{SQT} {WIWS} Sunday Dump

This here will be one of them thar posts where I dump a ton of random stuff on you and then walk away for bit.

It’s really fall, even in New Jersey. Exhibit A: massive left piles that will rot into the ground all winter and kill the spring grass. Exhibit B: Beach withdraw, which led to a last-minute jaunt to the shore so I could get a fix before the holiday craziness and bitter temperatures hit.

Today, I tried to get dressed for Mass in a way that was stylish, modest and most importantly WARM, because, wow that wind picked up!

Sweater: Penney’s ?
Skirt: Target
Tights: gift
Boots: Thrifted and held together with Shoe Goo.
Dusty hearth: Still plainly visible despite my daughter’s blurry photo.
Hair: No thanks to this pin

 Seriously, I followed this chick’s advice for twenty plus minutes and unless you have like, an hour, to take a flat-iron down each strand of your hair, I don’t see how this can work. As it was I had to threaten my kids more than the usual amount of times with a hot flat-iron just to get one measly wave. (Don’t worry I don’t really threaten them with the iron, it’s more like, “Mama wants to look beautiful and if you can’t all get along I’ll style your hair like you’re straight out of 1989!” which means nothing to them so they go right on bothering me and typically I burn myself. )

However, in leu of regular showering I did try this pin this week and was delighted when it worked and I smelled like chocolate. Bonus; when I took a shower to wash it out, it smelled like someone was pouring hot cocoa on my head, which is really much nicer than that statement sounds.

Besides all the books I’ve been working through, my eyes have been glazing over this week from reading so many good articles online.

“Sleepy Fridays” over at the Common Room makes me thing I’ve got a pack o’ geniuses up in this house.

“The reasons for this troubled relationship between brainy children and sleep are as legion as they are obvious and simple enough to state. It can be extremely hard to fall asleep when your brain just won’t shut up.”

However, I feel like I should somehow be smarter.

Headmistress also recently posted about being focused on the task at hand. Something I need to remember as I type and spill GF beer on the keyboard.

“Some things really are worth just a lick and a promise, of course, but other things deserve more care and attention, clearing the space on our work surface and in our minds so we can focus and really give them the care they deserve. I guess part of maturity is figuring out the difference.”

I have some growing up to do.

And as we head into the gift giving season I found Jeanette’s post about collections, really useful collections, to be a great idea during a season rife with novelties and trinkets.

“This isn’t about filling up your house with 879 Precious Moments figurines (although if porcelain kids with giant eyes are your thing, then by all means), or spending 8 hours a day on eBay finding the rarest piece…this is about building in a simple, low stress way to approach gift giving that makes it easy for your loved ones and doesn’t result in donations to Goodwill 6 months later (Quesadilla Maker, I’m talking to you).”

Lastly priest’s wife shared some great meatless meal ideas. If you’re a vegetarian or eshew meat during Advent, Lent and/ or all Fridays swing by and check out her suggestions.

 “It is a little boring, but fasting is an exercise to temper our ‘passions’- and eating a variety of food is definitely a ‘passion’ and habit of the modern middle-class American.”

What else? Ah yes, voting is open for ‘The Frankie’s’ and I’d love if you could swing by and vote for yours truly. There are lots of great submissions so be sure to click through and read a few others.

Now I’m signing off for a bit. I might share my Thanksgiving in the third person on Thursday, but if not, have a happy turkey day and I’ll catch y’all at the beginning of the new year…the new liturgical year that is.

If I haven’t left you with enough links, you can always head over to Fine Linen and Purple for the rest of the WIWS crew. Heck, there’s seven things here so there’s no reason I can’t bring up the rear over at Jen’s either. One hundred and fifty other blogger can’t be wrong, so pay them a visit.