Midweek Motley, Vol. 2

I kind of like this format, and clearly I didn't manage to get anything more substantial written in the past week, so let's try another jumble of thoughts.

What we're doing

It's been a fairly laid-back week in the Shifflerhaus. 

That's completely false, actually. This afternoon was laid-back, and yesterday afternoon was fairly laid-back, which is why I initially thought the week so far had been. But it hasn't, not at all; I spent much of the weekend and Monday dealing with more "soy is in everything!!!" craziness, researching and grappling with contradictory opinions on whether glycerin, vegetable (which usually means soy) glycerin, is safe for people who are allergic to soy. The stuff that's in practically all soap, and toothpaste, and lotion, and deodorant... That was very stressful, trying to figure out replacements for all of the things I presently use that contain glycerin. 

Our pediatric allergist got back to me Monday evening. As long as Kit isn't abnormally sensitive to it, the soy in glycerin should be so far broken down that the problematic proteins won't be able to affect her. So I'm not going to keep scouring the wilds of the Internet for glycerin-free toothpaste, at least for now. I'll keep an eye on her, though, in case it turns out that she is unusually sensitive; reputable sources including the Canadian health department list glycerin among soy-based items for those with allergies to be careful of. She's had a couple of reactions again recently, all slight enough and spread out enough that they certainly could have been from simple cross-contamination, but we want to keep track of everything just in case.

So, soy is everywhere, and that makes life stressful. But that's not really news, because I've been complaining about it for months.

Taking up all of my other spare moments this week was the paperwork for our home loan program application—we're hoping to be house-hunting again this spring/summer! I turn the packet in tomorrow morning, and we should hear back in about a month.

I wish I'd gotten a picture of this afternoon. Little Bear was playing with a balloon, batting it with his hands and bouncing it off of his nose to keep it in the air. While he played, Kit sat on the floor watching the balloon: eyes wide, smile wider, laughing and laughing every time he hit it. I love watching her watch him play. Whatever he is doing immediately becomes just the most wonderful, exciting, interesting thing in the world, and she is gets so, so happy when he sets aside his play for a moment to crouch down and smile at her.

What we're eating

There's a something or other for Kit's nameday! I can't remember what it is called, because I'm sleepy. That's not very helpful, is it?

Matt hasn't been here for supper the last few nights, so cooking has been lower on my list of priorities this week; I know that Little Bear is always happy to have breakfast for supper, so yesterday I scrambled up a mess of ham and eggs, and tonight it was waffles and fruit salad. Proper supper food tomorrow! I'll have to remember to bake some bread and pull some meat out of the freezer in the morning, because we're pretty much down to peanut butter, cheese and lettuce in the fridge.

Oh, wait; there's a big pot of caribou chili in the fridge, one that I made this morning but didn't want to eat today because we're doing meatless Wednesdays, and anyway the house had been smelling like kidney beans all morning. I really like the idea of buying dry beans, and I don't mind having the extra step of soaking them the night before, but the smell of beans slowly cooking is not my favorite.

What we're reading 

Look, paper books! Three of them! I forgot about the Daily Lenten Meditations booklet on last week's list, though to be accurate, I must admit that I forgot about reading the meditations themselves at least half the days last week. So far this week I haven't missed any, though! Each is just a page long, a handful of prayers, Scripture verses, and saints' quotes. I've found that if I actually read them aloud to however many children happen to be in the room at the moment, I am much more likely to finish them (rather than start reading the first prayer, get interrupted, set it down and never come back to it... that happens a lot.)

33 Day to Merciful Love is the brand-new book from Fr Michael Gaitley, MIC: a preparatory 'retreat' for making a consecration to Jesus' Divine Mercy. To time the 33 days to lead up to Divine Mercy Sunday this year, we started it on March 1. I've had a particular devotion to Christ's Divine Mercy for years, so this consecration caught my attention right away, and Divine Mercy Sunday in this Year of Mercy seemed like just the perfect timing. 

As for The Lost Arts of Modern Civilization, I've really only flipped through it and begun the introduction; I keep going through the start-reading-get-interrupted-never-come-back-to-it routine, unfortunately. There's a delightfully Austinian flavor to what I have read, though, so I have high hopes for it.

Only one link this week, but it's a good one: Liturgical Living at a Glance: March 2016, from Carrots for Michaelmas. Haley does such a great job of pulling together ideas and resources for celebrating the liturgical year!