Easy Going Saturday

Finally some warmer weather, still below normal, but much improved from single digits. Heavy rain and strong winds moved in this afternoon, glad we are home.

I woke up very early this morning, so finished reading White Teeth by Zadie Smith, I really enjoyed this book, although the ending was a bit silly, but overall a a good read. I feel back to sleep after finishing the book and didn't wake up until eight am! I was quite shocked that I slept so late.
 I started reading Word On Fire, Proclaiming the Power of Christ by Bishop Robert Barron, there are 30 chapters, so one a day will take me a good way through lent. I went to Stations of the Cross yesterday evening, I was rather flustered and feeling stressed out before going, and thought I should stay home, and then realized it was just exactly what I needed. I was glad I went, there is a lot of comfort in the prayers and tradition of The Stations and the Litany said at the end is so reassuring and so calming. 

After breakfast, yoga practice and a little housework Dave and I headed into Fort Wayne to run a few errands. I returned a couple of things to the library and then we drove by the BMV as it is time to renew my drivers license, the parking lot was filled to maximum capacity, we decided to run our other errands first. Off to Wal-Mart, we picked up a few groceries and other bits and pieces, then headed over to Half Price Books. I purchased a few paperbacks and a clip on reading light, this will be nice for reading in bed and not disturbing Dave with too much light. Next stop Target for some new jeans, a birthday gift :) I found two pairs of Levi's and not only did they have my size they were longs!

My light colored Levi's, the other pair are the same just a dark denim.

We then headed back to the BMV, the parking lot had emptied out so I popped in and was headed back to the van ten minutes later, the task taken care of, I didn't get a chance to read my book while I waited!.

My official BMV Indiana drivers license picture, LOL.

Time to go home, boy isn't life exciting? We got home and I had a lovely birthday card in the mailbox from my mom and dad. After we put everything away and made lunch we realized we had forgotten coffee, brussel sprouts and eggs, isn't that always the way of things. No matter, we popped down to Meijer a little later to pick up the missed items, and found a few other things we didn't know we needed, including a beautiful pink hyacinth, it smells wonderful and looks so cheering on the kitchen counter.










I have so many books to read, I am not sure what I want to read next. I am sure I will read The Copper Beech by Maeve Binchy, each chapter is it's own story, yet all the chapters loosely fit in with each other, I will read a chapter every day or so and I am going to read a Roald Dahl book, Innocence, a collection of short stories. I have a Barbara Pym autobiography I found last week and think I may start to read that too. I think that will be more than enough books on the go. So far no television during Lent is working well, and I very much enjoy reading, so is it really a sacrifice?? Hmmm deep thoughts to ponder, LOL.

A little later we plan to make dinner, Dave is having a steak, I will have a vegan bowl, we are going to have a glass of wine and play a little scrabble, I lost last time we played! 

Tomorrow all of our kids and grandkids will be over to celebrate my birthday with us, they are bringing all the food, they plan on a huge stir-fry, and they are bringing cake, it will be a fun, chaotic, crazy birthday, and exactly the way I like them to be! 

Well that is all for now,

Peace be with you,

Bean

March Madness

I can't believe it is already March. This Sunday I will be fifty-five years old, the old double nickel. I think age is all a state of mind, I don't feel how I once imagined a fifty something old person would feel.

This past week we found out that our 10th grandchild is on it's way, due on September 7, this news really put a smile on my face, life goes on, always exciting to welcome a new little one into our family. This baby will be the third child for our eldest child Matt and his wife Traci, big sisters Alivia (6) and Aubrey (4) are super, super excited. I hope the baby is ready to have three mothers, LOL.

On a sad note we had our dog, Sir Digby Chicken Caesar, know as Digby to family and close friends put to sleep. Digby was a rescue dog, he came to live with us on January 18, 2014 and was estimated to be around 8 years old. He was a very docile dog, great around the kids, and very well behaved. Over the past year Digby really started to feel the effects of old age, mainly in his hips. Steps were becoming a great difficulty for him, and he struggled to lay down and struggled to get back up, his eyes were bad and I don't think he could hear very well. About four months ago we had to restrict him to the kitchen area of the house as he was quite prone to "accidents". So yesterday was the day we said farewell to Digby, I stayed with him, petting him as he quietly slipped away. Thank you Digby for being a good dog.

Reading, boy oh boy, I am on a tear, probably because the weather is so cold and I am so very tired of television.  I finished The Lilac Bus by Maeve Binchy, enjoyable so I ordered a used copy of another of her books, The Copper Beech. I read this book many years ago, it was the first Maeve Binchy I ever read, it should arrive today. I finished God Bless You Dr. Kervorkian, to be fair this book only took about an hour to read, it was a bit strange, but most Kurt Vonnegut is. Not my favorite KV, that would by Breakfast Of Champions. Then I moved onto White Teeth by Zadie Smith, WOW, I am loving this book, it is a long read but I am progressing quickly as I simply can't put it down.

This past weekend I went to my most very favorite used book store, Hyde Brothers. The store is located in a historic neighborhood in a very old building. The ceilings are very high, twelve plus feet, and the books shelves are stuffed full from floor to ceiling. There are ladders on rails to climb up to reach books on upper shelves. The aisles are a maybe a yard wide, and at least two cats pad around keeping an eye on the customers. In the basement, the ceilings are low, but again books shelves are filled to the brim from floor to ceiling. It is a bibliophiles dream! Anyway, I was excited to find another Zadie Smith book, Beauty, and I had to climb way up a ladder to retrieve it. I then found an auto-biography by Barbara Pym, one of my most favorite authors, and then found a copy of a yoga book I was looking for. It was a very rewarding bookstore visit.

On Sunday Dave made beer-can chicken for everyone, I made steamed broccoli and healthy oven chips as sides. I had my usual vegan bowl of goodness.  Seven of our grandchildren were over, we had fun after lunch showing them playground games we used to play. I made a big loop of elastic and taught them how to play "elastics", sometimes known as Chinese Jump Rope. Then we showed them how to play some of the sort of pat a cake, rhyming games, we always sang:

Under the brambles,

Under the trees,

Boom, Boom Boom,

True love to you my darling,

True love to me.

And when we're married,

We'll raise a fam-i-leee

Of little children all in a row, row, row,

Then we took out a deck of cards and did "magic tricks", and built houses of cards. It was a lot of fun for young and old alike.

Lent begins this week, today is Shrove Tuesday, or as we knew it as children, Pancake Day! Tomorrow I will go to Mass and receive ashes, and we will be in the journey of Lent. I feel called to give up TV for Lent, so will do this. I have done it in the past and find it to be very beneficial. I will  look for some Lenten reading material, perhaps daily reflections, and attend the Stations of the Cross, hopefully each Friday. And, I will look forward to Easter.

Well not too much else going on, we are desperate for Spring to arrive, it is still so cold, too cold for March as we should not be having lows in the single digits. But the geese are back, and lawn mower commercials are running on the TV, so spring must be in our future.