At Considerable Cost

I think this year was the first one I remember when there was not a single message about Halloween posted on the server for our Catholic mom's prayer group.   There was one article posted on the Facebook group page, but no arguments ensued on the main e-mail server.   That was nice.   We'll see how we get through girl scout cookie season.   And no new Harry Potter novels or movies, so that shouldn't come up, either. My memories of Halloween contain no gore, no horror movies.   I looked forward to the huge hot dog and marshmallow roast at our friends' house.   Dressing up was fun and it was the only time I got to wear make-up during my elementary school years.    That was back in my pre-Catholic days.   Pre-baptism of any kind days.   The only people I knew who didn't celebrate Halloween were Protestants who thought the holiday evil because of its Catholic origins/connections.   I w...

October 25 mark ed St. Crispin's Day, whose history can be read about here .   We celebrated with some special savories and sweets, Crispin hard cider (I refrained from doing a happy dance when I found it in the store), and watching Henry V, starring Tom Hiddleston as the young king.   The children are always happy about miniature quiches!   They did not get hard cider.   French soda for the kiddos.   Because....because...the soda is French...and...they attacked it...yeah, attacked it...just like the British attacked the French at Agincourt...yeah, that's it... The St. Crispin's Day speech in Shakespeare's Henry V , before the Battle of Agincourt, is one of my favorite passages in English literature: WESTMORELAND. O that we now had here But one ten thousand of those men in England That do no work to-day! KING. What’s he that wishes so? My cousin Westmoreland? No, my fair cousin;...

This was one of my first writing assignments as a college freshman.   We were instructed to write a descriptive essay.   It's one of my favorite things I've ever written.   It's not some great literary work and it took tremendous restraint not to correct the many things I'd like to change now.   I cringed at some of the cliches and my tendency--overuse-- of repetition is evident.   Then, there are the tense issues.   It is a favorite, though, because, as I wrote in the previous post , it was one of the first essays I ever "saw."   It is also a favorite because it is a description of the storms I regularly witnessed growing up on our farm.   I loved watching the approaching storms and taking shelter during their short reign over the land.   I post it as part of my mission to record a part of myself on this blog, for myself and my children. I am standing in the middle of a yard.   A large br...

In a previous post , I mentioned that I found a folder of writing from college days.   I decided to re-type one of my favorite pieces in my next post.   It was the first thing I wrote where I was conscious of how my brain worked in relation to writing.   It was the first time I was really able to see how I was weird. I was identified as Gifted and Talented in fifth grade.   In Louisiana, that meant an evaluation primarily based on an IQ test, with other evaluations weighted to lesser degrees.    I was "serviced"--school district's term--through a pull-out program.   That meant that on Tuesdays, a special G/T teacher came to school and took us out of our classes for the whole day.   We met in our G/T classroom that was in a portable building and did enrichment-type lessons that usually included a novel study at their core.   The last time I checked, in Louisiana, teachers who teach gifted classes, at a...

  ~ Capturing the context of contentment in everyday life ~ Every Thursday, at Like Mother, Like Daughter !  I'm having to combine two weeks on this post. {pretty} I was blessed to go on a girls' weekend with four amazing women.   It was a grand time with great conversation, food, fellowship and much laughter.   We were able to experience the first cold front of fall as it blew in and attend mass together in a beautiful little church.   We also shopped at the local trade days event.   Near closing time, we came upon a booth with some beautiful religious statues.   One of the owners said her sister had started hoarding statues and she managed to get her to sell some of them.   "Make us a deal!"   was her cry.   So we did.   And she accepted our offers.   I thought of Mama as the seller let me get boxes of more statues from under the tables.   Mama love...

Today is the feast day of one of my favorite saints, St. Therese, known as the Little Flower.   Along with St. Jeanne d'Arc, she is Co-Patroness of France and one of only three women officially given the title "Doctor of the Church" because of the profound truths and teachings contained in her spiritual writings and more importantly, in her life.   Her writings are few, memoirs of her life and spiritual journey she wrote under direction from her superior at the convent.   Her life was short, only 24 years, ended by tuberculosis.   However few and short her writings and years, the love, power, grace, and glory contained in them is limitless.   She is still teaching and touching lives today, 115 years after her death. I began a devotion to this great saint before the birth of our oldest daughter.   We gave her the middle name, Therese-Marie, when she was born so she would have the intercession of two powerful patrons, St. T...

{pretty} Several of us spent Wednesday morning working on new wreaths for our front doors.  Elizabeth hosted and provided us with a perfect workspace.   The children played together well and were content.   We laughed and talked and finished the morning with some beautiful finished products.   Even though everyone used the same basic components, each wreath was unique.   I made my wreath last year, so I was there to help and enjoy the company.   Female bonding and beautiful crafts made for a great mid-week boost! Ready to begin!  This is one of Elizabeth's pics.   Hers are the ones that were obviously NOT taken with an iPhone! Almost done! Julia and I working on her wreath. Lauren contemplating the perfect placement. Elizabeth's finished wreath Julia's finished wreath Lauren's finished wreath {happy} We celebrated my husband, Joey's birthday.   The kids cou...