Deo gratias!
Kasia November 9th, 2007
Another little Siekierski has come into the world! 
Archive for November, 2007
HDO advisory
Kasia November 9th, 2007
I’ve just been advised that Saturday, December 8 is a Holy Day of Obligation (in the USA - other countries are not addressed). It’s the Feast of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary.
Most importantly for the lay faithful: if you are in the USA on that date, you are obliged to attend Mass;
Marriages celebrated on the feast day must use the readings of the day;
No funeral Masses may be celebrated on the day;
Masses after 4:00 p.m. on Saturday should be celebrated as the next day’s Mass (whatever Sunday in Advent that might be)
And second most importantly for the lay faithful who comprise most of my readership, and this is something I did not know but that makes sense, no double dipping! That is, if you attend a 5 p.m. Mass on Saturday, it does not count for both your HDO obligation and your Sunday obligation!
So — now you know!
Angry Clam!
Kasia November 8th, 2007
About sixteen months ago, I bought my first home. It’s a cute little condo in an inner-ring Detroit suburb, and I’m basically very happy with it. (I’m not as thrilled with my condo association, but that’s a set of stories for another post.)
Anyway, I decided to use my Christmas money from my father this year to buy some new shades for my bedroom windows. At present I have the Venetian blinds my predecessor left, which are (a) not particularly attractive, (b) have some paint splatters on them because apparently my genius of a predecessor left the blinds up whilst painting, and (c) have truncated cords because my cats, being cats, have a great love of playing with and chewing on blind cords. So my side window cord has disappeared into the little box that makes it go (I have no idea what you’d call it), so you can no longer move the blind up and down. You can only change the direction of the slats. And the front window cord was in danger of suffering the same fate, so it is currently looped through the lamp I have hanging in the corner of the bedroom. Yes. It looks classy.
So I’m investing in some CORDLESS shades for my bedroom. Now, the fact that I need cordless shades limits my options considerably, but I found some cordless room-darkening cellular shades. They’re more expensive than I’d like, but it’s better than having to lather, rinse, repeat in a year or two when Destructo-Cats strike again.
At first I was hoping to get them in a soft blue, so that I’d have a nice visual accent to the yellows in my room, and play up the blue accents already in there. No dice. Not in the shades I’m looking at. So I thought, “Oh, no problem; I’ll get them in white or another neutral, and then put up some blue valances. I need to get new curtain rods anyway (because my current net curtains barely fit onto their rods; The Big Seester had to coax them on); I’ll get double rods.” Perfect! Right?
Then I had another brainstorm. I remembered that when I bought the place, my parents (bless their hearts) offered to buy me some new bedding to brighten up my bedroom. I remembered the gorgeous plaid stuff I’d seen (very cheerful!), and that I’d even bought a coordinating rug in the interim, hoping to buy the set down the road (all told it was a little out of the budget). And the set had VALANCES!
So I hopped onto JC Penney’s site to look for it.
Yes, you guessed it. They no longer have it.
Here is a shower curtain in the same plaid, the last remnant of the Island Breeze plaid that I was hoping to buy. Unfortunately, it would clash spectacularly with my bathroom.
Grumble, grumble, grumble…
Weirdest dream ever?
Kasia November 8th, 2007
Well, maybe not ever. But it’s weird. I think it even tops out the dream I had where Cardinal Maida was hearing my confession and decided to take a nap in the middle of it.
Last night I dreamed about what may be the worst Mass ever. Let me be perfectly plain: this was a dream. None of this, to my knowledge, has ever taken place (Deo gratias), and certainly not by Father J.J.
So now that we know that this was a dream, let’s move on to what actually happened in the dream, shall we?
I dreamed I was at Mass at an unknown-to-me church. Father J.J. was celebrating.
First, he kept being interrupted by disruptions from the congregation.
Then he left the sanctuary to haul a whole bunch of kids’ toys and belongings out of the church.
Then he came back and told the 1,800 people who had gotten up to leave to sit back down because Mass wasn’t over yet.
Then he “consecrated” the “Eucharist” (scare quotes explained in a moment), disappeared for a moment, and returned sans alb and chasuble, wearing very dingy khaki shorts and a khaki tee shirt, telling us that he had to leave right after Mass.
Then he disappeared entirely, and the other people in the front row and I went up to receive the “Eucharist”. We passed through a kind of doorway, and found another small chapel where people were sitting and passing the “Eucharist” around like a collection basket (or like the communion at some Protestant churches). First I found the Precious Blood, which I think would have actually been validly the Precious Blood. Unfortunately, it was in a clear plastic cup, with moisture on the outside that might have been the Precious Blood, so I almost dropped it. Then after receiving I was sucking on my hands, trying to make sure any Precious Blood that might have gotten onto them was consumed rather than wiped off on my shirt or something.
Then I found the paten. It was just sitting there, no one passing it even, and I was afraid to pick it up because Father John told us in RCIA that you never ever just take the Eucharist - as he put it, “You don’t grab Jesus.” Someone has to give it to you. (Unless you’re a priest, of course.) So I persuaded someone to pass me the paten (don’t ask me why that made it better), and looked at the “Hosts”.
They weren’t Hosts. They resembled Chex mix with pretzels mixed in. Aaaugh! Even in my dream, I was horrified. Nevertheless, I took a pretzel and reverently consumed it - don’t ask me why. It’s not like it was a valid Eucharist.
Then someone kept asking me to do something, and I kept saying “Just a minute, I need to go make my thanksgiving.” So I went and knelt down for a few minutes, and all the time the person was tapping their foot impatiently, waiting for me to be done thanking God.
I think the dream went on for a little while, but that’s the part that stuck with me. What a train wreck of a subconscious I have!!!
Remember, folks, this was a dream!
Wow. It’s really happening!
Kasia November 7th, 2007
First, I have to send my heartfelt congratulations to Deedah and his new fiancée, Miss Homemade Indulgence herself. :-) I found out that the prices aren’t on the web site yet, but that you can e-mail her for pricing and more products that she’s developed since putting up the site. The soap I’m ordering is $3.50 a bar, which I’ll grant you is a fair bit more than the Ivory I normally use, but for luxury/pampering soap is actually quite reasonable. (Some time I’ll tell you about the other body care company I’m in love with…alas, I was born too poor for them…)
Anyway. The reason for my post is that I came home last night to a voicemail - well, two of them, but the dentist doesn’t count - from the university I applied to to get my teaching certificate. They’ve received my application (hurrah, only the second one I sent), and just need my Basic Skills test results and my community college transcripts before they can process my application.
A note: I talked to someone there who said they had my Basic Skills test scores some time ago, but between the time I talked to her and the time I talked to the woman who is actually in charge of my file, they seem to have disappeared. Between that and the fact that they claim to have never received my first application (and in fairness, the check was never cashed), I realized I myself need to have all of this stuff in a file at home, or it’s gonna be a loooong couple of years. So I’m re-requesting my Basic Skills scores, and am requesting a copy for myself at the same time; same with my transcripts.
But yeah. Things are actually progressing. Slowly, it must be admitted, but progressing.
Now I just need to figure out how I’m going to pay for it. Well, no. God needs to figure out how I’m paying for it. I’m leaving it up to Him, since I’m pretty sure this is what He wants me to do.
By the way, Siekierski, it’s really hard to comment on your blog. Can you make it easier for us techno-illiterati?
Shameless plug
Kasia November 5th, 2007
So the fiancée of one of my dearest friends is selling homemade bath and body products. I have no idea what the pricing is like, but I just took a look at the web site and am really geeked to check out her actual products when I see them next (hopefully in the next couple of months). Here’s the site. I will keep you all posted - they may actually manage to top out my current body product passion! In the meantime, if any of you decide to try the products, post a comment and let us know what you thought!
Why you should never go grocery shopping hungry
Kasia November 2nd, 2007
And in my case specifically, why I should never go grocery shopping hungry, without a list, and without an intended menu…
I went to Kroger this morning to “pick up a few things” (famous last words). I took today off of work, and am picking the Canuck up at the train in Windsor at noon. And I wanted to have some things in the house that he’ll enjoy.
Ordinarily when I grocery shop, I make an explicit list based off a planned menu, and only deviate from it if (a) the item is not available, or (b) I see a really good deal on something I ordinarily buy anyway, like pop. Occasionally I decide to treat myself to something like nacho chips and queso, or cookies, or ice cream, or whatever, but it’s really not as common as you might think.
Well. Today I walked out of Kroger with:
- a four-pack of Guinness (those cans that supposedly simulate draft beer)
- two boxes of penne rigate
- two jars of alfredo sauce
- seven frozen dinners
- a frozen cheese lasagna
- a bag of potato chips
- Breyer’s ice cream
- a pound of beef
- a bag of string cheese
- two twelve-packs of Sunkist Cherry Limeade
- a twelve-pack of Vanilla Coke
- a half-gallon of milk
I planned to buy the milk, the chips, the cherry limeade, and some beer (though I’d been planning to get that Sam Adams cherry wheat stuff - they didn’t have it).
It could’ve been a lot worse, though - at least I actually will be able to get some meals out of this bonanza.
Oy vei…I just realized I didn’t buy bread…
