Friends of the Poor

As some of you may know, I participated in St. Vincent de Paul's annual Friends of the Poor walk this morning.  This is an annual event held by many chapters of the Society of SVdP all over the country.  Here in Columbus, they have been holding the walk for the last 5 years . . . this is my first time walking it. They hold the walk at St. Francis de Sales High School.  When I first got there, a friend was telling me something about St. Martin de Pores, so I was starting to get a little confused among all the "de" saints . . (hee, hee).

The walk itself is only a mile - meant to symbolize "walking a mile in their shoes", however they also had a three mile challenge that some of us did.  What was most inspiring to me was the little older lady walking the mile with a cane.  It took her longer to walk one mile than it did for me to walk three, but she stuck it out and completed the mile.  My friend, Phyllis, said that that lady is a member of her parish.  Phyllis was telling me that the lady has been a recipient of SVdP food baskets in the past and this is her way of giving back.  It just brings tears to my eyes!

Some things I learned:  the Columbus, OH chapter of the Society of St. Vincent de Paul is one of the largest in the country.  According to what the Bishop said, it is about 10 times larger than the chapters in New York City or Los Angeles!  Bishop Campbell, in his remarks to the walkers this morning said the Society here is "the Heart of Christ in the heart of the country."  I also learned that the St. Cecilia chapter is quite active in diocesan events.  Many of the volunteers that were running the event today were from our parish and we had over 25 walkers from our parish there today (possibly more than 30, but I lost count).  There were about 600 walkers all together.

I have thought about getting involved with SVdP before, but I just don't think I have the time to be involved on a regular basis . . . I think I will have to stick to this walk and the Christmas food baskets that they do in December.

Staycation - Day 5

I got an early start today - both because it was predicted to be a hotter day than earlier in the week and because the forecast called for possible rain in the afternoon (actually did not rain until evening).  I decided to try Walnut Woods Metro Park because it looked like it was close to Three Creeks, so it should be easy to find.  Well, I did find the Buckeye Area of the park, but the trail there was all in fields and meadows.  The map showed that the trail in the other part of the park, the Tall Pines Area, went through some forested area, so I got back in the car to drive to that part of the park.  If you are unfamiliar with the Central Ohio Metro Parks, it might be good to mention here that many of the parks have multiple sections which are reached by different entrances - so going to the Tall Pines Area meant leaving the park and driving around to the other entrance. 

However, I missed a turn.  Once I realized I had missed the turn, I started looking for somewhere to turn around.  Before I found a turn around place, I saw a sign that said, "Slate Run Metro Park 4 miles -->"  The benefit of not having a plan is that plans are easily changed.  I decided to go to Slate Run instead.  I had originally wanted to go to Slate Run, but it looked too far on the map -- but 4 miles --> did not seem to be too far. 

I'm glad that I changed my plans.  Slate Run has a covered bridge that you can walk to on a very easy trail.  It also has a Living Historical Farm.  There was a school group at the farm -- 1st graders I would guess by the size of them -- but I managed to avoid getting in their way and still got a good look at all the farm buildings and animals. 

On the way home, I had to stop for gas and decided that, as it was lunch time, I should also get something to eat.  Long John Silver's was good, but far too many calories even with the walk earlier. 

Tomorrow, I will get to see some cousins, so I am looking forward to a good weekend, too.

Staycation - Day 4

Today has been a pretty lazy day.  It has been cloudy most of the day with periods of rain, so I have stayed in most of the day.  I probably could have gotten out to one of the Metro Parks and avoided the rain, but I chose not to take the chance.

So what have I done instead?  I watched Soul Surfer on DVD (borrowed from the Deckers).  I worked on my cross stitch.  I made posters on the Sacraments for Youth Ministry and I baked a cake for our Bible Study group this evening.  I also spent a little time on the computer and got a message from cousin Susie inviting me to Family Weekend at PCJ this weekend.  I love that I get to go to parents' weekends at Colleges even though I am not a parent. 

Staycation - Day 3

If you are getting bored with my staycation posts, feel free to skip this :-).

I hung out in my pajamas late again this morning, then worked on the 2014 picture calendars for quite a while.  I actually did not leave the apartment until after noon! 

I did a little shopping in the early afternoon.  I am pretty much flat broke until I get paid on Friday, but I did get some quilt binding and thread at JoAnn's for binding little Seph's baby quilt (if I can just figure out how to put the binding on) and then picked up some odds and ends at Big Lots. 

I almost skipped going to a Metro Park today, but I figured I needed the exercise so it was the Metro Park or just walk around the neighborhood.  Went to Three Creeks Metro Park today.  It is named for the three creeks that meet there . . . Alum Creek, Blacklick Creek and Big Walnut Creek.  I took a hiking trail that has a good view of the confluence of the three creeks.  It has been a beautiful week for visiting parks (so far).

Staycation - Day 2

I slept in until almost 6:30 this morning -- which is, in fact, sleeping in for me. I normally get up at 6:00 at least 6 days a week . . . and rarely sleep much later on the seventh.  I did hang out in my pajamas until after 7:30, which I actually prefer to sleeping in.  If I am lounging on the couch in my pajamas watching TV, I know that I am being decadent.  When I am sleeping, I am unaware. 

Before I got myself around to heading up to the hospital, Natasha called and said that they had a breast feeding class from 10:30 - 11:30, so if I was planning on coming then, I might want to change my plans.  Well I was planning on going then, so I did change my plans.

I went up to Glacier Ridge Metro Park, which is up off of 33.  I have never been there before, so it was all new to me.  I got there shortly after 11, so I had a little picnic of my packed lunch before setting off for a hike since I didn't know how long the hike would take me.  Next to the Wetland Education Center, where I found picnic tables, there was a little pond with turtles and frogs in it. The Park Ranger said they are snapping turtles.  I did have a nice hike, as well, but it looks like there are better trails at the other end of the park from where I went.  I will need to try to get there sometime.

After my hike, I went to the hospital to see Natasha, Stephen and baby Seph.  We had a nice visit and I got to hold Seph for a long time . . . he mostly slept. 

Tonight, I have my Rosary Prayer Group and a CORE Team Meeting for Youth Ministry - so a normal Tuesday.  It helps me to remember what day of the week it is if I know what I have to do that evening.

Staycation - Day 1

I started my day with a dentist appointment -- I just had a crown put on one of my molars.  The dental assistant said, "It's a very beautiful crown."  I responded that it's too bad that no one will see it in the back of my mouth.  It was a pretty easy procedure.  I guess all of the hard work was done at the last appointment when they put on the temporary.

As the dental assistant was finishing up, my cell rang in my purse.  Of course, I could not answer, but I check my message as I was leaving.  It was Stephan telling me about Joseph's birth.  He said they also had a favor to ask, so I called back right away.  Stephen had left his cell phone charger at home and they wanted to know if I could get it and bring it to him at the hospital.  Of course, I had to run home and get my camera first, but taking care of this little errand gave me the privilege of being the first in the family (apart from the proud parents) to get to see little Joseph.  He was under a heat lamp as they were a little concerned about his body temp, so I wasn't able to hold him, but I did get a couple of good pictures. I am very frustrated that, although I was able to post pics on Face Book, I have been unable to post them here or email them.  Grrrr.

I didn't stay at the hospital long as Stephen was sleeping.  I did go immediately and make prints of my pictures so that I would have them to show around. 

After lunch, I went out to Prairie Oaks Metro Park for a nice walk in the beautiful Fall weather.  I had gone to Darby Creek Metro Park yesterday and thought it would be fun to try to visit a different park each day of my Stay-cation. I took several pictures at the park, but I'm not even going to try to upload anything else since my computer is giving me such fits about attaching pics.

This evening we had our annual Quilt Group end of the year dinner.  I know that September does not equal the "end of the year" for most people.  However, our Quilt Group measures time according to the Church Festival, which is the last weekend in August.  After the festival is over, we take a few weeks off to recuperate, have dinner to congratulate ourselves for surviving another festival, then start the whole process again in October.  This year it was really nice because the ladies treated me to dinner (which I did not expect) and gave me a card and a gift for what I do as Quilt Group Chair.  I never really thought that I do that much, but it does feel great to be recognized!

Randomness

• When I went to Uncle Jerry's with Mom and Dad and we stopped at the cemetery, there were some of the grave that we were unable to locate (Elys and Lybargers).  Playing around on the compute today, I remembered a website that Donna had mentioned once -- findagrave.com.  I thought maybe they would be listed there, so I started searching.  I found some Lybargers, but not sure if they are the right ones and I can't see where it says where in the cemetery they are located . . . so no luck there.  However, I also noticed that there was no picture of Emma & Albert Trembly's grave marker (which I had) nor was there any listing at all for Grandma & Grandpa Meyer's grave.  I signed up as a contributor (it's free) and uploaded the pics that I took that day at the cemetery and added G & G Meyer.  I also went to the records for Marysdale cemetery and added Grandma Batt's info (G-pa was already listed).
• Speaking of Cemeteries, I would like to get up to St. Nicholas church in Frenchtown (or what was Frenchtown) and see where the La Fontaine and Warnement ancestors are buried.  I could add pictures of their grave markers to the findagrave.com site, too.
• I am taking PTO time this week.  Nothing specific planned, just needed to take some of my time so that I don't end up losing it at the end of the year.  I may just make it up to St. Nick's one day this week.
• I have decided that I like the show Call the Midwife on PBS.  I had seen snippets of some episodes before, but never really started watching it because I was never sure when it was on and I really didn't want to start somewhere in the middle.  I just happened on the show last Sunday evening and realized that I was coming in at the beginning of the first episode so I watched it and thought that it was quite good.  I now know that it is on at 7 on Sunday evening which is a good time for me to watch.
• When I was out walking today I saw 5 wooly worms.  Four were completely brown from tip to tail and the fifth was completely black (probably an anomaly).  Anyone well versed in wooly worm lore?  What does this tell us about the winter to come?

Things I have discovered (or re-discovered) in the last week . . .

I have been a bit remiss in blogging lately.  Just have not felt like sitting at the computer long enough to do it.  But I have some thoughts to share today -- here are some things I have discovered this week:

• $10 in gas will not get you very far these days.
• 69 miles is not as far as I would think it would be (that is exactly how far the last $10 in my wallet got me since Wednesday evening).
• Four day weeks are just as long (if not longer) than five day weeks.
• Benadryl Allergy medicine, which is made to alleviate runny noses, itchy throat and itchy watery eyes also helps to alleviate itchiness in other areas.  I'm not sure what I got myself into that has given me this rash, but the Benadryl has managed to save me from scratching half my face and neck off.
• Benadryl Allergy medicine still works okay when it is 2 years passed the expiration date.  (oops!  Probably should have thrown that out a while ago.)