Quote

"My God, I believe most firmly that Thou watchest over all who hope in Thee, and that we can want for nothing when we rely upon Thee in all things; therefore I am resolved for the future to have no anxieties, and to cast all my cares upon Thee."

~~ St. Claude de la Columbiere

Mon, April 13th

Alright, so this morning I woke up late (I am still trying to figure out my new alarm clock).  So, its been raining all night.  And, I went outside to do a 'quick weather check', so I can figure out if its warm enough to wear capri's.  But this is what I found.
What???!~???  Wouldn't mom have stayed home if she found a tree in the street?  But, maybe it didn't fall until after she left.  And, the sound didn't even wake me.  Hmmm.

I showered and left for the oil change.  Called the brother to explain to him our lovely old oak tree had fallen.  The one that had had a birdhouse on it when we were kids.    Brother said he was on his way home.

Will find out from mother about whether or not it had fallen when she left this morning at 430 am.

Oh, and I just found out that our parish administrator went to Providence College for his undergrad, what a small world.

Ft Walton

From Wed - Saturday, I went down to Ft Walton Beach, FL.

I took a few pictures, but they are of my friend's children, so I will not be posting.  However, I did take a video of the waves on Friday and a few surfers.  Took the video from the pier.  You will notice my shaky hands.  I know I am not called to be an videographer.

While down there, I faced my fear of birds.   If you didn't know, I have a fear of birds.  Stems from watching "The Birds" by Hitchcock at a young age.  I am sure there is another event that also contributes, but the movie is all I remember.  

On Thursday, we took the kids to the Gulfarium.  And, there were some winged creatures present - mostly pigeons.  We were eating a snack of nachos when the said pigeons became more present than before.  I started freaking out.  At one point I was screeching because they were three feet away, and I had now perched on the picnic table bench.  My faithful friend (Sirach 6:14) reminded me that I was an adult in this situation and the kids are looking to me to be one.  Then, something inside me switched on, and after watching my faithful friend shoo the pigeons away,  I too shooed them away.

On Friday, at the pier there were birds of course.  And I stayed the course.

After returning home on Saturday, I along with the 5-year-old, corralled the chickens back into the coop.  Wow!  That's all I can say.  I am in shock but also in awe of the power of Christ!

forms

yeah, yeah...i know its 1 am...whatever

I remembered 30 minutes ago that I still haven't fill out an insurance form...you see its for prior coverage credits or something...i have to mail into them all the places I received medical treatment from for May 2008 til now!  yeah, i know...for some of that was in the monastery...thank goodness for journals and a 2008 calendar or I wouldn't be able to remember...b/c from May to July 2008, it all just runs together...

and so thats what brought me here, found a quote from me in said journal:

"If you're serving out of duty; that's bunk.  Perfect service is done out of LOVE for neighbor expecting NOTHING in return." 

that is something I definitely needed to hear just a few mere months ago..

and also tonight, I hooked us up with DISH network, and after 2 hours of searching finally found naked DSL through AT&T...b/c there was NO way we were sticking with Comcast (who I have to call on Monday to cancel) -- their customer service is awful...we've been trying to get our intermittant service fixed since the very least July 2008...it was probably happening before then but my parents are clueless when it comes to these things...God love them!

also watched "Knowing" today...thought it was going to be a really good end-of-the-world suspense thriller...instead - a seriously hokey Cocoon-ET-Scary Movie like film...YECK!!  Shoulda stayed home and just watched one of my favorites - Day After Tomorrow or Independence Day!  whatever.

tomorrow or really later today  I have spiritual direction...looking fwd to it...

my hair is in clown stage...its getting longer yet crazier in the afro stage...

Ooma

Our internet goes out about 3x a day.  Because we have Vonage, this also means our land line does not work either.  The time span for each outage is usually around 3 hours each.  Yeck!  We've called Comcast (internet/cable provider)  numerous times.  Each time they tell us they'll fix it and every week we have to call them back.  Oh, yes, that's right, I have to call on my wireless and go through the motions that I am the daughter and all that jazz... I am soooooooooooooooo sick of it.  And, not even that, our wireless internet has not worked for over two weeks.  So, if I want to be online, I have to use mom's computer which is in her bedroom.  And, I can't be online past 10 pm.  Let's not even go there.

So, I've been looking at several different options.  Currently we pay $60 for basic cable and cable internet.  And $35 for Vonage.  This is monthly.  Total is $95.

ATT high-speed internet is $35 monthly.   DISH network is about $65 monthly.  That leaves phone.  We love Vonage b/c mom can call India for pennies.  So, I looked around on Clark Howard's site and came across Ooma.  It would cost about $250 and would be a one-time price.  Over all, I think this will work for us.  My brother is coming home this weekend and will speak to the parents.  I will probably buy Ooma for the house.  And, they'll continue to pay for cable/internet.  But, overall I think this will be better.  And, we won't be getting gipped on the internet service.

Fruits and Vegetables

New things are brewing over at the sister blog - I Need A Cookie. 

I got the idea from my brother actually.  To post what I eat daily.  I'll just have remember to take pictures...

This should be fun!

I often wonder how many people stick to the 3 meals a day rule.  I know the sisters in Summit do.  I don't.  I snack in between, so it ends up being 3 meals - Breakfast, Lunch, and Dinner - and three snack times, as well as, a dessert after dinner.

Being a vegetarian hasn't been horrible.  I've gotten to be creative with what I eat, AND I've eaten a few things I haven't ever.

Yesterday, I tried Burger King's Veggie Burger.  I really was craving a hamburger, but didn't want to break my fast.  So, I went just with the notion to get fries, but instead tried the Veggie Burger.  It was ACTUALLY really good.  and it gave me some ideas for future meals.

The Holiday on my Birthday

I have a Keith Urban song stuck in my head AND

I booked my Carnival Cruise today.  Whoop!  Whoop!

5 days and 4 nights aboard the Holiday!  I can't wait for August to come.  A special thanks goes out to my mom for footing the bill!  Oh, and if you're thinking of trying out a cruise, my personal vacation planner, Tim, is fantastic.  I found him through one of my CORE leaders!  Through email, I will give you his number.