Words for Monday Morning

Hello there! Sorry the blogging hiatus there; things have been pretty crazy leading up to the first week of school. But finally, at long last, it is here. Tonight is our Open House, and Thursday is the first day of school. And because this promises to be an exciting yet probably challenging week, I thought I'd share some of the words that are giving me comfort today, just in case you need to hear them too.

My God is the rock where I take refuge;

my shield, my mighty help, my stronghold.

~ Ps 18:3

He lifts us up, and in Him we can do anything! Join me in making this a great week??

A gorgeous Catholic shrine near my house in Wisconsin

Book 2: The Secret Garden

Back to the books! At this rate, it'll take me a year to tell you all about those ten books I'd like on my bookshelf. But, I hope you don't mind?

If you have no idea what I'm talking about, check out this Tuesday Teatime: Ten Books.

I don't actually have that much to say about The Secret Garden because it was circumstance rather than the story that really made it a memorable book for me. 

When I was five, I started playing 'school' outside, using a tree as a 'chalkboard' and a little twig as a pointer. My parents saw how much I loved it, so by the time I was seven, they had helped me set up a little school room in the house, complete with a chalkboard and easel, a globe, a little yellow student's desk that I used as a teacher's desk, and a plethora of accessories like chalk, a clipboard, and fake passes to the bathroom and the nurse. I would set up my dolls, or when I was luckier my sister and neighbors, and begin teaching whatever I had learned in school that day.

For whatever reason, The Secret Garden somehow ended up in this school room. Most of the rest of our books were kept in bookshelves in our bedrooms, and while I very easily could have gone and grabbed one, I opted for the path of least resistance and used the book that had somehow ended up in the room with me. So the children's abridged and illustrated version of The Secret Garden was the first book I ever 'taught.' I read it aloud to my 'class' and asked them questions about it; I dreamt up projects that they could do on the characters and plot; I made up spelling and vocabulary lists from it. And now, almost seventeen years later, I am a real English teacher. I'm not teaching The Secret Garden this year, but I know I'll get just as much joy from teaching this year's books as I did seventeen long years ago teaching The Secret Garden to my dolls.

I've come a long way from that little makeshift school room. Finally out in Wisconsin about to embark on my first real teaching job (no longer a student teacher or assistant teacher as I have been the past two years,) I had the true joy of seeing my classroom for the first time the other day. There's no little yellow teacher's desk, but I think I'll make do ;)

Tuesday Teatime: What are you learning?

Hi everybody! In honor of the upcoming school year, today I'm reflecting on what I've been learning lately and wondering what you've been learning.

To New Beginnings

Well, it's a new week, friends, and I'm in an entirely new and unknown part of the country. Would you pray for me as I take this leap of faith? And I, as always, will be praying for you - especially for any new beginnings you may be undertaking.

Whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly,

and whoever sows bountifully will also reap bountifully.

2 Corinthians 9:6

Whatever you can do or dream you can, begin it. Boldness has genius, power, and magic in it.

Goethe

Boldness, be my friend.

Shakespeare - Cymbeline

There are far, far better things ahead than any we leave behind.

C.S. Lewis

Massachusetts to Connecticut to New York to Pennsylvania to Ohio to Indiana to Illinois to....Wisconsin!!

Favorite Things (and places!)

Brown paper packages tied up with string - these are a few of my favorite things! (Actually, this was a graduation gift for my friend. But I couldn't get the song out of my head...)

Long time no see, everybody! Sorry - that was my fault. Things have been a bit chaotic over here as I've been getting ready to move from Massachusetts to Wisconsin. The big moving day is finally upon me, and before I go, I want to share a few photos from the last few weeks that capture some of what I love about New England.

The pond by my childhood house that I mentioned in my last Tuesday Teatime video. Please kindly notice the upside down sign warning against feeding ducks on the tree. I feel like that sort of encapsulates the atmosphere of this pond.

A photo I snapped while I was in the center of town yesterday. There's something about the sprawling old cemeteries, stone walls and whitewashed gates, and centuries-old congregational churches that makes New England one of my favorite places in the world. I think a scene like this will always make me feel at home.

Also in the center of town yesterday. Gosh, it's nice to be back in America.

And without further ado, on to Wisconsin. I hope you're all doing well, friends :)

Knowing versus Feeling

A photo from Kensington Palace I snapped just before leaving London. I absolutely fell in love with the peaceful feeling of this garden.

Hello, friends. I had originally been planning to post about the second book of the ten that would be on 'my bookshelf,' but while praying this morning, I realized there was something more important I'd like to discuss today. So my new plan is to use those book explanations when I have the time to blog but feel like I don't have much to say (which has been happening lately).

In today's first reading, Moses returns from the mountains to find that the people have forgotten him and have forgotten God. They have made an idol of gold to worship instead. Take a look at this excerpt:

Moses asked Aaron, "What did these people ever do to you

that you should lead them into so grave a sin?"

Aaron replied, "Let not my lord be angry.

You know well enough how prone the people are to evil.

They said to me, 'Make us a god to be our leader;

as for the man Moses who brought us out of 
the land of Egypt, we do not know what has happened to him.'

So I told them, 'Let anyone who has gold jewelry take it off.'

They gave it to me, and I threw it into the fire, and this calf came out.

Exodus 32: 21-24

I was particularly struck by the people's reasoning. They had requested of Aaron, 'Make us a god to be our leader; as for the man Moses who brought us out of the land of Egypt, we do not know what has happened to him.' 

Punctuation nerd that I am, I was staring long and hard at that semicolon. It implies that there is a logical connection between the two clauses. In this case, I'm interpreting it as a cause-and-effect connection. They tell Aaron, 'Make us a god to be our leader because we do not know what has happened to Moses, the man who brought us out of Egypt.' And then we can identify the underlying assumption as the people must always have a leader and someone to worship. As soon as their leader is gone, and as soon as they can no longer feel God's presence, the people create something new to lead them and something new to worship to fill the void that they feel.

I'm not sure about you, but I certainly don't feel God's presence near me all the time. There are many days that I feel directionless and far from God. I still know He exists. I know He is there. But knowing and feeling are two different things, and sometimes I'm like the Jewish people in the desert; I wonder where my direction has gone, and I quickly abandon ship.

But the thing about faith is that it's not all about feelings. It's about believing and continuing to act the way Jesus wants us to, even when we don't feel Him near us. Even when we're not sure where He has gone. Even when our prayer life has been feeling a bit dry and it's feeling really tempting to focus on money or popularity or career success instead. That, I think, is when it is most important to keep faith, to avoid the temptation to worship a golden calf, and to know in our hearts, even if we don't feel it, that God exists and is walking with us.

Book 1: Little House in the Big Woods

It just occurred to me that I never actually posted about the ten books that I mentioned in my Tuesday Teatime video a few weeks ago, and I really would like to share my thoughts about them. So starting from the beginning, here are ten reasons why Little House in the Big Woods would make my bookshelf of ten books.

First, this was the book that ignited my passion for reading. My grandparents gave it to me for Christmas in 1997, just after I had turned six years old. Up until this point, I had loved reading picture books with my parents and then had moved onto reading short 'chapter books' on my own. But Little House in the Big Woods was something entirely new. I identified with the main character. I delighted in imagining her life. I applied the lessons that five-year-old Laura learned in the book to my own life. My mother had been reading the book to me each night before bed, but before she knew it, I had finished the book on my own and was devouring the next in the series. 

Second, the book taught me about a strong work ethic and the importance of having a work plan and routine. (I'm not kidding. I credit a lot of my personality as a planner to this book and the rest in the series.) Some of the routines Ma, Laura, and Mary follow in the book are burned in my memory and influence how I work to this day. This passage in particular has had a very positive impact on me:

"After [the breakfast dishes and bed-making were] done, Ma began the work that belonged to that day. Each day had its own work. Ma used to say:

'Wash on Monday,

Iron on Tuesday,

Mend on Wednesday,

Churn on Thursday, 

Clean on Friday,

Bake on Saturday

Rest on Sunday.'"

Clearly, I'm not spending my Thursdays churning or anything. But I do still try to give myself one main task per day with other smaller, less important tasks. So for example, this week, my main task each day has been to plan a certain number of lessons on Beowulf for the fall. Then I have a small to-do list with secondary tasks like emails to respond to, chores to do around the house, and phone calls to make. Also, the perennial wisdom that a sink free of dishes and a crisply made bed are good ways to start the day has served me well. Thanks, Little House.

Somehow I was lucky enough to find friends who also loved the series so much that they also found it fun to dress up in 'olden days' clothes, as I called them. We were nine here, I think. (And yes, I was tiny.)

Thirdly, and closely related to the previous point, the book introduced to me the concept that Sundays should be kept free from work. My parents didn't work on Sundays, and the day was always reserved for mass and family time anyway, but my parents had never actually told me they refrained from work on Sundays. It wasn't a concept that entered my consciousness until I read the chapter on how Laura and her family spent Sundays. At six years old, I didn't really have any work to refrain from on Sundays, and in high school, I was studying every spare minute I had in order to try to get into Harvard. But from college onwards, the idea that Sunday is the Lord's day really became important to me, and I even revisited the chapter in Little House when trying to think of ways to make Sunday special.

Fourth, the book taught me that I didn't need fancy toys to have fun. Laura had a corn-cob doll and a ball made out of a pig's bladder (okay, that one is kind of gross) and she always had a good time. I started playing with paper dolls and playing 'house' in the yard with my sister because I wanted to have fun the same ways that Laura had fun.

And finally, the silly little lessons I learned from the book have stuck with me for almost twenty years, and I think they'll probably stick around at least twenty more. Some gems include: (1) don't jump on a hornets' nest; (2) if you're advised to do something as quickly as possible, there's probably a good reason; (3) brown hair is just as pretty as blonde, and it's not worth fighting over anyway. Oh, and (4) if you don't have a ball handy, use a pig's bladder. (Just kidding.)

Happy Friday, everyone!

Quotation taken from Wilder, Laura Ingalls. Little House in the Big Woods. 1932. New York: HarperCollins, 1971. p29.

Tuesday (...Wednesday again...) Teatime: Summertime

Even if you're not on vacation at the moment, have you been doing anything 'summer-y'? What do you associate with summertime? Things? Places? People? Activities? Wishing you all a lovely summer! :)

Thoughts on Love

Sometimes, it's a doodle-in-your-planner kind of day...

I was just reminded of this beautiful truth and thought I would share it with all of you:

"The person who does not decide to love forever will find it very difficult to really love for even one day." 

~St. Pope John Paul II

I don't think it just applies to romantic love, either. Every day, we need to decide to really love our parents, our siblings, our friends, our coworkers, and our neighbors. Some days, I'm pretty bad at it. But remembering that love is more than just a feeling--it's a choice we make to will the good of another--always makes such a big difference in my day.

Lots of love, friends. Hope you're doing well.

Goodbye England Part 3: Goodbye and Hello

So long, London! It's been so great.

The wonderful thing about endings is that they're also new beginnings. So while it was tremendously difficult to say goodbye to the country and city I've come to know and love, the trip ended in a welcome back to a familiar place (home in Boston) and the promise of a new adventure around the corner next month (when I move to Wisconsin to begin a new teaching job). Thanks for sticking with me through all these transitions, friends! :)

Hello, Massachusetts. It's nice to be back.

Tuesday Teatime: Goodbye England Part 2

A little on the sentimental side this week. Why I love England and what I'm going to miss about it...

Goodbye England Part 1: My Favo(u)rite Places

A view of part of the Victoria and Albert Museum from its inner courtyard

Well, the time has come, and suddenly I'm down to my last three days in London. As I'm reflecting on the past year, I'd like to share with you some of my favorite places I've discovered, what I'll miss, and what I've learned. (Hoping to do a post each morning for the next couple of mornings, but we shall see...)

It's difficult to narrow my favorite places down to just a few, but after much struggle, I've decided that these are the eleven places I'll miss the most in London (besides the school where I was teaching), roughly in descending order of preference. (There's a separate list of tea rooms below because if I included those here, they would dominate the list!)

1. The Victoria and Albert Museum: This place is without a doubt my number one favorite in England. I've spent hours and hours and hours there and never seem to tire of it. One day, I decided that I was going to look at all the displays in the European wings in detail, and I've been back on an almost biweekly basis since! I have learned SO much about British history here and made countless connections with the literature I teach and the customs and habits of the people I see around me here in London. I'll truly miss this place.
2. The Brompton Oratory: I have never had the privilege of hearing mass said in such an awesome (in the original sense of the word) cathedral. The moment I walk in, all my stress disappears, and I gaze in wonder toward the tabernacle. This is the first church I've found that still uses the 1962 missal regularly. Unfortunately, I never made it to one of those masses, but I did attend plenty of Latin masses and grew considerably more familiar with the format than I've ever been. What a beautiful way to worship.
3. Kensington Gardens and Hyde Park: Definitely my favorite place to walk in London. Strolls past Kensington Palace, along the Serpentine, and through the rose gardens always made my day. My long walk among the flowers on Easter Sunday will always be one of my most treasured memories of my year here.
4. Holy Trinity Church, Brook Green: This was my home church for the year (partly because I lived down the street from it), and I attended mass here more than anywhere else. It was also my go-to spot for confession, adoration, and general quiet contemplation with Christ. I loved the old stone building, the welcoming nature of the priests and sisters, the tight-knit community, and the music. It was a special part of my time here in London.
5. The British Museum: Another one of my favorite museums here. Even if I lived here another fifty years, I don't think I would ever tire of wandering its galleries. Every turn brought into sight another treasure, and the hours I spent there were some of the most thought-provoking I've had here.
6. Harrod's: Although my first time in this department store actually scared me so much I had to leave (because I accidentally brushed up against a dress worth 700 pounds and then had visions of somehow breaking something else that cost more than my monthly salary), Harrod's still makes the list. I've never gotten so lost in a department store before, and it's incredible to me that any store can look so much like a museum. Plus, my sister and I had ice cream in their ice cream parlor last week, and that was one of the cutest things I've done in awhile. Selfridge's was cool too because I love the show Mr Selfridge, but I think Harrod's wins out as a slightly more absurd (and therefore more fun) store.
7. Cath Kidston: My love for this store is infinite. So much vintage, so many florals. Oh, Cath Kidston, please open a branch in Boston!!
8. The National Gallery: I'm sure you're noticing my intense affection for the museums here. They're such a treasure trove of knowledge, and they're free! It was difficult to choose my favorite art museum (runners-up were the Tate Britain and the National Portrait Gallery), but the National Gallery wins just because of the breadth of its collection. I could go from admiring a Rembrandt to a Renoir or a Titian to a Turner in a matter of minutes.
9. The residential neighborhoods of Brook Green: These neighborhoods were my stomping ground this year, and I have many memories of pleasant after-dinner walks, meandering through the streets and admiring the fine Georgian townhouses. The neighborhoods are dotted with so many old school buildings too that the walks were always very fun for this school-obsessed girl ;)
10. The Globe Theatre: I've only seen a handful of plays at the Globe while here, but watching some of my favorites as Shakespeare intended them to be staged was such a privilege and a pleasure. 
11. Pret a Manger: A silly way to end the list, I know, but this chain of restaurants really stole my heart. Fresh, healthy, and affordable fast-food?? Yes, please. A few have opened in Boston, but I think it'll be awhile (if ever) before there are nearly as many open in the U.S. as there are here.

Tea Rooms

1. Betty Blythe: Around the corner from me and 1920s themed. I frequented this spot so regularly that the girls there knew I don't take milk in my tea! It was one of my favorite spots to read, mark students' papers, and take visiting friends.
2. Tea House Theatre: This tea room is rather hidden-away in Vauxhall, but it is worth the trek for anyone interested in a good cup of tea. The atmosphere is just lovely, with colorful bunting adorning the ceiling, an eclectic mix of antique furniture, a fireplace, books and board games for the patrons... Plus, they bake fresh cakes every day and leave them on the dining tables around the room. So before ordering, a leisurely walk through the room to gaze at the mouth-wateringly beautiful cakes is a must.
3. Clarinda's: Okay, so this one is in Edinburgh. But it had to make the list anyway because it is probably the cutest tea room I've ever seen, with antique china hanging on the walls, lace tablecloths, and classical music in the background. I posted about it in October/November when sharing my photos from Scotland.
4. The Rose: Also not in London, but at least it's in the right country this time! This gem of a place is in Oxford and was the first tea room I learned to love, a whole three years ago on my fist sojourn to England.
5. The V&A Cafe: The decor is gorgeous and kind of makes me feel that I've slipped back in time and am taking tea on a White-Star-Line-type ocean cruiser. I can't count the number of times I've had cream tea here after a long afternoon wandering the halls of the museum.
6. Cocomaya: Tucked away off Oxford Street and one of the widest assortments of tea treats I've ever seen. I spent a wonderfully lazy few hours here one afternoon, decompressing after the stresses of walking Oxford Street.
7. The Original Maids of Honour: A friend and I tried this place for the first time just a few weeks ago after visiting Kew Gardens. The 'maids of honour' tart is an old recipe harkening back to the days of King Henry VIII. There are several versions of the story, but they seem to be linked to Anne Boleyn, either while she was queen and eating the tarts with her maids of honor, or while she herself was a maid of honor to Queen Catherine of Aragon.
8. The Orangerie at Kensington Palace: Since this was the first place I ever had true afternoon tea with the tiered tea tray, I'll always consider it one of my favorites. It was a pretty cold day, but we sat outside, and the entire affair felt very dignified.
9. Primrose Bakery: Another out-of-the-way tea room. This one is a short walk from Regent's Park and boasts some of the most creative cupcakes you'll ever see. I had a salted caramel cupcake with tea and enjoyed the afternoon with my friend immensely.
10. Bea's of Bloomsbury: A short walk from the British Museum, this small tea room sells a marvelous innovation called a "duffin," a mix between a doughnut and a muffin. Terribly unhealthy, but so good.

I would be remiss if I didn't mention that I found a lot of these tea rooms from Lauren's blog Aspiring Kennedy, which you can find here. She blogs about her favorite places in London (as well as her travels elsewhere), and her 'To a Tea' series was an inspiration for many of my own tea adventures this year. 

If you happen to be planning a trip to London, let me know if any of the places above pique your interest! I'd love to hear from other people who love England as much as I do.

Tuesday (...or Wednesday) Teatime: America

Happy (belated) Independence Day! What do you love about America? (Or about your country if you're not American?)

Tuesday Teatime: Patience

God knows that there are so many areas in which I need to improve, and patience is certainly one of them. Sometimes, when I feel I'm especially lacking in a particular virtue, I pray about and focus on that virtue for a few weeks, and that is what I'm doing right now with patience. Is there a particular virtue you're working on or would like to strengthen in yourself? I'm curious to know! :)

"Days pass when I forget the mystery"

Salisbury Cathedral

Good morning, all. I do intend to start posting about all the books I mentioned in yesterday's video. But first, I want to share this poem with you that has been on my mind the last couple of days. 

Days pass when I forget the mystery.
Problems insoluble and problems offering
their own ignored solutions
jostle for my attention, they crowd its antechamber
along with a host of diversions, my courtiers, wearing
their colored clothes; cap and bells.

And then

once more the quiet mystery 
is present to me, the throng's clamor
recedes: the mystery that there is anything, anything at all, 
let alone cosmos, joy, memory, everything,
rather than void: and that, O Lord, 
Creator, Hallowed One, You still,
hour by hour sustain it.

~Denise Levertov: 'Primary Wonder'

Isn't it wonderful when we can clear our minds of all the little problems we use to distract ourselves from the awesome power that is God? A clear mind, fresh awe. Lord, help me to quiet my mind and fill my thoughts with Your quiet mystery once more.

Levertov, Denise. The Stream and the Sapphire: Selected Poems on Religious Themes. New York: New Directions Publishing Corporation, 1975.

Tuesday Teatime: Ten Books

PLEASE don't feel pressured to watch this whole video. Asking someone who makes her living talking about books to talk about ten books is a recipe for a veeeeeeeery long video. 

But as always, I'd be honored if you watch any of it, and I'd be even happier if you join in the conversation!! (You have so many options: comment on Clare's blog, comment on my blog, make your own video...you know you want to do the last one......)

Question: What ten books represent you best?

Many of these really require more explanation than I could give them in this video - especially the ones that have to do with my faith or with Catholicism as a religion. I think, therefore, that I'd like to write a separate post on each over the next couple of weeks. So if you hear me say something that strikes you as odd such as 'The Taming of the Shrew taught me about marriage' or 'I choose the Catholic life of joy, not of rules' (to which I imagine you'd respond 'Shouldn't it be about both, Libby?') just hold on a couple of days and let me explain myself.

Happy Tuesday, everyone :)

Note: I just re-watched this video and realized I imply that only Christians believe in God, which I certainly didn't mean to imply. I know that people of other faith backgrounds believe in God as well. I should have said that I needed to find someone who believes in Christ as God.

"How can I focus my flickering?"

Regent's Park, London

Sometimes, I lose my way. (I bet that sometimes you do too. But I'm not going to make assumptions. So I'll refrain from writing 'we' here.) Sometimes, I lose my way. Sometimes, it just seems easier to fall out of a prayer routine, to forget to live my faith. Sometimes, I let myself get swept up in my busy life and forget to make time for God.

But always, always, always, God is there, and He is good. And He always welcomes His lost sheep back with open arms, for which I am so grateful.

It has been a hectic month over here, as I've said in video after video. But I'm realizing that there is a danger in being so busy, even if it is busy with friends and family: it becomes far too easy, at least for me, to use that craziness as an excuse to hide behind when I'm feeling spiritually lazy. Yet God called me back, and how beautiful was His call.

Faith's a tide, it seems, ebbs and flows responsive

to action and inaction.

~ Denise Levertov: excerpt from 'The Tide'

Lord, not you,

it is I who am absent.

At first, belief was a joy I kept in secret,

stealing alone

into sacred places:

a quick glance, and away - and back,

circling.

I have long since uttered your name

but now

I elude your presence.

I stop

to think about you, and my mind

at once

like a minnow darts away,

darts

into the shadows, into gleams that fret

unceasing over

the river's purling and passing.

Not for one second

will my self hold still, but wanders 

anywhere,

everywhere it can turn. Not you,

it is I am absent.

You are the stream, the fish, the light,

the pulsing shadow,

you the unchanging presence, in whom all

moves and changes.

How can I focus my flickering, perceive 

at the fountain's heart

the sapphire I know is there?

~Denise Levertov: 'Flickering Mind'

Levertov, Denise. The Stream and the Sapphire: Selected Poems on Religious Themes. New York: New Directions Publishing Corporation, 1975.

Tuesday Teatime: Current Reads

Question: What are you currently reading?

Tuesday Teatime: The Eucharist

What do you do to prepare to receive the Eucharist?

Tuesday Teatime: Keeping Sunday Holy

Hi everyone! A day late, but I had some technical difficulties. For whatever reason, I can't get it embedded onto this page, so I'm giving you a link to it on Youtube (where it's unlisted) instead. Question: What do you do to keep Sunday holy?

Tuesday Teatime: Keeping Sunday Holy

Friendship

"There is nothing on this earth more to be prized than true friendship."

~St. Thomas Aquinas

Tuesday Teatime: Marian Titles

Hi friends! Here's a video that's a bit rushed (but not actually two or three minutes long like I feared it would be). I touch on a very personal and sensitive subject, and I know that everyone has different views, beliefs, histories, and feelings on this subject. So please don't be offended if we don't see eye-to-eye here; I certainly won't be offended if you approach the subject differently than I do.

Tuesday Teatime: Favorite Gospel

Hello everyone! Today we have a guest star....

"It was now early spring--"

I just finished reading Far From the Madding Crowd this weekend and absolutely loved it. Apart from all the wonderful ways in which Gabriel Oak embodies Christ as the Good Shepherd of the story--which I could write on and on about so will save for another post--Hardy's command of language was remarkable.

This particular passage has really stuck with me all week:

"It was now early spring--the time of going to grass with the sheep, when they have the first feed of the meadows, before these are laid up for mowing. The wind, which had been blowing east for several weeks, had veered to the southward, and the middle of spring had come abruptly--almost without a beginning. It was that period in the vernal quarter when we may suppose the Dryads to be walking for the season. The vegetable world begins to move and swell and the saps to rise, till in the completest silence of lone gardens and trackless plantations, where everything seems helpless and still after the bond and slavery of frost, there are bustlings, strainings, united thrusts, and pulls-all together, in comparison with which the powerful tugs of cranes and pulleys in a noisy city are but pigmy efforts" (Hardy 95).

Hardy, Thomas. Far From the Madding Crowd. 1874. Ware: Wordsworth, 1993.

Tuesday Teatime: Which class would you retake?

Hi everyone! Today's question is if you could go back to your schooldays, which class would you retake?

Four Reasons Why I Blog

Salisbury, England in early spring  (I hope you don't mind that my photos often don't directly relate to my post--I just have so many I've taken here that I don't want to forget about!)

I feel I ought to give you some sort of explanation as to why I went from blogging once a month to four or five times a week. You may notice that I started blogging far more frequently in April, and that is because I had three weeks off from school and my Easter plans fell through. (Perhaps more on that later because it is kind of an interesting story.) But why did I turn to blogging those three weeks? Here's why:

1. In the absence of a strong Catholic community here in London, I decided to tap into a community to which I do  have access. I had been reading many of your blogs for a couple of years and had drawn great inspiration and comfort from them. In October, I took the leap and finally created a blog. But it wasn't until Easter, when I was missing Catholic community more than ever, that I decided to post regularly.
   
2. I'm in London for just a year, and as hard as it is to believe, that year will be winding up in a couple of months. With that realization came a determination to be even better about documenting my sightseeing adventures here.
   
3. I never intended for the almost daily blogging to become a thing. But I discovered over those Easter holidays that there was something wonderful about sitting in my sunny kitchen early in the morning over a cup of tea and doing a little quiet Bible reading, responding to friends' and family members' messages, reading your beautiful blogs, and sharing my thoughts on mine. By the end of the three weeks, it was a habit I didn't want to give up, even though it means waking up half an hour to an hour earlier than I used to for work.
   
4. Finally, as some of you may remember from a Tuesday Teatime video I posted a couple of weeks ago, my job has changed, and I am spending vast amounts of time at work right now proofreading and editing. Reading other people's writing for hours a day made me itch to write a bit myself--even if it's very informal writing on a blog.

So there you go! It looks like this frequent blogging habit is here to stay for the time being. Why do you blog? I'm curious to know!

Happy Monday, friends :)

Pictures that got lost in the shuffle!

Some of these are months old. But in an effort to document my adventures here, I want to make sure that the important ones make it onto the blog one way or another...even if some are two months late.

Above: Having tea in a beautiful room at the Victoria and Albert Museum


Left: THE MAGNA CARTA!!!



Below: Salisbury Cathedral

Because we should never forget where we come from... (Also, I was freezing, so please excuse my scary paleness.)

Also freezing and not entirely happy with the wind. But I can check Stonehenge off my list!

Looking up into the rigging of the Cutty Sark in Greenwich

The gorgeous Painted Hall, also in Greenwich

One foot in the East, one foot in the West

Above: My new favorite tea room!

Left: Statue of Queen Victoria outside Kensington Palace

Below: The Royal Albert Hall

The Prince Albert Memorial in Kensington Gardens

Liberty London, a department store in a very cool old building

S

My favorite painting at the Tate Britain. It's huge and very impressive in person. (Queen Elizabeth I)

I FINALLY had real afternoon tea with all the trimmings. (Well, not ALL the trimmings because that would include champagne.) But until last week, I had always opted for cream tea: a pot of tea and a scone with cream and jam. I had such a wonderful time drinking tea and sampling finger sandwiches with a good friend at the Orangery.

Things I Love About Teaching

Short lesson outline notes to remind me what I'm doing. I think I'm old-fashioned in that I like to write them out by hand, but doing so really helps me organize everything in my mind!

One nice thing about teaching much less is that when I do teach, I appreciate it SO much more. I taught a grammar/spelling lesson yesterday morning, and I was floating on a cloud of happiness the rest of the day. These are some of the little things that my students do that make me smile:

• Groan about a grammar lesson until I tell them something they didn't know and always wondered about, at which point they become intensely silent and focused. 
• Likewise, groan about a grammar/spelling bee until we actually begin. By the end, they're cheering for their team members, smiling, and laughing. 
• Never give up the fight to persuade me not to assign homework. They're still presenting arguments against the usefulness of homework as I shoo them out the door.
• Send up a mass complaint if I'm erasing the board and leave a spot un-erased. (I get it. That used to bug me as a student too.)
• A student asks if this spelling rule only works in English or if it can be applied to Spanish as well. One snarky student replies, 'Well, this is an English lesson.'
• I write the outline of the lecture on the board so they know how to organize their notes. They copy it down but forget to leave room to actually take notes as I'm teaching. (Oh, children.)

12-year-olds. So moody. So temperamental. But so fun to teach :)

"May you find a moment"

This prayer popped up on my Pinterest feed. (Yes, you read that right. My Pinterest feed.) And while I don't agree with everything Susie Larson says and believes, this prayer was too beautiful not to share. I hope that wherever you are and whatever you're doing, you have a wonderful night, secure in the knowledge that God has your back, even when it feels like He's far away.

May you find a moment of peace and quiet tonight to thank God for all that is right in your world. May you have the presence of mind to release your cares and worries to Him. May you have the gritty faith to grab a firmer grip on His promises to you. And may you wake up in the morning knowing that you've gained ground even during your sleeping hours because God is always moving on your behalf. As you entrust your whole self to Him today, He'll get you where you need to go tomorrow. Sleep well tonight.

~Susie Larson

Humility and Humiliation

I'm reading Thomas Hardy's Far From the Madding Crowd before seeing the movie this weekend, and I was struck last night by how often Farmer Oak's humility is mentioned. Moreover, it's often mentioned as one of his most positive attributes. And as I'm a word nerd, I started thinking about all the words related to humility. I know that it is good to be humble. But then why does it feel so awful to be humiliated? 

I had a day a couple weeks ago. One of those days. It seemed like I couldn't do anything right and was just doing one embarrassing thing after another. 

First I couldn't open the door at my (new) doctor's office. (The fact that it was my first visit is my only saving grace here.) I followed someone else in, so that was fine. But on the way out, I completely missed the fact that there was a green button next to the door that I had to press to release the lock. So I stood there for almost two minutes fiddling with the door and unable to open it. Finally, someone else had to leave, so she pressed the button and we both left. But before she came along, there were two or three people standing there just watching me struggle; perhaps they didn't want to embarrass me further by assuming I wouldn't figure it out on my own, but I mean, come on. When someone is struggling, help them.

Then I went to the post office to mail some letters back home. The woman behind the counter handed me some stamps, and in vain, I tried to pull the backing off of them to stick them on the envelopes. Eventually, the lady said "Oh. Love. That won't work. You need to lick them." Oops.

Finally, to top it all off, I returned home to a less-than-happy note from my roommate. It had been my turn to buy the laundry detergent, and it seems that I somehow bought fabric conditioner instead of detergent. To make matters worse, I had used the conditioner to wash a load of tea towels that of course hadn't come clean.

Suffice it to say that I was feeling a bit humiliated at the end of the day, and it was not a pleasant feeling. But as I've been reflecting on it this morning, I'm realizing that humiliation is not inherently negative; I think it depends on our frame of mind. When we make a mistake, when we do something silly, we are made humble. We are reminded that we are not perfect. Humiliation is just that--it is a check to our pride, a reminder of our imperfection, and therefore a reminder of our humanity. We can only be upset by humiliation if we are expecting ourselves to be perfect. If we can instead laugh at our mistakes, humiliation is far less about shame and far more about the fact that we are human and fallible. And for the Christians among us, humiliation is a handy reminder that the only perfect being is God, and He has come to save us from our imperfections.

So I don't think I'll exactly welcome silly mistakes with open arms, but when I next have one of those days, at least I'll be able to put it all into perspective.

Tuesday Teatime: The Temperaments

Today we're talking about the four temperaments.  If you'd like to take the four temperaments quiz, click here.

Invisible People

The Rose Garden at Regent's Park

A couple of weekends ago, a friend and I went to see A Little Chaos with Kate Winslet and Alan Rickman. It was a bit of a disappointing film, I'm sad to admit. But I did take one thing away from it that I'd like to share with you all.

The film was about the men and women who designed the gardens at the Palace of Versailles in the late seventeenth century. Apart from making me yearn for a piece of land of my own to grow some flowers, the movie made me wonder for the first time ever who did design the gardens at Versailles. And since I've never actually been to Versailles, it made me wonder who designed and planted, and who maintains today, the many beautiful gardens I've visited here in London. I don't know about you, but I don't tend to think about the people behind the garden when I admire some blossoming flowers. Likewise, I don't tend to think about the people who designed and constructed the building in which I live. I don't tend to imagine the men who designed this neighborhood, who paved these streets, who planted the tree outside my window.

But the fact is that there are multitudes of men and women, both past and present, working "behind the scenes" as it were to create the world in which we live. There are so many people, whom I very rarely see, working to make my school run smoothly. So over the past couple of weeks, I have made a conscious effort to say hello and strike up a friendly conversation whenever our paths do happen to cross. A simple thank you to the lady who makes sure there is always tea and coffee in the staff room, to the lady who restocks the paper towels in the bathroom, and to the man who turns off the projectors at the end of the day has really transformed my working day. 

It is so easy to stay in my busy bubble, to focus on my own work, and to not give a second thought when I see that the tea is replenished or that the paper towels are restocked. But the people responsible for keeping everything running deserve some recognition. So will you join me this week as I continue my quest to thank the people with the thankless jobs--those whose work maintains the beautiful and smooth world in which we live and work?