Wow!

I had never been part of a more tense meeting than I was tonight.  I was completely taken off guard and really do not know how to move forward from it.  Maybe not everyone felt that way or maybe I didn't understand the anger that I witnessed.  Maybe no one was even mad, and I just misread the room.  Either way, I will have to think about what I want to do going to do in the future.  I do not want to attend any more contemptuous meetings.  I'm too old for that.  I am definitely at the point that I just want to enjoy life.  

Thankfully, that was the only stressful part of my day.   Doug was had dinner ready when I got home.  He also listened to my concerns and gave me some great advice on how to not let it bother me for the rest of the evening.  I was very glad for that.  It was also helpful that I had to connect Doug's new phone to the Accord which completely took my mind off of everything else.  We finished the evening watching Moana as Doug had never seen it and wanted to be ready for the sequel when it came out in November.  It was the perfect way to set aside the stress of the day and put my mind at ease that "tomorrow will be a brighter day" as Jim Croce stated in his famous song.  

All Saints Day & The Patriotic Rosary

I started my weekend by attending All Saints Day mass and ended it with the Patriotic Rosary.  I was really glad that I did.  I hadn't been to All Saints Day mass in years due to scheduling issues.  Friday's  service was a wonderful celebration of the Saints and also a nice remembrance for All Soul's Day.  I was also able to add deceased family's members names in the church's prayer book.  The Patriotic Rosary was something that I had never heard of before this fall.  One of the members of CCW had suggested it and I was impressed with the presentation that she gave to the congregation today.  We prayed for those in office, our country and each individual state.  We also sang multiple Patriotic songs.  It was perfect timing with the upcoming election on Tuesday.

The extra time at church this weekend couldn't have come at a more perfect time.  There were several events that had occurred on Friday and Sunday that had produced a lot of anxiety for me.  Thankfully, I was able to solve the first one relatively quickly.  Cal had gotten conned by a Verizon store employee and was going to have to pay for two phones and two lines for eighteen months.  Once I got the customer service representative on the phone, the issue was resolved to our satisfaction.  He also needed me to be available to talk to Honda about the door chime that would not stop beeping on the CR-V.  That ended up being the easiest solve of the weekend as they reset all of the sensors, and the annoying noise stopped immediately.  Verizon caused another headache for us as I had to set up a new phone for Doug.  That is always way more time consuming than it should be.  Fortunately, he was able to use it within a couple of hours of me starting the process.  The incident that bothered me the most occurred when I was trying to be helpful to another person. As a result, someone was extremely rude to me and it upset me for quite some time afterward.  The Patriotic Rosary was just the event that I needed to help me feel better.  I was very thankful for Blessed Trinity this weekend.  The church has been a big part of my life since we moved and I am incredibly pleased that to have become a member there.

Another Week, Another Win - Unbelievable

This week's IU game with Michigan State didn't start until 3:30, so Doug and I had a whole morning and part of an afternoon to fill before it began.  We both had a few projects in mind including planting grass and replacing a bathroom light.  As soon as we got back from Lowe's, Phil stopped by and invited Doug to go to a local home brew event at Hiatus.  While they were there, I finished installing my new light, put away the Halloween and got out the Thanksgiving decorations.  They returned in time to watch Ohio State beat Penn State with me.  

Doug and I then focused all of our attention on the Hoosier football team.  We were both nervous about the game as IU had never started their season 9-0 and we knew that Michigan State at East Lansing would be a tough win.  The first quarter sent me outside to work on a few projects as it just seemed like nothing was going our way.  Thankfully, the 10-0 start by the Spartans was soon erased and IU headed into the locker room at halftime with the lead at 21-10.  The second half of the game was great for Hoosier fans, but rough on the Michigan State crowd as IU poured on the scoring, finishing with a 47-10 victory.  

The rest of our night was a relaxing one.  Doug made turkey chili for dinner.  We then watched a few football upsets that would help Indiana in the polls on Sunday and finished the night by renting Scream.  It was such a beautiful evening that we moved the television outside and enjoyed the movie on the patio.  Overall, it was a wonderful day in Ocala for Hoosier football fans.  I can't wait to see what next Saturday brings.  

A Happy Halloween for All

This year not all of my children dressed up for Halloween.  Cal told me that it was the first year that he could remember in a long time that he didn't have a party to go to or a costume to wear.  He was fine with that and instead enjoyed the holiday with his favorite scary movies.  Texas Chainsaw Massacres was still number one on his list, but Black Christmas was climbing higher with each passing year.  Brett also spent his Halloween costume free.  Instead, he spent his day off doing his favorite October activity - politicking.  He started by voting and then went to Nashville to knock on doors for Dave Hall. While there, he also attended a political Trick or Treat rally where he met several of the local candidates.  He ended his evening with mass and adoration before calling it a night.

Meg and Cameron did enjoy costumed activities tonight and last weekend.  Meg and Maddy dressed up for their night out on the town last Saturday.  Nick and Meg then went to several Halloween themed bars this evening.  Cameron dressed as his doppelganger Beatle, George Harrison, at multiple parties this week, and although he said that he was going to have a quiet night at home this evening, he still made it to a friend's get-together before the holiday was over.  I enjoyed hearing all about their activities this week and appreciated the pictures very much.

Happy Halloween

For some reason I was really not that excited about Halloween this year.  It has always been my favorite time of the year, but this year felt different.  I thought that maybe it was because none of our children were home, but when I thought about it, the four of them hadn't been home on Halloween night in several years.  In fact, two years ago, no one was home to hand out candy except for me as Doug was in Ocala helping Phil move.  

Thankfully, my feelings started to change this week, and I was glad that I had put out Halloween decorations, bought Trick or Treat candy, and watched multiple holiday specials, because by the time today rolled around, I was more than ready to celebrate Halloween.  I started the day by watching Halloween Town, a family favorite and ended it by turning on the horror movie, Halloween, with Doug after we gave out candy to 613 costumed children in our neighborhood.  I was thankful that he had left work early enough to join me just as the first Trick or Treaters walked by.  I couldn't believe how packed our street was with families, wagons, and golf carts.  The perimeter of the retention pond across the street had cars parked around it for over three hours.  We had to actually come in from the driveway and turn off our lights as we had run out of candy.  Overall, it was a lot of fun and a great reminder of why Halloween is one of the best nights of the year.   

Lunch Plans

This year they changed how we do prayer partners at CCW and I really liked the ideas they presented. Last year it was one of the most intimidating parts of being in the group. I didn’t know the majority of the women’s names, I could never find my prayer partner, and I didn’t really know what I was supposed to do. This year they provided time for us to meet our prayer partners during our meetings and also encouraged us to go to lunch with them one time during the month. Since I thought the idea was a great one, I wanted to make sure that I followed through with their suggestions. I noticed last month that only two people went out with their prayer partners for lunch. Thus, when I got my new one at the meeting in October, I called her afterward and invited her to meet for lunch. I knew that I would be busy last week, so I suggested one day this week. She picked Panera for lunch and this afternoon for our meeting.

I was super excited about going today, not because I was looking for a new friend, but thought that some social activity with a fellow Catholic in our area would be perfect. She was older than me and I was interested to hear her life journey. There was a little hiccup in our plan as I went to one Panera, and she went to another. That made me laugh, as I explained to her that I grew up in a town where we didn’t have any Paneras, so the thought that there were two never crossed my mind. She was very gracious about the error and in the end, I was incredibly glad that I reached out. She told me about her life, her faith, her boys, and what brought her family to Ocala 50 years ago. It was really nice to hear someone else’s thoughts on our church and the parts of it that they really enjoyed at Blessed Trinity. Overall, it was a fun day, and I would definitely do it again. That’s the best part about CCW. It has taken me outside of my comfort zone and has enhanced my own faith journey.

Bible Study

I wasn't sure that I would be able to get up this morning for Bible study as I was still exhausted from the weekend.  Thankfully, my internal clock woke me up early and I had plenty of time to get there before it started.  The topic this morning was the Last Supper and Passover.  I had learned a lot about the room where the last supper had taken place last year and enjoyed hearing even more about the Cenacle this fall. It was not only informative, but also enjoyable as it led to a lot of good discussion. My favorite part of learning about the Bible is the history that is discovered.   

When I started going to Bible study in September, I realized that I was the only person attending that was under 70.  In fact, some of the members made their first communion before my parents were born.  Several of the women from CCW were also in the group.  They were concerned that I wouldn't like the dynamics of the group, but I actually love it.  The group shares a lot of personal stories about their own faith and have enlightened me on parts of the Bible that I knew very little about before this past year.  Overall, I am thrilled that I joined.  It is exactly what I was looking for when we moved to Ocala last August.