NaBloPoMo NoMo

It's November 30, and I made it--I posted every day, although there was a lot of filler. (I am reminded of my friend D's blog title On Not Being a Sausage, which comes from the teachings of Silvanus: "Do not be a sausage which is full of useless things," and feeling very sausagey myself!) It was a discipline if nothing else.

They say that the older you are, the faster time goes by, and I must say that I am finding that to be true. It seems impossible that the whole month of November has passed already. December will be even faster, I know, with the rush to Christmas. I bought my first Christmas present today, which puts me (for the moment) ahead of where I usually am this time of the year. And I got the Advent calendars out of the attic (I have several reusable ones.) Liturgically, Advent began yesterday, but Advent calendars usually run for the 24 days in December, so tomorrow will be Day 1. My concession to Christmas decorating is to hang one of the Advent calendars on the back door. I need to find something Adventy for the front door, too.

Even though NaBloPoMo is no mo, I am going to keep writing. Maybe I'll even have something to say :)

Fall pictures

I took these about a month ago...decided to quit futzing around with Photoshop for now and just used iPhoto to edit these. Not as sophisticated, but good enough for now.



This one is much better if you click on it to enlarge it.

Lame NaBloPoMo post

It's been a great Thanksgiving weekend, but mow I'm waaaaaay behind on writing my sermon. However, it's also almost the end of the month, and I'll be darned if I'm going to let NaBloPoMo go at this point, so here it is, my lame, last minute, placeholder post.

Not like my last few posts have been much either. I think I was half asleep when I wrote a couple of them. But I shall endeavor to finish the month with a flourish if I can!

Christmas is coming

Last night I looked out the front windows to see Christmas lights in all directions--'candles' in the windows directly across the street, lights outlining the roof line at another, light-adorned shrubbery at at third--everwhere I looked were Christmas decorations. Apparently all my neighbor used Thanksgiving Day as an opportune time to get ready for Christmas.

Actually these weren't the first decorations I'd seen; last week while driving to get a haircut I passed a yard adorned on the one side with a huge inflatable turkey, and on the other with an equally large (and obnoxious) Santa.

I guess I'm old-fashioned; certainly my outlook is affected by my occupation, but it's also shaped by tradition, and that tradition holds that Christmas BEGINS on December 24, and culminates on the Feast of the Epiphany, January 6. Clearly I am out of step with 'popular culture.' But oh, how I wshed morre people observed Advent. I wish we could celebrate Thanksgiving without being caught up in the materialism and hoopla of the season to comes--things that really have very little to do with the real reason for Christmas.

What's for dinner?

Thanksgiving at chez Rev. Dr Mom:

Roasted turkey
Cornbread dressing
Homemade cranberry sauce
Mashed potatoes
Sauteed green-beans
Roasted sweet potatoes and onions
Pumpkin cheesecake
Pecan pie

All delicious!

How about you?

Countdown to Thanksgiving

~Kid retrieved from college-check

~Groceries bought--check--after trips to two grocery stores + Tarjay, I think we're set.

~Turkey brining--check

~Pumpkin cheesecake--in the fridge, thanks to NSLS

~Pecan pie--ingredients at the ready for baking tomorrow

~Thanksgiving service--done!

~Happy Thanksgiving Eve!

Uh-huh

Random bits, Facebook style

~Rev. Dr. Mom wishes there were more days between Thanksgiving and the first Sunday in Advent.

~Rev. Dr. Mom wonders why she thought it was a good idea to host the ecumenical Thanksgiving service....and who thought it was a good idea to schedule her celebration of new ministry the very next week. Special bulletins the same week as the newsletter? Not a good idea.

~Rev. Dr. Mom has been crazily baby-proofing her house in anticipation of a visit from Baby J (and Baby M, but he can't get into anything yet.)

~Rev. Dr. Mom is picking the Kid up for Thanksgiving break tomorow--hurrah!

~Rev. Dr. Mom's car needs a new catalytic converter :(

~Rev. Dr. Mom is happy that her new cleaning person is coming tomorrow!

~Rev. Dr. Mom really needs to go to bed now!

NaBloPoMo: It ain't what it used to be

This is my fourth year doing NaBloPoMo (yeah, I was shocked when I realized that, too!) And while I'm glad I'm writing again (even if it hasn't been all that interesting) the experience this year is very different from previous years, especially 2006 and 2007.

I realize in retrospect that I began blogging at what must have been close to the height of the "blogging craze" at least in my little corner of the blogosphere. I quickly found my place in a group of bloggers that were at the intersection of academic, mommy and clergy blogs. So when I did NaBloPoMo the first two times, I already had a group of readers, and I somehow attracted more--my numbers went up both of those years, especially 2007. Last year? Not so much, and this year not at all. I realize I lost most of my readers when I quit blogging last spring, but truthfully, I think readership is down mostly because people have moved on....they're spending more time on FB and Twitter, or they've moved and changed jobs in ways that has impacted their blogging, or their kids have grown older and they're less comfortable blogging about their lives, or they've just lost interest. All of this is natural and normal. And I've had my own blogging "identity crises."

And of course, it's not all about the numbers. But the reality is that I miss many of the voices that were here, people I met here and whom I read regularly. I "know" some of them on FB which is great, but I still miss what felt like a sort of community. And reading status updates keeps me in touch, but I miss the good writing, even when it was on relatively trivial topics.

My life is really different now, too and I've been thinking about how or if that affects my blogging. I'm not quitting yet, but we'll see where this all takes me after NaBloPoMo ends.

Ted Kennedy, faith and politics

Following various links today while doing some research for my sermon, I came across a blog with this clip of Ted Kennedy speaking at Jerry Falwell's Liberty College (now University). It just so happens that I started reading Ted Kennedy's memoir True Compass a couple of days ago, and I find it surprisingly compelling. I've always respected Kennedy (while, yes, acknowledging his many flaws) and you can't live where I did for the last few years without being infected at least a little by the Kennedy mystique, whether you admire or revile them. One of the things that strikes me in the memoir is Kennedy's frequent references to the importance of his faith in shaping his world view--something that I share with him to a great degree. So I found this passage interesting. At some point I need to look up the rest of this speech and see where he goes with it.

Friday Five~Thanksgiving thoughts

The Cure

Lying around all day
with some strange new deep blue
weekend funk, I'm not really asleep
when my sister calls
to say she's just hung up
from talking with Aunt Bertha
who is 89 and ill but managing
to take care of Uncle Frank
who is completely bed ridden.
Aunt Bert says
it's snowing there in Arkansas,
on Catfish Lane, and she hasn't been
able to walk out to their mailbox.
She's been suffering
from a bad case of the mulleygrubs.
The cure for the mulleygrubs,
she tells my sister,
is to get up and bake a cake.
If that doesn't do it, put on a red dress.

-Ginger Andrews (from Hurricane Sisters)


1. What is your cure for the "mulleygrubs"?

Often a nap will do it. Or doing something to distract myself--a good book. Going out for coffee.

2. Where will you be for Thanksgiving?

Right here at chez Rev. Dr. Mom, with NSLS, Mr. LS, and Baby J, WW, Mr. WW, Baby M, and the Kid

3. What foods will be served? Which are traditional for your family?

Free range turkey for the carnivores, cornbread dressing, homemade cranberry sauce, sourdough rolls, roasted veggies, mashed potatoes, pecan pie and pumpkin cheesecake.

The two must-haves no matter what are cornbread dressing and cranberry sauce. Cornbread dressing reminds me of my grandmother, and the cranberry sauce is a favorite of my kids--I've been making it since they were little. This year WW is making sourdough rolls (assuming the starter started) in honor of my mother who made them when my kids were growing up--they were wonderful and perhaps they'll become part of our tradition again.

4. How do you feel about Thanksgiving as a holiday?

I quite like Thanksgiving. These days it gets totally eclipsed by Hallowe'en and Christmas, and I think that's too bad. As a holiday (at least in my family) it has far less baggage than Christmas.

5. In this season of Thanksgiving, what are you grateful for?

I have so much to be grateful for this year--my children and my two beautiful grandchildren, my new position and the wonderful people here, and my clergy coach and his wife, and great friends who have been there for me when things were tough

It's the end of an era and a sad sad day

One of the institutions at my seminary had nothing (and perhaps everything) to do with theological education. Since 1978 Frankie's Deli has been the place seminarians went to be fed, literally and figuratively. Good cheap food and coffee, a carton of OJ or some cat food when you didn't have time to go to the "real" grocery store, the newspaper on Sunday morning--Frankie's was good for all these things and more--a smile, a joke, a quick hug, a word of encouragement. Frankie was "Papi"--father, uncle and grandfather to us all.

Frankie's Deli is a little hole in the wall kind of place--old, crowded, and always just barely up to code, but it is a place fueled by love--and today on FB seminary alumni and friends got the official word that Frankie's is closing at the end of this year. He has lost his lease. It doesn't surprise me, given the reality of real estate in NYC; Frankie almost lost his lease while I was there, but a last minute negotiation saved him. This time, it appears, there will be no such luck. Frankie is in his 70s, and would likely have to retire at some point, but this forced closing is so sad.

Frankie's is important not only to the seminary community but also to the people of the neighborhood, especially the less affluent residents who like in any NYC neighborhood, are scattered around the area, and concentrated just to the south of the seminary. Like the seminarians they flocked to Frankie's not only because it was cheap and convenient but because Frankie cared about them. Once Frankie got to know you, you would never go without if he could help it.

Frankie, you are an icon of all that is good and right in this world. And Chelsea will not be the same without you.

It's a sad, sad day.

18

Happy birthday to the Kid, who turns 18 today. Who must register for the draft. And can now vote.

My kids are officially All Grown Up now, I guess--at least legally :) And that is an amazing thing!

One more thing

~It's repair week here at chez Rev. Dr. Mom. Cnstruction workers started rebuilding my front porch roof on Monday; when they are done there they will take down some of the hall ceiling to repair the leaky bathtub drain pipe. Tomorrow the computer guy comes to install a new hard drive on my office computer.

~And just when I think things are almost all fixed? My check engine light came on and is staying on. Argh!!!

Just saying...

Playing in the leaves

I loved playing in the leaves when I was a kid. We lived in the south, so autumn peaked later than it does in New Enlgand. Between Hallowe'en and Thanksgiving I would spend hours raking up piles of leaves, jumping in them, laying in them, smelling their earthy aroma, and feeling their crunch under my feet. I would collect prime specimens for art projects--ironing them between sheets of waxed paper, or placing paper on top of a leaf to do a crayon rubbing. And I would make my way down the side walk shuffling in the leaves, kicking them up in great swirls in my wake.

My kids loved playing in leaves, too. Often they would do that at Grandma's house b/c we didn't always live in places where leaves were abundant. Somewhere I have pictures of the girls buried in leaves, with only their faces showing, giggling and laughing.

I'm blessed with several mature trees around my house and the church here, and their leaves have been brilliant shades of gold before they fall to carpet the grass in brown and wrinkled "old age." Every week the landscaping company comes with its shredder and leaf blower; in their efficient way they make quick work of the blanket of leaves. But as I watched them go about their business last week, it made me a bit sad that no one had played in those leaves.

Missing the birds

Long-time readers will remember that I fed quite a varied bunch of birds at my last place. When I moved here I set up my feeding station in the back yard and waited to see what would show up. And waited. And waited. For a few weeks it seemed as though there were no birds around. Finally I noticed that the suet was being nibbled on--and sure enough I spotted a hairy woodpecker feasting on it from time to time.

It took about six weeks for one feeder to be emptied--a feeder that was often empty after a day or two before. I've seen a tufted titmouse, and a white-breasted nuthatch, and I think a chickadee. And that's it. No cardinals. No finches. No bluejays. Nada.

The area is largely residential but there are enough woods around that we saw a deer in the field behind the church the first week we were here. I'm afraid the big black cat who lives next door might be part of the problem--he roams freely in my yard and theirs. But I'm hoping that word will spread in the 'hood that there's lots of birdseed to be had here and perhaps some more birds will show up. And I'm really hoping for some orioles next spring!

Friday the 13th

I'm superstitious about some things, but Friday the 13th? Not so much. But I have to say that today--and this week--might be testing that. This week it feels like everything is breaking. I broke the shower head on Monday. My work computer crashed on Wednesday and it turns out that although it is just barely over a year old (just long enough to be out of warranty, of course), it needs a new hard drive. And this afternoon I came home to find water on the floor in the downstairs hallway--looked up to see a big water stain on the ceiling. So water is either seeping in from the front porch roof (which has a broken "yankee gutter" resulting in lots of water damage to the porch roof and is due to be repaired next week) or from the upstairs bathroom--there are no discernible leaks, but the wet ceiling is right under the bathtub, which I take as a bad sign.

Ah, I hope this doesn't become a pattern!

Short takes

~Wireless printing is awesome. Just saying.

~Feeling normal feels so good after a couple of days of feeling crappy.

~Realized this morning that a bad day here is less stressful than some okay days were at my former places. Really, it's amazing how much lighter everything feels.

~I love November. The leaves are mostly gone, but along the edge of the parking lot is a row of trees that are still golden; they were radiant against a grey and gloomy sky this afternoon.

~Thanksgiving is two weeks from today? Yikes, lots to do between now and then!

This week is conspiring against me

After feeling pretty awful Monday and yesterday, I woke up today feeling really good--normal is so nice after crappy, you know? So I went to work full of energy, and vowed to work late since I had a meeting at 6 pm. And then, about 5:00 as I was working away, my computer froze. Nothing would work, so I rebooted it, and guess what--it wouldn't reboot, and I got an error screen (no blue screen of death but maybe you don't get that with Vista?) ARGH! So more than likely everything I did this afternoon is a wash. I just hope I haven't lost everything I've done since I got here.

(Which points out a huge flaw in our system--we aren't networked, and we have NO backup system. So if this happened to the parish administrator's computer, we'd really be up the creek without the proverbial paddle.)

Hopefully we can get the computer tech here in the morning. Sigh.

Blah

The headache I thought might be related to not enough sleep? Was still around today, even though I had a good night's sleep last night. I felt okay when I got up, but felt worse and worse as the day went on. So tired, too. I was worried that I was coming down with something, and I took my temperature when I came home from work, but thankfully no fever, and no other symptoms but headache and general yuckiness.

Which means that I got virtually no work done today. I made a couple of visits this morning (before I started feeling so bad) and installed my shiny new printer in my office this afternoon, and that's about it. I must do planning for Thankgiving and Advent and my installation--soon! And finish the thank-you notes for pledges. And all the other things on the to-do list. So I hope I get my energy back tomorrow!

And now I shall go to bed, and hope that another good night's sleep will help.

Whinefest: One of THOSE days

~Stayed up waaaay too late last night, and woke up today with a massive headache. Related? I think I'm starting to see a pattern.

~Taking a shower and adjusting my wonderful massaging showerhead, it somehow broke and water spewed out in every direction except where it was supposed to.

~Took out a sweater I hadn't worn in a while and put it on, only to discover moth holes in several conspicuous places. Seems like mildew wasn't the only thing lurking in my closets at the last house.

~Shaking the salad dressing for lunch, top comes undone, dressing all over my shirt. At least it's just an old t-shirt.

~And to top it all off, walked in the kitchen a few minutes ago to see a MOUSE scurrying under the kitchen counter. Where it went I'm not sure, but I'm not happy about it!

~As Scarlett O'Hara would say, "Tomorrow is another day!"

Anatomy of a long day

~Sundays start early. The alarm goes off at 5:30, and although I hit the snooze button at least once, I need to get out of bed before 6:00. I try to head over to the church no later than 7:10, because I have to unlock, turn on all the lights (not as simple as it may sound--it requires making a round of church hitting various switches in different locations), print my sermon, check the altar set-up, check in with the lector and eucharistic minister, vest and be ready to go at 8:00.

~Two services: 8:0o and 10:00. I have an hour in between but I'm always busy, checking on one thing or another. Today the services were a little longer than usual--long announcements because I needed to explain the precautions I was implementing for communion for the flu season (however long it may last), and because since this is the Sunday before Veteran's Day we sang "American the Beautiful" at the offertory, and displayed the flag. I'm not a huge fan of patriotic displays in church (as I've said before) but this ritual is very meaningful to veterans, and that is more true in this parish than in my last, in part because of a second ritual that goes along with it. We have an active prayer shawl ministry and for Veteran's Day the women make MANY red, white and blue shawls and lap blankets that are sent to the area Veteran's hospital.

~After church I went to visit the son of a parishioner who is quite disabled by MS; he lives in a nursing home, and his family visits on Sunday for lunch, so I joined them. This man is younger than I am, and has been in the nursing home for 8 or 9 years already. Very hard thing for this family. Then I went to visit the 90-year-old retired priest who is a "priest associate" (not the same as associate rector, mind you) at my parish--where he retired from active ministry in--are you ready?--1982. He has been ordained longer than I've been alive, and until a few weeks ago he still participated in the liturgy every week. But a few weeks ago he fell and broke his hip, contracted pneumonia in the hospital, and is struggling with some swallowing issues (as in aspirating food into his lungs). He's in rehab and badly wanting to go "home" to his own assisted living apartment. And he's sharp as a tack at 90.

~Since I was already in the area, I stopped by Lowe's to look for a fireplace screen. This turned into an exerecise in futility--despite checking "local availability" before I went which indicated otherwise, they didn't have a screen I could use. Finding one that isn't gaudy and that will fit my fireplace is proving to be difficult.

~I thought I'd stop by Tarjay on the way home...no fireplace screen the right size there, either, but I still managed to drop $50 before I got out of there. That place is dangerous!

~Home about 5:45. And tired.

~For the first time I feel like I'm starting to "get" some of the geography in the area. I bought a GPS before I moved and it has been really, really helpful in getting around. I've been using the maps on my iPhone too, to look at where I'm going and I'm starting to see the "big picture" in terms of where certain roads end up, the best ways to get places, and so forth. Today when I left Lowe's and went to Tarjay, I had a huge "aha!" moment about how things were related. I know that sounds trivial, but it feels major to me.

~It was a gorgeous day today. Very cold yesterday, but almost 70 today. Too bad I spent the afternoon running around.

~Tomorrow is my day off--and I am very much looking forward to it! It goes by much too quickly these days!

Two pictures just for fun

I haven't posted any pictures in ages...I still haven't figured out the interface in my new version of Photoshop, so I just saved these to my desktop...a short-term solution to be sure!


The side of my house, as seen from my backyard, earlier this fall


Baby M, one week old (he's almost two months old now!)

Friday Five--What's new?

Please share five things you like *especially* when they are new.

1. Babies--they are so sweet and innocent, and well, "new." And the great thing is, they stay "new" with each new stage, each new developent. I'm loving seeing this again with my grandchildren.

2. Shoes--nothing like a brand new pair!

3. Books--especially one that is so inviting that you can't wait to sit down and devour it. New books are new universes waiting to be explored, with unsullied pages, and stiff new spines, and that new book smell. I hated buying used books as a student because they lacked all that new goodness.

4. New school supplies--clean crisp notebooks, pens and pencils sharp and ready to go. Even though I'm done with school, and even though I do most of my writing on the computer, I still love to get new pens and paper.

5. A newly made bed---not technically "new" I guess, but I love getting to bed with fresh clean sheets.

*and the book cover--I remember buying that book when I was pregnant with WW....long time ago!

Can we make a difference?

~Fish update: The second half of this interview on Fresh Air surprised me. When asked what he would suggest eating to slow down the demise of our fish population, the fish expert said what he ate (wild salmon) and went on to add that he didn't think what fish we chose to eat would have an impact on fishing practices--they are not consumer driven.

~So that leads me to ask, do individual actions ever matter? Can we slow down global warming by choosing to drive a more efficient car or using public transportation? Does it matter if we try to eat ethically or to recycle? Or are our actions futile unless the larger structures of the world change as well?

~What do you think?

I've been thinking

about yesterday's elections and what I wrote below, and it seems to me that the outcome of the elections is perhaps less a referendum on Obama's presidency and more a reflection of the narrow-mindedness of the electorate. I mean it's one thing to elect a Republican, and it's another thing entirely to elect someone who in his master's thesis argued that women should stay home and support their husbands, and that decried "feminists, fornicators, and homosexuals." Even if that person says that no longer reflects his views--not so sure I'd trust that.

Then there are the voters in Maine who voted for bigotry. Sorry, but that's what it is. I've said it before, but civil rights (and marriage is one) should not be put to the vote.

And that's my somewhat negative opinion for the day.

I might have to give up two of my favorite things*

Fish and diet coke. Diet Lime Coke to be specific, which I drink every day. Several glasses.

I've heard lots of reasons why diet soda is bad for you, but I've never really bought them. The rumors, for example, that aspartame causes brain tumors never seemed to be substantiated with real data, and the notion that drinking diet drinks causes one to eat more sugary food, even if it is generally true, I don't think applies to me. But today I found this report on a study that indicates that diet soda consumption may be related to decreased kidney function. After reading the actual abstract (available at npr.org) this may be the one I take seriously. At this point it's a correlation, and I know that it may not be causative, but do I want to run that risk? Nah. And I guess I shouldn't put Equal/aspartame in my coffee or tea either, if that is the suspected culprit. Maybe Splenda is still okay? Big sigh. Of course sugar always tastes better, but that is 'bad' too.

And the fish: I like fish, and ever since I gave up meat I've relied on eating fish once or twice a week; it's my protein of choice when I eat out. But according to this interview on Fresh Air yesterday, if I heard correctly, we have already depleted 90% of the world's fish. 90%. That is mind boggling. The expert interviewed talks about how fish that no one would or could have marketed before are being renamed, and processed so that they aren't so ugly so that we will eat them (Chilean seabass, for example, used to be known as Patagonian toothfish). And orange roughy (formally known as slimefish--doesn't t THAT sound appetizing!) matures so slowly (becomes 'adult' at 30 and may live to 150) that harvesting them is like cutting old growth forests. I had NO idea things were as bad as this sounds. So is it ethical to eat fish anymore? Farmed fish don't seem to be such a healthy alternative at this point either. I must catch the second half of this interview today and see with the fish expert recommends.

I suppose I am going to have to make myself drink plain old water (which for some reason I don't enjoy that much). And become a true vegetarian. Sigh. Giving up meat was easy; fish will be MUCH harder.

*and yes, I know this is a very "first world" kind of complaint...

it's that time again

~This morning I lay in bed listening to the news on NPR before I got up--they were talking about the elections taking place in several states tomorrow, and it set me to thinking about this time last year, and how excited many of us were about the presidential election. I can still feel that sense of excitement and hope that we felt in the hours leading up to Obama's election, and the elation we felt in the days that followed. And now the news media is referring to tomorrow's elections as a referendum on his presidency. That seems unfair somehow.

I knew from the get-go that Barack Obama wouldn't be able to accomplish all that I would hope for--no one could in this political climate. And I can't imagine a worse time to become president, what with wars in Afghanistan and Iraq dragging on and the economy going to hell in a handbasket in the waning days of the campaign. The health care debacle--I knew that there would be opposition, but nothing like what has sprung up from the conservatives--beyond the pale in many ways. Yes, I am very disappointed that health care reform is not more extensive than the bills currently in the congress (but not surprised--me, I'll take a single payor system, whether run by the government or not, but I don't expect it to happen any time soon).

Nonetheless, it seems unfair to say that if Democrats lose the governorship in New Jersey or Virginia, it's a reflection on how Obama is doing. Doesn't it have more to do with the merit of those candidates and the issues those states have to face than with national political sentiment? And shouldn't we give Obama more time before we sit judgment on his presidency? Take into consideration the extraordinarily difficult times he's been working in?

Next year is soon enough, don't you think?

Happy Birthday, NSLS

~How quickly another year passes. NSLS hasn't been blogging but she may still be lurking. Happy birthday, baby girl. Hope you had a great day, and hope it's a great year.

Hallowe'en redux

The extent of my costume this year