Morning visitors

~I was sitting in the kitchen by the window this morning, reading the NY Times on line when I happened to look up to see this.

~I had turkeys in the yard once before, but they stayed out by the wall. Today they actually tried to eat out of the bird feeder.

~They are really interesting looking birds when you see them up close. You can begin to see why Benjamin Franklin thought they should be the national bird.

Random bits of my weekend

~Yesterday was the first Saturday I've had completely off since before Lent started back in February. I was very lazy all day. I did my taxes (thanks to Turb0tax.c0m) and was pleasantly surprised to find that I'm getting a decent size refund. Which will be spent to buy the Kid and me new glasses.

~I've watched two movies this weekend, too. Knocked Up (which I don't even remember putting in the Netflix queue but whatever) and When Harry Met Sally (which I still love). I really need to update the queue, though, and get some of the many movies I haven't seen in the last year!

~And I've futzed around with my pictures a lot, and did some reading on-line about lenses. I think I want to buy a macro lens. But which one? There is a 100mm f/2.8 that is rated highly for both macro and portraits. But alot of photograpers on-line whose pictures I admire seem to be using 50 mm lenses (not necessarily macro).

~I still haven't reorganized all the pictures I recovered after they were lost after my hard drive crashed. That is going to take hours and hours, I'm afraid.

~My original plan was to take this weekend and the coming week off--thinking that NSLS surely wouldn't give birth before her due date--which is tomorrow. But the best laid plans and all that....so when we got back, I decided not to take time off this week so that I can go back and visit again when the Kid has April break. But when I got to church this morning I had reason to wish I had just taken the day off. All sorts of things were going wrong...nothing major, but enough to be aggravating. And a lot of it things I really couldn't change--like the flower person forgetting to do the flowers.

~The biggest snafu was forgetting that this was the fifth Sunday of the month, and on the 5th Sunday we make a change in the liturgy (to Rite I). And no one remembered that when we made the bulletins this week. No one. So today the rector wants to know why we aren't doing it. And truthfully it never even occurred to me that it was the 5th Sunday. I don't like Rite I, so I don't know if he thinks I was trying to get out of it... but as I said, I wasn't originally planning to be here today, and I just didn't think about it. And I don't think anyone in the congregation knew the difference, either.

~I'm hoping this will be a quiet week at work--I really need to clean up my office--there are books and papers everywhere. More than usual :)

~I'm ready for warm weather, although I know it's unrealistic to hope for it anytime soon. That's is the hardest part of living in New England for me--worse than winter is the almost non-existent and very late arriving spring.

~I really hope that we learn something useful at my photography class tomorrow. I missed last week's class and I have no idea what I missed....it could've been great. I'll find out tomorrow.

Episco-meme

I've seen this at reverendmother's and elsewhere as the Presby-meme, and thought I would adapt it--so all you Episcopalians out there consider yourselves tagged!

1. What is your earliest memory of being distinctly Episcopalian?

~I'm one of those increasingly rare types, a cradle Episcopalian, and I can't imagine being anything else. And some of my earliest memories are of being in church--the beautiful little church in my father's home town. The prayer book is part of my consciousness, as is liturgy.

~I think the first time I noticed this was when as a fairly young child I went to church with my Methodist grandmother. I missed liturgy, even then.

2. On what issue/question should TEC spend LESS energy and time?

~Sexuality. Who should be in and who should be out. Who is "orthodox" and who isn't.

~I would add that the focus on these things is the direct result of a minority of folks who think that TEC has lost its way and who, instead of finding a place more congenial to their beliefs or working within the system, have determined to cause as much fuss and turmoil as they can, even to the point of destruction. IMHO.

3. On what issue/question should TEC spend MORE energy and time?

~Doing the work of the church. Providing a welcoming home for those who are seeking God and living out the baptismal covenant. Mission. Justice. Respecting the dignity of every human being.

4. If you could have TEC focus on one passage of scripture for a entire year, what would it be?

~The Sermon on the Mount--I cannot imagine a better guide for discipleship. Alternately Matthew 25:31-46 ...whenever you did it to one of the least of these who are members of my family, you did it to me...

5. If TEC were an animal what would it be and why?

~An elephant. We have a long memory. And remember the story of the five blind men who were asked to describe an elephant? Each one had a very different description depending on what part he touched. The Episcopal Church is sort of like that in the best of all worlds--high church, low church, traditional, contemporary, but all in all still one -- sometimes unwieldy, sometimes ponderous, but still in all magnificent in ways, too.

A milllion $ Friday 5

What are five things you would want to do with a million dollar deposit in your bank account?

1. Pay off all my student loans and all my kids' student loans, and pay for the Kid's college.

2. Give a big fat donation to my seminary and to my church.

Those two alone could talk the whole million...but let's pretend there's still lots leftover...

3. Buy an apartment in NYC and one in VT--that would take over a million all by itself, but we're still pretending here...

4. Take the whole family on vacation somewhere really nice.

5. Invest in restoring old houses for affordable housing.

The deep and meaningful Winnie the Pooh personality test

Your Score: Tigger

You scored 17 Ego, 12 Anxiety, and 15 Agency!

And as they went, Tigger told Roo (who wanted to know)
all about the things that Tiggers could do.

"Can they fly?" asked Roo.

"Yes," said Tigger, "they're very good flyers, Tiggers
are. Strornry good flyers."

"Oo!" said Roo. "Can they fly as well as Owl?"

"Yes," said Tigger. "Only they don't want to."

"Why don't they want to?" well, they just don't like it
somehow."

Roo couldn't understand this, because he thought it
would be lovely to be able to fly, but Tigger said it was
difficult to explain to anybody who wasn't a Tigger himself.

You scored as Tigger!

ABOUT TIGGER: Tigger is the newest addition to the Hundred Acre Wood, and he lives with Kanga and Roo, because Roo's strengthening medicine turned out to be the thing that Tiggers like best. Tigger is bouncy and confident -some of his friends think he is a little TOO bouncy and confident, but attempts to unbounce him tend to be fruitless.

WHAT THIS SAYS ABOUT YOU: You are a positive and confident person. You feel capable of dealing with anything and everything, and funnily enough, you usually ARE. You don't worry about much, and you love to go out and find new adventures.

Your friends and family might sometimes be a little exasperated by your boundless enthusiasm. You don't like to admit your mistakes, and when you find yourself in over you head, you tend to bluff your way out of things. You would be surprised, however, at how happy the people around you would be if you would actually admit to a mistake. It would make you seem more human, somehow.

Now it's your turn! : The Deep and Meaningful Winnie-The-Pooh Character Test

I actually took this a couple of times; I think this is my work persona more than my at-home persona. I scored as Eeyore one time, and Owl one time thinking of how I react in different situations.

Of course this is all just for fun :)

Whirlwind week

You know, it's been a wild and woolly week around here.

It was just a week ago that I was stepping into the midst of Holy Week, preparing for the intense stretch of liturgies that culminate at Easter. In that time I've written and preached three sermons, participated in six services, overseen a wonderful vigil, danced down the aisle, been the only vegetarian at a lamb roast dinner, talked politics with people who know much more than I do, skipped Easter day services, driven five hours each way to meet my granddaughter, paced in a waiting room, looked at incredibly beautiful mountains across a shimmering lake, seen snowcaps and skiers,found crocuses blooming by my back door, edited next month's newsletter, blogged every day, taken lots of pictures, loved my congregation, and felt ready to look for a new position.

Whew.

Back home again

~Now that NSLS has announced her presence, I can tell you that the beautiful baby's beautiful name is Julianna Iris--named after three great-grandparents.

~Julianna and NSLS came home today around noon, and because of his school and my work, the Kid and I had to leave about 2 this afternoon. Reluctantly to say the least.

~And Woman Warrior is due home from Korea on Friday...she thought she'd be back in time for the birth. But Julianna had other ideas.

~The weather was gorgeous the whole time I was there...cold but crisp...snow on the mountains, brilliant blue sky over the lake. I miss living there.

Sweet Baby

Happy Birthday!

She's here!

~Finally

~My little granddaughter was born at 7:22 pm and she's beautiful! Yes it was a long day. I will let NSLS tell you her name and the birth story, but Mom and baby are doing well.

~8 lbs. 5 oz.

~And did I say she's beautiful?

Happy Easter...and we're off

~No baby yet....at around 7 am she was 7 cm dilated and fully effaced. So it should be this morning! We're leaving as soon as we can finish getting ourselves together. It's about a five hour drive, so we'll be there by lunch time I hope.

~Stay tuned!

~And I guess this is as close to live-blogging the birth as I can get :)

She's having a baby!

~NSLS headed off to the hospital tonight about 8 with contractions 2-4 minutes apart. I haven't heard anything more so I'm assuming she was admitted.

~I toyed with the idea of getting right in the car and going, but I'm afraid I would get part way there and then get really sleepy so I suspect I will leave first thing in the morning. I'm coming down off my adrenaline high from a great Easter Vigil...and I am pretty tired.

~An Easter baby! Maybe anyway....

~I'll keep you posted!

Fat chance...

Don't panic, she says...

Well, I'm not panicked, but it certainly increases the number of things on my mind...

Stay tuned.

Holy Week--makes me tired

~As I wrote last year, I love the liturgies of Holy Week. I love the rhythms, the silent spaces, the dim light. the prayers, the solemnity. I love the way it all leads up to the joy of the Easter Vigil. But it really makes me tired. So tired.

~Happily I feel remarkably unstressed about it all right now. I worked at home yesterday and wrote two sermons. Today we had three services-two at our church and an ecumenical service at a nearby Lutheran church. In between I attended to details for the vigil tomorrow night. I still have one sermon to write, but sermon writing on Saturday morning is normal for me.

~I've never been a detail person, so I am befuddled at how I've become the detail person at work, especially when it comes to liturgies. And every Holy Week I give a quiet little prayer of thanks for my liturgics prof and the way he taught us to plan liturgy, and for all those hours in the sacristy during seminary. I have a typed out plan for how everything is supposed to go tomorrow night....and if it is reasonably close I'll be happy.

~The downside of being the detail person for worship is that it's been much harder for me to actually enter into the worship, to lose myself in it this year. Too many things running through my mind.

~And did I mention that I'm tired?

Spring? and other random thoughts

~The calendar says the first day of spring, but it hardly feels like it here. Of course, I know better than to expect spring much before May in this part of the country, but still....It's grey and gloomy and wet here. Yesterday as I left for work it was snowing, but that soon turned to rain and it's been raining ever since. At 8:00 am we had reached our high temp for the day, so it is going to be chilly again today.

~The good news, I guess, is that there are no drought warnings in our state as we move towards spring. Apparently in other parts of the state there had been for a while.

~It's Maundy Thursday, and having mostly finished up my office tasks to prepare for the weekend, I stayed at home this morning to work on sermons. I'm clearly avoiding that task at this point, but I need to get on with it. Tomorrow and Saturday will be very busy days.

~Meanwhile, we pass the 5th anniversary of the start of the Iraqi war. Five years ago I was in my first year of seminary, and we had many long discussions about "just war" and resistance and protest. That spring I prayed in a vigil at the UN several Fridays. Even as we deplored the war, we hoped for a quick resolution. And now? It's the war that seems to go on like the Energizer Bunny...only much more costly in every way. Enough. End it now.

~I've found the commentary about Obama's speech interesting. I shouldn't be surprised, I guess, at the reactions it is getting from some corners. But I still find it compelling, and I am more convinced than ever that if ANYONE can help this country turn around and get out of the hole the current administration has dug us into, it is Obama. (I know I said it before, but it bears repeating).

~Enough procrastination...

It made me want to cry...

~I was at work all day yesterday and had a service last night, so I didn't get to hear Obama's speech. I heard snippets on the radio, and it was impressive. But I just read the whole speech in the NYTimes. Wow. It brought tears to my eyes. I'm glad I read it rather than hearing it, I think, because I could really take it in. Powerful is an understatement.

~What strikes me is that Obama is a person who really GETS it. He understand where people are coming from and he understands what we need--as individuals and as a nation.

~If we don't elect this man--and not only elect him, but do everything we can to support him once he's in office--we will be missing the opportunity to turn this country around. If anyone can help heal us after eight years under Bush, it is Obama.

Yesterday's photography class

~was better...but I'm still not enthused. He threw a lot of terminology at us--iso, f-stops, aperature--and talked about the relationship between them; some of that I had figured out, but it was helpful to hear it articulated. And then he talked about the difference between JPEG and RAW and told us we should shoot in RAW--because it's better. Come on, you must have a more well formed reason that that!

~What is missing is actually doing ANYTHING with our cameras. He has slides he uses to show us what HIS camera is like. But there is no real life application at all. No assignments to go out and take pictures with various settings and then we'll talk about them. Or anything like that, which I guess is what I was hoping for.

~I'm going to stick with this class because I paid for it, and get as much out of it as I can. But I have a hunch that I will still be looking for something more.

Cardinal

This 'n' that

~It is a gloomy gray afternoon here...again. I mind less that it's cold than that it's so gray. It's sprinkling rain a bit, too. I think I am ready for spring. Normally I don't mind winter, but this one is wearing on me--the wet gloominess more than the temperature.

~Palm Sunday went well. Last year we processed from the public library across the street to the church, but because it was so cold this morning, we just walked outside from the parish hall to the church. Still, it was fun, and the whole liturgy went well.

~Because of a grant to our deanery, we have been given a copy of CS3 for the church. Woo-hoo! Except I don't know when I'm going to have time to learn to use it. (Wish it was for Mac!) I'm still lobbying for a church laptop--if I get that it will be windoze :( but I can bring it home to learn CS3 to use for church stuff.

~My photography instructor thinks that the upgraded version of iPhoto that runs with Leopard is as good as Photoshop Elements if not better. Anyone used it? We have Leopard on the iMac but not on my Macbook (although I do have an upgrade disc that came with the iMac...)

~One thing I did get out of my photography class last week--I think I want a lensbaby--it looked wicked cool.

~A friend at church is going to campaign for Obama in Philly during April break--the whole family is going. He's already worked for him a bit. Very cool.

~I've been toying with the idea of starting a letter campaign to Obama asking him to consider making his health care plan a bit more---generous? liberal? adequate? Do we think that would work? Really, campaign positions generally morph quite a bit by the time they are enacted, so why not? I've heard so many horror stories about inadequate health insurance lately--and that's people who HAVE insurance.

~I've watching the price of gas and the price of groceries climb steadily lately. It's not a pretty picture. Friday I spent over $40 for a tank of gas for the first time. And I drive a small car--I know most people have been over that point for a while. (Gas is higher than the national average here).

~I need to do my taxes. Ususally I have them done by mid February. Just haven't done it yet this year. Maybe tonight.

~Or maybe I'll just curl up with a good book :)

Cars

~This evening when I got in the car to go to work (and yes, I drive when the weather is bad and it's going to be dark when I come home; even though it's next door, it's a long dark driveway to walk up), the little generator light in the dash wouldn't go off. Actually, I didn't know it was the generator light; it looks like a battery, and since my car has a new battery I was surprised for it to be on. When I looked in the owner's manual it called this warning light the 'generator' light and said something about generator belts and such. So I guess I won't be driving anywhere tomorrow and Monday I'll be off to the repair shop.

~I know my car is just to the point where things start wearing out, and I shouldn't be surprised, but I always sort of resent having to have car repairs done. Irrational, I know. I just expect cars to keep on going. My car is technically almost 9 years old (it's a 1999 model) even though it has pretty low mileage (~56,000). I really shouldn't complain.

~Nonetheless, I still wish I lived somewhere where cars weren't essential. Knowing that I could always catch the bus or subway or take a cab or walk when I lived in the city was nice. Here if I don't drive, I don't get anywhere for the most part.