Ordinary Time

  "But the journey [to self acceptance] is essential. Many gay men and lesbians, for example, have told me that the real beginning of their spiritual path was accepting themselves as gay men and women - that is, the way that God had made them. Coming to see themselves in this way, and, more important, allowing God to love them as they are, not as society might want them to be, or think they should be, is an important step in their relationship with God." - from The Jesuit Guide to (Almost) Everything by James Martin SJ (p. 381) 

I spent the afternoon being a demonstration weaver at the arts open house at Fine Line Arts Center where I learned to weave. It was really fun to weave and talk to people and explain how looms work. The event was well attended and the weather held. I hope that there are a lot of people who sign up for classes as a result of seeing all the cool things that go on there.  Long about hour two of my four hour shift, I gradually became aware of a thing. When it happened one time I didn't think much about it. The second time and I began to pay attention. By the fifth or sixth time, I became hyper-aware. What was it? People walking up to where I was weaving, watching for a minute, and then telling me in some form or another why they couldn't do what I was doing. The reasons ranged from "I'm not creative enough" to "I don't have the patience" to just a flat out, "Oh, I couldn't do that!" My favorite was the person who told me they couldn't w...

I feel as though it has taken me all week to get caught up from being away. Actually, I'm still not caught up with the laundry, but since that is a constant thing, I'm not worrying about it. I think now things are pretty much back under control. Our big news from today is that we had three new ducks join the family. They are three drakes (so boys), are three months old, and are Pekins. Want to see? They're huge! And by huge I mean they are just about the same size as the geese. If when the new  chickens came I was shocked that they were so small, then this was the same feeling except I was shocked they were so large. They are also currently terrified of everything and spent much of the day huddled together in a corner of the pen. We think one of the black ducks is amused by running at them and watching them scamper away. I know they will settle in, but it's going to take a few days.  Yesterday we took an impromptu field trip to our favorite forest preserve because I dis...

I was a at a homeschooling get-together this afternoon and was chatting with another mom. There was a brief conversation about focusing on a child's mental and emotional health first before worrying about academics, and I said something I commonly say, "Focusing on emotional health is essential, after that academics are easy." The other mother then went on to explain why academics were not easy for her older child. They were very valid reasons and I can understand why this child would find public school challenging. I will admit it set me back on my heels a bit and I've been thinking about it ever since. Is the idea that if a child is in a good place emotionally then academics will naturally follow valid? After much thought, I still believe it is, but perhaps it needs a little more explanation. Let's see if I can think out loud a bit about what I really mean when I say that. Perhaps the best place to start is what I do not mean. I do not mean that if a child can b...

Today I turned 56 years old. When I was younger I used to think that this (and all ages beginning with a '5' or higher) was really rather ancient. I couldn't imagine what it would feel like to be that old. The funny thing is, for the most part, I don't feel any different than I did when I was younger and wondering. I am often surprised by how many years old I actually am. While I know a lot more things and have had a lot more experiences, I am still that 'me' inside. This is one of those realizations that come with age, isn't it? That we are still who we are regardless of our age, and that it is still a surprise that we are as old as we actually are. I guess I am totally not bothered by how old am I because it doesn't seem to have any bearing on how I feel.  There have been some interesting brain studies done (because you know I'll find a way to work in weird brain facts whenever I can) with regard to aging and cognition. Essentially they all seem to...

Let's start with the fun item. I am nearly done weaving the warp on my floor loom. I finished the gamp and am now playing around with different colors to see how they work with the yellow. One thing I quickly learned when I started weaving is that colors by themselves do not look the same as they do when woven. I find it to be tricky to try to imagine what any two colors will look like together. So I'm taking advantage of the extra warp to experiment. Here is my current color weft which is a dark grey. I'm using the same treadling pattern for the entire color and I think I mentioned that I'm going to try to make zippered bags out of each color. I love how easy it is to see the twill patterns with the dark grey against the yellow. Before the grey I used a bright pink which you can see just a little bit of down at the bottom. I'm pretty sure I will finish weaving this in the next couple of days.  Now on the the not-so-fun item. You know that I spent the winter spinnin...

J. and I spent a good portion of the afternoon cutting back some of the many weeds and volunteer trees and bushes that seem to appear overnight. It feels like just a dent in what needs to be done. There often seems to be no way to keep ahead of all the growing that happens at this time of year. It does look a little bit tidier... for now.  This post is going to be all over the place tonight. We'll start with recipes. Several people had mentioned that they missed the weekly menu plans. So I thought I would share two recipes we made recently that we particularly liked. The first is One Skillet Lemon Butter Dijon Chicken and Orzo with Feta Sauce . This was really, really good. Everyone enjoyed it and it wasn't difficult to make. We did serve the feta sauce separately because some people really do not care for feta (I don't understand it myself), but this way they would eat. We will definitely be making this again. The other dish we had tonight. I've been searching and sear...