Quick Take Friday

These have to be really quick.  Catie has OT in 42 minutes!

1. I love love love having a finished (finally) downstairs for our office/play/family space.  Oh what a difference flooring makes to making something finished.

2. Oh my tukas!  Last night I was leaning on an office chair, and kerplunk, knocked the whole thing over.  I am okay, but hit my thigh/tukas.  Glad there is time for this bruise to heal before birth.  Husband reminded me that I am a bit top heavy these days.

3. We have been loving the pool.  Augie, age 3.5 is doing a really nice job at learning to swim (the independent way); while Rosie, almost 6 is learning by example, parents and swim class.  Augie is definitely the fish of the family.

4. Outside.  Heaven.  Our local temps dropped from close to 100 down to 70 in the last two days.  Windows open, kids once again allowed to play outside.  Love it!

5. my name is Elisabeth and I am addicted to the iphone.  It is like crack (disclaimer: i have never done an illegal drug in my life).  The last month I have so not tried to give it up on Wednesdays and Sundays.  The ultimate sacrifice that I can.not.make...but must keep trying.  Oh that I could find the joy in my children instead of trying to avoid them all day. 

6. Every week in the bible study I mentioned in this post, we set a goal, or a step to take for that week.  This past week my anger goal was to count to 10 in an anger situation.  In the video that accompanies the study, Jeff Cavin mentioned a really interesting point.  It takes 1-3 seconds for someone to get riled up with anger, which physiologically changes your body.  It can take 30 minutes for that physiological response to anger to subside.  Oh how I can relate to this!  So my goal it to count to 10 and try to stop the response before it happens.  Yesterday I forgot my goal, had to go back and re-read it.  The fortunate thing is that I have not had a need to use it at all this week.  This week's study is on fear.  For me the whole of the study comes back to the anger issue for me.  So the alternative to negative fear = peace & trust in the Lord.  I am seeking peace...specifically in the home.  More on that later.

7. A crazy thing happened this week.  I mentioned before that my brother in law, Fr K, was taking a 2 week pilgrimage on the Camino de Santiago (the Way of St James) in Spain.  They arrived in Santiago de Compostella just in time for the vigil & feast day festivities of St James.  The same day a massive train crash happened in the same town, killing 80 people....and subsequently cancelling all feast day events.  I am so grateful that the tradition is for pilgrims to walk into the town...though I know there were others on that train arriving to the town for the event.  Today, the group is to board the train and ride the opposite direction back to Madrid...flying home on Saturday.  Eternal Rest grant unto the dead.  I am grateful for the protection that was over Fr K & the FOCUS pilgrims that day.

Happy Weekend.