We were up bright & early & were very happy not to have drunk to excess the night before. That just doesn't interest me at all anymore. Oh, yay, I get to act idiotic & throw up, then feel atrocious in the morning! What a fun time!
My sermon, on Luke 2:22-40 and about how we need to be patient with God's time & not lose faith, was well-received. The whole service went very smoothly, even with my mentor not there to be the liturgist. He was so sick over the holidays, coughing up lungs right and left. I got a lot of compliments on both the sermon and my use of the feminine pronoun when referring to God in the benediction. I was relieved to have it over. J was bursting with pride & took me to lunch at Carrabbas (Meadowlark being closed) to celebrate. We ate so much calamari that we took most of our main courses home. LOL! We popped into Books & Co to pick up my copy of The Alphabet Versus the Goddess for book group, then went home and NAPPED!
We ran out to the grocery about 6:30 & returned an hour later to find the boys being dropped off early, instead of at 9 as planned. They were in good spirits & ran upstairs to play with their new toys while I cooked our annual New Year's Day White Dinner. I made pork chops & sauerkraut, mashed potatoes, & Hoppin' John. J & I were the only ones to eat, the boys having eaten fast food on the way home.
Tuesday, January 10, 2006
Rosemary & Brent's New Year's Eve Wedding
We got home from West Virginia with just enough time to wrap wedding gifts, get changed, & get to the wedding. It was absolutely lovely, with Rosemary's dad presiding, a reading from The Velveteen Rabbit, and their 7 month old son acting as ringbearer, with an assist from the best man. Rosemary looked gorgeous & Brent looked so handsome. Both families are happy with the match & so am I. Brent is kind & good & truly loves Rosemary for who she really is. They seem just right for each other.
The reception was very nice, too, with yummy veggie lasagna, a great face painter for the little ones (oh, and several big ones, too), a stunning tiered cake that Rosemary made herself, and a minimum of silliness. No cake-smashing, garter or bouquet tossing, drunken toasts, or chicken dancing. Just elegant harp music and people enjoying one another's company. And me practicing my sermon. LOL! J made me go out in the lobby & practice for awhile & then had me practice in the reception hall.
After the reception, several of us hung out in their suite drinking champagne & joking around until it was time to go to Yellow Springs for the ball drop. They had thoughtfully provided confetti, horns, noisemakers, glittery feathered tiaras, & top hats, which we all took maximum advantage of. As we made our way through town, trailing behind the bridal couple in their full wedding attire, people kept asking if they were really getting married. Yes, yes, they did get married tonight, yes. 2006 was rung in with much smooching & champagne & noisemaking & confetti-tossing & laughter. Then, we went home & got some rest for my big day.
The reception was very nice, too, with yummy veggie lasagna, a great face painter for the little ones (oh, and several big ones, too), a stunning tiered cake that Rosemary made herself, and a minimum of silliness. No cake-smashing, garter or bouquet tossing, drunken toasts, or chicken dancing. Just elegant harp music and people enjoying one another's company. And me practicing my sermon. LOL! J made me go out in the lobby & practice for awhile & then had me practice in the reception hall.
After the reception, several of us hung out in their suite drinking champagne & joking around until it was time to go to Yellow Springs for the ball drop. They had thoughtfully provided confetti, horns, noisemakers, glittery feathered tiaras, & top hats, which we all took maximum advantage of. As we made our way through town, trailing behind the bridal couple in their full wedding attire, people kept asking if they were really getting married. Yes, yes, they did get married tonight, yes. 2006 was rung in with much smooching & champagne & noisemaking & confetti-tossing & laughter. Then, we went home & got some rest for my big day.
Christmas & Surrounding Days Part 2
We were awoken by a loud knocking on the bedroom door at 9:00 Christmas morning. The boys had already been downstairs to check out the packages under the tree and had moved the stockings into the living room. They were so good with waiting until 9. They have always been very good about not waking us up at the crack of dawn...a good thing, since we are usually up until just before dawn cracks!
We opened stockings (Baci chocolates, a gift certificate for a facial, a Barbie dress, and various & sundry other girly items), then got down to gifts. J gave me a bounty of absolutely wonderful gifts. Fairy prints & figures, silver-colored chargers, a kitchen torch, a vintage-style quilt from the Shabby Chic collection, a talking drum, a whole box of altered book supplies...just so many things I love. Missing were a set of sheets & 2 Christmas CDs (Harry Connick Jr & Rat Pack) she bought me. She swears the bag is somewhere in the house. I hope we find it soon because I happened to get her the exact same set & I want to exchange mine for a different print. Pie was so happy with his computer that he hugged it, later in the day. But, when we were opening gifts, he had a really bad headache, so we just let him go back to bed & saved his gifts for him to open later. He gave me a tiny glass angel from Hallmark. Jeannene got a purple dragon from the same case. Boot was thrilled with his jerseys, his framed Green Bay ephemera, and his MP3 player (if we could only figure out how the hell to use it! I hate techno stuff!). He got us both things from Yankee candle, a cranberry peppermint candle with a glass shade for J & a really cute reindeer tart warmer for me.
After gifts, Boot joined his brother in the bedroom to play while we cleaned up & had some breakfast casserole. J started cooking & I kept her company, working on Christmas cards. Yep, I was late this year...got them sent on Epiphany! They were done on Christmas, but I had a hard time finding stamps. Yeah, yeah, yeah, it's always something...LOL! We had such a nice, quiet, mellow Christmas Day. J made a great turkey dinner with all the fixings...I did the mashed potatoes, but she made everything else. Green bean casserole, sweet potatoes baked & topped with cinnamon-brown sugar butter, a big green salad, stuffing, gravy. I had planned to make a chocolate nemesis cake, but with the big dinner, we decided stocking candy was a good enough dessert!
Monday, we took the kids to see "King Kong" and since they are big enough now, we got to go see a movie we wanted to see! We escorted them to their theater before going to see "The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe" ourselves. We enjoyed it & ran into Rachel & her family while there. She was just sparkling this visit & I was to find out why on Tuesday. But, I'm getting ahead of myself.
When we got home, we had just a little time before the boys' father came to pick them up for a week-long visit. So, we opened Hanukkah gifts. I wanted to play dreidel, but there just wasn't time. We did have some jelly doughnuts & light the menorah. J had forgotten to get me a gift, but since she bought me some adorable Tinkerbell underwear that day, I told her it counted. I gave her a Thich Nhat Hanh book & a B&N gift certificate. Boot got the Clue 50 Mysteries game he'd been wanting & Pie got Life.
After the boys left, we went over to Brendan & Laura's for dinner. We have been trying to get together for months, but scheduling for 2 pastors (one of whom is also a professor), a salad plant operations manager, and a seminary student is HARD! They have a sweet new dog (named Tosh, after Peter Tosh), a rescued 1 year old part Basenji. After getting the grand tour of the new condo, we sat & had baked brie & drinks. Then, Papa Murphy's pizza. They were incredibly apologetic about not being foodies that night, but the pizza was great! There was a very spinachy, garlicky veggie pizza & a "Cowboy Pizza", with sausage, olives, & lots of onions. Laura made a delicious salad, too, with blue cheese, nuts, & dried cranberries in it. We had a great visit, then stopped at the bookstore on the way home. J picked up another Thich Nhat Hanh book & we got some calendars. I chose the porches one for the bedroom & a Lonely Planet one for the study. J got a frog-a-day calendar for her office. I had gotten her a Mucha one for the main family calendar. I'd better find her one for the office wall, too! And soon, before they're all sent back!
Tuesday, I spent time wrapping for the West Virginia folks & watching Food Network & working on my sermon. I met Rachel for lunch at The Winds, too. She had on the most gorgeous green sweater & was still sparkling. Turns out she's met this guy who is single & smart & sweet & fun. He likes to buy her jewelry & cashmere sweaters, he wants to go out & do fun things, he thinks she's beautiful, & he plans to take her to Montreal. He is kind & interesting to talk to. He sounds like what she's been looking for all these years. He sounds great to me, too. I got word from her today that they are now officially dating & I am so happy for her! Lunch was, as always, splendid. Rachel had the Tuscan bread salad (which I adore) & a cup of black bean chili. I had an incredible Boursin omelet & a cup of Alsatian potato soup, which was out of this world, with cabbage & caraway. Mmm. We both had the Rike's meringue for dessert, mine with strawberry sauce & hers with Scharffen Berger chocolate sauce. I was envious of hers. LOL! They would have been better with fruit instead of ice cream, but I always love a good meringue even bare naked, so I was happy. I just rolled the ice cream off & left it behind.
I was sorry I didn't have time to poke around the shops with Rachel. Our visits are always too short & this one felt even shorter. But, I had to go home & get packed. When J got home at 5:30 or 6, I was ready, with the car almost completely loaded. I just had to have her choose which nibby things she wanted for her snack basket, then we hit 35, headed east. Our trip down was great, with a stop for dinner at Red Lobster. J had the king crab & sighed happily all through it. I adored my tilapia & baked potato. There is just something about a good piece of grilled fish & a perfectly baked potato. Of course, those crazy-good biscuits were my favorite part of the meal.
We arrived at the hotel after midnight & tucked into bed right away. I'd had the foresight to pack our suitcases in the back seat & the gifts in the trunk, so there was no lugging back & forth of gifts. In the morning, we had breakfast in the lobby & then soaked in the hot tub for awhile. Very relaxing.
Then, we went to the Home Place for our Christmas celebration. Lenore was in the tub & my mom was stirring an aromatic pot of potato soup. We hugged & chattered as we brought in gifts & piled them under the tree. We had veggies & dill dip, cheese & crackers, & potato soup for lunch. Graham arrived just as we were starting to eat. For dessert, we had my mom's homemade stollen & Lenore's cookie factory treats: fudge, wreath cookies, brownies, & such. We opened stockings (I got a set of Maurice Sendak holiday cards!), then gifts. Most of the gifts were from us to them & I liked it that way. I had fun being the elf. J got a wonderful red sweater from the North Polars & I got a beautifully painted (by my fairy godmama) sign for our home, Fernwood, commissioned by the North Polars. Graham had found us some wonderful old black & white photos of lesbians (& some other ephemera). There were beads for J & hot pink glass balls for my silver & pink Christmas tree, in lovely antique tins. Lenore was pleased with her snow scene sheets, towels, & such. I think my mom's favorite gift was the lush Moroccan-influenced throw. And Graham just kept grinning & taking photos. In the evening, we had my ma's superb veggie lasagna, a big salad, and hot bread for our Christmas dinner. Lenore, my mom, & I tried tangerintinis (wow! Terrific mix from Jungle Jim's) while J & Graham stuck to beers.
We went back to the hotel & collapsed into bed, preparing for our trip the next day. In the morning, I went to breakfast while J dozed a bit more. I chit-chatted with a fellow guest about religion & was informed by the Provider of All Things Breakfast that J & I had "some admirers" the day before. I thought maybe she meant that some folks were yapping about the lesbians after we left breakfast. Turns out that when we went out to the hot tub, some guys were watching us with great appreciation! What the heck? I never expected to be drooled over in my swimsuit. I present okay when fully dressed, but half-nekked? Apparently, they liked the "junk" in our "trunks" and were highly complimentary about our thighs, of all things...hilarious!
After breakfast, I worked some more on my sermon & J hung out in the hot tub. I joined her for a bit, then we got dressed. My mom & Graham met us to go to the Huntington Museum of Art. We had a grand time exploring that...and I loved getting to see a little of Huntington, too. We'll have to go down for the Huntington Hilltop one of these years. Of course, with the way J has been talking, we're going to end up WV residents after she retires. Sounds good to me! In the museum, we first went to the conservatory & enjoyed the warm air & unusual plants. We got to see a chocolate tree & a coffee tree. We found out that a LOT of plants are related to the poinsettia. And we saw orchids that looked like little elves. Next, we hit a folk art exhibit & a photo show of old Opry pictures. We walked through a hall of winter scenes & into the glass gallery, which Pie would have loved. Then, we saw an exhibit of photographic works by Maggie Taylor (www.maggietaylor.com) and Jerry Uelsmann (www.uelsmann.com), both of whom do incredible work. His is all black & white & is hand-manipulated. Hers is colorful & done with computer programs. It reminds me a little bit of some of the collage work Teesha Moore has done. We finished the day with a tour through the Middle Eastern gallery, the household items gallery (I call it...samovars & such...really nice stuff!), and the gift shop. Oh, and J & I played with the kids' texture exhibit, too. She wanted to turn the train on, but didn't want to get in trouble. J sneaked & bought a calendar for my mom as a memento.
After the museum, we went to an Indian restaurant & had a delicious anniversary dinner. The food isn't as great as Ajanta, but very, very good. I would definitely go back...except this time, I wouldn't let the waiter boss me into ordering plain tea & mild spicing. LOL! On the way home, we went with my mom & Graham to Lowe's to pick out a new dryer for Lenore, whose dryer finally conked out. We drooled over bath & kitchen ideas while they made the final decision. Then, we went back to the holler to help them get it from the truck to the porch before going back to the hotel.
We had breakfast in the morning at Cracker Barrel. They were having an off morning & if I hadn't found some cool things in the gift shop, I would have much preferred a bagel in the lobby of the hotel. Oh, well, no big deal. We headed for the Home Place, then, to help get the old dryer out & the new one in. It went more smoothly than I'd expected, which is not to say that it went at all smoothly. But, everyone remained patient & calm & I don't think there was even any cussing, although Lenore had to take her wine & cheese & vanish for awhile.
I finished my sermon while J & my mom played dice games & cooked, Graham did research for his book, & Lenore napped. Then, we had latkes, my mom's honey applesauce, my deviled eggs and salad for dinner. We sat around visiting until it was quite late, then went to the hotel. In the morning, we packed up & headed home after breakfast in the lobby. We stopped again at Red Lobster, looking for J's glasses. We didn't find them, but we did have a good lunch. Shrimp for me, this time, & snow crab & tilapia for my sweetie.
We opened stockings (Baci chocolates, a gift certificate for a facial, a Barbie dress, and various & sundry other girly items), then got down to gifts. J gave me a bounty of absolutely wonderful gifts. Fairy prints & figures, silver-colored chargers, a kitchen torch, a vintage-style quilt from the Shabby Chic collection, a talking drum, a whole box of altered book supplies...just so many things I love. Missing were a set of sheets & 2 Christmas CDs (Harry Connick Jr & Rat Pack) she bought me. She swears the bag is somewhere in the house. I hope we find it soon because I happened to get her the exact same set & I want to exchange mine for a different print. Pie was so happy with his computer that he hugged it, later in the day. But, when we were opening gifts, he had a really bad headache, so we just let him go back to bed & saved his gifts for him to open later. He gave me a tiny glass angel from Hallmark. Jeannene got a purple dragon from the same case. Boot was thrilled with his jerseys, his framed Green Bay ephemera, and his MP3 player (if we could only figure out how the hell to use it! I hate techno stuff!). He got us both things from Yankee candle, a cranberry peppermint candle with a glass shade for J & a really cute reindeer tart warmer for me.
After gifts, Boot joined his brother in the bedroom to play while we cleaned up & had some breakfast casserole. J started cooking & I kept her company, working on Christmas cards. Yep, I was late this year...got them sent on Epiphany! They were done on Christmas, but I had a hard time finding stamps. Yeah, yeah, yeah, it's always something...LOL! We had such a nice, quiet, mellow Christmas Day. J made a great turkey dinner with all the fixings...I did the mashed potatoes, but she made everything else. Green bean casserole, sweet potatoes baked & topped with cinnamon-brown sugar butter, a big green salad, stuffing, gravy. I had planned to make a chocolate nemesis cake, but with the big dinner, we decided stocking candy was a good enough dessert!
Monday, we took the kids to see "King Kong" and since they are big enough now, we got to go see a movie we wanted to see! We escorted them to their theater before going to see "The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe" ourselves. We enjoyed it & ran into Rachel & her family while there. She was just sparkling this visit & I was to find out why on Tuesday. But, I'm getting ahead of myself.
When we got home, we had just a little time before the boys' father came to pick them up for a week-long visit. So, we opened Hanukkah gifts. I wanted to play dreidel, but there just wasn't time. We did have some jelly doughnuts & light the menorah. J had forgotten to get me a gift, but since she bought me some adorable Tinkerbell underwear that day, I told her it counted. I gave her a Thich Nhat Hanh book & a B&N gift certificate. Boot got the Clue 50 Mysteries game he'd been wanting & Pie got Life.
After the boys left, we went over to Brendan & Laura's for dinner. We have been trying to get together for months, but scheduling for 2 pastors (one of whom is also a professor), a salad plant operations manager, and a seminary student is HARD! They have a sweet new dog (named Tosh, after Peter Tosh), a rescued 1 year old part Basenji. After getting the grand tour of the new condo, we sat & had baked brie & drinks. Then, Papa Murphy's pizza. They were incredibly apologetic about not being foodies that night, but the pizza was great! There was a very spinachy, garlicky veggie pizza & a "Cowboy Pizza", with sausage, olives, & lots of onions. Laura made a delicious salad, too, with blue cheese, nuts, & dried cranberries in it. We had a great visit, then stopped at the bookstore on the way home. J picked up another Thich Nhat Hanh book & we got some calendars. I chose the porches one for the bedroom & a Lonely Planet one for the study. J got a frog-a-day calendar for her office. I had gotten her a Mucha one for the main family calendar. I'd better find her one for the office wall, too! And soon, before they're all sent back!
Tuesday, I spent time wrapping for the West Virginia folks & watching Food Network & working on my sermon. I met Rachel for lunch at The Winds, too. She had on the most gorgeous green sweater & was still sparkling. Turns out she's met this guy who is single & smart & sweet & fun. He likes to buy her jewelry & cashmere sweaters, he wants to go out & do fun things, he thinks she's beautiful, & he plans to take her to Montreal. He is kind & interesting to talk to. He sounds like what she's been looking for all these years. He sounds great to me, too. I got word from her today that they are now officially dating & I am so happy for her! Lunch was, as always, splendid. Rachel had the Tuscan bread salad (which I adore) & a cup of black bean chili. I had an incredible Boursin omelet & a cup of Alsatian potato soup, which was out of this world, with cabbage & caraway. Mmm. We both had the Rike's meringue for dessert, mine with strawberry sauce & hers with Scharffen Berger chocolate sauce. I was envious of hers. LOL! They would have been better with fruit instead of ice cream, but I always love a good meringue even bare naked, so I was happy. I just rolled the ice cream off & left it behind.
I was sorry I didn't have time to poke around the shops with Rachel. Our visits are always too short & this one felt even shorter. But, I had to go home & get packed. When J got home at 5:30 or 6, I was ready, with the car almost completely loaded. I just had to have her choose which nibby things she wanted for her snack basket, then we hit 35, headed east. Our trip down was great, with a stop for dinner at Red Lobster. J had the king crab & sighed happily all through it. I adored my tilapia & baked potato. There is just something about a good piece of grilled fish & a perfectly baked potato. Of course, those crazy-good biscuits were my favorite part of the meal.
We arrived at the hotel after midnight & tucked into bed right away. I'd had the foresight to pack our suitcases in the back seat & the gifts in the trunk, so there was no lugging back & forth of gifts. In the morning, we had breakfast in the lobby & then soaked in the hot tub for awhile. Very relaxing.
Then, we went to the Home Place for our Christmas celebration. Lenore was in the tub & my mom was stirring an aromatic pot of potato soup. We hugged & chattered as we brought in gifts & piled them under the tree. We had veggies & dill dip, cheese & crackers, & potato soup for lunch. Graham arrived just as we were starting to eat. For dessert, we had my mom's homemade stollen & Lenore's cookie factory treats: fudge, wreath cookies, brownies, & such. We opened stockings (I got a set of Maurice Sendak holiday cards!), then gifts. Most of the gifts were from us to them & I liked it that way. I had fun being the elf. J got a wonderful red sweater from the North Polars & I got a beautifully painted (by my fairy godmama) sign for our home, Fernwood, commissioned by the North Polars. Graham had found us some wonderful old black & white photos of lesbians (& some other ephemera). There were beads for J & hot pink glass balls for my silver & pink Christmas tree, in lovely antique tins. Lenore was pleased with her snow scene sheets, towels, & such. I think my mom's favorite gift was the lush Moroccan-influenced throw. And Graham just kept grinning & taking photos. In the evening, we had my ma's superb veggie lasagna, a big salad, and hot bread for our Christmas dinner. Lenore, my mom, & I tried tangerintinis (wow! Terrific mix from Jungle Jim's) while J & Graham stuck to beers.
We went back to the hotel & collapsed into bed, preparing for our trip the next day. In the morning, I went to breakfast while J dozed a bit more. I chit-chatted with a fellow guest about religion & was informed by the Provider of All Things Breakfast that J & I had "some admirers" the day before. I thought maybe she meant that some folks were yapping about the lesbians after we left breakfast. Turns out that when we went out to the hot tub, some guys were watching us with great appreciation! What the heck? I never expected to be drooled over in my swimsuit. I present okay when fully dressed, but half-nekked? Apparently, they liked the "junk" in our "trunks" and were highly complimentary about our thighs, of all things...hilarious!
After breakfast, I worked some more on my sermon & J hung out in the hot tub. I joined her for a bit, then we got dressed. My mom & Graham met us to go to the Huntington Museum of Art. We had a grand time exploring that...and I loved getting to see a little of Huntington, too. We'll have to go down for the Huntington Hilltop one of these years. Of course, with the way J has been talking, we're going to end up WV residents after she retires. Sounds good to me! In the museum, we first went to the conservatory & enjoyed the warm air & unusual plants. We got to see a chocolate tree & a coffee tree. We found out that a LOT of plants are related to the poinsettia. And we saw orchids that looked like little elves. Next, we hit a folk art exhibit & a photo show of old Opry pictures. We walked through a hall of winter scenes & into the glass gallery, which Pie would have loved. Then, we saw an exhibit of photographic works by Maggie Taylor (www.maggietaylor.com) and Jerry Uelsmann (www.uelsmann.com), both of whom do incredible work. His is all black & white & is hand-manipulated. Hers is colorful & done with computer programs. It reminds me a little bit of some of the collage work Teesha Moore has done. We finished the day with a tour through the Middle Eastern gallery, the household items gallery (I call it...samovars & such...really nice stuff!), and the gift shop. Oh, and J & I played with the kids' texture exhibit, too. She wanted to turn the train on, but didn't want to get in trouble. J sneaked & bought a calendar for my mom as a memento.
After the museum, we went to an Indian restaurant & had a delicious anniversary dinner. The food isn't as great as Ajanta, but very, very good. I would definitely go back...except this time, I wouldn't let the waiter boss me into ordering plain tea & mild spicing. LOL! On the way home, we went with my mom & Graham to Lowe's to pick out a new dryer for Lenore, whose dryer finally conked out. We drooled over bath & kitchen ideas while they made the final decision. Then, we went back to the holler to help them get it from the truck to the porch before going back to the hotel.
We had breakfast in the morning at Cracker Barrel. They were having an off morning & if I hadn't found some cool things in the gift shop, I would have much preferred a bagel in the lobby of the hotel. Oh, well, no big deal. We headed for the Home Place, then, to help get the old dryer out & the new one in. It went more smoothly than I'd expected, which is not to say that it went at all smoothly. But, everyone remained patient & calm & I don't think there was even any cussing, although Lenore had to take her wine & cheese & vanish for awhile.
I finished my sermon while J & my mom played dice games & cooked, Graham did research for his book, & Lenore napped. Then, we had latkes, my mom's honey applesauce, my deviled eggs and salad for dinner. We sat around visiting until it was quite late, then went to the hotel. In the morning, we packed up & headed home after breakfast in the lobby. We stopped again at Red Lobster, looking for J's glasses. We didn't find them, but we did have a good lunch. Shrimp for me, this time, & snow crab & tilapia for my sweetie.
Monday, January 09, 2006
Christmas 2005...and the Surrounding Days (Part 1)
We managed to get most of the boys' gifts wrapped in the weeks preceding Christmas week, so things were slightly less frantic than usual. J was off work the 22nd & 23rd, as well as over Christmas weekend. We did last minute shopping and hung out with the kiddos. I wanted to do some baking, but ran out of time. I had made some chocolate rum balls for the Uppity Book Women cookie exchange & some cappuccino truffles for faculty thank you gifts, but that was it.
We had our traditional pre-Christmas fondue dinner on the 23rd. The boys got to have cheeseburgers, which Boot made on the George Foreman grill he got for his 13th birthday. After they went to bed, we settled in on the couch with cheese fondue, hunks of French bread & salads. I have finally found a recipe that won't clump. I think part of the key is using Gruyere & Emmenthaler rather than trying to substitute plain old Swiss cheese. I think the other part is adding the cheese very, very gradually. Whatever the reason for the success, it was delicious!
We spent much of Christmas Eve day wrapping for each other & finishing the boys'. I hung out in the study listening to This American Life, a holiday program featuring both Christmas & Hanukkah music (wrapping gifts to klezmer tunes is fun), and some bluegrass Christmas tunes on public radio. J ensconced herself in our bedroom watching action or zombie flicks.
Once the wrapping was finished, I started our Nochebuena feast. I ran out of time to make the yuca with mojo sauce, but we did have puerco asado, black beans & rice, and fried plantains. Which was plenty. The next time I make Cuban food, I'll do the yuca. One of these years, we'll have to spend Nochebuena in Miami with my family.
We all got changed into church clothes (I wore a black cashmere sweater with black taffeta ball skirt & sparkly jewelry, which was fun) & walked to the Presbyterian church for the 7:30 service. We met Rachel & her niece, Rebekkah, there. Since Rachel & I hadn't seen each other in ages, we chatted a little during the pre-service music. Boot, who thinks he needs to micromanage everyone within a 50-foot radius these days, was quite displeased with us. He wrote his mother a note saying that since I am in seminary, I should know better than to talk during church...and then proceeded to write notes to her throughout the actual service! At least he wasn't getting cell phone calls from his dad in the middle of the service. Pie, on the other hand, was just about perfect. The sermon was good, the music was good, the candlelight was beautiful. Afterward, we walked home & found a gift basket waiting for us, from Rosemary & Brent. It was full of all kinds of delightful gifts, fairy notecards & a Sierra Club calendar & a little Tomi Ungerer book about cats, among other things. They are so thoughtful!
We opened our Christmas Eve gifts. Pie was bitterly disappointed that he got pajamas, even though we always get sleep clothes as our Christmas Eve gift. I guess he had forgotten. He won't wear them, so we are giving them to the son of one of J's employees. They have very little money & I know they can use anything we can spare. We bought gifts for other children of J's workers this year, too. Things are bad for so many people, financially. Boot liked his boxers, especially the Snoopy ones. J thought her nightgown, a soft cotton one, was just right. And I was utterly bowled over by the glamour and beauty of mine. J got me a stunning smoky lilac set (long gown, robe, short gown & panties). It's soft & silky & dripping lace and sparkles.
After opening our gifts, we headed out for the 11 o'clock service at the UCC...and unexpected adventure! The boys were so sleepy that when we got to the church & 2 little girls offered to share their bedding with Pie, he snugged in happily. Boot remained sitting, but only half-alert. I was the liturgist and halfway through the sermon, the pastor went into a coughing fit & couldn't get it back together. He asked me to come finish & I did! It actually went quite smoothly & I got a lot of compliments afterward. People were astounded to discover that I had never seen the sermon before & that I had never been in the pulpit before. Luckily, he recovered enough to do communion. However, after that, it was all me. It was a lovely service & we went home tired & peaceful.
Before going to bed, we put gifts under the tree & filled stockings. Then, I got our breakfast casserole cooking in the crockpot before heading to bed in my luscious new gown.
We had our traditional pre-Christmas fondue dinner on the 23rd. The boys got to have cheeseburgers, which Boot made on the George Foreman grill he got for his 13th birthday. After they went to bed, we settled in on the couch with cheese fondue, hunks of French bread & salads. I have finally found a recipe that won't clump. I think part of the key is using Gruyere & Emmenthaler rather than trying to substitute plain old Swiss cheese. I think the other part is adding the cheese very, very gradually. Whatever the reason for the success, it was delicious!
We spent much of Christmas Eve day wrapping for each other & finishing the boys'. I hung out in the study listening to This American Life, a holiday program featuring both Christmas & Hanukkah music (wrapping gifts to klezmer tunes is fun), and some bluegrass Christmas tunes on public radio. J ensconced herself in our bedroom watching action or zombie flicks.
Once the wrapping was finished, I started our Nochebuena feast. I ran out of time to make the yuca with mojo sauce, but we did have puerco asado, black beans & rice, and fried plantains. Which was plenty. The next time I make Cuban food, I'll do the yuca. One of these years, we'll have to spend Nochebuena in Miami with my family.
We all got changed into church clothes (I wore a black cashmere sweater with black taffeta ball skirt & sparkly jewelry, which was fun) & walked to the Presbyterian church for the 7:30 service. We met Rachel & her niece, Rebekkah, there. Since Rachel & I hadn't seen each other in ages, we chatted a little during the pre-service music. Boot, who thinks he needs to micromanage everyone within a 50-foot radius these days, was quite displeased with us. He wrote his mother a note saying that since I am in seminary, I should know better than to talk during church...and then proceeded to write notes to her throughout the actual service! At least he wasn't getting cell phone calls from his dad in the middle of the service. Pie, on the other hand, was just about perfect. The sermon was good, the music was good, the candlelight was beautiful. Afterward, we walked home & found a gift basket waiting for us, from Rosemary & Brent. It was full of all kinds of delightful gifts, fairy notecards & a Sierra Club calendar & a little Tomi Ungerer book about cats, among other things. They are so thoughtful!
We opened our Christmas Eve gifts. Pie was bitterly disappointed that he got pajamas, even though we always get sleep clothes as our Christmas Eve gift. I guess he had forgotten. He won't wear them, so we are giving them to the son of one of J's employees. They have very little money & I know they can use anything we can spare. We bought gifts for other children of J's workers this year, too. Things are bad for so many people, financially. Boot liked his boxers, especially the Snoopy ones. J thought her nightgown, a soft cotton one, was just right. And I was utterly bowled over by the glamour and beauty of mine. J got me a stunning smoky lilac set (long gown, robe, short gown & panties). It's soft & silky & dripping lace and sparkles.
After opening our gifts, we headed out for the 11 o'clock service at the UCC...and unexpected adventure! The boys were so sleepy that when we got to the church & 2 little girls offered to share their bedding with Pie, he snugged in happily. Boot remained sitting, but only half-alert. I was the liturgist and halfway through the sermon, the pastor went into a coughing fit & couldn't get it back together. He asked me to come finish & I did! It actually went quite smoothly & I got a lot of compliments afterward. People were astounded to discover that I had never seen the sermon before & that I had never been in the pulpit before. Luckily, he recovered enough to do communion. However, after that, it was all me. It was a lovely service & we went home tired & peaceful.
Before going to bed, we put gifts under the tree & filled stockings. Then, I got our breakfast casserole cooking in the crockpot before heading to bed in my luscious new gown.
Why Mary Should Remain a Presbyterian
Okay, I can't really tell Mary (or anyone else, for that matter) why she should remain a Presbyterian. I can only explain why I have. Of course, I am currently a member of two churches, the other one being a UCC. But, the reason I am still a Presbyterian is because walking away would be like giving up. Just as I don't think moving to a "blue" state is the answer to 2004's very ugly election results, I don't think moving to a more-progressive-by-nature church will do the trick. There is more work to be done, in terms of progressive teaching/enlightening, in the Presbyterian Church than in the particular UCC where I am interning. I'm not so interested in "preaching to the choir," although our particular choir has some lovely members. There are good people who need to be exposed to more open-minded views, views I am happy to provide. That & the simple fact that the Presbyterian Church, despite all its dysfunctional quirks, feels like church to me. I was raised there. It feels right, if in need of some tinkering (AKA bringing into the 21st century). Oh, and I can't forget that I adore the current pastor & his wife, as well. I think there are going to be some exciting motions forward in the next several years & I'd like to be around to see them.
Thursday, December 15, 2005
Getting the Tree & Seeing the Family
Last Friday night, J & I had dinner at The Olive Garden. It was great, surprisingly. Not that the Olive Garden is bad, it's just not usually so good. J had 4-cheese penne & I had some kind of balsamic-drizzled beef tenderloin with fettucine in gorgonzola cream sauce. Then, we went right home to bed.
Saturday, we had lunch at The Winds. We split a wonderful pear-based salad with blue cheese crumbles. J had the organic sandwich, packed with cheese & veggies, while I had Christmas lima beans stewed with veggies & served over rice with a wedge of cabbage & a smattering of blue cheese crumbles. They call it "Blue Christmas" & it's divine.
After lunch, we went out to the school forest festival & had a little boy (well, a high school freshman) cut our tree down for us. It was so much fun to tromp through the snowy woods looking for just the perfect tree. I get extra punches on my butch card because I got the tree to the car & loaded nearly all by myself. J did do some tugging from the other end to get it more securely into the trunk. I love having fold-down seats!
We just had a little time before we had to head out for the UCC church, so we changed from our lumberjack clothes into bling, in preparation for Rosemary & Brent's pre-wedding cocktail party. I was the liturgist for the church service & had fun doing that. Then, we headed over to Brent's folks' extremely swanky neighborhood of winding streets & gigantic houses. The party turned out to be not so swanky, which was very nice. Despite the large amount of money (both Brent's parents are surgeons & the party was basically to show Rosemary & the baby off to their friends), the people were not at all pretentious or snotty. We had a good time, especially chatting with Rosemary's parents & playing with the bambino boy.
However, since the food was light rather than heavy appetizers, we grabbed dinner (well, breakfast for me) at Frisch's on the way home. J was up & down all night cooking a turkey & a ham for her family Christmas get-together. We stopped at Borders for coffees & a tide-over snack on the way down to Hamilton. We had a nice visit with J's family, but had to leave before they started eating so that we could greet the boys when they got home. I quick whipped up some artichoke dip & we took that as our contribution to Christmas Family Night at the Presbyterian church. We munched & visited with our former pastor's wife & little boy, as well as Brendan & Laura. They brought a gorgeous pannettone for their contribution. I am not entirely sure the congregation knew what to make of it. This is the sort of carry-in dinner where there are generally at least 3 buckets of KFC. Our Sunday school class did a skit & also J & I told some childhood memories of Christmas. Then, we headed home & I worked on Hebrew while the kids went to bed & J read Artemis Fowl.
Saturday, we had lunch at The Winds. We split a wonderful pear-based salad with blue cheese crumbles. J had the organic sandwich, packed with cheese & veggies, while I had Christmas lima beans stewed with veggies & served over rice with a wedge of cabbage & a smattering of blue cheese crumbles. They call it "Blue Christmas" & it's divine.
After lunch, we went out to the school forest festival & had a little boy (well, a high school freshman) cut our tree down for us. It was so much fun to tromp through the snowy woods looking for just the perfect tree. I get extra punches on my butch card because I got the tree to the car & loaded nearly all by myself. J did do some tugging from the other end to get it more securely into the trunk. I love having fold-down seats!
We just had a little time before we had to head out for the UCC church, so we changed from our lumberjack clothes into bling, in preparation for Rosemary & Brent's pre-wedding cocktail party. I was the liturgist for the church service & had fun doing that. Then, we headed over to Brent's folks' extremely swanky neighborhood of winding streets & gigantic houses. The party turned out to be not so swanky, which was very nice. Despite the large amount of money (both Brent's parents are surgeons & the party was basically to show Rosemary & the baby off to their friends), the people were not at all pretentious or snotty. We had a good time, especially chatting with Rosemary's parents & playing with the bambino boy.
However, since the food was light rather than heavy appetizers, we grabbed dinner (well, breakfast for me) at Frisch's on the way home. J was up & down all night cooking a turkey & a ham for her family Christmas get-together. We stopped at Borders for coffees & a tide-over snack on the way down to Hamilton. We had a nice visit with J's family, but had to leave before they started eating so that we could greet the boys when they got home. I quick whipped up some artichoke dip & we took that as our contribution to Christmas Family Night at the Presbyterian church. We munched & visited with our former pastor's wife & little boy, as well as Brendan & Laura. They brought a gorgeous pannettone for their contribution. I am not entirely sure the congregation knew what to make of it. This is the sort of carry-in dinner where there are generally at least 3 buckets of KFC. Our Sunday school class did a skit & also J & I told some childhood memories of Christmas. Then, we headed home & I worked on Hebrew while the kids went to bed & J read Artemis Fowl.
One Semester Down...
That's right, today was the last day of my first semester of seminary. I had a ball, even learning Hebrew, which is hard and took up any spare time that might have been spent blogging. A quick recap of my classes:
Hebrew 1: Lots of hard work, but rewarding & with a great professor. He tells me that I am doing well. I guess he would know. It doesn't feel like it. But, I signed on for more Hebrew next semester. I am told that I must be a glutton for punishment. It has been suggested that I could just forget the Presbyterian denominational requirements since they won't ordain me, anyway. I can't.
Intro to Old Testament: Great class, great prof, think I did fairly well. Our team, The Hammerers (Maccabees) won the "Jeopardy" game we played the final day. Woohoo! I think this class was pretty rough on some of the literalists among us.
Ministry Formation: A necessary part of study, but I get frustrated with the lack of structure in the core group. Our facilitator is very nice, but not too organized. Really enjoy chapel, though, and getting to see different ways to worship. Also enjoy the fellowship of common meal.
Church History: Heavy reading load, but most of it very interesting. Got to write a paper on Christian syncretism of pagan holidays (& got a high pass) which was fun & interesting. Loved my prof even though she is a tough grader.
Next semester's line-up:
Hebrew 2
Hebrew Exegesis (I must be mad...Tim, the prof, assures me I can do it, though)
Ministry Formation
Reformed Theology (directed study with maybe 4 other students & my friend Laura as prof)
Intro to Theology (with a retiring prof who I hear is very good & very tough)
Church History (from the Great Schism, with a prof whose 1st semester it will be & who assigned us some readings over the holidays)
Minsterial Sexual Ethics (weekend intensive)
Now, I'm off to clean house & work on Christmas cards & wrapping!
Hebrew 1: Lots of hard work, but rewarding & with a great professor. He tells me that I am doing well. I guess he would know. It doesn't feel like it. But, I signed on for more Hebrew next semester. I am told that I must be a glutton for punishment. It has been suggested that I could just forget the Presbyterian denominational requirements since they won't ordain me, anyway. I can't.
Intro to Old Testament: Great class, great prof, think I did fairly well. Our team, The Hammerers (Maccabees) won the "Jeopardy" game we played the final day. Woohoo! I think this class was pretty rough on some of the literalists among us.
Ministry Formation: A necessary part of study, but I get frustrated with the lack of structure in the core group. Our facilitator is very nice, but not too organized. Really enjoy chapel, though, and getting to see different ways to worship. Also enjoy the fellowship of common meal.
Church History: Heavy reading load, but most of it very interesting. Got to write a paper on Christian syncretism of pagan holidays (& got a high pass) which was fun & interesting. Loved my prof even though she is a tough grader.
Next semester's line-up:
Hebrew 2
Hebrew Exegesis (I must be mad...Tim, the prof, assures me I can do it, though)
Ministry Formation
Reformed Theology (directed study with maybe 4 other students & my friend Laura as prof)
Intro to Theology (with a retiring prof who I hear is very good & very tough)
Church History (from the Great Schism, with a prof whose 1st semester it will be & who assigned us some readings over the holidays)
Minsterial Sexual Ethics (weekend intensive)
Now, I'm off to clean house & work on Christmas cards & wrapping!
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