Praying Outside The Box

Posted on June 3, 2012 by Coco

When I walked into church on Sunday, I wondered if it was set up for a special day school event. I first noticed butcher paper on the walls of the narthex with baskets of markers near by. Then, in the back of the sanctuary I saw a table with clipboards, drawing paper and crayons, and another table with large balls of Play-Doh. As it turns out, our priest had set up a variety of “prayer stations” with different “activities” to encourage us to take different approaches to prayer.

During our service, instead of listening to a sermon we were given time to explore the activities. I ended up visiting four of the prayer stations:

Cloth Braids (for relationships):
Select three strips of cloth–one for yourself, one for the other person in the relationship, and one for God. (Silly me! I was going to pick one for me and one for each of my children, leaving God out of the picture until I learned the directions.) It was a very powerful experience to pray with the image of God literally weaving the two of us together.

Worry Stones:
Select a stone and pray over it with whatever is weighing down your heart. Place the stone in the baptismal font as a reminder of the promise in Matthew 11:28:
“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will refresh you.”

Scrabble Words:
Use Scrabble tiles to build on a crossword that describes your relationship with God.

Prayer Candles:
Light a candle as you pray for those in need of healing, to lift them up into God’s care.

(My priest explains the others on her blog)

Have you ever prayerfully walked a labyrinth?

Posted in My Faith | Tagged , , , | 4 Comments

My Four Day Work Week

Posted on June 1, 2012 by Coco

I wonder why I feel so stressed at work, and then I realize that I have not put in a full week of work (Monday-Friday) in ages. Since this is my son’s senior year of high school, I made going to his lacrosse games a priority, even if that meant leaving work at 3:00 or 4:00 a few days a week.

Two weeks ago we took Friday off to head to the state championships. It would have been worth it even if they didn’t win, but the smiles on their faces really are priceless.


(Team captains with the championship plaque)

My son hurt his hand during that game, which led me to take the next Friday off to take him to the orthopedist. (Luckily nothing was broken.) 

June doesn’t look much better for work.  I have off June 1 because my son is having surgery to repair a lacrosse injury he’s been suffering through since last summer. (He wasn’t willing to miss wrestling last winter to have the surgery earlier.)

I have off June 8 for the day-before-graduation events.

I will be out of town June 15 for an all-day meeting.

I will be out of state June 22 for a conference.

I wish I had June 29 off to get a head start on a July 4th vacation, but I probably will be in the office, trying to catch up!

All of these events are worth the stress and pressure of working nights and/or weekends to stay ahead of deadlines–besides, there will be plenty of time to work next year!

Has your schedule been crazy lately?

Do you have summer vacation plans?

Posted in Life | Tagged , , | 7 Comments

Book Review: Extremely Loud And Incredibly Close By Jonathon Safran Foer

Posted on May 31, 2012 by Coco

I was interested in this book before it was made into movie, but never got around to reading it or buying it until after the movie came out. I did not see the movie (and have no plans to), so I can’t compare the stories, but I can say that I thoroughly enjoyed Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close. (That title is an Amazon Affiliate link which means that if you click through and make a purchase I will earn a small commission–thank you for your support!)

Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close (Movie Tie-In): A Novel

As summarized on Amazon:

Nine-year-old Oskar Schell has embarked on an urgent, secret mission that will take him through the five boroughs of New York. His goal is to find the lock that matches a mysterious key that belonged to his father, who died in the World Trade Center on the morning of September 11. This seemingly impossible task will bring Oskar into contact with survivors of all sorts on an exhilarating, affecting, often hilarious, and ultimately healing journey.

I was reluctant to buy the book because the story sounded so sad, but when I saw that it was a New York Times Bestseller, I downloaded a free sample (part of the first chapter) on my iPhone Kindle App, and then downloaded the full book so I could keep reading.  It was one of those books that I didn’t want to put down but also didn’t want to end.

This is the second book that I’ve read this year that is told from the perspective of a young boy (the first was Pigeon English), and I once again found myself enjoying the fresh view on things both mundane and profound. It was funny, poignant, and bittersweet.

Do you read this book or see the movie?

Does anyone else read books on their iPhone?

Posted in Book Reviews, Life | Tagged , | 2 Comments

If You Give A Mouse A Cookie

Posted on May 30, 2012 by Coco

I didn’t really give a mouse a cookie, but … 


I wonder if he liked the Kashi whole grain cookies, or if he was looking for the Chips Ahoy?

Did you ever read this book? Maybe the mouse did!

Posted in Food, Life | Tagged | 3 Comments

Summer Salads: Black Bean Lime Cumin Salad & Watermelon Spinach Feta Salad

Posted on May 29, 2012 by Coco

Last weekend we had some friends over for a cookout. When the temperatures skyrocketed into the 90s, I decided that it was the perfect opportunity to make a tried-and-true bean salad recipe and as good a time as any to try a new watermelon salad recipe.

Black Bean Lime Cumin Salad (From Cooking Light)
2 15 oz cans of black beans, rinsed and drained
1 cup thinly sliced celery
3/4 cup thinly sliced red onion (I probably use less)

1/4 cup fresh lime juice
1 Tbsp olive oil
1 Tbsp sugar
1/4 tsp cumin

Toss together beans, celery and onions in a large bowl.
Whisk together other ingredients to make dressing.
Pour dressing over bean mixture and toss to coat thoroughly.
Chill until ready to eat–toss again to redisperse the dressing.

(Aren’t those colors gorgeous?!)

Watermelon Spinach Feta Salad (Inspired by Taste Of Home)
8 cups cubed, seedless watermelon 4 cups cubed, seedless watermelon
1 small red onion, thinly sliced 1/2 small red onion, thinly sliced (I probably used less)
1 cup coarsely chopped macadamia nuts or slivered almonds, toasted
1 cup fresh arugula or baby spinach 4 cups fresh baby spinach and romaine
1/3 cup balsamic vinaigrette 1/4 cup balsamic vinaigrette
3 Tbsp canola oil
1 cup crumbled blue cheese 1 cup crumbled feta cheese

Combine watermelon and onion in large bowl and chill for at least 30 minutes. Just before serving, add balsamic vinaigrette and toss to coat thoroughly, and then add feta and toss again so cheese is evenly dispersed.

(Another bright addition to the table!)

What do you think of the changes I made to the watermelon salad recipe? Would blue cheese have tasted better?

Do you follow recipes to the “t” or use them for inspiration?

Posted in Food | Tagged , , , | 8 Comments