one decision down...

I had a very productive day yesterday. My first priority was to give shape to the first evening of our Lenten program, which begins tonight. In search of intergenerational content I found some material online from Loyola Press that had lots of ideas. Following on the heels of Ash Wednesday's gospel and sermon, the focus is on the three key disciplines of Lent: prayer, fasting and almsgiving. The challenge: the material I found is for a one-time event. I need to make it work for five. There will lots of good stuff tonight, and I'm trying to use content as a launching place for the season. I think it will work out just fine.

I had fun pulling things together: quotes for use in prayer, pictures to illustrate aspects of fasting/sacrifice, and a bunch of other things here and there. We will have prayer partners throughout the season so that those who are singles, or who come without spouses, can work and share with, and feel connected to others through this process. I have come to understand Lent as a transformational time, and I'm hoping that this program will encourage the kind of participation and individual investment that will lead to that.

By day's end I was ready for a break from Lenten details. Responding to yesterday's post my friend Dana emailed me the name and contact information for a friend of hers who is an event planner. We made contact just after dinner last night, so while Ken and I watched the Olympics I brought my laptop into the living room and did some online research for rehearsal dinner ideas, catalyzed by the event planner's ideas and suggestions. I came away with a bunch of ideas for some details, but most importantly I settled on a color scheme, which you see above. The blue/periwinkle will be the table topper colors, and the accents will be lemon and lime. That is, assuming that the blue color is closer to blue than to purple, in which case I think I'll accent with shades of pink and purple. I think the lemon and lime will work either way, however. I'll check on that this morning when I'm at the church.

Now that a color scheme is in hand I can move on to invitations, which I think I will make. I've got some great papers in these colors, and a couple of ideas for designs. And, it just so happens that the yellow and green colors will coordinate just fine with John Deere accents. Better yet, an email from JoAnn's this morning announced that JD fabrics and items are on sale. How's that for synergism?

At the moment, however, I've got three dogs wanting attention for different things, so I am off the computer and on to tending canines.

Wishing you a colorful day!