Simple Woman

 This content uses referral links. Read our disclosure policy for more info. This means if you make a purchase, I get a little change to keep up my Diet Coke habit. It’s a win/win. 

Outside My Window

I am thankful…

I had a big birthday over the weekend.

When I turned 20, I was engaged to be married. I walked down the aisle to start life with me new husband a mere two months later.

When I turned 30, I was about 8 months pregnant with my very first little baby. The marriage I had with Mr. Pete that was just about the two of us was going to change in a very, very big way.

When I turned 40, I was 9 months pregnant and was already the mother of four little boys. Twenty- two days later, I gave birth to my very first baby girl.

When I turned 50, my mother was dying. I remember going to visit her at the hospice and the first thing she said to me was, “Oh thank God you’re here. Happy Birthday!!” It was bittersweet.

So turning 60 wasn’t about any big, big changes really. Mr. Pete had a sudden unexpected gout attack and I went to the store to get him some supplements and some carrot and ginger soup. There was a festival going on near the market, so I ended up having to park about a half mile away and then walking back that same half mile with my soup and supplements. I took care of him, and I pondered that over all of our years of marriage, I’ve gotten pretty good at it. That realization made me happy and content.

Then in the afternoon, while he was sleeping, I got to go to church and play my flute for a brand new priest’s first mass at our parish. I played three big solos and all of the mass parts. That made me content as well.

So maybe turning 60 is about realizing the gifts you have and the gifts you’ve developed, and learning to be content with those things. Contentment itself, is a blessing!

One of my Favorite Things…

This beauty, going to her end-of-year 8th grade dance

Family dinners on a Sunday afternoon

Rosie took her California Achievement tests and did great. She was in the 90th percentile or higher in every area and is far above grade level, particularly in math. Her biggest struggle was in spelling, where she was still at grade level but only in the 57th percentile. Her siblings got a laugh out of that – apparently, our genes have some kind of deficiency when it comes to spelling English.

So this summer, in addition to running with the high school cross country team as an official member this year, she will be finishing up pre-Algebra and getting a head start on the books for British Literature.

Miss C. is going to a drama camp for a few weeks, but we’ll continue her reading this summer. She is up to lesson 60 in the 100 Easy Lessons and has finished three weeks of work in her math book just last week! She is fun to work with.

We also did some crafts last week to get ready for the Feast of the Ascension.

I am going…

• to be converting over to walking every day at least a half hour since Rosie will be running with the team. If I can get some elliptical time in, it will have to be in the afternoon.
• to cut my carbs via the Wheat Belly Total Health: The Ultimate Grain-Free Health and Weight-Loss Life Plan recommendations and Intermittent Fasting.  I am particularly working on the fasting part and trying to eat my first main meal of the day after 1 p.m.
• Working on the “lose the mummy tummy” goal. I’ll be documenting that more in a special e-mail list. If you’d like to follow the ups and downs of that, click here. 
• More flute practice this week to prepare for my nephew’s wedding and some memorial services.  
• Starting to plan for next year’s homeschool.  
• Plan Miss C’s first grade year – I have the official okay from her mama that I will be teaching her next year. 

A Photo to share

A quote to share…O happy Mary of happy merit, who deserved to be the first of mortals to see the Son of God rise from the dead. For the love of him, you despised the allurements of the world. Commend us to him, we beg you, by your assiduous prayers that we may enjoy with you, O Lady, his most happy presence. From a Matins responsory in the Dominican tradition for the feast of St Mary Magdalene.

The older the fiddle, the sweeter the tune.
Irish Saying

I’m sixty years of age. That’s 16 Celsius. George Carlin

So teach us to number our days, That we may present to You a heart of wisdom. Psalm 90:12

For all the advances in medicine, there is still no cure for the common birthday. John Glenn One starts to get young at the age of sixty and then it is too late. Pablo Picasso The secret of staying young is to live honestly, eat slowly, and lie about your age. Lucille ball Age is strictly a case of mind over matter. If you don’t mind, it doesn’t matter. Jack Benny