Catholic Woman's Almanac

Linking up with the lovely ladies at Sucipio!

Moments of Gratitude:

* The incredible morning we spent with the first class relic of St. Mary Magdalene

* Ms 20 yo's boyfriend arriving safely and the fact that he is so good with all of the younger kids who love to hang on him.

* The incredibly beautiful St. John Cantius church in Chicago and the beautiful and reverent Mass they say.

* TWO cups of coffee because it is Sunday.

* Brothers who will play Axis and Allies together and not fight.

* Playing in the snow for a couple of days.

* The beautiful scenery we had this week.

* A good morning of job searching with the girls.

In the Kitchen:

We had some awesome Minestrone soup and another Olive Garden knock off salad for dinner on Sunday; comfort food for a rainy day.  We're diverting from our Lenten meal schedule a tad this week and having Shepherd's pie for dinner instead of Chili Mac and then going out one night - which is an incredibly rare event around here.  I'm looking forward to my MIL's kitchen on Sunday as we all descend on it to devour our annual corned beef, cabbage and her yummy soda bread.

Listening To:

Our heat pump run 24/7.  Our climate is not meant for a heat pump and when it gets to be around this 40 degree range it doesn't quite know how to handle it so it runs CONSTANTLY.  All I hear is ka-ching, ka-ching as the meter spins away.  Other than that, I hear the noise of things being blown up in the Lego realm, my husband talking to me about muscles and capillaries, and the timer beeping on the oven telling me my cranberry bread is done...be right back.

The Week Ahead:

Okay, I'm back, and boy does that bread smell good :)  We get to spend one more morning with the relic of St. Mary Magdalene and this time I will bring my camera!  With Ms 20 yo's boyfriend here (okay, so I really need to give him his own blog name because Ms 20 yo's boyfriend is just too much to type all the time, so I guess I'll stick with the same format and call him Mr 21 yo, okay?) we usually like to do something all together one day, so while we wanted to go to the zoo, the weather just isn't going to cooperate.  Instead, I understand the Shedd Aquarium has a free day so I think we might just hit that.

Praying:

Of course we're all praying for the conclave which starts on Tuesday. I'm also praying like this since I read this over the weekend:  

"Every person must embrace the state for which God intends him. And parents should
therefore not be so anxious and exercised over it but should rather pray to God
to grant the state of grace to each of their sons and daughters." St. John of God

 Reading:

I received a free copy of "The Four Signs of a Dynamic Catholic" by Matthew Kelly this week in the mail and I am absolutely loving it!  It wasn't next on my list, but it arrived and I was drawn to it.  I would recommend this to everyone! 

Pondering:

From the book I was just telling you about:  "Every day many prayers go unanswered, and it seems to me that this is not because God did not want those prayers answered, but because He sent us to answer those prayers and we didn't heed the call".  Wow! 

Captured:

Here's what's been happening this past weekend; the temps went up, the rain came down and all that snow began to melt.  We haven't seen this much water around here in almost two years.  After the drought conditions last summer, this is a welcome site (as long as it stays outside and doesn't decide to visit us downstairs!!)

Here's what is left of our snowman from Tuesday (as of Sunday afternoon).  Oh what a difference a few days can make around here!
 

God Bless!