My car has been having issues recently. It's a '95, so a few quirks are to be expected, and last week, it began. The fan would stay on, no matter what position the key was turned to, or even if it was removed. And then, the battery started refusing to hold a charge, and I've had to rely on another mom to bring my kids home from basketball practice most of the week. I hate asking other people for favors, so that's been kind of a pain in the butt, but it has gotten my hermit-y self talking to other people, so I suppose there's a silver lining. We finally took it to AutoZone to be tested, and lo and behold, the problem is a small part on the alternator. Is this part replaceable? Of course not! You have to buy an entire new alternator for one little piece that actually looks like it would be quite easy to replace--if I just knew where to get a new one. But, Jon's picking up the new one on his way home from work, so by the end of today, my car should be running again. Just in time for my ex-husband to take it for the weekend. :/ Oh, well. Nothing's perfect.
I rearranged the bedroom yesterday, moving Lissa's crib to a place where she can't reach through the slats and pull everything off my nightstand anymore, and moving the TV table (which hasn't had a TV on it since JJ broke the one we had in the living room) into the spot where her crib used to sit. A bit of rearranging of stuff later, and my home altar project is underway.
This is where we're at so far. The crucifix is stolen from the living room, so it's going to have to go back, but I'm thinking of moving the bedroom crucifix from over the bed to here and hanging something else in its place. I'm just not sure what, because it's a small space between two windows. Thinking maybe one of those initial art things. And eventually, the crucifix (whichever one) is going on the wall, and I have a couple brass candle sconces from the thrift store to hang on either side. It's likely to be a work in progress for some time. But that's okay. I want it to shift with the feast days and liturgical seasons. What I really want is something for the living room or kitchen, to highlight the different feast days for the kids. But I haven't really decided on a format for that yet. So, this is where I begin.
This little angel is particularly special to me. She was the last ceramic project my mother ever made. Those who knew my mom know she was actually remarkably talented with crafts. A few friends may even still have ceramics (or a plethora of other things) that she made over the years. This is the only ceramic piece I have, as she didn't tend to keep those for herself, for whatever reason. The little dish is meant for holy water, but the kids spilled the last bottle I had. Somewhere. What do I know? Maybe they drank it.
The prayers in the back are from Catholic All Year, and are free to download and print. There are several in the series. I have all of them in this booklet, so the featured prayers can change as appropriate.
And to the left, I have a little figurine of Mary (I believe it represents the Medjugorje apparitions) that I picked up a few years back at Goodwill, when I first became Catholic, and a little vase with some silk roses.
I spent a little time there this morning, and I believe it set my day up very nicely. I tried to pray a rosary, but well, ten-month-old babies can make it very difficult to meditate, especially when they're trying to pull the beads from your hands. :)
Recently, I've been working on learning some of the basic prayers (particularly those of the rosary) in Latin. It's been a fun experience. I'm using an app called Memrise, and YouTube for the pronunciations, because Memrise doesn't offer audio in the free version. Besides, Memrise breaks it down, and then YouTube brings it back together for me. It's been a good combination.
I've made a new friend on Facebook, in a group I recently joined for women who veil for Mass. It's not often that I add people I don't actually know in real life, but she seems very sweet, and so encouraging. Who can't use more friends who encourage them in their Faith?
The boys' first basketball game is next Tuesday, and they're pretty excited about it. Coach sent home uniforms yesterday, and they're washed and hanging in the closet. I'm not supposed to put the darn things in the dryer, so I'm hoping this fabric dries quickly, considering they sometimes have games scheduled on two days in a row. I only wish the season could be a little longer. I really think playing sports is good for them. Tristan could use the exercise, and Dalton could use the motivation to behave and keep his grades up.
Speaking of school, I got the word a couple days ago that it's time to begin science collections. This year we have one leaf collection and one bug collection that are going to be due in time for parent-teacher conferences. Oh, joy. I can't be the only parent who dreads these things, can I? I mean, on the one hand, they seem like a fascinating little project. On the other, the kids are only home for 4 hours every night before bedtime. In that time, I'm supposed to feed them, see to it that they bathe, and make sure they do any homework they might have brought home. And now I have to buy special supplies and see to it they gather a bunch of bugs and leaves, mount them appropriately, look them up, and label them. :/ I know some of you breeze right through life, but I've barely got a handle on feeding people and making sure the house doesn't look like it should be condemned some days! Failing at stuff like this, no matter how awesome it sounds in theory, is why I no longer homeschool. Deep breaths. This too shall pass. ;)
I need to wash the dishes. I've accomplished SO much today, but those darn dishes. They're my Achilles' heel, man. I don't know why. It's not like they're even that hard.
But this ^^^ is invariably how I feel about them. Ah, well. Suds await.
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