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Category Archives: 7 quick takes

7 Downton Abbey Quick Takes: Season 3, Episode 4 & Fun Downton Links

 

Photo Source

It’s always a joke around here that when I link up with Jen’s 7 Quick Takes, I am usually around #150, and that’s on a good day. I swear there are bloggers that never sleep who post their Takes before I’ve even finished my Thursday night viewing of something intellectually stimulating like Duck Dynasty. So I am going extreme and posting on Wednesday afternoon! I am officially #0! Although, knowing me I’ll post this and forget to link up until Sunday morning. Oh, well. Let’s get on with it.

Spoiler Alert! – If you have not watched Sunday’s Episode 4 of Downton Abbey, skip to # 3 or 4!

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Last night I was finally able to watch Sunday’s episode of Downton Abbey. Everyone warned that it was a heart breaker. Oh. My. Gosh. They were not exaggerating. Let’s just say I was finally able to have that good cry I needed!

I will have to go back and rewatch the episode to remember the storylines that were shown because Sybil is dominating my memory right now. And seriously, as I sit here and think about losing your spouse, I am crying again… and then when Cora was sitting alone with Sybil and told her lifeless body, “You will always be my baby,” I could hear my mom’s voice telling me that. I could hear my own voice as I say it so often to Bella. Oh, boy and now the tears are flowing freely again. I’m making up for lost time.

Since I obviously can’t handle a commentary right now, I will instead share a few Downton Abbey links that you may enjoy.

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 Here is a video tribute to Sybil and Tom with the song “The Weight of Us” by Sanders Bohlke.

 

 

~~ 3 ~~

 

 

Yesterday the Masterpiece Classic: Downton Abbey Season 3 Blu-ray and DVD were released. I ordered my copy and I’m debating whether I will watch the remaining episodes right away or wait and enjoy the suspense as I watch with my friends on PBS. Since I know this is not the end of sad storylines maybe small doses will be better.

 

~~ 4 ~~

 

The other night Downton Abbey won Sag’s Cast Ensemble Award. Here is a photo of some of the cast. You can hardly recognize Ms. O’Brien and Daisy!

Photo Source

 

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My sister sent me this link, knowing that I would love it.

10 Downton Abbey Inspired DIY Crafts & Printables from EverythingEtsy.com.

My favorites are…

 

…the Downton Abbey inspired headbands and…

 

…the Downton Abbey bingo.

 

~~ 6 ~~

 

Lastly, for those of you that love Facebook and Downton, you may enjoy these DA episode Facebook recaps from HappyPlace.com.

Here is the recap for  Season 3, Episode 1. The rest of the recap links are below.

 

Facebook Recap for Season 3, Episode 2

Facebook Recap for Season 3, Episode 3 

Facebook Recap for Season 3, Episode 4

 

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I hope you enjoyed these! I’ll meet you Sunday night for the next #DowntonPBS Twitter party. (9 PM PT) 🙂 (You can find me here.)

 

 

 

7 Quick Takes (1/18/13) & {pretty, happy, funny, real} vol 57: Downton Abbey & Hospital Visits

Hosted by Jen.

AND

Hosted by Like Mother, Like Daughter

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A Mean and Cruel Trick – It’s just after 12:30 am and I am reluctant to sleep in an emty bed again so I am distracting myself by working on my Quick Takes & the {pretty, happy, funny, real} that I never had a chance to post yesterday. Brian has officially been in the hospital for a week now. He went in the ER last Friday and if all goes well, he will be released tomorrow (Fri.) Actually, we thought Brian was going to be released tonight. We were running around the house getting everything nice and pretty and the welcome home decorations up when Brian called and said he wasn’t coming home tonight after all. They wanted to keep him one more night to monitor a concern that popped up at the last minute. I completely understood the why but we were none the less bitterly disappointed.

I returned to the hospital to have dinner with Brian and watch a movie but when I had to say goodbye another night instead of bringing him home with me…well, I had to bite my tongue so hard that I nearly drew blood in order to not completely lose it in the hospital parking lot. I think that is why I am still typing so late, I want to be so tired that I knock out when my head hits the pillow and I don’t notice the empty space beside me.

I know, I know, I should be looking at the bright side of things, that he is alive and well and will be coming home soon…that is another reason why I am typing. It always perks me up so let the uplifting begin.

 

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{pretty}

In the evenings, when we visit the hospital we love to look at the Fountain/ Fish Pond they have in the lobby. A portion of the ceiling is a dome with a huge sky light. You can see the moon and the stars on a clear night.

 

When I took Brian’s hospital bag home to wash his clothes I found his miraculous medal he always wears. I have been wearing it since then, waiting for the day I can return it to him.

 

~~ 3 ~~

Downton Abbey Spoiler Alert – (If you have not seen last Sunday’s episode, skip to the next Take.) After the kids are asleep I return to the hospital to watch TV or a DVD with Brian. We were able to see Downton Abbey together and what an episode! I haven’t even had a chance to write my comments but here they are in a nutshell. I’m glad Matthew stopped whining and just used the money to save DA, although I had to laugh at the size of their possible “downsized” home. Thomas may be a snake but I would not want to get on O’Brien’s bad side. Cora was making such strides. Why did she get whiney again and not give O’Brien a chance to explain herself? Edith, oh, Edith. She started out as a nuisance but after her better side came out when she was working with the wounded soldiers, I was really hoping she’d find love and happiness. Although it wasn’t a complete shock, I was truly upset to see her hurt. I just hope #TeamEdith does not become #TeamHavisham. And what is going on with the whole Bates situation? I sure hope there will be some kind of resolution by the end of the season and it better not be that Bates actually is guilty. It is bad enough that I accidentally saw the mother of all spoilers with another storyline and you know how much I HATE spoilers! As much as I try to put it out of my mind it sits there taunting me as I watch. Oh, well. I am too addicted to stop now.

 

~~ 4 ~

 

Movie Night – Instead of TV, Brian wanted to watch one of his religious movies so we viewed God’s Mighty Servant: Sister Pascalina Lehnert, Secretary of Pius XII . It is the story of Sister Pascalina Lehnert (1894-1983) who was the personal confidant and secretary to Pope Pius XII for 40 years, when he was the Papal Nuncio in Germany, and then after for his whole Pontificate. The Pope had great confidence in her wisdom, energy and loyalty, and she became known as “the most powerful woman in the history of the Vatican.” The movie was in German with English subtitles, so it was good that no kids were with me, but I really enjoyed the movie and found it both interesting and moving.

 

~~ 5 ~~

Too Many Tears – This week has been difficult on the kids not having Brian here. Bella hasn’t been sleeping well. The other night Andrew woke up twice crying. Tonight John-Paul woke up crying calling for Brian. And whenever someone comes through the door Matthew runs over calling, Daddy, only to find it isn’t him. I can’t help but wonder what a child must go through when a parent dies and they’ll never walk through the door again. How do they cope… okay, now is not the time to ponder that one. (Remember, Bobbi, uplifting.) We’ll move on and since it is nearly 1:00 AM,  I better wrap this up. I leave you with photos taken this week. Thankfully we did have a few happy moments too. 🙂

{happy}

When the kids were unable to kiss Brian goodnight at the hospital they would send him a photo saying goodnight. That made him happy.

The kids were excited that their daddy would be home soon but it made it difficult to change the sheets with three little monkeys jumping on the bed!

~~ 6 ~~

{funny}

I made the mistake of leaving my food on the table unguarded and Matthew discovered the joys of chips and guacamole and took over. (It was so tasty because I used BC’s recipe.)

Later, he washed down his meal (and himself) with a glass of milk.

~~ 7 ~~

{real}

Today Andrew’s class made a Get-Well Booklet for Brian. Each child drew him a picture. It was incredibly sweet!

Here is the picture Andrew drew. It has two cats (that he wished he had but his mother is allergic!) and our two fish Rocky & Spike.

Lastly, Bella, my cartoonist,  made a Welcome Home sign for Brian featuring all the kids. I love it. 🙂

Okay, I think I can go to bed now. I can barely keep my eyes open. Have a good night! (or day!)

7 Quick Takes (1/12/13) & {p, h, f, r} vol 56: The Cancer & Surgery Edition

Hosted by Jen.

AND

Hosted by Like Mother, Like Daughter

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{pretty}

 

 The view from the window of Brian’s hospital room.

 

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It has been a crazy last few days and I am actually typing this now in the hospital as Brian is trying to rest. Here’s the scoop in a nutshell. Brian has been sick on and off for awhile. He had a few infections but antibiotics took care of them. However, he was still getting pain in his stomach and sides. On Friday he was scheduled to have some testing and procedures done to check everything out. They found three polyps (an abnormal growth of tissue) and were able to remove the two small ones during the procedure. The third was larger and suspicious for cancer. He would need to schedule surgery in the next week or so and have it removed and analyzed.

He came back home that afternoon but by the evening he had a high fever and severe chills. He went to the ER and they suspected a perforation from one of the procedures. They kept him overnight. In the morning his fever was down and the chills stopped but he was still in some pain. They decided to do surgery right away and take care of all the issues he’s dealing with. So tomorrow/Sunday morning at 7:30 AM (PT) he is having surgery. Please pray that all goes well, that he recovers quickly and that the polyp is not cancerous. (Update: It was cancerous but the surgery removed it all.)

 

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As a side note, my sister BC called me Wednesday night and said she and my other sister JC wanted to make a last minute trip from So Cal to spend the weekend with us. I told them that we’d love to have them. I told her that Brian had some tests on Friday but he was scheduled to be back at work on Saturday so that wouldn’t be a problem. Little did I know I’d actually be sitting in a hospital room on Saturday instead!  The Holy Spirit must have prompted their trip because he knew I could really use their help with Brian’s unexpected situation. And thanks to my sister BC’s generosity, she rearranged her work schedule so she could take time off and stay here to help me with the kids while Brian is in the hospital. (His surgery’s recovery time is 3-7 days.) I told Brian God was making arrangements for us before we even knew we needed them!

 

~~ 4 ~~

{happy & funny}

I haven’t taken many photos this week but I borrowed these that my sisters took while I was in the hospital with Brian. I am incredibly happy to know the kids are in good hands while I am busy.

Matthew is exclaiming his new favorite phrase, “I did it!”

Andrew was having a blast.

 My sister said, “This picture was taken before Matthew had his feet in John-Paul’s food!” (JP was not very pleased!)

My sister said, “Matthew could not believe Captain America was in the house!”

 

~~ 5 ~~

{rea}

 

This is an old photo but I brought Brian our favorite small icon to his hospital room. I asked Our Lady to watch over him and Our Lord to give him strength and peace of heart.

 

~~ 6 ~~

At 9:30 PM tonight Brian received the strength he needed at that moment. Our parish priest came by to see Brian and give him Anointing of the Sick. I am so glad I happened to be there so I could join them in prayer. Brian was really touched and I know it gave him peace.

 

~~ 7 ~~

Speaking of peace, I am not sure what is wrong with me. Normally I would be completely stressed out over all this and dramatically picturing the worse case scenario as a funeral scene plays through my head. (Remember when I thought Matthew was going to die?) But strangely, I have not been worried at all. I have been praying but haven’t freaked out once. (If anything, I am freaking out because I am not freaking out.) I told my sister that either God is pouring buckets of grace down on me or I am in a huge state of denial. I think I’ll go with the grace. At least it has allowed me to stay upbeat with the kids so they are not worried and just think daddy is having a reeeeeally long doctor visit.

Please keep us all in prayer and for those already praying, thank you so much! I’ll keep you posted.

UPDATE: An Update on Brian (1/15/13)

 

7 Quick Takes (1/4/13): New Years, Boy Bands & Hobby Lobby

Hosted by Hallie for Jen.

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Prayers Needed – For those of you who may not know, Jen the host of 7 Quick Takes, was in the hospital yesterday with bilateral pulmonary embolisms in both her lungs. As of late last night, she was released from the hospital to recover at home. Please remember Jen and her unborn baby boy in your prayers! (UPDATE: As of this evening, Jen is back in the hospital. It is unknown when she will be able to return home. Please continue praying.)

 

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Happy New Year – Well, it’s 2013 now. Can you believe it? How was your New Years? It was pretty quiet here. For the first time in a long time we didn’t go to So Cal to see my family again. (We were just there for Thanksgiving.) We thought it made more sense to split up our two big trips down there and go in spring instead. I hated not seeing them but I didn’t mind not having to pack and travel.

Instead I stood up and spent New Years Eve watching the Dick Clark special and Ryan Seacrest. Well, actually I recorded the shows and started watching at 11 PM and fast forwarded through 75% and just watched some of the bands/singers that I like.

I used to disregard Top 40 music but ever since I tried to increase my walking I needed more upbeat music to keep me motivated. I’m addicted to Spotify and have a number of playlists. One of the songs I like is Glad You Came by The Wanted. I had no idea what they looked like until I saw them on the New Years Eve show.

I couldn’t stop laughing at the fact that these guys I listened to were from a little boy band. Are they even allowed to stay up past 11 PM? The next thing you know I’ll be listening to One Direction. (Oh, wait. I think one of their songs is on my playlist too.) Sigh. How did it come to this? Maybe the Mayans were right.

 

~~ 3 ~~

2012 Recaps – The blog has the usual end of the year recaps. You can read the top RoL posts of 2012 here. There’s a link-up so feel free to add your Top Post(s) to it as well. I’d love to read them! It’s open through the month of January.

Also, Dwija has a link up for 2012 in 12 Photos. I posted mine here but it was so hard to choose only one photo for each month!

 

~~ 4 ~~

Shopping Fred Mertz Style – One of my favorite I Love Lucy episodes is “Ethel’s Birthday.” Every birthday or Christmas we always joke that Brian repeats Fred’s line, “What did I give you? I mean, how do you like what I gave you?” That’s because, truth be told, I usually pick out my own gifts. (Yeah, I am one of those wives.) Well, when I was visiting my family in So Cal over Thanksgiving, I went to their local Hobby Lobby. We don’t have one here and everyone had been raving about them so I thought I’d check them out. There were so many cute things and they were having their after Thanksgiving sale so items were super discounted. Here are three things I particularly liked and saved as my Christmas presents.

I love this small carrying case!

(Purchase the complete set here.)

I love this retro metal chest of drawers. I had to stack my journals up in order to make room for it on my bookshelf. I think it reminds me of my youth. It reminds me of Doc Martens and 80’s/90’s alternative music. 😉

(Purchase online here.)

 

I bought this plaque to hang up in my kitchen.

(Purchase online here.)

 

Plus with all the trouble Hobby Lobby has been in for fighting the HHS mandate, I was happy to give them my business. In fact I saw on Twitter that tomorrow (Saturday, 1/5/12) is Standing with Hobby Lobby Day so plan on doing some shopping. UPDATE: If you don’t have a Hobby Lobby where you live, you can order online. I added links to the items I bought above. There is also a 40% off coupon for one item and discounted Shipping for today 1/5.

 

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Source

You Should Have Picked the Toaster – Speaking of the Lucy episode “Ethel’s Birthday,” do you remember the pants Lucy bought Ethel? I found a similar pair at Macy’s.

Now I know what to wear at all those smart dinner parties I give.

~~6 ~~

Twitter Style – Okay, there was one gift I received from Brian that I wanted but did not see beforehand. He bought me the One Line a Day: A Five-Year Memory Book.

I know, I know, like I need another journal. But I hardly write in my regular journal these days and this style is much easier because it is the Twitter version of journaling. I simply record a thought or two about the day, which I can certainly handle. Then when I want to go into greater detail, I make a notation on the entry and expand my thoughts in my regular journal. It’s great.

There is also a version just for moms. This would be a great gift for a new mom who is more worried about taking a shower that week than writing more than a sentence a day.

 

~~ 7 ~~

Going Sol0 – Okay, I better wrap this up. This weekend I’ll be flying solo as Brian just left for a weekend retreat. It took awhile to convince him to go but I’m glad he did. It will be good for him to get away and spend some time in prayer. Plus, the retreat place is up in the woods so it is a perfect setting to reconnect with God. So please say a prayer for him (and a prayer for my sanity. 😉 )

Oh and be sure to stop by next week for Making It Count Tuesday. For Christmas I made Shutterfly photobooks for my parents and Brian’s parents. I’ll share with you how it turned out. 🙂

Have a great weekend and blessed Epiphany!

7 Quick Takes (12/28/12): Anniversary, Romance & Duck Dynasty

Hosted by Jen.

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Mawage is wot bwings us togeder today – A great big happy 13th anniversary to my sweetheart! It may be a cliché but it feels like it was just yesterday, yet I feel like I’ve known Brian all my life. Maybe because he was an answer to my prayers long before I knew him.

 

~~ 2~~

Now you are my Mr Knightly – It’s funny that when I was single and still living at home, I remember watching love stories with my sister and we’d love it but laugh and yell, “Fake!” at the screen. This was in the mid to late 90’s when all the amazing Jane Austen adaptations came out such as the Colin Firth Pride and Prejudice, Emma, Sense and Sensibility, Persuasion etc. All those tender love scenes were simply the dreams of fairy tales…until I met Brian.

I distinctly remember one scene in Emma (with Gwenyth Palthrow) when Mr. Knightly professed his love to Emma as the music swelled and small flower blossoms fell from the tree. It was picture perfect.

I think back to the first weekend Brian and I finally spent together. (We met online and corresponded for 5 months before meeting in person. By then I already knew I was going to marry him.) There was one point when we attended a Marian Conference and during the lunch break we found a grassy area under a tree to have a picnic. Suddenly, a nearby building turned on their sound system and classical music stared playing in the background. Then a breeze rustled through the tree and small flower blossoms started falling from the sky as Brian turned to me and gave me that “look of love” that said he wanted nothing more than to kiss me. Part of me was reeling and the other part of me was inwardly yelling, “Fake!” Stuff like this does not happen in real life. (If you want the whole story of how we met, you can read it here.)

Well, it was real and 13 years later we have far too few moments lounging under a blossom tree but he’ll still get that “look” when he has to steal a kiss. So the fairy tale lives on, you just have to look and listen a little harder with all the family chaos surrounding it. 😉 Here’s proof. I still find love notes left for me. Swoon.

 

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The way to a man’s heart is through his stomach (and his coffee cup) – Speaking of Brian, for Christmas I made him one of those baskets I talked about in my Gift Ideas for Guys. It was all his favorites things to have a relaxing afternoon. Along with books, a blank journal and treats, I added a new coffee mug and coffee. He loved them! We have long been supporters of Mystic Monk Coffee but bought it less once we switched to the Keurig single cup coffee maker. But I’m happy to see that Mystic Monk now carries the single serving K-cups. (Which are also compatible with other single serving machines.)  Brian loved the Mystic Monk blend and I will buy more of the other flavors. (Note: I think they sold out of the Mysitc Monk blend but hopefully more will be available soon. They do have other flavors ready.)

 “Monk Shot” single serving coffee

Here is the mug I bought him.

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Are you seriously watching this? – Okay, here is another speaking of Brian story. The other day Brian was up late and I could hear him laughing at something on TV. Usually when he is watching TV it is either on EWTN or the NFL channel so I wasn’t sure what would be so funny. I go into the family room and he is laughing hysterically and I saw these guys on the screen.

 

Yes, it is the millionaire “rednecks” of Duck Dynasty. At first I could not believe Brian would be watching a show like this but he convinced me to sit down for a minute and soon I was laughing so hard I was crying. Granted that is not hard to make me do but still these guys are so over the top it’s hilarious. Here’s a little taste of an episode we recently watched.


 

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And this one is fuzzy but Si as a scary Christmas elf is a classic.

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I need rehab – Okay, I am sitting here staring at the screen wondering what to write next. I usually jot down ideas for QT on my iphone notes but one of the boys has confiscated my phone to play Star Wars Angry Birds and as he sits here quietly at my feet, I can’t bear to disturb him. I also jot down ideas in my planner but since Christmas my desk has slowly relapsed into a candidate for a hoarders reality show and my planner if buried under a pile. Like an alcoholic who fell off the wagon, I have fallen off the organizational wagon and if these piles on my desk get any higher, I won’t be able to see the computer screen. You think I’m joking? My kiddo just returned my phone. I’ll snap a pic.

Yesterday the blog I’m An Organizing Junkie posted Introducing the New Year’s Organizing Revolution!! So maybe I should check it out and get back on track. It takes a while to build up but I have that “I’ve got to clean this mess or I’m gonna scream” feeling right now and I have to seize it before it fades away. So let’s wrap this up.

 

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Anne with an E – Did you notice the angry bird calendar in the above photo? My sis BC bought that for the boys to hang in their bedroom. This week we had the pleasure of watching the Star Wars trilogy for the first time with them. (I fast forwarded a bit of the scarier parts) but they loved it. John-Paul is amazed that they made three movies about one phone app. Every time he came into the room and saw Darth Vader on the screen he yelled, “It’s Angry Bird pig!”  LOL.

The next movie I want to watch for the first time with my kids is actually a movie for Bella and me. She just read Anne of Green Gables so I thought she’d enjoy watching the movie with me. Can you believe it’s been over 25 years since that movie came out?! Am I really that old?? Never mind. Don’t answer that.

Have a wonderful last weekend of 2012!!