Oh coffee, how does thou frustrateth me? Let me counteth the ways.
I never used to like coffee. It took my husband most of our 25 years of marriage to even get me to drink it. Now, however, I look forward to that cuppa in the morning and then again around 4:00 pm. I can't drink fully caffeinated coffee because then I get all jittery so I usually brew about 50/50, or sometimes 60/40 if I feel like living on the wild side.
Lately, however, I have had a HORRIBLE time finding decaf coffee. Our usual brand seems to be no more. I've looked at other brands and if they have decaf at all it is usually hazelnut (gag!!).
Oh, but I forgot one important thing. My husband has always preferred to grind his own beans instead of buying ground coffee and ever since my daughter told us this story, I can't even stomach the thought of ground coffee.
Apparently a patient at the office she works at has a brother-in-law that kept having a reaction to something he was either eating or drinking. He went through extensive food and allergy testing and they didn't discover anything that jumped out at them, but after even further testing, discovered he was allergic to cockroaches. After even further digging and questioning, they discovered that it was his coffee that was causing him problems and that since he was drinking ground coffee, and apparently it is a known fact that coffee beans sit around on the warehouse floor and get scooped up and ground up without picking out the cockroaches, that it was the cockroach pieces in his coffee grounds that were causing his allergic reaction.
Okay, so I go to the store and look for my decaf and all I see are ground coffee options and my stomach turns. I know, the same thing goes for coffee ordered out, but there's something about grabbing for that bag first thing in the morning to measure out the grounds and wondering just how many insect parts per tablespoon you are consuming.
Therefore, I will continue my quest for whole bean decaf coffee, even if it means I have to order it online and have it delivered to my house; or maybe drive far to find it. Maybe it isn't even a true story and we don't need to worry about it at all. Sorry if I've grossed you out.
Time to go grind my beans for that afternoon cup - where I can guarantee you that no bug parts will be included.
God Bless!
Thursday, November 21, 2013
Tuesday, November 19, 2013
Reacting Later is the Goal
How do you react to things? Let's say you get an email that gets your blood pressure to rise. Maybe your kids refuse to listen to a thing you say all day. How about hearing that someone has been saying false things about you.
Do you immediately fly off the handle? Do you type that volatile email and send it right back? Do you bite the next kid to disobey's head off?
OR
Do you sit back and take a deep breath before you respond?
I can tell you that I do not do the latter and it has come to my attention through prayer and discernment that because of that, I am seeing this common trait in most of my children. It's kind of like a Catch 22. They misbehave so I react and then they react because that's what I've trained them to do through my reacting.
A vicious cycle that needs to be stopped.
If you react like this, have you ever tried not to? If you have, you realize how incredibly hard it is to do. Most of the time the words are out of my mouth before I even realize that I spoke them. Many times I send a response in an email and realize that if I had just thought through the situation I would have responded differently. Ugh, what to do?
This sounds like something good to work on during the upcoming Advent season. I spoke to a priest about it and his advice was to ask for very specific help from the Lord each day and to realize that we cannot depend on our own abilities to conquer, or even subdue, things like this.
Total dependence on God; humility when we fall; slowing down so that there is time to think. These are the things that will help me to even come close to remembering to stop and think before I react.
What about you? Have you had this problem and if so, have you come close to dealing with it? If so, how?
God Bless!
Do you immediately fly off the handle? Do you type that volatile email and send it right back? Do you bite the next kid to disobey's head off?
OR
Do you sit back and take a deep breath before you respond?
I can tell you that I do not do the latter and it has come to my attention through prayer and discernment that because of that, I am seeing this common trait in most of my children. It's kind of like a Catch 22. They misbehave so I react and then they react because that's what I've trained them to do through my reacting.
A vicious cycle that needs to be stopped.
If you react like this, have you ever tried not to? If you have, you realize how incredibly hard it is to do. Most of the time the words are out of my mouth before I even realize that I spoke them. Many times I send a response in an email and realize that if I had just thought through the situation I would have responded differently. Ugh, what to do?
This sounds like something good to work on during the upcoming Advent season. I spoke to a priest about it and his advice was to ask for very specific help from the Lord each day and to realize that we cannot depend on our own abilities to conquer, or even subdue, things like this.
Total dependence on God; humility when we fall; slowing down so that there is time to think. These are the things that will help me to even come close to remembering to stop and think before I react.
What about you? Have you had this problem and if so, have you come close to dealing with it? If so, how?
God Bless!
Monday, November 18, 2013
Catholic Woman's Almanac
Joining in over at Sucipio!
Moments of Gratitude:
* For safety for all of us as we navigated the storms that hit our area today.
* For staying home for a whole day this weekend and getting a lot accomplished.
* For the wonderful friends we were with to celebrate a friend's 50th birthday.
Outside my window:
It is pitch black (because it's nighttime :)) and the wind is howling away. Thankfully the rain has stopped.
Around the House:
Since free time has been at a premium lately, I have really taken to heart the "do small things here and there" principal. I might have a big project in mind, like clean the whole house from top to bottom and clean the carpets and fix the paint in the bathroom, but I realize that that isn't going to all happen right now so instead I've been tackling small jobs whenever I can. While I cook, I clean in the kitchen. While I'm waiting for my curling iron to heat up, I fold laundry. While the coffee is brewing (which takes up to 1/2 an hour sometimes!) I pick up a room or two. It might not be how I like it, but at least I'm chipping away at things bit by bit.
The Upcoming Week:
Our last IEW writing class is this week. The kids in the class (eight in total) all wrote a five paragraph essay on a topic of their choosing and this week they have to give an oral presentation to the moms. Should be fun - for us moms at least. Mr 13 yo has threatened to lock me out so I can't watch him give his. This is also the last week of regular classes for the Performing Arts Center and then begins the week of dress rehearsals.
At the end of the week our parish is hosting a fundraising gourmet dinner to raise money for a St. Gianna Molla Shrine they are going to be building. For you Relevant Radio listeners, Drew Mariani will be speaking and yours truly will be the official photographer! If you get a chance, you should check out the link and if you're ever in the area, sometime after next summer of course, you should visit. It promises to be a place of peace and healing for those who need it.
Praying:
* For many of my family members who are suffering emotionally and physically.
* For our upcoming performance and for the rehearsals that all will go smoothly.
Pondering:
How I can stop myself from loading up December with stuff to do since we'll be done with the play and there will be no extra classes for the WHOLE month. I am so looking forward to that, but I fear I might get carried away with making up for lost time.
Captured:
Isn't this such an adorably happy baby? I love baby shots, so here's a few for those of you who do, too.
God Bless!
Saturday, November 16, 2013
A Brighter Perspective
Casement windows have been the bane of my existence for most of my adult life. I know, it seems trivial given all of the things that could qualify for that status, but they are just one of those little annoying things that seem to follow me around into every house we live in.
We've lived in a five houses over our 25 years of marriage and all but one of them have had casement windows. The other four have been a pain in my side. If you have them, you know what I mean: handles that fall apart and/or break off, windows that don't open all the way anymore, windows that won't close anymore from the inside (they require a special trip outside to give them a good shove - usually when it is pouring rain), screens that blow out with a good wind, screens that are bent and won't sit in the frame properly. Oh, and have you ever had blinds or a shade on casement windows and wanted to close them a bit while the window is open? Tough luck.
If you are lucky enough to have up and down windows (more commonly referred to as double hung windows), then you can count yourselves as blessed.
I have decided that Heaven will be full of up and down windows.
Anyhow, my fate having been sealed, I have tried to make the best of it. One thing my mom has been telling me for years is that, in the winter, I should take all the screens out thus allowing more light to come into those dreary winter-lit rooms.
Not one to shun motherly advice, I have finally taken her up on it and started in two of our rooms. The first window I did was the one over the kitchen sink. I was so impressed with how nice it looked and how much brighter the area was that I finally had time to do it in our bedroom.
Our room is north facing so there isn't much light to begin with. Take away those lovely screens and it immediately brightened the place up.
I am so happy with the results that my goal is to do that in all the rooms before Spring is upon us next year! I'll let you know if I succeed.
God Bless!
We've lived in a five houses over our 25 years of marriage and all but one of them have had casement windows. The other four have been a pain in my side. If you have them, you know what I mean: handles that fall apart and/or break off, windows that don't open all the way anymore, windows that won't close anymore from the inside (they require a special trip outside to give them a good shove - usually when it is pouring rain), screens that blow out with a good wind, screens that are bent and won't sit in the frame properly. Oh, and have you ever had blinds or a shade on casement windows and wanted to close them a bit while the window is open? Tough luck.
If you are lucky enough to have up and down windows (more commonly referred to as double hung windows), then you can count yourselves as blessed.
I have decided that Heaven will be full of up and down windows.
Anyhow, my fate having been sealed, I have tried to make the best of it. One thing my mom has been telling me for years is that, in the winter, I should take all the screens out thus allowing more light to come into those dreary winter-lit rooms.
Not one to shun motherly advice, I have finally taken her up on it and started in two of our rooms. The first window I did was the one over the kitchen sink. I was so impressed with how nice it looked and how much brighter the area was that I finally had time to do it in our bedroom.
Our room is north facing so there isn't much light to begin with. Take away those lovely screens and it immediately brightened the place up.
I am so happy with the results that my goal is to do that in all the rooms before Spring is upon us next year! I'll let you know if I succeed.
God Bless!
Friday, November 15, 2013
7 Quick Takes November 15 2013
Well, I've never done a Quick Takes this late in the day, so here goes. I've got 10 minutes to get it done before I need to flip some bean quesadillas, get everyone in the car, drive to pick up the boys and run over to our Miles Christi Evening of Recollection where I will actually get to stay put in one place without having to drive for 3 whole hours! I cannot wait!
I always like to promote things that people I know have done (or even cool things from people I don't know) so here is a link to the new gluten free holiday cookbook that friends of ours put together. They did another one a few months ago but this one has some great holiday ideas for those of you who are gluten free. Speaking of free, the book is FREE right now for Kindle so go grab your copy asap.
I've always wanted to take a picture like this...and now I have.
Usually there's too much going on and I forget, but this was on her actual birthday and half the family was away at play practice so things were a tad slower and calmer than normal. Yeah!
For those of you following along, here's the newest installment of Hope's Cafe.
For those of you not following along...you should be.
The boys needed scarves for one of their costume pieces so I finally took the plunge and dug through and organized our bin of winter stuff. Oh my. We can easily clothe about 20 people with scarves, hats and gloves. Time to donate! Also, can someone tell me why I found at least 7 gloves that had no partner? How does that happen? Do they run away with the socks?
We were in Wal-Mart today and upon exiting were greeted by the Salvation Army guy. Really? Is this earlier than last year? It is November 15th and he wished me a Merry Christmas. I was too stunned to respond. Can we get through Thanksgiving first?
We are mostly home on Saturday, which is so cool and Sunday brings us with a lot of driving, but some fun intermixed in there, so it's good. Hope you have a blessed and relaxing weekend.
God Bless!
For more Quick Takes, visit Conversion Diary!
Tuesday, November 12, 2013
Starbucks, Writing and Scrooge
I'm sitting in Starbucks with my small decaf (I know, I'm so not pc) and an empty plate that held a rather dried out cheesecake brownie (note that the plate is empty; the dryness did not stop me from eating it!), hoping to be inspired. I've heard many people say they go to a coffee shop to let those creative juices flow but they just ain't flowin' here, people.
1. Could it be that I'm sitting in a corner and it is very cold?
2. Could it be that I'm sitting under a speaker that is playing music that I do not find appealing?
3. Could it be that I'm just not able to be inspired?
I'm thinking it is number three.
We had a super busy weekend, celebrating the birthday of the now Ms 15 yo in between running other kids to and from rehearsals for the production of "The Conversion of Scrooge" that they will be in on December 1st. Those of you who are local and want to see a great production to kick off your Advent, let me know :)
Today was our second to last writing class that we've had at our house on Tuesday mornings. It has been an incredible blessing to me and, even though they won't admit it, Mr 13 yo and Ms 15 yo. Now that I have the hang of it, this IEW program rocks. I so wish that I had figured it out years ago. While the bigger kids are learning it from the girls who are teaching the class, I'm working with Ms 10 yo and Mr 8 yo. It continues to be a great experience for all of us; except for when they leave their assignments for Monday afternoon - then it is NOT a good experience for any of us.
Due to a cancellation in classes last Friday (which was great last Friday but there's always a payback isn't there?) we have classes at the Performing Arts Center on Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday this week, as well as all day rehearsal on Sunday. In addition, I must find costume pieces and do some sewing. I know it sounds like I'm complaining and I guess to a certain extent I am, even though I consciously signed everyone up for this, but I will redeem myself by saying that it is all so totally worth it once I sit back and watch these performances. They are truly amazing. Until then, however, please pray for me :)
God Bless!
1. Could it be that I'm sitting in a corner and it is very cold?
2. Could it be that I'm sitting under a speaker that is playing music that I do not find appealing?
3. Could it be that I'm just not able to be inspired?
I'm thinking it is number three.
We had a super busy weekend, celebrating the birthday of the now Ms 15 yo in between running other kids to and from rehearsals for the production of "The Conversion of Scrooge" that they will be in on December 1st. Those of you who are local and want to see a great production to kick off your Advent, let me know :)
Today was our second to last writing class that we've had at our house on Tuesday mornings. It has been an incredible blessing to me and, even though they won't admit it, Mr 13 yo and Ms 15 yo. Now that I have the hang of it, this IEW program rocks. I so wish that I had figured it out years ago. While the bigger kids are learning it from the girls who are teaching the class, I'm working with Ms 10 yo and Mr 8 yo. It continues to be a great experience for all of us; except for when they leave their assignments for Monday afternoon - then it is NOT a good experience for any of us.
Due to a cancellation in classes last Friday (which was great last Friday but there's always a payback isn't there?) we have classes at the Performing Arts Center on Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday this week, as well as all day rehearsal on Sunday. In addition, I must find costume pieces and do some sewing. I know it sounds like I'm complaining and I guess to a certain extent I am, even though I consciously signed everyone up for this, but I will redeem myself by saying that it is all so totally worth it once I sit back and watch these performances. They are truly amazing. Until then, however, please pray for me :)
God Bless!
Friday, November 8, 2013
7 Quick Takes November 8, 2013
It's been awhile, hasn't it? Glad to be here with y'all at this quick takes party. Here are a few things that have been going on around here lately.
I've been sharing the episodes of Hope's Cafe on my blog as they come out so I thought I would share the latest one here. This one is sure to be a favorite!
If you've missed them before, Hope's Cafe is a catholic internet-based sitcom that the adult/young adult theater class from the Little Flowers Performing Arts Center is doing.
Nothing like a few moments in the kitchen to get one feeling like Martha Stewart. We had some whole chickens the other day and I actually remembered to save the carcases (or would that be carci?) and put them in the crock pot over night with some water to make some good ole fashioned bone broth. Yummy! Nothing says good morning like the smell of chicken broth :) This broth became an awesome pot of chicken soup for dinner.
Can't you just taste all that yummy, good-for-you, homemade goodness???
Then, much to my amazement, I found myself with even a few more minutes in the kitchen so I whipped up a batch of homemade yogurt.
This is only the second time I've done it, and while not everyone is excited about it (I mean it is kind of hard to beat out Chobani), I really like it. Sure it's plain, but add a bit of fruit and it tastes oh-so-good!
November is such a great month; an entire month dedicated to praying for the holy souls. Don't forget your loved ones in Purgatory! Also, I was just reminded that at the end of the month is the feast of St. Andrew when the St. Andrew novena starts. Last year was the first year we had done it, and I am looking forward to doing it again!
Our parish is in the midst of raising funds to build a National shrine to St. Gianna Molla. This is so exciting! It even has the blessings of St. Gianna's daughter. I'm contemplating a soap fundraiser for Christmas to help raise funds so I will definitely post a link and keep you updated. If you want to check it out or want to make a direct donation, you can do so here.
Lot's to do this weekend - some cleaning, baking, celebrating and rehearsing are all on board. I suppose some leave raking should be, too, but we'll just have to see if we have time for that. I did hear an ugly rumor that it might snow next week, but that still isn't enough motivation for me to carve out time to rake up those leaves. Besides, they look very pretty right now all over the yard! Have a great weekend.
God Bless!
For more Quick Takes, visit Conversion Diary!
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