I’m fighting some pretty bad insomnia due to the 96F heat here today (no, I am not kidding) so here are some things that I’m loving right now.
One
“Shake It Off” by Taylor Swift. It’s a bit embarrassing to admit that I *gasp* like something by her but it’s a good song for my life right now…
Two
Donna Andrews’ books. Absurdist literature meets murder mysteries. I’m reading Some Like It Hawk! right now and the town of Caerphilly is having a street fair kind of thing to get the buildings back that were foreclosed upon by the former mayor who allegedly embezzled the redevelopment funds and didn’t pay on the note. The lender has armed guards guarding the courthouse to make sure that nobody brings any food into the town clerk who has sequestered himself in there and the townfolk refer to them as “flying monkeys” because of their uniforms. It’s good enough that I’ve been blowing off online time to read it.
Three
Daniel. My kiddo saw his doctor on Monday and we found out that he has gained 3 pounds since the last time and is now 3’11” which means he has 14 inches to go before he surpasses me in height. I think my mother-in-law has an online pool going on when that will be. #shortpeopleproblems
Four
Cool sheets on bare skin. It’s getting me through the heat wave.
Five
Trader Joe’s. It’s simply the best store out there. End of discussion.
Outside my window… dark. It’s 11:30 here on what was actually a very nice day — one of the first in the last week or so when I haven’t had a headache from all the pressure changes. I don’t know what the ultimate temperature was outside but I was comfy in shirt sleeves.
I am thinking… about all that I need to accomplish this week.
I am thankful… for Daniel going to bed at a decent hour tonight. He didn’t go down until almost 9 p.m. last night and woke me up at 5:30 this morning. Not good.
In the kitchen… it’s clean except for my dishes in the sink. I will probably make something I can eat on for a couple days but I haven’t figured out what it will be yet.
I am praying for… a call for Jon, for my grandma’s neurologist to figure out what is going on, and for some special intentions for various people in my life.
I am going… to the bank and a few other places tomorrow.
I am wondering… when I’ll have the time to formulate the post I’ve been wanting write on vaccines. It sure didn’t happen this weekend!
I am reading… a lot of things at the moment. I finished Searching for Sunday by Rachel Held Evans on Friday and I think y’all need to go out and buy it as well as her book on Biblical womanhood. Other than that, I’ve read/finished Can’t Wait to Get to Heaven by Fannie Flagg and read/finished The Real Macaw by Donna Andrews. Next on the agenda: Some Like It Hawk by Donna Andrews.
I am hoping… to actually be productive tomorrow.
I am looking forward to… Bible study on Wednesday.
Crocheting… edging on an afghan for a wedding shower present, Daniel’s “big boy” blankie, and an amigurumi stuffed animal for a friend.
Around the house… silence. I am the only one awake (as usual).
A favorite quote for today… “For me, talking about church in front of a bunch of Christians means approaching a microphone and attempting to explain the most important, complicated, beautiful, and heart-wrenching relationship of my life in thirty minutes or less without yelling or crying or saying any cuss words.” — Rachel Held Evans, Searching for Sunday
One of my favorite things…Bejeweled. It’s my go-to thing for sorting out my brain.
A few plans for the rest of the week: sort/clean out storage unit, Daniel’s doctor appointment on Monday afternoon, Daniel’s IPP with the Regional Center on Tuesday afternoon, Bible Study on Wednesday, and whatever comes up in terms of readying stuff to be moved to my sister-in-law’s house on Saturday. Oh yes… also the bridal shower on Saturday so the afghan needs to be done.
Post Script… This is a song I heard on Air1 these past few weeks that I’m loving. It’s “Brother” by NEEDTOBREATHE.
Can we say “duh”? News flash: Measles Vaccine Still Doesn’t Cause Autism. The paper on this is here. I will be writing more about this in order to explain the scientific bases of all of this in the next week or so.
Until then… VACCINATE YOUR FREAKING KIDS!!!! And for those who claim a selective/delayed vaccine schedule is a good thing, your argument has been proven invalid in this study.
Wonderful concert. I was blessed to be able to hear the Claremont Chamber Choir sing tonight at the Drinkward Recital Hall at Harvey Mudd College. One of the basses was conducting it as part of his studies toward a DMA in Conducting. It was interesting to watch Dr. Charles Kamm (the actual director) sing because he was so expressive and looked like he was having a lovely time.
Seriously, one of the positives of my living situation is that I have free concerts in the community that are of serious quality. Tonight’s concert was a collection of madrigals and folk music from around the world and it was heavenly.
Rachel Held Evans’ most recent book. I finished Searching for Sunday by Rachel Held Evans today and I highly recommend it to anyone wondering why Millenials are leaving the faith in droves as well to those who have left the faith and might be slightly amenable. Rachel’s sister Amanda is a singer/songwriter and she composed a few songs based on the sacraments framing the book. Everyone who pre-ordered the book received a download code for the album and I found them to be positively fabulous.
Another person created seven pictures of birds based on things they read in the book. I think my favorite one is for “Communion” and involves hummingbirds drinking around a flower.
A thank you. I was at Target with Daniel this afternoon and decided to have him put stuff on the belt to practice good behavior while shopping. The woman in front of us watched for a bit and complimented him on how he was doing. She then looked up at me and said, “You’re a good mother.”
I honestly don’t think she realized how much I needed to hear that after Daniel had a rather public tantrum on Sunday.
On the subject of kids and cats… I saw this online a few days ago and had to share. It’s a tongue-in-cheek list of reasons that kids should never have cats. It’s amusing to say the least.
Love. I’ve missed two Sundays due to fibro-related fatigue so Bible study on Wednesday was one of my chances to connect to church. I ended up sitting next to one of our founding members M who is 94 and reminds me so much of my grandma. Our priest was passing around pictures she took while walking the Camino de Santiago last year and M had just gotten shots in her eyes so she couldn’t see them. I spent much of Bible study taking her hand and pointing out various things in the pictures for her. When Bible study ended, she gave me a hug and told me she loved me.
No lie, it brought me to tears at that point and remembering it brings me to tears now because she reminds me so much of my grandma who I thankfully got to see a few months ago (for the first time in 4 1/2 years) but who I miss dreadfully. (She’s in Washington and I’m in southern California.)
Oh. Em. Gee. Rachel Held Evans’ new book!!!!! I mentioned the publication of said book in my Favorites a few days ago. I finally finished what I was reading and started it today. Let’s just say that I would publish some of my favorite quotes from it on this blog… but that would involve typing the entire book verbatim. I recommend that y’all go acquire a copy of it, especially those who are having conniptions over your kids “leaving the Church”.
Love. I helped out with a funeral at church on Wednesday and it was fun. (I know… how can a funeral be fun?) It reinforced the awesomeness of the community of which I am part and the part that pulled on my heartstrings the most were when members of the Wednesday morning Bible study saw me and gave me hugs, calling me their “sweet girl” and one of them telling me how much I enrich her life. (One of them is 94 and reminds me so much of my grandma that it almost brings me to tears when I get hugs from her.) Considering I’ve known most of them for only 3 1/2 months (as most of them attend the 8:00 service while I’m part of the choir at the 10:00 service), this is really sweet of them.
Kitchen cheat sheets. I saw this on Facebook and bookmarked it to share in my Quick Takes because it was pretty amazing and something I would totally laminate and use for myself. I’m almost tempted to laminate them and make a book with them for Jon’s cousin who is getting married this summer — they’re that good.
Going back to Rachel’s book…This article was linked and I think it would be something good for my mainline Christian friends to read — it’s about how to welcome disenfranchised evangelicals to your church.
Moved almost to tears. I was catching up on podcasts yesterday and was listening to some things that Frederica Mathewes-Green (one of my favorite authors) had to say. (She’s an Antiochian Orthodox priest’s wife — a *real* khouria unlike my poseur self.) One of the podcast episodes I heard was the Nativity Paraklesis done at her parish in Maryland. It was hauntingly beautiful — very foreign sounding musical settings to my decidedly western ears but just stunning in such a way that it almost brought me to tears in the middle of Starbux. You can listen to it here.
Instead of a tattoo. Instead of getting a tattoo for my 35th birthday this year, I’ll be walking a 5K to raise money and awareness for the Preeclampsia Foundation. Details are here.
Because I’m all about that bass all about the hymns!
One
“Thine Is The Glory”. This one is in the Lutheran Book of Worship (and most other Lutheran hymnals) but not in the 1982 Hymnal for the Episcopal church. I was kvetching to my choir director about this and his response: “You could always become Lutheran again.” (I stuck my tongue out at him in response.) This one is especially lovely if you have brass in church.
“Now the Green Blade Riseth”. The tune for this hymn is “Noel Nouvelet” and is in a minor key so there are some of my husband’s parishioners that have hated it and asked that it not be sung or only sung once during Easter. The reason this is funny is that one of our parishioners in Minnesota managed to set “Jingle Bells” to it at Christmas dinner in 2004 when we were jamming afterwards; and when we were singing this at the installation of Bishop Jessica Crist in Montana in 2007, I leaned forward to Jon who was seated in the row in front of me (with all the clergy) and whispered, “Jingle Bells”. He started giggling and our seminary president (who is the former bishop of Montana) rolled his eyes at us.
Three
“Alleluia, Alleluia! Give Thanks to the Risen Lord”. I shared this one in my Simple Woman’s Daybook on Monday. I remember it from my first Easter at ECA in 1997 and I have loved it since, though I don’t think I had sung it in at least 10 years before Sunday. (It’s not in the Lutheran Book of Worship and I doubt it’s in the new cranberry-colored hymnal which I despise.)
Four
“Alleuia, Sing to Jesus”. This is used more as an Ascension hymn but our Offertory anthem this year was an arrangement of it. I’m also a hymn tune snob and I have an abiding love of the tune Hyfrydol.
Five
“Christ the Lord is Risen Today”. This is song that most Protestants associate with Easter, at least those that attend churches with traditional hymnody. It was also one of the first hymns I learned.
Outside my window… dark. It cooled down today and was actually long-sleeves weather when I was at the park with Daniel. It’s supposed to rain tomorrow and I’m getting positively giddy.
I am thinking… about the phone calls I have to make tomorrow to the IRS (I want my tax refund) and to insurance companies/Medi-Cal.
I am thankful… for a wonderful Palm Sunday with my church in San Jose and a wonderful Triduum with my church in southern California. Easter morning was wonderful as well with music at both services and a professional tenor singing with the choir. (We were supposed to have a couple other pros but they got sick.) I’m so incredibly grateful to be part of a church where I’m excited about going on Sunday morning instead of feeling like I want to be anywhere else but there.
In the kitchen… lots and lots of leftovers. We’re eating well this week!
I am praying for… a call for Jon, comfort and solace for Dayna, and many other things.
I am going… for a walk tomorrow morning.
I am wondering… about a couple things related to the Divine Mercy novena that a few friends are doing. They sound a little weird so I’ll be consulting the hive mind on this. I am reading…Fudge Brownie Murder by Joanne Fluke. I finished Six Geese A-Slaying and a couple others by Donna Andrews in the last few weeks as well.
I am hoping… to get everything done this week that needs doing.
I am looking forward to… my Wednesday time to myself.
I am hearing… Jon’s CPAP machine as I’m lying in bed doing this.
Crocheting… a baby gift for a friend and also Daniel’s big boy blankie.
Around the house… silence as I am the only one awake.
A favorite quote for today… “Solid-rock faith allows me to believe that despite the chaos of the present moment, God does reign. Regardless of how worthless I may feel, I truly matter to a God of love. No pain lasts forever, and no evil triumphs in the end.” — today’s devotion in Our Daily Bread.
One of my favorite things… Coke — I can have it again now that Lent is over! (I did falter and have some during Lent, a couple of those times on purpose because I needed the caffeine and sugar while I was driving and/or chasing Daniel.)
A few plans for the rest of the week: phone calls tomorrow, meeting with Daniel’s teacher on Wednesday, and other things as they come up.
A peek into my day… I seriously love being part of a church where worship selfies are an expected part of Easter worship. I’m the short chick with glasses and the hymnal.
Post Script…
It has been an interesting time with the Lutherans, especially in churcbes where they only sing songs they know or try to attract young people by doing “contemporary” music. (Not helping, y’all.) I love this hymn which I learned during my first Easter with the Episcopalians about 20 years ago and it brings me happy memories.
Tetelestai. Elizabeth Dehority of Keep on Spinning passed away early on Thursday morning. Please keep her family in prayer.
Into your hands, O merciful Savior, we commend your servant, Elizabeth. Acknowledge, we humbly beseech you, a sheep of your own fold, a lamb of your own flock, a sinner of your own redeeming. Receive her into the arms of your mercy, into the blessed rest of everlasting peace, and into the glorious company of the saints in light. Amen.
Fannie Flagg captures it. I was listening to her book, Can’t Wait to Get to Heaven, for part of the drive home on Wednesday and everyone is talking or musing in their heads about how one woman impacts them positively. It’s kind of made me think about my legacy and what I’ll be remembered for doing.
Books on CD. I picked up two at the library, hoping that they would make the drive less montonous. They definitely helped — I was sorry when we were going to our destinations on Saturday and Wednesday and we arrived because I wanted to listen to more of the book.
Geeking out on church music. We get at professional trumpeter for Easter and three opera singers coming in to lend their voices. The anthem we’re singing isn’t tricky but it will be nice to have a “full” choir, even if some of the volume is coming from 3 people.
