40 Days for the Poor - Day 37 - Update on Hypothermia Shelter

First of all, I just have to say that I am laughing at myself and my inability to number these days correctly. I have again made a mistake which I've corrected. I really can't count! No wonder I am so intimidated by math! Also, I'm hoping I'll be able to finish this by Epiphany. The original plan was to finish on Christmas Eve. Now it's already New's Year, so Epiphany is plan C, I guess!


Back on Day 7, I talked about cooking for the homeless and how my parish participates in what is called a hypothermia shelter. Well, we got a notice from the folks who coordinate the whole effort and for some reason they've decided to no longer base the shelter at the UU church. They didn't say why, so I am a little bit curious. But, instead the shelter has shifted to a Catholic Church about 20 minutes away and an Episcopalian Church which is right down the road from us. The week that the Episcopalian Church is hosting and which our parish is responsible for meals happens to be at a time in January when I won't be quite as busy as later in the month. So it works out. On 1/8 I have signed up to bring two roast chickens and a bag of Clementines. But the neat thing is that the Episcopalian Church requires an hour training. I think it will be interesting to attend and see how the how the whole thing works. And since Will is going to be home still from college, he's volunteered to be an on site helper from 8:30pm to 12:30 a.m.

Poor Will, by the way. He got his wisdom teeth pulled on 12/27. He was feeling great the next day so he went out with friends and even ate pizza! Well, that was foolish. He came home in great pain, developed a fever and swelled up so much, we told him he looked like Orson Welles. He's been miserable ever since. Poor baby. He's sick of chicken broth and yogurt which is what he's been living on. I do hope today there is some improvement.

New Years Resolutions!

Okay, here I go!

Resolution No. 1

I want to be fit enough to enjoy going to the American Heritage Girl camp this summer at Goshen with Becky. It's six days of sleeping on a little camping cot in a tent and using public outhouses, dealing with heat, humidity, mosquitoes and ticks! Becky wants to go and I think in spite of everything it could be a really great experience. I'm getting older so this might be my last chance to do something like this, which is so out of character for me, city slicker that I am. But I am so out of shape! So I need to prepare.

So here's the plan: loose 5 lbs a month January through June (the camp is at the end of July). I am going to do this by:

1. Remembering to drink six 8 oz glasses of water a day (if I do this I don't seem to be as hungry).

2. Eating more fruits and vegetables

3. Making sure I have healthy snacks in the house. Also making sure I don't have any junk in the house that I will binge on.

4. Keeping a record of what I eat so I know I'm eating moderately.

5. Reducing my bread/cracker intake to once a day and my refined sugar intake to once a week.

6. Exercising 5 times a week. The following days are probably good for exercising: Tuesday (either P.E. with kids in a.m. or walk with friend in p.m. Maybe both!), Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, and then either Saturday or Sunday (whichever one proves to be easier). To exercise I'll either go for a 30 minute walk outside or do my Leslie Sansone walking dvd or my yoga dvd.

Resolution No. 2

Be a better homemaker. I'll try to improve by focusing on being consistent with these systems:

1. Go grocery shopping on the same day every week. Not sure what day this will be. Used to be Sunday afternoons but that doesn't really work anymore. So I think probably Saturday mornings. In order to eat well I have to make sure good food is readily available in the house so I don't resort to carry out or junk.

2. Wash sheets and towels once a week. I am not good at keeping up with this now and it really is annoying when you can't find a clean towel!

3. Clean kitchen and run dishwasher every night.

4. Have a ten minute tidy up every evening while I make dinner.

5. Make sure kids develop habit of making bed and putting clothes away. Check rooms every a.m. (that I can).

Resolution No. 3

Be a better mom.

1. Make sure kids get up at pretty much the same time every morning.

2. Read aloud to them consistently.

3. Have a date/set time to talk about school and life once a week.

4. Train them in good habits so they can grow in competence and consideration.

5. Restrict screen time for everyone (including self!).

6. Pray with and for them.

Resolution No. 4

Be a better wife.

1. No snapping!

2. Do considerate little things for him

3. Go out on a date once a month

Resolution No. 5

Be a better human.

1. Pray more.

2. Keep up with Read 52 Books

3. Keep a better calendar so I can be responsible in my obligations to friends and family.

4. Work hard on Adler Academy Schola Alta

40 Days for the Poor - Day 36 - Loose change

I was reading the other day about a woman who is always broke. She manages her pennies right down to the last one and still doesn't have quite enough to cover every minor thing. She tries to be frugal and needs more ideas to stretch her dollars more. Right now, there's nothing she can do. Her husband works but doesn't make quite enough. It's hard for her to find a job because of where they live and because she doesn't have a degree. My heart went out to her because no matter what she does, she can't get ahead or even quite keep even.

I have been blessed all my life. I've never been in that situation. I'm spoiled. I'm so spoiled that in my house there are cans or bowls or dresser tops where there's lots of loose change. Anytime I want I can go dig through one of these places and come up with quarters, nickels and dimes. I have often thought that if I could get my act together I would round up all that loose change and give it to someone or some organization in need.

I have attempted to do this. We've just come through the pre-Christmas season (in Catholic terms Adent, the Christmas season starts on Christmas Eve and lasts until Epiphany) when there are lots of opportunities to give to charity. I mean, these opportunities are much more visible because people are thinking of being kind and generous to the less fortunate in the spirit of Christmas. But we also go through that same focus in Lent as well. The three things we should be doing during Lent are penance, prayer and almsgiving. My parish always participates in the Lenten Rice Bowl program. You get this little cardboard 'bowl' along with a calendar that lists all the days of Lent. Each day focuses on a different penance or prayer. You put all your loose change into the 'bowl' and on a certain day you turn it into the church, which collects all of them and gets it all to Catholic Relief Services.

I have two rice bowls of coins sitting in my house (on the upstairs hall bookcase to be precise)! I never seem to notice when the bowls are due, so I forget to turn them in! This year I am determined that I am going to notice WHEN these bowls go back to the church.

I also think that it would be a good project for us, if at some point other than Lent, we went through and gathered all the loose change in the house and perhaps donated it to Food for the Poor.

I should really be more aware, more conscious of the many material blessings I have been showered with all my life. I should make more of an effort to get off my patootie and help others. Hopefully, this will be a hallmark of 2013, through the intercession of Dorothy Day.

Yearly Book Wrap Up - 2012

Robin at 52 Books had an end of the year list of questions she asked those who participated this year. Here are my quick answers:


1) How many books did you read this year? 58, but it could be 60 by New Year's Eve.

2) Did you meet or beat your own personal goal? Yes.

3) Favorite book of 2012? (You can list more than one or break it down by genre)I read many wonderful books, but the one that I think stands out the most is A Sense of the World. It was absolutely fascinating.

4) Least favorite book of 2012 and why? I didn't finish several books because they were my least favorite so I never included them in my list. For those I did finish, I'd have to say Death Comes to Pemberley. It was mildly disappointing.

5) One book you thought you'd never read and was pleasantly surprised you like it? Don Quixote!

6) One book you thought you'd love but didn't? Well, lots of the books I didn't quite finish fell into this category. The Power of Habit is the one that I'm thinking of. Heard rave reviews from people I usually agree with, but the book seemed shallow to me.

7) One book that touched you - made you laugh, cry, sing or dance. Many of the books did this! See other questions for more detail!

8) Any new to you authors discovered and you can't wait to read more of their stories? Mark Kurlansky and P.G. Wodehouse. Rediscovered Tracy Kidder.

9) Name the longest book you read? Might be Don Quixote or The White Nile? Shortest? Manners in Modern Life.

10) Name the most unputdownable book you read? Bab: A Sub Deb. So screamingly funny. I read it during a fit on insomnia.

11) Book that had the greatest impact on you this year? Mountains Beyond Mountains with Strength in What Remains as a very close runner up.

12) What book would you recommend everybody read? So many! A Sense of the World, Bab: A Sub Deb, Call the Midwife, Shirt of Flame, Penrod, My Sisters, the Saints, Radical Homemaker, Bad Religion, The Little World of Don Camillo, Driving Over Lemons. And more!

13) Share your most favorite cover(s) So many of mine were read on the Kindle. I can't really answer this one.

14) Do you have a character you fell in love with? James Holman, the blind traveler. I cried at the end of the book.

15) What was your most favorite part of the challenge? My favorite part of the challenge is just the act of finishing a book, knowing I have spent my time well in reading it and then writing up the review. Keeping track of my reading gives me a sense of order and accomplishment. Did you do any of the mini challenges? I'm not good at mini-challenges. It's all I can deal with to be consistent with reading!

What are your goals for the new year? To read more non fiction? To dip your toes into a mystery or a urban fantasy? What book are you most looking forward to reading in 2013?

In 2013 I'd like to listen to the whole Lord of the Rings trilogy downloaded from Audible on my ipod while I am driving hither and yon.

I'm going to try to up my Catholic reading, especially in reading more Peter Kreeft books as I am planning to go to the Circe Conference in Baltimore and he will be speaking there! I might get to meet him!

I'd like to continue to read witty comedies, like Bab: A Sub Deb, Three Men and a Boat and the P.G. Wodehouse books. I want to try some of Terry Prachett's Discworld books.

40 Days for the Poor - Day 35 - Do You Waste Food?

Will, or Eli, as he now prefers to be called, is home from college for Christmas break. Up in Boston he's developing a really strong feeling and ministry for the homeless. His school in right in downtown Boston. He likes city living, but there are plenty of homeless he sees every day. One thing he has mentioned a couple of times since coming home is just how important it is to never waste food. Food is a gift! He's been trying to just eat the awful cafeteria food at his school. Last year, when he was a Freshman, he didn't like it and ate out all the time spending way too much money. So this year he makes himself eat the cafeteria food every weekday. I do think he treats himself once in a while on the weekends to something else. He also has a little fridge and he'll buy some ready to eat foods from Trader Joe's. He's got a hot pot so he can heat up some soup or make himself some tea in his room. Anyway, passing the homeless every day and having his own diet restricted to not so great cafeteria food has made him realize just how precious food is.

I am terrible at wasting food. It is because I am such a poor planner. It seems like the back half of my fridge gets filled with half eaten jars of applesauce and salsa, jelly jars and left overs that no one ate. If I kept my fridge cleaner, I'd have a better handle on what food we have and how to eat it all more efficiently. It's the same way with my pantry shelves. They somehow always seem to become too crowded with things we don't actually want and we always seem to be out of or low on the things we do want. And there's no room to put the things we do want, because the shelves are too full of stuff that we don't want. Yet I'm the one buying everything pretty much, so it must be me who is messing up the works here! How to solve that? I really would like to be more organized in those two areas. I think we'd eat better and I wouldn't be wasting so much food. I bet I could save enough money by being more conscientious about what goes in and out of our fridge and pantry, that I could feed a whole other family of seven! It's that bad!

The thing is whenever you start cleaning out fridges and pantries you wind up wasting a lot of food! Some of the pantry items can go to a community food bank, it is true, but you have to get it there! That's always the rub for me, remembering to make time to do that. And the fridge is just shameful, all that waste that comes of there in order to start anew. So I do feel defeated before I even truly get started!

Anyway, Eli (Will! He'll always be Will to me!) is here for almost 4 weeks, so with him prodding me gently, perhaps I can get into a groove where I am more efficient and less wasteful when it comes to food.

The Girl on the Boat - Book 59

Another free Wodehouse on my Kindle. I think this was entitled Three Men and a Maid when it was published in England. Samuel Marlowe bumps into (or rather is bitten by) the girl of his dreams (or rather her dog) while crowding onto the boat that is to take him back to England. But, it turns out her recent ex-fiance is one and the same as Marlowe's cousin and cabin mate. And then there's a Bream Mortimer who accompanies her every where. He's in love with her too and he's the son of her father's lawyer and business partner. And Wilhelmina (Billie) Bennett is waiting for her Galahad and can't stand when a man is made to look ridiculous. Many, many complications ensue. They involve a bulldog named Smith, the mumps, a woman big game hunter named Jane, a famous author of Theosophy and her beautiful home of Windles, and a sentimental and very helpful valet named Webster.

I do think this was my least favorite Wodehouse so far. Maybe I am reading too many at once and their alikeness is dulling the pleasure. Maybe this one wasn't quite as hysterical at the others. It was still a very pleasant read, with very funny moments and clever, droll writing.

For more reviews, see 52 Books. We are going to start this all over again in 2013!

Something New - Book 58

Oh dear. I am really going on a P.G. Wodehouse spree. His books are like potato chips! Something New is a wonderful, light, clever, laugh out loud, funny book and is an awful lot like the other books I've been reading. It features a young man, Ashe Marson who is a writer. He has grown tired of writing pulp detective fiction and barely making rent. It also features a love interest, rather silly and idiotic English gentry, a grouchy rich American, a secondary love story, and an efficient butler. All the characters are wonderful, the situations comical, and the writing is droll and at times screamingly funny. And it has a happy ending. An Algernon Wooster even gets a mention. Is he related to Bertie Wooster? This book is my first Blandings novel. I am very pleased to be introduced to the world of Blandings Castle. I look forward to reading more.

I'm having fun exploring the world of P.G. Wodehouse. But I fear I am becoming addicted. I immediately downloaded another free Wodehouse story on my Kindle as soon as I finished this one!

Two thumbs up. See Read 52 Books in 52 Weeks for more reviews.

40 Days for the Poor - Day 34 - Foster a Child

Today Sean turned 14! This morning his grandfather (and lady friend), two uncles, aunt and cousins came over to celebrate his birthday and have a belated Chanukah gathering. We had brunch. Unfortunately, I forgot that 1) Sean gets moody on his birthday and 2) he isn't a party person and he's never particularly enjoyed gatherings of this sort. Plus he woke up with a sore throat. So he was pretty gloomy until present time. His dad gave him a really cool stop motion movie kit. Or something, not sure if I really understand what exactly it is he gave him. I gave him some books. LOL. My dh and I have to coordinate more on these things!

Anyway, while we were doing the gift exchange it came up in the conversation that my father in law mentioned he'd been giving to a overseas foster children's program for over 30 years now. And I thought: hey, I can mention that in my 40 Days blog thing! We also do this. We are on our second child in Kenya, through the Christian Children's Foundation. Rick and I started this when we first got married. We are terrible though in that we never really write the child. We've only written two or three times to each child. Isn't that awful? But we do give each month (thanks to automatic withdrawal). It feels very remote, like we aren't really helping but every once in a while we get a letter, handwritten, telling us what is going on at the center where our child goes to school. So then I feel like maybe we are helping somewhat. It feels bad not to actually forge a connection. We are lousy pen pals.

Sorry this is probably disjointed. I am so tired my eyes are watering and I can only see out of one at a time! Good night!

40 Days for the Poor - Day 33 - Do You Pray for the Poor?

Oh my, I have that suffocating feeling I get right before Christmas. Just too much to do, too many details to remember, last minute shopping at impossibly crowded stores, last minute grocery shopping at impossibly crowded grocery stores, cleaning, clothes, Argh. Plus there are still other little things going on; like appointments for doctors and such. Seano had his birthday party last night. Cleaning, shopping and 1 doctors appt today, Saturday is confession and Chanukah brunch. I am just going to focus on those two days right now!

But in all this I am going to make time to say a rosary for those in Newtown, CT. My parish had a book opened in the entrance of the church last Sunday. Everyone (if they desired) was to sign it and say what and how they would pray for that community. Then they were going to send the book up to St. Rose of Lima parish (very near Sandy Hook school and the parish where the killer attended). But I haven't done it yet! Terrible of me! So today I am carving out time to do this. This a.m. will be really, really busy because we want to get to the stores when they open, but this afternoon before the doctors appt. I bet we'll have time to sit and pray for 20 minutes.

We often try to remember to pray for people in need every night when we say prayers together. We've got a number of people on our regular list and then some that come and go as we hear about them. Pretty much any time there's some kind of natural disaster or violent conflict somewhere we pray. We aren't that consistent and there's always room for improvement, but at least we try!

40 Days for the Poor - Day 32 - Local Family Favorite Charity

I have kind of lost my focus the last fews days.  Things are busy.  Hannah came home from the University of Dallas, Rick went away on business but comes home this evening.  Our regular schedule is winding down for the holiday break.  Becky has her last gymnastics class today until the new year.  Will is coming home tomorrow.  Josh is trying to write a big paper over this winter break.  We've signed him up with Write Guide.  Plus, you know CHRISTMAS is coming.  I've done a little shopping but not a whole lot.  Saturday we are having a Chanukah brunch with Rick's side of the family (also really need to go to confession that morning!).  Then Sunday we go to my side of the family's Christmas get together (must remember to bring two trays of finger foods).  Monday is Christmas Eve, which means frantic last minute shopping, Christmas Eve Mass at 6:00 p.m. etc.  Christmas Day we do the presents things.  Then I have to pick up Aunt Jackie and bring her back for Christmas dinner.  I am hoping Hannah willing to help with cooking that meal.

So in that list was my family's Christmas get together.  We used to exchange gifts but we've stopped that a while ago.  Now we just take what we would have spent (or more) and donate it to Service Source. At least I think that's who we'll donate to this year. It used to be called Central Fairfax Services, but I think they just changed their name. Anyway, this is an organization that my father was instrumental in founding and helping to run for many years. It provides services and job opportunities to adults with disabilities. There was a need to have some sort of organization to help out mentally disabled adults who had left the care of the school system and really didn't have any place to go, except to sit at home. My youngest sister was born with Down Syndrome. She's been attending CFS for decades now. So we all give annually to CFS or Service Source.

We also bring a toy to give to a child in the hospital over Christmas. This is in lieu of the 18 and under crowd all exchanging gifts. I'm a little sad about the no gifts thing, even though I am happy to donate a toy. But we really don't get together that often with the cousins, in spite of the fact that everyone lives fairly close by. Everyone is busy and taken up with their daily lives. So it actually was nice to get assigned a cousin or two to buy gifts for because you had to find out what they wanted and thereby get to know them a little better! But the donation thing is a good thing and much less of a headache when it comes to coordinating things, so it is okay. I just will make a big effort to catch with extended family members at the party!

40 Days for the Poor - Day 31 - Comforting the Sorrowful

Make a snowflake and send it to Sandy Hook to let those surviving children know, our hearts are with them.

Here's the link: http://www.ctpta.org/About-CT-PTA/SANDY-HOOK-FUND.html

God Bless this Man!

Strewsday Tuesday - 12/19/12

Haven't done one of these in a while. I was taking a walk with Sean on Sunday and he told me that his favorite youtube channel is this one. Very educational!

Booked: Literature in the Soul of Me - Book 57

Booked: Literature in the Soul of Me is a gem of a book. Professor Karen Swallow Prior is the Chair of the English Department at Liberty University. This book is her memoir written in light of the books that have most influenced her. It is a beautiful book. Professor Prior is a Christian, but she's a subtle, intellectual Christian. In the first chapter she defends 'promiscuous reading,' something Puritan poet, John Milton advised. Prior believes that her own 'promiscuous reading' (in the 17th century sense of the word) of a wide and varied material helped her to come to a much more profound understanding of life and what it means to be human through authors that really taught her. She's grateful for that fact that her parents never censored her reading. Instead, they modeled a devout Christian life and were always available to answer questions.

Professor Prior did stray for a while in her high school and college years (who didn't, I'd like to know! Very, very few!) but by the time she married just before she graduated from college, she had come back around.

The books that she writes so deeply and beautifully about, the ones that taught such profound lessons to her are: Charlotte's Web, Great Expectations, Jane Eyre, Tess of the d'Urbervilles, Gerard Manly Hopkin's poetry, Gulliver's Travels, Milton, Death of a Salesman, Madame Bovary, John Donne. Some of these books I never cared for, namely Madame Bovary (I couldn't stand her!) and Gulliver's Travels (too weird and bawdy for me) but reading this book made me want to be in Professor Prior's class! Her understanding and explanations are so wonderful. Even though I've read Jane Eyre several times and appreciate greatly Charlotte Bronte's sheer talent, I've always been troubled by the book, but Professor Prior made it make more sense to me. Likewise with Tess of the d'Urbervilles. I remember reading it in high school and finding it so beautiful and yet so bleak, I couldn't shake the blues it caused for weeks. Now I have an understanding of why. It really is a book without hope.

Professor Prior is a beautiful writer. There were so many lines in the book I wanted to copy down because of their insightfulness and beauty. This books doesn't take long to read but I found myself deliberately going slowly so that I could savor all the lovely wisdom and illuminating language and analysis.

Professor Prior's openminded, intelligent, Christian approach to literature is a breath of fresh air. My advice to anyone who loves God and books: Read this book!

For more book reviews go to 52 Books in 52 Weeks.

40 Days for the Poor - Day 30 - Spiritual Works of Mercy

I have been focusing on the Corporal Works of Mercy, but the terrible events of yesterday, when an evilly sick man in Newtown, CT, murdered defenseless, innocent children and their caretakers, makes me think that the Spiritual Works of Mercy are of utter importance too.

The Spiritual Works of Mercy are:

1. To convert the sinner (shooting children is not a good thing)
2. To instruct the ignorant
3. To counsel the doubtful
4. To comfort the sorrowful (our job now after this tragedy)
5. To bear wrongs patiently
6. To forgive injuries (both 5 and 6 seem nearly impossible after something like what occurred yesterday happened).
7. To pray for the living and the dead.

Number 7 is the one I can do the most right now.

My heart goes out to the community reeling from this mass murder. I remember how shook up everyone in my community was over the VA Tech murders. This one seems even worse. Children! My God, little innocent children!!! It is too much to even comprehend!

Here is a prayer for peace written by John Paul II:

Lord Jesus Christ, who are called the Prince of Peace, who are yourself our peace and reconciliation, who so often said, "Peace to you," grant us peace. Make all men and women witnesses of truth, justice, and brotherly love. Banish from their hearts whatever might endanger peace. Enlighten our rulers that they may guarantee and defend the great gift of peace. May all peoples on the earth become as brothers and sisters. May longed-for peace blossom forth and reign always over us all.

And I found this one on the Creighton University website:

Coping With Tragedy In Our Community

It is unspeakable, dear Jesus. Someone from among our own community, suddenly gone. How can it be? It was an ordinary day until we heard the news and still we don't believe it.

Our hearts are filled with dread and uncertainty and we want to pull our children closer and hold them tighter. What do we say to them? To each other?

And from the confusion pounding in our ears as we pray, comes a grace. Your words surface: Take courage, it is I. Do not be afraid. You first called those words across the turbulent surface of the wind and water to your apostles who were huddled in terror in the boat. You say it now to us.

Take courage. You are inviting us to take on your courage. We don't understand what has happened. We have no words. We know only that we turn to you and ask for courage and you offer it.

It is I. I am with you always. Yes. We take a deep breath and feel your presence. You are with each of us right now and with us as a community of faith. It doesn't help us to understand but it helps us to calm our breathing.

Do not be afraid. Really? Dear Jesus, right now it feels like that is all we have to cling to! The panic may return, our bewilderment and uncertainty. But yet, your invitation is clear: Do not be afraid. That is for me. For all of us.

My dear ones, I know you will continue to grieve and be stunned by this loss. Your pain and confusion will only gradually recede. My assurance is that you don't need to feel this pain alone. I will be with you. And the good news I am offering you will give you hope.

Dear Jesus who understood fear and confusion so well, bless this community in our great hour of loss and need. Be with us as we gather to weep and mourn at your altar. We beg you for the the courage to delve into the silence, the wisdom to speak at the right time, and the fidelity to remember that you are with us in this great hour of need.

Amen.

And I found this prayer for the dead at Catholic Online:

God our Father,
Your power brings us to birth,
Your providence guides our lives,
and by Your command we return to dust.

Lord, those who die still live in Your presence,
their lives change but do not end.
I pray in hope for my family,
relatives and friends,
and for all the dead known to You alone.

In company with Christ,
Who died and now lives,
may they rejoice in Your kingdom,
where all our tears are wiped away.
Unite us together again in one family,
to sing Your praise forever and ever.

Amen.

40 Days for the Poor - Day 29 - Child and Forced Labor

Here's a list put out by the Department of Labor in 2010 stating which products are most likely to be made by Child/Forced Labor. Now, I have a little bit of a problem with the child labor thing. I do think if the child is forced to work in dangerous or exploitative conditions then that is very bad and calls for reform. I, however, don't see anything wrong with children being raised to work to help in a family farm or business. I think sometimes we in the 1st world go a little overboard about things like that. We have to make sure we aren't viewing the situation through culturally biased eyes. Children are capable of a lot more than we give them credit for. We truly seem to think that if kids can't spend all day in school and the rest of the time entertaining themselves, somehow it is abusive. I differ there. But that is just a quibble; there are many, many children who grow up in terrible situations where they are exploited, endangered and robbed of all freedom because of economic conditions or because ruthless adults use them.

40 Days for the Poor - Day 28 - Shop Fair Trade

I am trying to be more conscientious about shopping. Here's one way to do it - shop Fair Trade. Here's the link to Fair Trade USA.

And here's a handy link that explains some negative myths about Fair Trade.

40 Days for the Poor - Day 27 - Visiting the Imprisoned

It always shocks people I meet now, when I tell them I used to work with death row inmates! I have always, in a very visceral way, been one of those seamless garment Catholics. Even when I was going through my long desert experience of being a depressed agnostic, I never understood abortion and I never supported the death penalty. I just instinctively felt, from childhood, that we should be very cautious about taking people's lives. Being raised in a big Catholic family, children were viewed as gifts from God. To have an abortion or even to take birth control was seen as slapping God in the face or playing God. Children are created in his image and likeness, new souls parents are entrusted with caring for. God's children first, before your own. My father, who was a judge was anti death penalty and this partly stemmed from religious belief and cultural history. We know we can never know the state of someone else's soul. Even murderers should be given a chance at repentance. We know our human system of justice is very imperfect. Therefore, the state should be very reluctant to take its own citizen's lives. It is better that a 100 guilty men go free, than one innocent man suffer, as Benjamin Franklin put it. The state loses its legitimacy with every mistaken execution. We've now had a spate of death row inmates released because of new DNA findings that exonerated them. This shows just how inexact our legal system is! Anyway, the death penalty doesn't work. If it did our country would have the lowest murder rate, but instead it has one of the highest. It is a false solution to our problems.

But ever since I left law school, I have not done much for prisoners at all. Sometimes I fantasize about reading aloud to them, especially juvenile delinquents. I read an article once where someone's ministry was to come in and read to the prisoners books they never had read to them as a child. I personally am of the conviction that snuggling up with mom or dad and being read to is probably a pretty effective inoculation against a life in crime. But I got very busy with raising children and homeschooling and I never did do anything like that.

My church participates in something called Kairos Prison Ministry. The thing people do to help out is to bake cookies for prisoners. Then when someone goes into to minister to them, they bring the cookies along. I get easily intimidated by baking, silly as that sounds, and the instructions are very precise for these cookies as to size and what can go in them. So I've never done this, though I think some of my kids have. I'd like to try to participate at least once in this project. It is a fairly popular around here.

The one little, little thing I do is that I signed up to receive email alerts and updates from the Virginia Catholic Conference. They work on death penalty issues in Virginia and so occasionally I do what they say and send emails to my representatives when issues dealing with the death penalty come up.

But that's about it. Wimpy, I know. I am feeling the need to make a New Year's resolution that I will do something that fits in some way into the 'visiting the imprisoned' category this coming year.

I remember my sister volunteering in the Special Olympics one year, years ago. Some of the other volunteers were prisoners who had earned the privilege of helping out. It was a really good idea because the prisoners got really into it. When you are a prisoner is is very hard to feel like you can help anyone or do anything worthwhile. My sister and one of the inmates started exchanging letters but the guy got too romantic, so she stopped the correspondence. I think she was a little freaked out by him. This aside, writing to them is one option.

St Therese of Lisieux prayed for a notorious prisoner sentenced to death. Did she correspond with him? I don't recall. But of course prayer is always something we can do.

Out of time again! Time to wake Sean and get him ready for Aquinas Learning.

40 Days for the Poor - Day 26 - Christ loved the poor

And the Catholic Church loves those who love the poor. So many saints are reputed to have loved and served those in need. Look at this video of Cardinal Dolan presenting the cause for sainthood to the Catholic Bishops over at The Deacon's Bench.

Dorothy Day, pray for us!

40 Days for the Poor - Day 25 - Corporal Works of Mercy

Oops! I am really falling behind! Sunday and Monday were incredibly busy and then yesterday I really had to devote myself to helping Sean prep for his Aquinas Learning Day on Thursday. Today will also be taken up with that mostly (plus you know Becky and Josh need a little attention too!).

So I've got Days 25 to 28 to do! We'll see what I can get accomplished!

I was thinking about all this the other day and thought that I really should have framed this whole 40 Days things in terms of the Corporal Works of Mercy, which is the Catholic 'list' (Catholics love lists like this!) of the bodily or corporal works that we should do for our fellow man. They are:

1. To feed the hungry
2. To give drink to the thirsty
3. To clothe the naked
4. To shelter the homeless
5. To visit the sick
6. To visit the imprisoned
7. To bury the dead

I think I tend to emphasize the first four and maybe not do so much for the last three. In fact, right now I can't think of a thing I do for no. 7. I think that particular problem isn't as apparent now as it was in the past.

I know canned food drives, donations to places like Food for the Poor, and the like address feeding the poor and giving drink to the thirsty. In fact you can have a well dug for some poor village somewhere via Food for the Poor and give a whole village water to drink. Accessible drinking water makes such a huge difference!

I know giving donations and helping out with the local hypothermia shelter, assists the homeless. Food for the Poor and Habitat for Humanity are major charities that devote their time to getting housing for the homeless and poor.

I guess visiting the elderly in nursing homes is also visiting the sick. Sometimes, our parish youth group will make cards or little care packages for kids sick in the hospital. In fact, for our Giving Tree one of the kids bought a couple board games for an organization called Children in Need of Smiles or something like that! We aren't actually visiting, but we are trying to convey compassion and brighten their load a bit, perhaps ease their suffering a little.

One thing that we did recently (well, back in September) was participate in an Honor Guard with Becky's American Heritage Troop. We lined up at the airport with cheering signs and greeted a bunch of WWII veterans as they came back from a day touring Washington D.C. These men (and 1 woman!) are really getting up their in years and most of them were in wheelchairs. Their lives are so limited now. Honor Guard does a wonderful service to show our nation's gratitude towards these soldiers who helped preserve our country from the Nazis and the imperialism of the Japanese government at that time. We smiled and waved, shook their hands and hugged them. So in a way that was visiting the sick.

I'm out of time!

The Indiscretions of Archie - Book 56

Another Wodehouse (free Kindle) book here, The Indiscretions of Archie also deals with a young Englishman, love and his father in law. Archie Moffam is a veteran of WWI and has come to America to seek adventure. He meets, falls in love with, and marries Lucille Brewster, but he's made a bad impression on his father in law, the hotel owner of the Cosmopolis in New York City. Unfortunately, Archie has no money and no job. He goes about trying to find employment but instead gets himself caught up in hysterical situations that always seem to spin out of control at a frighteningly funny pace.

Through his many misadventures, we get to know Archie, often clueless but sometimes given to penetrating insight, self-deprecating, lovable, always kind, always hopeful, Archie. Lucille calls him 'an angel.' By the end of the book we do, too and even his father-in-law comes around eventually.

I think I laughed out loud at every chapter. A very delightful read.

For more book reviews go to 52 Books in 52 Weeks.

Hercule Poirot's Christmas - Book 55

I am late to Agatha Christie. I did not care for mysteries much when I was younger. I've grown into them. I read Agatha Christie's autobiography way before I read any of her books. I saw the play The Mousetrap in England when I was 16 and still didn't read any of her books. Occasionally I would catch Masterpiece Theater's Mystery shows based on her stories and I still didn't read any of her books. But a couple of years ago I did finally read Murder on the Orient Express and then just this summer I listened on audio cd to a big collection of her short stories, many of which featured Hercule Poirot and Miss Marple. So when I saw this book, Hercule Poirot's Christmas, I decided to read it for my Christmas challenge. There's a little mini-challenge going on at Read 52 Books in honor of the holiday season. I decided I would try to read at least 4 Christmas-related books between now and the end of the year. So this was my first one!

I got this on my Kindle for $2.99. It really didn't have much to do with Christmas except that that was the reason for the far flung and alienated Lee clan to gather. Mr. Lee, the rich old man at the head of the family is a difficult, manipulative sort of man who has hurt or driven all his children away in some manner. He has plans to cause further injury as a nice Christmas surprise for them, when he up and gets his throat slit on Christmas Eve. But by whom???? Christie is great at making believable characters and building the suspense while weaving in all sorts of clues that may or may not help you figure out whodunnit.

An excellent, light read. Didn't make me feel Christmasy though!

For more book reviews, go to 52 Books.

Love Among the Chickens - Book 54

Love Among the Chickens by P.G. Wodehouse is a very funny, light read. I downloaded it for free on my Kindle (the link says it was $1.99 but I am sure I found under the Kindle free reads). I've only ever read two books by Wodehouse, two of his many about Jeeves. I was searching around for a good book that would be antidote for another awful book I was reading (Song of Achilles - hated it! Couldn't finish it!). My 20 year old son is a fan of Wodehouse and he told me to read a book by him to get rid of the bad taste in my mouth, left by the other book.

Love Among the Chickens is a comedic love story. The main character is Jeremy Garnet, a young author who is persuaded to help an old friend out with his latest scheme for getting rich: starting a chicken farm! The fact that no one knows anything about chickens is no obstacle. Jeremy also falls for a girl also staying in the neighborhood of the farmhouse. He concocts a supremely stupid idea for getting on her grumpy father's good side. Of course this backfires magnificently. I am laughing just thinking about scenes from the book. I finished this read last Monday, and there are still certain scenes that float up into my consciousness and make me laugh out loud as I remember them.

P.G. Wodehouse is a refreshingly witty, lighthearted, cheery author. If you don't have a Kindle this book can also be read for free at the Gutenberg Project.

Thank you, God, for P.G. Wodehouse!

For more book reviews go to 52 Books in 52 Weeks.

40 Days for the Poor - Day 24 - Giving Tree

Our parish has a giving tree every Advent. The Sunday after Thanksgiving they put a Christmas tree up in our narthex covered in little colored paper cut outs of Christmas bulbs. One each of these paper ornaments there is a label that tells about a particular charity. On the flip side it lists possible gifts you could give to the charity. As people come out of Mass and pass by the tree, they pick some of these paper ornaments off the tree. Then at some later weekend in Advent, everyone delivers the gifts they've bought per instructions on the little label to the parish activity center. In the activity center, each table is labeled with a different charity and you go and put your gifts on the appropriate table.

We've been participating in this every Advent since we started going to this parish, 11 years ago. I usually pick one paper ornament (that means charity) per member of the family. Then we have an annual family tradition of going shopping for our giving tree gifts. We did that yesterday. The gifts are due at the activity center tomorrow. This morning for the first time ever I actually helped set up the room to receive the donations tomorrow. And then I helped put Thank You paper ornaments up on the Giving Tree, to say thanks to all the parishioners who participate, which I believe is most of them. The lists of charities is long: crisis pregnancy center, toys for sick children, prison ministry, helping the homeless, the handicapped, troubled teens, immigrants and refugees. . . . not sure if I got quite all of them!

It's a good way to prepare for Christmas!

40 Days for the Poor - Day 23 - Giving Blood

Today I tried to give blood. I have O- and I also haven't done things like get tattoos in foreign countries, lived in England during the 80's (Mad Cow), used dirty needles or slept around. I've got clean blood! So blood donor places tend to call me up and ask me to come in when they are low on supplies.

I first started giving blood back in my early 20's. However, I gave up after a while because they'd turn me away saying I was anemic. I'd say: Really??? I was borderline all the time. So then I got married and started having babies and breastfeeding, etc. And thus, for many years, I was ineligible for that reason. Here and there, in between children and a short gap in breastfeeding, I was able to give. I remember donating for my dad a couple of times when he was having health struggles. But then I started to have female, peri-menopausal problems which again rendered me anemic. I had a little operation to fix that and now I am good to go! I donated blood for Josh's back surgery, just in case, but he didn't need it. Someone else did, I am sure! But for the last couple of years I have been trying to donate twice a year. I've given at the center near the hospital and I've also donated at the church blood drives. This time however, I went into a different donor place. I think that Friday at 3:00 (door closes at 4:00) is not a good time to go and give blood. The place was run by young girls (in their mid to late 20s)who all looked like they had worked a very long week and couldn't wait for the weekend. They were tired. They weren't all that professional. I warned them that I had difficult veins. I do. They always have to call in an older, more experienced nurse to get blood from my veins. At first they couldn't get anything and then apparently you are supposed to donate a pint in 15 minutes. If it takes longer than that, no good. My blood was coming out very slowly and I ran out of time. The nurse said maybe I was dehydrated. I was actually. I realized at that moment I had hardly had anything to drink except coffee. And coffee is really dehydrating! This is ironic because I have been trying conscientiously to drink more water. I developed a kidney stone and this can be a result of being dehydrated a lot. Gosh, while typing this my lips are drying out! Water! Anyway, so I've been trying to drink more water, but today was so busy with so many errands I basically just forgot.

So, alas, my attempt to give blood was a bust today. But I shall try again next time. And I will remember to drink lots of water and not go back to a place run by very tired and very young nurses.

Do you give blood? It is a wonderful thing to do for the ill and the injured.

40 Days for the Poor - Day 22 - Do you give money to people on the street?

Today while stopped at a traffic light a man came up to the window and asked for money. He was dressed in one of those yellow and orange reflective vests and he had a some kind of a badge pinned on his shirt. He also had a plastic bucket that was badly stamped with the words HELP THE HOMELESS, DISPLACED, FREE EVANGELICAL CHURCH. At least I think that was the name I saw on the bucket. It happened very quickly. I happened to have some loose change sitting in the little area between the seats so I gave it to him. He was probably legitimate. So I hope my little contribution helps someone somewhere. But the incident got me thinking. A lot of times when I am confronted by someone who obviously looks like an alcoholic or mentally deranged, I won't give money. I used to not be like that. I used to think that I should always be charitable no matter what. But then I witnessed a couple of situations where I realized I was actually contributing to someone's alcoholic or drug habit. Suddenly it occurred to me that money I give with good intentions could be the thing that kills that person or at the very least makes his plight worse. It felt like I was just giving money out of my own guilt and fear instead of really thinking about what I was doing.

My husband came to this realization too. He's downtown a lot more than I am and confronts this problem a lot more than I do too. He gives money if it feels right but he reserves the right to withhold too. And he often will offer to buy whoever it is a meal at the local sandwich shop, but he doesn't want to just hand over money if he suspects it's going for something other than food.

When I drive Becky to her summer music camp we have to pass through a very busy intersection. I often get stuck in the left lane there. There's a guy who's been begging there for ages. He's got a chair and a printed (as in it was printed by a printing company, not hand printed) saying that he's a vet. He also has a cell phone. He's often sitting on his chair chatting on his phone with his printed sign propped in front of him. I think because he's a mainstay for many years, I see people give him their change, but I have never done so. I just think he looks like he could use his powers for something with more dignity than begging on the street corner, you know? I feel like he's too slick. Is it a sin not to give to him? Maybe I should try to talk to him but actually you can't really talk at that particular intersection. God bless the man. Some part of me admires his chutzpah or whatever it is, but I just don't wanna give him my money!

Rick does try to give money annually to local homeless shelters to make up for the times he doesn't hand out money when asked. But, I don't know, every single time I am confronted with these types of encounters, I am left feeling a little helpless and guilty. I don't really know what is the best thing to do.

Well, one thing I can do of course is pray. I can pray for clarity on the subject. I can, of course, pray for the homeless.

Here's a prayer I found on Belief.Net
Prayer for the Homeless

O God, as Naomi and Ruth journeyed from one land to another seeking a home, we ask your blessing upon all who are homeless in this world. You promised to your chosen people a land flowing with milk and honey; so inspire us to desire the accomplishment of your will that we may work for the settlement of those who are homeless in a place of peace, protection, and nurture, flowing with opportunity, blessing, and hope. Amen.

40 Days for the Poor - Day 21 - Food for the Poor

This is our family's favorite charity. We first learned about it years ago when Hannah was about Becky's age now. A homeschooling mom who has lots of experience in theater proposed to put on a musical version of A Christmas Carol. (I might note that she's never done it since! I think it wiped her out!!!)

The idea was that the group would ask for donations. The goal was to get $2000 to buy a house for a homeless family in the Caribbean through an organization called Food for the Poor. I had never heard of it and was a bit suspicious. However, we did some research and it turns out that it has a very good rating. One of the best charities out there in terms of how many dollars go directly to the poor instead of for overhead costs. The Christmas Carol musical was a great success and the children did indeed raise enough money to buy a house for a family. And ever since Food for the Poor has played into our Christmas giving. We've done it different ways; sometimes the kids give a portion of Hannukah/Christmas to them; sometimes we donate in their name. The organization has become a bit like Heifer International, in that you give money for specific things like enough beans and rice to feed a family for a month or to buy them a chicken for eggs and that sort of thing.

So check out Food for the Poor for Christmas!

40 Days for the Poor - Day 20 - Pope Benedict's On the Service of Charity

Someone posted the link to Pope Benedict's Apostolic Letter to the bishops on Charity on an email list. It becomes official on December 10th.

I'm posting it here because it fits in with my theme and because I want to save the link for later, when I have time to really read it.

40 Days for the Poor - Day 19 - A Heart for the Poor

It looks like I only missed Sunday and Monday in this 40 Days thing, so this will be Monday's post retroactively and Day 20 should be today. I never have been good at keeping track of things!

Two other people who I have found especially inspirational are Blessed Mother Teresa and St. Vincent De Paul. I wrote about the Society of St. Vincent De Paul but it is great to learn more about him. There is an excellent old French movie that I highly recommend. I found it very inspiring. I haven't actually read anything more about him other than little references or occasional articles I might come across that mention him.

And of course Mother Teresa is a powerhouse when it comes to developing a heart for the less fortunate. I read Kathryn Spink's biography of Mother Teresa. A very solid story of her life. But the movie Something Beautiful for God is wonderful! I highly recommend it.

Out of time again!

40 Days for the Poor - Day 18 - Dorothy Day

(Oops, got busy doing other things and didn't get to this 40 Days for Poor project for, hmm, I think three days. I'll have to go count!)

I think one way for us not-poor-people (like me)to cultivated a heart for the poor is to read about admirable people who really do put the poor first. Dorothy Day, who was just named a Servant of God by the Catholic Church, is one such person. I remember when Dorothy Day died. I had never heard of her but I had an appointment with my academic counselor at college. Tacked up on his door was a newspaper article about Dorothy Day. She had just passed away. While waiting outside his door for the student ahead of me to finish up, I read it. My appointment turned out to be more of a discussion about Dorothy Day than about my academics! I didn't act on my new found knowledge, but I thought about her often.

Fast forward a couple of years and somehow I picked up a copy of Day's book The Long Loneliness. I've read a couple other collections of her writings as well. I have also see the movie Entertaining Angels. It has a made for TV quality about it but it is very true to her story and for that kind of movie, I thought it told her story well.

I used to be attracted to The Catholic Worker. I read the newspaper and I met some folks who worked at The Catholic Worker house in DC many years ago. I have to say they struck me as being part of the tribal social justice left who are more political leftists than Catholic. Which is not true to Day's legacy. She was very devout and orthodox in her faith, but lived it out in a very radical way. The weird bifurcation of Catholic social teaching by U.S. politics is so sad. The "seamless garment" got ridiculed and rejected by the right while the political left decided bigger government always means justice for the poor. I am oversimplifying for sure here! But in my opinion neither side has remained true to the gospel or Day's legacy.

Anyway, maybe 10 years ago I stumbled on the astonishing fact that my grandfather, John Brophy, knew Dorothy Day! Here's an open letter to him (they misspelled his name initially) published in the Catholic Worker. Here's another article where Day refers to a conversation she had with my grandfather.

Anyway, all this just thrilled me. And I am very excited that Dorothy Day is now on her official way to Sainthood. I think for the new year, she will be my patron.

Even though the left has loved her for years, I have noticed that more typically conservative voices are starting to speak with admiration as well. That's good! And gives me hope.

Dorothy Day, pray for us!

The Velvet Room - Book 53

If my goal was to read 52 Books in 52 weeks, do I get extra credit for going over????

The Velvet Room by Zilpha Keatley Snyder is a lovely book. I read it aloud to Becky. This is our second Snyder book. I am enjoying going down memory lane, revisiting this favorite author of my junior high days! This book is even better than The Egypt Game I think, but it might be out of print sadly. I had to buy it used.

It is set in the late 1930s. Robin Williams (this was before the actor/comedian was known!) is a 12 year old girl whose family is on hard times. Due to the Depression and her father's habit of developing pneumonia, the family has been reduced to real poverty. They have been homeless for three or four years and have spent their time traveling from one farm to another in a dilapidated old Model T, as migrant farm workers in California. The Model T gets a flat and they wind up settling at Las Palmeras where there is a slightly spooky but supremely intriguing abandoned old mansion. Inside this mansion, Robin finds the velvet room.

It is a wonderful story with lots of suspense, lots of well drawn characters, lots of love and understanding as a young girl grapples with the hardships and tough choices her lot in life hands her.

It has a really great, satisfying conclusion. Two thumbs up!

For more book reviews see Read 52 Books in 52 Weeks.

Hittite Warrior - Book 52

And the 52nd book I have completed this year is . . . . Hittite Warrior by Joanna Williamson. I actually have a dim memory of reading this before a few years ago, but I really, truly didn't remember much of it at all, except that Deborah, the lady judge from the Old Testament, makes an appearance.

I read this with Sean who was assigned it in his Aquinas Learning coursework for Literature and Composition. It is a fast-moving, young adult novel with a complicated plot that involves many of the ancient civilizations we read about in our history books. The book is told in first person by Uriah-Tarhund a young Hittite boy whose family is killed by the 'sea people.' He travels down to Canaan to find a friend of his father's. Traveling through the city of Tyre, he gets waylaid for a while with a family who takes him in. This family is half Canaanite - half Egyptian. Later he travels inland and meets the Israelites (this is where Deborah comes in). Later, we encounter an evil Philistine and his equally evil sidekick from Crete. It is a veritable soup of ancient tribes fighting and trading in the Eastern Mediterranean!

The plot is quite swift-moving and pretty complex with lots of characters with strange names to try to remember. There's a lot of coincidences that happen too, that make things slightly less believable than I found satisfactory. However, the book really reinforces the history learned of these peoples. And the tie in to the Old Testament was neat. We learn about Moloch, Baal, the Egyptian god Aton and the Hebrew God Yahweh. The strongest element of the book for me was the way it really recreated the atmosphere of the ancient world.

A worthwhile read for sure! For more reviews go to 52 Books.

40 Days for the Poor - Day 17 - Caring for the Elderly

I come from a big family.  When I was little, my older sisters were off at college and then getting married.  So it used to be arranged that every once in a while we younger ones would get to spend a weekend with our older sisters and their families, aside from when they might come home for the holidays.  I think I might have been about eighth grade or so when I visited my older sister LeeAnne.  LeeAnne had trained as a nurse before she married.  And then somehow along the way she'd also gone to what they called Beauty School.  Do they still call it that? She loved to do people's hair.  She still does!  She did my hair for my wedding.  When Aunt Jackie lived here last year, LeeAnne would come over and do her hair too.  In fact when she goes to visit Aunt Jackie at her new digs in the retirement home she moved to, LeeAnne does her hair.

Anyway, when I went to visit her this one time, she took me with her to a nursing home near her house.  It turned out that she would go and do various patients hair for them.  For free.  That was her ministry.  My sister is a very warm, chatty person, with an easy laugh, so she shines at stuff like this.  It was wonderful to see her walk into that nursing home and how the faces just lit up when they saw her.  She had an appointment to do two people's hair that day.  That's all I remember anyway.  She did one old lady's hair.  And then there was a woman there who was younger and had some terrible disease where she shook uncontrollably.  Maybe it was MS?  I can't remember.  I just remember how she shook so much she couldn't sit up, so my sister put her in the bed and arranged pillows all around her so that she would be comfortable but somehow my sister could still do her hair.  I remember my sister patiently putting make up on her too because the woman's children were going to visit her that afternoon and she wanted to look nice.  It was so sad, but I remember how much I admired my sister for doing what she did.

I think that was the first time I ever was in a nursing home.

Taking care of the elderly even when they are at home and fairly well off financially is still a big deal.  It takes lots of planning and patience.  But for those who get stuck in nursing homes, it really is a wonderful ministry to go and visit them.  I am thinking about this today because Becky's American Heritage Troop is going to sing Christmas carols at a nursing home today.  They do this every year and for some reason every year we miss it!  We always intend to go but something comes up.  This is the third year this has happened!  Becky woke up with another fever yesterday and threw up all day long.  She didn't keep one ounce of food in her stomach.  Absolutely miserable.  This a.m. I checked on her and her fever is gone.  She woke up for once second and said 'Mommy, I feel so much better!"  But she still isn't going to sing at any nursing home today.

However, we have tried to go to various nursing homes over the years.  When Hannah was in Little Flowers, they used to go yearly to do the same thing (sing Christmas carols).  When my boys were in Cub Scouts, they'd go and put on funny skits.  This was not at Christmas time, but on Presidents Day and the skits always had a patriotic/American history theme.

I knew of some people who made it a regular family ministry to go and visit Alzheimer's patients every week.  I was so in awe of this I decided we as a family would try to do the same.  It ended in fiasco.  One of my impulsive kiddos did something that upset a patient who began screaming obscenities at him!  So that was the last time we did that!  The nurse was so appalled and felt so bad for my son.  He was pretty traumatized by it.  So it ain't all sweetness and roses!

A couple years ago we joined 4-H.  I would have loved to have stayed in 4-H but things didn't work out.  But while we were part of it, we did get to have a really fun Christmas party which the group apparently held every year at a nursing home.  It was a very fun party and the kids really enjoyed mingling with the patients there.  Each 4-Her had made a pretty Christmas ornament to give each person in the nursing home and we sang carols and put on silly skits.

Oh, and I just remembered that our parish youth group is going caroling at the nursing home near our Church on 12/14.  I have to put that down on my calendar.

I do think a lot of stuff happens at Christmas and then nursing home patients get ignored by groups the rest of the year, it seems.

So once again we are very inconsistent about helping out the lonely and elderly.  However, there is an order of sisters who devote their lives to taking care of the poor elderly.  They are the Little Sisters of the Poor.  So if you can't be very consistent with actual visiting and assisting the elderly, you can give a donation to these lovely women who spend their lives caring for those who are too poor to afford a nursing home.