Hello, again! I am excited to write another update for you all as I have been so terrible at keeping in touch lately but I am nonetheless a bit perplexed as to where to begin.
This last month or so has gone by more quickly than I realized. Work is going really well. I am truly finding my niche within the company. There has been a lot of shifting around and policy changes in the department/company recently so I am not sure what that will bring for me at the end of my interim rotation in September. Nonetheless, I plan on continuing to work hard, prove myself to the best of my abilities and see where that brings me.
I booked another retreat for the first week of October. With my recent life changes I feel as though I need more direction and grounding so that I can move forward on the correct path. I know it may sound odd to most people but I am thoroughly excited for a solid week of absolute silence (with the exception of the priests´ lessons, mass and confession). This year I booked my retreat out in California at a location just outside San Jose, as it best fit my schedule. I won´t have time for additional sight seeing as I only have enough vacation time left for the retreat itself. I am OK with it as the retreat is the most important part.
The priory (house for priests) at church is going to open up in less than 2 weeks! We are getting three resident priests plus the bishop! It is quite an honor to have a bishop stationed right in your own parish. That being said, there is a lot of extra work that needs to be done. Next Saturday I am going to help with the finishing touches in regards to cleaning, laundry, etc, of which I am told there is plenty. It will be a nice way for me to get to know more people in the area. Today, I helped out with preparing the meal for our current priest´s going away party. Not everyone could stay but there were plenty of people to fill up the reception hall in the basement of the church. I thoroughly enjoyed working with the others in preparing the meal. Then I came home and took a nap because I was exhausted!
While I am on this topic, I want to take a moment to discuss my previous comment about the potential of a religious vocation as I have had some questions about that. I wrote to several Mother Houses (convents, specifically where one goes if she is thinking about joining the convent) in the US and France. At this point in time, I need to really take a step back and pray about what God wants for me. They invited me to stay with them for up to a few weeks at some point in the future to help me gain a better understanding of the kind of life they lead. Moreover, the general consensus is that one needs to be 100% debt free in order to join, which I am not due to my modest mortgage worth of student loans. At this stage, I have determined soley based on that fact alone that unless God sends me a great blessing of someone helping me repay my loans quickly then the religious life is not for me.. at least for the next 17.8 years if I still find myself unwed and inclined to join.
On an entirely different note, I have lost 10lbs so far! I am feeling more comfortable already and only 25lbs more to go to my goal weight. This last week or so has remained even at best as I have stayed inside due to the heat and have not been taking too much care in what I eat. I am getting back on track, though.
I wish I could go back to NY this summer as I am missing family reunions on both sides of the family this year. Hopefully next year I will be more settled in my job so that I can plan that better. In anycase, I am glad that everyone had/will have a great time together! I´d love to see pictures and hear stories so pass them my way when you get a chance.
I had two fun projects this week - the first was organizing my scarves. If you know me, you know I have more scarves than I really should for my own good. Hence, they were taking over my bedroom and needed to be wrangled. I ended up taking the circular shower curtain hooks and clipping them to a hanger, then pulling the scarf through the loop. Voila! Organized and handy. Second - I needed (well.. wanted is more like it) an extra dry erase board for all of my household action items (eek.. corporate jargon is creeping in!) and didn´t want to pay 10-15$ for an plain old white board. So, I hunted down a pretty gold frame at the thrift store for about 1$, spray painted the back piece of paper to match the blue in my living room and there I go! I have an inexpensive, aesthetically pleasing dry erase board.
Time to get ready for work tomorrow. Until next time!
