegetables and flowers.  They also deliver CSA baskets to our area- so if you are local check out this website: http://www.seasonsinthesun.biz/.

Anyone interested in sustainable agriculture on a small or larger scale might like their facebook page which is linked above- and they run contests periodically (which I enter faithfully!)

Enjoy the spring weather friends! And, if you are local and like me avoid the yellow pollen or take an allergy pill- it is THAT time of year :)

Jennie

Plans and dreams (of chickens?)

Hello friends,

I will start with this- it is the 3rd Friday during Lent and I attended Mass at our local Catholic Church- and was really, really touched.  My heart was healed today by the readings, the homily, the hymns, and the people.  It's so nice to be able to go to Church and have what you need given to you freely.  I LOVE our community.

But, that is not really what I wanted to share today.  I am planning to start a new hobby.  Or, I am hoping to anyway.  Around here, in southwest Alabama, backyard chickens have become very popular.  I have heard this is true in many parts of the country- and we have a nice large, fenced yard.

I am looking into getting a chicken coop, and run.  We have a medium size dog who mostly lives in the house but also runs in the yard- and does love to chase birds. :)

I have been reading books and joining groups and surfing the internet, in general researching.  Plus, I love birds of all types. And, I did raise chicks ONCE as a child in science class.

So... I checked out a book on gardening and chickens from the library:

And, I have two more coming today from Amazon.  Maybe I'll have some chicks for Easter!!!

Jennie

PS- If you like chickens, and are interested here is a cool link to a recipe for homemade chicken feed, organic and soy-free.

Homemade Chicken Feed. Organic and soy-free!

Return to Me.....

This quote is from Loyola Press, A Jesuit Ministry-

Return to Me with Your Whole Heart

From the first day of Lent, the Ash Wednesday readings make God's call to us clear: "Return to me with your whole heart" (Joel 2:12 NAB). It is an extraordinary invitation from God to each one of us - to me in a personal, individual way. God invites me to drop the defenses that I hold up between myself and God. God wants us to realize that our standards, our ways of judging and loving, are very different from God's way, and so much smaller. God loves each one of us. For an entire Lenten season, for an entire lifetime, God loves each one of us. "A clean heart create for me, God," Psalm 51:12 NAB offers. "Give me back the joy of your salvation." That is exactly what our loving God wants to give us, the joy of salvation. This is the invitation of each day of Lent. Today is the day to accept it.

For me, personally, it has always been difficult to accept that God truly loves ME.  I think as I have gotten older, and I hope wiser, certainly more mature (read more wrinkles) that I have learned I am a perfectionist.  I don't like this about myself.

I don't think perfectionism is an admirable quality in myself.  It helps me to be successful- sometimes- but it also hurts me.  It doesn't let me see what I do well, it doesn't let me enjoy the moment now, I spend to much time hoping to be "the perfect Jennie."

I truly believe God wants us to strive to be as perfect as we can- but he does not EXPECT us to reach that goal.  Here is another quote that helps me- and this is my favorite:

For God so loved the world that he gave^* his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him might not perish but might have eternal life.^k

It can be found here if you are looking for a Catholic Bible.

Of course, this quote is also found in Protestant Bibles :). 

I wasn't always Catholic- I was BLESSED to find my home in the Roman Catholic Church- and it was the crucifix that called to me, and that symbol, which is sometimes misunderstood, comforts me still when times are hard.

Lovely Christmas!

What a lovely Christmas we had! My parents-in-law and brother-in-law were here from Dec. 23 until this morning. We had a wonderful time with them!

I must talk about my stocking swap! Tara at The Well-Rounded Woman hosted this really fun swap where you prepare a stocking for a person only known online and another different person prepares one for you.

Unknown to me Becky at Scripture Mom was my secret Santa. She sent me such wonderful gifts! Which my husband kindly loaded in my stocking.... My two favorites are the butterfly bookplates and the magnetic measuring spoons- although I ate that whole Toblerone bar on Christmas day. The gifts also included an Eiffel tower key chain, spatula, lovely soap, candy cane, and bath beads!!! What fun! Thank you SO much Becky!

Soon I will post again with more Christmas details!

Mint Chocolate Chip Cookies

IV's favorite Christmas cookie (I think) is pictured to the left. Fortunately, it's also an easy cookie to make- just like chocolate chip cookies with cocoa in the batter and chocolate mint chips.

Yum!

Mint Chocolate Chip Cookies
Ingredients:
1 cup (2 sticks) butter, softened
1 cup granulated sugar
3/4 cup packed light brown sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 eggs
2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup cocoa
1 teaspoon baking soda
10 oz bag of chocolate mint chips (Andes Crème de Menthe)

Directions:
1. Heat oven to 375°F.
2. Beat butter, granulated sugar, brown sugar, vanilla and salt in large bowl until creamy. Add eggs; beat well.
3. Stir together flour, cocoa and baking soda; gradually add to butter mixture, beating until well blended. Stir in 10 oz bag of mint chips. Drop by rounded half-teaspoons onto cookie sheet lined with parchment paper.
4. Bake 8 to 10 minutes or until set. Cool slightly; remove from cookie sheet to wire rack. Cool completely. Makes about 7 dozen cookies.

Check out Our Creative Life for more cookies in the cookie exchange!

Mary, Did You Know?

"Mary, Did You Know?" is one of my all-time favorite Christmas songs. I love the version recorded by Kenny Rogers and Wynonna Judd. You can hear it here.

In this advent season I can't help but think about what Mary must have been going through during her pregnancy, when she was waiting for the birth of Jesus.

Thank you Mary- for being open to the will of God in a way few of us are.

I pray that I can follow Mary's example.

DV's new apron

DV has a new apron! I got it last week at World Market when I was shopping for stocking stuffers.

But, I couldn't wait until Christmas to give it to him! He needs it for all the baking we are doing!

The apron is actually made for doing arts and crafts and it is a really small size (the other kids aprons I have seen are really too long for DV.)

It is perfect, DV wears it every time we are going to cook or bake anything, just like his mommy.

Children's aprons work for me! Check out the other great tips on Shannon's site!

Gingerbread House

Today DV and I decorated our Christmas gingerbread house. I got the house as a kit from Sams club. Then I assembled the house and let it dry while DV was napping.

After DV woke up (and after IV got home from work) we decided to decorate the house. You can see we really worked as a team- I used the icing and DV controlled the candy.

I think we really got great results this year- and DV's hand eye coordination has improved so much from last Christmas when we also did this! He was able to place the candies exactly where he wanted them on the lines of icing I piped.

This activity is SO much fun and I would recommend it for anyone, especially the kit we got this year which had pre-mixed icing (although if I had made it I think we could have used a little more.)

This is my Works for me Wednesday post, although I am too late to make it on Shannon's list you can check out more great ideas at Rocks in my Dryer.

DV and trains

DV has a thing about trains. Remember how a train table is his only request for Santa? It's not too surprising considering the fact that he LOVES trains.

Here you can see him with two trains- his wooden train on the right and the new Christmas train on the left. The Christmas train was supposed to go in the Christmas tree- but after about 20 minutes of trying IV and I decided not in our tree...

So instead of our lovely tree skirt we now have a train. I already miss the tree skirt- it has a nativity on it and I LOVE nativities (now I only have 7 out decorating!)

Thank you Pop-pop for the Christmas train! It makes some great noises that DV loves too.

DV and Santa 2

IV and I had been talking about taking DV to the mall to ride the carousel and see Santa. We just didn't know how well he was listening!

When DV woke up from his nap he decided he "needed" to get to the mall to see Santa and to ride the really cool carousel we have (I am a sucker for carousels!)

Since I was feeling spontaneous and IV was not, I decided to take DV to the mall- even though it is Sunday and everything should have been very crowded. We lucked out! There were only 4 people ahead of us in line to see Santa.

We parked, saw Santa, rode the carousel and got home in 45 minutes. That was a perfect mall trip!

It would have been even better if I could have gotten in some shopping.... but I have given up doing that kind of thing with DV.

DV and Santa!

Today we went to a fort near our home where they were having a Christmas celebration. Lots of people in period costume- doing traditional things like blacksmithing and weaving and showing off their skills on a bugle. DV, IV and I really enjoyed touring the fort- it was the first time we paid admission to get in, we have only admired the outside previously.

DV had refused to get his picture taken with Santa since he was a baby- but amazingly he decided that the colonial Santa was cool! In fact, the Santa was so cool he got down on the ground to get his picture taken with DV and it didn't cost us a thing. DV says he wants to invite Santa to our house.

We have told him Santa is coming- and DV says the only thing he wants is a train table!

DV is growing up!

DV is growing up! I know, they all do that- but sometimes it is really hard for me to be losing my "baby" and gaining a preschooler.

Yesterday we went to an open house at the school where DV will attend pre-K 4 next year. I can't believe it!

I am really quite sad about this, I love staying at home with DV and I don't think I'm quite ready for him to be a big independent boy.

He already is an independent boy. Just look at him hanging that ornament all on his own. He is potty trained, mostly dresses himself, and is working on his pre-reading skills. At least he still lets me carry him around, sometimes. I'm not giving that up until he says so.

Anyone have tips? How do you get over your babies growing up? What am I going to do next year when he's in school half the day? (Of course I'll still be working part time so I won't be bored, just sad.)

Easy Cinnamon Ornaments WFMW

I have always wanted to make homemade ornaments with DV. You know, the kind that look like cookies but bugs, dogs, and kids don't like so they can actually hang on the tree for a season.

This year we did it! DV's magazine "Your Big Backyard" came with a recipe for Cinnamon ornaments. I figured that cinnamon would not be too attractive for eating and would be great for smelling so we gave it a try. I have only modified it slightly.

The only ingredients you need are cinnamon and applesauce. I recommend using inexpensive cinnamon (we get ours from Sam's). You will need about 4 oz of applesauce and 2 oz plus of ground cinnamon.

1. Mix the cinnamon and applesauce together in a small bowl. I used one of the snack size applesauce containers (4 oz) and then filled it half full with cinnamon for measurement. My applesauce was pretty wet so I ended up having to add quite a bit more cinnamon to get the right consistency dough. The dough should be like a sugar cookie dough.

2. Roll out the dough until it is 1/4" thick and cut shapes out using cookie cutters (We used the small 1" Christmas cutters that Wilton makes.) Place the cut shapes on a cookie sheet. Next time we do this I will use parchment paper on the cookie sheet. When you re-roll the dough you may have to add more cinnamon to keep the consistency.

3. Use a toothpick to make a hole in the top of each shape.

4. Bake at 200 degrees F for 20 minutes.

5. After the shapes cool thread an ornament through the hole and hang them wherever you need a cinnamon scent. It is great in combination with our fresh tree smell!

This recipe makes 30 1" ornaments.

Cinnamon ornaments work for me! For more great ideas visit Shannon's Rocks In My Dryer for her Works for Me Wednesday.

Best $170 we ever spent

In an earlier post I said we were going to be installing our new dishwasher... without professional help. It didn't happen. Today we hired a plumber to come in and fix our broken hot water pipe and install the dishwasher. The best $170 we ever spent!

Our problems actually occurred when removing the old- as IV was pulling it out the hot water pipe (which was installed incorrectly using duct tape) the copper pipe snapped. That picture over there shows all that was left of the hot water pipe after it broke.

Of course, the hot water wasn't turned off because it came straight from the floor- not under the sink as we had thought (that valve is for the ice maker.)

So, we had a flood. Today we are washing every single towel in the house. And, we were forced to turn off the hot water. No shower last night and I had to go to work today with dirty hair. Ugh! It's been too cold for a cold shower.

And there was one other scary problem- we had turned off the breaker to the dishwasher, but what we didn't realize was that the previous owners had left live wires not on that circuit under the dishwasher. So when we were dealing with the flood there were also live wires hanging around.

I am just so glad IV and I didn't get electrocuted!!

Next time we mess with an appliance? We are going to hire a professional. And the new dishwasher? It's a thing of beauty!!!!

Flickr Mosaic (100th post!)

1. Granma Jennie's Favorites, 2. (0395) Giza Plateau Egypt, 3. grimsby docks at night, 4. Pretty Monarch Butterfly 003, 5. brosnan, 6. You travel far to discover home., 7. Another another Rome..., 8. eye candy!, 9. Tender Love and Care, 10. It's breathtaking!, 11. Amazing Thailand, 12. Jen's Cheesecake

The idea for this fun post (my 100th!) came from Tara at The Well-Rounded Woman. It's a fun quiz that you use to create a mosaic that represents you.

First, answer these twelve questions:
1. What is your first name? (Jennie)
2. What is your favorite food? (Pizza)
3. What high school did you attend? (Satellite High School)
4. What is your favorite color? (Purple)
5. Who is your celebrity crush? (Pierce Brosnan)
6. Favorite drink? (Water)
7. Dream vacation? (Rome)
8. Favorite dessert? (Chocolate)
9. What do you want to be when you grow up? (Mom)
10. What do you love most in life? (Family)
11. One word to describe you (Happy)
12. Your Flickr name (Jen8rc)

Then build a mosaic! You use the mosaic maker at Big Huge Labs and get the photos by searching for your answers in flickr and selecting a photo for each question from the first page of hits.

Fun! Fun! And, something silly for my 100th post. Maybe I'll be serious on 101.

Thanks Tara for the instructions and you and I match on some of our answers!