Tuesday the 10th: The restoration of the Rock

 My mom has developed a fascination with the indigenous people of Kansas, and I knew she would want to see the report on the restoration of this sacred rock to its people.

 

 

Monday the 9th: Saint of the Week

*St. Frances of Rome is the only saint this week; we are in a patch of February-March that has less saints, perhaps because this is when Lent falls and we celebrate less in general. St. Frances is both a married mother and the patron of the Benedictine Oblates, a branch of laypeople living the Rule of St. Benedict in their daily lives.

“God not only tested the patience of Frances with respect to her material wealth, but he also tested her especially through long and serious illnesses which she had to undergo. And yet no one ever observed in her a tendency toward impatience. She never exhibited any displeasure when she complied with an order, no matter how foolish./With peace of soul, she always reconciled herself to the will of God, and gave him thanks for all that happened./God had not chosen her to be holy merely for her own advantage. Rather the gifts he conferred upon her were to be for the spiritual and physical advantage of her neighbor. For this reason he made her so lovable that anyone with whom she spoke would immediately feel captivated by love for her and ready to help her in everything she wanted. She seemed able to subdue the passions of every type of person with a single word and lead them to do whatever she asked.

“For this reason people flocked to Frances from all directions, as to a safe refuge. No one left her without being consoled, although she openly rebuked them for their sins and fearlessly reproved them for what was evil and displeasing to God.

“Many different diseases were rampant in Rome. Fatal diseases and plagues were everywhere, but the saint ignored the risk of contagion and displayed the deepest kindness toward the poor and the needy. Her empathy would first bring them to atone for their sins. Then she would help them by her eager care, and urge them lovingly to accept their trials, however, difficult, from the hand of God. She would encourage them to endure their sufferings for love of Christ, since he had previously endured so much for them.

”For thirty years Frances continued this service to the sick and the stranger. During epidemics like this it was not only difficult to find doctors to care for the body but even priests to provide remedies for the soul. She herself would seek them out and bring them to those who were disposed to receive the sacraments of penance and the Eucharist.”--from the Life of Saint Frances of Rome by a contemporary

 

 (Picture on Pinterest: "The Vision of Saint Francesca Romana by Orazio Gentileschi c.1619 via museumsyndicate.org)

 

Friday the 6th: Kansas History

 I had to send a picture of this plaque to my friend as we toured the Watkins Museum. She loves the term Jayhawk so anytime I see it used historically (not just as the mascot for KU) I have to let her know.

 

 

Thursday the 4th: Food of the Week

 *Tomorrow I'm making tuna salad to have with bread before Stations.

*Tonight I'm making chicken and black bean salad; I'll mix the veggies with the dressing and cut up the lettuce, and they can mix things together as they like in their own bowls. I'll keep the chicken separate so it can be meatless for Friday. For the chicken I like to use the chicken pieces already cooked from the fridge section in Aldi.

*Last night I made calzones with leftover shredded pork roast, ricotta, colby jack, and bolognese inside pilsbury mini pizza crusts. They turned out really nicely but I still have lots of roast to use up.

*Tuesday the Son made Monte Cristo Quesadillas while I was at Arts Night at the Academy.  They were unusual but good; they benefitted from a little extra crisping.

*Monday I made Sesame Garlic Beef Tacos. I doubled the recipe so we would have some leftovers. They were delicious.

*Sunday we had leftovers after eating the St. Joseph Parish annual parish dinner of spaghetti and marinara sauce. It was wonderful even if they didn't have cannolis this year.  

Wednesday the 4th: Music of the Week

 *This will be short as I am currently OVERWHELMED with the amount of things to do this. In the words of my principal, though, "I did this to myself" by saying yes and not counting the cost of not giving myself recovery time.

Tuesday was Arts Night at the Academy so I spent 12 hours at work, first in a day of class, then practicing with 8 soloists for regional festival, then setting up four pianos through the school, then a concert with two of our small choirs, then judging middle school piano for an hour, then cleaning up. Then checking in with family, eating supper, getting a son ready for the next day, then bed.

Today is a day of work, getting the son ready to go to Wichita to be a confirmation sponsor, and then teaching CGS after work (and hoping my clipboard with my lesson plan was left there last week) until 5 then cooking supper.

Thursday is a day of work, running home to make supper and check on the Son after his trip and a psychiatrist appointment, and then a confirmation Mass 30 minutes away with a lot of music.

Friday is a day of work and then Stations of the Cross at one of my parishes at six.

Saturday and Sunday are catching up on chores and three weekend Masses. 

 All of this is manageable! I'm just a little overwhelmed having it all in one week. Thank goodness Spring Break is coming soon. 

Tuesday the 3rd: The wonders of Lawrence KS

 We took a weekend trip to explore Lawrence. The Husband and I try to take a weekend or overnight trip every year for our anniversary, but we stopped going on our actual anniversary because we like outdoor exploration, and December 29 is not a great time to be outdoors.

We had a wonderful warm time and did a walk along the Kansas River and then a good walk through the Watkins Museum of History. 

 

 

Monday the 2nd: Saint of the Week

 St. Katharine Drexel is a recent saint, having died in 1955. An heir to the Drexel (banking) fortune, she gave her fortune to serve the poor and the oppressed. She founded the Sisters of the Blessed Sacrament in 1891 after doing her novitiate with the Sisters of Mercy in Omaha, Nebraska. She founded Xavier University in New Orleans specifically for African Americans. She traveled extensively to found schools and missions that served the local needs of the poor and the oppressed, especially those of color.

Her feast day is March 3.

 

Friday the 27th: the end of Christie

 The last book in our Agatha Christie collection arrived yesterday! It's a great thing to have all of them, it feels odd to not have this quest in our back pocket now.

 

 

Thursday the 26th: Food of the Week

 *Friday we are eating out something meatless for our anniversary trip.

*Thursday (tonight) I'm making some kind of pasta bake with ricotta, mozzarella, Parmesan, pasta, and homemade bolognese.

*Wednesday we had Italian stracciatella with chicken: it's like egg drop soup but with Parmesan and chicken. It was done in 30 minutes because I had chicken leftover and diced from last week. We enjoyed it particularly with the addition of a parmesan rind to the broth.

*Tuesday the Son made cornbread from Betty Crocker and a salad kit with leftover chicken strips from Third Coast Pizza. Everything was quite tasty. We finished off the meal with a lemon tart from Wheatfields; I picked up that and a loaf of bread after breakfast with a good friend.

*Monday I made breakfast for dinner, and it might have been my best hash yet. I made crispy cubed potatoes on their own in the oven; in about 45 minutes they are very flavorful and crispy. On the stove I made sauteed veggies with some creole seasoning along with a few eggs; then I mixed those in with the potatoes. On the side I made maple breakfast sausage patties. The Husband was quite pleased with the meal.

*Sunday we had a pork chop dinner with our last pork chops from the Amana Colonies. They are already smoked and so they almost taste like ham (plus for me, minus for the Husband). Potatoes, carrots, and onions cooked in broth and seasonings until tender and then the pork chops warmed up on top. Deeply flavorful and satisfying. 

Wednesday the 25th: Music of the Week

 *I just got almost all of my music for March for my churches sorted and placed yesterday. This week is a bit slower paced so I'm trying to get in lots of practice so I'm not taken by surprise next week. 

*No playing this weekend because we are going away for our anniversary. The actual date is December 29 but it's just too busy to take a trip then, so we always try to go away when our schedules align. This year we're doing Lawrence KS!! 

Tuesday the 24th: Spring and Spring cleaning

 The first crocus has arrived! So far I've seen one purple and one yellow. There should be more soon.

I'm trying to create more spaciousness in the house, so we are purging and then packing. One bookshelf is done and the second is started. 

 

 

Monday the 23rd: St. Polycarp of Smyrna

 St. Polycarp is an important saint as he gives us insight into the second generation of the Church: he was a disciple of St. John, died in Roman persecutions, and left writings that help us see how the Church was surviving amidst obstacles.

He was condemned to death but burning but the flamed did not harm him, so he had to stabbed with a dagger. The account of his death is our oldest account of martyrdom by a single individual.

Quotes from St. Polycarp: 

 “For eighty years I have served him and he has never wronged me; how can I renounce the king who has saved me?”—Polycarp when asked to renounce Jesus

  “For every one who shall not confess that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is antichrist; and whoso shall not confess the testimony of the Cross is of the devil; and whoso shall distort the words of the Lord to his own desires, and say that there is neither resurrection nor judgment, this is the first-born of Satan.”

 “Stand fast, therefore, in [your]conduct and follow the example of the Lord, ‘firm and unchangeable in faith, lovers of brotherhood, loving each other, united in truth,’ helping each other with the mildness of the Lord, despising no man.”—Letter to the Philippians

 

 

Friday the 20th: Shopping and Messes

*Picture 1: family member asked for 2 Ikea sharks and we obliged. They will have a shark family now!

*Picture 2: I went to teach CGS last week and found half of my room covered in scaffolding and building materials. Not the half of my room that I use but in my storage space. I had to do a fair amount of sweeping of my half to get the room ready for the children. 

 

 

Thursday the 19th: Food of the Week

 *Sunday we had stromboli and worked on finishing up desserts (which we finally did on Tuesday). The Son was a little indignant that we still had unfinished chocolate from Valentine's day so we put it in the freezer to keep for Easter.

*Monday the Son made Caesar salad and chicken-less chicken strips.  His Betty Crocker recipe included the raw egg yolk, but overall the dressing was too sour. He likes the idea but we'll try again with a different recipe. The chickenless strips were actually surprisingly good and would be a good meatless alternative if we needed that.

*Tuesday was Fat Tuesday so I made pancakes and bacon.  My current griddle is cast iron and I haven't yet made friends with what temperature it needs so the first batch was a little burned, but these are the Husband's favorite pancake.

*Wednesday was Ash Wednesday. I always make pasta salad; this year I used frozen peas, sauteed (for just 5 mintues) carrot and celery and onion, leftover bottled vinaigrette and a homemade vinaigrette with a little mustard and herbs, and egg noodles (because that's what I needed to use up). It was tasty, but having only one big meal for the day makes almost anything tasty.

*Tonight I have already started the slow cooker for Swiss Steak that I'll serve with rice and a veggie. This will be my second year of trying hard to have a fruit or veggie with every meal. I really don't eat as healthy as I should, and I feel like this also helps me snack less.

*Tomorrow we are having huevos rancheros; to make that happen, I'm going to try to make the salsa part today.  I scramble the eggs before placing them in the wells because most of us prefer all-the-way cooked eggs and that's the easiest way to make this dish and make it happen. It's delicious.

 

 

Wednesday the 18th: Music of the Week

*I thought I had all my solos but got one more new one over the weekend. And it's a doozy! It an orchestra reduction from Haydn and it's going to take a lot of work. That will start today!

 And a holy Ash Wednesday to all who celebrate!

 

Tuesday the 17th: Souper Bowl Food

 *We celebrated both the Husband's birthday food and a big football game with enticing ads. Lunch was beef barley soup and homemade pesto biscuits. Supper was fancy pigs in blankets, carrots and chips with Love dip, snickers salad with pretzels, and peanut m and ms. I already posted pictures of the birthday cake, and I'll eat the last piece today before Lent begins tomorrow.

 

Monday the 16th: Season of the Week

 

Not yet...but Ash Wednesday begins our Lenten season on Wednesday. I heard a really good reflection at my Oblate meeting this weekend that instead of just deciding what we should do or not do for Lent, it's really important to take the time to sit in reflection with the Lord and let Him decide or guide us where we need to grow this Lent. 

 

 

Friday the 13th: Kale Pesto

 I know! But I just finished reading The Everlasting Cookbook by Tamar Adler, and she reminds me that you can use any kind of green, not just basil, and you can really be more flexible with what you have than most recipes would lead you to believe. My only complaint about this pesto was that the sunflower seeds that I used for the nuts, even though I just purchased them, were a little stale and that really came through. Otherwise a quite respectable Friday night dish to eat and watch Olympics.