Category Archives: Music

7 Quick Takes: Random and Wow!

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7 Quick Takes

— 1 —

Prayer request. Edda, my black cat, didn’t come home last night and we’re worried sick so I’d really appreciate it if you’d pray that she would make her way home. Please and thank you. 🙂

— 2 —

Things to donate this season. My mom shared this top 10 list of things food banks need but won’t ask for and I thought it was good enough to share. This is usually the season when needs increase exponentially so if you can donate any of those items, I’m sure your food bank will thank you profusely.

— 3 —

The required Quick Take about weather now that baseball season is over. It’s been overcast and cool here for the last few days. As a native northern Californian transplanted to the desert, I am positively giddy. I miss living in a place with 4 distinct seasons — something that southern California lacks.

— 4 —

Christmas Eve music. My church choir is talking about doing the Christmas section of Handel’s “Messiah” on Christmas Eve and I’m incredibly excited. I haven’t performed it in 12 years and I’ve missed it. I used to do the “You-Sing-It” Messiah with my mom almost every year in high school and college so I know the music quite well. There’s also a community Messiah sing with the orchestra that my church choir director conducts for and I’m pretty sure I’ll be singing at one of those performances. (There are two of them.)

— 5 —

Death marches. The weather is cool enough here that Daniel and I can take walks in the afternoon — a good thing because my mutant death cold is wiping me out enough that I’m going back to sleep as soon as I get Daniel on the school bus. It wears Daniel out to be walking 2-3 miles and it clears my head. I referred to the walk jokingly as a death march once and my mother-in-law perpetuated the name. Oh well…

— 6 —

New series of murder mysteries. Someone donated a bag of books to the Little Free Library that my mother-in-law runs and in it was all of the murder mysteries by Maggie Sefton. They center around a yarn shop in the fictitious town of Fort Conner, Colorado. (I’m totally aware that “Fort Conner” = “Fort Collins”.) I read the first one in the period of a couple days and am into the second one.

— 7 —

“Say ‘good night’, Gracie.” My eyes are crossing so I need to sign off. Have a lovely weekend, y’all.

For more Quick Takes, visit Kelly (our guest-hostess-with-the-mostest) at This Ain’t The Lyceum.

7 Quick Takes: Momcation Recap

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7 Quick Takes

— 1 —

You know you’re loved when you walk into church on Sunday and the acting music director hugs you and tells you that you should have shown up earlier so you could have sung with the choir. Before June, I hadn’t been back to the church for 11.5 years and in the two times I’ve been home since, I’ve gotten recruited for music the next Sunday. (I’m not THAT good — the music director has known me since high school and knows that I can sightread vocal music passably on my first try.) This Sunday, the anthem is “Jesu, Joy of Man’s Desiring” with organ and violin. I haven’t sung soprano in 16 years… but I’ll be trying to help the section on Sunday and practice went really well tonight. Thankfully, it’s a piece I know backwards and forwards.

— 2 —

Coffee dates. I got coffee with my friend Rebecca twice while I was home. It’s hard to do, given that I usually come up here with Daniel, so it was good to see her. She also came to church with me on Sunday which was lovely.

— 3 —

World Series. I’m kind of bummed that the Series is tied at 1 game apiece because I was hoping the Giants would sweep and I’d get to see all the games. (I don’t have access to TV in southern California and I’ll also be driving home during the game on Sunday.) Still, Game 1 was glorious and I’m glad that Blanco got a lead-off homer in Game 2.

— 4 —

I’m (almost) caught up on all the TV I usually watch. My parents have “On Demand” so I’ve been able to catch up with all the CBS stuff I usually watch but haven’t this fall because I don’t have much online time and that makes watching my shows online hard. I haven’t watched the new NCIS spin-off yet and I may not just because it’s another couple hours of stuff to watch.

— 5 —

I’ve gotten some fabulous walks in. I’ve taken some walks on the trail by Los Alamitos Creek and they’ve been really nice. It’s a good setting for getting in some prayer time because while there are people around, it’s also pretty quiet.

— 6 —

I’ve unfortunately had to watch political ads. “On Demand” usually protects me from them but I’ve had to put up with them if I’ve wanted to watch baseball. It’s kind of scary how normal people don’t actually look to see who has paid for the ads… because it is really quite telling. I also wish there was something that killed all the ads, mailings, etc. if you have already voted. (I’m a permanent absentee ballot voter so I voted about a week and a half ago.)

Thankfully, the only really contentious races this year for us in California are the House ones and some of the ballot measures. Neither of our Senators is up for re-election and our Democratic governor is about 20 percentage points ahead of the Republican challenger. (He’s so far ahead that I think the GOP in California has given up on the challenger because I haven’t seen *ANYTHING* about that particular race since the primaries in June.)

— 7 —

I’ve gotten to see rain for the first time in months. We got some rain on Monday. It was glorious.

For more Quick Takes, visit Jen at ConversionDiary.Com.

The Simple Woman’s Daybook: Blessing of the Animals Edition

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Simple Woman's Daybook

FOR TODAY October 5, 2014

Outside my window… dark. It was near 100F today which I think is hideous, even for October. I miss my -20F temps (not including windchill) in Montana!

I am thinking… about worship today. It was the Blessing of the Animals for the Feast of St. Francis of Assisi and people brought their pets to church to be blessed. Most people brought their dogs, a few (like me) brought cats, and one family even brought their chickens!

I am thankful… for Edda doing so well at church this morning. I didn’t know if she’d be OK or if I’d have to send her home with Jon partway through or what was going to happen. She was pretty content to stay in her crate and nap. I barely heard a peep out of her.

In the kitchen… lemon ricotta ravioli from Trader Joe’s for dinner tonight.

I am wearing… my Momcat shirt and black capri sweats.

I am praying for… a call for Jon, healing for various people, and some special intentions.

I am going… to have some pretty epic errands to do tomorrow morning on account of Daniel having a surprise three-day weekend.

I am wondering… why people still believe all the lies about a link between the MMR vaccine and autism. Yet another study on the subject was just disproven and the claims were retracted. (HT: Simcha Fisher) I think I need to start making tin foil hats for all the people who spout these lame conspiracy theories.

I am reading… Evolving in Monkey Town by Rachel Held Evans. It’s a re-read.

I am hoping… my walk goes well tomorrow morning and resting my foot this weekend has helped.

I am looking forward to… various things this week.

I am hearing… mostly silence given how late it is.

Around the house… again, silence as I’m the only one up.

A favorite quote for today… “Human will becomes truly our own when it is wholly God’s, and this is one of the many senses in which he that loses his soul shall find it.” — C.S. Lewis

One of my favorite things… my choir director’s face upon finding out that he’d have to play the “arky arky song” during the blessing of the animals. (He hates it.) Given the ferocity with which he was playing the postlude by Mussorgsky, I think he was working out his frustrations on the piano afterwards. (He has a Masters and DMA in piano performance and is a piano professor at Azusa Pacific so we get some pretty amazing preludes and postludes on Sundays.)

A few plans for the rest of the week: errands, Daniel’s IEP on Tuesday, and whatever else comes up.

A peek into my day… Edda being blessed by Rev. Kelli Grace.

Edda being blessed at church.

The cute story behind this picture: the little boy is Rev. Kelli Grace’s grandson (she so does NOT look old enough to be a grandma) and at the end of the blessing, I heard her say “Do you see the ‘at’? Can you say ‘God bless the ‘at’?'” I looked up and her grandson had his fingers stuck into Edda’s crate and my princess was nuzzling his fingers. His mom told me later on that I had completely made his day because he loves “ats”.

Hosted by The Simple Woman’s Daybook

Five Favorites: Miscellanea (XXII)

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Five Favorites

One

My father-in-law. He’s been my “other dad” for 14 years, 12 of them legally. He is an amazing pastor, a brilliant musician, and awesome enough that he wore the cat ears I sent him for his graduation from the CATS program at Fuller to his hooding ceremony. He tells me daily (I live with them) that he loves me and that he’s glad that I’m part of the family. His birthday was this past Tuesday and I am incredibly grateful for another year with him.

Two

My mother-in-law. She is totally a Proverbs 31 woman. Today alone she came with me to the library to watch Daniel while I checked out some books and fed/watched him so I could shower/eat before choir practice.

Three

Martyrs reading Joel Osteen tweets. I tip my hat to Priest’s Wife for this. It seriously brings home the ridiculousness of Joel Osteen’s preaching and the heresy of the Prosperity Gospel.

Four

Singing in the church choir. I joined the choir at the church I’ve been attending and ended up being the only choir member there for the first 10 minutes of practice. It was a wonderful opportunity to get to know the director,Dr. Robert Sage, better. He’s a professor at Azusa Pacific, the director of the Claremont Symphony Orchestra, and a friend of my father-in-law. It was a fun evening to sing with the choir and I’m seriously looking forward to singing under Dr. Sage while I’m down here.

Five

Calm and quiet. It’s how I’m recharging right now. It’s also in short supply with Daniel these days.

Go love up Mary (our guest host with the most) and the others.

Five Favorites: Dental Work Coping Mechanisms

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Five Favorites

I had to have dental work done today so these are my favorites related to that.

One

My mother-in-law. She took care of getting Daniel off his bus today as I was at the dentist’s office and she took Daniel out with Jon a bit ago so that my father-in-law could have a nap and I could lie down and deal with the headache from my jaw being propped open for 2 1/2 hours.

Two

My dentist. She is a lovely Iraqi woman who wears beautiful scarves… and her concern today was to put me in the least amount of pain possible. I was supposed to have a root canal and two fillings (broken tooth that formed a food trap) but the broken part didn’t extend down to the nerve so she didn’t want to mess with it. Instead, they shaped it for a crown and did the two other fillings. I’m grateful that she has this attitude because it means my bill will be much lower and I’m not in as much pain.

Three

My 6 year old iPod nano. I charged it for the first time in 4 years today (haven’t had to use it since 2010 because it was mainly what I used to listen to music at work in Montana) and spent most of my time in the dentist’s chair listening to Bach and classical music from various iTunes playlists on my computer.

Four

Aleve. I’m not having serious pain right now. Granted, it’s early yet but the numbing is almost gone from my jaw and I don’t have more than a headache.

Five

Jamba Juice. I needed something I could just drink for lunch today and the smoothie I got had the right combination of protein and carbs. It allowed me to have something on my stomach so I could take the Aleve and the cold was therapeutic.

Go love up Heather.

Five Favorites: Miscellanea (XXI)

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Five Favorites

One

My mother-in-law. I’m not saying this just because she watches my kid on Saturday mornings so I can sleep in. (OK… it’s more than just Saturday mornings.) The woman is freaking brilliant, generous with her time and energy, spoils my two cats, and bakes me the best chocolate-peppermint vegan cupcakes on the planet. She also has yet to whack me upside the head with a pillow to get me up in the mornings and I appreciate her restraint.

Two

OPI Nail Polish. The stuff on my toes right now is “Princesses Rule!” and it’s a nice light pink color with glitter. I’m also a fan of “Pedal Faster Suzi!” which is usually what I end up with if I get gel on my hands and lacquer on my toes. (For the record, I had never had my nails done ever until I turned 29 and was down in southern California on a call interview for Jon. My 16 year old self is rolling her eyes.)

Three

“Tacky” by Weird Al. It’s awesome as all of Weird Al’s music is. (It’s a parody of Pharrell’s “Happy”.

Four

“Hedge of Protection” by Tim Hawkins. I quote this one at least daily. I also have to make sure I’m not drinking anything when certain friends of mine are praying for me because I *will* spit out whatever I’m drinking when they pray for a “hedge of protection” around me. (This would be the source of the chai on my dashboard.)

Five

“Just, Just, Father, Father” by Tim Hawkins. I am totally guilty of using the word “just” too often in prayer.

Go love up Heather and the others.

This Past Weekend

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We’re in the process of packing to move right now so I’m going to be relatively scarce this week as I’ve been the past few weeks. I did, however, want to talk about my weekend.

Last week, I received the news from Margaret (my former church choir director in San Jose) that one of the choir members had passed away. Winnie stood next to me in choir for a year and a half until I left for college and then on any Sunday I happened to be home. She and her husband Jack adopted me as their surrogate daughter when I was 17 and they were at my wedding 12 years ago, the last time I had been in the sanctuary at ECA. The funeral was on Saturday and my parents were delighted to watch Daniel so I could go.

It was sad to be back at ECA for the first time in 11 years and to know that Winnie wouldn’t be there. I got big hugs from her husband Jack and I got to see people again that I hadn’t seen for years. One of them was Andy the folk choir director (the folk choir provided the music for the liturgy) and he invited me to come and sing with them on Sunday. I didn’t have any amazing plans for Pentecost so I decided to take him up on the offer. It was the first time I had been in the choir loft in years and I was also pretty amazed (as I had been the day before) that Andy’s musical setting for the liturgy was still present in the recesses of my brain and that I could recall it.

As I was standing in the choir loft on Sunday morning, I realized that the reason I know Rite II of the BCP so well is that I had Winnie praying it in my ear for so long. While I’ve been gone from the Episcopal Church for a long time now, the Book of Common Prayer still remains one of the sources for the words I use to express myself spiritually (the other being the Lutheran Book of Worship) and it all started in that tiny second floor sanctuary in San Jose.

I offer all this to demonstrate that you don’t have to say brilliant things, offer advice at every turn (in fact, don’t — I mean it), or be the perfect Proverbs 31/Titus 2 woman to bring someone to Christ. In fact, all you really have to do is love them and show them the faith that sustains you daily. I’m grateful that Jack and Winnie and really the entire choir at ECA adopted me back then — they are a large part of why I am a Christian today.

Into your hands, O merciful Savior, we commend your servant, Winnie. 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.