Leap Day Friday 5

Tell us about a time you:

1. Leapt before looked
3. Took a Leap of Faith

~I'm going to answer these two together, because when I look back over the last 25 years or so, it seems to me that there is a fine line between leaping before I look and taking a leap of faith. Because, honestly, if I had looked TOO much as some of the things I took on, I probably would've talked myself out of them. I've done things that people (especially my family of origin) have told me that I couldn't or shouldn't do. But so far anyway, it's always turned out for the best (see my other Leap Day post and I think you'll see what I mean.)

2. Leapt to a conclusion

~More times than I can recount here....

4. Took a literal Leap

~I am a physical coward so I've rarely done this. Once long ago, I leapt into a white water raft almost paralyzed with fear, but I ended up having a good time. But overall I'm pretty cautious and I like both feet on the ground. I sometimes wish this weren't so, but I think it is just the way I am.

5. And finally, what might you be faced with leaping in the coming year?

~In a month or so I'll be leaping into grandmotherhood. And a year from June, the Kid will be graduating from high school. As I posted last fall, that will mark the first time in 28 years that I haven't had a child in public school. And when he goes off to college it will be the first time in my life that I've ever lived alone.

~And sometime in the next year I will more than likely be discerning where God is calling me to be and looking for my next position. Lots of leaping to be done!

Leap Day

~So it's Leap Day. I don't know that I've every paid that much attention to Leap Day before, but last night I started thinking about what I was doing on previous Leap Days. Of course, then I have to blog about it. If anyone wants to consider it a meme, consider yourselves tagged...

~February 29, 2004--Middler year at seminary. That was a tough semester and no doubt I was sweating an ethics paper (detested that class not b/c of the topic but because we had an adjunct who was somewhat full of himself) or a church history exam or somesuch.

~February 29, 2000--I was "in the process, " at the very beginning stages. My parish discernment committee had just started meeting, and it was very scary and at the same time very exciting. And I had just submitted my tenure folder. Yes, that was a bizarre time--in a nerve wracking but good way. (And it all turned out well, b/c I got tenure and a year later was approved to go forward in the ordination process).

~February 29, 1996--In my second year of my tenure-track job, and five months separated from the Kid's father. Loving Vermont and my job, but kind of miserable in other ways.

~February 29, 1992--Back in grad school after a very short maternity leave. The Kid was 3 months old, the other kids were 16, 14, and 11. I was working in the advising center, adjuncting at the community college, and desperately trying to prepare for quals and write a dissertation proposal (ultimately it took me two more years to finish).

~February 29, 1988--In my first year at grad school, and I had just changed areas in my department (a story that perhaps deserves its own post someday).

~February 29, 1984--I had just started back to school the previous September, scared to death but ending up loving it. I was taking two classes that semester and trying to figure out how to go back full time the following fall (which I did). This was also the time that my marriage to TFoM(O)C was in its death throes.

I think that's as far as I'll go. Boy, looking at my life in four-year peeks makes it look sort of crazy...and I guess it was.

Anyone else? Mention it in the comments if you do this.

Playing with pixels

~In my bedroom I have wall paper that I really don't like....REALLY don't like. It makes my eyes hurt. I thought about putting a picture of it on my 365 blog, but decided it was too boring. But then I started to play with it...






~I really don't want these on my wall either, but I like the colors and patterns better...

tired

i don't know why i'm sitting here at my computer when i am so tired and i have to get up very early and i still need to read a couple of things but this is all i can seem to do.

iPhone

~Last spring when iPhones came out I thought they were cool, but I wasn't really interested in having one. Too expensive, and probably overrated is what I thought--meh.

~For his birthday the Kid got an iPod Touch--which is basically an iPhone minus the phone. He hardly lets me touch it, but my little exposure has shown me that it is tres cool.

~When we went to the Apple store last week I got to play with a real iPhone. Wow. Fun. So cool.

~My pda died a while back and I've been wondering what to replace it with. An iPhone would certainly do it.

~The drawback? ATT*T. The reception here is lousy and worse in other parts of New England where I sometimes travel. Just can't deal with that. I really think Apple made a strategic mistake in giving an exclusive deal to them. And iirc, it's for five years. That's a long time.

~Of course, the Kid thinks I should buy one anyway and "unlock" it to use it with my carrier. But I don't want to do that for a variety of reasons, not the least of which that it would void the warranty.

~So I'm considering other options. Blackb*rry? Tre*? I like the Blackb*rry P*arl the best from what I've seen so far. Any suggestions, bloggy friends?

February

~I thought I might escape the February blahs this year, but they seem to have caught up with me. At least it's almost March already.

~It's pouring rain outside again. That's been the pattern of the winter--lots of rain. Even when it has snowed it turns to rain before it's all over or by the next day.

~I had several posts in my mind yesterday when I had no time to write them, but tonight they are gone.

~I am really ready for this primary season to be over. I don't there is anything new any candidate can say at this point.

~I'm not supporting HRC, but I feel kind of bad for her. I think she gets unfair treatment. But I also think she needs to tone down her presentations. What ever happened to speeches that didn't sound like just a lot of shouting? Perhaps that's just the snippets I happen to hear.

~I've never been a fan of McCain and the more I hear about him, the less I like him.

~Maybe my brain will be back in gear tomorrow and I'll have something substantive to say. As if....

This week is not starting out so great

~What with all the computer stuff going on and what I can only describe as some bad behavior at work yesterday and today by people who ought to know better, this week is off to a rocky start. I'm just saying.

~To brighten things up here, and maybe my mood, here's a photoshopped version of the witch hazel I posted on my 365 blog. I love the colors in this one.

The good news and the less good news

~The good news: Boomerang found my files....and a lot of other crap too. Does anything ever really get erased?

~The less good news: After you find your files you find out that actually getting to keep them will cost you $200.

~I thought about it for a while...and then I paid up. I really wanted my pictures back.

~I hope this is the end of computer drama for a while.

Beyond upset

~All those documents, all my music, all 20,000+ photos that I painstakingly transferred to the iMac before I wiped out my hard drive? Gone. All gone.

~We saved them on the desktop, and for some reason the Kid didn't like them there and put them in another folder, which some how mysteriously was trashed.

~All gone.

~I know he didn't mean to do it, but damn...

I can't make a video

But I can post this one that Moreena made...pass it on--and donate for life.

Hanging out

~I've noticed this woodpecker on the feeder pole a couple of mornings this week--not eating, but just perching there. He stays for a while--10-15 minutes after I first saw him this morning, and who knows how long he'd been there before I saw him.

~The purple finch on the feeder stayed there for a while, too.

~And a titmouse took refuge from the snow on the window feeder.

No surprises here I guess

78%How Addicted to Blogging Are You?

Fixed

~I hope.

~I picked up my MacBook this afternoon at the Apple Store with a brand new hard drive, so all should be well. Although it did give me a bit of a scare after I installed Photoshop--it took a LOONNG time to restart--so long I was calling Apple when if finally came back on. I've restarted in once more since then and it was fine, so I hope that was some kind of weird fluke.

~While I was at the Apple Store I also bought a 500 gig external hard drive to keep pictures on. That should keep me in business for a while.

~Now I'm off to update my 365 blog.

Book meme

I've been tagged by Writing as Eliza to do this meme, on one of my favorite topics, books!

Pick up the nearest book of 123 pages or more: The book closest to me at the moment is People of the Book by Geraldine Brooks.

Find Page 123: Okay
Find the first 5 sentences: ok......1, 2, 3, 4, 5......

Post the next three sentences:

"Probably he disgusted her. Certainly he disgusted himself. Like the meat. Rotten. Rotting inside." (okay so do phrases count?)

BTW, if you haven't read this book, do so...it's a riveting story.

I'm supposed to tag five people, but I'm not sure I can think of five people who haven't already done this. But if you haven't, and want to, consider yourself tagged.

Field trip

~Yesterday when it became clear that the MacBook was really dead, I made an appointment at the Genius Bar at the nearest Apple Store, about an hour away from here. So this morning we set out in the rain to a shopping center closer to Nearby City.

~Apple stores are just fun. The Kid played with an iPhone and checked out the new MacBook Air and a keyboard he wanted to use with Garageband. And I got the bad news on the computer--needs a new hard drive. Well, not all bad news, thanks to Apple Care. But still.

~The other attraction at this shopping center was Whole Foods. I've been saying for months I was going to make a trip there, and this was the perfect opportunity. I've heard a lot of disparaging comments about Whole Foods lately--basically arguing that it was no better than any other chain grocery and worse than some. Well, maybe. But I like it.

~And for those who refer to it as "Whole Paycheck"--this one is cheaper than the more ordinary grocery store where I shop. Admittedly in the part of the state where I live everything is more expensive--gas was about 15 cents a gallon cheaper by this shopping center, too--but the things that I remember the price of were definitely cheaper at WF than where I normally shop. Plus the selection of fresh produce, good cheese, organic foods and the like was sooooo much better. So I'll be going back.

~Except that driving an hour each way to get groceries when there is a store 10 minutes away probably isn't the best environmental move.

~I'll be comptuerless til Friday when I go back to pick it up (no HD in stock), so I'll be stealing time on the iMac when the Kid is otherwise occupied. The irony of the laptop dying during his school break was not lost on him.

Lost

~I just looked at the files I transferred to this computer via firewire on Friday. And I've lost almost all the pictures I've taken this year. With the exception of two days worth and the ones I've posted here and on my 365 blog, they're all gone. Glad it's only February.

~2006 and 2007 seemed to be all there, so I don't know what happened to the rest.

~I'm really bummed about this.

Presidential meme for President's Day

How better to honor President's Day? Herewith, five Presidential questions.

1. Can you name the American Presidents we are honoring? Bonus: Any idea when their real birthdays are? (Don't look it up.)

George Washington--February 22
Abraham Lincoln--February 12

Because I'm old enough to remember when we celebrated them separately...

2. Why do you suppose car sales are an important aspect of our President's Day observations in the U.S.? (Feel free to be whimsical.)

I have no idea, and I can't even think of anything funny. Sigh. Because we're all about consumerism all the time?

3. Have you ever been President of a club or organization? How did that feel?

I was president of the condo association where I lived for one year in Vermont. And it was awful. Because the condos were being painted, and the contractor ripped us off to the tune of $30,000+. On my watch. Yeah.

4. If you could have dinner with any President of the United States no longer living, who would it be? Any particular questions you would like to ask? (Please feel free to substitute a nationally appropriate elected leader, such as a Prime Minister.)

Actually, the former president I'd most like to meet is Jimmy Carter, but he's still alive.

5. On a more serious note, what are the qualities you hope for in our next President? (As above for those who live in other countries.)

Honesty. Integrity. A clue about how real people live and a commitment to taking care of those in need rather than pandering to wealthy. A commitment to world peace. Humility. A real vision of justice, not vengeance.

More computer woes

~It seems that the noise I heard last night was an omen ... although the computer seemed to be working fine when I quit using it last night, this morning it was dead, dead, dead. Oy. I have an appointment at an Apple store about an hour from here tomorrow.

~Meanwhile, it's the Kid's vacation week, and he's horrified that he might have to share the iMac with me...in fact, I get to use it now because he's not home. We are so spoiled...

I don't like the sound of this...

~Just sitting here browsing through some blogs when I get teh beach ball of doom again, and my comptuer starts making some most uncomputerlike noises...a series of clicks with buzzes in between. The noises and the beachball of doom lasted 3-4 minutes, and just when I was trying to decide whether to shut the computer down, stopped.

~I hope this is just a fluke and not an omen of something bad to come.

Whew...

~After two hours on the phone with Apple, two hours transferring files that I hadn't backed up (ahem...) to the other computer via firewire, and two hours of reinstalling and re-updating everything on the hard drive, I seem to have my computer back.

~I guess I'm spoiled....I wore out three pcs over a ten year period without ever having this kind of difficulty, so I didn't expect it with my Mac.

~In the process of transferring files I discovered that I have something like 20,000 pictures--26 gigs worth. Yikes. I need to buy another external hard drive just for pictures, and I need to edit out some of the duds, which I haven't been doing. I have NSLS's wedding pix, too, and there are a lot of them. But still....

~I still have software to reinstall--Photoshop among others, which means that I can't update my 365 blog until I do it (and I took lots of pictures this morning)...and Office must come first because I have a sermon to write in the morning!

~I'm thinking now that all the trouble I was having with Firefox the other day may have just been the result of my hard drive going wonky.

Baptism

A Friday Five about baptism:

1. When and where were you baptized? Do you remember it? Know any interesting tidbits?

~I was baptised when I was six months old in the Episcopal church where my family were members. I don't remember it, but I've been told it was very hot (June in the south, no air conditioning). I wore the christening dress my older sister had worn, and because my arms were chubby (even then) the sleeves were too tight.


2. What's the most unexpected thing you've ever witnessed at a baptism?

~I'm not sure I can think of anything unexpected I've witnessed. I've always loved baptisms, and I love the sense of awe that comes with baptisms. I especially love the "You are sealed by the Holy Spirit and marked as Christ's own forever" part--I get goosebumps.


3. Does your congregation have any special traditions surrounding baptisms?

~No traditions peculiar just to my congregation.

4. Are you a godparent or baptismal sponsor? Have a story to tell?

~I am godmother to my older nephew, but in my family that is really just ceremonial. NSLS however has a godmother who has taken it seriously, and it's a wonderful relationship. She did a beautiful toast at NSLS's wedding.

5. Do you have a favorite baptismal song or hymn?

~We used to sing this at my parish in Vermont, and we sang it last fall when we had a baptism at our parish retreat.

I Was There To Hear Your Borning Cry
By John Ylvisaker

"I was there to hear your borning cry,
I'll be there when you are old.
I rejoiced the day you were baptized,
to see your life unfold.

I was there when you were but a child,
with a faith to suit you well;
In a blaze of light you wandered off
to find where demons dwell."

"When you heard the wonder of the Word
I was there to cheer you on;
You were raised to praise the living Lord,
to whom you now belong.

If you find someone to share your time
and you join your hearts as one,
I'll be there to make your verses rhyme
from dusk 'till rising sun."

In the middle ages of your life,
not too old, no longer young,
I'll be there to guide you through the night,
complete what I've begun.

When the evening gently closes in,
and you shut your weary eyes,
I'll be there as I have always been
with just one more surprise."

Chorus: "I was there to hear your borning cry,
I'll be there when you are old.
I rejoiced the day you were baptized,
to see your life unfold."

Computer woes

~My beautiful one-year-old MacBook won't start. Ack.

~I'm on the iMac which I've hardly used since we got it--it quickly became the Kid's computer.

~Wow, is this screen big~

~Must go call Apple.

Frozen New York

Somehow this appeals to my sense of humor...

Let's don't go there...

As seen at Ruby's place...

In lieu of words

Firefox makes me crazy and other random bits of Monday

~Last night my computer starting running really reealllly  slowly, and every time I clicked on something I got the little beachball of doom while things loaded and loaded and loaded.  Thinking teh internets were just having a bad night, I took myself to bed with my new junk read (the new John Grisham novel) and didn't worry about it.  But this morning it was worse.  So I restarted my computer and tried again...and nothing would open right and I began to worry that something was wrong with my computer. I restarted it again, and tried to open other things first, before Firefox (which is normally the first place I go).  And they worked.  So I tried Safari -- and it worked.  Okay.  I've had trouble with Firefox before so I guess I wasn't surprised, but uninstalling it and then reinstalling it didn't help.  So I'm back to Safari. Or maybe I'll try Flock which I downloaded the last time Firefox went wonky on me but never really used.

~I tried to plan out my day off today so that by this time of day it wouldn't feel wasted, but things went awry.  First the computer boondoggle took more time this morning than I would've liked. Then I had to make an unexpected hospital call, which kind of threw me at first because the message I got made it sound quite dire and I left not knowing how long I'd be gone or what to expect.  Fortunately things weren't quite that dire. Yes, a parishioner is very sick, and I'm glad I went, but I think the message I got was the result of a process something like the game of  "secret" where one person whispers something into the next person's ear, and so on around the circle. 

~So here it is Monday night and I still have prep work to do for tomorrow, and laundry in the dryer and I never made it to the grocery store.  And I really need to feel prepared for the week, because it is another very busy one.

~But honestly, what I really want to do is just go finish my novel. 

Shifting weather

~The weather today was nuts. This morning when I left for church the sky was bright blue, the sun was out, and it felt like spring. The Kid and I went out for lunch after church (1ish) and there was a brief rain shower. Then between 3:30 and 5:00 we had cycles of intense snow showers interspersed with clearing skies and bright sun. We had snow pellets, which I haven't seen since living in VT. Now it is windy and much colder than it 's been the last week or so.

~Of course, I took pictures. Some of them are not so great because I got snow flakes on my lens--or rather on my UV filter. Ack--must buy lens hood.





There's one more on my 365 blog.

How come I never thought of that before?

When
God
made
you
there
was
silence
in
heaven
for
five
minutes.
Then
God
said:
"How come I never thought of that before?"

~Ralph Wright, O.S.B

Friday Five~~Keeping a holy Lent

1. Did you celebrate Mardi Gras and/or Ash Wednesday this week? How?

On Tuesday we celebrated Shrove Tuesday with a Mardi Gras theme. To "shrive" means to repent, and traditionally one went to confession before the beginning of Lent to prepare oneself. But today the focus is more on the "fat Tuesday" theme, and this year instead of pancakes we had "delicious potluck and decadent desserts." As I said to my congregation, if the purpose of a pancake dinner is to rid the kitchen of all the rich and fat foodstuffs we (theoretically at least) won't be eating during Lent, then this dinner serves the same purpose. (The choice was pragmatic, to be honest; no one wanted to be in charge of the pancake supper and this was easier to organize). It was great; we had lots of Mardi Gras beads and masks, the kids "put away the alleluias" until Easter, and we burned last year's palms to make ashes for the next day.

On Wednesday we observed Ash Wednesday with Holy Eucharist and the imposition of ashes, which I always find very moving. It was a long day, however, because we had four services and I preached at three of them.

2. What was your most memorable Mardi Gras/Ash Wednesday/Lent?

Observing Ash Wednesday at seminary was probably the most memorable, just because the whole community pauses. There are no classes; they have meditations in the chapel; meals are taken in silence in the refectory (the last part bugged me the first year, but I get why they do it.) At any rate, being someplace where the whole community is (mostly) taking part made it seem more serious than it had in my past. I've tried to keep that seriousness about the day with me.

3. Did you/your church/your family celebrate Lent as a child? If not, when and how did you discover it?

We did observe Lent when I was a child. We talked about giving things up, and we kids always had "mite boxes" to collectchange for "the poor" which we then took to church on Easter Sunday.

4. Are you more in the give-up camp, or the take-on camp, or somewhere in between?

I'm in the both/and camp. Giving up something just to give it up can be a bit meaningless (at least in my experience) if it's not done intentionally, and preferably accompanied by some sort of discipline or thoughtful activity--it doesn't have be something big, but it needs to be intentional.

5. How do you plan to keep Lent this year?

I'm still thinking it through--yes, I'm a bit late. Last year I gave up meat--the little meat I was still eating--because it seemed to be a good way to segue into a more complete vegetarianism, something I'd been wanting to do, and that was pretty successful. This year I am giving up Diet Coke because I drink a lot of it and it's not that good for me. I also want to eat more healthy food. I don't do badly now, but chips and cookies have crept back into my diet and they need to go.

I think that I am going to try to spend more time reading--as in reading books. I never thought that I would take that on as a discipline because I love to read, but over the last few years, it's become harder for me to sit down and read a whole book. I don't have large hunks of time, and because I'm often tired when I sit down to read, I fall asleep. And I have lots of books I want to read. What this means is that I will need to spend less time on the computer. I'm committed to blogging, but I may spend less time reading and just browsing around the web. We'll see.

I have a lot on my plate this Lent--I've taken on a lot a work. So my other goal is to keep positive and balanced about getting it all done. It's very easy to get frustrated and upset about how things go there but I just need to do my work and let some of the frustrating stuff go. Easier said than done. But yesterday was a good day in that respect.

Political humor

I received this in an email.. it's just too funny not to share...

The GWB Library

The George W. Bush Presidential Library is now in the planning
stages. You'll want to be the first at your corporation to make a
contribution to this great man's legacy.

The Library will include:

The Hurricane Katrina Room, which is still under construction.

The Alberto Gonzales Room, where you can't remember anything.

The Texas Air National Guard Room, where you don't
have to even show up.

The Walter Reed Hospital Room, where they don't let you in.

The Guantanamo Bay Room, where they don't let you out.

The Weapons of Mass Destruction Room (which no one has
been able to find).

The Iraq War Room.  After you complete your first tour,
they make you to go back for a second, third, fourth,
and sometimes fifth tour.

The Dick Cheney Room, in the famous undisclosed location,
complete with shooting gallery.

Plans also include: The K-Street Project Gift Shop - where
you can buy (or just steal) an election.

The Airport Men's Room, where you can meet some of your
favorite Republican Senators.

Last, but not least, there will be an entire floor
devoted to a 7/8 scale model of the President's ego.

To highlight the President's accomplishments, the museum
 will  have an electron microscope to help you locate them.

When asked, President Bush said that he didn't care
so much about the individual exhibits as long as his
museum was better than his father's.

Lent

A white post will only continue to be a white post
if it is painted every year;
otherwise it would become a black post.
Our lives are like that.
We need to share in an annual retraining period.
Otherwise our souls become tarnished,
our prayers mere words, our service selfish,
and our giving trivial.
Lent is a time fo renewal, of retraining,
of relearning

~G. K. Chesterton

Super Tuesday

~It looks like Clinton has won in my fair state. She was favored here, despite the Kennedys' endorsements (which I think still carry some weight in some parts of the state).

~For the first time tonight I actually feel worried that Clinton could win the nomination and then lose to McCain or Romney. I don't like that feeling.

~As much as I would like to stay up longer and see what happens, I am too tired. And who knows how long it will take to get a tally in California...

Another one got away

~I had something thoughtful in my mind to post tonight, but today was another day that just got away from me. So later...if I can hold those thoughts.

~I went down to church this afternoon to do a minor task to get ready for tomorrow's 7 am group only to find out that for the second time in as many days, what I'd set up early was undone by someone setting up for something else. We have got to find a way to stop working at cross purposes. It's not a good use of anyone's time, and frankly, it's aggravating.

~Tomorrow is Shrove Tuesday, and instead of a pancake supper, we're having a "delicious (potluck) dinner and decadent desserts." It serves the same purpose (getting all the sweet and rich and fatty things that we theoretically won't be eating during Lent out of the cupboard) and it requires less prep work. So we'll see how it goes. We have lots of Mardi Gras beads and masks, and a good number of people signed up.

~Lent is supposed to be a quiet reflective time. But for me it is going to be a crazy busy time. I don't mind--I just hope I can keep up with everything.

~As part of my Lenten discipline (more on that later) I'm giving up Diet Coke. Because I drink too much of it and because of this. Which is really a bummer, because I love my Diet Lime Coke.

Hope

Probably many of you have seen this elsewhere; I saw it at Songbird's place. It's worth repeating though.

Isn't this a good idea?

In Ireland plastic shopping bags are virtually unused. When a 33 cent per bag tax was imposed a few years ago their use dropped 94% almost overnight, and now they are rarely seen.

Why can't we do this?

As long as ten years ago the grocery store where I shopped in Vermont offered a rebate if you brought your own bags. You could bring back plastic bags, or paper, but the rebate (five cents per bag) was larger if you used cloth. And I did.

When I moved to the city I took my cloth bags with me but using them meant planning ahead. I was pretty good about taking them to do "big shopping" but less good about remembering to take a bag when I went somewhere "just in case."

When I moved here, where every single aspect of recycling is more difficult (no pick up, no bins in public places, etc.) the cashiers and baggers looked in askance when I brought my bags, but honestly, getting 10-12 plastic bags (because that's how they bag things) is just annoying. The last year or so the local grocery stores have become better about reusable bags. But I don't think they are fully on board.

I know Ianqui and others have been advocating this for while. I think this is an idea whose time has come. If it takes a tax on bags, so be it. What are we waiting for?

Random bits of the weekend

~Long day. The Kid had to be at school for Future Problem Solving at 7:30 am (but due to a snafu did not get to work on said future problem). And after that I worked on my sermon most of the day. Went to work about 3:45. Picked him up from his friend's house about 10:30. Why I'm still sitting here I don't really know. Inertia I guess.

~Am I the only person around who doesn't care about the Superbowl?

~My mind has been going full tilt the last few days. Lots to do and lots of stuff to mull over. Not sure where I'm going with all of it.

~I saw a picture of Clinton and Obama side by side and laughing. No matter which one you favor, you have to admit that it's a great day when our choices are between a black man and a woman.

~Edwards for VP?

Of saints and superbowls

A Friday 5 on the doings of this weekend, which include the Superbowl, Groundhog Day, Candlemass, Imbolc, the feast day of St. Brigid, and the Last Sunday after Epiphany (okay, I threw that one in on my own).

1. Do you celebrate one or more of these?
~I am boycotting the Superbowl. Why? Here are my 5 reasons. Professional football--I do not like it. Too violent. Overpaid players. Expensive tickets. And the Superbowl? All those commercials--no thanks. And the hype--over the top.

~I had to look up Imbolc which should tell you that I don't celebrate that. We don't celebrate Candlemass at my parish. And since St. Brigid falls on a day when we don't have a service, we won't celebrate that either (although had I done morning prayer here today, I would've remembered her).

~I'll be preaching on the Last Sunday in Epiphany though. And Lent starts Wednesday.

2. How?

~Besides preaching....I was looking for something to do Sunday evening. Since I live in the land of the undefeated Superbowl team, everyone I know will be glued to the tube. Maybe I'll just curl up with a good book.

3. Is this a bit of fun or deeply significant?

~Last Epiphany is significant. The Superbowl, not so much.

4. Are festivals/ Saints days important to you?

~I'm sort of in the middle of the protestant-no-way-do-we-celebrate-saints / catholic-solemn-observance-of-every-saint spectrum. When I do mid-week services I use material from Lesser Feasts and Fasts to commemorate saints' days when appropriate.

~I actually like observing various saint's days and learning more about them. I think I have a lower view of what it means to be a saint than some might, but I like the connection to those who have gone before me.

5.Name your favourite Saints day celebration.

~I love All Saints' Day because we get to celebrate ALL the saints. After that I treasure the feasts of Mary Magdalen and Florence Li Tim-Oi.

What does this say about my life?

Chichimama resolved to be a list person this year. As I commented at her place, I am NOT a list person--I used stickies randomly placed to keep up with things when I am feeling really behind or stressed, but that's it.

So this morning, it's my day off. It's been a fairly productive week. But what am I doing? I'm sitting here writing lists on stickies because all the odds and ends I have to do (some of them over due) are all I can think about this morning.

Argh.