Occupations and Vocation

Today at Catholic Stand I revisit a topic I have written about several times: balancing professional and domestic life. This most recent reflection approaches the topic from my role as a teacher of college students.

Another semester is beginning, and I am back in the classroom, teaching young college students about the parts and pieces of the human body. I stand before them and introduce myself as “Dr. Hunnell, a family physician”. At some point in the coming weeks, I will begin to get the questions:
“Why aren’t you seeing patients anymore?”
“Don’t you feel like you are wasting your education?”
“Couldn’t you make more money being a doctor?”
They come every semester, and I still hesitate a little bit when I answer them. How do I encourage them to push themselves to reach their professional goals when I have walked away from my own career as a doctor?

Head on over to Catholic Stand for the answers to these questions! 

God's Handwriting

Never lose an opportunity of seeing anything beautiful. Beauty is God’s hand-writing—a way-side sacrament; welcome it in every fair face, every fair sky, every fair flower, and thank for it Him, the fountain of all loveliness, and drink it in, simply and earnestly, with all your eyes; it is a charmed draught, a cup of blessing.--Charles Kingsley

We went to Mass last night so this morning offered an opportunity to walk through my garden. I haven't tended it as much this year as in other years because we have done so much traveling, but the beauty is still there.

jalepeno peppers

basil

rosemary & thyme

turtlehead flowers with a few mums in the foreground

white hydrangeas with pink aster in the background

morning glories

the last of the summer four o'clocks, yellow canna lilies, and the fall sedum just starting to turn pink

Aster and coneflowers

Moonflower

pink climbing roses

large marigolds

small marigolds

Lots of marigolds grown from seeds gathered from last year's flowers

7 Quick Takes: The new and the old

--- 1 ---

Teaching a college anatomy and physiology lab from 7pm to 10pm on Wednesday night followed by two Thursday morning labs from 7:30am to 1:30pm sounded like a good idea at the time I was arranging my schedule. When the alarm went off at 5:45am on Thursday morning I had second thoughts. However, enough coffee conquers all and all three labs went smoothly.

--- 2 ---

Walking around somewhat lost on a college campus brings back memories of my college freshman year. That was over 35 years ago. It must be easier for introverts these days because no one is making eye contact. They are all walking around looking at their phones.

--- 3 ---

In addition to starting a new teaching job and still continuing my old teaching job, I have started a new fitness program. I am tracking my food intake and exercise with MyFitnessPal.com. I had done this before and really did lose weight but eventually my tracking trailed off. Now my husband has joined me in the effort and it is a lot easier to keep up when we hold each other accountable. The database for foods is amazing on this site. There is certainly a lot more motivation to exercise when you get the instant gratification of more calories added to your daily allotment.

--- 4 ---

My husband and I walked the dogs to the nearby lake. It is just shy of three miles round trip. Was surprised to see there are already the first hints of fall colors. It is mostly in the low brush shrubs in the woods and not in the trees but there is no denying that our summer is waning.

--- 5 ---

The good news is that the farmers market is still going strong and will be open at least two more months. Picked up butternut squash, a tomato, some onions, bell peppers, and sweet corn. The sweet corn seems to be lasting a long time this year. My mother-in-law taught us a neat way to cook the corn quickly. Leave most of the husks on and throw in the microwave for 3 minutes per ear. The husks and silks just slide right off leaving nothing but the delicious corn. I also picked up a cantaloupe. Since our trip to Italy, cantaloupe and prosciutto has become a staple lunch.

--- 6 ---

Fresh farmers market produce makes meatless Fridays delicious. Last week I made polenta and topped it with sauteed squash, tomatoes, and onions. Today we grilled shrimp with the onions and bell peppers I bought yesterday, seasoned it with Cajun seasoning, and served it over brown rice. Topped it with diced tomatoes and had corn on the cob on the side.We've been sticking to meatless Fridays for a few years now. It is amazing how such a minimal sacrifice can help focus your faith.

--- 7 ---

Hoping to have three of our four children home for Sunday supper this weekend. Once the nest empties it feels like Christmas when more than one child is home. I am looking forward to hearing the lively voices and laughter that always accompanies their voices. Sometimes the dogs try to fill the noise void with their barks and howls. Definitely doesn't compare to having kids at home, even when the kids are all grown up.

For more Quick Takes, visit Conversion Diary!

Marking Time

Clock Tower, Piazza San Marco, Venice Italy

After a 30 year military career, we are used to marking time by our assignments. Memories are labeled according to where we were stationed. We were always on the move staying anywhere from one to four years in one spot. Stories usually begins, "When we were stationed in...".  The last twelve years, however, have been in one place. My husband came to the DC area thinking that it would be a one-year assignment. Instead, it ended up being three back-to-back DC assignments that spanned nearly 10 years. We put down a few roots over that time and when retirement came, we stayed put.

This past week I realized that when we moved into our previous assignment in Florida, my youngest child was the same age my granddaughter is now! How did that happen? That was just one assignment ago but it is actually a whole generation ago. In this new phase of our lives we have to mark time a little differently. I now think about events in terms of their relationship to military retirement or a child's wedding or a birth of a grandchild. I am learning a whole new frame of reference.

How do you mark time?