A Simple Woman's Daybook

Thanks to Peggy at The Simple Woman for starting the daybook. For more entries, or to join, go here.


For Today: Monday, February 23, 2009

Outside My Window... Dark and cold. I can't wait until Daylight Savings Time and the upcoming Spring birds chirping their tunes!

I am thinking... about the retreat I just was on. Fr. Tuscan, our retreat master, was awesome. The theme was "Faith, Hope, and Charity." Lots to think about how to incorporate these into my life, especially during Lent.

I am thankful for... my warm bed! The bedrooms in the retreat center were really cold, but I survived. I am also thankful for those who worked hard to make our retreat a success.

From the kitchen... Coffee with Italian Sweet Cream, toast. Later tonight, Maple Apple Chicken with Roasted Ranch-Bacon Red Potatoes.

I am wearing... my pink flowered cotton nightshirt and emerald green velour night robe, plus slippers. Still feeling a little sleepy as I sip my coffee. :-)

I am creating... Nothing, yet, but hope to start this week on a digital page. I joined Serif's Forum so I could comment on the Digital Scrapbook Artist message board. I do think that DSA is a great program and look forward to testing it out even more.

I am going... to be studying about the 30-Day Consecration to Mary according to St. Louis de Montfort. This is new ground for me. I'm still learning about Mary and her place in my life. I do believe she is to be honored and reverenced, but ultimately - it is her Son who is our Lord. I am touched by all the Catholics who do reverence her but always magnify Jesus Christ as a result. She does point the way to Him, always. "Do whatever He tells you to do."

I am reading... Breaking Dawn by Stephanie Meyers. I also have a brand new book I "won" on Twitter by Peter Marx, "The Book Guy" and owner of Antique Mall Books. The book is called The Historian and it seems to have a Bram Stoker 'Dracula-ish' tone! Mysterious, Gothic, and creepy!

I am hoping... to walk in deeper fellowship with my Lord, Jesus Christ, after this retreat. I learned much!

I am hearing... the heat through the vent. Other than that, silence. And I'm laughing a little because it is more silence than I heard on our "silent" retreat - given that we have some really yappy people in our group!

Around the house... boxes from the ukueles still laying around. Shirts hanging to dry. Valentine's day left-over snacks.

One of my favorite things... Being on a retreat and sharing spiritual insights with other retreat members. On our ride home, my car companions and I discussed such things as witnessing to our neighbors and how to handle atheism. Great conversations!

A Few Plans For The Rest Of The Week: I think I'm going to visit the Catholic book store today to get tabs for my Catholic Bible. I'm also going to see if they have some devotions to Mary and take a look at them.

Here is picture thought I am sharing. St. Peter and Paul Retreat and Conference Center in Newark, Ohio. I did grab this one from their site. The weekend was much too gray and cold to take any good photos, but you can see how lovely it looks in warmer weather. I like this statue of Jesus. It's all about Him, and not me.