Seven Quick Takes, vol. 17

~1~

Lent began this week and for the first time in years I missed Ash Wednesday Mass.  Even though I know it is not a Holy Day of Obligation, I hate that I had to miss it.  But that Mass is always so long and the pews in my church are just hardwood.  Sitting there for just an hour on Sundays is hard enough for me right now, I knew I wouldn't survive a longer Mass.

~2~

I have had a difficult time this year deciding on what to give up for Lent.  I'm already stuck at home and can't drive, I already don't drink soda or coffee (pregnant or not), I'm not grocery shopping so I have no temptations in front of me (and hubby doesn't buy sweets and snacks much, so unless I specifically ask for something he doesn't buy it), and although I do watch TV, not much and have generally been avoiding it while on bedrest, otherwise I won't do anything else.  So nothing has come to mind.  Instead I'm focusing on prayer this Lenten season.

~3~

So speaking of prayer, I am finally focusing on doing a daily Rosary again.  It's been a long time and I'm so glad to be getting back into it.  I also made a list of general intentions for each day of the week to go along with the mysteries of the Rosary.  Within those general intentions I can still remember specific prayer intentions on each day as well.  I think this will help provide some nice focus as well.  I have a few other prayer plans for Lent, but this is the big one.

~4~

Almost 11 years ago I moved to Kentucky, I was 25 at the time.  Prior to that I had NEVER heard of being able to take part in whatever you gave up for Lent on Sundays.  I had lived in 5 other states before coming to Kentucky and not once did I hear that this was practiced by some people.  I remember after moving here and hearing this during my first Lent here and then mentioning it to my mother who was just aghast to hear that.  So I'm wondering, do you not count Sundays as part of your Lenten sacrifice or do you?

And I know all the arguments for it.  Sunday is the Lord's Day, we celebrate the Resurrection every Sunday, if you take the Sunday's out of Lent you get exactly 40 days, etc., etc.  I'm still not convinced, it just doesn't feel right to me.

~5~

Woke up this morning to hear about the giant earthquake in Japan.  How horrible and devastating!!  I have a friend who has been in the Philippines for the past couple months and according to her Facebook page she was heading to the airport to come home yesterday morning.  She is supposed to be back here on Friday (today).  I have no idea where she is right now or when she is supposed to be landing here.  She's very much on my mind today and I'll be stalking her Facebook page until I hear she is okay.  I hope my friends who live on the west coast will all be okay as well.  I know the tsunami threat is still a very real concern.  My prayers today are all with those effected by this.

~6~

I mentioned in my Pregnancy Update this week that I had a craving for pizza.  Hubby is planning on making pizza, which I really like, but there is something about the chain pizza places that I was really wanting!  It's so bad, and yet so good.  I posted that on Wednesday evening.  Thursday afternoon while I'm eating lunch the doorbell rings and there is a Papa John's delivery guy there!!  I told him I hadn't ordered anything, so he left.

I sit back down and a moment later my phone rings, I don't recognize the area code, and the person asks for someone who doesn't live here although the name was familiar to me, but it was my sister's father-in-law's name.  A name that is not an uncommon name so I dismissed it as a coincidence.

A few minutes later the doorbell rings again and the pizza guy is there again.  He tells me that the pizza was ordered and paid for already and was intended as a surprise for me.  The person he said who paid for it was the same name as I had been asked for on the phone.  Now I'm really confused, but I thank him and take the pizza.

It even had my favorite toppings on it!

Earlier in the day I had been instant messaging with my sister, so I jumped on the computer and asked her what was going on.  I finally learned that she had ordered the pizza for me.  So you understand, my brother-in-law's name is the same as his father's, but he goes by his middle name.  Although I am aware of this fact, when I hear his father's first name I don't tend to think of my BIL.  But I guess he has things like credit cards in his legal name rather than the name he uses.  Thus my confusion.

But how awesome is my sister!!  Thanks, sis!  It was definitely a surprise!!

~7~

Something interesting I've learned about bedrest: apparently I'm expected to look sick?  I've been surprised at how many people have been over or seen me at church and have commented on how good I look.  I know they mean well, so I always smile and say thank you.  And it's easy to smile, I find the compliments kind of funny!!  But I can tell by the way they say it that the expectation is that I should look sick or something. I'm not really sure.  Yes, I did have surgery a few weeks ago, but the surgery was actually not that bad.  They had me up and moving around by that night.  Like I said, people mean well and I always take the compliment.  I laugh to myself wondering what I'm expected to look like.

For more Quick Takes check out Jen Fulwiler's 7 Quick Takes post and the links to many, many others!!  Enjoy and have a great weekend!