Gifts, Portuguese, Cleaning Binges, Violins and Banana Trees

1) Monday the washing machine was fixed and life began to return to normal – with the exception that every time I saw that particular appliance I felt ridiculously happy. Nothing like clean laundry to do a mother’s heart good.

2) My second daughter performed at her first violin recital on Sunday and played the Canon in D andThe River Flows in You and nearly made me cry.  It is so beautiful to hear a child play an instrument really well – especially considering the fact that I can’t play a note.  It is a pure and radiant gift from God.

3) I sometimes wonder who reads my posts and what people really think.  Well, I got an answer this week when Flavia Nunes Costa Ghelardi from Universidade Estadual de Londrina wrote me and asked if she could translate my post The Glorious Gift of Being into Portuguese.  I said sure, and now it will be published in Portuguese. Here’s her response: Thanks Ann! You can check the Portuguese version on www.fortalecendosuafamilia.blogspot.com.br. I´ve scheduled it for October 7th. Small world!

4) I went on something of a cleaning binge this week reorganizing rooms so that certain kids wouldn’t be so crowded together.  Amazing how much space you can find when you prioritize people over stuff!

5) We’ve been reading some wonderful older books that have been a joy to share in the evening.  We just finished Adam of the Road by Elizabeth Janet Gray and we are now reading Black Fox of Lorne byMarguerite de Angeli. Both are extremely well written in the dialogue of their settings and make wonderful family friendly read-aloud stories.

6) It has been raining for two days now and I hear it is supposed to get rather chilly the next few nights. I guess it is time to bring the ol’ banana tree inside – but where I’ll put it, I have no idea.  It was a gift from John – something he thought would liven up the place.  It does – but I’m not sure it likes mid-western winters. Last winter I thought I had killed it when I put it by the door, but it rejuvenated miraculously in the spring. Over the summer it grew another two or three feet. Would it look too ridiculous to put it in the living room dressed with a coat and scarf?

7) I haven’t been avoiding the world news this week – but I haven’t been seeking it out either.  Perhaps I am a coward or maybe I just needed a break from horror.  Still, I pray everyday for all the victims of wars, disasters and terrible diseases.  I hope you are praying as well. Prayers really do make the world a better place.  God bless you all.