Graduation Day!

Today is Katie's graduation day after 5 long years of college. She is thrilled of course as we are.
Her degree is in Health and Physical Science. She hopes to be attending graduate school if she can just get a good GRE grade.
I am fighting a sucking down of depression, the kind that is really hard to put words to. I read something this morning that touched on what I mean: "The soul's love (for God) is still not such as God would have it. The soul suddenly loses the tangible perception of God's presence. Various defects and imperfections rise up within it, and it must fight them furiously. All her faults life up their heads, but the soul's vigilance is great. The former awareness of the presence of God gives place to coldness and spiritual dryness; the soul has no taste for spiritual exercises; it cannot pray, either in the old way or in the manner in which it had just begun to pray. It struggles this way and that, but can find no satisfaction. God has hidden himself from it, and it can find no consolation in creatures, nor can any of these creatures find a way of consoling it. The soul craves passionately for God, but sees its own misery; it begins to sense God's justice; it seems to it that it has lost all the gifts that God had given it; its mind is dimmed, and darkness fills it; unspeakable torment begins. The soul tries to explain its state to the confessor, but it is not understood and is assailed by an even greater unrest. Satan begins his work. "
excerpt from The Diary of Saint Faustina Kowalska
Well I need to buck up and not let anyone see how i am really feeling or i will spoil the day.

Hot July Day

The days are just getting hotter around here and no relief in sight. The tomatoes seem to like the heat but I don't think too many others do.

K is graduating tomorrow night. She was on the 5 year plan...a lot of people seem to be doing that. I am told that it is because the public schools are not doing their job. But who knows.

I am just glad that she is finished and can begin a new chapter in her life.

Today started out peacefully enough. After coffee and quiet time I headed off to take Elmo to the groomer's ...he was long overdue..poor little guy. At least he stays pretty cool in the house.
Then dropped back to St. Catherine's for morning mass. Very nice service in the chapel this morning as there was to be a funeral taking place in the main church.
Back home I needed to take care of some insurance business and contact consumer affairs advocate Clark Howard to get some advice on how to handle fraud in an internet order that I never received and how to contact the Casablanca Fan Co. to replace a defective fan. I don't deal well with stress like this. Does anyone? It takes so long to get to the right person and it is such a waste of time. But that is life, I guess.
K is taking her final exam in Chemistry this morning. Passing it is very important as she needs it to graduate on Thursday! Help her please, Lord!

Prayer for today

Learning Christ

Teach me, my Lord, to be sweet and gentle in all the events of life, in disappointments, in the thoughtlessness of those I trusted, in the unfaithfulness of those on whom I relied. Let me put myself aside, to think of the happiness of others, to hide my little pains and heartaches, so that I may be the only one to suffer from them. Teach me to profit by the suffering that comes from them. Teach me to profit by the suffering that comes across my path. Let me so use it that it may mellow me, not harden nor embitter me; that it may make me patient, not irritable. That it may make me broad in my forgiveness, not narrow, haughty and overbearing. May no one be less good for having come within my influence. No one less pure, less true, less kind, less noble for having been a fellow traveler in our journey toward Eternal Life. As I go my rounds from one distraction to another, let me whisper from time to time, a word of love to Thee. May my life be lived in the supernatural, full of power for good and strong in its purpose of sanctity. Amen.

Author Unknown, from The Gold Book of Prayers

In typing out this prayer, in this time of disappointment in someone, I feel a peace and serenity. I hope that it will help someone reading it today.

Summer Days

With the bright sun overhead, we walked between the produce laden stands of our local farmer's market. Samples of freshly baked breads, tartlets, cakes, preserves, salsas were offered by many of the tables. My favorite dipping sauce for bread is "Southern Spicy Salsa". It was so good and full of sliced pickled jalepenos, sliced carrots, sliced okra, onion and oregano in a garlicky olive oil. I bought a jar and went home to experiment on my own version and it turned out great. I gave a jar to my neighbor, Jan and to our local priest who is Hispanic and is not a sissy when it comes to spicy food. It is great on slices of crusty french bread.
Here is my version:

Ingredients:
1 Lb. of large size fresh jalepenos
1 medium white onion
2 medium carrots peeled
5 okra (optional)
2 stalks celery
1 32oz. bottle of white vinegar
olive oil
Mexican Oregano
3 cloves of garlic


Directions:

I use a mandolin to slice all the vegetables, except for the okra. Wear rubber gloves when slicing and handling the jalepenos...it will burn your skin if you don't.

Place all of the sliced vegetables in a large container and cover with vinegar. Cover and place in the refrigerator for up to 2 days.

Prepare your Mason jars by washing with hot soapy water or do them in the dishwasher.

Drain the vegetables and pack into the clean jars , leaving about an inch from the top. In another container, put your olive oil, garlic (chopped) and the oregano ( about 2-3 TBS) Mix well and pour into the jars of peppers and vegetables. Store in the refrigerator and bring to room temperature before serving with slices of french bread or pita chips. See photo at bottom of page to see the jars of salsa...I couldn't seem to get it to load on this post.

Enjoy, my friends!

Flickr

To all my friends who have asked for my website to see my photos, click on the word, Flickr on the menu. I add new photos almost daily to that site. Thanks for looking. This blog is still under construction.

Happy Wednesday!

Hi Everyone! Hope you are all enjoying this hot summer day. Although I love the summer and all of the bounty of fruits and vegetables, I will not miss the heat when fall comes around. Thank God for air conditioning! I like to go out and pick my tomatoes and other vegetables but run right back into the comfort of my house

My thanks go to Rita at Coffeeshop for my new blog design. She has done so many gorgeous ones and I happen to think that mine is one of her best.

Here is her link if you want her to design a blog for you:http://coffeeshopblogdesign.blogspot.com/

I hope that I can figure out how to upload my photos today.