Rainy day. Working on John Paul 2 High Book 5. And Cora is working on learning to crawl.
I just bought the little carpet square sample on the floor at a thrift store, and it makes me absurdly happy every time I see it. I must really like rainbow colors, judging from my sticky notes on the plot analysis board.
A problem peculiar to serious Catholics ... what do you DO with old scapulars? When the strings tear apart and the images of our Lady start hanging -- you can't just throw them out, you have to burn them or bury them. I suspect most moms of large families have a little pile in the corner of their top bureau drawer of these little patches of cloth embroidered with Christ and Our Lady. Well, here's what I started doing with them: sewing them on the backs of my boys' overalls. This allows me to combine my hatred of name brand dressing ("What? You mean I pay you to advertise YOUR product?") with a desire for covert evangelism. See, the scapulars LOOK like those ubiquitous OshKosh tags at first glance -- but then you look again... Also, I don't mind having the Blessed Mother and our Lord watching my boys' backs in an extra special way. :) For non-Catholics: a scapular is two scraps of wool cloth with an image of the Blessed Mother on it worn front and back ove...
The first part of organization is ineviably, paring down. And that brings with it the sometimes heartbreaking exercise of detaching yourself from things you once loved. (Yes, loved in the lower, materialistic sense, but nevertheless, loved.) So, in my effort to cut down my wardrobe, I gathered all my clothes from off-season storage and the cranies of the laundry basket and heaped them on the bed. I did the same with all my accessories: purses, scarves, shoes, and jewelry. Then the winnowing began: ruthlessly purging the unfit: clothing that was stained or getting straggly, clothes that really didn't fit me except in my fantasies, clothes that I never got around to wearing, and so on. Then I further winnowed out the remaining spring and summer clothes (farewell blue and green, till summer when we meet again!) as well any clothes that won't fit my third-trimester-pregnant figure. Also excised were maternity clothes from the last baby that were just too worn or out of style. I con...
Working on my new novel series from 4 am to 6 am at this desk has been a blessing this past summer. I write at a salvaged desk that just fits between our two bookshelves in our parlor ("away room") surrounded by some of our best-loved books (including the History of Middle Earth, gifted to us by a great friend). Someone noted this desk is very neat. That's because the only thing I do here is write my novel. This is my "regular" desk where everything else in my life gets done or gets lost. I am grateful for both desks. And there you have the two halves of my life these days.
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