What we have been doing

Since learning to walk, Mudpuppy has enjoyed looking out the windows,
especially upstairs, where he gets quite a view of the busy streets near our
house.

We haven't been too diligent about updating this blog recently because we've been even busier than usual. Besides the girls' birthdays and preparations for Easter, we have been extra busy preparing for Starling to travel to Rome. (She was invited by the Vatican's Pontifical Council for Social Communication to attend a meeting of Catholic bloggers -- you can get the full story at her blog.) She left this morning, and should be arriving around 8 am Rome time -- 3 am our time!

Also, I've been more busy than usual preparing for the garden season, because I am moving all of the beds to the (sunnier) center of the yard, into a configuration that will make watering and caretaking easier. But that means moving all our raised beds, building three more, and creating new trellises. Plus I am making a canopy for the sandbox, now that Mudpuppy is using it.

Plus, I have been in talks with several companies about buying our websites, so that we can move ahead with our adoption plans? I'm talking with the president and marketing director of one company next week; it sounds like they plan to make an offer.

I've also been working on a new writing project for work. And volunteering at the Winona Catholic Worker, where I have been helping to update the WCW website, shepherd six potential new live-in volunteers through the process of discerning whether to join the community, and prepare for the possibility of re-opening the house for families. I also appear to be one of the last people standing on our lifelong faith formation committee at church (even our pastor is leaving!); it feels like I'm trying to hold our faith formation program together with baling wire and string as it slowly falls to pieces. (I'm not the only one working on this, but planning sessions and preparing for next year has been a major commitment.)

Did I mention that we're planning a garage sale for next week? It's part of our efforts to clean out our overflowing house and raise money for the adoption.

And that is why I have been too busy to update Gracewatch lately! Sad faces all around.

Yes, I know I am too busy. It seems to come with this season of life. And now...I hear a child crying from a bad dream. More later...as soon as I get a spare moment!