Thursday, April 30, 2020

The Week in Pictures

A little sum up of our last week-ish:


Toilet Paper!  This picture was taken early on in the quarantine.  But don't jump to conclusions -- I'm not a hoarder, or at least not a conscientious one!  I buy all our toilet paper from Amazon's subscribe and save, and somewhere in late February (I think. . . time seems a bit foggy these days and late February feels like 6 years ago) I accidentally received two giant shipments.  As I was putting it away (in our ottoman - don't YOU store toilet paper in YOUR furniture?), I was siltenlty chastising myself for not catching the double shipment.  Oh well, I thought, as I found new places to store the extra pacakges, I know it will all get used eventually, so I guess it doesn't matter.  HA!  When everyone began freaking out about toilet paper, I just smiled to myself and knew we'd be okay for awhile.  Well. . .now we're starting to run low.  All the bathrooms are stocked, but the ottoman is bare.  I stopped into Dollar General the other day and found some paltry DG brand TP, but I gotta say, I'm a little concerned now.  Amazon has failed me and is not sending out any of my shipments that were normally scheduled.  What's a fam to do?  I don't know.  Stay tuned.  Or better yet, tell me where to buy toilet paper please.



New appliances!  After more than two months without a dishwasher, with most of that time being during the quarantine, we bought a new dishwasher.  (And stove.  Because why not have multiple appliances die and therefore dump more money into them all at once?  Stimulus money in, stimulus money out.)  You might recall that I blogged here about my romantic visions of hand washing all our dishes.  And, while the kids might not admit it, I truly think it was a great experience.  I certainly wasn't expecting the quarantine to happen while we were without a dishwasher, but because it did, we were able to maintain a great schedule for dishwashing, and the kids got some quality time together after every meal. The singing and razzing and general sibling bonding made my heart happy.  I'm glad we have the new one, but I'm also a little sad that our hand washing days are over.



Shadow's birthday!  Shadow turned ten and my kids made him a doggie banana cake.  They plopped a big blog of peanut butter on top and stuck a doggie bone on top.  It was the most glorious meal Shadow has ever been given (this does not include all the meals he has stolen from the counter, dinner table, end tables, unsuspecting guest's laps and the like).  The peanut butter stuck to his tongue and mouth, making him hilarious to watch.  I snapped a bunch of pics as he worked to enjoy his treat.  Also,  I think he was truly moved by our rendition of Happy Birthday.


Smoke alarms.  Do they EVER chirp for low battery during the day? The answer is an unequivocal NO.  And if they do at your house, don't tell me!  I don't wanna know!  I woke up the other night at 1:30 am to hear the dog's strangled bark downstairs (where he rarely is at night - he usually doesn't leave my side of the bed all night).  I bolted up and downstairs, certain he was hurt or something.  He was at the bottom of the stairs with his ball in his mouth, a sure sign he was hearing a noise that hurt his ears (one of the reasons we had to replace the stove was because it kept beeping and turning off, also causing Shadow to whimper and run to grab a ball to hold).  Sure enough, the smoke alarm chirped and poor Shadow whimpered again.  Sigh.  Because 1:30 am, groggy, without my glasses on, seems like a good time to dismantle electronics and look for 9 volt batteries.


Friday, April 17, 2020

The Week in Pictures


In late February, I did a quick redo of our bedroom.  New quilt, rugs, curtains etc -- and these pillows.  The whole thing made me so happy. . .navy and gray, my new faves, which my husband noted seem to be taking over the house (I'm okay with that!).  But these pillows!  Who knew, when I bought them, that "let's stay home" would be the defining theme of 2020! 


We did a puzzle swap with some friends a few weeks ago and this is the puzzle we received.  It is obvious that our friends actually hate us, as this puzzle was created by the devil himself.  After 1.5 hours, my daughter and I had only the outline done and were experiencing feelings of anger and frustration, and also neck pain. We left it on the island for about two days, my daughter having high hopes for our abilities and also our patience level, but then I scrapped it.  I couldn't stand how it was taunting us, with its pink and red leaves, so horribly monochromatic. It's still in our house, but after the quarantine is over, I think I'll regift it to our "friends" in a very special way.


Aldi candles!  During the quarantine, I have only been doing grocery pick up at Kroger.  For the first 3+ weeks, I had not stepped foot into a store, and I was having serious shopping withdrawal. But I felt it most responsible to continue with only pick ups, even though I was desperately missing lots of our Aldi favorites (Aldi instacart is too expensive for me - I just couldn't pull the trigger).  But when my husband asked what I wanted for my birthday dinner, I chose salmon, which Kroger was out of (quarantines cause a run on salmon?).  SO - one morning last week, I braved the general public and went to Aldi promptly when they opened.  I got my salmon, and $150 worth of other Aldi faves, and was in and out in 13 minutes (I'm no amateur!). While it didn't exactly appease my shopping desires, being so quick a trip, it did garner these two fabulous candles! Recommended highly by a friend, I was thrilled when I saw them in the special buy aisle (a dangerous aisle, and also my favorite) and let myself buy two.  They smell fabulous, and help me pretend that it's springtime, even though it's snowing today.


Our family altar, during our worship-at-home services.  Since last week was Holy Week, we had services every day, and the altar was well used.  Sitting on the bench just under the TV, where we airplay the services, it brought me great joy and added such depth to our family room church.  Our houses are indeed "little churches" - the domestic church, and having this as a focal point as we worshiped was much appreciated. 



Monday, April 13, 2020

Holy Week at Home

We all experienced a unique Holy week and Easter this year.  No extended family gatherings, no community Easter Egg hunts, and no worship in our church building. This last one was the most challenging for me, as the Triduum (Maundy Thursday, Good Friday and the Easter Vigil) are my three favorite days of the church year. But, among the tears and sadness at being apart from our church family, communing together, and simply being in our church, I noticed some unique blessings come from our at-home worship experiences.
  • Washing my children's feet.  On Holy Thursday, we participated in the foot washing at home, as the pastors did it in the service.  Our church does a foot washing each year, with several people going up for the washing, a sort of representation of all us.  This year, though, we were all encouraged to take part in our homes, and the result was that one of my children washed my feet; lovingly and tenderly.  After that, I was able to wash the feet of one of my boys;  giant, man feet that I don't routinely touch.  And it was lovely.  As I washed his feet, I thought of those same feet when they were small, and how I had washed them in the tub more times than I can count.  As I washed his feet, I pondered what a gift I have in serving these children.
  • For the whole week, we've had our crucifix sitting on the bench just under our TV.  It's a beautiful antique crucifix which our friend gave us last year for our birthdays.  Having it there, just under where we watched worship, was a great focal point for us at home.  On Good Friday, we had a moment during the service to venerate or adore the cross.  Each of the kids and I came up to the cross and touched it, knelt before it and prayed by it.  We do this at church each year, with the big wooden cross there, but this was different and special.  We had candles lit by the cross and the room had darkened as dusk approached.  It was very meaningful.
  • The vigil was especially poignant for me. This service is always so special to me and so moving.  Our first four children have all been confirmed at this service, and this year my youngest daughter was going to receive early communion at the vigil. During the opening songs, as the church was dark and the candles all lit, I was unexpectedly weepy.  Oh, how I longed to be in that place, surrounded by our extended family, and our larger church family.  To be singing those vigil-specific pieces while holding our candles.  I was overwhelmed with desire to be in God's house, with God's people.  But as the service continued, I settled in, once again, to the beauty of being in my house, with God's people.  And by the end of the service, as we sang the final hymn together, with gusto, I thanked God for the opportunity to worship in this way, for this time. 
  • And finally, Easter morning.  Candles lit again, water prepared for our baptismal remembrance ritual, I praised God in my heart for his great sacrifice on the cross.  Singing those time honored hymns and songs --"O death, where is your sting? O hell, where is your vicotry?" -- my heart was stirred in love for my Savior, who gave his life for mine. 
Holy Week and Easter at home, while not what I hope for in the future, turned out to be greatly moving and meaningful to me and our family.  God works through everything, and His timing is always perfect. 

Christ is risen!  He is risen indeed! Alleluia!