Timeless marital advice....

from 1740 :)

1. Never to contradict my dear Husband without it being quite necessary and then with the greatest good nature I am mistress of.

2. To serve God more sincerely than I have done in the state I am now about to leave and to lead a life suitable to the Blessed calling of my Husband.

3. Never to fret or fall into a Passion about small matters but to have always a cheerful heart, knowing my blessings much exceed any troubles that can possibly befall me, and in all dangers to commit myself and family to an All-Wise Providence, and then to be easy about the event.

4. I likewise resolve to lay aside all fondness for dress but to be always neat and clean.

5. I resolve to be very active and never for the sake of saving myself a walk to neglect anything, though it be never so great a trifle.

6. I resolve to be very frugal and never to put my Husband to any needless expense.

7. I resolve to be very kind to my servants, as well to their souls as to their bodies, and always to give exact orders and never to be in a passion if they not be executed.

8. I resolve to treat my friends kindly, but not extravagantly, and to be full as glad to see his relations as my own.

Mary Christian
28 April 1740
written the night before she was wed
(Taken from: Fragile Paradise; Fletcher Christian of HMS Bounty)

and another...........

http://babble.com/content/articles/features/dispatches/granju/overparentingcrisis/

The Over Parenting Crisis

A change of mind....

http://ladyofvirtue.blogspot.com/

Great article!

For this week........

FOR THIS WEEK...5-19 to 5-25

Outside My Window... Looks a rain- free week. Sunny, a bit cool, but very nice.

I am thinking...about how to arrange my days so I can get all the projects I want to get done, done.

I am thankful for... Flowers, I am so glad God created them :).

From the kitchen... I made some home-made crostini this weekend. It was very good and quite simple and felt very nice to use up stale bread and have it turn into something so yummy. I'm also thinking you could chop it up a bit and use it as croutons and I also crunched it up and made breadcrumbs with it. I am also trying a new recipe tonight....slow cooker meatballs. ( Our oven is on the fritz so my crockpot is becoming a new bff.)

I am wearing... jean capri's, a white undershirt and long sleeve blue t-shirt. a baseball cap ( need a shower) no shoes right now :)

I am creating... an appealing yard, I hope. The paintbrush is coming out this week since it looks dry. I found some wooden pieces in the trash that I think will make interesting planters and boxes for a patio garden, but they need a little sprucing up. I am going to try white (green?)washing them with green paint.

I am going... to Jackson's Spring concert tonight. Naomi's on Thursday.

I am reading... mostly Laura Bridgman right now. It is turning into a fascinating book. A lot on how the mind processes language. More on that later.

I am hoping...for a productive Memorial Day weekend.

I am hearing... Gabriella giggling, Jed and Manny shouting ( they are playing together but they are so darn loud!)

Around the house... I finished one couch ( recovering). I did get the laundry room mostly cleaned this am. Otherwise I am trying to ignore inside work to go outside :)

One of my favorite things...one of my favorite things is laying in bed for about a half hour before I fall asleep and reading. It is just a satisfying and peaceful time. I can fully relax and enjoy it. I'm done worrying or thinking about doing anything else. Funny, a good bit of the time I have knocks on the door ( I actually try to leave it open but sometimes I forget after I get into my pj's to reopen it) and visits from a few kids who know they can find me there and not moving :) but that is also a sweet feature of that time of the evening as well.

A Few Plans For The Rest Of The Week: Sanding and painting my flower boxes. Finish planting my flowers. Finish cleaning up the backyard. Perhaps start on painting the laundry room or Al's room. ( if Noah comes through and tapes/spackles for me :)

A word about the title of this blog

A lot of people comment on it and like it. I have to admit it is not an original *Kris* idea, though. (Are there any?)
I got it from the book "My Spirit Rejoices" by Elizabeth Lessuer. It is her diary. She was such a holy and prayerful woman that her atheist husband became a Catholic priest after her death.

I don't know that I see that happening :) but everyone has someone they look up to and aspire to model what is virtuous in their character. Besides that I think it is a good motto to live by.
Your *spirit* can rejoice no matter what trials and torments are befalling you. I pretty much need that reminder on a daily basis. :)

Sometimes I wonder about myself.......

I just got done watching "Riding the Range" Backyardigans episode. *I* was the one who got it out of the library and was excited to find it!
My kids don't ever watch the show, but one time I happened to catch this particular episode and was hooked. I think it must have been one of those sick days when everyone is camped out in front of the tv and not caring what was on. I tried to find it on Amazon. I tried downloading the songs on Napster ( not the same as watching the little animals sing and dance with them :)
I nearly did a handstand and backflip when I saw it at the library.

I don't know why I am drawn to cheesiness. I mean, my 5 yo won't even watch this show because he thinks it is dumb!

I also like High School Musical 1 and 2. Ok, it took a lot to admit that so please don't throw any tomatoes. Whenever I watch it I feel like hiding up in my room with the curtains drawn. I understand how cheesy it is, I really do, yet I just can't stop myself. Every time it is on and I know about it I tune in. I especially like the baseball scene in HSM 2. I don't think I will be able to bring myself to go to the theater to watch the third episode, though. It will come out on DVD soon enough-right? I could order it online and no one would know the better!
My kids roll their eyes but I know they like it too. HA!

Lately I have been listening to ELO's Greatest Hits. Another thing I WOULD feel a bit squeamish about if it wasn't for the fact that it is Al's CD! He seems pretty hip and cool when it comes to musical taste, so maybe it is just a matter of things coming in vogue. :) Maybe I am ahead of my time. :) Or maybe enjoying cheesiness is just a break from pondering and wrangling with brain stretching issues. I guess everyone needs a vacation from them at times.

Gotta go-maybe I can catch another view of Backyardigans before I have to take it back to the library this afternoon. ;)

Lady - like eating.

I don't know if it has been providentially arranged, or that I am just drawn to a certain type of *diet* book, but it struck me that the recurring theme in most of the ones I have been perusing lately is what I would categorize as *lady like* eating.
Smaller portions, eating just little bits of treats, eating more frequently throughout the day so you don't descend upon any meal like a starving refugee, savoring your food instead of reading the Kroger ad, checking e-mail or the worst, shoveling it in while standing at the kitchen island ( something I do for breakfast AND lunch about 75% of the time.....dinner is a bit more civilized.) Making wise food choices instead of mindlessly consuming junky rot.

Yes, one of the books I am reading is "French Women Don't Get Fat", so that has probably influenced how I am thinking about it. (A brief review.....my assessment is French women ( or at least the one writing the book) thinks a bit too highly of the French :), but she has some good advice.)

Still, the idea of "lady like" food consumption is an appealing one. It brings to mind a thin, smartly dressed Englishwoman ( pardon my obsession with English gentility) sitting in her immaculate dining room with cabbage rose curtains, eating bites of chicken salad off lovely china and sipping water with a lemon slice in it out of a glass goblet. If it helps me lose a bit of weight and succeed in changing my eating habits, I will go with it!