*The Husband took PTO Monday through Wednesday this week, so after getting back from Dallas/OKC, he's been shimming doors, changing furnace filters, filling car tires with air, getting grocery money for the month, helping me figure out an e-check, etc., etc.
*I still hope to work on a desk and phone this week.
*Today I'm taking a nephew to therapy and then taking a niece with me to Lenexa to hear my previous choirs in their first concert of the year.
*Today's photos are from the Shrine of Our Lady of Snows in Belleville, IL, just over the border from St. Louis. The first pictures is the one that inspired the priest to minister to those in isolated communities, and the second is from the Father's Garden on the grounds.
We saw the arch, toured the museum underneath, visited the gift shop, and then took an hour riverboat cruise down and back on the Mississippi. The cruise was pretty disappointing, partly because there's not much to see on that stretch of the Mississippi other than bridges.
*Tomorrow I'm making pasta with a pesto sauce. I have a basil plant thriving outside and I want to use up the plant before it gets frost bitten.
*Tonight we're having sausages, potatoes with dill and parsley, applesauce, and sweetened sauerkraut. It's our version of an Oktoberfest.
*Last night we had chicken rice with buttery onions from Smitten Kitchen. The rice took longer than the recipe said, but the finished recipe was quite tasty. The picture below is the pumpkin muffins I made for Christmas.
*Tuesday the Son made a buffalo chicken Cobb salad. While it was good, there were a few too many differing ingredients: the buffalo chicken, black beans, avocado, celery, carrots, romaine lettuce, blue cheese, and a creamy buffalo dressing. I still enjoyed it.
*Monday I made a sweet potato and turkey chili in the crockpot. It was surprisingly good, thick, and we have very few leftovers.
*Last weekend it was my mom's turn to host family dinner, and she made roast and potatoes to have for my dad's birthday with an Italian cream cake.
*Hopefully tomorrow I will call the dentist to schedule new appointments after getting the old ones cancelled last week.
*Still need to work on desk and phone; this will just take me a while.
*I still need to get rods or decide to make the ones we have here work. Paint still needs to be bought.
*One new thing this week is to make a "house chores" list for the Husband so he knows what the new priorities for the fall are to get done on weekends.
*It's not a Voboril trip if there's not a lot of food.
*We visited the Chocolate Chocolate factory; we didn't tour, but we did buy lots of chocolate. On the way, we passed one of the Italian bakeries and were forced to buy some treats.
*For lunch we did Bogart's ribs. They were wonderful as always. We've been often enough that we know exactly what our favorites are.
*Supper was amatriciana that we made at home. The salad was really good as was the sauce my mom made on bucatini, all from Italian grocery stores less than a mile from us.
Saint Isaac Jocques, John de Brebeuf, Priests and Companions (USA-M), “The North American Martyrs”
Dates: October 19 IJ born 1607; d.1642, 1647-9; canonized 1930
Place: from France; Jesuit missionaries to the “New World”
Importance: tortured by Iriquois and died for faith in Canada/New York area
Patron: Canada; Americas
Prayer: “O God, you consecrated the first beginnings of the faith in North America by the preaching and martyrdom of Saints John and Isaac and their companions. Through their intercession let more people everywhere respond to Good News of salvation. We ask this…Amen.”
Quotes: Holy Martyrs and patrons, protect this land which you have blessed by the shedding of your blood. Renew in these days our Catholic faith which you helped to establish in this new land. Bring all our fellow citizens to a knowledge and love of the truth. Make us zealous in the profession of our faith so that we may continue and perfect the work which you have begun with so much labour and suffering. Pray for our homes, our schools, our missions, for vocations, for the conversion of sinners, the return of those who have wandered from the fold, and the perseverance of all the Faithful. And foster a deeper and increasing unity among all Christians. Amen.--Jesuit novena prayer to the martyrs
