Mailbox Monday - Apr 20

Mailbox Monday is a meme started by Marcia of To Be Continued. Mailbox Monday is the gathering place for readers to share the books that came in their mailbox during the last week. It now has a permanent home at the Mailbox Monday blog.

How is it Monday again? For any of my Orthodox friends: Christos Anesti! For anyone who is unaware, this means "Christ is Risen!"

Our Orthodox Easter celebration was slim this year--just us and the kids. We are practicing social distancing for the sake of my mother-in-law. We had a nice time with the kids, but we did receive word that my father-in-law is not doing well. He has been transferred to the hospital. Please keep him up in prayer.

My mailbox was empty this week, which is okay. I am catching up on overdue reviews. I did, however, pick up a box of old magazines from a tag sale that I am flipping through.

These magazines include stories, photographs and other tidbits from days gone by. Every once in a while I run across a picture from Massachusetts that is of special interest.

That's it from me this week. I hope you received some great books in your mailbox.

An Imperfect Christian Mom's COVID-19 Diary #4

 

It has been a month of closed schools and businesses. Over the last week, grocery stores in the area have taken even greater precautions to keep consumers and employees safe, like one way arrows in all the aisles to control the flow of traffic.

My new normal is working mostly from home, Zoom for all work or volunteer group meetings, and the entire family home for who knows how long. For Easter, I tried to keep things as normal as possible. Easter egg hunt for the girls in the morning and turkey and ham for dinner. Even though we had a much smaller group than usual, we had a nice time.

More deaths from the Soldiers' Home in Holyoke hit the news (52 so far). Our hearts go out to all those affected. I am grateful that my father-in-law is holding his own so far.

My family is finally getting to see my neat freak side. I think I have washed the kitchen floor three times this week. It helps with my allergies, and now that the living areas have had a good cleaning, I want to keep them that way.

I've read a mix of fiction and non-fiction lately. Before I became a blogger, I had read only non-fiction for two years. I'm grateful blogging turned me back on to the great fiction out there. My main blog, The Book Connection, has been around for more than a decade. Some blogs have come and gone, but I'm thrilled that the loyal readers keep tuning in. More time to blog is a blessing of the current situation. I'm also using my extra time to reach out to folks to see how they are doing. We need to support each other.



When you pass through the waters,
I will be with you;
and when you pass through the rivers,
they will not sweep over you.
When you walk through the fire,
you will not be burned;
the flames will not set you ablaze.

Isaiah 43:2

Mailbox Monday - April 29

Mailbox Monday is a meme started by Marcia of To Be Continued. Mailbox Monday is the gathering place for readers to share the books that came in their mailbox during the last week. It now has a permanent home at the Mailbox Monday blog.

Happy Monday! Hard to believe the end of April is here. I swear the year just started.

We've had a lot going on here. Last weekend was Easter Sunday. First time in 20 years I didn't cook. Yesterday was Orthodox Easter, which we also celebrate. We went to my brother-in-law's house, so all I had to do is make a pie. Felt like a true lazy slob. Of course, not cooking the past two weekends gave me some motivation to clean up around here, vacuum, and then wash the floors.

I also cleaned out a whole bunch of books to bring them to our library's annual book sale. It's always nice to share the books with others and help out the library at the same time. I'm making my final book drop today.

The Lil' Diva is off to NYC with her class on Wednesday and then to the annual Senior class outing on Friday. Hopefully the rain holds off.

The mailbox hasn't been too busy lately. I'm trying to stay on top of reviews for the next month. This one arrived and I reviewed it at The Book Connection.

Then I picked this up for free since the author sent me a PDF copy to review, but I prefer the Kindle version.

That's it from me. Hope you'll share some of your new books with us.

Wordless Wednesday

Happy Easter!

Wishing you and your family a blessed Easter!

Wordless Wednesday

Wordless Wednesday

April 2001 A to Z Blogging Challenge

What is the A to Z Challenge? It’s blogging a letter of the alphabet every day the month of April (with Sundays off for good behavior.) It began April 1st, with the letter A and ends April 30th, with the letter Z. You can click here to see who else is participating in this challenge.

Today's post is for the letter:

R is for Resurrection. During Holy Week, our minds turn to the suffering of Our Lord Jesus Christ. On this day, Jesus was crucified and died. With the Sabbath soon approaching, Jesus's body was turned over to Joseph of Arimathea, who had made such a request of Pontius Pilate.

Jesus's mother, Mary, and Mary Magdalene, looked on as Joseph wrapped Jesus's body and laid it in a new tomb he had "hewn out of rock." A large stone was then placed in front of the tomb. Knowing that Jesus had told them that He would rise again, Pilate stationed guards outside the tomb, for they were afraid His followers would steal the body and claim He had risen.

That first Easter morning, Mary Magdalene and some of the women brought spices to the tomb to bury Jesus properly. They found the stone rolled away and the angel tells them that Jesus is not there, but that He has risen. He instructs them to let the disciples know and that Jesus will meet them in Galilee.

Can you imagine having been there that morning?

As we celebrate Jesus's victory over the grave, let us draw closer to Him. Let us never forget that He suffered, died, and rose again to pay for our sins.

What Easter traditions do you and your family share?

April 2011 A to Z Blogging Challenge

What is the A to Z Challenge? It’s blogging a letter of the alphabet every day the month of April (with Sundays off for good behavior.) It began April 1st, with the letter A and ends April 30th, with the letter Z. You can click here to see who else is participating in this challenge.

Today's post is for the letter:

Considering my history as a junk food junky, one would think Easter would be my favorite holiday.  I almost find Easter more challenging to cope with than Christmas as a parent, because it's hard to get the Easter Bunny to deliver a desk, new curtains for the bedroom, or clothes in that tiny basket.

In case I've never mentioned it before, we live in a subdivision with 23 other homes. Great when it comes time to making playdates, but horrible around Easter and Halloween because the sheer volume of candy each child receives is so much that they can't possibly consume it all in one year's time. If I wander downstairs into the playroom, there are two baskets--one for the Lil Diva and the other for the Lil Princess--that are filled to the brim with the remainder of last year's Easter candy and a good portion of their Halloween cache. We just don't allow them to ingest that much junk food.

Though, I have to admit to loving Easter and its signs of spring, we can have some crazy weather. In 1982, we had snow on Holy Thursday. In 1996, we had snow three days after Easter. As you can tell from the picture above taken in 2008, it can be cold in New England, especially if Easter comes early; but usually we are wearing our spring coats and enjoying a beautiful day.

When I was a kid, we lived in a house that had lovely front and side gardens. My grandfather, who had built the house, had planted an azalea bush in the front yard. I remember several Easters when the warm weather brought the blooms out early. I also loved watching the tulips come up each year. I've tried to grow tulips here, but the deer always eat them.

What are some of your Easter memories? What is the weather like during that time of year where you are?