Quick Takes - Volume 11

So, last time I posted, more than a week ago already (!), I posted about time, specifically how time is not our own, especially if you're a mother.

Case in point: I have not had time to post since last Thursday! Why?

-- 1 --

Last Saturday I spent the whole day -- and I mean the. whole. day (like from eight in the morning until ten at night) -- trying to catch up on my other job. I did take some breaks to eat and the like. If you are a homeschooling mother contemplating doing some "real" work (also known as that work for which someone else gives you money), I advise against it. Don't get me wrong. My job has been a huge blessing during these husband-in-graduate-school years. And I do enjoy the work. Really. It's a good and necessary ministry. But ... I am finding myself more and more unable to deal with the stress of having to get twenty-five hours of something-other-than-taking-care-of-my-family-in-the-way-I-want-to in.

St. Raymond of Penyafort, patron saint of canon lawyers, pray for us.

-- 2 --

Since cupboards and refrigerators do not fill themselves, and since I was working all day Saturday, we had to spend Sunday running errands. This is something I do not particularly like to do on Sunday. I would have rather been outside enjoying one of the last warm days of fall with my family. But we tried to make the best of it, by running errands together as a family. And the week goes much more smoothly when I have a menu and the groceries to make the items on said menu.

St. Martha, patron saint of cooks and homemakers, pray for us.

-- 3--

Monday morning I put The Baby down for her nap and then The Boy and I went to look at some houses. It's been a while since I posted a housing update. Our main criteria in our housing hunt is space, both inside and out. What we've found is that the old houses in the city with lots of space inside, don't have very much outside, and the houses with a lot of land are too small for our growing, spend-a-lot-of-time-in-the-house-because-we-homeschool-and-the-winters-are-long family. Whether or not to purchase in the city or the country has been a quandary for me for some time. I like the idea of living in the country. a lot. But ... what does that mean for my children in terms of friends and extracurricular activities. Do I say no? Or do I spend a lot of time in the car? Right now it's not a huge issue, but as they get older .... I would love you country ladies to chime in now with your thoughts on this issue.

St. Joseph, patron saint of finding a home, pray for us.

-- 4 --

Tuesday I was able to cross a major item off my to-do-in-my-nonexistent-spare-time list. (By the way, how do you like all my hyphenations today?) I had The Baby's picture taken. The other three had their pictures taken at the hospital, when they were three months old, when they turned one, and then formal pictures at eighteen months. My Gramma has 16x20 portraits of each of her three children at eighteen months of age hanging over her couch. My Mom has 16x20 portraits of my three siblings and me hanging on the wall in the master bedroom. I have 16x20 portraits of my three oldest children, unframed, in a box in the basement. Hmmm ... The Baby is twenty months old and hasn't had her picture taken by a photographer other than mom since she was two weeks old. You can see my problem. With the move and starting school and finding a photographer ... anyway ... it's done! She didn't show her dimples, but we'll see how they turned out in a couple of weeks.

St. Veronica, patron saint of photographers, pray for us.

Tuesday we also attended a new parishioners dinner at our new parish. And a great parish full of wonderful people it is. We are so blessed.

-- 5 --

Wednesday was an exciting day for The Boy. He had his first guitar lesson. My little man LOVES music -- he likes to sing and play his harmonica and xylophone and mess around on the guitar he got for his birthday last year. He has been eager to learn to "really" play something and he's been asking about guitar lessons for over a year. I contacted the music department at the University and found a senior music education major who is willing to come over to our house once a week and give The Boy lessons.

St. Cecilia, patron saint of music, pray for us.

-- 6 --

Thursday the girls and I took our first steps toward bringing Irish dance to this German city. We met with the director of a local dance studio. She would love to offer Irish dance. I'm going to try and help her find a certified teacher. This would certainly make things easier for me. The Girls love to dance and want to continue, but driving back to the Twin Cities for private lessons ... not my favorite thing to do every four to six weeks. Dance has also always been the girls social network too, so it would be good to have that opportunity again.

St. Vitus, patron saint of dancers, pray for us.

-- 7 --

And that brings us to Friday again. You know, it's amazing to me where God has brought me. Last year at this time, I was shuddering over the possibility of moving to Bismarck, North Dakota. I can't tell you how many hours I spent crying in the shower, away from my children's questioning looks and not wanting to discourage my DH. But, once again, God knew what was best for us. You'd think I would have learned this by now. Trust, trust, trust! And that's what I'm still working on. I trust that I will know when it's the right time to quit my job. I trust that things will slow down (a little) and we'll have more of a family life when the dissertation is done. I trust that I won't always have to run errands on Sundays. I trust that we will find the house that God has waiting for us, whether in the city or in the country.

And I am grateful. I am grateful for all that I have been given. I am grateful for my faith. I am grateful for the support and encouragement I get from you, my blog friends. I am grateful for my friends in real life -- old and new. I am grateful for my husband's perseverance on his dissertation. I am grateful for his new job and that I get to share in the exciting things happening at the University of Mary. And I am especially grateful for my children and the opportunity I have to spend hours with them each and every day, watching them grow and learn and love.

All you holy men and women, pray for us!

Have a good weekend!

And check out more quick takes at Conversion Diary.