7 Quick Takes Friday {Take 16}

-1- Is it over yet?!

Work has been so very busy lately that I've felt a bit overwhelmed at times. But I have persevered. Talking about anything Dominican or monastic-related instantly sets me at peace, and we have done that in spades, brightening my work days. SUCH a blessing. I have just had so much demand for my time from students, and I'm trying like a busy bee to finish things up before I leave on my upcoming trip. Which leads us to...

-2- I'm going to be networking - Is this good or terrifying?

In exactly one week, I am traveling to Boston for the annual Catholic New Media Conference. I cannot even tell you how excited I am. I'm also meeting up with my sister Shauna'h and we're going to the conference together. WE'RE GOING TO MEET FR. RODERICK. I have listened to Fr. Roderick's podcasts for *years* and now I will not only meet him in person, I will demand a photograph with him. Stay tuned to my Twitter account for that one. :) THIS IS EPIC, PEOPLE.

But on that note, I will have my Nook tablet with me, so I will definitely be live tweeting. :) Follow me there (@CatholicTiffany) for all the juicy updates if you so desire. I'll probably set up a blog post for next Friday, but in terms of a blog recap of my trip, that won't come until the following Tuesday, since I'm flying back that Monday. I know, I know you'll all miss me so much. ;-) And this leads us to...

-3- A librarian's dream

I'm going to try and pack light, so I'll likely just be taking my Kindle and the tablet with me by way of reading. I have a ridiculous amount of Amish fiction on there, but I'm nearly done with Shirt of Flame, and I could use some more Catholic reading material. I may download The Hidden Face, like I mentioned yesterday, but does anyone else have some Catholic book suggestions? We all know that it is a fate worse than death to be trapped somewhere with nothing to read. God forbid. And I have a 2 hour layover. But there's also knitting...

-4-"Just a minute Honey, only 1 lamb to go to meet my nightly quota!!"

The lambs for my Jesse Tree Ornament swap are going well. I need to make 30 of them. I am currently on Lamb Body #23. I have a strict 3 lamb per night quota in order to meet my goal of shipping them to Michelle by November 2nd. I realized that I may be taking this whole thing too seriously when I actually made my husband wait for some quality one-on-one time until I finished the third lamb of the night. I mean, seriously. I need to relax a bit. But he was a good sport about the whole thing, because he's adorable that way. :)

Once the bodies are done (which should be Sunday) I can move on to Phase #2: Legs. I plan to post a photo of the flock on Monday. And speaking of Jesse Trees...

-5- Advent is in the air! Yes, I know it's only October...

Who else is starting their pre-Advent preparations?! Just me? That's what I figured. :)

I LOVE Advent. I'm currently eyeing up Advent music to download (Yes Advent music, *not* Christmas music! ---> NERD) and I just ordered the kids a new pop-up Advent calendar. Mike keeps thinking that we already have more Advent calendars than anybody else in the free world, and I'm managing to add even more. We have chocolate, we have wood, we have paper, we have Legos. Advent calendars for everybody!! But check out that cute one from Magnificat that I linked to above. It comes with a book of prayers and verses to read each day as you flip down an additional part of the nativity scene. I'll go ahead and swoon in private. But more immediately, for tonight...

-6-"Oops, sorry! Is your head ok?! My right wing got away from me."

We have dance. We have finally finished our Isis Wings choreography, and it's pretty fun. All things considered, I wish we just balanced our trays the entire song, because I love balancing. But we have the wings, and they do create a fun atmosphere, I can tell you that. We just have to hope that aren't any strong wind gusts should we ever perform with them outside. *shudders* Even inside though, they do have their challenges. A drop ceiling and Isis Wings don't exactly co-exist happily. Our hafla isn't until early December, but Claire is having surgery next week and she wanted to finish all choreographies beforehand since she'll be out for several weeks. Which leads us to...

-7- Prayers, please

Please pray for Claire, who is having surgery on Wednesday. Please also pray for a friend's daughter who is having spinal surgery in just over a week, her name is Olivia. Please also pray, if you would, for a few special intentions that I have ruminating. And if you have your own prayer intentions, just leave them in my combox. :)

Have a great weekend everyone! Don't forget to go check out other 7 Quick Take posts over at Conversion Diary!