Bored Already (and it has only been 6 hours)!

Charles flew this morning to Anaheim to attend the LA Religious Education Congress, where more than 30,000 Catholics come from all over the country to hear some of the most renowned and respected Catholic theologians, writers, teachers and speakers in the United States.

I wish that I had been able to go with him, but our new austerity plan (translation: NO MONEY!) dictated that I stay home this time.  I have been amusing myself by applying for the Alaska Permanent Fund Dividend, in order to rectify the above situation, and also playing on the computer, which is charged for the time being, by means of borrowing Miguel's charger.

Oh what fun to be back in blogland again, catching up with some of my favorites and even finding a few new blogs to look at!

Last night, we attended our monthly Parish Night, where Charles spoke about Catholic Relief Services and where the children in our Catechesis of the Good Shepherd religious education program presented a commercial for the bean soup jars they are selling to benefit CRS during Lent.  Charles has done such a good job of catechizing the parish about CRS that even the children are on board to help the poor, disadvantaged and to quote one of our kindergarteners, "the people at risk", in the developing world.

While I think Charles is pretty cute, he is not nearly as cute as Ani, Jessica, Noah, and Jackson!  

For more info about CRS, check out the website or go to YouTube and view one of the many short videos about CRS.  Charles said last night that he thought it would be great if families viewed one of the videos every week and discussed them during dinner, with the Rice Bowl on the table!

I saw a cute picture of my blog friend Marie's little Elizabeth, sporting pig tails and told her that I was wearing braids today as well - so she urged me to take a selfie, which I am sharing with you.  Sort of mutton dressed as lamb meets Pocahontas, but here you go:

I am so glad my hair is now long enough to DO something with - I am tired of brushing it out of my face.  I have been wearing it up in a bun when I substitute teach at the School District preschools, and one little girl asked me why my ears are so big.  I told her that my grandma had big ears and gave them to me when she was done with them.

Let's see...what else?  Good news on the fuel oil front:  The oil company used to not refill the tank if the customer was carrying a balance on their account.  The new owners have changed that policy, so now we don't have to worry about our tank running dry, our pipes freezing in the winter, snowflakes on our eyelashes, and the threat of burning our furniture in the woodstove to keep warm.  This winter is almost over, and I don't foresee any big freezes (you never know, however!), but it will be nice not to have that big worry next winter.

That's all the news from the soggy North - it is raining and the ice and snow are melting from the streets, sidewalks and lawns - I can see green grass!