Around the House and Beyond

Reading
Rose bought Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, which was cleverly delivered in special Amazon packaging complete with "Muggle instructions." She was off work when it arrived and read it in a couple of days. I was astounded but now am about halfway through after picking it up Saturday afternoon. I forgot how easily a little J.K. Rowling slides down. The beginning I found rather slow, as with all Harry Potter Books, but now am to the point where I am having a hard time putting it down. As others have pointed out, she does not write deathless prose, however she can tell a thumping good yarn.

Watching
The Ghost and Mrs. Muir - I was reminded of this when listening to All Movie Talk's top six ghost movies list. A gentle film with a highly enjoyable performance by Rex Harrison as the salty Captain who haunts Gull Cottage. More of a romance than a ghost movie but highly enjoyable.

Melinda and Melinda - Woody Allen's self-indulgent experiment of telling the same story as both a drama and a comedy. An interesting intellectual exercise but one where they just keep talking and talking ... and talking. Most notable perhaps for Will Ferrell's first serious role, albeit one where he is playing Woody Allen's usual movie persona.

In the Kitchen
My oven hasn't worked for at least a week. I now am forcibly reminded just how much I use it as I constantly am having to reject meal options or work around them. The repairman comes this afternoon! Woohoo!

Dealing With ...
Our dog, Pepper, may be a true candidate for the doggie psychiatrist. Unaccountably devoted to me, he slept by the back door when Tom and I were gone for the Beyond Cana retreat. He stopped eating on the second day we were gone and now does not seem to want to take up the activity again with any seriousness. He is a big dog and needed to lose a few pounds so that problem is now solved. He is chewing his rawhide bones so it isn't a tooth/mouth problem ... I am able to lure him into eating by mixing canned food into the dry. However, that isn't going to go on forever. If we hadn't had a cat die from developing fatty liver when she stopped eating for about a week, I wouldn't worry ...

On the Job
Hannah is having to deal with someone at work who is showing her just what kind of jerks are out there. Sad to say, we've all had those experiences and while it can be maddening, this is good experience for putting into action the necessity to "forgive our enemies" which, as a priest once mentioned in a homily, is more likely to be the guy ahead of you in line for the copier than someone with a gun. However, she is beloved by all others at the vet's office and getting very good experience in working with animals with care and affection but without sentimentalism.

Rose has evidently been unofficially adopted by the owner of the cafe where she works, to the point that she is bringing her DVDs of "necessary" movies to watch. This is due, we believe, to her work ethic which, more than anything, is evidence by a desire not to be bored and, therefore, look for work when none is evident. Who wouldn't love than in an employee?

As for us, I am grateful for the opportunity to bid on two jobs due to Happy Catholic and am working on another which came to us via that same source of exposure (here's what we do). As I tell Tom, it almost makes up for the time I spend on it! (Wait, I think those jobs are enabling my addiction ... ah, well, c'est la vie!).

UPDATE: Much thanks to Jessica who called and gave us the opportunity to bid on another possible job. It was delightful speaking with her and our conversation wound up becoming real testimony from us both about the way that God uses any and all things to move through our lives for our own good and that of others. (Don't worry, I don't usually talk to our clients about such things! Until they bring it up, of course, then it's all fair game! ha!)