7 Quick Takes, in No Particular Order

1111111111111111111111111111111111111111

I mentioned in my last post that we spent Saturday with my brother and sister-in-law. I finally decided to try and make Father Leo Patalinghug's Fusion Fajitas, and Zowie! Were they ever delicious.

First, I salted and peppered the meat and doused it with a little olive oil; then poked holes in both sides (like he does in the video). Then I mixed up some soy sauce, red wine vinegar, white wine, garlic powder, ground ginger, and brown sugar, poured it over the meat, and marinated it all in a Ziploc bag for several hours. I served it with peppers and onions sauteed with minced garlic; guacamole; and sour cream with a little hot sauce mixed in. (If I'd had cilantro, I would have added that to the sour cream as well. Next time.)

22222222222222222222222222222222

As you probably know if you regularly read my blog, our church is under renovation. I posted some pictures here of the inside of the church, with the temporary wall in front and the altar in the back; today when I arrived for daily Mass, the temporary wall had been taken down and here's what was behind it.

The altar is still at the back of the church, which means the front is still the back, and we're still sitting in folding metal chairs. And it's still hot. It will be fun to see the work progress from week to week!

33333333333333333333333333333333

This fall I will begin my new job, teaching part time at our parish preschool. Actually, it will be two mornings a week teaching three-year-olds, and three afternoons a week as a preschool aide in a three-year-old classroom. I taught preschool for a few months before Larry was born, and I absolutely loved it. When Moe was in kindergarten at the Montessori school, I began working as a teaching assistant in the early childhood classroom there. It was a lot of fun spending my mornings with those precious little ones.

I will admit one thing, though. Even though I am VERY excited about preschool (and happy to have steady hours and a regular source of income) I'm also a little sad about not being able to substitute teach next year. I am just now getting to know the kids that my children go to school with, and I never thought I'd say this, but substituting this year has really been a joy. Of course it has its ups and downs, and there will always be children who try my patience now and then, but it's more rewarding than I ever would have imagined. Yesterday a little girl made this card for me: On the inside she wrote, "I loved it when we played Sparckal [and] when we do those math problems. It was fun today. I hope you can come back again."
I hope so, too.

44444444444444444444444444444444

I suppose I should explain what she means by "Sparckal." In many of the classes, the kids play a game called "Sparkle" to practice their spelling words. The students all line up around the room side by side. The teacher calls out a spelling word, and the first person in line says the first letter, the next person says the second letter, and so on. If someone makes a mistake, that person has to sit down. When the last letter in the word is recited, the next person says, "Sparkle!" and the person after that has to sit down. The last person standing wins the game(and if they're lucky, a free homework pass).

55555555555555555555555555555555

I finally bought a decent camera bag:

I have room for my camera AND my telephoto lens, plus the battery charger and various and sundry gizmos. (I'll be even more ecstatic when they come out with one that holds camera and lenses, tripod--which I don't have, at least not yet--plus wallet, keys, makeup, cell phone...) Now I can carry my camera around with me without looking like I'm carrying a camera around with me.

666666666666666666666666666666

I'm almost finished with this book:

I highly recommend it to anyone who has kids.

I'm not sure what I'm going to read next, but it looks like I'll have a lot to choose from.
(That's my old camera bag on the bottom shelf, right on top of the Bible that I haven't opened in like a month.)

When I went to Border's last week to buy gift cards, I bought two more books:.I hope Peter can help me purge my bookshelf.

7777777777777777777777777777777

Tomorrow from noon until 2pm, Father Stefan is having a book signing for Miracles, Healing for a Broken World at Christ The King Catholic Bookstore in Fredericksburg, Virginia. Thought you'd like to know.

If you want to go and need directions, click here.

Have a blessed weekend!