Happy thing #1: We're visiting our nieces and nephews this weekend! We have 8 of them, ages 10-16, and they all like to play sports so we'll probably play the Soccer Aunt & Uncle for the weekend =) I love being an aunt.
Happy thing #2: On Sunday, Mother's day, I have spiritual direction in the morning. (My spiritual director is the priest who married us, who lives in Mr. M's hometown.) I'm so happy about this, because what could be a better way to start off Mother's day as an infertile woman than some good spiritual direction? This priest has been a real treasure in our lives and I feel privileged to be still learning from his holiness and wisdom.
Happy thing #3: Our garden is growing! This is what I pour a lot of my nurturing into right now, making sure it's weeded and watered and tended. And I may or may not talk to the plants when no one's around....Here's what's growing (this pictures are from 2 weeks ago, so picture everything a little bigger!):
 |
| Peas, slowly climbing up their trellis |
 |
| Garlic on left, planted last fall; arugula on right |
 |
| Beets: detroit red (your typical beet) and chioggia (an italian heirloom that is striped red & white like a target) |
 |
| Spinach |
Happy thing #5: Spring flowers!! Here are some pictures of azaleas I took from a Sunday afternoon stroll last week.
Happy thing #6: This week Mr. M passed a major landmark in his PhD work! I'm so proud of him. This means that he will now be officially starting work on his dissertation. "How long will that take?" you ask? It could be as quick as a year, if the muses cooperate =) Right now, since we haven't been blessed with a child, I can work full-time and support us, and Mr. M can just plow ahead with his PhD. If (please please God) we are blessed with a child, then he might have to find a job (Mr. M, not the child =)) and be slowed up a bit. One step at a time!
Happy thing #7: Pancakes!!!! (Why not?) I've become a pancake junkie. My favorite recipe (right now) comes from "Nourishing Traditions" and requires soaking whole wheat flour in buttermilk over night...yum....(I'm sorry to you gluten-free gals for talking about gluten-packed food! I hope there are good GF recipes for you!)
A little music...
My trusty griddle...
My cow kettle...that's a real bell too...
Our late departed French press (it had an unfortunate encounter with a casserole dish that decided to jump out of a top cabinet toward my face while I was putting the French press away. Let's just say that French presses do, in fact, shatter.) and my cow timer, still with us...
And some delicious pancakes! That's what I call an excellent Saturday morning!
Happy weekend, all!
+EcceFiat+
First of all, I have always wanted to garden, but I'm terrible at it! I admire your ability to grow your own food!
ReplyDeleteSecond, what is Mr. M's phd work in?
Third, I can attest to the fact that french presses do shatter. My hubs has shattered at least three carafes in our married life (that's once a year!). He's not so easy on dishes. I really hope you didn't get hurt in that casserole dish/french press accident--it sounds like you could have been cut up!
These were great quick takes!
Thanks! His PhD is in theology. He's a smartypants :) wow 3 french presses! I hope we don't follow that trend! Thanks to my guardian angel I only got a small cut on one finger, despite glass shattering near my face. Whew!
DeleteI'm going to comment backwards :)
ReplyDelete7 - The Man is a French Press snob, ahem, user as well. We've had many shattered and now always have two - one for use, and one back-up. It actually works out well that he's a french presser b/c when he boils his water, he also makes enough for my tea :). Oh, and I have a gluten-free pancake recipe that both The Man and I agree is better than regular - the weekend I discovered those we may or may not have had pancakes for all 3 meals on Sunday ;).
6 - Way to go Mr. M! Darn those child-labor laws ;).
5 - Beautiful!
4 - Yay for both of you!!! Isn't your clothes not fitting the best bad problem to have?!?! Hmm, maybe we can go for a run together in St. Louis? :)
3 - The Man is growing a garden (I told him I would be like the other farm animals in the story "The LIttle Red Hen" - only I fully expected him to share his food with me :)). Oh, and he talks to his plants too - right in front of me!
2 - Yay for spiritual direction. I'm thinking I should've tried to get an appointment with Fr. D. this week as I'm feeling a little frayed...he's always willing to put me back together, but it'd be nice if I could not fall apart in his office, just once.
1 - I love being an Aunt too! We have two nieces on The Man's side and they will be entertaining our Mei Mei and Max this Sunday :).
Yes let's run together in st. Louis!! Trips always throw off my exercise "routine" (using that word loosely) so it will be good to have encouragement from a pro like you :)
DeleteAnd I hope your garden is bountiful!!! There's nothing like fresh picked food :)
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
DeleteIt is so good to remember the good things in life.
ReplyDeleteAmen!
DeleteDon't worry, Mr JB and I make killer gf pancakes! ;)
ReplyDeleteGlad to hear it - if I ever go gf, I'll be asking you and Rebecca for recipes!
DeleteLove the azaleas! We visited South Carolina in the spring a few years ago and they were everywhere.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the reminder to focus on happy things. I have a significant dose of melancholy in me too. :)
That's some green thumb you have! Looks great!
ReplyDeleteThe pancakes sound reaaaaaallllllyyyyyyy good. Now I'm hungry. :)
CONGRATULATIONS on the weight loss!!! That's hard stuff!