7 Quick Takes {Take 51} Onset of evil allergies edition...

-1- *sneezes*

Happy Friday everyone. *weak smile* This may be a shorter than usual edition of 7 Quick Takes, because I'm not feeling my absolute best. I have seasonal allergies that always savagely creep up on me this time of year, and they have indeed struck with a vengeance. I'm super sneezey, and have a pinprick headache right above my left eyeball that will not fully go away, even with ibuprofen. I'm resisting heaving a long suffering sigh, and feel that I am very courageous for doing so. ;-) I'm dying to go home and rest, so it's actually good that...

-2- Dancing shoes firmly tucked away this week

...I don't have dance tonight. Claire is happily in Miami at this giant belly dance convention (doesn't that sound absolutely sublime? An entire weekend of belly dancing and costume shopping) so we're off both tonight and next Friday. And if I had to feel lousy, I'm glad it's on a night when I wouldn't have to miss my class, because I'm very Type A about that. Three years ago, my birthday fell on a Friday night, AND I was fairly heavily pregnant with Anne, and this is what happened:

Mike: "Sweetie, why don't we go out to the Melting Pot on your birthday?"

The Melting Pot is one of my favorite guilty pleasures, giant vats of melted cheese and chocolate to dip crap in. It isn't Mike's favorite restaurant (he thinks it's overpriced, and he's absolutely right :0) but he knows that I love it. Isn't he sweet?

Me: "But...I have dance. We can go on Saturday!"

I'm nuts, you see. And belly dancing at 6 months pregnant. I consider this totally normal. :0

But we do have a performance lined up for September 16th, shortly after Claire gets back. So more performance fun to report in on soon!

-3- My little guy is starting 4th grade. *feels old*

Henry goes back to school on Tuesday, and it's hard for me to believe that he is starting 4th grade when it feels like he's still a mere babe. :( I do love his Catholic school though, and I'm looking forward to seeing what he'll be doing this year. Last year, his class worked throughout the fall on a big project spotlighting Christmas celebrations around the world in preparation for December. Don't you love that?

-4- My honey is such a cute teacher :)

Mike began teaching this week at one of the Catholic colleges he teaches at, but his full load doesn't all kick in until next week. He's teaching Philosophy of Human Rights, three sections of Introduction to Philosophy, and two introductory math courses at a local community college. That math gig is a new one, and we're hoping he'll like it. That's quite a large load for the semester, but I'm so happy that he has found a good groove with teaching.

-5- There is no possible rosary accessory that I do not own...

And so amidst all of this autumn change, I'll be doing lots of praying for everyone. :) I love and collect rosaries, as I'm sure you've ascertained if you have spent any amount of time on this blog, and earlier in the week I asked the lovely Allison of Rosaries by Allison if she would make me a one decade pocket rosary. I wanted something that I could just tuck in my pocket and have with me all the time. So she did, and so I love it. :0

That's Pope Francis in the center, with a Good Shepherd crucifix. She had the beads and supplies to make two exactly the same, and I bought both of them. ;-)

-6- Currently on my Kindle...

I was in the mood for an Amish book this week, and selected this one from my to-be-read Amish folder:

I absolutely love these Amish romances. The settings are always so tranquil and the stories so sweet. I'm about 10% of the way in, and this book appears to be no exception. Our main character, Judith, sees a man helping her brother after he has a nasty accident, and this mystery man assures Judith that the little boy will be all right. No one else, however, saw this man. A vision of some kind? Her prospective beau doesn't believe her story and thinks she is making it up for attention, a result of her nagging jealousy towards her somewhat more outgoing and flirtatious younger sister. I'm thinking she can do better than this guy, and I have my eye on another, better suited beau for her. :)

-7- Catholic Book Club!

 We had a very fun installment of the Catholic Book Club this week, with Erin McCole Cupp's Don't You Forget About Me, a Catholic mystery novel. We've been reading a lot of Catholic fiction lately, so for September and October I'm switching it up to go back to non-fiction for a spell, before we read fiction again around the holidays. September's book is Dominican Life, by Fr. Walter Wagner, OP.

This is a series of retreat talks reflecting on the rule of St. Augustine, which is what is followed by members of the Dominican order, and applying it to our 21st century lives. As a Third Order Dominican, I'm really looking forward to delving into this one. I have this on my Kindle to read along with the fiction title I have going. We'll be discussing on Sept. 24th if you'd like to read along!

All right, glad I haven't crawled under my desk yet for a nap. It's going to be a long day. :0 I hope that you all have a marvelous Labor Day weekend, and I will be back with you again on Tuesday. Until then! Check out Conversion Diary for more 7 Quick Takes!