Happy Mother’s Day!

If you look very, very carefully in the first picture down below, you can see a tiny glimmer of white and yellow. They are the Mama Bird’s eye and beak! She flew away when my friend, Obvious Ron, tried to move a leaf to get a good picture of her. This allowed a perfect picture of 4 perfectly blue eggs! How wonderful!

I hope all Mom’s, Grandmom’s, and spiritual mom’s had joyous days. Read on for mine…

My day was wonderfully uneventful but special nonetheless. DS came home yesterday to spend the night and visit but especially to carry out the Mother’s Day tradition he and his sister have done since they were 9 or so. It was delightful to see him. He has decided to let his hair grow a little longer than the buzz cut he has worn for the last 8 years. It is still short by today’s standards but he has the stylin’ goin’ on at the top. His hair is very wavy so he’s lookin’ good!!

Church was first on-deck and joyous as always. Today was craft-day in Sunday school so we made presents for our Mom’s…little painted styrofoam cups with pipe cleaner flowers and tongue depressor stems. They were cute!

Liturgy was blessed. Father’s sermon about Noble Joseph was very good and thought provoking. He talked about the symbolism of Jesus being laid in a new tomb and Joseph’s new and complete commitment to Jesus evidenced by his going to Pilate to ask for His body for burial. We each take Christ into our new hearts and give Him rest therein. It is good for me to contemplate this not so much for the idea of “newness” but more so the “kind” of residence I provide for Christ in my heart.

Coffee hour was brief but I was able to catch up with a couple whose daughter is in need of receiving instruction for her first confession. It is a blessing and privilege for me to do this preparation as her Sunday school teacher, but it is one that I do not take on lightly but with fear and dread. One does not want to be responsible for leading a child astray, even out of ignorance! Pray for me!

Home I went afterwards to my patiently awaiting son who sprung into cooking action once I got myself settled. He took my order: BLT on homemade bran bread with a side of french fries and hot tea! Delectable! And young man (I can no longer call him a boy!) cooked, emptied the dishwasher and cleaned up the kitchen afterwards! (Have I said I LOVE this tradition?!!!!) He gave me a wonderful card that made me tear up and laugh at the same time. It is one of those kind that you keep forever and read over frequently.

We then spent the afternoon traipsing around the home/warehouse store looking and purchasing new lighting fixtures for the house. The hubster and I have decided we want to fix up the house so that we can live in it and enjoy it…not do it 3 months before you sell it and move like we’ve done in the last 3 houses we’ve owned! LOL! After that trip, we headed to the mall for me to look for shoes. Always an effort in frustration, this time was no different. I tried on 12 or 13 pairs of shoes (no exaggeration!) and not a single one fit! NONE! I have strange feet - they are different sizes; a narrow heel; and the need of a wide toe box. Try to find spring/summer shoes that fit that bill. Forget it! BUT I shall not give up! When I find a pair that fit, I am going to buy two sets!!

Happy Mother’s Day

What he said.  Yup.

Se hace el semestre.

The semester is done!  I took my Spanish final Tuesday night and emailed my final essay on Richard Nixon at 10:30 p.m. Wednesday!  YAY!

I was not pleased at the conclusion of the Spanish final.  Though it was simple, I struggled with direct and indirect objects and reflexive verbs, which was no different than what was happening semester long, despite studying.  Very frustrating.  I am interested to know my grade on the exam.

The essay on Nixon was not as difficult as I had first thought it would be.  We needed to address the question “What are my conclusions regarding Richard Nixon’s place in U. S. History?  Was he the most influential individual in the latter part of the 20th century as Robert Dole thinks?  Was he a character gone bad?  Does the good he did outweigh the bad?  Or visa versa?” As I said to my professor, it’s killing me but I am concluding that he had some admirable qualities and during his administration put into place some very good domestic policies.  However, that did not and does not replace his attitude of “the ends justify the means.”  I am very interested to read the professor’s thoughts when he returns my essay.

The summer semester doesn’t start till the end of May so I have two weeks respite.  First on deck will be a Contemporary Fiction class.  A preliminary reading list for the class is:

• Fay by Larry Brown
• Fight Club by Chuck Palahniuk
• The Pacific & Other Stories by Mark Helprin
• Beloved by Toni Morrison
• In Country by Bobbie Ann Mason

Have you read any of these titles?  If so, opinions?

To my utter frustration, I have had to succumb to seeing an orthopedist for my right elbow.  I have a raging case of tendinitis that I have not been able to kick these last 6 weeks.  It has gotten bad enough that to pick up a glass of water and drink it causes some discomfort, enough that a groaning escapes my lips.  I know what the doc is gonna tell me.  Don’t use the arm.  Yeah, right!  And how do I do that since I am right handed and a keyboard is right dominant AND I am a secretary/office manager?!?!  I have visions of physical therapy three times a week, ice packs, and anti-inflammatory treatments.

Speaking of which, the hubster and I went to the fitness center at the college where he works twice this week.  It is available free to employees and students.  We are planning a grand vacation in 2009 for our 25th wedding anniversary and want to be in better physical shape than we are when we embark on it.  So he showed me the ropes.  I walked on the treadmill for 30 minutes and got the heart rate to 130.  Then he showed me some of the weight lifting machines.  I could do stuff for the lower body but stayed away from the upper body stuff for now.  We had fun together!  While it is a major hassle to go, once I am there I am okay.  I like using the treadmill.  It is a good opportunity for prayer.

Happy Mother’s Day to you all!

Another “gas”sy thought

While perusing the news, I found this interesting article.  It appears, compared to many other countries, we’re hardly paying anything for gasoline.  However, I wonder how many of these countries are as dependent as we are on gas?  And what does that have to say about us?

To give or not to give…that is the question

This son used to send money home to his father to help pay for his medication but since the increase in gas prices he can no longer afford to do so.

Perhaps he ought to speak to the oil company executives whose companies are posting profits, asking them to contribute to help the poor.

Exxon Mobil posted the second largest first quarter earnings total ever on record.  Article can be found here.

In February Chevron posted “the annual profit to $18.7 billion in 2007, the fourth consecutive year that the San Ramon company made record amounts of money.”  Article can be found here.

I just can’t wait to see what kind of lovely bonuses the top level executives of the oil companies get this year while I, and many many others, try to figure out how to adjust our budget to accommodate the $3.69/gallon hit.

Can you tell this irritates me?  Don’t answer that!

On target

Today I met with my advisor to request his signature for my Fall 2008 registration.  I secured it, thus I am scheduled to take Drawing II and Irish Literature.  I took Drawing 1 back in the stone age, but the Dean received professorial permission for me to take Round 2.  I’m psyched!  My first foray into the ‘art’ world in over 15 years.

The Irish Lit class looks interesting.  The description is as follows:

An exploration of representative works in Irish Literature, by Catholic and Protestant, nationalist and Ango-Irish and canonical and non-canonical writers.  Topics will include the impact of British colonialism, nationalism and its appropriation of Irish myth, representations of gender and colliding definitions of “Irishness.”

I understand the prof of the class is heavy into discussion which will be good because it is a 3 hour class on a Thursday night!  I’m gonna need a lot of chatter to keep me awake that long!  I have a summer class with the same prof (Contemporary Fiction).  The reading list is interesting and I shall share it once I confirm it.  I am sure some of my readers will have thoughts and opinions on some of the books we will be reading.

My last history class on Richard Nixon was this afternoon.  I really enjoyed this class a lot which was completely unexpected.  Quite often I found myself astonished that the professor was saying, “Well, we’re out of time.” when it felt like we had just gotten started.  The prof is excellent and it will be a sad day when he retires.

It has been difficult to remain objective about Nixon.  When one learns of the many political consequences we are living with, in part due to his shenanigans in Office, one becomes quite cynical.  However, he is a tragic figure; a loner and introvert who was only able to force himself out of that comfort zone when absolutely necessary.  I cannot help but wonder if he had had a compadre, a friend, in whom he could confide whether things would have turned out different.  But his ego, his ambition, his inability to truly be introspective with an eye towards change and his desire to be at the top, blinded him to his weaknesses and prevented him from allowing anyone entry into his interior circle.

The final essay, a 7 page paper, is in outline form.  Now to flesh it out.  The question that we are required to consider is, “What conclusions seem warranted regarding Richard Nixon’s place in U. S. history?  Was he the most influential individual in the 2nd half of the 20th century?  Or is he best seen as the nation’s scoundrel-in-chief?”  Oughta be a doozey to write!

As I said to the professor, I’m okay with presidents being recognized as frail human beings, just like one of us.  However, I do have the expectation that they will rise above some of the frailty and lead by good example.  It’s one thing to lie about whether you snitched a row of staples for your stapler from the office supply closet.  But to lie, scheme and cover-up a crime, not to mention some of the other stuff he did, well ladies and gentleman, that’s a horse of a different color.

Even happier news from my advisor…I am on target to graduate May 2009!  One year to go!  Woot!

Ant update

After a thorough cleaning, the office looks and smells fabulous.  It seems, other than a few stragglers, the ants are gone. 

Susie-Q removed all the ink cartridges from the printer and put them in a zip lock bag.  She reinstalled all new.  The ziplock has a half-dozen ants crawling around.  It appears one of the cartridges was infested during shipping despite being sealed.  Must have been infested during the refill.

Totally gross, very true.

As future reference to readers, should you get ants in the house, a cheap solution given me by an exterminator is to sprinkle a line of baking soda at the entry point.  They won’t crawl over it.  I have also used Avon’s skin-so-soft sprayed around the entry points and that has worked as well.

Thanks for the idea Mother BUT I’ll take a pass on that idea!  I don’t think we want the office smelling like garlic. 

The ants go marching two by two…Hurrah! Hurrah!

What do ants and ink cartridges have in common? One would think nothing, right? Not in our office. Read on to discover the excitement of the day.

At 12:15 I received a call at home from my co-worker Susie-Q. (Today is my usual day off.)

Hey, how’s it going today? Busy? Silence on the other end of the phone. Then a strained voice says…

Philippa?……There are ants in the printer.

What? I’m sure I misheard her. Ants? IN the printer? On occasion I’d see one traipsing up the wall or across the floor and with nary a thought, whack ‘em dead. Fini, right? Apparently not!

Philippa, there ARE ants in the printer.

Uh? Really? Are you sure?

Yes Philippa, I am positive!!! I was printing some documents and the ants were coming out with the paper! I turned the printer upside down and they are ALL OVER THE PLACE!!!

Okay! Okay! This is totally gross Heavy sigh. Get out the vacuum, open the printer up and vacuum the thing out!!

Uh. Oh. Okay.

Do you want me to come to the office and help you do it? We’re both a little squeamish about bugs so company in these things helps!

No, no. That’s okay. It’s a good idea. I’ll do it and I have to go to the office-products-in-a-box store. Why don’t I get those canisters of air and use that too?

Great idea! But take printer outside and spray that sucker clean and leave it out there! In the meantime, I’ll run to the store and get some ant traps. Tomorrow when I come in I’ll do a thorough office cleaning and put out the ant traps.

Oh good! That sounds like a plan Philippa! Ugh! I feel like I need to take a shower! Talk to you later!

About two hours later, the phone rings again.

Philippa? It’s me again. Ya wanna hear the rest of the story?

Lord have mercy…Okay. What happened?

I opened the printer cover and they were ALL OVER the blue ink cartridge! All over it! I took the cartridge out and threw it away. Talk about disgusting. When I leave today, do you think I should put the printer in a trash bag?

Oh that’s an excellent idea! Suffocate them! Then we’ll see if they’re gone for good.

This has to be the strangest thing I’ve ever heard of! Ants attracted to an ink cartridge? Has anyone ever heard of this? Hopefully a thorough dusting, vacuuming and wiping down will get rid of them all together. The last thing I want to do is print out a letter with a squashed ant crossing a ‘t’.

4 things about me

A) FOUR PLACES I GO OVER AND OVER:  Church, Work, College, Store(s)

 

B) FOUR PEOPLE WHO ENCOURAGED MY FAITH ALONG THE WAY:  Aunt Bobby, Sister Brigit my first grade teacher at St. Donato’s Roman Catholic Elementary School, the Hubster, Greatschemamonk Seraphim.

 

C) FOUR OF MY FAVORITE FOODS:  Pasta, Chocolate, Chicken w/Gravy, Good ‘n Plenty candies

 

D) FOUR PLACES I WOULD RATHER BE RIGHT NOW:  The Beach, Somewhere warm, in the Garden, rocking a baby.

 

E) FOUR MOVIES I WOULD WATCH OVER AND OVER:  Gone With The Wind, Little Women, The Ghost & Mrs. Muir, Spartacus

 

F) FOUR THINGS I LIKE ABOUT THE ORTHODOX CHURCH:  Spiritual paternity, the smell (reminds me of praying & the feel of holiness), The Theotokos, The Prayers.

 

G) FOUR OF MY FAVORITE HOBBIES:  Reading, needlework, fiddling in the garden, crochet

 

“Let Us Love the Church Fervently”

“Let us feel for the Church.  Let us love her fervently.  We should not accept to hear her representatives being criticised and accused.  On the Holy Mountain the spirit in which I was nurtured was orthodox, profound, holy and silent - without conflicts, without disputes and witout censurings.  We should not give credence to those hwo make accusations against the clergy.  Even if with our own eyes we see apriest doing something we judge negatively, we should not blieve it, nor think about it, nor talk about it toothers.  The same is true for the lay members of the Church and for every person.  We are all the Church.  Those who censure the Church for the errors of her representatives with the alleged aim of helping to correct her make a great mistake.  They do not love the church.  Neither, needless to say, do they love Christ.  We love the Church when we embrace with our prayer each of her members and do what Christ did - when we sacrifice ourselves, remain ever vigilant, and do everything in the manner of Him who when he was abused did not return abuse, and when He suffered did not threaten (1 Pet 2:23).”

Wounded by Love:  The Life & the Wisdom of Elder Prophyrios (p91-92)