More October

Last Friday, Fr G, the kids, and I helped out with our new parish's homeless ministry.  For two hours we packed hygiene kits, stuffed homemade sandwiches into plastic bags, and then loaded the cars with clothing, food, and ourselves to drive to the distribution spot in Midtown, a few blocks from both Penn Station and the Empire State Building.  Our guests, mostly men, were queued up before we even arrived, but waited patiently for us to unload and set up.  We are grateful that this parish provides so many ways to serve, both the parish community and the larger world.  And while we've packed hygiene kits before, we've never handed them personally to the recipients.  It was memorable.  

We got back to our parish pretty late, confirming my choice to stay the night in the apartment.  Father and I slept in a bit but still managed an early walk before snagging some breakfast and coffee to take to the kids.  Y'ALL.  It was just lovely!  I hope to make it a regular thing.  Father wants to try a different coffee place next.  I'd love to just sit in the park.  

The Lovers Simon Vouet via

Pondering

Who are a little wise, the best fools be.

                            John Donne, "The Triple Fool"

Reading and Listening

After re-reading the entire Robert Galbraith series (almost 6,000 pages!), which took me the better part of the last five months, I decided to revisit Dorothy Sayers.  Her books are even better than I remembered.  There are a few nods to Sayers' characters within the Strike novels, really cleverly hidden, and each one sends a little thrill down my spine.  IYKYK.

• Whose Body? 
• How to Solve Your Own Murder  Listening via our library app.  I'm not a huge fan of the narrators, but the book is entertaining and light.
• Living as a Christian in a World That Rejects God After spending the better part of 2025 reading Fr. Roman's biography, my clergy wives group has chosen to read this book of conversations with him.  The title got mixed reviews, but the content has been great.  Maybe a better title would have been How to Live Out Faith

Schola Artium Liberalium Matris

More Latin!  I've moved on to Chapter 20 of Lingua Latina.  Aemilia and Iūlius can't agree about which they'd prefer: a new son or daughter.

My Daily Donne Project has brought me so much joy.  I'm learning a little more about the Metaphysical Poets in general and Donne specifically.

Crafting

I finally gathered all my unphotographed knits into one place and spent an afternoon photographing, editing said images, and printing little stickers of them.  The goal was to update my project journal, which put me in my INFJ happy place.  The photos are pretty utilitarian, but I'll post a few here as the weeks pass.  

• Marley Shawl:  Finished August 2026. I had a lot of yarn left from the Lunenburg sweater I made in 2022, and wanted to use up every inch of it.  This striped brioche shawl was a perfect canvas.  Instead of the garter border, I edged it with an i-cord bind off.  It's my new favorite cozy evening wear.

Domestic Doings

• I organized and cataloged the children's novels last week, at least the ones that were in the living room.  I think there are a few boxes lurking in Little M's closet and in the boys' bedroom.  That's for future Pleximama.  Now that that's taken care of, there's one empty section of shelf.
• Re-rush day!  Gathering my mental fortitude to push through this task.