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Friday Food – Anniversary Edition

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Our anniversary was played out over a few days of really good food! Here are a few of my favorites!

1. Cranberry Cheddar Chicken with French Fries in Lake George.
2. Dragon ice cream (Mr. & Mrs.) at Baskin’ Robbins.
3. Raspberry Shortcake.
4. Hibachi Japanese.
5. Baskin’ Robbins (31st anniversary).
6. Dole Cherry at (famous) Martha’s Dandee in Lake George.
(c)2025

My kids went on vacation and…

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Does anyone remember those popular souvenir shop t-shirts? My parents went to Florida, South of the Border, Gettysburg, and all I got was this lousy* t-shirt? My husband said no one would remember them, but I remember them. I think we all got one at one point, but they are long in the bin of history.

As I’ve written last week, I had to have surgery on my achilles tendon, so our vacation was cancelled; however, we sent our kids for half of the vacation since there was a “comic” convention, Fan Expo Canada. The three of them had never gone away alone together, and they all came back in one piece, and hopefully with stronger relationships than when they left. I had concerns about crossing the border, but I grew up going to Canada all my life, and I feel that they are an extension of New York and vice versa.

I thought for this month’s inspiration, I would share a few collages of some of the things my kids brought back for me. Some were requested (the clothes and stationery items) and others were surprises, especially Niagara Falls. (*Nothing in here represents anything lousy!)

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Inspired, and More

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The last few weeks have been nothing short of active, and I hope I’ve gotten through it with less scathing than would be normal for this kind of busyness. This post will be part mental health check-in, part inspired, part goal-setting.

Mental Health Check-in for Week 3 of July

I went back to my original post to see what the goals were that I thought I needed to focus on, and this was less than helpful. Goals and goalposts are constantly being adjusted. Looking at the biggest priorities, it’s still been iffy. Although to be fair to myself, I’ve been busy and not wasting time and opportunities, so while it’s been slow-going, it has still been going.

This is very much a positive.

Where are we this week?

  1. I was working on my presentation until about 7pm the night before. I realized there comes a point when it just needs to be done. I laid everything out on index cards, and did my thing. It was fantastic. I think everyone liked it and learned something new about St. Kateri Tekakwitha. I was able to constructively see things that I would change. I did a little improvisation and even though I finished later than planned, I was able to end on a decent note, and skipped a few slides at the end, and no one was the wiser. All in all, a good experience. I’m willing to do another powerpoint, although I’m hoping someone else presents it.
  2. Work. July 8th, I began working full-time. I haven’t worked full-time (outside the house) since my now-twenty-eight year old was two. It is a big adjustment for everyone, but my family is being supportive and picking up some tasks, and my co-workers and colleagues are amazing.
  3. Cursillo needs attention.
  4. I mentioned that I was going to avoid snoozing my alarms. I’ve still snoozed, but not as much and it’s made me more aware of what I need to do in the mornings to get out the door more efficiently.
  5. I’m disappointed in how our government is being run. I’m disgusted and repulsed by the Republican party, their hypocrisy, and their hatred. I don’t know how we come back from this precipice or how we survive.

Mental health check-in = EH.

And now for some inspiration!

I’m looking forward to taking my presentation and using it to push my book in the right direction. Below the cut are some of my inspiring and inspired photos from St. Kateri Tekakwitha’s feast day weekend.

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Friday Food – Montreal

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We spent the last five days in Montreal doing research for my book, seeing the St. Kateri Shrine, attending masses, seeing St. Brother Andre Bessette’s tomb and relics at the St. Joseph’s Oratory, and we also ate some really great food!

Picture heavy/links to restaurants below:

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Inspired & Inspiring – Writing Retreat Reflection

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This weekend I went on a much anticipated writing retreat with three writing colleagues. We have been meeting every two weeks for the past year, and the amount of feedback, suggestions, and camaraderie we’ve each received has been a glorious blessing.

We each had our own private bedroom as we shared other accommodations and a small conference room for meeting together and writing.

We interspersed our own writing with writing prompts and exercises to jump start our creativity and we enjoyed snacks, candy, and company and remarkably we each got quite a lot done on our individual projects.

As the “host” I had several goodies planned and I just loved both aspects of hosting and of participating.

The shared space worked out amazingly well, and we have tentatively scheduled another retreat in the fall.

Moving forward from this weekend, I have some goals set that need to be formally set down with specific timelines:

• Sample Book Cover
• Book Title Ideas
• Chapter Headers (each chapter needs):
          – Titles
          – Picture, sketch, or quotation
          – Fictional narrative of this aspect of Kateri’s life, especially related to the shrines
• Timeline both of the formal governments & of Kateri’s life
• Questions to be answered

I’m looking forward to the rest of the week, planning, meeting again on Zoom, and focusing on the direction of my book.

Happy Writing to All of Us!

Caption for Photo Collage above:

  1. Our reserved dining table for the weekend
  2. A beautiful necklace one of my colleagues gave me
  3. Protest sign created for April 5th Hands Off protest that three of our group went to
  4. Chocolate chip scone & cup of hot, black tea with milk
  5. Our conference room where we met, laughed, read, and wrote