Parkwood Baptist Church Sun 4/28
He wants to explore churches, so explore churches we will!
Up first, at the invite of a school friend.
Pesach Seder at Chabad Tysons Jewish Center
It was my distinct honor and pleasure to attend the Pesach Seder with Carol, prepared and led by Rabbi Deitsch and his lovely family.
Adulting 101 by @MSU.edu/4-H
- 5pm Wed 5/15/2024 Build & Protect Your Credit by @MSU.edu/4-H
- 6:30pm Thu 6/06/2024 Traveling on a Budget by @MSU.edu/4-H
- 4pm Tue 7/16/2024 Cooking Basics by @MSU.edu/4-H
- 4pm Mon 8/12/2024 Summer Berries: Jam & Jelly by @MSU.edu/4-H
- 5pm Mon 9/16/2024 Changing the World with Your Vote by @MSU.edu/4-H
- 5pm Wed 10/16/2024 Paying for Post-Secondary Education by @MSU.edu/4-H
- 5pm Tue 11/19/2024 Cracking the Code to College by @MSU.edu/4-H
- 1/17/2024 The Psychology of Spending & Saving by @MSU.edu/4-H
- 2/12/2024 Fostering Healthy Relationships by @MSU.edu/4-H
- 3/19/2024 Keeping Your Money Safe by @MSU.edu/4-H
- 4/10/2024 Cover Letter & Resume Writing by @MSU.edu/4-H
Western Fairfax Christian Ministries
WFCM serves qualified individuals and families of all races, colors, national origins, ages, genders, disabilities/differing abilities, and religious beliefs, from the communities of Chantilly, Centreville, Clifton, Oak Hill, Herndon, Fairfax, and Fairfax Station.
Shopify SubSwag & More ツ
I was privileged to work among the most high-integrity and high-intellect workforces imaginable, in NAVSEA's Team Submarine. Once upon a time (in 2013 and 2014), we made and very competitively sold Program Office holiday ornaments for the CFC TeamSub Pancake Breakfast, thus begat the original SubSwag on CafePress. It’s on Shopify these days, but with nothing in stock, just custom by request, let me know if you want something. ツ
Re: Who are you anyway?
Re: Who are you anyway? by Kirsti from the Sierra
Blogging feels like journaling, which seems would be a healthy resurgence over Instagram YouTube TikTok if you ask me! I wandered into Kirsti’s blog by happenstance, I wonder who else is still blogging?
Kirsti asks the age-old question. We moms are quick to embrace the role of mother, by imperative, we sure know we’re mothers! But boy do we struggle to carve out other roles. I am a writer for sure, professionally and technically, plus several blogs. I should run, sometimes when I’m in sneakers and leggings, my step gets inexplicably bouncy, like my body knows it should be on a pace. But my face gets so red and blotchy when I run, and I stay sweating for so long afterwards, I really dislike it. I’m also imminently facing a major life/schedule change into which I’m trying to also fit a morning workout. I do have some history of success with morning running, and I do still have that cadence-calling running-in-formation playlist!
Kirsti, you want to be a saver - is that a money-saver? a thing-saver? a soul-saver? Or something else? I want to be a people saver, not in a religious or crisis care kinda way, more a I’m here too we’re in this together kinda way. I don’t feel that for myself in my life right now, I need to find/build/make it for myself first, so I can extend it to others. 2nd-Fam.
And I picked my favorites of the motivational quotes you shared...
Charles Buxton
"You will never find time for anything. If you want time you must make it."
Larry McMurtry
"If you wait, all that happens is that you get older."
Robert Brault
"The more side roads you stop to explore, the less likely that life will pass you by."
Sydney J. Harris
"Regret for the things we did can be tempered by time; it is regret for the things we did not do that is inconsolable."
Christ Climbed Down from His Bare Tree
Christ Climbed down from His bare Tree this year and ran away to where there were no rootless Christmas trees hung with candycanes and breakable stars
Christ Climbed down from His bare Tree this year and ran away to where there were no gilded Christmas trees and no tinsel Christmas trees and no tinfoil Christmas trees and no pink plastic Christmas trees and no black Christmas trees and no powderblue Christmas trees hung with electric candles and encircled by tin electric trains and clever cornball relatives
Christ Climbed down from His bare Tree this year and ran away to where no intrepid Bible salesman covered the territory in two-tone cadillacs and where no Sears Roebuck creches complete with plastic babe in manger arrived by parcel post the babe by special delivery and where no televisied Wise Men praised the Lord Calvert Whiskey
Christ climbed down from His bare Tree this year and ran away to where no fat handshaking stranger in a red flannel suit and a fake white beard went around passing himself off as some sort of North Pole saint crossing the desert to Bethlehem Pennsylvania in a Volkswagon sled drawn by rollicking Adirondack reindeer with German names and bearing sacks of Humble Gifts from Saks Fifth Avenue for everybody’s imagined Christ child
Christ Climbed down from His bare Tree this year and ran away to where no Bing Crosby Carollers groaned of a tight Christmas and where no Radio City angels iceskated wingless thru a winter wonderland into a jinglebell heaven daily at 8:30 with Midnight Mass matinees
Christ Climbed Down from His bare Tree this year and softly stole away into some anonymous Mary’s womb again where in the darkest night of everybody’s anonymous soul He awaits again an unimaginable and impossibly Immaculate Reconception the very craziest of Second Comings.
NPRC Digital Delivery Notification
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Gratitude for April
1st - I’m grateful that people in my life don’t play pranks and pull tricks for April Fool’s Day.
2nd - I’m grateful for my husband who embraces domestic responsibility, he let me sleep in while tending the worst kind of cat mess. I'm grateful for the inclusive activities and meals my sister always plans and hosts that really keep our two families bonded, and for today's yummy cook-out/eat-in dinner.
3rd - I'm grateful that my daughter is interested in, capable of, and motivated to work, she starts as a barista today, her third stint at p/t employment. I'm grateful for Spring Break, which also starts today, I love my school mornings w/just my son, but I shall certainly enjoy the brief reprieve from the alarm clock! And I am particularly grateful today that life keeps proving to me that when doors close, not only do other doors open, but other new doors appear too! I'm embarking on a journey I didn't even know was a possibility!
4th - Again w/the embracing of domestic responsibility, his Jeep's well again finally(!), and instead he's out there mowing to keep our place in good shape, even as our lease was not extended and we are suddenly house-hunting again, he never slacks (he either just doesn't ever, or can't relax, I'm still not sure). And I'm super glad my company has a paid bench.
14th - Today I'm grateful that my daughter and I both have good listening and conflict resolution skills, and also grateful to have several positive outlets for my distractedness (TeamSubAlumni.org).
24th - This is hard to keep up with, even w/this flexible monthly format I've allowed. Today I'm grateful that I finally had a meds mgmt appt - finally! And for an atypical Rx, Remeron. And for new beginnings! Today's my first day w/Pantheon Solutions.
25th -
Starbucks Barista Extraordinaire!
It's her first day. 💕
She was excited about being a pro-union liberal in a non-union store, but already she's more concerned with how the transition to union work is impacting smaller stores, low-level managers, and partner-manager relations, already she knows that her new manager's feelings would actually be hurt if the team unionized "against" the manager. I'm glad she gets to learn these complexities and this nuance in an environment in which her adult livelihood is not on the line.
I don't know enough about unions to advise her, but I suggested an approach might be to ask her manager to support their union efforts, so they can ensure they get as good a manager as she is if/when she ever leaves or gets promoted. They could organize under a current manager, agreeing to shift to union at next manager turnover, could they not?
Gratitude Quiz Results
Greater Good Gratitude Quiz Results: Your gratitude score is 72 out of 105.
Your responses suggest you are a grateful person. You sometimes foster gratitude by comparing your situation in life to that of people who have less than you and by remaining mindful of how much harder your life could be. It helps that you also make an effort to focus on what you have rather than what you don’t. Still, it seems that you could benefit from trying to do all of this more often. Studies suggest that nurturing your tendency to practice gratitude could bring you more positive emotions, better health, stronger relationships, and greater life satisfaction.
If you want to develop your gratitude practice, try these exercises:
- Reflect on the positive. Keeping a Gratitude Journal or journaling about Three Good Things that happen every day can highlight the positives in your life and help you stop taking things for granted.
- Write a Gratitude Letter. Writing—and then delivering—a heartfelt letter of gratitude to someone you’ve never properly thanked can not only boost your sense of gratefulness but also strengthen your bond with them.
- Imagine a different life. It’s easy to grow accustomed to the good things in life, but imagining their absence can shake you out of this habit. In Mental Subtraction of Positive Events or Mental Subtraction of Relationships, you call to mind a certain positive experience—the birth of a child, a career achievement, meeting your future spouse—and imagine how things might have turned out differently.
- Deprive yourself. In a similar vein, abstaining from a pleasure for some time can make it all the much sweeter later. To take advantage of this effect, try the Give It Up practice.
- Take a Savoring Walk. On a 20-minute walk, observe the sights, sounds, and smells you encounter—freshly cut grass, an epic skyscraper, a stranger’s smile. Each time you notice something positive, take the time to absorb it and think about why you enjoy it. On your subsequent Savoring Walks, strike out in different directions to seek new things to admire.
You can also read our article analyzing the results from the rest of the Greater Good community. And check out our new book, The Gratitude Project: How the Science of Thankfulness Can Rewire Our Brains for Resilience, Optimism, and the Greater Good, to discover how gratitude can lead to a better life and a better world.
Values, Mission, Gratitude
Homework: examine and reflect on core values, explore mission and purpose, focus on opportunity instead of challenge, express gratitude.