MROL book study week 4

Well I am a little behind due to all the moving and general busyness around here but I am still following along with this book study. Since I am behind I am going to post on last week's topic, the third "P", partner. What I am taking away from this chapter is the need to really LISTEN to my husband and not enter a conversation with preconceived notions about what he is thinking/feeling. I also am trying to do more things for him and for our marriage and not focus so much on myself. This includes penciling him and his activities into my master schedule (which is an ongoing work in progress) as well as allowing for flexibility so that I don't get irritated when things get off schedule. Also I am striving to make myself more... available (shall we say?) to him on a more regular basis. For more on this topic and the next topic -parent click the picture to go to Jen's (the hostess) blog.

Book Study -Mothers Rule of Life- Week 2

This week is all about Prayer. Daily prayer is something I usually strive for but I never sat down and thought about it in such a way that I would actually schedule it into my day. I have been doing this for the last several days now and it really helps! I scheduled 3 prayer times, morning offering (when I first get up, after showering), afternoon spiritual reading/reflection (varies according to the litttle one's naptime), and evening (post bathtime family Rosary). When I was pregnant with DD I used to pray every day upon rising and every night before bed and I am realizing how much I not only miss it, but actually need it to be the kind of person I want to be (and God wants me to be) throughout the day. I also find myself saying other little prayers and raising my heart and mind to God more often during the day when I do this. This reminds me of a series of posts over at Conversion Diary all about prayer and having hard stops throughout the day. Jen over at Happy Little Homemaker has also posted a link to a Mothers Liturgy of the Hours. Pretty neat! I haven't done anything else yet as far as making a schedule for other areas of my life although I have read the next chapter. With all honesty I really think that will have to wait till after we move and get settled since life is pretty focused on getting packed and ready for next Friday when we get the moving truck. Maybe not, I will keep reading, but things are pretty chaotic around here lately.

FO Friday

Well I have some Finished Objects to post from all the Christmas knitting I did. Mostly I knitted felted slippers for as many people as I could. I also knitted a hat for my father which didn't make it to him yet but will very very soon.

Book study -A Mothers Rule of Life

Hosted over at Happy Little Homemaker!

I started this book last night (a little late but better late than never!) WOW! That is all I can say, wow! I have needed to read something like this for a long time and I wish I would have even when I was working, it would have helped in so many ways. Anyway, I will try post on this every weekend (with the exception of the move weekend) in line with the schedule over at Happy Little Homemaker. I am a week behind but I will post for the first two weeks on Saturday.

WIP Wednesday

Well, I do have some knitting Works In Progress but no good pic's so I will post some spinning instead this week. I just got my new spinning wheel at the end of November and have been trying to scratch out some time here and there to learn and play with it. I spun a bit of Corriedale wool at first before I really could sit down and seriously start learning and it was lovely! I still love my spindles but, oh my! The wheel is so much faster and more relaxing. :) So here are all my current spinning projects:

First we have my spinning wheel project, 7 oz of Humbug BFL

Soft and lovely to spin, here is a closeup of the singles on the bobbinNext are my spindling projects, the first is some merino bamboo blend I got from Fat Cat Knits a looong time ago that I have been plugging away at, aiming for laceweight two ply so I can make an Ice Queen


The next is the Corriedale I have been spinning on my spindle but also tried a little on the wheel. These are slated to become some striped longies or maybe just pants, who knows by the time I am done with them how old miss Belle will be.

Well that is it for my spinning, I really need to take stock of my knitting and get it under control soon, my UFO (unfinished object) list is starting to get ridiculously long. Maybe I should start trying to finish one a month or something...

When a woman is not in the mood.

I caught this over at our parish website when I was looking for mass times for tomorrow. I think I will renew an old resolution this year. Here is the LINK.

Merry Christmas!

"Blessed are we who celebrate this day as the greatest discovery of all time- the discovery that God, for whom we groped in the darkness, has pierced the darkness with his humanity and has found us. May all who have walked in darkness today welcome the light: Jesus Christ, Emmanuel" -from the Magnificat Advent Companion 2009


I hope everyone is blessed enough to be too busy to read this post today!

Good post over at Happy Little Homemaker

Catholic prayers.

Knowing God's will

Don't you just wish there was an instruction manual for life sometimes? I know I do! My husband and I have been struggling with what we should do about our situation for the last few months. Our situation is this: I am working, he hasn't been able to find work since he graduated in May and passed the BAR exam in July (results came in September) and we have a wonderful little high-needs (to borrow the Dr. Sears term) 8 month old daughter. Our goal when we got married was to have me stay home when we had small children and raise them while he supported the family. The economy being what it is right now, his job prospects aren't looking so good. He has literally sent out dozens and dozens of applications and not a single interview even. I have been praying and praying that he would get a job, even an interview, so that we could make the transition that we need to make, and praying for a sign of what we are supposed to do. It hasn't been good for our relationship for me to be the breadwinner right now and our daughter is starting a separation anxiety phase which is magnified because she is such an intense little thing and it seems to center around me. So we made a decision on Friday. We are moving home to live with family and will have to weather a period of uncertain income in order to make our goal of me being a stay at home mom a reality. The hardest thing about this decision has been that I just kept expecting some sort of 'sign' to appear. You know, a billboard saying "Happiness and security- 1 mile exit to the right" or something of that nature. But maybe sometimes the absence of a sign is enough of a nudge in the right direction. For example: I like my job, it is challenging enough to be interesting without being overwhelming and it is pretty fast paced (well, for the world of nursing anyway), however, lately it has been getting harder and harder for me to go to work and not feel overwhelmed by it. Things that shouldn't bother me do and it is getting harder and harder for me to leave my precious little girl in the morning when all she wants is her mama. It's like when we try to proceed in the direction of my job, me working and him staying home, it gets harder and harder with each step. But when we started thinking about moving home, things didn't exactly fall into place but it seemed like a way opened up for us. It hasn't been clear as day that this is the right choice for us but... It's like the days when you would call someone (before everyone had answering machines) and the phone would just ring and ring. At some point you just had to hang up and move on, call someone else, or whatever. It feels like we have just been waiting on the line forever and nobody is picking up, and maybe that is a clear enough sign to just move on. Jen over at Conversion Diary has written a lot of good posts about knowing God's will also and I have gotten immense insight from reading them. Does anyone else have any thoughts about this subject?

7 Quick Takes Friday

1.

I always hated getting up early in the morning when I was a kid. Lately I find that I am enjoying it more and more. It is hard to get a moment to myself during the day because when I am home I am trying to spend as much time as possible with DH and the little one. I work 3 days a week and have to take call on most of the afternoons I am off so time is at a premium for me. I find that getting up early is the only hope I have of finishing knitting projects and almost the only time I can get on the computer without it interfering with my parenting/wifely duties.

2.

I am really making an effort to try and fill the role of a stay at home mom whenever I am home. It is tough sometimes when I get home from work in the evening to resume that role since I am tired and drained from working and dealing with other people all day but someday (hopefully not too far off) that will be my role. Anyway it should always be my first priority even if I have to remain working for a while longer.

3.

I am getting super excited to go back to Michigan for a visit with family next week! We are going to have an early Thanksgiving at my mom's house with my little brother who I haven't seen in a long time.

4.

I want a spinning wheel. It has started to consume my mind lately. This one in particular:


The only thing I am worried about is if I will have a steep learning curve. I am getting pretty good at using my drop spindle but I haven't ever spun yarn on a wheel, except once at my aunt's house when I was very new to spinning and I found it difficult at that time.

4.

I am feeling antsy lately. I feel like we are on the brink of change just waiting to fall. DH has been trying really hard to find a job and we are praying that one of the ones he has applied for will hire him. Otherwise we have a couple backup plans but things might be really tough for a while if/when we have to implement them.

5.

Recent finished objects: Baby cardigan for a friend:

This was a nice knit I could do anywhere or anytime and didn't have to think too much. It is a seamless, top-down sweater with DK weight yarn on #2 needles. Pattern here and yarn here

6.

I need an eggless pumpkin pie recipe. Anyone?

7.

I am liking daylight savings this year, now that I am getting up early it is nice to see the sunrise in the morning. Of course I will probably hate it when spring comes and we lose an hour.