An assortment of winter thoughts and prayers...

That's currently my house, pictured left. ;-) We're in for a heck of a storm here in the Northeast, and apparently a Polar Vortex is coming to suck us all into another dimension, or some such thing. :0 The kids have school cancelled both tomorrow and Thursday, and we'll all be indoors for 2 straight days with lots of family togetherness.

😳

I'm joking. It's good, it really is! But if my kids can't go outside to romp in the snow (which they won't be able to - wind chill will be well below zero, and I'm talking Fahrenheit) they get bored and miserable. We'll make do as best we can! For my part, I'm planning to knit and crochet non-stop, and perhaps I'll have enough time to make a full size afghan! 😃

I do have a blanket in progress, matter of fact:

The theme of the colorway is sweet pea flowers, and I'm so pleased with how this is coming out!

At any rate, the biggest thing on my mind right now are my kids. I mentioned Henry in my post a few weeks ago, and indeed, he was accepted into his first choice Catholic high school. The only thing is, you know...$$$$. We received financial aid, but I'm still losing sleep over how we will make this happen. I think it would be a wonderful environment for him, and I'm really praying that this works out. Your prayers, as well, are very much coveted and appreciated!

Sort of along this same line of thought, the age difference between Henry and Anne has finally, to me at least, become very obvious. My kids are 5 years apart in age, and that has never been a big deal to me. It still isn't, it's just that Henry is becoming a young man, while Anne is still very much in little kid mode. And she should be, she's 7. It's a changing time of our lives, and it's both wonderful and painful at the same time.

So I've been praying a lot. It's been hard for me to pray the rosary in my car since I got a stick shift, but now that I've become more experienced with that at this point, I've adapted to a model whereby I use a one decade rosary with big round beads in my left hand that doesn't interfere with my shifting. At the very least, I can pray a single decade, or the 3 Hail Mary's devotion. I did also sign up for a print subscription to Living Faith, like we talked about last week.

It'll be ok. But it's hard sometimes with the not knowing how things are exactly going to work out. That's where the faith thing comes in, I suppose. ;-)

Are you feeling extra contemplative this winter? What types of devotions do you add into your prayer routine when this happens? I'd love to hear from you!

Of winter storms and exempted Mass obligations on the 6th Sunday in Ordinary Time...

There *is* a street carved out in there...

Monday. And here I am, all freed from my house, WOOOOOOO! :0 The time with my family was good, don't get me wrong, but there is something psychologically difficult about feeling like you *can't* leave. Rabid claustrophobia, anybody? At any rate, how did this all go down, you ask?

Well, before we even get to the weather, let's talk about my poor, poor darling husband. In the 12 years that I've known him, I have never seen him as sick as he was this weekend. I had mentioned on Thursday that he had been very sick the night before with what we believe was the flu, so I stayed home to take care of him (and Anne, who he would have otherwise been handling alone). He was *very* sick on Thursday, but seemed to get a bit better as the day wore on. Friday, he was still pretty sick, but again, the worst seemed behind us. Then Friday night hit.

I was once again woken by a shivering, feverish, coughing Mike. This was a setback, and we realized that he was going to be down for the count for probably a full week when all was said and done. And Saturday morning dawned with a blizzardy looking snowfall. Mike was scheduled for play rehearsal (he has a lead role in the local community theater's upcoming production of Agatha Christie's The Mousetrap), I was scheduled on the reference desk in the afternoon, and the entire family was invited to a birthday party in the evening that we were all looking forward to. Well. :)

Play rehearsal was cancelled, the reference desk closed, and travel advisories issued by our county. The party was still on, but we let the hosts know that we couldn't make it. Not only were the conditions a bit dicey, but there was no way we could get out of our driveway. Mike was far too sick to be able to shovel the snow, and I'm going to just admit that I'm *terrible* at shoveling snow. I try, I really do, but lack the upper body strength to make any sort of difference in a timely manner. We were stuck.

As all of this was transpiring, the weather forecast was predicting record low wind chills for Sunday, between 20 and 30 degrees below zero. Soon thereafter, I saw announcements by our diocese on social media that the bishop had lifted the obligation to attend Mass this weekend due to the dangerous weather conditions.

!

I was sad, but I knew there was no way we could make it to Mass. I shouldn't take the kids out in that sort of cold, plus the driveway was an *entity* at this point. Mike does not sit still very easily, and by Sunday he was anxious to start doing things again, but I gave him my stern librarian face. He was still coughing and pretty weak. He should NOT be outside in those conditions shoveling snow.

So we stayed in. Did I mention that I was sad? Because I was. :( We put the EWTN Mass on, and I managed to get both kids to sit still for two decades of the rosary. Anne now has the Hail Mary memorized, and my Catholic sensibilities just sing when I hear her recite the prayer. #cutie! But not being able to receive the Eucharist? That's a big deal, and it made me appreciate the privilege anew.

After that, I did a LOT of crocheting of a giant wool afghan, for obvious reasons:

I love how it's turning out (autumn forest theme ;-)). But seriously, I need ALL THE WOOL. ALL THE TIME. It was so cold yesterday, that I was wearing long underwear underneath my other woolen layers IN THE HOUSE. IN.THE.HOUSE. My hands never fully warmed up such that I actually started to worry and contemplate wearing gloves. I usually don't mind winter, but this year, even I, your resident Winter Evangelist, am sick of it.

The dangerous wind chills continue today, and all week will still be well below normal for us. Sunday we're projected to go up into the 20's, Fahrenheit. We're all reacting to that as if a giant sun beam has come down from from the very beaches of heaven.

The 20's. Still 10 degrees below freezing, but hey, P.A.R.T.Y!!! It won't feel like knives when you breathe anymore! We'll take it!

In other news, I made Valentine cupcakes with the kids:

Because they're cheerful, and there was nothing else to do. :0

"Mom. I'm BOOOOOOOORED."

We persevere. I've already looked up the times on my parish's website for Mass on Ash Wednesday, because now I feel all deprived and teary about it. Let's talk more about Ash Wednesday tomorrow, shall we? But how was your last Sunday in Ordinary Time (until June), dear reader?

My blizzardy life - March edition

A wind whipping snowstorm in mid-March - sounds like perfect Lenten weather, no?! PENANCE and SACRIFICE people, clearly God is trying to communicate with us. :0

This was the scene above my head yesterday. I mean it, it really followed me around. :0

So, yesterday was a bit kooky. I do live in the Northeast, and I do live in Lake Effect storm system territory, in a city known for it's snowfall. HOWEVER. The worst is usually behind us by late February. Do we get snow in March? This is certainly not unheard of. But being under an official blizzard advisory in mid-March? Not so usual. Plus, we really don't get as much snow as everyone thinks.

*sanctimonious tangent alert*

The metro area is nowhere near #1 in the country for average snowfall, let that just be said. South of here, in ski country, is where the larger snowfall numbers come into play. But I digress.

*haughty sniff*

;-)

March is certainly a wet transition month around here, with huge piles of dirty snow plowed up and waiting for the sun to work its magic. Spring is on the horizon, but is not yet in the air. Nevertheless, a blizzard is pretty unwelcome. We have endured the winter and are still standing. We're now ready for a change.

But we knew this one was coming, our weather man warned us. Schools were cancelled, and our happy melting phase wasn't long for this world. Except at the university I work for. Since it is part of the state system, it can only be closed by *the Governor.*

How often does that happen, you ask? Not very often, my friend. He's in Albany. We are not. It makes no sense for him to make the call as to whether or not our campus has to close due to weather. But appeals to reason have not changed this unfortunate policy.

So yesterday morning found me headed into work for the early reference shift. It was already starting to snow, and I was feeling a bit mutinous. As my shift began at 9 am, things were looking swirly outside. I fielded a bunch of phone calls asking if the library was open while keeping an eye on the window. Closer to 10:30 am, things were looking a bit Apocalyptic. I was getting worried about the drive home. Refreshing the home page for the university let me know that "University officials are monitoring the weather conditions."

*eyeroll with a nostril flare*

Them monitoring things while hundreds of people are already on campus to potentially become stranded does not help us at all. When my shift ended at 11 am, I immediately packed up and headed out. I did not want to risk having to *sleep in my office.* You think I'm exaggerating, but that has actually happened to me in the past. :0 And if that ever happens again, prepare yourself for an EPIC BLOG POST relaying all of the gory details. Because I'll have nothing else to do. Assuming I have power and Internet connectivity.

Ugh.

Anyway, it was a bit of a production to chip my car out of its icy and snow coated covering, but I persevered. It took me longer than usual to get home, but I made it. Classes were cancelled as of noon, and the library closed at 1 pm. And the world heaved a collective sigh of relief.

And so, Mike and I were marooned at home for the day, with the kids predictably climbing the walls with boredom. Anne is also cutting a molar, adding to the joy.

But we made it. I did some knitting, and Mike and I attended to the house. Our kitchen ceiling was  repaired this week, let's strike up the Hallelujah chorus. The kitchen needed major TLC as a result from drywall dust, so we took care of that. It was nice to be home.

I'm back at work today, and it's pretty cold, so all of the snow is still with us.

"Hello Snow!" Anne would say.

Tomorrow it will be above freezing, here's hoping for some meltage. (new word: officially coined).

Tomorrow is 7 Quick Takes Friday, and I'll talk about how Lent is going so far, some dance stuff, and my weekend plans. Scintillating stuff, y'all! Was anyone else affected by the storm yesterday? Leave me your story in the comments! :)

Reporting in from the Polar Vortex :0

Afternoon all! I had planned to write about my day yesterday, including yet more eye doctor adventures (because those are always fascinating :0) but as is so often the case, life intervenes. You'll hear all about my amusements in ophthalmology tomorrow, rest assured, and I have an Amish fiction book review for Thursday, lots to look forward to. *beams*

But I'm home today, stormed in, as is the rest of the family, and indeed the rest of the area/northern United States. So I thought I'd give you a quick glimpse into a morning from... *doomy music plans*... the Polar Vortex!

The morning started out cold, dangerous wind chills, but fairly innocuous:

A view out our front window. A winter wonderland.

Things swirled up a bit towards lunchtime, but nothing major:

Things looking a hair more ominous...

Anne seized upon this moment to demand that her photo be taken:

"I am very charming!"

 

 

 

Never content to leave well enough alone...

"I am very sassy!"

 And just moments ago, we have progressed to this:

I am officially afraid to go outside.

So there you have it. We're under a blizzard warning, and there are driving bans in place. This, my friends, is the aforementioned *hard winter time* I referred to mere days ago. It actually looks worse out right now, about 10 minutes hence, than when I snapped the photo above. Oh, what the heck...

Glad that's not my car...

We're hanging in there, trying to amuse ourselves. As are St. Nicholas and Our Lady of Czestochowa:

Party near the television.

I've been knitting, fighting with the pattern I'm working for Mike's cardigan. The pattern nearly won, but I'm happy to announce that I have charted the directions out and have prevailed. #TypeAknitter

We're planning on watching a movie, popping some popcorn, making tea, and making some Swedish Meatballs for dinner. I have run out of wine, which is never a good thing, my friends, but Mike assures me that plenty of mixed drinks will be made tonight while we view our latest public library documentary checkout, Ken Burns' "Prohibition." 

Snort.

All right everyone, back to my family. I'll check in with you all tomorrow and assure that I am still alive and not buried underneath a pile of snow. Stay warm!

Big snow storm brewing...

...do YOU have enough yarn?!

I know I do. Whenever I'm snowed in, I want to make sure that I have:

(a) enough to knit;

(b) enough to read; and

(c) enough to watch.

We can't have ourselves being bored, now can we? Not that my children would ever allow that. Henry will pepper us with requests to play board games and throw a football around the living room (not happening) while Anne will just generally require our intervention to assure that no terrible fate befalls her.

This morning, she once again told me that she had to go potty. We travel to aforementioned potty. I prep her and she insists on getting completely naked. Although this is not technically necessary, I oblige her. I hand her the bottle of Elmo shampoo that she covets. And...

She refuses to sit down. When I try to encourage her to sit down, she won't bend her knees. Sigh. It's early, I know that there's no rush, but I guess I was secretly hoping for the "Easy!" button to be available on this one.

In other news, I make my Marian consecration on Monday and I'm excited. I may try to make it to daily Mass that morning. And I'll post early next week about my plans for Lent. Have a safe weekend everybody!

A peaceful vigil for the feast of All Saints, and A COSTUME CRISIS

Well, all is calm here. Monday evening and overnight were really the worst for us. We're supposed to be getting more rain tonight and tomorrow, but I'm optimistic that things will be fine. School was back in session today, and it looks like any old overcast day. Anne and I will be attending Mass tonight at 5pm for All Saints, and I'm very excited. We were really spared the wrath of this storm. I know that on the far east coast things are going to be rough for a long time to come. :( Prayers for all of them.

On a totally different note, but something that also went down over the course of this crazy past weekend, our new group belly dance costumes are in. Oh sigh.

The entire time that I've been in the troupe, we've used the same designer from Egypt for our costumes. I've gotten 2 costumes from him, and I'm really happy with both. They're the green one and the blue one I danced in recently at the restaurant, both pictured on this blog. The blue one was a tad long and I needed it taken up an inch or so, but it wasn't a big deal. Others in my troupe were less happy with their costumes and the way they fit, so we decided to go with a different designer this time. Claire had ordered 1 costume from him and it was very nice and fit well. His prices were comparable.

So, we all got measured and picked a costume. Claire gives us the freedom to pick whatever costume design we each want, even for our group numbers. She wants everybody to feel comfortable in their costume. We all just order the same color. The dark green was our previous group color, now we chose gold.

Naturally, I spent weeks poring over costume pictures. I prefer the separate top and skirt sets, rather than a one-piece gown, so I honed in on those. There were at least a dozen that I liked, but in the end I chose a bra and belt set. What that means is that the hip belt is separate from the skirt such that you can pair it with other skirts and change up the look of the costume for very little money. I'm all about maximizing my investment, especially with more restaurant gigs hopefully in my future, so I thought I'd give this a try. With our color being gold, I knew that the bra and belt would match with any skirt that I bought, plus I already own a wine colored chiffon skirt I could wear it with. Win-win. Order submitted.

They arrived last week. Friday night before class, we all sat in the waiting room staring at the box of costumes while Claire finished up with another class. Claire poked her head in and told us to have at it, and within seconds, an explosion of sequins heralded the costume distribution. Costumes were tossed to and fro as we tried to figure out whose was whose. By process of elimination I found my costume. I didn't recognize it because:

(1) It had bronze accent beads, which I didn't order. I didn't care, they're pretty, but...

(2) It's not a bra and belt set.

I mean, the beading design is somewhat the same as the photograph (again, no matter, because it's lovely). But the belt is attached to the skirt. So I can't layer it with other skirts like I was planning.

*frowns*

We'll be using the gold skirt for our group performances, so I can't be taking it apart just because I want to wear it with other colors. It's not just tacked on there, I mean, it's heartily sewn into a gold lycra skirt as a single piece.

That immediately threw me for a loop, but I can even get over that. The larger problems presented themselves shortly thereafter.

Back to our story. Claire's other poor class comes into the waiting room to find a group of half-dressed women shimmying into gold lycra. A surge of gold-clad bodies pressed into the main dance studio to have access to the mirrors.

I hold my top over my boobs and frown again. Amy, my smaller-busted compadre, came over to sympathize. The bra tops are always so inflexible and stiff. The larger busted ladies are always spilling out and having to sew extra material into their tops. We small busted ladies, on the other hand, are always terrified of the ominous "Side Nipple" conundrum. Sorry, does this post need a "You Must be 18 Years Old to Read This" label?

"Side Nipple" is the phenomenon whereby the stiff (and never correctly sized) costume tops gap open and anybody with a side view can see right into your bra cup. Not exactly the view that you want your audience to see.

I've been worried about this with my other costumes, but with some tightening of the snaps in the back and straps they've been ok. This top was not looking promising. But I knew I could confer with my sewing mother-in-law for solutions. Onto the skirt...

Usually my skirts are all lycra that pull up to my hips and zip. This skirt, since it has the stiffer belt thing going on in the hip area, is just open on one side and you're supposed to sew in some hooks to close it. Well.

I wrap the skirt around my body. I quickly realize that it's at least 5-6 inches too small. I tug on it, hoping for some elasticity.

Zero.

I was measured at the beginning of September. I haven't gained any weight. There is no way they correctly used my measurements to make this skirt. It wasn't even close.

Meanwhile, a scene of costume carnage was going on around me. Gowns were slipped over heads, but instead of ending at one's ankles, they were pooling onto the floor. And not just a little bit. I mean, *inches and inches* of excess fabric. Some could barely move their costumes were so tight. Breasts were decidedly NOT covered by tops. Areas of sheer fabric that were supposed to be in non-objectionable areas were revealing...body parts that the recipient had NOT intended. It was BAD.

Claire was horrified (even though it's totally not her fault) and immediately offered to sew for us. GOD BLESS HER. She took my skirt home and sewed in a whole new panel of coordinating copper material to make my skirt fit. We found an arm band that matched my belt that she could close the upper gap with. I haven't seen it yet, I'm hoping it looks flattering. :)

I enlisted my mother-in-law for Operation Gappy Top. First, she sewed hooks into the back and straps for me. Huzzah. Except the gap somehow got worse. This meant a trip to JoAnn's in which I spent an uncomfortable 10 minutes in a crowded aisle holding large foam bra pads up to my boobs to see what would work best. I'm now the proud owner of gel-filled bra inserts in my costume top, and the gapping problem is solved. I mean, the top still isn't perfect, but no nipples show, which is the important thing. This is a family friendly art form, I assure you. I look voluptuous, to be sure, but the top just gathers funny in the middle now.

SIGH.

I'll have bra and skirt reunited again on Friday and I'm hoping that everybody looks nice together. I really, really hope so, since our hafla is in a week and a half.

*eyebrows scrunch*

We're Safe!

Most of the local school districts are closed today, including Henry's Catholic school, so I'm home with the kids today. It's been windy and rainy, but we haven't lost power, so we're feeling grateful. About 30-60 minutes south of here lots of people are without power.

We're having a nice, cozy day. Anne is mercifully napping (she spent the morning being grumpy and trying to boss all of us around) and we're about to carve our pumpkin with Henry. I'll report back in tomorrow!

Stormy weather here = BEE ELIMINATION DEFENSE

Well, the bees are gone. In fact, they may not have been bees at all. A little research has indicated that they may have been yellow jackets. These were pretty large, much larger than the little bees I see in the summertime. I Googled "carpenter bee" since these guys were near a wood fence, wondering if they could be the culprit. Wikipedia tells me:

"In several species, the females live alongside their own daughters or sisters, creating a sort of social group."

Now I'm feeling bad. Well, not THAT bad. Plus, in looking at the pictures (really gross, ugh), I don't think these were carpenter bees. I'm sticking with my yellow jacket theory.

It's gotten quite chilly here, and although we're inland, we are one of the areas that will be impacted by Hurricane Sandy. It's been raining for days, and that is certainly not going to change. We're expecting to get a lot of wind and rain here starting later this evening. I'm hoping that we don't lose power, but there are no guarantees. My sister lives in northern New Jersey, and that area is right in the line of fire. Halloween may be a wash out this year, we'll have to see. I'm thinking that if this fall is any indication, our winter may not be nearly so mild as it was last year. Which is fine with me. :)

I'm looking forward to the feast of All Saints and All Souls this week, and am planning to take Anne to Mass with me on Wednesday for the vigil (weather permitting). Henry will be attending Mass at school ("Mmmmmoommmyy, we have to go to church AGAIN!"). Anne attended Mass with us this Sunday as well, and her favorite parts appear to be:

(1) the light fixtures,

(2) the overhead fans,

(3) the contemporary ensemble at the 10 am family Mass, and

(4) the bells at the consecration.

I can live with that.

Prayers for everybody on the east coast right now!