Breakfast and the rest

I took a younger woman to breakfast this morning. They are thinking of setting up something similar to what we had on Wednesday nights at the Temple of  Yellow. I told her about the program, why it worked rather well.
Don't set up a program that is continous so that people who miss an evening feel they missed something in the continuity and think they cannot come back.
Mix social, bible trivia and fun lectures. Get speakers who don't put you to sleep. Actors are better than softspoken people at night. Yes, adults like arts and crafts, too. We did an Advent calendar one year. It went over very well.
Ask the people what they want.
Well I am off to the All Saints Vigil with the Black Hoods. We chant the litany of the Saints.
"Holy Seligmann, pray for us."

The Mouse Factory down the Road

The mouse factory lost their  CEO because he could not count mice and cheese and keep it all separate. Now they have a big mess. They don't know the number of mice and the number of cheese. They will look in all of their closets and storerooms and figure it all out. Oh, well.....For me as an administrator this is sad to look at. It does not take much to set up checks and balances, make sure they work and get a little bit of breathing space. Smart delegation is the key.

Feast

Tonight we had a nice feast with a sister temple from Canada. I think my pork went over OK. We are a very unkosher temple. I could not present it the way it should be presented as it was a buffet. I stuck to the spicy foods which I like to eat. I brought some of my beans back. I like these kind of white beans so I shall be eating leftover beans for a day or so.

The Rabbi and the Cat

The Rabbi's eys are getting bad. So this is the cat he got!

The mouse factory down the road

Just lost their CEO. It was called the Mouse Factory of the Little Dandelions. The guy with the yellow beard may now take over. Sad for all the mouses there all the way around. I knew of a few who just went there to get away from the guy with the yellow beard.

This was our hit in 1960

"The old Indian Chief spoke......"

Most people had know idea what the American "West" was like but they loved it from their Karl May books.

Ah the memories

Oh how nice!

A future monarch may now marry a Catholic!

Commonwealth Agrees to Equal Primogeniture

During Friday’s Commonwealth of Nations summit in Perth, Australia, it was unanimously agreed to give girls equal rights to the British throne. This changes centuries where boys were given preference over their sisters.

Click here for original photo

This ruling means that when William and Catherine have a first born daughter, she’ll be the next heir to the monarchy, even if she has a younger brother.

At the same time, monarchs can marry those of the Roman Catholic faith, though they must remain members of the Church of England.

The succession changes are only for Prince Charles’ descendants, however. That means if his nieces, Princesses Beatrice and Eugenie marry Catholics, they’ll lose their chance for the throne.

Prime Minister David Cameron hailed this historic move.

“The idea that a younger son should become monarch instead of an elder daughter simply because he is a man, or that a future monarch can marry someone of any faith except a Catholic — this way of thinking is at odds with the modern countries that we have become,” he said.

With this agreement, the procedure to pass this law shall begin. In addition, the United Kingdom becomes the latest European monarchy to allow equal primogeniture. Earlier this year, Luxembourg joined the list. The other countries are Sweden, Norway, the Netherlands, Belgium and Denmark.

The countries that still have male preference are Spain, Monaco and Liechtenstein.

Source: CNN

Snow coming

We are supposed to get some snow tomorrow. I hope I don't have to eat my pot luck by myself. I sure won't go out if it is nasty outside. I have nobody to rescue me if I drive into the ditch.

I would not mind driving this.

My type of "senior-sensible" car

No comment

Necklaces for Rabbi Seligmann

The necklaces were delivered to the temple sacristy. I loved this job. Would prefer to start earlier next year - just a couple of weeks or so this does not turn out into a rush job. Also would suggest to switch to brown necklaces because there is more variety available. Not the color, the make. Black seems to come only in one make: Old nun.

Pork Roast

The roast for the pot luck in the parish had to be prepared in my house. I wanted to do it in the nun's house but after I got deadly sick last Thursday because of her cat she came to my house today. We had a lot of fun and she agreed this was an easy recipe and is sooooo good. It is in the oven and smelling up the house right now. You can find the recipe on YouTube under "Garlic Studded Pork Shoulder." Any idiot can fix this and feed at least 15 people with it. For a pot luck this is very nice.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FrusRsWn69o

Morning Prayer

The queen conducted the morning prayer. She did a lovely job after she was reminded that today was Friday and not Thursday. She even came through with a very nice homily.
Before morning prayer one of the ladies bemoaned the fact that not all hours were covered for adoration today. I told her that if a person has to leave and there is no replacement, a veil is put over the monstrance in some churches. She loved the idea and I thought she would run it by the pastor. Imagine my surprise that at the end of the morning prayer she announced that the monstrance could be covered with the red cover at hand. I talked to her later and told her to make sure to talk to the pastor about this and if he agrees we could pitch in for a little white silk veil. I know that the Church of the Seven Flags handles it that way and they got it from one of my Steubengrille instructors. And the Steubengrille instructors are conservative and know everything.

Print Spooler

Ever since I converted my printer to "wireless"  documents get stuck in the print queue occasionally which means nothing prints any more. Last time it took me two hours to figure out what to do. Right now it took me five minutes. Practice makes perfect. In the Search Programs and Files type admin. This will open the Administrative Tools. Double Click on Services, Right Click on Spooler, Click on Stop, Click on Start and voila, everything is working again.

The lamp

Had a lamp here in the living room which had a short. Today I started to examine and the whole base had deteriorated. I am lucky it did not cause a fire.

The temple on Thursday

Went to morning service. The short deacon officiated. The short deacon is more formal the tall deacon is less formal. Both are very good. However, the woman who takes out the Messiah came through again - right in the middle of morning prayer. I complained to the Queen later in the morning who queenled through her kingdom. Bible class was great again and I told the facilitators.

The lentil soup

I took it to the nun and her family yesterday and stayed for dinner. Big mistake because of the cat. Had an asthma attack again and did not settle down until 2 a.m. Bad day today. Overtired.

My favorite brown hood

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lrIDhujJRZs

The readers

I looked at the reader profile of this blog and readers come mostly from the US. Unless you live in my town, this blog will not make much sense to you. However, there have been readers from Russia, India, Germany and Spain. You figure. This blog is written like the book of Revelation in the Bible. It is in code. No, I don't give out keys to unlock Lara's Kingdom. Only one person figured out who all the bit players are.

Dear Administrator

If you really want to know what is going on in your cubicle why don't you send a survey to everyone? You can send mail to everyone when you want money, why not now? I can think of no better research than questioning everybody.
How do you feel about your pastor, parish, bishop, administrator, programs, evangelization efforts, clustering, having a voice? Would you ever leave? Why or why not?

Building up the Body of Christ

I am afraid that the same old entrenched people will show up on all these committees. A lot of hand wringing and a lot of sighing and nothing will change. Research will be done with the same old people which makes this whole endeavor flawed from the start, collaborative planning will be done with the scrapers and lickers and listening will be done so long as you don't say anything contrary that would push the higher ups out of their comfort zone.

The New Temple

I am making friends and I love it. Especially the friendships that I am developing with younger women. It is all one on one but I can guide them. I think I was meant to be there. If there ever is an evening to bring lapsed catholics back into the faith, I hope I can be there.
Me: Have you ever had a bad experience with a priest?
        Have you ever had a bad experience with a BISHOP?
        Well, you see I had them, too, and I am still here.
        You come here to taste Jesus. We want you to start a personal
        relationship. When you come here we
        want you to be passionately in love with Jesus.

The Condo

Miss Hitchley vacated the condo last month. I went over there today with a real estate agent and saw it for the first time in 5 or 6 years. She left it in pretty good shape. Normal wear and tear. We will have a company come through and do a detail cleaning and it will go on the market. I feel sorry for her but her lovely boss put her in this predicament to vacate. Once I resigned I wanted to make a full break and Fr. Valhalla actually insisted on it. He had a very clear moment and he was right.

Chucky's boss

sent out a letter that we now have a website which will explain clustering and all that other good stuff. Same old, same old. Now they are proposing exit interviews for people who are leaving. How would they even know? Chucky made me almost leave. Oh, yes, big words - building up the body of Christ on day one - and run it into the ground the next day.

Underthechairperson

I am pretty independent with my ministry to recycle stuff to the homeless. So what am I? I have no official title, no official listing, no chair. I do have quite an amazing number of people who help either in providing clothes or handing things out or just buying stuff. God bless them all.

The New Evangelization

The nun and I discussed how our parishes could be more vibrant. We go to Mass and everything seems by rote and why? Because very few people have a personal relationship with Jesus. Her thought was to have a mini-revival every Wednesday night with the pastor just talking about Jesus. Nothing scheduled except a hymn and then an interactive approach to Jesus. Take one line from the Bible, preach and teach from that one line like the TV evangelists.
A lot of her younger relatives go to non-denominal churches in the area and they LOVE it. She hates it that people who were brought up Catholic are going to other churches. I listened and she does seem to have a point. We need passion in our meetings. Amen, Amen.

Farewell

We had a lovely farewell lunch for one of our prayer group members. The woman who is leaving is very spiritual and just sweet. My pork roast went over well and I will repeat it for this Saturday. I promised the temple a pork roast as well. There was enough pork  roast left that I could give to the nun a package for tonight. She won't have to cook for her parents.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=FrusRsWn69o

Baptism

Look how the rosary is formed by the water!

Harold Camping

missed another date that the world would come to an end. It was supposed to happen last Saturday. I had not heard him on his Radio show and just found out that he had a stroke in June. The programs with him are old and pre-recorded. Sort of like EWTN does with Mother Angelica. But Mother Angelica never prediced the end of the world.

The non bible group

The non bible group is meeting in my house tonight. They all come from the Church of the multiple saints with the yellow beard priest. Strictly speaking "verboten" but none of these people have anything to do with the church of the Seven Flags and these people don't know Chucky and his secret charms. Up until tonight I have been really, really obedient. Obviously that is getting to be old hat. If it turns out convenient tonight, I shall invite them back. Chucky, remember the bible says that when widows and children cry out, HE listens. I hope HE does because I am crying out. It is His vengeance, not mine but boy would I love to sit back and just watch it.

Necklaces

The Rabbi needed 30 necklaces. To do what? Perhaps it is something new in the Jewish faith. Perhaps he wants to adorn the wild pumpkins under the altar. The necklaces had to be purple with pink speckles. We might have some necklace sit-ins in the future. What I could get in the end were 28 in black and 2 in brown. The company did not have enough to fill the order this week for 30 black. Brown is a nice Franciscan color and it will have to do. He will be giving out 28 in black and then just say: Sorry, the color gave out on the necklace machine. Or he will say: You two are special. Here is a brown necklace for each of you. Brown may just turn out the nicer color in the end. Perhaps next year......

My son the doctor

My son the doctor wrote a book. I am not sure if it is in English or Chinese but he promised me a copy. I am the proud Mama.

Ms. Hasenfuss

Ms. Hasenfuss should get a medal because I hear people commenting how wonderful the bulletin is now. I am just seeing the "now" now so I cannot compare but I know Ms. Hasenfuss and she has always improved these things. Never saw the old then.

Blogging

I should have called my blog the Mindless Blogger. I thought about it some more why I don't produce anything religious but I do so much research for my bible classes and do a lot of religious reading that I just need something else for fun.

Computer courses

My two computer courses have started. One is not what I wanted. I am not interested in Web Design. I want to just learn more about a specific Micorosoft program called Web Expression 4 which lets you make web pages. The forerunner was Frontpage and I knew it inside out. The other program is more promising. The programs are online and non-credit. So I am not forced to do any homework if I don't have time. You learn at your own speed.

Calendar

Got a nice Catholic calendar today with all the feast days and saint days. I am pretty computerized but the calendar is still a paper and pencil thing. Crashed my computer too many times in the past. Now a crashing computer happens rarely but think back to Windows 95. To boot I was a beta tester for AOL at the time and AOL was BIG then. Internet was dial-up through a modem and later dial-up to a satellite dish. Had to rebuild the whole dial-up configuration when the computer crashed. Got pretty good at it. In fact, I want to get back to take more computer courses on line.

The Restaurant

At the restaurant we all agreed how lucky we were to have the Rabbi with us. But they also remember Yellow Beard fondly. Strange. I keep my mouth shut but the fact that I switched from Yellow Beard to the Rabbi speaks for itself. Well, Yellow Beard was nice and chatty to most everyone else at the Multi-Saints church. So I guess most people at the Multi-Saints church will also have nice memories of him in the future.

Morning literature

I invited someone from the temple to come by and check out some books. She was absolutely amazed. Spent two hours here and checked out ten books and a CD set and a DVD set. She is a convert and was looking for holy books at Borders. Good luck! I used to do the same. That was quite some time ago. No I have my own holy book library.

Temple Celebrations

Tonight it looked like Zanesville in our temple. The Rabbi had a cage under the altar with animals in it. Wild pumpkins and gourds. They will probably get slaughtered by Easter. I expect a big shoot out. Who can kill the wild pumpkin? I hope the Rabbi won't leave the cage open or this stuff will be crawling all over the neighborhood. Dangerous to be approached by a wild pumpkin in the dark. "Hello, can you give me a ride to Jamaica?" I think I would have a heart attack.
We also had a nice baptism. I remember when the Rabbi dunked the little babies into the ice water. We used to add ice cubes to the water. The baptism was more restrained at this temple.
The future saints marched in. All was very exciting and I went to confession. Glorious grace. Afterwards took a new friend out to dinner. Her father had died. More people showed up at the restaurant and announced that the Rabbi was coming. Really? No, false alarm. I guess he went to bed early with a pumpkin. Just a different kind of cat. The Saturday temple service is more appealing to me because it is less noisy and I can go to confession.

Religious Blogs

There are some very nice religious blogs out there. I have a few prototypes myself but they never went anywhere. I need to blog for myself: silly stuff, stupid stuff, something that caught my eye.

Der Staubsauger and other things....

It stopped sucking. Literally bit the dust. It will be professionally cleaned or cremated whichever is cheaper. Just got a call to sub tonight for adoration for a woman who became very chummy with the Big Herod. Now that the Big Herod is gone, they actually think of me again if I am useful to them. I need to read books for Steubengrille and I might as well read before the Blessed Sacrament at the Church of the Seven Flags. I just have a few hours to put some books back into the book shelves. I have this great book project going on in my house. Once I inherited part of library from one of the brown hoods who retired I could never catch up. Then I had all of these books in my former office which I brought home.

What do you call it when a hose disconnects from a vacuum cleaner in a Catholic church? A hose-anna.

Families

I have friends and their family gatherings are big events during the holidays. Who invites whom, who is disinvited, who will fight with whom. I wish I had someone to fight WITH. I have nobody here. No brothers, sisters, cousins, nada. I envy everyone who can fight over the holidays. People my age still have an elderly mother somewhere. Or a father. My father would be 118 years old. That is the problem with being the youngest of my generation. Nobody is around as far as parents, aunts and uncles.

Prayer

That was the subject of the bible class today. How to prepare and make time. So what happened? I rushed around like a headless chicken this morning. I was too exhausted to prepare for my lesson yesterday and tried to read up on it in bed this morning - with a dog next to me! Then decided to call my brother and lost time. Rush, rush to morning prayer and then to bible class. Actually drove way over the speed limit all the way. Senior on the run! No police car would have caught me. Talking about flying. I will be flying to Poland next May or June and then continue to Kazakhistan. I got homesick.

Never say no

I did something today that I promised myself I would never do again after I left the church of the Seven Flags down the road. I did some physical labor at my parish. It was fun but after having spent so many hours at the church of the seven flags - clean-ups that lasted until mid-night, I promised myself I would never do it again. I mostly stayed out of it at the church of the Blonds but the Rabbi asked nicely and I could not refuse. Besides, I doubt that the situation will end up the same as it did at seven flags. Ruined the vaccuum cleaner but I am not even sure that it was me or the thing just fell apart. Boy, it is dirty. Another project coming up.

The WHAT?

He was concentrating!

Click here to see more of the Bishop's concentration

On Sunday, Luxembourg’s Grand Ducal couple witnessed the concentration of Jean Claude Hollerich as the eighth bishop and third archbishop of the archdiocese of Luxembourg.

The deeply religious Grand Duke Henri and Grand Duchess Maria Teresa were among several hundred attendees of the ceremony at Notre Dame Cathedral.

The church service lasted three hours. It was conducted in Luxembourgisch – which is a dialect of German – French, English, German and Japanese. The latter happened because the now Archbishop Hollerich once lived and worked for years in Japan. At Sophia University in Tokyo, Hollerich was last rector of the Jesuit community and vice-president of the university.

Source: Wort.lu

The brown hood

The brown hood calls regularly and after I told him what is going on here he said that it looks like I found a home. He is right. Unfortunately, Chucky will come soon to visit and I will have to vacate the home. There ought to be some kind of law against him. I actually came close to crying the other day when I read the e-mail that he would come to town.

Teaching in other places

I am teaching Revelation and we go from house to house each Monday night. Unfortunately, yesterday the couple had not just one but two cats and I got deadly sick. Could hide it while I was there but ran out afterwards and had a terrible asthma attack for two hours. That ruined the rest of the night. My ribs still hurt from coughing.

The Porky

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FrusRsWn69o
This is the lovely pork dish I will be making for my friends for a fare well lunch next Tuesday. It is a trial run because I also want to make this dish for a pot luck dinner for our temple.

Welcome Chucky

Chucky in his regalia

Right to Life

Today I got a Right to Life reminder from my own temple. It has taken on a life of its own. I get so many messages to pray in front of the local abortion clinic that if I would not believe in life I would send the whole bunch to hell. One wants to just kick back out of frustration because of the overload of messages. Where are the messages about ending the wars which kill? Mexico, Africa, Middle East? My Jewish friends are permitted to have abortions so it would never be reversed in the courts anyway. Their lobby is too influential. It is a matter of educating the Christans and helping pregnant mothers. We pray for the unborn but do next to nothing for mother and infants. I guess all infants should go to work immediately. We are not a socialized country where we would want to support mothers and infants. Be born and croak...

Chucky is coming

Rats! Just got this nice e-mail that announced that Chucky was coming. I truly get depressed when I hear about him. It means I will have to make a big detour around the temple on the day he comes. I wish he could be burned on the altar of sacrifice but he would probably stink and not give off a nice aroma.

Oh Senseo, Oh Senseo

I wish I had never known you. Great little machine. Coffe is way to weak for me. It takes little pouches. Anyone wants this machine?

Writing

When I am hurt I have to write. That is my therapy. It can get quite cynical. The only person I could get cynical about these days is Chucky. The Big Herod moved out of the neighborhood and I am at peace. The golden beard boy never was nasty and I have to laugh when I think how he behaved. Someone from the golden beard boy's parish e-mailed me and wanted to know the Big Herod's first name. I sent it to them but asked why they wanted it.

Right to Life

I am innundated with right to life e-mails. The one person who sends me these is well off. Tells me her husband only votes according to his business interest, meaning "no taxes." Fine, but with no taxes we cannot run a government and can't help the poor and perhaps there is a slight connection between the poor and abortions? So we pray and keep our heads in the sand about doing. Oh, yes, the right to life priest collects about $10,000,000 annually. Yes, ten million. Other than being in the news and wanting to be independent he does cannot show much for his collection.

Refugee

I got kicked out of my home when I was very little, got kicked out of one parish about 7 years ago, left one parish recently and feel welcome in my current parish. I learned it is never about the parish, it is about God. Parishes come and go, God is eternal.

The Fest

Went to an Oktoberfest yesterday. It was fun. Good German food, some schunkeln, and music. Eins, zwei, g'suffa. I had a Spaten beer. THEN I won the grand price to boost. Gave everything away except for the restaurant certificates. I don't drink that much and don't have any company coming so it was better for me not to keep the wine.

Michael Jackson

Michael Jackson was killed by his own doctor. The negligence was incredible. I remember I was on a flight to Denver when it was announced that Michael Jackson had died. When I got to my hotel room there was nothing on TV any longer except Michael Jackson, Michael Jackson. He may have been a fine singer/dancer/performer but he also had a few screws loose. His whole transformation from black to white and male to feminine was sickening. In comes a shyster doctor who feeds his drug addition and collects a hefty fee for it. I hope I see jail time coming. The doctor's motives were fueled by greed - Wall Street in the medical field. It costs you your money and your life.

9-9-9

Sounds like an emergency telephone number. It is not. It is Herman Cain's mantra to vote for him. Oh, it is so simple! It is so simple that it is idiotic. Right! The poor and the middle class would carry the burden again and the rich get a break. No more a progressive tax which is fair. 9-9-9 was proposed to Cain by some accountant buddy but the real economists who looked at this are saying that it would never bring in enough money to pay for the government. Cain calls himself the Haagen-Dazs Black Walnut because "it tastes good all the time." Call him the nut - that will be easier to remember.

Deal Breaker

No more coffee in the library. That is a deal breaker. I will go to the atheists across the street who worship coffee. Perhaps I could organize a "Biblical Spring" in the parking lot. Are you listening Rabbi Seligmann?

Deer

Saw about 15 deer tonight. Lovely sight. Perhaps 4 young ones. The older ones looked at us from a distance. They slowly moved across the field.

Gay

My mother once told me that there were always gay people in the military. Mother is dead now and referred to a time during WWII. However, they were not out of the closet and I was blissfully ignorant about gays. Later on when it was pretty much in my face I still wondered. Now we talk about gay pride. If I were gay, I am not sure I would be proud about it. These days it is in the same league as blue eyes or blond hair. Off the spectrum sexuality is now the norm. Times have changed but can't say it is changing for the better.

I am learning German

Difficult language but I know a few words:
Rechts - means right - like right side of the road
Links - means left - like left side of the road
Richtig - means you are right.
So: Gehen Sie nach rechts, biegen Sie links ab. Ja, so ist es richtig.
Go you after right, bend you left off. Yes, so it is right.

Wasn't that easy?
Or:  Go to the right, turn left and if you can follow the directions you are right.

The IT

I was the IT person this morning. Still messed up a few minor details but my guardian angel was at my side checking me. I don't mind. I just told her to let me do everything and then correct me otherwise I won't learn. Of course with me starting out this morning, Jesus was not where he usually is nor was the lectionary. I found both.

Documents

I am discovering all sorts of good documents on the web. The Archdiocese of Seattle has over 150 pages on catechesis. Way to go. The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops have over fifty pages devoted to Doctrinal Elements of a Curriculum Framework for a Development of Catechetical Materials for Young People of High School Age. A mouthful. Don't touch it without a martini at your side.

The Messiah on Wheels

My side ministry right now. I am bringing the Messiah to one of my dearest and nearst friends. She had a stroke but is recoverning nicely.

The Streets

We have several shows here in town and the streets are backed up like I have never seen them backed up. Even in my backwards neighborhood. The Diner is making a booming business even at night.

What's new?

I have so much to do that I don't even know where to start or finish. Spent all morning with Microsoft Project. My secret "hate." I think I will be OK. Microsoft Expression 4 will be the web program for my church. I want to get all the dates nailed down in Project before I switch to Microsoft Expression 4.
I am really happy to stretch my mind with these programs.

Mouse reception

The mouses had a reception today for new mice. Very nice. Someone recognized me from my previous mouse factory. Met new mouse people. However, the morning service was too micey for me. Too much distraction from my right side. Wanted to go earlier but realized I could not because I needed to go and take the Messiah to my sick friend immediately after and did not want to show up too early. It all worked out: Mice morning service, Messiah to sick mouse, mouse reception. A busy morning.

Yom Kippur

I went to Canada yesterday to celebrate Yom Kippur with friends. Attended a three hour services in the afternoon - the afternoon service, the Neilah service and Haftalah. Unbelievable beautiful and reverend. Nine Torah scrolls came out of the sanctuary. We kissed them, confessed our sins in public as is custom and listened to great liturgial music. Their cantors are opera trained. Puts a different perspective on praising God. Afterwards breaking fast with bagels, lox, whitefish and sable. My kind of food. Oh, yes, the nudel kugel as well.

Microsoft Project

Wow - what a way to go. If I can pull if off and schedule all the activities of my church in Project it will be great. Big learning curve but I started today to teach myself and made some progress. I really love it.

Adoration

Last night I went to adoration with the nun at her church because there was none at our church today and just a moment ago someone called me and wanted to know if I could sub next Wednesday at the Church of the Six Flags. One can't adore enough. It is from 4 - 5 in the afternoon and certainly doable and I accepted. After the earthquake they had a water leak that came into their oratory and the nun maintained that it was God's vengeance for all the rules and regulations that they built into adoration at the new oratory. At the chapel previously they did not care if you got murdered in the middle of the night. There was no security and now everything is so secure that people who don't have a scheduled hour are discouraged from coming. The security is not for the people it is for the building but they try to convince you it is for the people.

The Poster

One of the chapel virgins approached me today and told me that the poster had arrived and the Rabbi loved it. She wanted to show it to me that there was no time either before or after services today. I hope she ends up adding the words to the poster as well. Let creativity shine - in others. I have enough to do.

Feasts of the Holy Rosary

I had one of those wardrobe malfunctions in that I had a pix this morning but no pockets to put it in except my purse. I rather carry it on my body but that I could not do without pockets. I practiced pushing the empty pix up my sleeve but it fell out and people watched me and must have thought I am going nuts. So I put my pix with the host in my little handcrocheted bag and put that in my purse, stayed for the rosary and went to my friend for a lovely little communion service. Strange readings today at Mass for the Feast of the Holy Rosary. Gloom and doom. Tommorrow I will be going to Canada for the end of Yom Kippur. If I would not be Catholic, I would be Jewish.

Our Minyan

Our Rabbi wanted a Minyan this morning and people are late. If that wasn't enough to pull out your hair, there was a funeral without a body and the relatives did not want a temple service but they wanted to dance with the Torah scrolls. No temple service, no Torah scrolls. That would have been my solution. After all the Rabbi is supposed to open the Holy of Holies for what? I think the under-the-rabbi-assistant and the undertaker had to patch this one together.

Met with the Queen

Very gracious reception. She might add a bible class in the future to her reign. I am willing to teach and/or facilitate.

What the Jews taught me.

They taught me to be a lifelong learner. Until I was so many years old I took courses at our University for credit. I wanted to beat the little smart Asian students and I did. Then I got sick one year with two major hospitalizations three month apart. I decided to go to my local community college, take non-credit classes, and have fun. That meant taking computer classes and graphic and web page design classes. Then I entered a four year certificate course meant to create leaders in a certain field. That never worked out. I am actually regressing down the food chain. Now I am in a five year certificate course in another state to be a better teacher. That will end next year. I have already lined up my next learning adventure: A master's in theology from the Augustin Institute in Denver. Should be fun.

On how many weddings can I dance?

I am invited to breaking fast with the Jews. It is Yom Kippur again! Another friend has a special luncheon and in my temple we will have an Oktoberfest. Initially I thought I go to the Octoberfest but then the Jewish friend called from Canada and the friend send me a handwritten invitation. I think I will celebrate with the Jews. Neilah service and then the feast.

Bible Class

This was the second bible class in the temple. It is really outstanding. Very nice group of women being together and we have a lovely facilitator. I could bring in some of my Jewish history knowledge. I did not go to the Ageing people last night. Went to bed and tried to read.

The Mouse Breakfast

The mice went all to breakfast this morning and the Rabbi excused himself and was missed. They all like him which is nice. I know from my previous parish what a delight it was when the Rabbi came. No, he does not have to come every single time but it it tremendously helpful to the seniors as they want to know and connect to the one to whom they look for evential burial. Our Rabbi buries nicely, especially when one wears cologne. Smell of the what? Angels of course.

My friend and etc.

My friend who had a stroke had a set-back yesterday and had to be taken back to the emergency room. I got really depressed about it. She is back home now. I will take dinner over tonight and perhaps go to the church of the Cruxified afterwards to listen to their special program. I am not going back to the Ageing gracefully people because they drive me nuts. That is a program for people who are in their 80ties and 90ties.
Tomorrow we have bible class in my church and I am looking forward to it and then I shall meet with the Queen in the early afternoon. Well, I was blessed with the dogs on Sunday so that should still be effective.

What does back-up mean?

It means "I am it" on Wednesdays. I wondered how this back-up was going to work. But today one of the chapel virgins came and told me that she was not supposed to be there and of course I came at my usual time which is early for Mass but skimpy for set-up. Now I know. Between English, Khazakistanish, and Mandolinish the intention got lost. Don't like to read cold either. Will talk to the ueberassistant when she comes back if one cannot have an assigned day for reading. I feel sorry for the rest of the people who have to listen while one stumbles through the text. I would like to prepare. My Jonah stumbled through Nineveh today and the people listening probably had no idea if the gourd did or did not fall on his head. Repent, repent. I will have to do that for my lousy reading. Anyway, the readings should not be a mystery.

Trying to pull the pieces together

I signed up for two on-line courses which will start in October to help me with my Steubengrille project. One is Project and one is Expression Web. The Project software is new to me. I hope I can pull it all off.....

The Exxon sign

Saw this sign above the Exxon station today: Fresh, Fast, Friendly. Underneath there was one sign that said: "Live Bait," and other sign said "Earthworms."
This would make a great sign for our parish: Weekday Masses: Fresh, Fast, Friendly. I guess the pastor could be the Live Bait and the parishioners are the Earthworms.

The Echo of God

I am trying to order five more books for my Cenacle. People claim they never got a book. I had ordered more than enough. Well, God multiplied the loaves and Lara diminishes the books.

How does it feel like on the bottom of the food chain?

Strange and funny. There is the unterassistant. There is the ueberassistant, there is the the assistant who is responsible for moving the chair forward and a different assistant for moving the chair backward. Protocol has it that everyone needs to get a medical permission slip, a valid driver's license, a detox outfit before proceeding. Mind you, I can see the need for it but I have not been on the bottom of the food chain for so long that it feels utterly strange. I thought I was on the bottom of the food chain at the previous cheese factory and I was in a way but I am more so in this cheese factory. However, it is a very nice cheese factory and so I am just watching and observing. Wine and cheese Happy Hour coming up.

Prince

Prince recovered from being blessed yesterday and is just as demonic as yesterday before the blessing. This dog does not need a special blessing. This dog needs an exorcism. He has a motor that has no "off" switch. If I could put him in a hamster wheel which could produce electricity, the electric company would owe me money. He is one of my "children" that constantly embarrass the "parent." He is smart. "Prince for President."

Study, study

I am teaching tonight Revelation. There is a Deacon in my class. Why - I don't know. He knows more than I do. I already told him to take over next Monday. This will give me a break. Have to prepare myself for James for tomorrow morning as well.
There is an interesting connection that I found. Rev 6:6------but do not harm oil and wine!
and todays Gospel of  Luke 10:34-------and went to him and bound up his wounds, pouring on oil and wine.
The implements of healing are not to be destroyed. Mercy is a supreme act of love that based on justice we do not deserve. It is not to be taken away or destroyed under any circumstances.

A friend in need

One of my dearest and nearest friends had a stroke. I visited today, brought her Holy Communion. She is doing well, considering having had a stroke. No paralysis. Depending on her doctors' appointments, I will visit her again on Wednesday. I put the pix next to me this morning that I would not have to root around my pockets and promptly forget about it as I went to receive Holy Communion. The Rabbi was most gracious about it. That Steubengrille program is constantly in my head now and I have become oblivious to other things.

The Queen

I introduced myself to the Queen during the retreat. "Ahhh Gisela...." she yodeled. I will try to get together with her this week or next. Stay tuned to the music. I apologized for having missed her first contact. She graciously forgave me. I have my doubts that there ever was a first contact. Stuff like that make me think 'careful, careful.' If something goes wrong she ain't going to admit it. And she has enough political charm that any third party would not assume she is wrong especially if it is her against somebody at the bottom of the food chain.

Sick friend

One of my bestest friends had a stroke. I will try to make myself available. With this on top of everything else I am totally maxed out right now. I was supposed to give some talks in the evening at Fr. Trabant's church. Can't do it now. Will have to call it off. German lessons will be on hold, too. Good excuse to tell the "Aging Gracefully" people that I am practicing hard and can't come to the lessons. I am doing an internship. The Lord is so good. That was a quick answer to my prayers.

Prince

Prince is a go getter. On the way home he was so exhausted that he fell asleep in the car. The dogs are really not socialized to be around other dogs other than among themselves and it shows. Prince lunged at anything that moved and fought me tooth and nail when I picked him up and held him. He wanted to be down below where the action was. Afterwards I got two treats. He ate them both. He will eat anything.

Canada

This morning I went to Canada with two males. Fancy that. One is a visitor from Australia, Jim, one is local. The local one, Johnny,  had his birthday today. I did not know until we were on our way home. We gave away tons of clothing and bags filled with all sorts of things including oragnes. We went to the Cathedral in Canada for Mass and came home because I wanted the doggies blessed.

Blessing of the Animals

I took my three pooches to be blessed. Prince, who weighs 8 pounds, is positively possessed by demons. He tried to attack all the other dogs, preferably big ones. Princess started to shiver and was picked up by a bystander who bundled her up in her shawl and kept her warm. Madam was actually fine. A few curled lips and barred teeth but that was all show. So - we were all blessed. There were a few beagles. You can't sing with beagles around without them joining in. They did. I liked the whippet. Whippets are couch potatoes. No walking required. My kind of dog. The boy who brought her actually told me that she was a "bed potato."

How many people does it take to screw in a lightbulb?

Talked to some nice people yesterday who wanted a flyer/poster. After discussing all our options for two hours including the Rabbi reminding us that we needed permission from Mr. Hasenfuss (prounounced Hahhsenfoos), the office manager, it was decided that I should design a flyer/poster. THEN one of the ladies announced that she was very artistically challenged and could do a poster. She also mentioned that her son was an art director. The tree does not fall too far from the apple. This morning she approached me and told me that she found just the right poster at 5 a.m. on the Internet and she liked it very much. My role will be to add the words to the poster???? AMEN. AMEN.

The Doctor is in....

Psychiatrist: "How can I help you?"
Patient: "I feel like a stuffed mattress."
Psychiatrist: "?? How so? Is anyone lying on top of you?"
Patient: "No, I am celibate."
Psychiatrist: "Is anyone kissing or touching you?"
Patient: "No, I hate being kissed or touched."
Psychiatrist: "What are you symptoms?"
Patient: "People come and pull the stuffing out of me."
Psychiatrist: "I have a solution to your problem."
Patient: "Really? What?"
Psychiatrist: "Imagine yourself being a wet blanket from now on."

The Rabbi

The Rabbi stabbed himself in the knee yesterday and today he tried  a knee replacement because in the middle of our retreat he announced an emergency and wanted a wench, no wrench, sorry.

Ahhhh

I just had a great post and I lost it.....Our retreat yesterday and today was wonderful. The music is outstanding. Could not hear so much the speaker and thought my hearing was defective but after the break today they increased the sound and everything was better.