A Prayerful Start to the Week

We ended last week with Morgan singing at her school's talent show. She sang Somewhere Over the Rainbow a capella and did it beautifully. So beautifully it sent tears down my face (and the face of the church music director!). Today I went from cantoring a song at church to participating in the Women's Walk at the College of Saint Benedict to facilitating a Companions on a Journey spiritual companioning group. This almost felt like coming full circle - using my voice to praise and worship then talking about the difference between my inner voice and God's voice and how they harmonize. Sort of a nice way to head into a new (and hopefully warmer) week!

Where's the Knitting?!

So, after my last post i was looking forward to the opportunity to get back to some knitting. Yeah, right! I did get my daughter started on a hat for herself. She's pretty good at the whole scarf knitting thing, and even has the knit and purl stitches down. So, now she's learning how to knit in the round! I got the first few rows started for her and got the itch to get moving on my own stuff but other tasks called and I got sidetracked. Soon!

I'll have to post some pictures of my "works in progress" or "on the needles" projects. As is typical with me, they are too numerous to keep track of. Every few months, I make a decision to not start anything new . . . and promptly break that promise within a few days! I'll post photos or link to my Ravelry page sometime soon (of coruse, that would mean putting photos up on my Ravelry page, wouldn't it!).

Just ordered a memory book for Mother's Day - my grandmother's stories from when she was young along with several photos. What a fun project! If you haven't checked out www.Picaboo.com, give it a try - easy to use, free software for book publishing!

When Volunteering Becomes Exhausting!

After a full night volunteering at church I am exhausted! It started with accompanying the children's choir practice - this was probably the most "fun" thing I did! The kids are great to work with and really sounded good singing. They are always so enthusiastic about what they are doing and really want to sing well. Just telling them "good job" puts big smiles on their faces!

From their I moved to a joint board meeting for Faith Formation. We were recently twinned with another parish and have been going through the pains of this process. While much of what we are doing is still separate, we decided to come together to get to know each other and see if there are areas in which we can collaborate. Our programs for grades 1 - 10 are still separate but we offered the adult sessions jointly for the first time this year. The meeting started out very tense but did become much better as it went on. It does take alot of energy, though, and I was already tired when I left early from that meeting to go to adult choir practice 30 minutes late! By 9:00 I was ready for a good glass of wine - only to be stopped by one FF director on my way out of the church, and the other FF director in the parking lot. An hour later I was finally home!

Through all of this, along with a long phone conversation this morning with one of the FF directors, I have determined that many people in each of the parishes are listening and making decisions and/or judgements with a particular filter over their lenses rather than truly listening and trying to work together to make a really positive environment. It is really very frustrating! And, everybody thinks someone else is the problem! Yikes - I'm ready to just step away but I feel very vested in my church and it would kill me to do this. I'm hoping a little R & R will help me see things through fresh eyes. Or, it is time to step away from some of my volunteer activities with the church and just be a parishioner!

Looking forward to a quiet weekend - maybe I'll finally get back to that knitting.

That's Entertainment

Well, we are 2/3 of the way through our annual ice show and it looks like it will be a hit once again. With US Novice Men's Champion Danny O'Shea as the guest skater and all of our club members skating beautifully! My DD skated in 2 different numbers, looking like a young star (to a proud mom, of course!).

Of course, there is still lots of snow on the ground but I'm told it will be 60 degrees by Tuesday so it will soon be gone. Maybe spring will actually arrive sometime this year. I hate those years when we go straight from winter into summer - no crisp spring mornings, no days of 60 degrees and evenings of 40s. Instead we go right to 85! Complain, complain, complain . . . .

Once we get through the ice show I'm hoping to get back to some knitting. I have the yarn ready to start the Masters Level I program, need to finish some leg warmers for my little skater, have a wonderful cotton sweater on another set of needles for my sister, and my own Crayon Box Jacket just begging to be picked up again. I'm also ready to start a good book I have on my desk - Savo Helveta's Not My Turn To Die - about life growing up in Bosnia. Someday these activities will become the regular part of my day and not the "if I have time" portion!

Hey - it's the sun!

So, we've been experiencing quite the unusual spring - 2 feet of snow in the northern part of the state on April 7th! And, now I'm told we're supposed to get up to 1 foot of snow on Friday in the central part of the state. Is spring ever going to come?!?!

As I look out my window today, at least I see the sun shining - and I better enjoy it since it might not be back for awhile. At least it's cold and crummy out during a week in which I have no free time - I won't feel like I'm missing out on any beautiful days. Now, starting next week when the ice show is done, I'm certainly hoping we'll see more sunshine!

I haven't really thought of a particular motive for creating a blog - or a purpose for the blog. Perhaps it is just a chance to record my thoughts for the day or week. I'm hoping to track some of my knitting through this blog (and keep my Ravelry page going), as well as simply sharing information about raising my beautiful 12 year old daughter! Life as a working mother with her own set of interests and hobbies - life is never dull!

It's a start!

I've thought of blogging off and on for a few years now - guess it's time to take the plunge! According to Blogger, I've been a member since October of 2005! I'm not certain how regularly I'll do this, or even what I'll talk about . . . but at least I've started!

I was challenged to cantor once again at church this weekend - and I passed the test of my husband (I won't call him a critic but I knew he'd be honest!). Although I was nervous, it was actually kind of fun. One problem - when I was lying awake at 3:00 this morning all I had running through my head was Sweet Refreshment!

Did you ever wonder what was on television at 3 am? The answer . . . NOT MUCH! Little House on the Prairie, Designing Women, Brady Bunch and a whole lot of Paid Programming! Enough to put a person back to sleep.