7 Quick Takes

I'm linking up with Jen @ Conversion Diary for 7 Quick Takes. I've wanted to join for some time now, but felt I wasn't blogging frequently enough to bother with it. But the more I read Catholic Mommy Blogs, the more I think they really need to be exposed to singles blogs. We need to pray for each other! Singles in the Church really, truly need prayer. I think regular readers here would agree. I'm hoping to convince all the happy mommies. Okay, here goes nothing!

--- 1 ---

Last weekend I finally got my tooshie out for a hike. It's one of my favorite things to do, but I end up never going hiking because there's no one to go with me. Then I have thoughts of Aron Ralston, or venomous rattle snakes... and it just doesn't seem safe to go alone. So I called one of my besties to let her and her hubby know that I was going hiking, and that I would call them when I was back down. Then I had the most beautiful hike on my favorite trail. Sweaty, dirty and worn out is one of my favorite things. Right after laughter through tears.
This is my view on the hike. Yeah, I live in Colorado. Don't everyone move here at once!

--- 2 ---

Well, that didn't last long! At the beginning of this week I had the most beautiful dream in which I met my husband. Now it's Friday and all the sweet, peaceful feelings have worn off. I wrote about how the most significant part of the dream was feeling my heart have a chance to rest. Each night since, I have lied in bed trying to morph back to that peaceful feeling - it does not come. Now, I just wish I could dream that dream once a week, or once a month just so my heart can rest for ten or twelve minutes.
Oddly, I wasn't really aware of the anxiety in my heart until I was in that dream and experienced, for the first time in 20 years what it was like to have a heart at rest. For the first two days after my dream, I felt it might be really possible to find my husband. Now five days later it seems like a crazy pipe dream once again. If I never, ever meet him, I pray that God would just allow me to enjoy that dream every so often in my old age.

--- 3 ---

My car has a miracle stereo system that has been trying my patience! When I bought the car, used, from some Cr@igsl!st dude, he included this tricked out stereo complete with remote control!

Last month the volume knob (which is also the auxiliary switch) just sort of jumped out of it's groove and is now very tricky to manipulate. Luckily, I have the remote control to resort to - but the volume controls there seem to be fussy - and it seems like the heat of the day is a factor. The hotter the inside of the car, the more likely the remote buttons don't work. This has confounded me until yesterday when I realized - um - maybe after five years, the battery needs to be replaced! Yeah, that makes a lot more sense than my heat theory.
I suspect I'm right.
I haven't bothered to replace the Very Special Battery just yet. But I think I get points for finally figuring it out!

--- 4 ---

I'm a summer birthday girl... and this year, for my own birthday I decided that I'm going to go to Italy in two years. It's something I've been putting off because 1) I always thought I'd go there for my honeymoon, but we all know that's not happening! 2) I never seem to be able to save that kind of money. I often joke that I never get to spend my money on what I've saved it for. Instead it ends up going to a car repair or some other emergency.
So anyway, I've decided that once I pay off a few bills I'm going to save every dollar, penny and dime so I can go to Italy for my Birthday in 2015! Shortly after this decision I found the most wonderful, comfortable pair of summer shoes, thinking, "These will be so great to wear to walk around Rome!" Yeah, I get ahead of myself sometimes. Well, I've been wearing those shoes with everything and noticed this week that the heel is going to be worn through before the end of next summer, never mind 2015. Normally, that wouldn't concern me because I have the best cobbler in three states, and I would just have him replace the heel... but of course, this particular shoe has the kind of sole where you can't just replace the heel. I guess I'll run it by him anyway, and see what he can do. But oh well!
Must start living in the present and not for the future!

--- 5 ---

I've recently discovered a couple new-to-me blogs aimed at single Catholic women. They're impressively good, for the fact that they don't only address singleness from a 20-something perspective. Because that would be shortsighted. Both writers have a wonderful ability to address the concerns of single women in their 30s and even into 40s (where I am. Sigh.) Allow me to recommend The Veil of Chastity and Seraphic Singles. I hope you find wisdom and comfort in their words as I have!
They both are married, having found their wonderful husbands later in life - but they do each have a heart for singles and haven't forgotten the agony of being kept in the waiting.

--- 6 ---

I'm pretty lucky that I work for a company that puts focus on personal wellness. We have a gym on site, and they're paying for a trainer to work us out in groups. It sounds a bit extravagant until you recognize that their money is better spent keeping employees healthy, rather than paying toward surgeries and treatments for employees who aren't healthy.
So, our trainer did one-on-one sessions with each of us to help identify more ways to improve our health. In addition to my workouts (I am already so much stronger!! My tummy is flatter too... yay!) she suggested that I get out for hikes once a week, (done) yoga once a week... and to get a solid eight hours of sleep each night... always a challenge for me since I'm a night owl who still has to work in the morning. Using my Andriod sleep app, I'm up to about 7.5 hours... but it never seems to be enough. Sigh.

--- 7 ---

Uh -- seven... let's see. Well, staying up late to write this I'm catching the Jimmy Kimmel show and a beautiful, rockin' Joan Jett belting out Bad Reputation! Yes, I am showing my age just knowing who Joan Jett is when I'm guessing most of you do not... I'm just saying it was probably worth staying up!!

For more Quick Takes, visit Conversion Diary!