Chronicles of Mary

thinking

2009-02-21T15:10:00.000-08:00

I've been thinking about posting here again, but Blogger won't let me change to my gmail account and I can't get in to hotmail, so I'm not sure what to do. If I should just start fresh somewhere else, or just leave it.

moved

2008-03-29T14:03:00.000-07:00

I'm here in Bakersfield. I've been enjoying the sunshine and keeping myself busy working in the garden. I will post pictures soon.

Etsy Lust

2008-02-12T00:14:00.000-08:00

I'm sure the handful of people that read this blog are familiar with Etsy. I was browsing tonight and found a local Seattle area Etsy shop that sells knitting stuff, check out this cool messenger bag! Oh, how I want one. It would put an end to the jumble of knitting supplies I throw into a canvas tote and carry around. I really love the squirrel background print on this one. I don't have a baby,

book meme

2008-02-05T21:19:00.000-08:00

Meme grabbed from Mimi :)1. What book have you read in the last six months that has really stayed with you? Why? Well, right now I am reading, "Animal, Vegetable, Miracle" by Barbara Kingsolver. It's very inspiring so far2. What is one of your favorite childhood books? I'll have to echo others on this, the "Little House" books. I read them over and over. 3. Do you have a favorite

News!

2008-01-23T23:19:00.000-08:00

Wow, I can't believe I haven't posted anything since November. I have been meaning to, and then dear Sara asked, so I am finally getting around to it. I am moving!!! Not just moving, but, moving to California! I was given notice by my landlord to move out so that her daughter could move in. So I am packing up and heading south. It is a hard thing since I LOVE Washington, and HATE California, but,

On Fasting

2007-11-28T10:20:00.000-08:00

A good reminder for me, from St John Chrysostom:Fasting is a medicine. But medicine, as beneficial as it is, becomes useless because of the inexperience of the user. He has to know the appropriate time that the medicine should be taken and the right amount of medicine and the condition of the body which is to take it, the weather conditions and the season of the year and the appropriate diet of

Allergy update

2007-11-15T13:08:00.000-08:00

I've been dairy/peanut/soy free for about a week and a half. Except for Sunday after Liturgy when I forgot and put half and half in my coffee. I had bad itching and hives than night. Tuesday I forgot and had a quesadilla and burrito for lunch, and was very sick that night. One would think it would get easier now, since the Nativity Fast starts for us Orthodox today, which means abstaining from

recipe and update

2007-11-09T21:32:00.000-08:00

Recipe from NPR.Quinoa Stuffed Peppers Makes 4 servings as a main dish 2 cups vegetable broth or water1 cup quinoa, rinsed2 teaspoons olive oil1/2 cup chopped onion1 zucchini, quartered lengthwise then sliced across thinly1 yellow squash, quartered lengthwise then sliced across thinly1/2 teaspoon fennel seeds1/2 teaspoon dried oregano1/2 teaspoon salt1 cup cherry tomatoes, cut in half1/2 cup pine

Happy Birthday, Mimi!

2007-08-31T11:38:00.000-07:00

some other things that have happened on August 31st, from wikipedia.1056 - Byzantine Empress Theodora dies suddenly without children to succeed the throne, ending the Macedonian dynasty.1864 - American Civil War: Union forces led by General William T. Sherman launch an assault on Atlanta, Georgia.1876 - Ottoman sultan Murat V is deposed and succeeded by his brother Abd-ul-Hamid II.1886 -

Back on the Island

2007-08-02T18:54:00.000-07:00

I've been back since Tuesday night. I had a really, really, really wonderful and amazing time. I only have a couple pictures, here on flickr.

2007-07-24T21:19:00.000-07:00

The iconography workshop finished up on Saturday and this is what I finished, the Archangel Michael. It was an amazing experience, quite a blessing. I look forward to working on more, God willing. Now, in a day and a half, I am headed to California. Apologies to my dear friends in So Cal, my time will be completely occupied. :) More to follow...Oh, and I purchased the new Harry Potter today and

still here in Portland

2007-07-19T18:39:00.001-07:00

Today was the fourth day of class. Two days more. Here's where I'm at so far.More photos on flickr of course.Tonight Katie and family came for dinner, it was so nice to see them. The other night we went to Christina's parents for dinner, check out Christina's blog for the cutest thing Pavlos said, I'll never forget it.

Greetings from Portland

2007-07-16T21:09:00.000-07:00

I'm down in Portland for an icongraphy workshop this week. The lovely Christina graciously offered me a place to stay while I'm here. The first day went well, other than having to drive in the horrible Portland traffic and ending up with a raging migraine. Saturday I drove down to Olympia and went to dinner with Mimi and her family and then to see the newest Harry Potter movie, which was very

thank you

2007-07-09T10:58:00.000-07:00

Thank you for all your lovely wishes. It was a wonderful day.

wisdom

2007-07-03T10:57:00.000-07:00

Remember, whatever good or bad things happen to us, they have only one single purpose, to awaken us to the reality of God and help us on the path toward union with Him. There is no other reason for being born on this planet, believe me. It is up to us whether or not we take advantage of these wake-up calls.~Father Maximos, from The Mountain of Silence by Kyriacos C. Markides

Wiki Fact of the Day

2007-06-15T10:01:00.000-07:00

Did you know? The Professor of Gilligan's Island lives on Bainbridge Island. Now you know. I'll watch for him at Town & Country Market. Wikipedia also says that Bainbridge Island is the birthplace of pickleball.

movie

2007-06-14T23:25:00.000-07:00

There is a new film about the life of Edith Piaf. Marion Cotillard stars as the little sparrow, she was in one of my favorite movies, Big Fish. Looks like it opens in Seattle June 22nd. As an aside, watching the trailer made me think, people everywhere should shout at each other in French, it sounds so nice and you couldn't be angry. Below is a youtube video of Edith Piaf singing.

for James and Susan

2007-06-11T23:44:00.000-07:00

Dilemma

2007-06-11T12:15:00.000-07:00

There is an iconography class in Portland in July, which is six days long. I've arranged the time off of work to go and have the $ to pay for the class. The problem is the $ doesn't include lodgings. The other problem is that it is the same week as our parish feast day, and now it looks like our dearly beloved bishop will be with us and my good friend James will be tonsured a reader. So I am at a

Wedding

2007-06-11T10:50:00.000-07:00

My dear sister got married Sunday, June 3rd. It was such a joyous time. It was wonderful to have family from all over the country together for the weekend. I took so many pictures, of course, which can be seen here. My only complaints would be that I ended up with a bad cold Saturday night, which I still have, and that there wasn't enough time to see everyone I wanted to, like the dear Plews and

wedding

2007-06-01T01:25:00.000-07:00

I fly to California in less than 12 hours! I left work after midnight after an awful day, and picked up my bridesmaid dress on the way home. It is still hard to imagine that I'm going to California for my sister's wedding. She's such a sweet and lovely woman, but I still remember my cute baby sister. I still need to finish packing and try to sleep a bit. The one time I can't sleep, before a

thinking

2007-05-25T00:01:00.000-07:00

I started listening to this weekend's podcast of This American Life about road trips. I've always loved road trips. I'm thinking how nice it would be to go for a trip. I wish it were easier for me to take time off of work. Someone should come along, Mimi? There's also an iconography workshop in Milwaukee, Oregon in July that I really want to go to.This past weekend Poulsbo had its annual Viking

photos

2007-05-14T11:38:00.000-07:00

Here are a few photos from events of the past month. I went down to California for my sister's bridal shower and also visited good friends. This past Saturday we had a baptism at St Elizabeth. I had a sleep study done last week, and while it might be good news that I don't have sleep apnea, I had to stay into the next afternoon for a Multiple Sleep Latency Test. Each of the four naps I took I

poking my head out

2007-04-20T00:39:00.000-07:00

Christ is risen!!!Incase anyone still checks on me here, I'm still alive. I took an unexpected break. Things have been busy. I'm leaving for California in the morning, I should be finishing my packing and going to bed. I'm going down for my youngest sister's bridal shower. I have a ton of pictures from Holy Week and Pascha on flickr. I've been listening to the newest music from the innocence

odds and ends

2007-01-18T12:08:00.000-08:00

Camp Dawn finished on Tuesday afternoon without any major incidents. A few of us did end up with colds, me being one. I went home to my tiny house and it was so quiet and still. It seemed strange.Something I've learned is that no matter how many books I read I feel out of sorts if I don't spend time on my prayer rule. It's too easy for me not to. I'd much rather be reading a book or sleeping or

2007-01-18T11:27:00.000-08:00

My Peculiar Aristocratic Title is:Milady the Most Honourable Dawn the Precocious of Happy Bottomshire Get your Peculiar Aristocratic Title hmmm, I've never been called precocious.

snow

2007-01-16T07:38:00.000-08:00

It snowed over night, and it's still snowing. Everything's covered. I left my camera at home. School has been cancelled, which means the kids have another day of camp Dawn. ;)

baby-sitting

2007-01-15T17:28:00.000-08:00

I'm spending a few days as a live-in babysitter. This is definitely the longest time I've spent supervising children. Matushka is graduating from her MFA program down in Oregon and I'm taking care of the kids so that Father could go down to Oregon for the graduation. The kids had the day off of school and spent time reading, playing with legos, and dancing along to songs on my laptop, John's

breaking the silence

2007-01-13T10:16:00.000-08:00

I'm still here. I just wanted to let anyone know that might still come back here that my dear choir director at St Elizabeth is on a road trip by herself for a month and has a blog about it... http://banjovan.blogspot.com/I might as well add that while I might not have much to say on the blog, I have been taking pictures, most recently of Theophany activities at St Elizabeth, which can be viewed

morning after

2006-12-16T22:38:00.000-08:00

trees down Originally uploaded by dawn mary. we came through the crazy windstorm and woke up to two trees down outside my home. This is a picture of where it ended up. It laid over our driveway until this afternoon. We were out of power until this evening.

Happy Birthday!

2006-12-12T09:16:00.000-08:00

Today is my baby sister's 21st birthday. Happy Birthday, Kristen! God grant you many years!

I'm still here

2006-12-12T00:10:00.000-08:00

Christina posted on her blog, and since I haven't posted since October, I thought I'd say a little hello. I didn't use my laptop for almost a month, the ac adapter went bad and I couldn't turn it on and didn't bother to get a new one for a while. I finally called Dell and ordered it a couple of weeks ago. I've spent a lot of time knitting scarves for gifts. I had a family visit in November, my

today

2006-10-24T19:15:00.000-07:00

We had a conference on Evangelism and Catechism today at St Elizabeth. Father Eric of St Paul the Apostle Orthodox Church in Las Vegas gave a very good presentation and there was much discussion. It was a small and comfortable group. There were a total of five priests including Father Eric, and maybe twelve or so other people besides that. I really enjoyed it and am glad I was able to find

just a little fun

2006-10-20T00:38:00.000-07:00

WHAT WOULD THE SOUNDTRACK TO YOUR LIFE BE?(taken from the lovely Christina's blog)So, here's how it works:1. Open your library (iTunes, Winamp, Media Player, iPod, etc)2. Put it on shuffle3. Press play4. For every question, type the song that's playing5. When you go to a new question, press the next button6. Don't LieThis is Christina's suggestion, unless you really really hate the song (in which

Roller Derby Girls Meet

2006-10-16T11:12:00.000-07:00

The women's retreat at St John the Baptist Greek Orthodox Church in Portland was this weekend. Susan Sophia and I drove down, along with another woman from our parish, and picked up Mimi along the way. I have been sick with a cold, so I was a little out of it. It was lovely to see Katie, Christina, Susan, and Presvytera Elizabeth again, along with meeting new people and meeting more people in

New Ferrenberg home

2006-10-02T00:48:00.000-07:00

New Ferrenberg home Originally uploaded by dawn mary. They're moved, and the house is blessed. Look at my flickr site for lots of pictures.

i love neko case

2006-09-23T13:51:00.000-07:00

what an amazing voice. i could listen to her sing anything.

yummy autumn soup

2006-09-16T13:16:00.000-07:00

I made this up last night and it is really good. oil for sauteinga few garlic cloves minced1 large sweet onion, chopped2 red garnet yams peeled and chopped1 large sweet potato peeled and chopped1 acorn squash, seeded, peeled and chopped1 box organic vegetable brothwater needed2 cans black beans, rinsed and drained2 cans lentils, rinsed and drained (dry would be easy, I just happened to have these

sickness and death

2006-09-01T00:21:00.000-07:00

We had an interesting conversation at work tonight. It started with discussing one of our patients that is a woman in her late 40's in the end stages of Huntington's Disease. She has a sister that lives in the area that I have seen once in my three years working here. Another woman in her late 40's has an early-onset form of Parkinson's Disease. Her husband visits daily, but her two children from

meeting friends

2006-08-30T11:59:00.000-07:00

It's already been mentioned on other blogs, but Mimi and I went down to St John the Baptist for Vasilia's baptism. It was so neat to be there, and to see Katie again and meet Job. It was nice to finally get to meet Christina and Susan in person, and Pavlos and Petros are adorable. I drove home Saturday evening, and arrived in time to have dinner with Matushka Thea and the kids. Nani was so happy

now i can quit my job... :)

2006-08-29T23:36:00.000-07:00

FROM MR. COLLINS AGU. STANDARD TRUST BANK (NIGERIA) PLC FOREIGN ACCOUNTS DEPARTMENT LAGOS-NIGERIA. PRIVATE EMAIL BELOW: mrcoll03@hotmail.com Dear friend, I am the Manager of Foreign Accounts Department of Standard Trust Bank Plc,I am writing you this letter to solicit your support and co-operation to carry out this transaction. We discovered an abandoned Sum of US$20 Million (Twenty Million U.S

short road trip

2006-08-25T00:56:00.000-07:00

I'm off to Portland with Mimi for Saturday. I'll drop the dog off at my priest's house, Matushka and the kids love to babysit her. I'll drive down to Olympia in the afternoon and spend the night at Mimi's, and then we'll go to Portland in the morning. We'll be at St John's in the morning for a baptism(and get to see the cute froggy!). While we're there I'll finally get to meet Christina and her

2006-08-23T13:30:00.000-07:00

Giant GirlI'm a little late on this, it happened in May. This is amazing, HUGE puppets on the streets in England. You don't get to see much of the elephant in this one, but it's the best video. You can see photos on flickr here, here, and here.

crazy christian zionists

2006-08-21T01:00:00.000-07:00

I had a long post about a crazy Christian Zionist coworker ranting about the chosen people and yada yada. I copied the post, nothing happened. Darn my laptop and Microsoft. Argh! I'll try to start over. There's this rule that is a good idea to follow, don't bring up religion or politics or both together at work, at least with nutty coworkers, meaning ones who've been raised Seventh Day Adventist

from my reading

2006-08-17T23:53:00.000-07:00

I read this on my break at work tonight. I love Metropolitan Anthony Bloom's writings. It's beautiful and simple and immense."Blessed are the merciful." This journey is not a lonely one; in terms of Exodus it was the whole people of God who were launched out, side by side, as a unit; in terms of the Lord's Prayer and our vocation, it is the Church, it is mankind, it is everyone who is on this

what's going on...

2006-08-17T13:07:00.000-07:00

my baby sister is getting married. well, they're not engaged yet, but the wedding plans are in full swing. i'm sitting here e-mailing back and forth with my mother about bridesmaid dress patterns and listening to sun kil moon. the wedding's set for june, and the place is booked. i'll be flying down to pasadena. he has the ring, he showed it to my mom. they're all going to hawaii in september, and

2006-07-30T20:03:00.000-07:00

Helen Xenia gave me zucchini from her garden last night at Vespers. I took it home and made chocolate chip zucchini bread. Instead of wheat flour, I used four cups of Bob's Red Mill Gluten-Free Baking Mix and two cups of oat flour, and I added walnuts. The recipe made two loaf pans and a large cake pan. I brought the large cake pan for our post-Liturgy pot-luck. Somehow it seems like most of the

responsibility

2006-07-29T15:15:00.000-07:00

On reading Living Prayer, by Metropolitan Anthony Bloom, I ran across this tidbit and thought I'd share...Prayer is an adveture which brings not a thrill but new responsibilities: as long as we are ignorant, nothing is asked of us, but as soon as we know anything, we are answerable for the use we make of that knowledge. It may be a gift, but we are responsible for any particle of truth we have

Feast Day

2006-07-18T23:24:00.000-07:00

Feast Day Originally uploaded by dawn mary. Today we celebrated our feast day. Mimi drove up from Olympia yesterday evening and stayed at my house, we had a lovely visit. We felt the prayers of St Elizabeth in a very real way today. It was beautiful. For links about St Elizabeth and beautiful pictures, visit the lovely Arielle's blog.

The Sailor

2006-07-14T10:54:00.000-07:00

Our dear "sailor" died early this morning. He will be greatly missed.

summertime blues

2006-07-08T20:36:00.000-07:00

I am banished from work for 48 hours. The Norwalk virus has hit the place, and I went home last night with mild symptoms that could be totally unrelated. But, since I had even some of the symptoms, the state health department says that I can't return for 48 hours. Lucky me, an extra weekend off. I picked up a copy of Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell, thanks to Christina's post about it, and started

happy birthday to me

2006-07-06T11:29:00.000-07:00

some people that share my birthday:my cousin, Kenny, who is a Jehova's Witness. Tsar Nicholas I of Russia 50 CentSylvester Stallone Geoffrey RushBurt WardHarold VanderbiltNed BeattyTenzin Gyatso, Dali LamaDella ReeseJanet LeighMerv GriffinBill HaleyNancy ReaganJohn Paul JonesGeorge W BushFrida KahloSome things that happened on July 6th:1483 - Richard III is crowned king of England. 1484 -

sing-along

2006-06-30T00:17:00.000-07:00

what songs do you sing a long to in the car? i was driving to work today singing along to Romeo and Juliet by the Indigo Girls. It got me started thinking what else I like to sing a long to, just off the top of my head I would say: They Might Be Giants- Particle Man, Birdhouse in Your Soul, Istanbul(Not Constantinople), Soft Cell - Tainted Love, Elvis Costello, the Ramones, Weezer (the blue album

goodbye, bubby

2006-06-25T23:53:00.000-07:00

From the Yiddish to English page. bubelah: darling, sweetheart - especially a child (lit. "little grandma") The greatest joy of my job is the relationships, knowing people, even for a brief, shining moment. It's a different kind of thing, being there with their dementia, confusion and illness. Some people become detached, for protection or other reasons. I am not one of those, I can't. I took

movie madness

2006-06-20T23:21:00.000-07:00

I've rented a few DVDs recently. My favorite was "Everything Is Illuminated", which was released last fall and stars Elijah Wood. It's about a young Jewish man that sets off in search of the woman that saved his grandfather's life from the Nazis and helped him escape the Ukraine. He takes a road trip through the Ukraine with a translator that loves hip hop and Michael Jackson and the translations

local restaurant

2006-05-31T01:34:00.000-07:00

A Poulsbo restaurant, Mitzel's, burned to the ground at 2am Tuesday morning. I didn't know about the fire until I drove by it on the way to the church for book club. There were no sprinklers or fire alarms, but it was across the street from the fire station. Thankfully no one was injured as the restaurant was closed. It's been a St Elizabeth's tradition to have lunch at Mitzel's after Divine

nani checking her e-mail

2006-05-28T00:26:00.000-07:00

or, why I don't blog much anymore... nani checking her e-mail Originally uploaded by dawn mary.

Musical Definitions

2006-05-24T10:46:00.000-07:00

*sent to the choir by our priest.In order to keep you abreast of the ever-developing world of musical terminology, we provide herewith the latest additions to the esteemed Harvard Dictionary of Music:ALLREGRETTOWhen you're 16 measures into the piece and realize you took too fast a tempoANGUS DEITo play with a divinely beefy toneA PATELLAAccompanied by knee-slappingAPPOLOGGIATURAA composition that

Mostly music

2006-05-22T23:16:00.000-07:00

I *heart* my ipod. It's true. I got an ipod with my tax return. Someone told me about emusic, where I could download 40 songs for $9.99, or 90 for $20! I've discovered some really beautiful music. Julia Sarr and Patrice LaRose, she sings Senegalese with his flamenco guitar, it's amazing. One of my new favorite bands is calexico, I blogged before about their collaboration with Iron and Wine. They

2006-05-19T01:13:00.000-07:00

I'm still here. I've been enjoying having family back in town. Work has been extremely stressful and tiring, we are very short on nursing staff, it's taking it's toll. It's late and I can't think of much more to say.

St Elizabeth's

2006-05-07T22:18:00.000-07:00

St Elizabeth's Originally uploaded by dawn mary. We did it. We moved out of the little Catholic church, into our own place.

what a headache

2006-05-05T23:09:00.000-07:00

How was your night at work, you ask? Oh, I just ran into the edge of an open door with my nose, that's all. I gave myself a bloody nose and a HUGE headache. I sat at work with an ice pack on my face until the shift ended an hour and a half later. I was worried that my vision was blurry until I realized that I had worn my glasses and they were sitting on the desk. I don't have any bruising so far,

Faye-Bainbridge State Park

2006-05-04T23:26:00.000-07:00

Faye-Bainbridge State Park Originally uploaded by dawn mary. I had Wednesday off of work and Susan came over to the penninsula with the boys, her mom, and her mom's friend. We had a picnic lunch at Battle Point Park(see Joe below), and later on ended up at the beach. It was a lovely day, and the weather was gorgeous.

Battle Point Park

2006-05-04T23:23:00.000-07:00

Battle Point Park Originally uploaded by dawn mary. Joe chasing the duck.

Joe and Nani

2006-05-04T23:22:00.000-07:00

Joe and Nani Originally uploaded by dawn mary.

Christ is Risen!

2006-04-26T00:09:00.000-07:00

too much to say...

The Convent founded by Saint Elizabeth the New Martyr

2006-04-18T09:27:00.000-07:00

The Convent founded by Saint Elizabeth the New Martyr Originally uploaded by zenosaurus. I stumbled across this photo on flickr today. For any who don't know, St Elizabeth is the patroness of our church.

how rude

2006-04-17T23:04:00.000-07:00

The tailgait of my truck was stolen tonight, from the post office parking lot. I was at work and too busy to move my truck, and when I left work at the end of the night I noticed the tailgait was GONE!

Holy Monday

2006-04-17T13:13:00.000-07:00

Tone 8Behold the Bridgegroom comes in the middle of the night; and blessed is the sesrvant whom He shall find watching, but unworthy is he whom He shall find in slothfulness. Beware, then, O my soul, and be not overcome by sleep, lest thou be given over to death and shut out from the Kingdom. But return to soberness and cry aloud: Holy, holy, holy art Thou, O God: through the Theotokos have mercy

Palm Sunday

2006-04-17T00:24:00.000-07:00

By raising Lazarus from the dead before Your passion,You did confirm the universal Resurrection, O Christ God!Like the children with the palms of victory, We cry out to You, O Vanquisher of death;Hosanna in the Highest!Blessed is He that comes in the Name of the Lord!(more photos here)

reading

2006-04-15T09:56:00.000-07:00

From "Wounded By Love: The Life and the Wisdom of Elder Porphyrios""'The joy that is in God is stronger than this present life. And he who finds this joy, not only will he not pay attention to the passions, but he will not even give a thought to his own life, nor will he have awareness of anything else, if his experience of this joy is true. Love is sweeter than life. And the concord with God

podcast

2006-04-14T18:26:00.000-07:00

I subscribe to NPR's "All Songs Considered" podcast and decided to listen to it driving home this afternoon. The show was about the CD release of a boxed set of early Beatles albums not available on CD thus far. It was interesting to listen to the discussion about the differences between the American and English versions of the albums.

bathroom saga

2006-04-13T11:04:00.000-07:00

My shower has been leaking underneath the floor into my closet. Now the shower has been torn out and is sitting in pieces in my driveway. Everything is out of the closet and sitting in my bedroom and living room. Hopefully this will all be finished and put back together by the time my mom arrives on Holy Wednesday. In the meantime I'll be taking showers in the "big house", that is my landlord's/

wisdom

2006-04-12T12:07:00.000-07:00

From Fr Wayne at St Barnabas via John.For Lazarus also, whom the Lord raised up, exuded so fetid an odor that no one could approach his tomb, as a symbol of Adam whose soul exuded such a great stench and was full of blackness and darkness. But you, when you hear about Adam and the wounded traveler and Lazarus, do not let your mind wander as it were into the mountains, but remain inside within

photos

2006-04-11T23:46:00.000-07:00

A little 90 year old woman had a chest x-ray taken at work tonight, by a portable x-ray machine. Afterwards she shuffled around person to person in her wheelchair asking how the photo turned out. At the same time I was carrying around the polaroid camera on my medication chart taking pictures of patients for our medication records. The pictures serve in the place of name bands on the wrist. I

doggie update

2006-04-10T23:21:00.000-07:00

I had a message from the vet when I got home from work tonight with the lab results. It was a benign fatty tumor. Woo hoo! No cancer. She's fine and hasn't had any pain medicine since Friday night. It took her a while to start to eat and drink normally, but she's back to her usual routine.

post-surgery

2006-04-06T23:40:00.000-07:00

Nani had surgery yesterday. The lump on her abdomen was not a hernia, it was a mass and has been sent to a lab for testing. She was sent home with pain medication and is recovering. She's so tiny that I can stretch my hand across the E-collar. Her quiet wimpers are really pitiful.

one more thing

2006-04-04T00:15:00.000-07:00

How could I forget? Our parish is moving into our own place! Well, our own place much more than renting use of a Roman Catholic church. We have leased a space in a business park in poulsbo and move in May 1st! We have an iconostasis already, and may have an altar. Glory to God!

quotes

2006-04-04T00:05:00.000-07:00

received from John, cut to my heart.Let us be satisfied simply with what sustains our present life, not with what pampers it. Let us pray to God for this, as we have been taught, so that we may keep our souls unenslaved and absolutely free from domination by any of the visible things loved for the sake of the body. Let us show that we eat for the sake of living, and not be guilty of living for

mondays

2006-03-20T23:34:00.000-08:00

The strangeness really started on Saturday. I was off of work for one day and went in to find that a good friend had been fired, for her mouth, which is not surprising. Still, it was a shock, she's been there longer than I have. Our beloved Thomas fell asleep in the Lord this morning after a long battle with cancer, may his memory be eternal. We think of him everytime we sing "Many Years" and

monastery pictures

2006-03-14T22:57:00.000-08:00

One of the goats stuck his head out to say hello.That's Sophia in front of me.There's a lot more, I've posted them all on flickr.

back in the world

2006-03-13T22:44:00.000-08:00

I've just returned home from the weekend at the monastery with Sophia. I actually arrived in Kitsap around 8pm, but stopped at Father and Matushka's to pick up my dog. We drank tea, talked about the monastery, and about the parish meeting about moving that happened while I was gone. I'm still processing all kinds of thoughts and emotions. It was a wonderful and blessed weekend. It snowed

exciting news

2006-03-10T23:18:00.000-08:00

My sister called tonight, they're moving back to Washington! My brother-in-law got the job in Seattle that he interviewed for on Monday. They only have a couple of weeks to pack up their belongings and head north from southern California. They'll be staying with his parents in Poulsbo. My sister may even end up working with me again, she's how I got my job when I moved over from Kirkland. It was

where i been

2006-03-07T13:16:00.000-08:00

first~Please forgive me, dear friends and readers, for my sins, careless words, and neglect.I've had computer problems, the area DSL was down, and I needed someone to tell me how to reset my laptop by holding down the start button. :p Does anyone else have sore muscles from all the prostrations? Our parish mission is possibly going to sign a lease on a space in a business park. That means we'd be

late night musings

2006-02-24T00:42:00.000-08:00

I wonder what affects people's work ethics, their treatment of patients. I know several that care, some that don't and some that just shouldn't be there. I started reading Stages On Life's Way and was struck by the statement "every human person is of infinite value and is therefore worthy of infinite compassion." I've been pondering how that works itself out in my daily life, looking at

cartoon me

2006-02-22T20:46:00.000-08:00

(thanks mimi)There's something about my busy life lately, I don't get many days just to myself. I did laundry today. I talked to my dad, it was his birthday yesterday. I forgot to mail his card, and he wasn't home when I called last night from work. I'm amazed at how much time dogs spend sleeping. I don't really watch TV, but I've gotten hooked on "Lost." It's interesting, and when it started I

2006-02-21T23:14:00.000-08:00

I received my first SVS Press Club shipment today. I'm mostly excited about "Stages on Life's Way: Orthodox Thinking on Bioethics" by John and Lyn Breck since I never read his other one on bioethics, but am very interested because of my work. (For some reason the SVS Press website isn't loading at the moment, so I can't link to it.)Thanks to papa herman for his comment in the previous post,

2006-02-18T23:18:00.000-08:00

Our choir director sent a link to this as fun.We have a new patient at work. She's from Oregon. She was up visiting her son, fell out of bed and after tests at the hospital it turned out she had a stroke in her spine. She's lost the function of her legs. She developed bed sores on her heels at the previous facility. Now we've got her using an electric wheelchair and will do some medication

question of the day

2006-02-15T23:53:00.000-08:00

from my patient, the sailor:"What are bank robbers making now days?"

fun with computers

2006-02-15T00:35:00.000-08:00

I'm a little late on the bandwagon, but now that I've got a laptop and DSL I downloaded itunes and started importing my CDs into my itunes library. Listening to the shins at the moment, and enjoying their happy tunes. Just what I needed, another way to listen to music and play on the computer.

too much to say

2006-02-13T23:16:00.000-08:00

I had a wonderful visit over the weekend with James, Susan and family. Susan even posted some pictures. The weather stayed beautiful just through their visit, and it was pouring rain when I went to work this afternoon. I enjoyed the whole weekend, and was especially tickled at seeing the kids make friends with Father and Matushka's children, who are the same ages. It's fun to drive around and

2006-02-09T12:58:00.000-08:00

I'm finally getting some things done that I've been neglecting for a while.

St Brigid of Ireland

2006-02-01T12:11:00.000-08:00

On the feast day of St Brigid(Bridget) of Ireland~The Giveaway(Phyllis McGintley, 1957)Saint Bridget wasA problem child.Although a lassDemure and mild,And one who stroveTo please her dad,Saint Bridget droveThe family mad.For here's the fault in Bridget lay:She WOULD give everything away.To any soulWhose luck was outShe'd give her bowlOf stirabout;She'd give her shawl,Divide her purseWith one or

babsitting story

2006-02-01T10:49:00.000-08:00

I spent the whole day yesterday babysitting for Fr and Matushka. I went over at 9:30 am to watch the 4 yr old, and then was there for when the 2 older children came home from school and put them to bed at night. At one point early in the day, Nilus decided we were going to "bless" the house. He used a spoon as a hand cross and had me follow him while he sang the Theophany tropar. At the end he

weekend adventures

2006-01-30T12:43:00.000-08:00

Friday afternoon I drove two hours down to Olympia, through some heavy rain and traffic in parts, but not bad overall. Got lost and ended up at Target which was fine, I needed to use the bathroom. I called Mimi and she wasn't very far away, so she met me in the parking lot and I followed her home. I went with the whole family for dinner at an Indian resteraunt in downtown Olympia. It was very

So goodbye, so long, the road calls me dear

2006-01-26T10:58:00.000-08:00

Come Friday the heroine of this blog is off on a road trip with stops in 1.)Bremerton to drop off her trusty side-kick at a doggie motel, 2.)Olympia where she will join Mimi and dine on indian food, the two will travel to Portland on Saturday, lunch with Presvytera Elizabeth, and join Xenia Katie for dinner and vespers. She's hoping for a visit here, since it will be a first trip to Portland, and

2006-01-24T23:49:00.000-08:00

Conversation at the parish after coffee hour a couple of weeks ago...Our deacon makes the comment, "Have you seen the Harry Potter movie? It is really good." A few of us say yes and nod our heads in agreement. Fr Christopher asks, "Have you read any of the books?" The deacon shakes his head no and says, "I'd always rather see the movie." Someone very quickly says, "Why, Father(deacon), that's

2006-01-24T13:16:00.000-08:00

Our little mission book club meets once a week and is currently reading "Confronting and Controlling Thoughts According To The Fathers Of The Philokalia" by Anthony M Coniaris. The bullet points scared me a little at first, but it's actually very simple and accessible. A good book for the whole group to discuss. Today we were discussing thoughts, and "you are where your mind is." I think it's

2006-01-19T23:25:00.000-08:00

my patient, the dear old sailor, said something quite cute tonight. i was in with his roommate and he wanted a chocolate so i unwrapped one of the frango chocolates on his bedside table and popped it in his mouth. i went back on the other side of the curtain and heard him happily exclaim, "this chocolate is just like a supplemental meal!"

2006-01-18T00:12:00.000-08:00

No rain today. At least that I saw. I could hardly believe how lovely it was outside. My favorite sort of day, clear blue sky with a few wisps of white clouds, cold enough to wear a sweater, but not too cold. I had to work. Ah, at least I got to enjoy the morning and early afternoon. The sort of day that makes you breathe deep and smile. Joy!