2013 Project 365 – Week Seven

This week was all about me me me!! I was out of control taking pictures of myself this week. Thank goodness for you I’m not sharing all of them – just THREE. For heaven’s sake.

Saturday, February 9^th   

Before we get to me you get to see this gorgeous red-bellied woodpecker from our back yard. I think Dr. M did a fabulous job getting his picture. On Facebook someone asked why it’s called “red-bellied” instead of “red-headed.” Here is the answer: Cornell Lab explains as follows: "Red-bellied Woodpeckers are pale, medium-sized woodpeckers common in forests of the East. Their strikingly barred backs and gleaming red caps make them an unforgettable sight – just resist the temptation to call them Red-headed Woodpeckers, a somewhat rarer species that's mostly black on the back with big white wing patches." Females tend to have reddish bellies, hence the name.

Sunday, February 10^th   

The doves are back! Or, actually, just the one – which makes me kind of sad…

I made Karen a hat & this is one of the two scarves she sent back! I promptly had to wear it to church.

Here is picture two of me. I’ve been writing in my journal most nights & using my favorite of my mother’s multitudinous reading glasses to see what I’m doing. I’ve always thought they were the most fun, but could never envision a day when I would actually wear them. I guess almost 49 is that day! (Please ignore my freshly scrubbed face & samurai hair)

Monday, February 11^th           

Gorgeous sky on my way to work.

Dr. M took a picture of this huge plane that flies out of Wright-Patterson AFB. He could tell you the name of it – I cannot. Hopefully he’ll mention it in the comments :)

Tuesday, February 12^th  

There’s a moon in the sky! Dr. M did a great moon post – check it out here.

Wednesday, February 13^th    

Geese doing what geese do…

I took Wednesday off from work because I’d had 8 hours of church over the weekend (my friend Joanne’s memorial service on Saturday & my first vestry meeting on Sunday) & felt the need to do some home maintenance before the Ash Wednesday service that evening. I decided that Ash Wednesday was an appropriate day to take the Christmas ornaments off of the tree.

Home from church, of course I had to take a picture of myself & post it on Facebook (just call me a Pharisee – I think?). The State of the Bug: looking a little deranged, as I contemplate doing minimal Facebooking for the next 47 days...

Thursday, February 14^th  

The best picture of the week in my opinion. This is one of the campus squirrels eating a McDonald’s French fry.

Happy Valentine’s Day to me! My sweetie gave me tulips, candy and Val Kilmer. Yum!

Friday, February 15^th     

The tulips looking even more gorgeous.

There’s a story here. If you are my Facebook friend then you’ve already seen it. If not, you’ll have to wait until after Easter. Bwahahaha! (Um, please note that it’s not really all THAT exciting).

Go to Mamma Fran’s blog here to see the blogs of all the other Project 365 participants. Have a great week!

Most of our photos are taken with a 12 megapixel Nikon D5000 DSLR, using a 55-200mm zoom lens. This is the camera that Dr. M takes with him most days. He also takes pictures with our old reliable 7 megapixel Canon Powershot A710.  The Bug uses our new Nikon Coolpix S6200 most of the time. If you’re interested in which camera was used for a particular shot, just ask! 

And Thus The Things of Which Nurse Rudee Spake May Come to Pass

Forgive me interwebs, for I have eaten cake. And it was good. Also I have not always gotten to bed at the prescribed hour.  And that was bad. On the other hand I have said the rosary every night. So that was good.

Thus endeth my interim Lenten report.

I’ve been hanging out with my dad & Amy, walking at the mall, and mostly doing this:

I created an inadvertent pyramid

So I ripped it out & then did this, which is somewhat better.

But the best is my patent-pending small-waisted dish cloth! Obviously, the ends of my rows could use some work. Ha!

I bought this yesterday - 

I've already started working on the one that looks like creamsicle

...and now I'm afraid that what Rudee said on my post yesterday is going to come true:

Before you know it, you'll be enslaved by that crochet hook and fiber. The road is a slippery slope to a sheep farm where you will become enamored of the ancient art of sheering sheep and learning to spin the fiber into wool. Dr. M will be your enabler. Before long, you'll be dragging anyone who'll go to the Maryland Sheep and Wool Festival and entering the sheep to shawl contest.

It hasn't helped that my sister-in-law Bren taught me two new stitches the other day. Well, you know that if this prediction comes to pass you'll hear about it here!

2012 Project 365 – Week Eight

We’re mostly back to normal in the Bug Household – well, as normal as… you know. Ha!

Sunday, February 19^th    

I went to an open house & got to meet Eva, the elderly bunny. She’s so cute!

Dr. M took this picture of doves. Here’s Dr. M’s caption from Facebook: So, you want to grab a bite to eat, watch the sunset...maybe, you know... The phrase, "not if you were the last dove in Xenia" comes to mind...

Monday, February 20^th

The Tax Time Pig says Happy President’s President Presidents’ Presidents Day!

Dr. M took this sparrow picture. I have to wonder why this bird is so fat – it wasn’t even that cold that day. Could it be the 24 hour buffet available in the Bug backyard?

It’s a starling sighting! They are so funny looking to me, with their orange feet.

Tuesday, February 21^st

Weekly squirrel picture.

Wednesday, February 22^nd

I’d say this deer is camouflaged pretty well!

The State of the Bug: Lent begins.

Thursday, February 23^rd  

Red tailed hawk. Dr. M didn’t have our long lensed camera with him, but these are still pretty good pictures.

I don’t know why the gaggle of white geese always make me giggle, but they do.

Friday, February 24^th   

Ohio scenery.

One of Dr. M’s friends got this sheep as swag at a stair-climbing fundraising event she participated in. Of course she knew that it really belonged to Dr. M so she sent it to him! Thanks K!

Saturday, February 25^th  

My breakfast (lovingly prepared by Dr. M). I forgot to take the picture before I chopped up the egg. That’s turkey bacon – it works really well as a shovel to get the grits & egg to my mouth. Please note the absence of raisins. Ha!

Go to Sara’s blog here to see the blogs of all the other Project 365 participants. Have a great week!

Most of our photos are taken with a 12 megapixel Nikon D5000 DSLR, using a 55-200mm zoom lens. This is the camera that Dr. M takes with him most days. He also takes pictures with our old reliable 7 megapixel Canon Powershot A710.  The Bug uses our new Nikon Coolpix S6200 most of the time. If you’re interested in which camera was used for a particular shot, just ask! 

Lent

I’ve been trying to decide what I will do for Lent this year. I had lots of grandiose plans & silly ones, but Ash Wednesday is tomorrow – I need to make a decision already! So, I’ve boiled it down to three things:

1.       No sweets except on Sundays (except for my birthday which comes very inconveniently during Lent every year – sheesh!). This means that the Girl Scout Cookies I’m getting tomorrow are going into the freezer!

2.       Going to bed by 10:00 and getting up at 6:00 every day (except Sunday – I can sleep in until 7:30 on Sunday). I’m not going to make myself promise to DO anything at 6:00, but I need to be out of bed by then. This is in an effort to get myself into a routine where I get more regular sleep. I’ve felt really sleep deprived lately.

3.       Praying with my Episcopal rosary every night.

I’m also going to try to limit Facebook to a certain timeframe each night, but I want that to be more of a gradual lifestyle change than a Lenten observance.

So, how do these directives help me observe Lent? I’m going to test the theory that there is freedom in structure – that in creating this routine I can let go of what I ought to do, & in the vacuum created by “ought’s” absence I can find my way to myself again. Because maybe it’s just February, or maybe it’s self-disdain, or maybe it’s a dearth of estrogen, or maybe it’s because I’m almost 48 (48!), but I find myself staring off into space a lot lately, wordless, thoughtless…

Wow, just in the process of trying to write this post I’ve caught myself several times staring out the window thinking, “floaty clouds…” I’m thinking that shaking things up by pinning things down will be a nice change for me. I’ll let you know how it’s going!

Just Do It!

I must say that the second day of Lent (or is this the first day & Ash Wednesday is its own day?) has just let me have it with both barrels. I have often practically bragged about how sluglike I am – slothful, lazy, slacker, "Piece of Sh** Housewife" (sorry for the language - this was the result of a Facebook quiz – and is terrifyingly accurate!)… These are all adjectives I've used for my usual demeanor. Well, now I'm forced to admit that this behavior is probably not the best me that I can be – or the me that God would like me to be.

Here is the reading for the 18^th from this website (emphasis added):

We call it procrastination. Sometimes it is fleeting and temporary. At other times it becomes so habitual that we lack the energy or motivation to do what needs to be done. Sly as a snake, sloth has slipped into our soul and shut down our desire to be active in bringing God's goodness to the world by what we create. Sloth feels like pampering at first, but gradually our soul grows heavy, and it feels like our meaning has been stripped away.

I'm on the mailing list for Barbara Cawthorne Crafton's almost daily motivational emails (eMo's). She's a bit of a hero of mine. Here is an excerpt from the eMo I received on Thursday:

Jesus resisted his temptations to satiety and power better than I resist mine to indolence -- no surprise there. As always, I am impressed by how gentle and reasonable my temptations seem: Oh, never mind, sweetie, they say, you're tired. Just take it easy. God loves you just the way you are.

Indeed, God does love me just the way I am. Always has, even at those sorry times when what I was has been significantly south of what I could have been. But the fact that God loves me as I am doesn't mean God wants me to stay that way forever. Part of love is challenge: Be what you can be. Grow into the full stature of Christ. Use what I have given you, and take joy in using it. I will give you the energy for it if you will step up to the plate and begin. See? Feel the stream of living water that flows straight from my heart to yours? Let that stream rush with power into the world, and you will know why I put you here, in this place, at this time.

I think I'll be spending some serious time this weekend considering how to get up out of this chair and do something!

Going Inside My Head

Fat Tuesday is over and done, and I have the pancake thighs to show for it. Last year I wrote my very first post about Lent, and what the discipline of observing Lent might look like in my perfect world. I'm not feeling any more perfect this year, but I've decided to once again try to give up something and take up something.

I thought long and hard about what to give up, that would be meaningful to me, and this is what I've decided. I'm going to give up the games and puzzles that I do online. No more Farmville or Farkle, no more Cryptograms or Cipher Lists. No more Webkins. I spend a lot of time with these games. I would like to see what it will be like to use that time for something a little more constructive.

And so I am going to take up the practice of reading something other than someone's blog post! I'm going to read books that I have on my shelf. I'm going to read books about the emotions behind eating. I'm going to read Lenten devotions (courtesy of Jan at Yearning for God).

Will I be wiser at the end of forty days? I hope so. Will I start playing my games again? I hope not with the same frenzy. Playing games is a way for me to avoid introspection. And heaven knows I don't enjoy time spent inside my head. But maybe for the sake of personal growth I can spend some time with the boring chick who lives in there. And then we can go play a rousing game of Farkle afterward.

See ya later alligator!

My First Post!

I've been following a lot of blogs lately & that has inspired me to join the fray. Not sure what I'm going to do with this space - but I'll try to visit pretty often. We'll see.

I'm in the midst of Lent right now. As a Southern Baptist, I was not really familiar with the concept. But now I'm an Episcopalian and it’s a fascinating part of the church calendar. I love how the sanctuary (nave?) and service are down to bare essentials. And every year my goal is to also be down to bare essentials (not Bare Escentuals – although I love their makeup!). And every year I don’t really succeed. Last night at Bible study I realized – perhaps – why that’s the case. I’m just not really into suffering all that much. Even the “suffering” involved in not eating chocolate, or getting up an hour early to do the Daily Office, much less the suffering of actually being present with people in pain or trying to do something constructive to ease the pain. What would it look like if I were to approach Lent as a way to be more Christ-like – in his suffering as well as in his ministry of love to other people? Giving up chocolate doesn’t really seem to fit the bill, does it?