Thursday, December 1, 2011

Started the day with a staff meeting.  That's always fun.  The day gets better from there.  LOL!  I copied some music for the Christmas choir folders, assembled music packets for the student instrumentalists who will be joining us this Christmas, came home and looked at the messy house and proceeded to ignore it.

December 1 finds me still playing catch up, but I am slowly getting there.  I actually made a batch of peppermint patty soap today. 

I made a batch last night - tried to oven process it - it wasn't pretty. It will eventually end up in the old crock pot and be re-batched. I had a customer who wanted it and I thought I could oven process it and she would have it for Christmas. I haven't ruined a batch of soap in a couple of years. Oh well, keeps me humble.

I also made 6 lamps, 2 batches of room spray, a batch of honey blossom candles, delivered an order, packaged up another order for shipping, assembled a large order for another customer, answered a third email asking us if we're still making stockings for this year (we aren't), made a dent in the dungeon cleanup, assembled folders for the Mass tomorrow with the school kids, and I need to make a couple of stockings. All-in-all, a good day's work.  

Word of the Day:
Thursday of the First week of Advent
Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint Matthew 7:21.24-27.

Jesus said to his disciples: «Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father in heaven.
Everyone who listens to these words of mine and acts on them will be like a wise man who built his house on rock.
The rain fell, the floods came, and the winds blew and buffeted the house. But it did not collapse; it had been set solidly on rock.
And everyone who listens to these words of mine but does not act on them will be like a fool who built his house on sand.
The rain fell, the floods came, and the winds blew and buffeted the house. And it collapsed and was completely ruined."

Tuesday, August 9, 2011

I am way behind on things. This week is VBS and it takes up a lot of time. The morning is spent at VBS and then I come home and learn the music for the next day.  The music is very energetic and we're all kind of dragging by the end of the morning.

I came home today and packaged up the Rainbow Sherbet and Honey Blossom soaps.  Next week I really have to get on the stick and make some more.  I mailed out a couple of orders and did a little more cleaning of the dungeon.  I also finished a set of 5 Teddy Bear stockings for Anna to sew up. I'd like to have at least 100 done by the end of August.

Anna and I went up to the rail trail again tonight.  My time for the 5K is slowly improving and my knee isn't bothering me much tonight.  I think the stretching at night has really helped.  Kelli won't be running the 5K with us in August.  She doesn't want to put too much stress on her ankle.  Sam probably won't do the race either.  :(   But Nina is coming up (hopefully her knee will be better) so she and Anna and I will run it together.

VBS is over on Thursday and then I have to get busy cleaning and making snack mix for a pizza party that Harold is hosting.  The patio is finished, but the guys still need to come back and put another coat of sealant on it.  It's rained the last couple of nights, so hopefully it will be done before Saturday.

I got our papers for our first craft show of the season.  It's coming up fast.  This show is in Carson City and it has been our lowest show in terms of sales.  This year we won't be taking candles and the only soap we'll be taking will be the cupcake soap.  People there like our nightlights and Christmas novelties and our mixes sell pretty well, but my stuff doesn't go as well in Carson City.  Not sure why because we sell out of a lot of soap and candles in this area, but each show is different. 

Word of the day:
Tuesday of the Nineteenth week in Ordinary Time
Feast of the Church : In Europe: St Teresa Benedicta of the Cross (Edith Stein), Virgin, Martyr, patron of Europe - Feast
Saint(s) of the day : St Teresa Benedicta of the Cross (Edith Stein), co-patron of Europe (1891-1942)
Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint Matthew 18:1-5.10.12-14.

At that time the disciples approached Jesus and said, "Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?"
He called a child over, placed it in their midst,
and said, "Amen, I say to you, unless you turn and become like children, you will not enter the kingdom of heaven.
Whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.
And whoever receives one child such as this in my name receives me.
See that you do not despise one of these little ones, for I say to you that their angels in heaven always look upon the face of my heavenly Father.
What is your opinion? If a man has a hundred sheep and one of them goes astray, will he not leave the ninety-nine in the hills and go in search of the stray?
And if he finds it, amen, I say to you, he rejoices more over it than over the ninety-nine that did not stray.
In just the same way, it is not the will of your heavenly Father that one of these little ones be lost.

Saturday, June 18, 2011

Oh, I am a sad, pitiable soul. I have absolutely no patience or discipline. Look what I did after saying that I would wait until Sunday. I figured since the loaf was in the fridge, it would be easy to unmold - and it was, but it is still soft. You can see that it started to gel even though it was in the fridge.

Here is one of the bitty bars.  I got a little too close with the camera.

Word of the day:
Saturday of the Eleventh week in Ordinary Time
Saint(s) of the day : St. Elizabeth of Schoenau, St. Gregory Barbarigo, Bishop (1625-1697), Sts. Marcus and Marcellianus, Martyrs (+286)
Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint Matthew 6:24-34.

Jesus said to his disciples: «No one can serve two masters. He will either hate one and love the other, or be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon.
Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat (or drink), or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food and the body more than clothing?
Look at the birds in the sky; they do not sow or reap, they gather nothing into barns, yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are not you more important than they?
Can any of you by worrying add a single moment to your life-span?
Why are you anxious about clothes? Learn from the way the wild flowers grow. They do not work or spin.
But I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was clothed like one of them.
If God so clothes the grass of the field, which grows today and is thrown into the oven tomorrow, will he not much more provide for you, O you of little faith?
So do not worry and say, 'What are we to eat?' or 'What are we to drink?' or 'What are we to wear?'
All these things the pagans seek. Your heavenly Father knows that you need them all.
But seek first the kingdom (of God) and his righteousness, and all these things will be given you besides.
Do not worry about tomorrow; tomorrow will take care of itself. Sufficient for a day is its own evil.

Saturday, April 18, 2009

I made the maple fudge yesterday. It tastes really good, but it didn't cut as nicely as the others. I'm guessing the maple syrup had something to do with it. I am going to make a batch with walnuts today and do a little tweaking.

Yesterday, Claire helped me cut the latest batch of soap. Later she was my helper as I boxed fudge. She handed me the boxes. It's nice to have another pair of hands around. While we were doing that, Clay was busy crafting some more pictures for me. He loves to make the pictures and then he will snuggle up in the chair with me and show me all the little details he put in them.

I had a few sales last night so I have to make sure I replenish the inventory for next week.

Here is a picture of our booth from last year's Shepherd Maple Syrup Festival. Pictured are Anna and Summer.



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Word of the day:
Saturday in the Octave of Easter
Gospel
Mk 16:9-15

When Jesus had risen, early on the first day of the week,
he appeared first to Mary Magdalene,
out of whom he had driven seven demons.
She went and told his companions who were mourning and weeping.
When they heard that he was alive
and had been seen by her, they did not believe.

After this he appeared in another form
to two of them walking along on their way to the country.
They returned and told the others;
but they did not believe them either.

But later, as the Eleven were at table, he appeared to them
and rebuked them for their unbelief and hardness of heart
because they had not believed those
who saw him after he had been raised.
He said to them, "Go into the whole world
and proclaim the Gospel to every creature."

Monday - December 1, 2008 - Baseline day

Snow day! Snow day! What shall I do with this great gift of bonus time? First of all, I will say a prayer for all who are out on the roads today. Here is my list of things I want to accomplish

Christmas Choir folders - mission accomplished
Laundry room - first 30 minute stint - taking out things that don't belong
Finish Christmas stocking orders - 3 done
Pack up orders to mail
Clean kitchen
And today is laundry and bill day.

Today is a baseline day. I got way off track and am paying the price. Kitchen

No workout today, I put my back out somehow. If I had known that school was cancelled, I would have slept in. Apparently, school closings are not announced on the Saginaw station any more.

So, I am lighting candles (no shortage of those around). I am going to attack my chores in the Flylady way. I'll check back in with updates on my progress for those who are interested.

I also made my Advent candles yesterday. These were made from melting down an old Paschal Candle from church. I have never worked with such wonderful pillar wax. These practically fell out of the mold.










Word of the day
Monday of the First Week of Advent
Gospel
Mt 8:5-11

When Jesus entered Capernaum,
a centurion approached him and appealed to him, saying,
“Lord, my servant is lying at home paralyzed, suffering dreadfully.”
He said to him, “I will come and cure him.”
The centurion said in reply,
“Lord, I am not worthy to have you enter under my roof;
only say the word and my servant will be healed.
For I too am a man subject to authority,
with soldiers subject to me.
And I say to one, ‘Go,’ and he goes;
and to another, ‘Come here,’ and he comes;
and to my slave, ‘Do this,’ and he does it.”
When Jesus heard this, he was amazed and said to those following him,
“Amen, I say to you, in no one in Israel have I found such faith.
I say to you, many will come from the east and the west,
and will recline with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob
at the banquet in the Kingdom of heaven.”

Thoughts from the cornfield:
Catholics will recognize in this passage, the source of the short prayer which we say before receiving the Eucharist. "Lord, I am not worthy to receive you, but only say the word and I shall be healed."

The late Bishop of Saginaw, Bishop Kenneth Untener, was a frequent guest on a local radio station based out of Saginaw. His dear friend, Art Lewis, once asked him what he thought heaven would be like. Bishop Untener answered, "I know one thing - I will be surprised." Indeed, we will be surprised at who we find in heaven - although Jesus has told us to expect the most unlikely people to be there, we are still in for many surprises. We may be even more surprised at who we don't find there. Lord, I want to be in that number.

God bless our troops!