Daybook

Outside My Window::

::more rain.

I am Listening to::

::my floors. Boy are they noisy! Late at night, when the house is still, they creak like crazy. I guess they are just settling into our home. But my "mama ear" is conditioned to awaken when the floors creak. Heretofore, that meant someone was up and about. These floors have a life of their own. I haven't slept soundly in two weeks.

I am wearing ::

:: boot cut jeans, boots, a blue turtleneck sweater, lip gloss. I'm happy to report that I've been wearing real clothes since my pre-dawn trip to the airport in a monsoon.

I am Thankful For::

::Signing Time and a baby who is clearly delighted to communicate.

I am Pondering:

::"We all have important other things we want to work on. When you come into the kitchen, the thing to remember is that you're going to be there for a certain time. Drop everything else and concentrate on doing the very best you can."  ~Laurel Robertson on how to find the time to invest in cooking.

I am Reading:

::Three to Get Married

From the Kitchen::

::Mary Beth and I have been cooking from the Pioneer Woman's new cookbook. After about three days, I was crying "Uncle!" and reaching for Laurel's Kitchen. PW is a bit too rich for every day. As we cook and talk about cookbooks, we've been down that ol' nutrition rabbit trail. Just what is the optimal diet? Ah, the eternal question.

I am Thinking:

::That when it comes to mothers and children, husbands and wives, there is no such thing as bittersweet. Bitter women cannot be sweet and families need ample daily servings of sweet women.

I am Creating::

::a home. I'm investing my whole heart in the  endeavor. It's well worth it, I think.

On my iPod::

::iBreviary, though I am increasingly frustrated when it doesn't update reliably. I'm thinking about splurging on Universalis.

Towards a Real Education::

::We're working on finishing up some faith notebooks this week.

Towards Rhythm and Beauty:

::I'm preparing for inevitable shift in rhythm that will come with Mike's absence.

::To Live the Liturgy:

::gathering candles and candlemaking supplies in preparation for Candlemas next week.

::I am Hoping and Praying:

:: for my husband, whose workload has suddenly tripled.

In the Garden:

::it's time to peruse seed catalogs.

Around the House:

::The contractor is currently AWOL, with about 400 square feet of flooring left to nail down. La la la la

On Keeping Home:

::I'm so grateful that homemaking is such a creative endeavor and I'm even more grateful that it's a creative endeavor that requires the work of my hands. It's a blessing to be able to create away from desk and computer.

One of My Favorite Things:

::arriving flights

Sarah Annie this week:

::She's signing like crazy all of sudden, much to our delight. I'm sharing her favorite "sign" below.

A Few Plans for the Rest of the Week:

::Hopefully, the contractor will reappear and we will complete this flooring project. Then, we can move back into our home at last.

A Picture Thought I'm sharing:

Touchdown!

Nicky taught her this particular "sign."

Sarah Annie is now a bona fide Peyton Manning fan.

What a Nice Surprise!

I was quite astonished this weekend to find a very kind note from Kim Avery, inviting me to post this graphic on my blog and congratulating me for being named a top ten blogger for Christian women. Do visit the list of winners. I found some familiar favorites there and added some bright new places to my Google Reader as well. I'm honored to be counted among them. Thank you!

Feeling a Little Crispy Around the Edges?

Go visit the ever-lovely Sarah for some ideas on how to conquer mid-winter burnout.

Bump

As Bump begins to gain some notoriety, I've noticed that astute reviewers are pointing out the flaws. In this particularly thoughtful essay, Mary Hasson articulates the sum of what I think is inherently wrong with the premise of the show.

Other bloggers are quick to point out other problems.

Please bear in mind that Bump is the project of college students from John Paul the Great University. These are young adults preparing to be a force for good in the culture of television and new media. We need them to succeed! Clearly there are flaws--some much bigger than bad acting--but kudos to them for taking a risk and for initiating conversation. Hopefully,they won't be discouraged by the imperfections and the way they are sure to be discussed. Hopefully, they'll look back on this experience fondly as one in which they learned a great deal and moved forward with resolve and hard-won wisdom to claim media for the good guys in culture war. I think we can encourage that ultimate success in the way that we respond to this series and influence the conversation.

Follow Up

Yesterday, I noted that Danielle Bean, Lisa Hendy and I were talking about teens and technology at Faith and Family Live! In the course of the conversation, I rather flippantly said that I'm a failure at controlling technology use. When three women have fifteen minutes total to discuss a topic, it's a good idea to think ahead and decide what's most important to say. I chose to spend my 5-ish minutes letting people know about Mpower. Because I know that Mpower will do a far better job than the one I'm doing, despite my long history of working diligently at techonology control. This generated some mail and some Facebook comments chock full of advice and admonitions for my cavalier attitude towards the evils lurking in my home electronics.

Rest assured, my husband and I spend considerable time keeping tabs on what's happening in all those screens. We've pretty much kept up with the technology wave. That said, I am  looking forward to the launch of Mpower so that minds who are much more educated and agile than mine will be on my side to wage war on any evil prowling about for the ruin of souls. The reality is that I've been at this a while and history and experience tell me that just as sure as I go to sleep tonight self-assured that I've sealed up all venues of evil and protected my children from all electronic harm, my boys (the girls, not so much) will discover a new gadget or network or game or venue that I never could have imagined.There will be system failure. Been there, done that. There's always something. That's why I am so looking forward to these guys taking on the job. They are ever so much more imaginative than I am.