It's about time, Spring

Spring is finally here! And this first week of it is going to be a wild ride. It all started this weekend with our Quarterly Liturgy & Brunch--every three months there is a mass at the chapel here for past and present MercyWorkers and friends of MercyWorks. Afterwards everyone comes up to our apartment for food prepared by us.

Saturday after work and yoga we deep cleaned (Q Lit is a convenient excuse to get your chore done) and prepped for Sunday. Sunday morning I went to the chapel early for music practice, since I volunteered to play piano for it. As soon as the last song was finished, I jetted back to the apartment to start making pancakes. I had already mixed the batter, so it was a simple matter of helping Britney man the griddle. Kevin made potatoes and eggs, Kate made muffins, and Diego made bacon, so we had plenty of food, even with several extra volunteers from the University of Scranton, who are staying here this week while on a service trip. As that wrapped up, I was off to work, where I cooked more breakfast--this time for the guys' dinner. They made fun of my "brinner," but then scarfed it down.

I have a mini refresher training today, so I'm going into work for several hours (I made a bargain, going in on my day off means I now have Friday off this week), but before then, I have visitors! Ariel, who now lives in her very own apartment (that I still need to see) and her bf Geoff (who I still need to meet) are on their way here as I type. I'll show them around a bit before work, then send them out to explore the city. Luckily it's supposed to be beautiful out.

With all of these activities, it's been a challenge to incorporate the simple living challenge of the week, but it is one I would suggest to all of you. Go to footprintnetwork.org and find the link to calculate your own footprint. Take the quiz with the more accurate answers and see how many earths it would take if everyone lived your lifestyle. My lifestyle needs 3.5 earths to be sustainable, so something's got to change. Consuming food with the least amount of packaging as possible, and from local markets, is one way to help. I'm already a vegetarian, so that helps a lot. Recycling, driving less, walking more...all of those earth-friendly things I'm such a fan of...I plan on taking the quiz again later to see if my life is any more sustainable.

Until then, time to turn in petty cash receipts!