With Praise and Thanksgiving

"We let our ability to do things speak to our dignity.... You are not valuable because you do things. You are not valuable because you look good or because you have a charming personality or because you have been successful at work. You have dignity because you belong to God ." ~The Reverend Brian Larkin, Homily for 30th Sunday in Ordinary Time, October 23, 2016.  Listen to the full homily here (choose the one for XXX Sunday in Ordinary Time) . His homily is directly related to a physician-assisted suicide measure on the ballots in Colorado next week, but is applicable to everyone. He tells a moving story about Pope John Paul II at the end of his life, and discusses how, as humans, we all have inherent dignity. Even if we are not productive (something I could use a lesson in). Even if we are suffering (which we all will at times). I'm so glad that my church is clear about its stance on human dignity. We aren't valuable because someone wants us or because we are...

One of the CDs we listened to last night was Jonny Lang's Long Time Coming.  It's been quite a while, and I was so pleased when "The One I Got" came on. How could I have forgotten about that gem? I've been thinking about it all day. I also recently purchased some essential oils, so I'm well on my way to becoming a hippie. So far I mostly diffuse them and I'm looking forward to learning more about how to use them. I also made some foaming hand soap with castile soap because it's amazing how fast little boys go through hand soap (and, yet, still manage to do a terrible job washing their hands). Today I took a long, hot bath with some lavender and diffused some frankincense and, I must say, it was very relaxing. I give it a thumb's up.

Yesterday was our 11th wedding anniversary. Traditional and modern gifts both listed as steel. Hm. Well, we don't do anniversary gifts, so instead, we stayed home and ate shrimp (him), salmon (me) and fishsticks (kids). We listened to some good music, ate a box cake with sprinkles. We drank gin and tonics and watched baseball. Yes, there's an 11 there. Don't act like you're not impressed.  I remembered our wedding first dance song, Bob Dylan's "Never Say Goodbye," and smiled. I tried to find a link to it on YouTube to post, but of course I could only find covers. Classic Dylan. We thought of some more upbeat-sounding songs, and had intended to take dance lessons. Then things happened, checks got "lost" and we didn't. So we settled for this slower number and I don't regret it. Babies. My spouse is good, holy, hard-working, generous, kind, patient, smart, and fun. No one else would have put up with me for this long. He daily an...

I forgot to hit publish on Day 300. To celebrate the three hundredth day of the year, we had turkey! Just kidding. We got a great deal on turkey breasts at Cash Wise and it was thawed and ready to cook. We also had a can of biscuits and some potatoes from my father-in-law's garden. So as it went, I channeled my inner Janis and whipped up a half decent meal! So what if I forgot a vegetable! It was bland in color but fab in flavor. My gratitude for the day was that we can have this delicious food. I have never had to go hungry and I take that for granted way too often. Like almost always. We do try to buy what's on sale and to be good stewards of what we have, but the fact is, we are extremely lucky that we don't have to worry much about our grocery budget, or food allergies, or where our next meal is coming from. I should try to remember this when I complain about always having to make all the meals for the ungrateful child set.

The kids are playing legos and singing their own medley of Jame Taylor's "Mexico" and "Shower the People" and it makes my heart swell.  We went to school Mass today and I remembered, as I do weekly, how one of the things I like so much about a small, Catholic school is the way the big and little kids are integrated. The fifth and sixth graders sit mixed in with the kindergartners and first graders for Mass, probably to keep them from getting too wiggly and out of control. I enjoyed seeing a big (kind of punkish-looking) kid helping a kindergartner tie his shoe, and an older girl sharing her music book with a little one and helping her follow along.  I found a Christmas gift for my sister today and I'm so excited about it.  I'd love to share a link but she occasionally pops on to ye olde blog, so I can't. Yet. Gifts are my love language and I'm thrilled about this one.  I have a love/hate relationship with the Internet, namely social media. B...

THE WORLD SERIES STARTS IN 11 MINUTES! Yes, I'm shouting. I'm a little bit excited. I have absolutely no stake in either team winning; I just love baseball. The one and only thing I still miss about having cable is watching sports, namely the Twins and the Bison (football). We. Love. Baseball. With this crazy summer, we didn't even catch Fox's weekly game. I've got myself a Leinie's Autumn Tea Shandy, a hat I need  to finish knitting tonight, and I'm parked in front of the TV. Life is good. In other news, my husband got home super early today, and came bearing a load of groceries. A man after my own heart. He also led a whole-apartment cleanup hour and made supper. So basically he is killing it today. My halfhearted apologies for my lack of poor quality, unedited photos on ye olde blog lately. Blame the Blogger app. I'm sorry that I can't make you feel better about your photography skills today. And now, baseball.

Today the boys and I headed back to Fargo for dentist appointments that we scheduled six months ago before we knew where we'd be living or what we'd be doing. I'm muy grateful that my kids don't mind the dentist (#1 loves it), so there was no anxiety or crying. Also no cavities! Whoop! My biggest gratitude moment of the day was when a friend agreed to take #3 during our appointments with less than two hours notice. I had plans for him with another friend, but then her little dude ended up with croup (sad face!). My mom's group friends are just the best. For real. They are so generous to provide their home, toys and snacks for us at a moment's notice. I really hope that no matter what happens here, I'm able to sustain these friendships with these generous and kind people.