Life Updates of a Larger Magnitude

Dear Loyal Fans, I know I asked a few of you to diligently tune in to my Lenten reflections and give me feedback.  And I have not kept up my end of the deal.  This is simply to say sorry for that.  It turns out I just am not super woman.  I realized something fundamental today (that seems like common sense, but isn't to me.) I can do many things at a time.  And I can do things well.  But I can't do both. I don't know why I recognized that adding triathlon training to my daily schedule was pushing me to my mental capacity, but somehow did not anticipate that buying a house would push me over it.  Meh.  Hindsight and all that.  The sprint tri is next weekend (April 16th) and I've decided that I will workout enough between now and then to stay ready, but not much more.  The Olympic tri is in 3 weeks (May 1), and I've let go of the idea that I need to pseudo-compete.  I will be able to finish it, and if I have to walk for port...

Today's reflection is about gratitude.  I have an amazing family (take this term as liberally as you want.  I mean both near and far, kin and not kin.).  I have a great job where I am (maybe overly) fairly rewarded for the work I do.  Me and mine are all healthy and happy.  I can run for miles.  I'm buying a nice little house this week.  I've got money in the bank.  I'm surrounded by amazing people, both near and far, who constantly astound me with their awesomeness.  This past week alone I interacted with about 85% of all the people in my life, and didn't have one bad experience. It's weird how this will strike me out of the blue.  I will be minding my own business being a little grump and for some minute reason have this tiny epiphany.  I am incredibly blessed.  I don't think I can reflect on that long enough or often enough. Thank you thank you thank you thank you thank you.

I'm slow at posting these reflections, but I will not quit.  It's been an insane week - flew to Boston for 2 days for work and squeezed in some friend time, then the in-laws have been here since Thursday.  Randomly Amy and Gary's friends let them use their beachy condo for the weekend, and we got to crash it on Saturday.  They have a boat, and a jet ski, and just generally it's awesome.  We spent the weekend with 70% of my immediate family in a gorgeous beach setting.  What's not to love? Today's homily was something about water.  Seriously, I had one of those days where I went to church, but I wasn't really there.  Ya know?  I could NOT follow the homily, and I was just checking the boxes for the rest of it.  But at least I went, and I'm hoping there's some value in that even if it doesn't seem so right now. I've been stewing on this reflection for a couple days, waiting for the opportunity to put thoughts to keyboard.  Unfortunatel...

I have a smartphone, a laptop (2 if you count work), an iPad, an mp3 player, a huge TV, a ridiculous road bike, a sweet car, a comfy queen size bed, about 30 pairs of shoes and a closet full of clothes that I don't wear half of, a complete snowboarding kit, a great gym membership, and the list goes on... To me, the iPad, while being a really cool gadget, is the epitome of indulgence. Every time I use it in public, the part of me that thinks "Yea, you know this is cool" wars with the part of me that thinks I have much more than I need. Did you watch any of the tsunami footage? The slow, inexorable flood of water that looked innocuous enough at first, and eventually lifted up cars and then houses to move them down the streets? The people taping the footage had to be thinking "There goes my house. There goes my stuff." I know that's what I was imagining. And now those people have nothing. And here I sit with my $500 iPad while I had a hard time donating ev...

Day 6 of Lent, #2 reflection.  Continuuing on the Matthew 6 kick...   5 “And when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward in full. 6 But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you. 7 And when you pray, do not keep on babbling like pagans, for they think they will be heard because of their many words. 8 Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him. The theme is the same - do the right thing for the right reasons.  But what struck me in particular is verse 7, which I've seen translated a few different ways ( http://bible.cc/matthew/6-7.htm )  One of the major criticisms I've heard from non-Catholic Christians who attend a Catholic mass is that it is too rote, too structu...

Lent is upon us Catholic-types, and with it comes the usual deluge of what people are giving up.  See, Lent is supposed to be a time of sacrifice and reflection (mirroring Jesus' 40 days in the desert).  And I would like to think we can all agree, regardless of race, creed, or color, that a little sacrifice and reflection is a good opportunity to become a better community.  I initially wrote "better people", but that is much too open to interpretation, and some people might think that becoming better means getting a promotion or raise or some such thing. The gospel on Ash Wednesday got me thinking about the social network in which we live.  Here is an excerpt (Matthew 6:1-4)  (But) take care not to perform righteous deeds in order that people may see them; otherwise, you will have no recompense from your heavenly Father. When you give alms, do not blow a trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets to win the pr...

We had our inspection yesterday. It went... ok. The inspector was incredibly professional (Danny Logue - Pillar to Post.  Rockstars). The biggest thing was that the A/C wasn't blowing cold, but when we were there last Saturday, it was. It's should still be under warranty and the seller has been contacted about getting it looked at. The roof will need some minor repairs where trees have damaged shingles, and a spot where it looks like the owner repaired it himself. The outlets in one of the bedrooms didn't work (strange). And the windows are in not so great shape (not a surprise), but if a whole new window replacement isn't on the books, we could get away with caulking and sealing the outsides. The other things are minor that we can fix ourselves. Also, the inspector noted that the bathtubs looked like the owner waited too long to caulk them, and so there is some water damage to the wall behind the tub probably. We were initally thinking of replacing the kitchen wh...