7 Quick Takes

---1---

I am ready to go camping this afternoon.  All packed up except for my own clothing---and let me tell you that forgetting to pack my stuff is NOT out of the realm of possibility!  I have this love-hate thing with camping.  Right now, I'm looking forward to sitting around a fire with some friends, though I'll miss sitting around a Starbucks table with DH & friends friends for trivia.  I am really looking forward to climbing something like 1200 stairs to the top of a waterfall tomorrow.   

At some point, I'm sure I'll regret that decision.

---2---

Speaking of exercise----I've been trying to work out more this week, trying to do a certain number of Kettlebell swings in 20 minutes.  Did you know that Kettlebell swings are supposed to work most of the muscles in your body?  I can tell you that they do.

And I wouldn't be surprised if my husband wasn't a little tired of hearing me whine and whimper about how sore I am.

---3---

It's fall here---how about where you are?  For some strange reason this weather change has prompted Pip to get up early in the morning (before 6?), and bring his big, warm comforter downstairs to sleep on the floor snuggled up with the dog.  This morning he's not up out of bed---after staying up too late watching the debate, I suppose---so the poor, cold puppy is forced to curl up on the furniture and get repeatedly shooed off by me.

---4---

I am celebrating the Year of Faith, which started on the 11th, by reading the Catechism of the Catholic Church which is being emailed to me in small doses daily by Flocknote.  When I get to the computer in the morning, I'm faced with approximately 15 paragraphs that I'd really rather not read just then, but I know that if I skip it then, I'll skip it all day.  So far, I've managed to forget that I didn't want to read it, and get into trying really comprehend it.    One of the comments I saw online said that it would take a year to read and a lifetime to learn to live.  More than just wanting to read it, I want to internalize in and learn to live it.

I'm tempted to say I'll read the Bible this year, too, but I'm afraid that might be biting off way more than I can chew!  Maybe just a few good Bible studies that I can do weekly, not daily.  Do you know of any good ones?

---5---

But if you're interesting in growing in faith this year, Pat Gohn has a "veritable link-o-rama" where you can find all sorts of options for learning, living, and sharing your faith.  Or just listen to her podcast weekly because it's full of awesomeness and woman-to-woman sharing.

---6---

I got home from my AHG meeting last night in time to watch the last hour of the debate which was an exercise in frustration if I ever saw one.  I'm reminded this morning that there is a real advantage to the fact that we recently cut off our home phone service:  we don't get constant political phone calls!  We did get another service, but now we have a new number and absolutely no one knows it!  No phone calls!  It's awesome.

---7---

Finally, I'd like to share something really discouraging that happened to me yesterday---I bought trail mix for our camping trip. That's always dangerous because the M&M's in it are addictive---and they ruined it by swapping out half the nuts for chocolate chips and peanut butter chips!  So now it's just a giant dose of sugar, which Meg will love, but me, notsomuch.  It's not even worthy of the name Trail Mix; it's candy. 

Nothing is sacred anymore.   Sigh.

I can guess how much feedback I'll get on this question, but what do YOU eat on camping trips and hikes?

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Have a great weekend!  I'll see you on the flip side!

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