[+] I agree with Lauren on the Miley Cyrus pics. They are tastefully and artistically done and geez… why are people letting Miley Cyrus parent their kids and failing to discuss stuff like this with them???
I have this crazy idea: maybe if parents you know… like parented their kids, we might have a lower incidence of pre-marital sex and teen pregnancy?
I haven’t updated because I’ve been getting home late from work, exhausted, and needing to zone out. Most of what’s been on my mind lately is work stuff and as I really don’t want to be dooced, my work life is separate from this blog.
So… here’s the scoop on my activities lately.
[+] After having a craptastic week culminating in my glasses breaking that Friday (and having to be duct-taped together so I could drive home from work), I chose to spend last weekend in Great Falls getting my glasses repaired (and replaced thanks to my wonderful in-laws) and hiding from whoever seems to be putting the pins in my voodoo doll of life. It was great to get AWAY from the Hi-Line for a few days and I’m thankful to have family down there with whom I could stay.
[+] I attended worship at Church of the Incarnation last Sunday and enjoyed having a worship service where I could be anonymous and also not be intimately knowledgeable about what was going on. I am truly Episcopal/Anglican at heart and while they used some different musical settings than I remember from my church in San Jose, it was still really wonderful and familiar worship. Kudos also to Rev. Tim who preached one of the better sermons I’ve heard in an Episcopal church and managed to take the week’s passage in a different direction than I’ve heard before with that particular text. The church has a healing/intercessory prayer time at the end of the service and knowing how much I needed it, I went up and participated… and managed NOT to cry. (People laying on hands and praying for me usually reduces me to tears — it’s a testimony to the power of prayer and of what the Spirit is doing in me but it can also be kind of embarrassing.)Â? I kind of wish I could head down there more often because it was such a great experience in terms of worship for me.
[+] I attended my first barrel race last Sunday afternoon.Â? Being a sissified city girl, I’d never seen it and I managed to not look like a complete idiot to those who are knowledgeable about it by looking it up on Wikipedia and also asking some of my Montana relatives about it.Â? So why did I go?Â? Well… one of my co-workers is a barrel racer and I asked if I could come watch.Â? I actually enjoyed myself and it looks incredibly fun though it’s not something I’d ever do.
[+] I discovered a new podcast while trying to find something more wholesome to listen to at work than Lime n’ Violet.Â? (I have no problem with the divas but it’s hard to explain to the people around me that I’m snickering at comments about German man-shaving.)Â? It’s called “Catholic in a Small Town” and it’s about the lives of a Catholic couple in a small town (duh!) in Georgia and how they’re raising their kids, viewing their faith, interacting with media (especially movies).Â? I highly recommend it and I’d link to it if I could find a website of theirs that worked!Â? (Ahem Mac and Katherine…)
[+] On the subject of Catholic things, people who are Catholic/know Catholics/want to be Catholic need to listen to last week’s episode of Speaking of Faith.Â? Seriously, it was brilliant.
[+] Last Saturday, I decided to scout out where Church of the Incarnation was (mostly so I’d know how to get there and where to find parking) and when I saw the neighborhood, I decided to take a walk down the street to the other interesting looking church… which turned out to be St. Ann’s Cathedral.Â? I went in, blessed myself, and knelt in one of the pews to pray the daily prayers I usually say in the car on the way to work as well as some special ones for a co-worker facing surgery.Â? There were others in there praying and I thought this was pretty cool.Â? After I finished and had sat for awhile, I decided to look around (mostly to see if there were any candles that one could light) and saw that people were going into a back room and kneeling in front of a screen.Â? Oh… yeah… Saturday afternoon is when people go for Confession (OK… technically called “Reconciliation” now) so I understood then why the church was so full.Â? As it would probably take a few hours for the priest to hear my confession (mostly because it’s been like 9 years since my last one in the Catholic Church), I decided to leave the nice worshippers to their shriving.
I put out a request on LJ for podcast suggestions a week or so ago and Krissy suggested the Faery Knitting podcast.Â? Erin (the podcaster) reads a fairy tale, does some fabulous commentary, and then talks about her life which is incredibly interesting as she raises goats and alpacas, makes goat cheese, knits, spins, gardens, and reads voraciously.
I listened to the first 4 episodes at work today and I was sorry that I had to stop during episode 2 to take my lunch break.Â? Her podcast is a wholesome alternative (i.e. work safe) for Limen n’ Violet fans and she talks about some other podcasts she enjoys as well which are ones that I think I’m going to be checking out.
So… go check her out!Â? She’s got 12 episodes up thus far.
NY Times: Cat Lovers Appreciate Soul Mate in Vatican
According to the article…
Pope Paul II, in the 15th century, had his cats treated by his personal physician. Leo XII, in the 1820s, raised his grayish-red cat, Micetto, in the pleat of his cassock. And according to The Times of London, Paul VI, pope from 1963 to 1978, is said to have once dressed his cat in cardinalâ????s robes.
Jon’s comment upon reading the bolded part: “Cats already think they’re gods.Â? Why would they want to be demoted?”
I haven’t updated all that much lately because I had (well… still have) a sinus infection that has pretty well drained me of all my energy, caused nausea, caused insomnia, and has just made me feel like someone hit me with a Mack truck.Â? I missed half of last Friday after I started vomiting uncontrollably at work and had to get my tail down to the clinic and I missed yesterday because I woke up (after 9 hours of sleep) feeling congested and nauseous.
So… here are the things happening lately that seem to be on my mind.
[+] To those who are going nuclear about Barack Obama’s comments on small towns: Unless YOU live in a small town, spare me your self-righteous indignation until he actually insults YOUR way of life. I mean, seriously, people might find his comments “elitist” but… I’ve read comments from people in Pennsylvania towns who actually AGREE with him. (I can agree with much of it given where I live.) Hilary actually comes off as “Pollyanna-ish” to a lot of people which makes it seem like she’s less understanding of the issues we face in small towns than Obama is.
[+] I’ve been listening to a lot of really great podcasts from Speaking of Faith lately that have been intellectually stimulating and have given my brain something constructive to do while I work. Some of the better ones have been conversations with Ingrid Mattson and Leila Ahmed on Islam, Joe Carter on African-American spirituals, Jimmy Carter on his faith life, Chaplain John Morris on the soul of war, and Krista Tippett herself on how her faith life. They have podcasts on other issues of ethics and faith but I’ll admit I have just stuck to ones that interest me or ones that match my beliefs.
[+] Apparently Mother Nature is displeased with those of us in Big Sky Country (well… the Pacific Northwest in general) because we’ve got a winter storm tearing through and we’re supposed to get 6-12 inches of snow here on the prairie.Â? I was skeptical at first but it might actually happen given the rate of snowfall at the moment and the lack of visibility out the window of my study.Â? This is going to probably wreck my commute on Monday but into every life a little rain snow must fall.
[+] Dooce.Com has introduced me to another snarky ex-Mormon blogger in SLC: Sarah Nielson.Â? She’s definitely less vitriolic than Heather but still sarcastic in a brilliant way.Â? I guess she’s another one to add to my Bloglines?
I was filling my pillbox for this week when Jon came into the kitchen with an article talking about the FDA investigation of a link between Singulair and suicide.Â? (I’m on Singulair for allergies and asthma and have been for almost 10 years.)
According to the article…
“We have no indication that anything about the mechanism of Singulair is consistent with these events [the suicides],” said George Philip, directorof research and product development.Â? “But because suicide is a life threatening event we thought it was important to provide this information in the product label.”
Apparently, suicide is a life-threatening event.Â? Who would have guessed?
(Jon laughed for about 5 minutes when I pointed this out to him.)
Given the circles I hang out in, I’ve been amazed that nobody has posted on the assassination of Benazir Bhutto.Â? She was definitely a figure to be reckoned with if one was interested in women in politics (especially as she made Hilary Clinton look like an uneducated hillbilly) and the Pakistani government’s explanation of her death (head injury from hitting the sunroof lever) is pretty suspect.
Any thoughts, y’all?