Friday's Fave Five: Better Late than Never

I’m posting a little late today; we’ve been exceptionally busy the past couple of days! Better late than never, right? Joining Susanne at Living to Tell the Story with my FFF.

1.      My favorite text is from MS. I told him I was planning on meeting an SLP that I know out in the cyberworld, and here is his response:

2.      I ran across what is becoming my favorite quote yet again. This time, it was in an Etsy shop.

3.      Favorite search. MS & I had a discussion about some foods, and being able to eat alligator on Fridays during Lent came into question. I inserted it into Google and got a response.

4. Funniest thing I saw on Facebook this week:

5.   Favorite moment:

I ran into a high school friend & his wife on Sunday night. CH & I were eating at our usual Sunday night Mexican Restaurant. He came up to me, said my name, and said, “You don’t know who I am, do you?” It took me about half of a minute before I realized who it was. I don’t think I’ve seen him since I graduated from high school, and I had never met his wife. They sat down and chatted until our food came, and it we talked like we had known each other forever. We (the high school friend & I) lived away and came back to the Small Town after 20+ years.

Thankful Thursday

It's Thursday! Time for Thankful Thursday with Rebecca from Knit by God's Hand.

I’m Thankful for...

…fellowship with women in my parish.

(By the way...the distribution didn't work out very well. We had 3 desserts, 1 appetizer, and a variety of wine!)

.…Good lab results, proving that watching what I eat & losing weight is working! (23 pounds so far...11 to go!)

…teaching my students that our county is not the center of the universe.

 …snow on the playground. I love the way the playground looks when there’s snow.

…selfies with someone who shares my name. You don’t see 2 Mary Coopers in the same room very often!

 …having a day off on Ash Wednesday. I was planning on taking a half-day since it was time for my mammogram, but I had a bit of a dilemma.: My appointment was at 8:45 and Mass was at 8:00. I would have to leave Mass early and still be a little late for my appointment. Since we had a day off, I was able to make my appointment on time and go to Mass at Noon. Win-win! 

…running into a quote again. I don’t know that I’ve ever heard this quote before, but lately, it just keeps popping up.

…being able to use social media during Lent.

What are you thankful for this week?

InstaFriday #3

According to Tori atHome Away From Home:

"So I've decided to do something new on Fridays; INSTAFriday. I'm gonna use Friday to share some of the pics from my Instagram from that week for all those who don't follow me and actually care. *WINK*"

We lost power overnight on Monday. It's unusual for us to be without power for over an hour, but it stayed off from 10:30- 7:30. Not so bad considering there are still people without it.

The following pictures showed up on Instagram as a video. These are from the day after the first wave of the storm.

 The pine tree in our back yard that hasn't snapped...yet. 

I don't think I've ever seen icicles on a tree before:

Laika enjoyed the warm house.

I love watching the cardinals in the snow. (I wish I could get a decent picture!)

No school all week long.

Ash Wednesday. The best line I heard that day: Get your ash in Church!

I saw these tracks in the snow leading up to our front door. Do you have a guess as to from what kind of animal they came? Raccoon?  Rabbit?

It's been a nice week for me with finishing up Parenthood, watching the snow, and spending time with CH & YS. Time to get geared up for this coming week. Only 3 more weeks until Spring Break!

The Beginning of Lent

I just looked at my blogging list, and saw about 5 blog posts on Lent, so I thought I'd jump on the bandwagon!  Let me begin by saying that my spiritual life has been somewhat lacking of late.  Lent is the "spring" of the liturgical calendar; a time to start anew.  
I went to Mass at the University's Catholic Center last night.  I was amazed at how the University students piled in to participate.  It was packed!
One advantage about going to Mass at the University is "The Little Black Book".  I've mentioned this in posts a few years ago.  Here is what today's page looks like:

The left side of the page has  "what happened in history on this day" as it relates to Christians...not just Catholics.  The right side has a passage from the Bible, as well as a narrative. 6 minutes...that's all it takes.
I learned something at Mass last night:  since Ash Wednesday isn't a Holy Day of Obligation, we did not recite the Nicene Creed, which is recited every Sunday.  I didn't realize that it wasn't said when it's not a Holy Day.  There are so many things to learn.
After Mass, I stopped by Subway to pick up a tuna sandwich to take home.  For those that don't know, all Catholics 14 and older are required to observe "fast and abstinence":  Fasting on Ash Wednesday & Good Friday, and Abstaining from meat on Ash Wed. and all Fridays during Lent.  Fasting isn't as "hard core" as it used to be:  3 small meals that don't equal 1 total meal is all that's required.  Oh, and no meat.  Fish, yes...meat, no.
Anyway (I got off track!), when I was at Subway, the "sandwich artist" kept looking at me, and finally he said, "You've got something on your forehead".  I leaned forward and said, "It's a cross.  It's Ash Wednesday."  That was all I said, but then I thought that was a perfect time to expand on that.  So, when he was ringing me up, I said that I had just come from Mass, and it was Ash Wednesday.  I have to admit, I was a little disappointed he didn't ask anything else about it, but maybe it was just enough to get him wondering.  It's been so long since someone has questioned the ashes, it took me a little off-guard.  I guess you never know what one little seed will turn into!