St. Joseph’s Salad

This salad sounds strange and I'm not sure how it came together, but the kids love it, especially if I use the hearts or romaine instead of the whole head. We have called it St. Joseph's Salad because we love it and everyone we share it with loves it too!

1 head of romaine lettuce
1 granny smith apple peeled and sliced
1 can chickpeas
1/3 cup sweetened, dried cranberries
1-2 T raw, shelled sunflower seeds (optional)

Vinaigrette:
1 ounce canola oil
1 ounce apple cider vinegar
1 T. sugar
pinch of salt
sprinkle of garlic powder
sprinkle of onion powder

Slice the lettuce how you like it, toss the apple, drained chick peas, craisins and seeds on top. Mix the vinaigrette well, pour it over the salad and toss.

St. Joseph, Terror of Demons, THANK YOU!

My COVID19 test was negative! My sweet family was joyful and relieved when we got the news. My gift was truly feeling appreciated.
I am very thankful that I don't have that awful disease. I still have a very nasty upper respiratory virus that is wreaking havoc on my sleep. Since I have been coughing for almost a week, I'm completely exhausted. I have trouble sleeping at night because once I get settled, I start to cough, I get the cough settled by drinking water and then I have to get up and go to the bathroom and the cycle continues. Last night was especially hard because Number One Daughter was in and out of her room all night getting beverages and going to the bathroom and I awoke to cat fights and a full clowder sleeping all over me. I barely made it through my 4 hour work day. My head was pounding. I took a Benadryl, Tylenol and was able to take my first restful nap in a week! I really thought the good news would help me sleep last night. I am 52 years old, I can never remember a cough or cold with a fever lasting over a couple of days. I am on day 5! I still feel as awful as I did three days ago when I went in for testing. At least two people pointed out that COVID19 tests occasionally are false negatives. I don't need to hear that! It is Divine Mercy Novena Week, I am choosing to Trust in Jesus that negative is negative.
One of Hubby's work friends from 20 years ago brought us a pot of homemade soup last night. A gift of love humbly accepted.
As we were doing our spiritual walk tonight, it occurred to me that my deepening relationship with Holy, Powerful St. Joseph has been the gift from this awful season.
Please keep me in and my family your prayers, I'm pretty grumpy when I'm sick. Right now, we have 50% of our house sick. I hope and pray that everyone else stays well and we get over soon!

Quarantine 2020

We need your prayers. Number One Daughter (15) and I have been running a fever since Saturday. On Monday, I called the CommUnityCare hotline, was able to immediately talk to someone and get referred for COVID19 testing (due to symptoms and my zip code.) I'll know the results in 3-5 days. (If I'm positive, they assume she is also.)
Self-quarantining in a 1100sq/ft house with 6 people hasn't been easy. There is a learning curve which has been especially hard for Rainbow Baby (7.)
Number One Daughter and I are usually the healthy ones, we need prayers of protection for Rainbow Baby, Number One Son and especially Hubby, he has an IgG immune deficiency and diabetes.
Waiting for results and self assessing my symptoms day to day is very difficult. I actually feel ok, I have lots of experience dealing with a cough. The past few days have been filled with guilt, sorrow and extreme worry. I think fatigue has me going to the "what if" place. I am a devotee to the message of the Divine Mercy and the irony of getting sick this week is not lost on me: 774 + O my Jesus, I understand well that , just as illness is measured with a thermometer, and a high fever tells us the seriousness of the illness, so also, in the spiritual life, suffering is the thermometer which measures the love of God in a soul. I can't go to confession and our parish priests don't have PPE, so I can't get annointed. No Mass, no Eucharist, no confession, no annointing.
I am a healthcare provider very familiar with universal precautions. I have been wearing a mask and sanitizing myself, grocery cart and groceries. We live in 78704, one of the Hot Zones. For the past two weeks I went into a single office which I sanitized before and after I used it. All of these things and I still got sick. It might just be a cold, I'm praying for the grace of a cold!
We need healing prayers and prayers of protection for the people in my little house who are not sick.
Jesus, I Trust You!

Quarantine

I am sad. When I get sad, I freeze up and when I can do anything, I make an effort to do something for others. A week of no money, a sick family, no Mass and doomsday predictions makes it hard for me to breathe!
Rainbow Baby, Number One Daughter and I walked the Stations of the Cross late tonight/this AM. The 24 hour Adoration Chapel is locked and the parking lot is empty. Of all the things that upset me about this pandemic, empty churches really squeeze my heart.
God, you are the Divine Physician, we need a miracle, YOU can end this pandemic and fill Your churches again!