Archive for February, 2008
Urgent prayers…
Prayers, please
Kasia February 27th, 2008
Sorry to pepper you with prayer requests, especially when I’m barely blogging, but I just heard that the husband of one of my dearest friends was laid off today. The economy here in Michigan is one of the worst in the nation – think “poking an apple that’s been rotting for the last year or three” soft, and they’re a single income family with three children. So, if you could please include J. and R. in your prayers, I would appreciate it.
Forgot to mention!
Kasia February 25th, 2008
One of the highlights of the weekend…
Our parish’s new music minister, while a very kind soul of great talent, has a regrettable habit of peppering each Mass liberally with Haugen, Haas, Schutte, and Joncas. And the St. Louis Jesuits. Whenever I see a composer’s name at the bottom with note that s/he was born in the ’50s and is still with us, I have an involuntary anticipatory cringe. It’s usually borne out by the lyrics, the melody, or both. Once in a while I finish and think, “Hey, that wasn’t so bad,” and once in a blue moon I might think, “You know, that was actually OK!”…but as a rule I just don’t care for them.
ANYway, the Communion hymn yesterday was “Eye Has Not Seen.” Melodically, we both actually thought it was OK, but lyrically I thought it was too reminiscent of the Unitarian “hymns” I grew up singing. Though it did actually mention God…well, anyway.
After we left the church, checked the Lost & Found, and had a doughnut or so in the social hall to keep my sugar up until after I’d taken The Canuck to his train, we headed out to the car. We got in, and my beloved said:
“You’ll understand why I wouldn’t say this in the church, and I’m probably tacking extra years onto my time in Purgatory for this, but when they read the name of the Communion hymn, all I could think was: ‘Eye has not seen…but I can has cheeseburger!’”
ROFL. I love that man!…
Notes on the weekend
Kasia February 25th, 2008
Saturday. Got The Canuck’s immigration packet finished and mailed, much to his relief. (If truth be told, I’m relieved too, but I wasn’t as anxious to get it done.) Met with the pre-marriage counselor for the first time, and took the inventory. Most of it was pretty uneventful, but I have to admit I got a little discombobulated when it came to answering questions about my family of origin. It’s hard to know quite how to answer questions that have complicated answers.
Sunday. Mass – actually with Father JJ, which was nice. Our associate is away for a while, but we’ve got a temporary weekend assistant until he’s back. Deo gratias for order priests (he’s a Notre Dame Father)! Dropped off The Canuck at the train station, went home, grocery shopped, then watched Annie on TV with The Big Seester. I hadn’t realized how much they changed the original score to suit the movie. I also hadn’t realized before (hey, I was eight the last time I saw the movie) how thin some of the premises are. But boy howdy, did Carol Burnett and Tim Curry play their roles well! We were several minutes into a Miss Hannigan scene before I said “Is that Carol Burnett?!” and when TBS confirmed, I paused, surprised, and said “She really does ’slatternly’ well.” I don’t know that she could carry off a more nuanced, elegant role – Grace Kelly she’ll never be – but she seems to have had a blast with that role, and she really stole the show.
Another week of this-and-that; I’m looking forward to a relaxing weekend in Chatham.
And you?
Never heard of this, but…
Kasia February 24th, 2008
…I guess it never hurts to try. God is in the business of miracles, after all.
If you’re available between 7 and 8 p.m. tonight, please consider praying a Rosary for a young girl with leukemia. More details here. From Cottage Blessings via Far Beyond Pearls.
Prayer request
Kasia February 21st, 2008
A good friend of mine has been getting a battery of tests run today. Would you please remember her in your prayers? To respect her privacy, I’m not including any personal information; but God knows who she is and what she needs.
Thanks.
Just FYI
Kasia February 20th, 2008
Blogging’s been a bit light over the past few months, as you may have noticed, and it’s probably going to get lighter before it gets heavier. Between working both jobs, wedding plans, maintaining my home, marriage prep classes, maintaining my relationship with my fiancé, trying to keep in touch with friends, and family obligations…well, I’m a tired little monkey, and the last thing I’m apt to think when I get home to eat dinner at 9 or 10 o’clock is “Gee, I should blog!”
Don’t get me wrong; I love blogging, and I love my readers. But now I’m developing some minor health issues; really nuisance things in the grand scheme, but on top of everything else they’re the proverbial straw and I’m the camel’s back.
Sooo…I expect to be back to near-normal by Easter, and hope to blog periodically between now and then, but in the meantime, don’t be surprised if my posts are fewer and shorter than usual.
Love you guys!
- Busy-ness , Home , I'm an idjit , My Beloved , Wedding , Work , marriage prep
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New blog on the blogroll!
Kasia February 19th, 2008
Well, what do you know, but Miss Jean is blogging! Hurrah! 
I’ve added her blog, Be Not Idle, to the blogroll – go take a peek!
While you’re poking around, maybe check out Jaibee’s Critical Mass, which has been on the blogroll for a while but not long enough (as I am always behind in updating my blogroll). And speaking of not updating my blogroll, I realized the other day that when I did my massive update a while back, I had failed to put up the Archangel’s Advocate’s blog. Mea maxima culpa!
Compact fluorescent light bulbs
Kasia February 18th, 2008
A few months ago, The Big Seester sent me an article that reported that incandescent light bulbs are going to be phased out, until they are no longer available for purchase in 2012 or so. Maybe it was 2014. I responded with an only slightly facetious crack that I was going to start stocking up now.
She thought that was hilarious. But honestly, I hate CFLs. They look stupid, yes, but that’s not so much why I hate them (I would only hate them for that in my decorative fixtures). I hate them because I find their light depressing.
So she challenged me to try them in, say, my office for a while, and see if I still hated them. The result is a mixed bag. When I first turn them on, they’re sickly and weak and I inwardly curse whoever invented them. By the time they’ve been on 10 minutes or so, their light seems to become more robust (or perhaps I adjust to the pathetic light) , and my only real complaint is that they have a sort of an odd color to the light and the bulbs, which is probably the spectrum of the light.
My question to my readers is this: I keep hearing about full-spectrum CFLs, and CFLs that are supposed to be closer to incandescent lighting in their spectrum. However, if they do in fact exist and are not just an urban myth designed to keep those of us who like our light bright and strong from rebelling in defense of incandescents, then apparently they are not sold at any of the stores I patronize. The Canuck and I went looking for them specifically at a few different stores (local hardware store and K-Mart, at least), and no dice. Anyone have any luck finding these? (And while we’re at it, maybe we could find some that don’t look stupid for my decorative fixtures?)
I did the little DTE Home Analyzer energy assessment, and it congratulated me on using less energy than comparable homes in my area. I’m guessing it’s because my air conditioning is broken and I don’t have a dishwasher. That said, I’d still like to shave down my energy bills; and while I’m at it I might as well start to get used to these confounded CFLs. I’d just like them to be a little less of a penance.
OOH! THAT should’ve been my Lenten penance this year: change all of my light bulbs to CFLs!!! Maybe next year…
