Friday, January 6, 2012

Random QuickTakes for a New Year

1. I didn't make many resolutions this year- I'm just trying to accomplish the goals I've blogged about in the past year! But I have been successful in not blogging much. 

2. Extreme pet peeve- those people who equate married priests with woman priests, actively homosexual priests, self-consecration of the Eucharist, etc, etc. This past week, a bishop has fallen from grace (well, he did that a long time ago) and has admitted he has two children. Allowing him to have been married wouldn't have solved this specific problem. Most likely, he is the kind of man who didn't take to keeping vows of any sort. We are praying for his soul; the scandal is serious as is the fact that he fathered two children and then wasn't present for them in their needs. Sins all around for the bishop...

3. We had a real New Year's party at the 'big mission' and the parish priest of the actual parish (they rent us the space- they are Byzantine Catholic, too- different ethnicity) let us sleep in the classroom connected to the big hall so we didn't have to drive an hour towards home in the middle of the night.  The last people left the party at 3:45 or so. We slept until eight, cleaned some more and then had Divine Liturgy as usual at 11:30. Yes, the little ones yawned, but we made it through.  So balance is possible. Work all day Friday and Saturday to set up and cook for the party- have Liturgy at the small mission- drive an hour to get to the big mission- have a party from 8 to 3:45- clean for an hour-go to sleep- clean some more- go to Liturgy at 11:30- have a leftover lunch with parishioners until about 3- finish cleaning- get home at about 6- get the little ones in bed because the sun is down anyway and they don't read clocks- watch an episode of Dick van Dyke with the big girls- plan for next year's party

4. Speaking of balance- my sister got an organizing book for Christmas. Not surprisingly, some of the advice was a bit too minimalist for my taste. It says to have only 4 pots in the kitchen. Um, no. But it did inspire me to Goodwill the set of pots I had before I got a different set about 6 years ago. I also decluttered some utensils and old plastic containers. I'm trying for balanced baby steps. The book also says that the goal for photos should be two photos per event and to retire with about 800 photos total. Um, no. But it did inspire me to delete some frankly lousy photos and to pick the best of a set of the same pose. I also have three bags of clutter to drop off at Goodwill.

5. Why my brother-in-law rocks- he fixed the circuit in the kitchen, thus giving me back three outlets. No more extension cord! He also narrowed down my problem with the dryer- now, I just have to tell the problem to the repairmen. On the downside, he-who-listens-to-Greek-on-his-Ipod-and-is-writing-a-book-about theology/art/etc introduced my kids to the annoying orange (warning- do NOT youtube that).
6. Life with 12 1/2 and 11 1/2 year olds- we got to run to see the new Mission Impossible movie. The theater is very close to the house, so they watched the little ones and saved us $10+ per hour for babysitting. The girls said to deduct it from their ballet costs. Will do, girls. 

7. Just a little thought from Father's homily from last Sunday (I think- remember our readings will be different than Roman-rite)- Mary losing Jesus for three days and finding him at 12 in the temple was a foreshadowing of the three days in the tomb. She kept all these things in her heart, and Jesus was always about His Father's business.

find more quick takes at conversion diary.com

12 comments:

  1. I've managed to fill a box from Goodwill just from my side of the closet. How does stuff just....multiply like that???

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  2. Extreme pet peeve- those people who equate married priests with woman priests

    And in my experience, those people don't like the idea of women priests because they don't like women, not from any learned understanding of theological orthodoxy.

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  3. I don't know how thoughtful this is, but I really enjoyed reading your QT today. I knew there were parts of the Church in which priests can marry - but I'm fascinated. May I ask which Rite you are? I'd love to learn more!

    Thank you, and I look forward to reading more!

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  4. Nope, I'm stupid, I just noticed it says Byzantine right in your side bar- but you mention the different ethnicity. I hope it's not annoying if I ask where you suggest I go to learn more?

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  5. Imperfect Kate- maybe start with the EWTN link that is to your right to get general info on rites- and welcome!

    Katherine- yes, the right thing can be done for the wrong reason- sometimes I wonder about this 'macho-ness' that comes out in Catholic culture, keeping the 'little women' down- the Church is about human dignity for all even when some things are limited to one sex

    house unseen- I know- the STUFF just gets in...I feel a post coming on! ;)

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  6. I am slowly starting to de-cluttered and have some sort of organization let's see how it goes. Happy New Year to you and your family! :)

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  7. Ok, I know you said not to google "Annoying Orange", but I couldn't help it. That's 2 minutes I'll never get back! At least the kids weren't around. I'm sure they would enjoy it very much.

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  8. you probably know this already... but your big girls rock!

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  9. Sounds like you had a great New Years! I am also in a decluttering phase right now. Not sure if it's the upcoming move, the nesting or all the new toys the kids got this Christmas but I've gotten rid of five black garbage bags this week (and we only live in 700sq feet!)
    There's a great chapter on organization in the book "The Mother's Rule of Life" by Holly Pierlot. She rocks.

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  10. I think I may have just posted using my huband's account...he's not nesting..I am. haha

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  11. I had to chuckle at the part about the pots. Even with us--a two person family right now--we'd find it IMPOSSIBLE to cook with less than what we've got, which is more than four! And sometimes, it's still a challenge. Hello, holidays??? Or even cooking big batches of stuff?? Or like, when a hurricane is coming and you need to store water ahead of time? ;-)

    Some of these minimalists must also be isolationists who never entertain or have family come for events.

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  12. I'm with Rabbit- we're two people, and 4 pots sounds impossible, even for a household of 2 (as ours is also), if you ever have people over. Not to mention what these minimalist organization people would have to say about keeping a kosher kitchen... (Although I admit, they must fit into a big city apartment better than we do.)

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