Manic Monday: Life in music, words and pictures

It's a lovely rainy and cool August day here in the northeast, the kind of day that makes you want to curl up with a good book while the drops pitter patter against the windows. If only. I'm in my basement office instead, far from the sound of rain. Where is your day going to take you? What's on tap for the week ahead? Here's where I've been and where I'm going...

Soundtrack: Wicked, in particular the song "Popular." It hasn't been my choice, although I certainly don't mind. The girls have been blasting Popular for days, and dancing around the basement as if they're on a Broadway stage. Olivia and I went to see Wicked on Broadway last month, courtesy of her Grandma Mary Ann and Aunt Alison. Obviously, it left a lasting impression. Actually, I used "For Good," from the Wicked soundtrack for a spiritual friendship retreat I gave back in May. Great music from a great show.

Bookshelf: The Journal Keeper: A Memoir by Phyllis Theroux. I just started this book, on the recommendation of a friend of a friend on Facebook. I borrowed it from our library, but I already know that I will buy this book because I'll need to go back and re-read it, or at least portions of it, now and then. I find myself re-reading even now, only 37 pages in. So much here to savor. It's a wonderful reminder that even the mundane moments of our lives can be magical. Theroux certainly makes them feel that way.

Blog Bits: Kathy Schiffer over at Seasons of Grace gives us some nice food for thought regarding yesterday's Gospel and Jesus' "mean streak." Why couldn't Jesus have been "friendlier, more loving, more Christ-like?" Kathy asks. Click HERE and find out the answer.

Weekly Wisdom: "Taking a new step, uttering a new word is what people fear most." -- Fydor Dostoyevski

Appointment book: Lots of chore-type stuff this week -- eye doctor, orthodontist, hair cuts, school shopping -- on top of the regular work. And yet I am managing to keep up with my daily Morning Pages (part of the 12-week journey of The Artist's Way) and Morning Prayer from the Liturgy of the Hours. Slowly but surely these things are becoming so engrained in my daily morning ritual that I would miss them too much to skip them. That's some kind of major breakthrough for me, even if it might seem minor in the grand scheme of things. Bit by bit, that's how we grow. Baby steps.

Viewfinder:
Middle child demonstrates her archery skills at the Heldeberg Workshops.



Fresh fruit from Our Family's Harvest of Stanton Farms. The muskmelon was out of this world. Then again, so was everything else.


Our Lady of Guadalupe is a favorite resting place for our backyard squirrels.