Showing posts with label Blogs. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Blogs. Show all posts

Tuesday, February 26, 2008

Middle Name Meme

I was tagged by Jean at Catholic Fire for this meme. Thank you, Jean.

Rules:

1. You have to post the rules before you give your answers.
2. You must list one fact about yourself beginning with each letter of your middle name. (If you don’t have a middle name, use your maiden name or your mother’s maiden name).
3. At the end of your blog post, you need to tag one person for each letter of your middle name.

M - Merry. I am a merry pessimist. What's that? I can often see the bad things may be coming...but I also enjoy laughing a lot - at myself and at life.

A - Attitude. "I can do all things in Him who strengthens me." (Phillipians 4:13)

R - Rosary. I don't kneel down and say the whole Rosary every day, but it accompanies me, comforts me, and supports me, a little at a time, through my day.

Y - You. You are important to me: you, my reader; you, my friend; you, of course, my family.

I will tag:

A Woman Seeking Grace
By Sun and Candlelight
Crazy Acres
Karen Edmisten

Friday, February 01, 2008

A New Book Meme

I was tagged for a book meme by Alexandra at Happy Hearts at Home.

Thank you, Alexandra, for thinking of me.

1) Which book do you irrationally cringe away from reading, despite seeing only positive reviews?

Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien. Too many battles for me and too much detail to keep track of. I like The Hobbit, though.

2) If you could bring three characters to life for a social event (afternoon tea, a night of clubbing, perhaps a world cruise), who would they be and what would the event be?

John Rokesmith, Bella Wilfer, and Lizzie Hexam from Our Mutual Friend by Charles Dickens. I'd have breakfast with them. This lesser-known book, by the way, is my favorite Dickens book...and Dickens is my favorite fiction writer.

3) (Borrowing shamelessly from the Thursday Next series by Jasper Fforde): you are told you can’t die until you read the most boring novel on the planet. While this immortality is great for awhile, eventually you realize it’s past time to die. Which book would you expect to get you a nice grave?

Hans Brinker or the Silver Skates by Mary Mapes Dodge. I've read it, but wouldn't want to have to read it again.

4) Come on, we’ve all been there. Which book have you pretended, or at least hinted, that you’ve read, when in fact you’ve been nowhere near it?

I can't think of a specific title. I do like to read book catalogs, book reviews and narratives, and then when someone mentions a book I haven't read, I may be able to discuss it somewhat intelligently or at least have some idea what they're talking about.

5) You’re interviewing for the post of Official Book Advisor to some VIP (who’s not a big reader). What’s the first book you’d recommend and why? (If you feel like you’d have to know the person, go ahead and personalize the VIP).

I would recommend Harry Potter, book one. Why? Because the books are both character driven and plot driven, and with the VIP "not being a big reader" maybe he would find reading to be an interesting pursuit and become a more enthusiastic reader.

6) A good fairy comes and grants you one wish: you will have perfect reading comprehension in the foreign language of your choice. Which language do you go with?

Spanish.

7) A mischievous fairy comes and says that you must choose one book that you will reread once a year for the rest of your life (you can read other books as well). Which book would you pick?

Jesus of Nazareth by Mother Mary Loyola.

8) What’s one bookish thing you ‘discovered’ from book blogging (maybe a new genre, or author, or new appreciation for cover art-anything)?

A new (to me) Catholic author: Donna-Marie Cooper O'Boyle.

9) That good fairy is back for one final visit. Now, she’s granting you your dream library! Describe it. Is everything leather bound? Is it full of first edition hardcovers? Pristine trade paperbacks? Perhaps a few favorite authors have inscribed their works? Go ahead-let your imagination run free.

My books would be well organized on ample bookshelves in an open, well-lighted room. They would include autographed books by all my favorite homeschool authors, and lots of current Catholic titles. I would also have lots of classics, including everything by Charles Dickens, Zane Grey, and L. M. Montgomery.

A word about "tagging and me". I sometimes do not tag specific people for memes and awards because there are a limited number of blogs that I visit...and some of those are people who rarely join in memes and awards. I might have gotten to know more bloggers by now if my blog had continued to be my mission, my apostolate, my hobby...my life (my life other than my family, my prayers, and my homeschooling). But since I became active in a homeschool co-op, which includes teaching preschool for several hours once a week, with preparation during the week, I have another mission, apostolate and hobby vying for my time and attention.

So rather than tag the same people I always do, or tag people who are not interested in participating, I would like to "tag" anyone who is interested. If you do pick this up from here, leave me a comment if you would, so my readers and I can enjoy your answers.

Also, if you do not have a blog, PLEASE FEEL FREE to answer any of the above questions in the comments box. We would be interested to hear what you have to say! (Please just copy or restate the question so we know which one you are answering.)

Oh, and one word about comments. If you do not have or want a Google account or other sign-in account, I believe you can still leave a comment. Click on the button for Anonymous. Then just sign your name at the end of the post so we know who you are. If you don't want to sign your full name, you can sign a first name or even a pseudonym.

God Bless!

Saturday, January 19, 2008

Spread the Love Award



Jean at Catholic Fire passed on this beautiful award. I am very honored that you thought of me, Jean, and am also honored to be included along with the fine women she awarded. You can visit their blogs by visiting her post.

Thank you, Jean!

I thought it would be interesting to see where this began, so I traced my way back (no quick task). What I found was a beautifully artistic Victorian blog with a big heart behind it. You can find that post here if you'd like.

I would like to pass this award on to all my blog friends and readers. I think in keeping with the spirit of its founder, anyone who wants to can pick this up. But I will also specifically award a few of the blogs I love to visit.

1. To Sister Janet of Pause for Prayer who probably doesn't "do" awards and might not even find out about this one, but she certainly does spread the love with her meditations and her words of wisdom from her heart. Thought you might like to check it out.

2. To my new friend Stina at Lord, Guard and Guide. I like the way she shares from her life and her heart. And thank you, Stina, for visiting mine and commenting.

3. To Mrs. Jackie Parkes at Catholic Mom of 10. I am overwhelmed by all her posts. She is an inspiration. It's always nice to hear from you, too, Jackie.

And now, all those links were a lot of work, so it's back to my sofa for more wintertime "rest and recovery".

God bless you all and I love you.

Sunday, October 07, 2007

Mathetes Award

I am humbled, overwhelmed, and honored.

Jean of Catholic Fire nominated me for this award, called a "Mathetes" award. I don't have the button, as I couldn't figure out how to load it onto my blog...even though I've done this type of thing before. Thankfully, this isn't a "technologically savvy award", or a "great memory award"!

Below is the original explanation of this award:

"Mathetes is the Greek word for disciple, and the role of the disciple (per the Great Commission) it to make more disciples. So the rules for accepting the award are such: Winners of this award must pick five other "disciples" to pass it on to, and provide links for (1) the originator of the award (Dan King of management by God), (2) the person that awarded it to you, and then (3) name and sites of the five people that you believe are fulfilling the role of a disciple of Christ."

There is no way I can limit that designation to only five people. And when I do pick five, I will probably be repeating myself because my favorite blogs are...well, my favorites.

Some of the bloggers who I feel are fulfilling the role of a disciple are way busy doing just that - through writing books, taking care of large families, or dealing with illness (sometimes all three) - and often don't take time for posting about, or passing on, blog awards that are passed around the blogosphere. So I'm not only going to leave a whole lot of deserving people out of my little list of five, but I'm also going to be a rebel (from the original directions), and say to those I do choose: I won't feel badly if you don't post about this or pass it on, unless you would like to and have the time and energy. I love what you're doing and I want you to have the time to keep on keepin' on.

But I want to pass the award on to them in case they have time, but mostly so my readers will know about these blogs and why I think they represent discipleship. And first, a word about my sponsor (I was trying to sound like t.v., but whoa does that phrase date me).

Jean of Catholic Fire, who passed this on to me, provides so much informative content. She posts about pro-life issues and events, what happened "on this day", biographies of saints, prayer intentions, and lots more each day. No matter what she's posting about, I can always come away each day feeling uplifted...and that's saying a lot for me, as I'm someone who often tries to avoid thinking about some of the political and other issues that she posts about. It must be her strong faith and trust in God, as well as her love, shining through her posts, that inspire me.

And here are a couple of blogs that have already been chosen, but I want to add my comments:

I think that Esther of A Catholic Mom in Hawaii has already received this award, but I want to mention her here anyway, because her posts are always so beautiful, both verbally and visually. Thank you for sharing, Esther.

Daily Donna-Marie: A Daily Dose of Inspiration was already given the award by Jean, too; but I wanted to mention again that Donna has written several Catholic prayer books, all encouraged and endorsed by Mother Teresa and blessed by Pope John Paul II. She's a gracious, inspiring woman.

1.
Especially Heather
is a blog written by a young Christian mother who started her blog for this very purpose - to share her faith with others. Last year she helped host a different kind of blog awards, the kind where people nominate blogs and then vote for the ones they like best for a specific category. During that contest, Heather was found to have brain cancer. People all over the blogosphere began praying for her and visiting her blog. Her posts about her trials, her family, and her faith are often commented on by 50 to a hundred people, so I can't even imagine how many people she is reaching with her faith and love of God. Although her doctrinal beliefs are different from mine, her enthusiasm and courage inspire me!

2. Maureen Wittmann disciples at her blogs by sharing about her faith, family, and homeschooling, as well as how to manage homeschooling in a thrifty way. She doesn't want anyone to have to give up homeschooling because they can't afford it. She is also an incredible writer, with her newest book For the Love of Literature coming out soon. This book is the fruit of her homeschooling and writing efforts of many years, and will have something for all ages (including adult). If you had only this book, library privileges, and a math series, you could probably educate your kids very well!

3. Whether you homeschool or you just want to teach your kids their religion, whether you have kids or you don't and just want to learn your own religion better, you can find ideas, resources and insight from Alicia at Studeo.

4. Crazy Acres is a blog that shares one woman's strong faith, family life, and profound insights. I love how she shares from the heart, and she never ceases to entertain and inspire me.

No, no, no, not just five. On the other hand, I'm actually getting tired of writing, so I think y'all must be getting tired of reading. I hope not the latter.
Should I flip a coin, draw straws, or...hmm, I am a bit of a rebel, I think I'll do six!

5. In Happy Hearts at Home, Alexandra disciples by encouraging the stay-at-home mom with her tips and resources for learning about faith, cooking, gardening, and home educating, including a plethora of links to free online books.

6. Last but definitely not least - even added extra number to include you, Nancy (I had my list in random order and I can't count). Yes, Nancy Brown of Flying Stars is my next and last pick for today. Among other things, Nancy blogs about her faith and the faith-filled late British author, G.K. Chesterton. She has also written several books for and about literature for youth.

My apologies to ALL of the wonderful people that I left out. It wasn't intentional, I love your blogs, and God sees and rewards your mighty works.

And to my readers, if there are any blogs here that you haven't yet visited, I hope you'll give them a try.

God bless.

Wednesday, August 29, 2007

Nice Matters Award




Thank you to Esther for giving me this award. You are very kind, Esther! If you all haven't visited her blog, A Catholic Mom in Hawaii, please do. Faith, family, and wonderful pictures (some of Hawaii, of course) are among the lovely things you'll find there.

Here's the description of this award:
“This award is for those bloggers who are nice people; good blog friends and those who inspire good feelings and inspiration. Also for those who are a positive influence on our blogging world. Once you’ve been awarded please pass on to seven others whom you feel are deserving of this award”.

Esther is one of these bloggers, as well as Jean at Catholic Fire and all those I mentioned when I passed on the Blogger Reflection Award. You can read that post here.

Today I will pass on this award to blogs and bloggers I didn't include in that previous post. In no particular order:

1. Cottage Blessings hosted by Alice. This gracious lady shares the beauty and joy of her life with her family.

2. Holy Cards for your Inspiration hosted by Micki. With lots of beautiful pictures and inspiring quotations, you'll find just inspiration here.

3. Minnesota Mom hosted by Margaret. Come for laughter and joy of soul.

4. Tater Tots and Ladybug Love by Maria. You can feel the smiles and love in Maria's family life as you enjoy the words and her beautiful photos.

5. Daily Donna-Marie by Donna Marie. Donna-Marie is an author of books on motherhood and prayer, and shares her depth and joy with us.

6. Here in the Bonny Glen by Melissa. Melissa Wiley is the author of the books about Laura Ingalls Wilder's grandmother and great-grandmother, and an inspiring Catholic homeschooling mom.

7. Like Merchant Ships by Meredith. She makes frugal living look like loads of fun. I visit for the beauty and the inspiration to keep up the good fight.










Friday, August 17, 2007

Party Manners for Blog Visits

Comments I've seen on some blogs recently spurred me to compare a blog to a party. You can read what I wrote here at my Reflections blog.

Oh, and please feel free to leave comments! (Smiling as I say that.) Really, I WELCOME your comments!

Monday, August 06, 2007

Come to Me

"Come to me, all you that labor and are burdened, and I will refresh you." Matthew 11:28.

Whether it's making a visit to Jesus in a nearby church, thanking God for the beauty of nature, or just lifting our hearts to Him in the midst of the everyday stresses, in Him we find our rest.

Today, as I was reading all my emails and all the blogs on my Bloglines.com account, I was beginning to feel information overload, maybe even emotional overload, too, from some of the emails and e-newsletters. And then I saw it! Micki's Blog, "Holy Cards for Your Inspiration". I visit every day, but this morning it dawned on me: Here - with the beautiful holy cards - I could get away from the information and emotion, and find refreshment for the soul. Thank you, again, Micki.

Sunday, July 29, 2007

On Blogging

Danielle Bean has an excellent post for those who are thinking of starting a blog. Her last point in particular might be good for veteran bloggers as well.

I probably won't be posting tomorrow, as we will be visiting Washington D.C. with Joe. Hopefully, I'll remember my camera and can share some pictures with you.

This is the third post for today. If you haven't seen the Blogger Reflection Award, please scroll down, so you can read about the blogs of five wonderful ladies (make that six).

Blogger Reflection Award




Jean at Catholic Fire gave me this award. Wow, I feel so honored! And I was overwhelmed by her kind words, too. Thank you, Jean!

In case Jean’s blog isn’t already one of your regular stops on your internet journeys, I’d like to tell you something about her blog. It lives up to it’s slogan, two quotes from St. Catherine of Siena: "If you are what you should be, you will set the whole world on fire." "Let the truth be your delight....proclaim it...,but with a certain congeniality." She shares truth at her blog in very palatable ways, and always with warmth and congeniality.

And now to pass on the award to five other bloggers.

1) Crazy Acres, the blog of my dear old friend, “Mary Poppins Not”, who is really my dear younger friend, as I knew her when she was a child (and I was already an adult). I was so happy to find her on the internet recently. MPN shares about her faith, her family, and her iconography. She has been an example to me as a blogger in sharing from the heart rather than just from the mind.

2) Happy Hearts at Home, where Alexandra blends tips and resources for being thrifty, with a love for her husband and children, with a love for gardening and cooking, with saint stories...all mixed up into a recipe of enjoyable snippets of reading. Her other blog Happy Hearts Homeschooling Library provides numerous reviews and links for free online books.

3) Studeo, where Alicia shares little stories of her family and homeschooling, as well as reviews and clips from books. She especially shares with us a paragraph here and a quote there from a lot of faith-filled books, papal documents, catechism, and Scripture.

4) Flying Stars is the blog of Nancy Carpentier Brown who wrote The Mystery of Harry Potter, A Catholic Family Guide. Tiptoe when you're there, if you haven't read the seventh Harry Potter book, as there are a lot of discussions of the book in the comments sections (sometimes referred to as "spoilers"). But if you peruse Nancy's blog, you will see that it's not all about Harry Potter. She is a G.K.Chesterton expert, who has written study guides for his The Blue Cross and his Saint Francis of Assisi. In the sidebar, you can find links to articles that Nancy has written about literature and homeschooling.

5) Maureen Wittmann, as you may have guessed would be included in this list, if you've been reading my blog for very long. Maureen is the one who suggested that I start a blog. As I said in April, when I nominated her for Super-Homeschooler Blog at the Homeschool Blog Awards: "She homeschools both little ones and teenagers, and is very involved in their lives and activities...She shares all this and more with the rest of us, for our encouragement, too; along with giving us words of wisdom about how we can do it." I would like to add that I'm most impressed by her kindness, and her faith in everyday living miracles, the kind of faith that moves mountains.

Now, you five ladies can copy this award onto your own blog. And then guess what you get to do...if you have time and all that. Name five other blogs. I hope, if you have time, that you enjoy it. I had fun doing it.

Saturday, July 14, 2007

Reflections

It's really true! I've started yet another blog. It's called Reflections.

It will be home to occasional essays and articles that are a bit longer. I'll tell you about it here, and you can click through to it when you have time and are interested in a particular topic. This way I can keep things moving along over here.

My introductory post at the new blog is called "Diversity and Unity in Liturgy". It's a brief history of the different Masses and shows how each one has the four marks of the Church: one, holy, Catholic, and apostolic. If this is something you'd like to read, you can click here.

Wednesday, July 11, 2007

High Time to Spread the Word

You may want to hurry on over to the Catholic Carnival for July 10, 2007 which is being hosted over at Donna's blog. I'm only two days late in telling you, but hey, it's still up and running, so you haven't missed anything yet. Lots of people participated and Donna has the links garnished with beautiful flowers from her garden.

HT to Jean and to Donna herself. Thanks, ladies.

Monday, July 09, 2007

Five Things I Love about Jesus

Jean has tagged me with the meme, "Five Things I Love about Jesus".

"Here are the Rules: Those tagged will share 5 things they "love" about Jesus. Those tagged will tag 5 other bloggers. Those tagged will provide a link in the comments section here with their name so that others can read them."

1) St. John says at the beginning of his Gospel (Chapter 1), "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God." He is referring to Jesus as "the Word". Jesus is, and always was, united with the Father and the Holy Spirit, in the one Blessed Trinity. That being said, I love Jesus in His omnipotence, united with the Father, creating and sustaining the world - where the oceans roar upon the rocks or gently lap upon the sands; where the mountains tower above the rest of the world, with their mighty trees towering yet higher; and where men and women live and love, often heroically, and with all the complexities of their nature.

2) I love that Jesus "true God of true God...for us men and for our salvation came down from heaven" (Nicene Creed).

3) I love that Jesus came not as a mighty King, but with His divinity hidden under the veil of a very human and lovable Infant. God from all eternity, He became Man, the Son of God, out of love for us.

4) I love that this God-Man - who was there at the creation of the world and who suffered and died for us - did not stop there, but gave us yet another wondrous gift...His Presence in the Blessed Sacrament under the appearance of bread and wine, that we may come to Him and find rest for our souls.

5) I love that Jesus, present in this Blessed Sacrament, stoops yet further to come into our very hearts in Holy Communion to be the food of our souls and to be lovingly united with us.

(And these, my friends, are also the reasons that I became a Catholic. I loved God the Father before I became a Catholic. I loved Jesus before I became a Catholic. But these are things which I learned and as I learned them I loved them...and love yet more thirty six years later.)

I tag anyone who would like to do this meme. And thank you, Jean, for tagging me!

Wednesday, June 27, 2007

Happy Hearts Homeschooling Library

I'd like to encourage you to drop on over to Happy Hearts Homeschooling Library to find links to lots of free online books in the public domain. The beauty of seeing it at Alexandra's library blog is that you don't just look at dry lists. She hand-picks a book to feature in each post, and gives us a picture of the book cover, too. Enjoy.

Thursday, May 31, 2007

Stopping Unwanted Solicitations

1) Phone call solicitations:
"You have been approved to refinance your home," the recorded voice told me when I answered the phone. Umm, I don't have a home to refinance (well, a rented apartment can be every bit a "home", but it doesn't need financing by the tenant). And there wasn't any way we would be approved for refinancing at that particular moment in time, even if we had a mortgage to refinance. But there was no one to tell any of that to, only a rude, automated interruption to my busy day, occurring on a daily basis. So I did a search, filled out a form, and today I don't receive unsolicited phone calls.

Whatever solicitations you receive, you can eliminate most of them...all but the ones from charitable institutions. All you have to do is go to the website of the National Do Not Call Registry and you can submit your number by phone or online.

2) Unsolicited emails (spam):
No, I don't have as easy an answer to this one, but I ldid learn something new about this today! I always wondered why some bloggers have their email addressed listed as so-and-so at such-and-such dot com, with the "at" and the "dot" written out as words instead of putting in the @ and . symbols. I just learned that this is called masking and eliminates spammers from lifting your email address from your blog or website. The article by Gina Hughes at Yahoo Tech gives other spam-protection tips as well.

Monday, May 21, 2007

Marian Meme

Esther of A Catholic Mom in Hawaii has tagged me for a Marian Meme. Thank you, Esther, for thinking of me. What a great subject that I'd love to share about.

Favorite Image of Our Lady:
Our Lady of Grace

Favorite Marian Feast:
The Immaculate Heart of Mary
August 22 on the Tridentine calendar
June 16 on the current calendar

Favorite Marian Hymn:
Ave Maria composed by Franz Schubert
Here is one example of it being sung. (You have to scroll down to the bottom to click on MP3.)

Favorite Place of Pilgrimage:
The Grotto in Portland, Oregon
My childhood best friend and I frequented this beautiful place when we were about 18.

Favorite Devotion:
The Rosary

In my sidebar are two links for online Rosaries:Mission Rosary
Printable/Self-Pace Online Version of the Rosary

I tag Alicia, Nancy, and Maureen, if they have the time and would like to do this...and anyone else who is interested.

Sunday, May 06, 2007

A Veritable Catholic Art Gallery

Walk through the beauty of an art gallery, as you sit in the comfort of your home and view Micki's pictures of the old-fashioned holy cards in her lifelong collection.

Visit her blog here.

Uplift your heart not only with the beautiful pictures, but also with the quotation or prayer that she posts each day with each picture.

Thank you, Micki, for sharing with us!

Friday, May 04, 2007

Book Meme

I love those bloggers who say so much in so few words. Too bad I'm not one of them. As I prepare to share with you what I've been currently reading, it is with trepidation. How am I going to do this briefly? Gulp. Deep breath. Here goes...

Yesterday, Esther of A Catholic Mom in Hawaii "tagged me for a meme" (I think that's the proper way to say that). I get the joy of sharing with you the books I'm reading.

Writing from Personal Experience, by Nancy Davidoff Kelton, is my current read that I picked up at the library the other day. I love that I can read it in snippets, picking any chapter. She even gives permission for the reader to do this. I love that she has sentences that I ooh and ahh over. Like this, "One does not notice the words. They are there to create a world and evoke the reader's response." Or this, "...not only reveal something to the readers about who you are and what you think and feel, but who they are as well."

Note regarding the above book: (Added later on.) As I have now read more of this book since posting this, I must add that I don't recommend this for your young people. Please remember that it's a library book that I hadn't finished reading yet. I have more to say about it in my subsequent post.

Another book I've been grazing recently is an old one that my husband's great aunt gave us many years ago when she found out that I'm distantly related to Abraham Lincoln. It's called The Inner Life of Abraham Lincoln, Six Months at the White House, by F. B. Carpenter. The copyright is 1866! (But it's not worth anything in a monetary way, which is good, so I won't be tempted to sell.) Mr. Carpenter lived at the White House while painting a portrait of the cabinet gathered to sign the Emancipation Proclamation. It's neat to see what someone has to way who was living right there, right then. And I'm re-inspired by his admiration of the president.

Besides the Bible, my book companion recently has been The Elements of Style, by William Strunk Jr. and E. B. White. If you are interested, you can read my review of this book here. This book is a gem full of gems. I am hoping that if I read a little here and a little there, it will rub off on me, especially White's ability to be concise. Keep your fingers crossed.

Speaking of companions, the other book I keep by my bed and keep re-visiting is The Catholic Homeschool Companion, edited by Maureen Wittmann and Rachel Mackson. It's a compendium of inspiring viewpoints and experiences, as well as a great resource. And I just discovered while writing this that Maureen is offering the book at a discounted price right now as part of a 4-H fund-raising effort! You can read my reviews here and here.
Catholic Homeschool Companion is Now Being Sold for $5 Off
To buy the book at the current discount price, you can go here.

I was happy to see the other day, at someone else's blog, that I'm not the only one who reads as many as four books at a time. I don't know if I have A.D.D. or if it's just a symptom of being a writer.

Now I'm supposed to tag some other people. Although I didn't see any number regarding books (I'll bet some people are focused and read ONE book at a time!), somewhere I saw the number five for people, so I guess that's how many I'm supposed to "tag". There are people whose blogs I recommend whom I won't tag because I think they're already just about in over their heads with stuff to do...book deadlines, house-hunting, fund-raising, you name it. Or in one case, what she mostly DOES is review books, so this seems superfluous. So...that made it easier to narrow it down to five. Here are my picks:

Holly of A Woman Seeking Grace
Lissa of Here in the Bonny Glen
Alice of Cottage Blessings
Alexandra of Happy Hearts at Home
Maria of Tater Tots and Ladybug Love

Thursday, May 03, 2007

What is a Meme?

What is a "meme"? I've been seeing this word floating around on blogs recently and wondering what it means. I've also heard of "being tagged". Okay, so today I was tagged with a meme. (Did I say that right?) Thank you, Esther, for thinking of me!

By the way, for those readers who are not any more blog savvy than I am, the Merriam-Webster online dictionary says a "meme" is "an idea, behavior, style, or usage that spreads from person to person within a culture".

So...I have been tagged for a book meme, which means, evidently, that I get the joy of sharing with you the books I've been currently reading. And then I tag a few other people. Sounds a little like the concept of a chain; but since we have the blogs already (and we're always going to post something), it doesn't produce extra mail for the post office or any bother like that. It's more like we're all getting together over coffee to share.

Now that we know what a meme is, I need to get dinner, but I'll be back either later this evening or tomorrow to share some books. Y'all come back now, okay?

Friday, April 27, 2007

Another Blog Roll

If you scroll down my sidebar, you will see a new addition: a beautiful picture of Jesus and Mary, with the words "Catholic Mothers Online". It includes a scrolling list of many blogs. Again, as with any blog roll, it is not "all inclusive" or anything like that. But it's another neat way to find new blogs! These blogs are not necessarily about homeschooling; they're a varied collection of blogs by Catholic mothers, including those who would like to be mothers, are godmothers, or have a mother's heart.

If you have a blog that you would like to add to this service, you can go check it out by going here, or you can check it out any time from the Catholic Mothers Online scrolling list in my sidebar itself, where it says "Click here to join".

Thank you, Angie, for this service.

Thursday, April 26, 2007

Catholic Homeschool Blog Directory

Those family members and friends who just come here to see if I've published any new pictures or family news may not be interested in this directory.

But here's something that may be interesting for those Catholic homeschoolers who like to read or write blogs (and who writes them who doesn't like to read them, as well?). Esther in Hawaii (A Catholic Mom in Hawaii) has a Catholic Homeschool Blog Directory set up by states (and countries).

For each state there is a picture of the state flower, which is neat in itself. It's also fun just to go and explore to see what blogs are out there, and what states they come from. Of course, there are many more blogs in the blogosphere, but this is one fun way to discover some new ones.

If you have a Catholic homeschool blog that is public, and is not listed in the directory, you can send Esther an email and ask her to add yours to the directory.