Thoughts for Thursday

What am I cooking? Roasted chicken, mixed vegetables, and potatoes.

What am I reading? Still working through Interior Castle by St. Teresa of Avila and Jesus of Nazareth by Pope Benedict.

What are my weekend plans? Dinner in the city with my sister and her husband.  My sister just arrived yesterday for an extended visit.  She and her husband are helping my parents in the family business, and they will stay in town for at least a month, possibly longer.  We are taking her to dinner in Philly at this fantastic, primarily gluten-free place.

What are my prayer intentions today? Continued prayers for four year old Nathaniel and his parents.  He is battling brain cancer, and the burden is great.

What can my children do instead of watching TV? Make a book.  We have blank pages bound together in book style.  My kids have been very busy recently making their own books.  The books are creative, funny, cute, and very time consuming 😉

What is one product that is making my life a little easier? Baby yogurts.  I usually mix the yogurt from one large container, but lately I’ve been buying the individual baby yogurts.  They are pricey, but so easy!

What have I done for my marriage this week? Uh, very little.  I’m trying to go to bed earlier, does that count?  I have this terrible habit of staying up much later that I should.  Mr. Red gave me the nickname Late Night several years ago, and it is true that my productivity and energy level seem to rise after 10pm.  I usually give in to the temptation and I go to bed much later than I should, making me tired and cranky and behind the next day.  It’s a vicious cycle, and this week I’m trying to adjust my bedtime by 15 minutes a night, with the hope that I will eventually be in bed by 11:30pm.  I was in bed before midnight last night, so I’ve definitely made some progress

What’s challenging me lately? My mouth.  I have to get all 4 of my impacted wisdom teeth pulled, and I’m seriously dreading it!  My lower two teeth appear to be touching the main nerve in my jaw (but I have to get a specialized scan next week to confirm/deny this).  My Dad has permanent nerve damage in his jaw from a similar procedure years ago, so I’m really nervous.  I’m one of those weird people who would rather spend an afternoon at the OBGyn’s office than the dentist’s!  So naturally, I’d probably rather push out a baby than have surgery on my mouth.  I’m praying hard for peace and perspective, but still have dreams about scalpels and extracted teeth.

Something that made me think? A recent e-mail exchange about the impending local budget cuts to the local police department.  Everyone in town was really up in arms about making such drastic cuts to necessary services.  Last week, this same group was really upset about county cuts to the prosecutors office.  And next week this same group will be angry about tax increases.  The fickle electorate!

In all the years I’ve been in our town, I’ve never once seen people happy about losing services.  Whether it’s police, the schools, our libraries, the fire department, or public works, it seems that every budget cut is outrageous, and every tax increase unjustified.  Thanks to some poorly thought through pension obligations and decreased revenue from a weak economy, our state has an awful budget crisis.  Cuts have to be made everywhere, and it amazes me that the average person seems incapable of understanding the basics of a budget.  No wonder America has such a serious debt and spending problem!