Odd Bits (after a week-long absence)

I’ve been avoiding the computer this week.

Partly, it’s because we’ve had illness in the family: the stomach flu. I had it first, though I didn’t realize that’s what it was. (I assumed the severe stomach pain I was experiencing was the result of taking four ibuprofen—which I did because I felt a touch of pleurisy coming on [long story, but I'm susceptible to pleurisy] and I wanted to kick it in the butt before it had a chance to really take hold. But I’ve taken big doses of ibuprofen on occasion before and not had any problem. And that wouldn’t explain the fever and chills I had this week, either.) Then the school nurse called on Wednesday to say that Urban had thrown up in class, so he came home early. Levi wasn’t acting like himself for a day or two; and Brian woke up feeling lousy yesterday morning.

Only Charlie, whose birthday was yesterday, was spared. He turned 4. In one way, it’s like, “I can hardly believe my little Charlie is FOUR!” But on the other hand, it seems just about impossible to me that there was ever a time when Charlie didn’t exist. I have a little theory about that, though…..well, it’s not really a theory; just that I know that God already knew Charlie before he was even conceived, so in that sense, there really has never been a time when he didn’t exist. It is weird, though, to realize he hasn’t always been here as part of our family. Again, I tend to think part of that is because God saw our whole family from the get-go, even before Brian and I said our “I do”s.

It has been pouring rain here for two days straight. It let up today for a while, but then began again this afternoon. I suppose it’s good for all the plants, ushering in spring and all that. It hasn’t bothered me—the gloom hasn’t affected my spirits—though I did inform Brian that perhaps our next project should be to install a footbridge from our front door to the safe portion of the driveway. We have a “dip” that fills with water and can be very difficult to get around without getting one’s shoes drenched.

In other news, we had a play date on Tuesday, right after our morning playgroup at church. My friend Cathie came over with her youngest son and a little boy she babysits once a week. We all had lunch, and the boys played while she and I chatted. It was very nice, though already I was feeling a little “off.”

I skipped my walk on Wednesday so I could make a mad-dash trip to Wal-Mart to get groceries (by myself). Charlie wanted a strawberry birthday cake, and every recipe we found called for a box cake mix and a packet of strawberry gelatin, neither of which we had. It’s probably a good thing, anyhow, because had I decided to cheat and do it my own way, it probably wouldn’t have tasted very strawberry-y, and also, it would have ended up being made mostly with bread flour. I discovered when I got home from the grocery that I only had about 1/4 cup of regular flour in the canister. Oops. (The cake-mix-and-Jello cake did turn out quite good, though.)

This morning I came across Father M- out walking again. I think I have an idea now where the rectory is. It’s funny, because every time I walk past that little cul-de-sac street, I’m intrigued by the houses down there—they look very large and nice—and last week I finally just made a point of walking down to check things out. This is how silly I can be, though: today when I realized that our priests probably live on that court, I suddenly wondered if perhaps Father M- had seen me walking by his house…..what if he thinks I’m deliberately seeking him out on my walks? But of course that’s ridiculous. In any event, we both of us have limited time for these walks, so we pass each other quickly, saying little more than “Hi, how are you?” as we stride by.

Mostly, lately, I’ve been avoiding the computer because sometimes I just get tired of technology. Now and then I think about giving up blogging and e-mail and just going back to old-fashioned letter writing. It always worked for me in the past; it’s something that gave me great joy. Of course, now I am a busy mom, and I don’t have nearly as much time for letter-writing as I used to have. E-mail has been a godsend in many ways, allowing me to keep up friendships that would otherwise probably flounder due to lack of communication. And blogging is fun and sometimes creative. But….I don’t know. There are times I just don’t want to deal with it all. And so, like this week, I don’t.

I’ve been reading quite a bit. Not “reading my life away,” as I know I could very easily do, but reading nonetheless. I recently finished The Maiden of Mayfair by Lawana Blackwell. It was excellent, and I am making myself wait a bit before reading the next one in that series.

Then I read Mr. Darcy’s Diary by Amanda Grange. I loved that book! It helped me understand Mr. Darcy in a way the book and various movies of Pride and Prejudice couldn’t quite do. It also made me fall in love with the name Elizabeth, so much so that I’ve begun thinking I might like to use it if I ever have more than one daughter. (The first would be named after my maternal grandmother; this has been decided for years.) However, at this point I despair of ever having any girls. (I say “I despair,” but really I am okay with it. )

This afternoon, I began Shadowheart by Laura Kinsale. It continues the story of one of the characters in her book For My Lady’s Heart, which is one of my all-time favorite romance novels because the hero is so, so……heroic! These books are set during the time of knights and courtly love—very exciting, intriguing, and completely unusual in that those times were so different from our own. (I have to add here that though these novels are probably technically considered “romances,” they are really incredibly literary and take much time and effort to read; they are not loaded with ridiculous misunderstandings and gratuitous sex scenes.)

My Lenten practice of fasting from evening snacking has gotten easier. It was so hard at first, but now I find I hardly even think about it. I’ve been reading the daily Mass readings, as well as the book of Judith, and that’s been enlightening, to say the least.

One thing I know about myself is that I have an incredible lack of memorized Scripture stored in my brain. When I was a kid, we were always having to memorize verses, but most of them are all but forgotten now, leaving me feel somewhat ill-prepared to defend my faith, should I ever need to do so. I found a lovely Psalm—Psalm 138—that I just love, and so I’ve decided to begin there in my grown-up efforts at memorization. Psalm 138 is not especially “apologetic” in nature, but it’s just the sort of thing I’d love to be able to call up when I am talking to the Lord; and, at this point, I think that is most important.

Well, this is plenty long (and boring, too, I am sure!). Next time, I will share some pictures!

God bless you all, dear friends!

~ Kimberly