Friday, August 30, 2013

7 Quick Takes Friday {Take 10}

-1- About a month ago, I received something in the mail that filled me with a lot of trepidation: a jury duty summons.

*doomy music plays*

You all know me well enough now to know that I am a Creature Of Habit. And jury duty is throwing a gigantic wrench into my meticulously crafted schedule, and right at the beginning of the semester. Not exactly the best of timing, but I don't think there is ever a perfect time for such things. It's our duty as citizens, and I'm trying to be a good sport about it. Despite being a tad grumpy about the whole thing.

So, each evening next week (excluding the day prior to Labor Day) I have to call in and see if my juror number is required to report. I'm not going to lie: I'm hoping that my number is permitted to go about my usual daily business. I couldn't schedule anything for next week, which is making the two weeks following that a holy nightmare in terms of teaching. But at least I could use that time to prepare some lesson plans.

SO, if blogging is light next week, this is why. I'll report in when I can. I'm planning to bring my Kindle plus a full knitting bag to keep me busy. No smartphone, so no live updates, sorry. :) But I'm hoping I'll be around for my usual Catholic Women's Almanac on Tuesday. Time will tell.

-2- Relatedly, I may some idle time on my hands, so do not forget, dear reader, about my request for your prayer requests. :) I now have a notebook by my side, and anything that you ask me to pray for, I will write down in aforementioned handy-dandy notebook and pray. I find it so comforting to think of someone praying for me and/or my other requests, so please let me do that for you. I'm eager: put me to work.

-3- In other prayer request news, I mentioned the other day about Henry being a lot less interested in faith matters of late. Wednesday evening Mike and I went out to dinner, so I wasn't home when Henry went to bed. So yesterday my little mind was awhirl about how to engage him more in religious matters. He loves to read, and the thought crossed my mind that maybe he would enjoy C.S. Lewis's The Chronicles of Narnia. I perused them on Amazon, but then realized that the very library that I work in likely has them in the collection. And in fact they do, so I went and fetched The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe from the juvenile literature collection downstairs. I figured I could read the book to him a little each night and we could discuss the Christian themes that are present. I've never read the books, so it will be just as much of a learning experience for me.

Well. This was a HUGE hit. I read him the first chapter and he was begging me to read more. When I went to tuck him in, and he asked if he could keep reading the book since he always reads a bit on his own to fall asleep. I wasn't sure what to do, but I did allow him to keep reading. I want to be able to discuss everything with him, so I'm going to have to sneak some reading in and catch up to him. :)

When I checked on him later, he was still up, reading away, looking adorable. I asked him about the book this morning, and he said he got to chapter 6, and that he *loved* the book. I'm going to check out the others in the series for him, and I feel good about this. It's C.S. Lewis, we can't go wrong here. Even Mike was thrilled that Henry is so interested in these books. Please keep Henry's budding faith life in your prayers. :)

-4- It's nearly September, and you know what this means? Well, you probably don't, since I'm not giving you a lot to go on. The Catholic New Media Conference is approaching! And I'm going!

It's October 19th this year, in Boston, and both Shauna'h and I are attending. I couldn't be more thrilled. You will be hearing a lot more about this as the date draws nearer. :) It'll be a beautiful time to be in New England, and I'll also get to see my twin baby nephews. Life is good.

-5- In dance news, I'm working on a veil solo for a small performance next weekend. I'm a bit nervous about this, gentle reader.

Me and my veil: A study in a love/hate relationship
The veil is not my favorite prop, but that's why I chose it. I need to work on this, and this performance is a students only format, so that we can all work on things that we find challenging. Hence, out come my alligator-wrestling ways with my silk veil. It's a shockingly good arm workout to fling around a 3 yard length of silk, let me tell you. I've been practicing spins and envelopes and S-cascades, isn't this all quite thrilling? I just hope I don't suffocate in the thing or (worse!) slip on it and make a spectacle of myself.

*bites nails*

-6- In craft news, Anne's two-at-a-time socks are coming right along, I'm about to move on to the heel flaps, EXCITING! Or, at least I find it so. And Twin #1 Sweater is nearly done. I just need to weave in ends and put on a finishing applied icord to make the edges look neater. I'm cruising into fall with my holiday knitting list looking good. I will have pictures next week.

-7- Labor Day weekend is traditionally the last weekend of the summer around here, but I've always loved it. I enjoy the "fresh beginnings" feel of the start of a new school year, and that's part of why I love my job still revolving around an academic calendar. Henry starts third grade on Thursday of next week. My baby! He's not too thrilled about going back to the grind, but it's good for him.

Head over to Conversion Diary for more 7 Quick Takes! Have a great holiday weekend everybody!

3 comments:

  1. RE reading: I can't be sure of Henry's age, and yes it is self-advertising, but perhaps you would be interested in checking out my work. See here for more. There's a collection of short stories if you aren't ready to start on the 13-part Saga.

    ReplyDelete
  2. School started here on the 14th for parochial and the 19th for Public. I have never been picked for jury duty.

    ReplyDelete

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