Technology - A Blessing or a Curse?

About a week ago, my husband dropped his cell phone into a lift station, which essentially means that it went for a swim. About four hours later they were able to suck it out with the vacuum truck, but, of course, it was too late . Like most business people, he depends on his cell phone so off to the store he went. Two hours later he walked out with a brand-new, hip, up-to-date mini-computer-phone-camera. I believe it even makes dinner if you tell it to. Since my cell phone battery would only hold a charge for about an hour, he went in with the intention of buying me a new battery. Instead, for the same price as a new battery for my OLD phone, he got me a brand new, hip, up-to-date (although not as cool as his) cell phone. Let's just say that it took us a whole day to figure out how to make phone calls on them. My husband's theory is that we should have given it to our five year old to figure out - more on that later.

By the next day we were able to figure out a few more things and realized how cool some of the features were. Mine has a calendar and I can program the weather to show up on my screen, you know, fun stuff like that. Then my husband found this very addicting game on his phone called "Bubble Break". Well, our five year old did get a hold of the game and she is the one who explained how to play it to the rest of us. In fact, for a few days, she held the high score!

Then a few days later I discovered that I have access to the music store. Well, my daughter and I spent quite a bit of time listening to 30 second sound bites of our favorite country songs. I finally convinced my husband that I would just download ONE song when the message popped onto the screen, "You are not authorized to purchase songs. Please go to your account and change the authorization". I guess he knows me pretty well.

So why am I now spending time posting about my cell phone? Isn't it bad enough that I've wasted quite a few hours over the past week playing with it? What I'm really trying to figure out in all of this is: Why do you get something like a new computer, a new computer program, a new phone or whatever, and it immediately becomes something that you have to put in its place or it begins to control you. I can't believe how that bubble game alone has gotten a hold of all of us (especially the five year old). Why do we continue to get sucked in by technology? Is it a blessing or a curse? I guess you could look at it as a chance to build your character by overcoming your will. You can also look upon all of this new stuff as a good educational experience. Sometimes, however, I think we'd all be better off without it!

God Bless!

7 Quick Takes Friday

1.

I decided to participate in 7 Quick Takes Friday since it seemed like fun. Actually, I found that coming up with 7 things is difficult. I also discovered that these "quick takes" will be longer than many of my other posts. Oh well, have fun and check out other people's quick takes, too.

2.

A friend of mine emailed me this last week. I liked it so I thought I would share it with you: Cardinal George spoke and said, "our prayer is that we live long enough to be Saints--it is easy to pray to live long lives", he said, "but it is much more difficult to pray that we live long enough to become Saints"--he said, "That YES to God is a difficult thing sometimes because we know it will entail much suffering and sacrifice but we know it is worth it--Just as Mary said Yes to God"

3.

Am I the only one who lives in a family that is not capable of playing games together? Something usually goes flying - whether it is the nearest object or person available, or the game board itself. So last week when our Foozball (?) game got brought up out of the basement, I had my doubts about whether or not it was a good idea. True to form, the game got shoved around, the ball went flying and loud stomps were heard going down the hall. Then a miracle occurred. By mid-week, the loser could actually walk away without throwing anything! I've even seen a few smiles after the game is over (and not just the gloating kind, either). I guess it proves what I read this morning in my mediation, "No situation is fixed"! Alleluia!

4.

In my post the other day about my ever-aging eyesite, a friend commented that he is surprised that I use such a small font in my post. Guess I never noticed it because on the screen when I'm typing it, it looks so much bigger. So, how is this Roger? Can you see this one? :) Maybe I should consider switching so as to help out all those other over-40 people that I can now identify with?

5.

After having some discussions about blogging recently, my daughter found this website and emailed me the link. It's about blogging just for fun and without that feeling of obligation. I'm trying to assimilate that way of thinking into my life, however, I tend to be obsessive about things, so it is difficult to imagine being so blase about something so important :) (Really, I'm just kidding. Of course I realize that what I have to say everyday isn't that important. At least not to everyone...especially, it seems, to people I live with......)

6.

We went to our first Latin Mass this past weekend. Let's just say that the jury is still out. Some of us didn't like it, others are willing to try again. We'll see. I think I must be missing something....

7.

Hope y'all had a nice Thanksgiving. Keeping with the theme of giving thanks, here is an excerpt from an email we got from the Family Research Council about some things to be thankful for:
Today we seem to be floating on a tattered raft of bad news, but this is a week for Thanksgiving, and it seems only right to note that for all the trouble we face, we live in the most blessed times in human history. We have the capacity to feed ourselves and the know-how to feed others, we live longer than any other generation ever (especially if we control the kind of excess that now, rather than want, shortens our lives), and we are able to transmit and share ideas with lightning speed around the world. Despair and panic, we know, can spread quickly, but so can words of consolation and redemption. This is also an extraordinary era for medicine.

God Bless!

Something to Think About

This video is incredible. I found it over on Jennifer's Favorite Links and I just had to share it. As we approach Advent, which is the time to prepare our hearts and minds for the coming of Jesus, this is definitely some great food for thought. I love this!!!!!!!!!



God Bless and have a very Blessed Thanksgiving!

Mine Eyes Can Now Clearly See the Glory ...

Well, it has happened. My eyes have realized what the rest of my body already knows: they are over 40 years old. At first it was just barely noticeable. Once in awhile I'd have a hard time seeing something really small. After awhile it seemed to be happening more frequently. "HMMM," I wondered, "is it really going to happen to me? Am I going to turn out like all of my "older" friends? Not yet", I kept telling myself. "Not me!"

The next time I noticed it was a few months ago when I was trying to read the really tiny print on the side of a children's pain reliever bottle. If it is so important to know how much to give your child, then why on earth did they make the print so SMALL? Well, I must have gotten through that okay because no one complained of an overdose.

A few weeks ago, however, it snuck up on me again. I was taking pictures at my in-law's 50th anniversary party when I realized that I couldn't see the images clearly enough on my digital camera to tell if they were coming out okay or not. These were important pictures, but I had no idea how they were going to turn out until I got home and looked at them on the computer screen - you know, so they were magnified about 100 times!

The clincher, however, was a few days ago when I noticed a sore spot on my thumb and I honestly couldn't tell if it was just a cut or if it was a sliver of some sort. In defeat, I made an appointment with the eye doctor, whom I just saw today.

She confirmed it. I can officially join the ranks of those people over 40 who are constantly searching for one of their ten pairs of Wal-Mart glasses so they can see all that stuff that has suddenly become too small to see. I will drag myself there this week and purchase the symbol that tells the world - "Yes, I am over 40 and I am not too proud to admit it!"

God Bless!

Odds and Ends

Well, it was a sad day on Saturday because the Celtics lost in the last playoff game before the State Finals. Our nephew, however, still had an awesome game. Congratulations, Pat, on a job well done!

The first snowflakes fell this morning. It was nice to see them because it got everyone up out of bed and in a good mood so we actually made it to mass on time - something we rarely do on a Monday morning!

A week ago, our pastor's column in the bulletin dealt with the importance of having some type of daily prayer routine. In his column he shared with us a prayer he prays every day: the COMPLETE version of the Serenity Prayer. I have heard this prayer for years, but never have I heard this version. The second part is even more beautiful than the first, so I thought I'd share it here today.

God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change,
The courage to change the things I can
And the wisdom to know the difference;
Living one day at a time,
Accepting hardship as the pathway to peace.
Let me take, as Jesus did, this sinful world as it is,
Not as I would have it;
Trusting He will make all things right if I surrender to His will.
May I be reasonably happy in this life
And supremely happy with Him forever in the next. Amen.

I feel cheated all these years, never having heard this prayer in its entirety. Maybe it got shortened because otherwise it is too long to fit on a coffee mug :)

Note: I just finished posting this and went on over to Conversion Diary - a fabulous blog I read - and there was this post. It is such a great reminder - and the prayer is another great one to add to your daily prayer list - that I had to come back and link to it. Help spread the message that every moment is one that we will never get back. Life is too short to hang on to things!

God Bless!

Minestrone Soup

After a cold afternoon watching a high school football playoff game, what better dinner to come home to than a nice hot bowl of homemade soup! We are trying this for the first time tonight, but it sounds good. Go Celtics!

Minestrone in Minutes

3 sweet or hot Italian sausage links, sliced
1 C chopped onion
1 can (14 1/2 oz) diced tomatoes, undrained
2 small zucchini, cubed
3 tsp beef bouillon granules
3 cups water
2 C finely chopped cabbage
1 can (15 1/2 oz) great northern beans, rinsed and drained
1 tsp dried basil
2 tbl minced fresh parsley
Grated Parmesan Cheese

In a Dutch oven or soup kettle, cook sausage and onion over medium heat until sausage is no longer pink; drain. Stir in the remaining ingredients except the cheese. Bring to a boil. Cover and simmer for 1 hour. Sprinkle with cheese. Yield 2 quarts

God Bless and have a peaceful and restful Sunday!

A Day in the Life Part IV

My last two "students" are my five year old and my three year old. When my oldest daughter was 5 I was so anxious to get started really teaching her things. I found myself getting frustrated that we weren't really getting into "meaty" stuff yet and I wondered why she didn't have her mutliplication facts memorized. Six kids later I have definitely "lowered" my expectations and standards.

Now that my little 5 year old is in kindergarten, we spend about 1 hour a day in formal studies. I got a big workbook for her to help her learn her letters and numbers and all that other fun stuff. I know I could have just taught her this without the big workbook but it would have taken more time for me to get it all together and I'm afraid I would have never gotten around to it. For now she enjoys her workbook pages and is catching on to that whole alphabet thing. The rest of her learning occurs by just following the rest of us around and by being in the same room during a lot of our discussions and reading. I continue to be amazed at the things she picks up.

There is one thing I've noticed about the differences between my girls and my boys for which I am very thankful. It appears as if my boys have much more vivid imaginations than my girls do and therefore are quite capable of entertaining themselves for long periods of time. Now that he is three, my son in quite content playing with whoever happens to be available to him. If no one is, then more often than not, he doesn't mind playing by himself.

Throughout the day I schedule the other kids to take their turn with the younger ones, so this way I can focus on the difficult subjects a little better. More often than not, though, these two are never very far away from the hub of activity. For the most part they are content with this setup, but I assure you that if either one of them is having a bad day it definitely has an impact on the school day.

So that is how we run our school day. We are pretty consistent with a 4 1/4 day school week. We use Friday mornings to finish up things from the week and take any math tests that might need to be taken. Sickness and clubs are about the only things that get us off track the rest of the week.

I've given you a glimpse of our day, but if you are interested in how I put my whole day into a schedule and how I've learned to live with a routine, check out my website. I have put together a workshop called "A Plan for Joy in the Home - A Workshop on Organizing your Day for Catholic Homeschooling Mothers". In it I walk you through some important areas that I think need to be organized and at the end of the workshop, we put all of these areas together into a master schedule. If you are organizationally challenged and would be interested in this workshop for yourself and some of your friends, check it out here and contact me for more information.

God Bless!