My Friday, December 3, 2010 -- Prayer and Reading
I'm currently reading the first book in the Brother Cadfael collection, entitled "A Morbid Taste for Bones." Though it was published in 1977, I'd never heard of it until recently. Apparently there was a TV series for Brother Cadfael, just released this past November, with 13 episodes. (See Amazon for the Complete Collection.) I'm enjoying the book and look forward to reading others in the series. But I have to admit something a bit shocking: I wish I had this on my Kindle!
The print of the book is tiny (to me) -- and I'm spoiled by being able to set whatever size font I want on my Kindle. Plus it's one of those books that's hard to hold open in one hand (very stiff) -- and I'm spoiled by how easy it is to balance my Kindle in one hand and press a button to turn pages... Yes, when sister Sue said she was worried that the Kindle would be the death of books, I scolded her and said it would never happen. I love books. I love the smell of books. I love the covers. I love holding them in my hands. Many are life-long friends to me, and I can't imagine a world without them! Still, it's so very convenient to load tons and tons and tons of them on my Kindle. And so easy to READ them on the Kindle, too.
While I never liked reading books on my computer, the Kindle is a totally different story...
In other news, I didn't get much done today. Sister Sue and I had talked about getting together, but that didn't happen. I slept a lot, wanting to feel better for the weekend. But I did do a load of dishes, scrubbed out Marilyn's bathtub and made a chicken casserole for dinner. (I did some crazy research online today, too, that took hours -- and couldn't find the answers I wanted... sigh... But that's neither here nor there...) And obviously I read. Bot the Brother Cadfael book, and parts of several books on my Kindle, mostly religious in nature.
I was also watching a lot of EWTN. One of the shows I love to both watch (and listen to) is the daily playing of The Chaplet of Divine Mercy, which always airs at 3:00 p.m. (which is the time of day the chaplet is supposed to be prayed). There's a very popular version called Chaplet of Divine Mercy in Song (you can easily find it all over YouTube), which EWTN plays on Saturday and Sunday, but I prefer the Monday-Friday version.
If you're interested in viewing (and listening) to this, you can do so HERE. Look at the part of the page that reads: Pray along with Video -- you'll find three versions to pick from, depending on your internet connection. (I participated at 3:00 while it was on TV, but after FINALLY locating the webpage I just shared, I did this two additional times today. Yes, I love it that much. The voices of the soloists are BEAUTIFUL, but it's also lovely to listen to the entire congregation doing the responses, I think. And the priest has a wonderful speaking voice, as well.) I also shared part of it with Marilyn when she got home from work. My 'divine mercy' icon (with this entry) is connected to this, by the way...
I bought a really wonderful version of the Bible for my Kindle today, that's very easy to navigate (not true for all Kindle books). It was only $2.39! Imagine getting an entire Bible for less than $2.50...
I keep getting tons (and I mean TONS) of FREE books for my Kindle from Amazon. Originally I thought I'd have to go hunting online for free books, but seriously, Amazon just gives away so many that are easy to download. If I go the Public Domain route, then I have to save them to my computer, and usually convert them for the Kindle. Then hook up my Kindle (via USB) and load them that way. It's not a big deal, really, but certainly easier via my computer and Amazon.Com! (smile)
I've been fasting a bit, which mostly means cutting back on what I eat. For lunch I've been having bouillon with either toast or crackers for lunch, then a normal meal at dinner -- and trying to stay away from snacks, if I can. Part of Advent is fasting, so it makes me feel good in more ways than one to do this. Interestingly enough, aside from low blood sugar incidents, the last two mornings (today and yesterday) I've had the lowest readings ever since July of 2009. I think that's a good thing, especially as I've been feeling like I'm fighting a cold -- and normally if a diabetic gets sick it makes blood sugar shoot up. I'll have to watch it longer, of course, but I do find it fascinating.
Marilyn and I STILL haven't gotten back to sleeping normally -- well, normally for US, that is. (smile) While she was sick and then recovering, we were up all night long, every night. Even when it was time to go back to work, we were struggling with getting to bed at a reasonable hour. Last night we were both awake at 4:00 a.m. (yet again), and I can't imagine how Marilyn manages to go to work and do her job (which is hard) with so little sleep! She didn't have a single break all day today (yet again), so she was pretty tired by the time she finally got home (through the awful traffic).
Well, this is longer than I planned -- sorry! I'm just rambling, I guess. It's nap time -- and I was lying down for a bit, but wanted to come and blog. So now I'll say goodnight, and wish you all a lovely weekend!