Dear St. Anthony, please come around...

Well, well, well. I'm coming off of a difficult stretch here, and although I feel a lot better than I did yesterday, when it rains, it pours, you know? :)

I walked from my car into the library this morning finishing up an episode of Catholic Vitamins. They were playing a clip from an Audrey Assad song, and it was just heavenly. I love her music. My step felt a bit lighter.

Then I got off the staff elevator and reached for my keys to let myself into the break room and stash my lunch in the refrigerator. They weren't there.

:0

At first, I didn't panic. At first. ;-) I emptied my purse and looked through all the hidey holes they could have slipped into from their usual spot in the designated key pocket with my car keys. Nothing. I searched them all again in the hopes that I had simply missed them the first go round. That didn't seem very likely, but I wasn't exactly in the mood to be rational. No keys.

I heave a big sigh and call Mike from my cell, who is still at home. Were the keys on the counter near where my purse rests when I'm not using it? He checks, and nope. He also helpfully walks out to the garage to see if I dropped them in there, no dice.

At this point, I was starting to worry a bit, but was hoping that when I left my office on Friday, I simply locked them inside. I do this REGULARLY. I try so, so hard, dear reader, but despite my best thinking cap efforts, I still leave them behind in my office a few times a year before shutting the door. Which automatically locks behind me. This is a nuisance, but there is in fact a solution. One of our facilities staff has a set of keys to everything in the library. I pray that he's in, and head down to his office.

Thankfully, I espy him. Unfortunately, someone else has borrowed one of his key rings, on which lies the key box key where the key to my office is. This is getting complicated, isn't it? He directs me to where he thinks the key borrower is, and I have to hunt for her in a God forsaken corner of the basement that is being cleared out. But I find her, and she assures me that she'll meet me up in front of my office with the keys in just a few minutes. Glory Be.

There was a minor snafu wherein we thought she had the key to my office, but she actually didn't, and had to make another trip down to the key box. But finally, we harken my office. I scurry to my desk. No keys.

*long suffering sigh*

I really thought they'd be in there. We hunt around on the floor a bit, nothing. She tries to help me come up with some ideas for action items. Call Lost and Found for one. I think of my car, where my purse could have tipped over, spilling out the keys and maybe sliding them under a seat. I resolve to check both places, and she secures a temporary key for my office. My key ring also included keys for the break room and the reference office (which is where the tea water lives), and there are no temporaries available for those, sob!

I head out to my car cautiously optimistic. Someone begins stalking me and I have to tell them that I'm not leaving, so they can't have my parking space, :0 I open the passenger side door in hopeful expectation...and I'm sure you're not surprised by this point to learn that the keys weren't there. I had said a St. Anthony prayer and everything, but the man can't work miracles, we have to help him out a bit and I'm just hopeless. I hunted really good, and then headed back in to the library. I also called Lost and Found, who had no keys turned in. I was officially out of options.

I called our assistant to ask her to order a new set of keys for me, but things move at the speed of glacial melt over here, so I'm not optimistic that this will be anytime soon. In the mean time, I do have the temporary key to my individual office, but I'm at the mercy of others to get into the break room with the refrigerator and microwave, and the reference office with our mailboxes and bottled water supply. I'm feeling very sorry for myself over this fact. :-\

While I await the new keys, I started browsing Etsy for a new key ring since I *clearly* need help keeping track of my keys. A few months back, I bought a St. Kateri key ring from Mary's Prayers for my house key and I love it. I'm thinking a St. Anthony key ring might be in order. :0 But I had to laugh when I saw this:

Appropriate, yes? Apparently this can be made into a key ring as well. :0 My Guardian Angel must be so exhausted, poor thing.

All right, I'm heading down to heat my tomato soup and get hot water for tea and pray that the reference office is open. *pitiful sniffle* How are you today, dear reader? Any good St. Anthony stories to share?

Sometimes, you just have to get through things :) - 27th Sunday in Ordinary Time

Hi all! This is not going to be a very long post. I am home sick today, and this is a rarity for me (I thought blogging might perk me up, so here you are :)). I almost never use my sick time unless I've just had surgery and/or a baby, which makes me sound a bit martyrish, but the reality is much different - what I am is TYPE A and ANAL. :0 I don't like my routine disturbed, and I don't like to miss things. I'm insane, you see. But this weekend? I had a horrible weekend. I'm not going to discuss it on the blog, because it's personal, but it relates to something in my extended family, and it has disturbed my soul quite deeply. Mike and the kids have been sublime, thank God for them. See the flowers at the top of this post? They're from Mike, and there wasn't an occasion that he bought them for. I just came home on Wednesday, October 2nd, the day after the feast of St. Therese, and found them in a vase on our dining room table. He didn't know I had prayed the novena, he just got them because he thought I'd like them. And that's the kind of guy he is - I am so very lucky and blessed.

So, this weekend, a bit more generally. It was a rough one, and the second reading this week at Mass really lifted my spirits. It's from Philippians, chapter 4, and it's one that I'm very familiar with because of its soothing nature:

"...Have no anxiety, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, make your requests known to God. Then the peace of God that surpasses all understanding will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus."

Very lovely. It helped a lot, especially since my daughter chose to test me a bit at Mass. :0 Henry was being angelic out in the pew (not that he always is, but you know, he's almost 9, so he can control himself a bit better, lol) and Anne made 2 requests to use the potty. She had just gone at home, but I took her anyway. I will say that she did pee. :) This was at the beginning of Mass. Then right before the Eucharistic Prayer, we get another request.

"Mommy, I have to go to the bathroom."

"We already went, Honey. Can't you wait until we get home?"

"No Mommy!" *grabs crotch*

When the public crotch grabbing and dancing begins, obviously I have no choice. To the bathroom we go. Everything goes fine. Then we exit the bathroom. We're back in the sacristy.

"Mommy I don't want you to carry me."

"Ok Honey, just hold my hand until we get back to the pew."

Setting Anne loose in public never works out well.

"NO!"

Well. This isn't going to end well, is it?

We spent 5 full minutes during the Consecration back there, her deliberately not looking at me and occasionally shouting "NO!", me debating my choices. Set her loose to avoid public scene? Grab her and hope she calms down quickly? Drag her out to the car in disgrace? None of these seem like good options. I choose bribery. That works.

:0

And the rest of Mass went fine, with Anne, clearly tired, resting her head on my shoulder. I set Henry loose (because he can be trusted :)) to get us a candle to light after Mass, and that was very lovely. Our Lady Undoer of Knots, please pray for my intention. :)

All right, back to the couch with tea for me. I'm feeling a lot better, but I'm not often home sick, so I secure "Golden Girls" marathons wherever I can. :0  I should be back to my normal routine tomorrow. And thank God for that.

How was your weekend, dear reader?

7 Quick Takes {Take 56} Fall frenzy before my big trip edition...

-1-  The leaves are falling...

Somehow, this fall is speeding right along, and I'm not ready yet for the foliage to be peaking! :0 I want beautiful leaves year round! I suppose then it wouldn't be nearly so special, but every year I cling to fall and try to make it last as long as possible before the chaos of the holidays sets in. This weekend, we're hoping to get the kids to a local attraction called Pumpkinville, about an hour south of where we live. We went last year, and everyone loved it. Corn mazes, tractor rides, a pumpkin patch, all that good stuff. Next thing you know, our car is loaded up with pumpkins, Anne is sipping apple cider out of a special leaf-shaped cup, and Henry is shooting corn stalks out of a canon. We really get into the autumn spirit. ;-)

-2- Will be flying the friendly skies this time next week :-\

No 7 Quick Takes for me next week, because next Friday Henry and I are traveling to Maine to visit with my sister, brother-in-law and twin nephews. We couldn't afford for the whole family to go, so Mike and Anne are staying behind, and I'm super sad about this. :( I'm also a freakish flyer, you'll hear more about that next week, believe you me. I've been gearing myself up mentally as best I can, and I'll try not to embarrass myself too badly while in flight. :-\ Henry is so excited though, and I know I'll have a great time once I'm there. Lots of amusing blog fodder will surely follow.

-3- Current fiction selection on my Kindle...

I've been pleasantly distracted from my flying anxiety by my current reads, one of which is book 2 in the Witness Protection series, The Baby Rescue, by Margaret Daley:

Really enjoying this so far, and I'm about half done. Well written, and great suspense as the characters try to stop a baby smuggling ring. The hero and heroine are a U.S. Marshal and an FBI agent, respectively. I'm liking it.

Next up is the 4th installment in the Big Sky Centennial series, His Montana Bride, by Brenda Minton:

This is a very sweet series set around the six months-long centennial celebrations of a small town. Small town settings are always my favorites.

-4-  My crochet hook is practically smoking...

Also distracting me lately is my crafts, and I'm making tremendous progress on my holiday projects. This week, I finished up a pair of boot toppers for my sister:

I had never made boot toppers before, these were new for me. They tuck into the top of your winter boots and act as a barrier to keep your pants warm and dry. I hadn't thought about it before, but when you live in a place that gets heavy snowfall for you to tromp through, these would be handy. And Shauna'h lives in Maine. So there you have it. :0

-5- Crafty Secret Santa? I live for this stuff! *squeals*

Also on my crafting agenda is the Secret Santa assignment I received from my knitting group. We do this every year, where we draw names, secretly handcraft a gift for the recipient, and reveal all during a Christmas party. Super fun. This year we went all contemporary and did our drawing online using Elfster. I mean, did you ever? I practically peed my pants in excitement when I got the email that I had been paired up, and got to click the button to reveal my assignment. I am now happily planning away, and couldn't be more thrilled with my mission.

-6- But Halloween self-striping yarn. Hello!! A MUST PURCHASE!!

I'm not totally selfless though. I've been thinking about a project to bring with me on my trip, and this involves some prep work since such a project has to be portable and not require color changes, as I can't bring scissors with me on the plane. Socks! Yes, socks. That's the ticket. Mike has asked me to make him a pair of plain brown socks, which have got to be the most boring thing to knit in the history of the universe, but I will do it anyway. ALL FOR LOVE.

#martyr!

So I thought I'd take those. But then I saw this:

Trick-or-treat self-striping Halloween sock yarn from the talented Abi Grasso of Artistic Yarn by Abi. When she gets in-stock yarn in her store, watch out!! Rabid knitters descend and pounce like a cat on a helpless baby mouse. It'll be gone within the hour. I happened to see her Facebook post on this one evening after work (because I stalk her store :0) and the internal debate with myself about this was embarrassingly short. Soon, one of the hanks was in my cart and then in the "sold" column. It's on it's way to me now. :0 And will be here in plenty of time for me to wind it and pack it up to cast on at the airport. #bliss I'll still make Mike the brown socks, but that can wait for a time when I need far less distractions. The tweed neps in the brown tweed colorway he chose just aren't going to be enough for a trip involving flying. *snorts*

-7- A klutzy belly dancer. A rickety fashion runway. What could go wrong?

My dance troupe has a performance coming up, on the feast of All Saints, actually. It's part of a fashion show event, and we'll be dancing on the runway. This should be interesting. :0 We start rehearsing tonight and formation changes are always fascinating in such situations. Look for amusing updates to follow.

All right, I'm off! Have a wonderful fall weekend everyone! I won't be here next Friday, but I will blog the other days next week, so talk to you then. *beams*

Read other 7 Quick Takes over at Conversion Diary!

Month of the rosary, and feast of the Guardian Angels!

There's my new rosary, in action. *heart* I've been praying with it both morning and evening as I embark on the 54 day rosary novena. And in fact October is the month of the rosary, very lovely, yes? What I love about the rosary is the way it helps me to focus on specific events from our faith as I pray. I also love the use of a physical aid in prayer. As a person who likes structure and crossing off items on a to-do list, there is something incredibly satisfying about moving the beads through my fingers toward a definite goal.

This morning, I was thinking about the fact that it's the feast of the Guardian Angels, and Magnificat had a lovely little tidbit to introduce the memorial:

"Popular piety encompasses many forms of devotion to the Guardian Angels. St. Basil the Great taught that 'each and every member of the faithful has a Guardian Angel to protect, guard, and guide them through life.' This ancient teaching was consolidated by biblical and patristic sources and lies behind many forms of piety. St. Bernard of Clairvaux was a great master and a notable promoter of devotion to the Guardian Angels. For him, they were proof 'that heaven denies us nothing that assists us,' and hence, 'these celestial spirits have been placed at our sides to protect us, instruct us, and to guide us.'"

Very comforting, especially as I woke up in a state of some anxiety. I'll spare you the details, but I have a few things on my week this week, and I didn't sleep well because I was thinking about them. Don't you hate that? At 2 am, even the simplest things take on an insurmountable quality that will quickly overwhelm the mind of your resident Nervous Nelly. Mike didn't sleep well either:

"I'm worried about getting all the grading and prep work done between now and Columbus Day."

So I'm not alone, I married a kindred worrying spirit (and a super cute one, at that). :) And praying the rosary helps when I'm trying to figure out ways of coping with larger concerns, you know? The familiar and the repetitive bring so much solace in such situations.

On the other hand, short, quick prayers are best when faced with these situations:

"MOMMY. What you doing?!"

"Just coming to check on you, Honey."

"Don't look in here!!" *closes toilet lid with a bang*

Oh sigh.

I own so many rosaries at this point, that I have one tucked into every coat pocket and conceivably useful spot to grab when the urge to pray occurs. I keep several in the car, that's a favorite prayer spot of mine. I keep one on my bedside table, one in the kitchen. One in Henry's room, to pray with him if we say a decade together. Pockets are also popular, and many a rosary has gotten an unexpected and rigorous washing when I've forgotten to take it out before the item went into the laundry. It's soothing to have them always so available, as a reminder that we are never alone.

One day at a time, you know? God never gives us more than we can handle. I just wish he didn't trust me so much, as said by a very wise Blessed who adorns my current favorite rosary. :0

The Catholic Nook: 54 Day Rosary Novena

Photo credit: Allison Kinyon from Rosaries by Allison

Happy Wednesday everybody! And indeed it is a happy day, the feast of St. Therese! I am on the lookout for roses this fall day. :)

I have mentioned that I am starting a 54 day rosary novena in previous posts, but I thought I'd create a dedicated post for ease of finding it and praying along, for those who would like to. I'm going to sticky it as a separate page at the top of the blog for the duration of the novena, for quick referral.

The logistics go like this: for 54 days we pray a full five decade rosary for a specific intention(s). The 54 days (doing a little public math here) represent six novenas (which, of course, consist of nine days each). For the first half of this time period, 27 days, we pray in petition for the intention of the novena. The subsequent 27 days we pray in thanksgiving for God's will regarding the result of the novena, even if that hasn't been made clear to us yet. So, it is really a "power novena" of a considerable length of time. :)

If you're praying along with me right now (and I know at least a few of you are, yay!) we are starting on October 1st, 2014. So, our petition period is through October 27th, kind of easy the way the dates fall. Then, our prayers of thanksgiving will go through the last Sunday in Ordinary Time, which is November 23rd.

According to several articles I've read on this devotion (like this one), regardless of what day you start, you pray the mysteries of the rosary in a very specific order. If you were to do that, you would begin with the Joyful Mysteries on the first day, which aren't the traditional mysteries unless it's Monday or Saturday, but you would begin in this fashion regardless. If you want to really be "by the book" :) you can do it that way. I know myself, which is to say I know that I will not remember what mystery I'm supposed to pray each day using such a system, I will lose track. I like the good old fashioned traditional system, which for Ordinary Time is:

Monday: Joyful Mysteries
Tuesday: Sorrowful Mysteries
Wednesday: Glorious Mysteries
Thursday: Luminous Mysteries
Friday: Sorrowful Mysteries
Saturday: Joyful Mysteries
Sunday: Glorious Mysteries

So that is how I will be going about it. Since it's Wednesday, I already started the Glorious Mysteries in my car as I drove in to work.  I have one primary petition that I'm praying for, and I'm also including intentions that others have asked me to pray for on their behalf. If you would like me to include your intentions, leave a comment and indicate whether you're ok with me publishing it or not. :) If you'd prefer, I can note down your intention but not publicly publish your comment.

For the duration of the novena, I am praying with a new rosary that I broke down and purchased :) from Allison's Etsy shop. A photo of it appears at the top of this post. I was drawn to it because of the Blessed Mother Teresa centerpiece. A good reminder, in my mind, of the power of prayer and staying close to God even amidst spiritual dryness. I wish I had a photo of it in action in my hand, but alas, I left it in my car this morning since that is where I will resume praying on my commute home. I have a little nook in the drivers' side door that I tuck the rosary I'm currently praying with into for ease of grabbing. It's all very sublime. I just adore the new addition to my prayer arsenal.

I have prayed this novena in the past (relating to items in this post :)), and have seen concrete things happen subsequently that I believe are a direct result of my prayers. Has anyone else had this experience?

Happy rosary praying for the duration of Ordinary Time, everyone! I hope that you will join in if you are able. And if you can't commit to praying a rosary every single day (which I totally understand, life and responsibilities can interfere in the best of intentions) if you do it as often as you are able to during this stretch of time, keep all of us in the Catholic Librarian community in your mind and prayers as you do so. We will be united in prayer. :)

Dancing photo shoots, saint dolls & novenas - it's the "little bit of everything" post!

Happy Tuesday everyone! And I am in fact glad that it is Tuesday today. Yesterday was a bit crazy, although a fun day in the end. Let's procure our tea and get started. :)

Last night was super busy because Mike was teaching, I had a photo shoot to attend for my dance troupe, and Henry had a soccer game. Multiple grandparents had to be brought in as reinforcements to get all of this on track without a hitch. :) But it did all work out.

For my part, I headed out about 5:30 pm wearing my pink troupe costume and coverup. Dance coverups are really just caftans, a long, flowy garment of some sort to keep your costume hidden unless you are actually performing. My troupe has matching coverups in hot pink, so picture me leaving my house looking like Mrs. Roper headed out for a hot night on the town. :0 I can only imagine what my neighbors think I'm up to when they see me coming and going. But I didn't want to change at the venue, since we were taking the photos on the back patio of the restaurant Claire works at during the day. It just seemed awkward to have to worry about changing in their restroom, so I went already assembled. I got some strange looks as I walked through the restaurant to the patio, but it's nothing that I'm unused to, lol.

And we had fun. We took a boatload of group shots and one individual shot each. It's nice back there with a view of a small creek and waterfall over the wrought iron fencing. The weather was beautiful too, with mild temperatures, a clear sky with setting sun and just a gentle breeze. So we'll see how those turn out.

Back at home, Henry finished up his indoor soccer season, Mike got though another long Monday of teaching, and Anne colored with my mom, bossing her around the whole time about how to do it "correctly." :0 The night was a success.

Also on my horizon this week is Christmas gifts. I've been knitting, crocheting and beading like the mad women you all know and love. I've been working my way steadily through my list, but of course, the list has undergone some alterations. I will devote a separate post to that at some point. :) I also have a list of items handcrafted by others that I want to get the kids, which use crafts that I decidedly do not excel at. So, we're talking painting and sewing. I've been procuring those little by little since the summer. I have the wooden dolls I mentioned previously, and for Anne I bought a Saint Softie from Saintly Silver on Etsy. She arrived yesterday. :)

This is, of course, Our Lady Star of the Sea, one of my very favorites. :) She is terribly, terribly cute, although not nearly as large as I was expecting. I was thinking this would be something Anne could snuggle with in bed. Well, no. :) She's only 4.5 inches tall, and 2.5 inches wide, a very petite Mary! So this is more in the realm of a small saint doll rather than a cuddleable. But that's ok! She's lovely, and will make a cute stocking stuffer. The dimensions are right there in the description too, apparently your librarian can't read correctly in public. :0 (This is the standard size, fyi. There are in fact listings for larger softies). She's adorable, and check out the back:

A stitched on prayer! All of the dolls have individualized prayers on their backs. A lovely touch. This is *super* cute and a very nice gift for the Catholic child in your life. The owner does have a 5-6 week turnaround time because her shop is so popular, so if you want some for Christmas, better get started now. ;-)

So, I've been tucking all of these things away as the weeks go by. Next on my list is a nativity set for Anne, and I may get her one a wooden one via St. Luke's Brush. We'll see! But I'm excited.

Also! Tomorrow is the feast of St. Therese and we finish her novena up today! Has anybody seen any roses? I haven't, but I wait in joyful expectation. :) AND tomorrow I'm starting the 54 day rosary novena. So if you'd like to join in, have at it! We need to pray a full rosary every day for these 54 days, that runs tomorrow through the last Sunday in Ordinary Time. Who's in?

*beams*

26th Sunday in Ordinary Time - It's all about grace...

Happy Monday everyone! Although, I admit, I'm not all that thrilled that it's actually Monday. I had a meting at 9 am this morning, and I just didn't feel quite ready for work socializing yet, PLUS it didn't leave me enough time to make tea, and so now I'm on chat reference and writing this post, tea-less. That's not exactly a good combination.

:0

But at any rate, we had a very active weekend for the 26th Sunday in Ordinary Time, which I will chronicle here. I can't leave my desk to go get hot water for tea, which seems profoundly unfair, but you go ahead and enjoy yours as you read.

*martyr*

Ok, so Saturday morning Mike and I took the kids apple picking. This is a fall tradition, and this year we tried out a farm that is much closer to our house than we've journeyed to previously. It was about 30 minutes away, rather than an hour, which translated into SO MUCH LESS bickering our back seat from our offspring. *sighs* It worked out very, very well. The children cavorted on a hay maze and interacted with turkeys. The turkeys were happily pecking away at several pumpkins that were hung up for their ease, and were very friendly. I found it a big discomfiting that there was a sign up advertising fresh, organic Thanksgiving turkey. :0 This is why I could never work on a farm. #wuss We all picked apples, and there was a nice variety in season. We came away with about 12 pounds of apples, some of which Anne and I used to bake an apple cobbler yesterday, see baking selfie above. :) Which resulted in this cuteness happening:

Anne in her new apron. Precious.

We ended up at the vigil Mass, since Henry was spending the night with his grandparents and I told him he still had to go to Mass. This wasn't exactly a popular decision with Henry, but I explained that now that he's received his First Communion, he has a lot more responsibility with regard to Mass attendance. Not attending means that he has to go to confession and tell the priest why he didn't go. That, and Mike backing me up, seemed to make all the difference, and Henry got ready for Mass. :)

Anne was actually out for a girls afternoon with my mom, so it was just Mike, Henry and I at Mass. It's been so long since I went to Mass without a sassy little one climbing all over tarnation that I almost didn't know what to do with myself. :0 I could actually *pay attention* and follow along in my Magnificat, bliss! I enjoyed the Gospel reading very much, from Matthew Chapter 21: Which of the two sons does his father's will? The one who said he would go work in the family vineyard, but then didn't keep his word, or the other who initially refused, but later changed his mind and silently went to work? God appreciates our honesty, and will always welcome us into the fold, even if we were originally pretty stubborn about the whole thing.

This related back to the Gospel reading from last weekend, and it made me appreciate the sentiment anew. The Magnificat reflection following the Mass readings was penned by St. John Vianney, and focused on the danger of lukewarmness in faith. A sinner laments his sin when his conscience kicks in. A lukewarm person, on the other hand, thinks that their relationship with God and their actions are just fine, there is no need to change anything. You suddenly develop a habit of sleeping in on Sunday mornings. "God's ok with it, He knows that I still love Him. I'll go back to church when I'm feeling better." One week becomes another, and next thing you know it's been months since you've gone and received the sacraments. But you're still convinced that God is cool with this.

Been there, done that, my friends. :0 The reflection was a refreshing reminder that even when I get down on myself about the things that I just can't seem to get right, the fact that I still keep trying to do better is a really good thing. I recognize that I continually need improvement, and this fact alone doesn't put me outside of God's grace, you know? It's actually a *good* thing.

After Mass, we dropped Henry off at my in-laws for his sleepover.  This meant that Mike and I had a few hours to go out to dinner, and we had plans to go to a local Mexican place we had been wanting to try out. We had originally planned to bring Anne with us, but she was still with my mom. You know what this means, don't you?

HHEEEELLLOOOO MARGARITAS!!!!

A fun time was had by all. ;-)

How was your weekend, good and gentle reader?

7 Quick Takes {Take 55} Cute kid stuff, lots of fall book recommendations, and 54 day rosary novena! edition

It's the end of the first of the three autumn months, and what have I been up to, you ask? It is my favorite season of the entire year, after all. Let's settle in with our tea and discuss. :)

-1-Evil smoke detectors that attack in the night...

Work has been busy, as it always is at this point of the semester. I arrived home the other day, pretty pooped, and Anne summoned me immediately into the living room.

"Mommy color with me."

There was no asking involved. This was a demand. :)

"Sure, Honey. Aw, what happened to your finger?"

A bright green band aid was adoring her right index finger.

"The smoke detector did that." *very casual*

Now, Anne is afraid of her smoke detector. I don't know why precisely, but she has expressed this in the past, with lots of requests for the smoke detector to be taken out and "given to another child." Obviously, this is not happening.

"The smoke detector cut your finger, Sweetie?" *very skeptical*

"YES." *very serious* "It's watching me, ISN'T IT, MOMMY?" *WIDE.EYED.FACE*

Ah ha. The blinking light is clearly the culprit. Tiny piece of duct tape, coming right up.

-2- Henry simmers with excitement, Tiffany nervously bites her nails & downloads Kindle books...

Mine and Henry's trip to Maine is in two weeks. Henry is practically levitating he's so excited. Me? Yes, I'm very excited about the actual visit. But I have to fly to get there. And you know...well. I don't like to fly. :) I do it, but I don't know that I'll ever like it. It's a combination of the lack of control and fear of enclosed spaces. I've been listening to the Airline Pilot Guy podcast, hosted by one of my favorite SQPN'ers, Capt. Jeff, and that has helped my fear quite a bit, actually. Knowledge is power, I suppose, and traveling by air is statistically much safer than other forms of travel, and it's helpful to know the reasons why. So, good. Right?

Mostly. :) The fear is less than it has been, but I'm still not anxiety-free. I have my Kindle loaded up with books and am plotting a special portable knitting project to provide distractions on the travel days in question.

-3- Speaking of Kindle books, my current fiction selection...

I started a new Love Inspired Suspense miniseries last week, and so far so good. This is a Christian line of romances, and there are traditional titles (called simply "Love Inspired"), the suspense line, and a historical line. I'm not so much interested in historical romance. Occasionally, but not often. However, I love the traditional and suspense titles. They all feature the characters bringing their faith into the situations they are facing in the book and are quite lovely. The miniseries that I started reading is called Witness Protection, and it is a six book series featuring characters within the federal witness protection program and the U.S. Marshals who guard them. Book 1 was discounted one day (check out Inspired Reads for the scoop on how to find discounted religious titles on Amazon :)), so I downloaded it, and I'm so glad that I did. It is Safe By the Marshal's Side, by Shirlee McCoy:

I already have book 2 on my Kindle, that must have been featured in Inspired Reads one day as well, which is The Baby Rescue, and I plan to download the others and make my way through the miniseries. Happy. :) This particular miniseries has a different author for each book, which can have mixed results (I really like Shirlee McCoy, I've read her books before, so she sets a good precedent :)) but I'm intrigued enough by the theme to keep going regardless.

-4- Fans of saint books for middle readers will want to check these out...

Henry and I recently finished our first installment in the Encounter the Saints series from Pauline Books & Media, which was St. Thomas More: Courage, Conscience and the King. Excellent! Henry was quite taken with it. I have to write a review of it for Catholic Library World now, I have them to thank for introducing me to the series. These books are perfect for children aged 9-12. We liked the St. Thomas More book so much that I promptly ordered 3 more for our bedtime reading, and the first one he wants to start with is St. John Paul II:

We also ordered the selections featuring St. Kateri Tekakwitha and St. Maximilian Kolbe. We can take one along with us to Maine. :)

-5- October book club!

Just a reminder that our October book for the Catholic Book Club is Sacred Fire: Practicing Devotion to the Heart of Jesus, by Philip Michael Bulman:

I've been wanting to learn more about devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus since hearing about it in a podcast earlier in the year, so this book is perfectly timed for me. It was just released this summer, and I'm very excited to dive into this for my spiritual reading in the evenings!

-6- Also starting in October, all rosary fans join in!

Beginning on St. Therese's feast day (Oct. 1st) I'm going to be praying a 54 day rosary novena. October is the month of the rosary, so it just seems perfect, no? :) Who would like to join in? We'll start, like I mentioned, on Oct. 1st, and finish on Sunday, Nov. 23rd, the last Sunday in Ordinary Time. Each day, we'll be praying a full rosary. For half of the novena (27 days), we pray for our intentions, and then for the subsequent 27 days we pray in thanksgiving for whatever result is God's will for that intention. There are instructions for the novena about which mysteries to pray on what day, but I'm going to be honest: I pay no attention to that. :0 I pray the mysteries of the rosary according to the day of the week and liturgical season. For Ordinary Time, that means this breakdown:

Monday: Joyful
Tuesday: Sorrowful
Wednesday: Glorious
Thursday: Luminous
Friday: Sorrowful
Saturday: Joyful
Sunday: Glorious

-7- Gratuitous baby photo, because who can resist those?

Real quick, I want everyone to go admire precious Baby Gift Universe, little Miriam (don't you just love her name?!) in the baby surprise jacket and hat that I knit her (scroll to take #6 in that post). *heart*

Ok all, I have to get back to work! Have a wonderful weekend, and I'll talk to you on Monday. Go check out more 7 Quick Takes over at Conversion Diary!

The Church Triumphant: Spotlight on St. Vincent de Paul

Morning everybody! I'm delighted that it's once again Saint Spotlight Thursday. :) This month I chose to highlight a saint with a feast day coming up within the week, a nice way to stay in touch with our liturgical calendar. #CatholicNerds

I'm going to be discussing St. Vincent de Paul, whose feast is Saturday, Sept. 27th. Let's get started!

St. Vincent was born in the late sixteenth century into a humble peasant family in France. His family was able to secure part of his education with local Franciscan friars because they wanted to encourage his intellectual pursuits. As a teenager, he began studies for the priesthood, and was ordained at age 20.

He devoted his priesthood to ministries for the poor and the sick. He founded the lay Confraternity of Charity, the Daughters of Charity, and the Congregation of the Mission, all of which ministered to the poor, nursed the sick, and aided the unemployed. St. Vincent desired to help those who felt they had no one to turn to: outcasts, prisoners, prostitutes, slaves, homeless men and women.

From Magnificat for his feast day, we read:

"He instructed his followers, 'If a needy persons requires medicine or other help during prayer time, do whatever has to be done with peace of mind. Offer the deed to God as your prayer.'"

St. Vincent died in 1660 and is the patron saint of all works of charity.

My personal tie-in to St. Vincent de Paul is that after many years of attending public city schools, I enrolled in a Vincentian college. Founded by the Congregation of the Mission, my Catholic college has a service mission that all students were required to partake in as part of their education there. I remember volunteering at a local hospital as part of the way that I accrued my service hours, and our curriculum included courses in both religion and ethics. It was a breath of fresh air after my prior educational experiences. Which is not a dig at public education at all, because that in and of itself is a valuable service, but I came from a fairly rough middle and high school experience.

While I was a student there, my faith was not yet "my own" in an adult sense (especially if you look at some of the decisions I made during that time period, yikes!), but God was very much working in my life. Although I still found Sunday Mass a bit trying and I lacked a full understanding of what occurs during the liturgy and of the Eucharist, I discovered daily Mass while I was there. The college has an absolutely stunning chapel on campus (and it is a registered parish within the diocese, Mike and I were married there! *heart*) and I happened upon daily Mass one day. That truly changed my life. I started going somewhat consistently throughout my time there. I loved the spiritual pick-me-up of the 20 minute service, it packed quite a punch. Even in my young and naive state, I recognized that something powerful happened at Mass and I was more easily able to identify it in the shorter format since my attention wasn't wandering. An important seed was planted. Around my senior year, I stopped going, and then my faith languished a bit until my second year of law school when I had a major spiritual "reversion" of sorts that led to me becoming rooted in my faith as an adult. And what was the event that tipped the balance towards making that happen? Daily Mass. :) Different college campus, but it all comes back to the Eucharist. Thus, it seems to me that St. Vincent de Paul had a hand in me coming back to my faith, and now cherishing it.

Does anybody else have a devotion to St. Vincent de Paul? Tell me all about it in the comments. Talk to you all tomorrow!

Catholic Book Club: Dominican Life

Happy Wednesday everyone! Today is our official Catholic Book Club installment for September, which is Dominican Life, by Fr. Walter Wagner, OP. You all know that I am a Third Order Dominican, so this is a topic near and dear to my heart. Go get your tea, let's get started!

*procures hot water*

This book is actually a compilation of retreat talks that Fr. Wagner gave to a community of Dominican nuns in Summit, New Jersey. The nuns transcribed and edited his presentations, aiming to retain Father's conversational style with only minor edits for readability. Each talk is its own chapter, and begins with a quote from the Rule of St. Augustine, which is what St. Dominic chose as the guiding precept for his order. Following that, Fr. Wagner expounds upon the selection, discussion the content a bit before moving on to its applicability to Dominican life. It's a very interesting and encompassing Table of Contents (you can see the full sample via the "Look Inside!" feature on Amazon), and therefore I think worth including here:

The Purpose of the Rule
The Rule as the "Other"
To Be Rich
The Sharing of Wealth
The "Special" Religious
Dominican Liturgy
Abstinence in Religious Life
The Contemplative Gaze
Work in Religious Life
The Dominican Habit
Dominican Chastity
Dominican Correction
Dominican Identity
Dominican Bodiliness
Dominican Dysfunction
Dominican Authority
Dominican Freedom

As a Dominican, I found this to be fulfilling spiritual reading. The chapters aren't lengthy (the total print book length is 222 pages, so not a heavy lift in terms of size), which I see as a positive thing. Ideal for a short bit of contemplation each evening before bed. Fr. Wager indeed has an engaging and personal style that comes across nicely in the text.

The thing that I *didn't* love about this book is that I personally find it jarring to read something that feels more like a speech rather than a book. It does indeed read like a transcript. There is still good content there, but I found it a bit distracting. The other thing is that although a layperson can certainly glean lots of good wisdom in these pages (as I in fact did), it does feel like content that was aimed at a target audience of religious. Not everything in the book applies to laypeople. So, that too left me wanting a bit more.

I think that the best way for laypeople to get the most out of this book would be to read it in very short increments, perhaps even less than a single chapter at a time, to really reflect on the material and how it could apply to to a lay lifestyle. As well, the material that is more clearly relevant to the nuns is simply very interesting information for laypeople, an inside glimpse into life within a Dominican monastery.

As a Kindle download, this is only $7.99 and I do think it is a worthy addition to ones queue of spiritual reading, taking the things I mentioned above into consideration. For Dominicans, it really is an essential read, I think. Has anyone else read this book, or perhaps a related book on Dominican spirituality? Chime in in the comments! How can Dominican spirituality be applied generally to all of us in the pews on Sunday mornings?

Do check back in tomorrow for the saint spotlight feature that I put out monthly, The Church Triumphant. And next month, Catholic Book Club looks at a new book on devotion to the Sacred Heart, with Sacred Fire: Practicing Devotion to the Heart of Jesus, by Philip Michael Bulman.