Set the world on fire

I think our greatest fear of all must be to be alone. We're so relational. I've been trying to face this fear, making time for me and God at home at night, but it's hard. It's easier to turn on the TV or go online and forget about it all. 

I hope your weekend is slow and simple ...

"If you are what you should be, you would set the world on fire!" - Saint Catherine of Siena

Wandering around in Lisbon...

This past weekend was very unproductive (my house is still dirty...), but it had lots of little surprises: an unexpected walk in Lisbon's Monsanto Park, unexpected Starbucks (I haven't had Starbucks in a looong time)  and a sponteaneous pizza dinner (very yummy) with my handsome Daniel, my goddaughter and our parish priest! 

Happy Birthday Rosita

Happy birthday to my sweet mom... who tries everyday to change fore the better, has a truck-load of courage (she slept on floors and such at World Youth Day in SPain last year!) and has always been there for me. I hope I can one day get to her age with her audacity and playfulness. 

Love and America

My thanksgiving was spent downtown at Hard Rock again, but this time no one ate turkey! I enjoyed my veggie burger and strawberry lemonade very much though, and of course the company. I also enjoyed the Christmas lights already up. I’m thankful for so many things, especially the people that love me and… American food in Portugal!

PS Our picture is blurry because a (probably already tipsy) Scottish man took it. He came to Lisbon for the Celtics soccer game. 

Medieval picnic

My friend made a quiche for a lovely two-person picnic we had on Monday evening. I contributed an entire... sandwich bag of peanuts to the picnic. (I've been very lazy about cooking and preparing things lately.) We picnicked outside of what is to me the most beautiful church in Portugal, in Mosteiro dos Jeronimos. I had never been inside without tourists, and it was so quiet, dark and sacred-feeling. It was like another being in another world: a huge, medieval, calm, beautiful world.