27 April 2013

What Women Want

I realize that this may cause an uproar from all sides, but I thought I'd try my hand at answering this age-old question. What do women want?

Men complain that they are baffled by women and their emotional variety. From my vast twenty-two years of experience (sarcasm), I think I've come up with some basic guidelines that general enough to cover all of the bases, but not particular enough to be extremely helpful (sorry, guys). Each woman is different, so you still have to figure out what each of the below things means to each individual. What is the same, though, is that each woman does want the same things. Without further ado, the list.

~ She wants you to love her ~
My list starts with the most important one. This is at the basis of every human interaction a woman has: does this person love me or not? The importance of loving the women in your life cannot be overstated. She wants to be loved. Period.

~ She wants to be able to tell that you love her ~
Every woman not only needs love, but needs to know about it. The tricky part is that you have to figure out (most likely by trial and error) how it is that particular woman will feel loved. Some need verbal affirmation. Some need a hug. Some need you to put aside time for them. She wants to know she's loved.

~ She doesn't feel she deserves love ~
I know, I know. This seems to just outright contradict the last two. She needs to be loved, she needs to know you love her, but she'll probably fight accepting your love. Most (many?) women don't feel they deserve the enormous gift of your love. Because love is a gift. It isn't earned, it isn't bought. It's simply given and accepted. And women have a helluvatime accepting it. So never, never, never put a woman down - she does an excellent job doing that to herself.

~ She is scared ~
Another factor in her fight against accepting your love: she's scared. Because when a woman accepts your love, she opens herself up to being hurt by you. She has to make sure that you're worth it. Blame Adam and Eve if you will, but it is the reality of human interactions. People can be jerks. In our simple naivety, we think that if someone loves us, they will somehow become perfect toward us. It doesn't work that way (speaking from personal experience), but we desperately want it to work that way. So you'll have to push a bit. You'll have to try more than once. If you mess up, you'll have to try even harder. If you don't, you are simply reaffirming her notion that she isn't worth loving. Fair? No. True? Definitely.

~ If you don't love her, be considerate toward her ~
Love is an enormous gift. So if you can't love one or any of the women in your life, at least be considerate. Show her that you care about her feelings, her well-being, her opinions... take the time and energy to be considerate. This, after being loved, is probably the most important thing.

~ She wants to feel beautiful ~
Every woman wants to regain that feeling of regal beauty that they had as a little girl, standing in front of the mirror in a tutu and a plastic tiara. Every woman has something about her appearance that she cannot stand - something that she would change in a minute if she could. If someone were to tell her that she looks nice today, or that you like the way she did her hair, or that the dress is beautiful on her, she would appreciate it. She might be embarrassed or not know how to respond - after all, no gentleman has told her that she looked beautiful since her high school prom date - but she will feel more beautiful because of it. And guys... how hard is it to do that? A simple (sincere) compliment does a world of good. It will make her feel loved (see the first two items in this list).  

25 April 2013

Blog Your Heart | April

In an effort to make good on my "doing things without others' approval" resolution, I've decided to do one of these without any prompting from anyone else. Although I did steal the below graphic from Stephanie.
For newbies, here are the rules, as phrased by Steph:
1. blog whatever is authentic. whatever is truly on your mind and in your heart.
2. it can be serious, silly, short, long. note:no one said it has to be serious. but it should be authentic.
3. no judging allowed no snarky comments, no making fun, no passive agressive digs.if you are going to read the blogs linked below, don't be mean. nothing here is whining. it's me honestly sharing my feelings. if you feel that it's whining, then you don't have to read. :)


1. Boston and West
Last week was a week of heavy hearts and fervent prayers. Those prayers will continue for those who have a long road of healing ahead. Blessed are we to have a compassionate, merciful, and tender God who will stay with us through every step of every trial.

2. The Importance of Loving WILDLY
Last week was a week that forced self-reflection and a serious reevaluation of priorities. A week that inspired acts of kindness. After these tragedies, closely following on the tragedy in CT,  it struck me that we unite in the face of tragedy. Why not resolve to unite in kindness every day of the year? This image:


It's a sentiment that directly (and obviously) applies to military families, but why should it be limited to that? Why not live every day loving the people around us like they might be gone tomorrow? This is a life of uncertainties, but maybe those uncertainties can lead us to embrace joy.

I know, I know. People can be hard to love. But think on this: God loves us wildly, just as we are. He isn't waiting for us to become better people. He just loves us. Shouldn't we imitate Him in that? Love people here and now?

3. Wedding Photography
I am honored to be the photographer for a couple of dear, dear friends' wedding. At the same time, I'm nervous! It's such a big thing to have in my little hands! I'm busy thinking about shot lists, scheduling, how to lead without bossing, and how to capture every moment to the best of my ability.





4. The Havoc Boys Can Play on Girls' Hearts
Dave Barry observed something: "If the magazines in the supermarket checkout are any indication, women seem concerned with two things: why men are slobbish pigs, and how to attract men." Funny, isn't it? True? Seems like it. Men drive women crazy, but only because we so desperately want them to love us. Life seems like a balancing act of letting guys be guys, protecting our hearts, and being open to letting them love us. I suppose I can't definitively speak for men, but from my own personal experience and the experiences of some of my dearest girlfriends, it seems like men don't have any idea the power they have over women's hearts. As a Jane Austen character points out, "Women love longest when all hope is lost." I have some of the sweetest gentlemen for friends; nevertheless, I've watched them happily "move on," while the girl is still hurting. I wish I could change this. Or, at least, take away some of the pain of some of my girlfriends. 

5. My Confirmation Class
I am so proud of my kids. They're getting Confirmed tonight. I pray that God will bless them abundantly with the gifts of His Holy Spirit. I hope that I was able to be a witness of Christ's love to them. A witness that will stay with them through their lives. I hope they never stray from the straight and narrow. I hope they'll be happy and confident in their faith for the rest of their lives. 

6. How To Dodge a Slap 
Possibly unreasonable, but I'm a little worried that someone's mother is not going to be terribly happy to see me at graduation. I am seriously contemplating the best way to dodge a slap (verbal or otherwise). Don't they say that a mother's love for her son knows no bounds? Yikes.

22 April 2013

MME Love

I love every. single. piece of MME. Unfortunately for me, it's super duper popular, so it rarely goes on sale. I only buy things on sale. You see my conundrum. So I tend to hoard the stuff. Baha!

Here's a recent layout on which I allowed myself to splurge (i.e. - dive into my stash) a bit.

Some enamel dots... (cannot get enough of these things)
A title and some of those sweet word stickers...

Beautiful Miss Caroline and some (older) Cowboy paper.

These pictures are something I deemed worthy of my favorite scrapping supplies. Bridget and I have been fast friends for years and I treasure these pictures from the end of our senior year. We were fresh out of the first pond where we had jumped to celebrate finishing our last final.

21 April 2013

A Plan

I have everything confirmed for my crazy trip except for my ride up there. That shouldn't be a problem, I'm just waiting on a final confirmation.

It's a ten day trip: one graduation, two weddings, changing living places every one to two days. The fact that this is going to work out is a testament to 1) the efficacious nature of prayer and 2) the awesomeness of my friends.

Destination: TAC
Dates: May 10 - May 19

Ready for some serious FUN.


19 April 2013

Shut Up and Pray

I want to know what is happening in Boston just as much as most people. I am sure I am less interested than those directly affected by it. I am certainly less heartbroken than they are.

But here's the thing: I don't know anything. I don't care to hear your speculation about what might be happening. It doesn't do anyone any good. Whether it's true or false, can you really imagine that any of those who are severely hurting from these tragedies appreciates you bombarding them with your speculation?

In cases such as these, compassion is our duty. So, please, shut up and pray for Boston. 

No more gabbing. No more political statements. No more. Just STOP. 

18 April 2013

A Finale SouthLAnd Post

Whether last night's episode was the season finale or the series finale will be unknown until June. What we do know is that last night's episode was aptly named. It was, indeed, a reckoning.

Friedrich Nietzsche wrote, "The consequences of our actions take hold of us, quite indifferent to our claim that meanwhile we have 'improved.' " While Nietzsche was arguably insane, he was a believer in what he saw (unlike Kant, who turned things inside-out and upside-down).

[explanatory philosophical note: Nietzsche believed all things came from the senses. There is no truth, there is no good and evil in things. Those are merely labels that we apply to things. He also recognized that applying those labels is what drives the human experience and that the "herd" (all of us non-enlightened philosophers) cannot function without them. Thus, some of his aphorisms have nuggets of truth about them. His insanity came from his assertion that there was no absolute good or evil or truth at all. Then things went badly.]

In episode 510, we see every character in the grip of the consequences of their actions. Every character has reached the "end of the line"; the place that each character has been left at the end of the episode is where they have been going for five seasons.

The Good Consequences:

Lydia: tough, independent woman. When introduced, she accepted help from no one. She "knew best," and had her life under control. Through a series of choices and circumstances, things slowly escaped her control. She lost her ability to trust in and depend on her partners. She was eventually alone; she deliberately shut out her professional partner and suffered the loss of her mother. By being left truly alone, she learned that real independence does not mean isolation. By having someone depend on her - her baby boy - she learned (slowly) to depend on others. She learned real strength and gained real peace by allowing herself to forgive others and trust them. At the end of the finale, we see her finally reconciled and ready to trust the person who betrayed her worst in the series. High-five, Lydia!

Sammy: loveable man with a strong sense of duty. Sammy is arguably one of the unluckiest guys you'll ever meet on television. He lost his partner, divorced his absolutely nut-case of a wife, was betrayed by his partner, and someone broke in to his house. All sorts of really unfortunate circumstances occurred and Sammy did almost nothing to incur them. He wasn't perfect, no. But he was a sincere, good-hearted guy. Pretty much everything he did was out of a sincere desire to help people. He always believed the best of people, especially his partner. (Bad Ben.) So many things happened to Sammy that were just... unfair. They were "through no fault of his own" occurrences. But he persevered and, in the end, got his just reward. He realized that while he should help people, he doesn't have to help everyone. He only has to help those that he can. And that's ok. And his baby boy? Adorable.
I want to marry you, Sammy!

The Bad Consequences:

Ben: wide-eyed, do-gooder, Robin Hood rookie turned into nihilistic, self-centered, corrupt cop. He had unrealistic expectations of his power and influence as a cop when he came into the job. When he realized that the badge came with limitations, he stretched the rules. We see him making little stretches at first, which are easy excuse because they're so little. He was the arbiter of justice, the one who decided what was good and what was evil. In the footsteps of Nietzsche, he disregarded the moral code and wrote his own. The stretches became bigger. It's hard to believe that this guy who joined the force to do good could have gone so very wrong. In his last scene, we see a heated exchange between Ben and Sammy. Sammy yells at him, "This has always been about you!" Ben feels entitled to whatever he wants out of some misguided sense of sovereignty.  Where Sammy may stretch rules mildly in an attempt to help & protect others, Ben always does it to boost his career/save his own skin and this increases his sense of entitlement. It works so well for him. We see him climb the ladder of success, being praised from every side. Then it all comes crashing down. We see him lying on the ground, defeated by the consequences of his actions.
Ben, you need therapy. After I give you a good beating.

Cooper: oh, Cooper. I feel nothing but pity for you. From Ben's FTO to the victim of a vicious kidnapping. Cooper's storyline is the downward spiral of despair. Drugs, rehab, and a tough front to hide pain. We see him shine (with the girl trapped under the bus), but his bright moments are always overshadowed by something dark and scary. We see more of Cooper's struggle than we see of any other character's struggle. He fights, but he just keeps getting beaten down. At that last moment, we see him despair. Surrounded by LAPD officers, shouting at him to drop the gun and put his hands in the air, he stands, defiantly clutching the pistol. They shoot him. But he knew they would. He's a cop. He knows the rules. Unlike Sammy, who gets dirt kicked in his face repeatedly, but resolutely struggles through, Cooper loses hope. Maybe that's because Sammy has a child to "live for" and Coop sees himself alone and broken. Cooper seems to have given up on happiness, on life. He's tried, he's suffered, and he's at the end of his rope. We've seen him desperately gripping that rope, but constantly sliding down it. He gave up. The consequences of actions - not those he has done, but those inflicted upon him - have gripped him to the point where he can no longer fight them.
I wish I could hug you, Cooper.

Dark and Unresolved

It has been claimed that last night's episode would not be a fitting ending to the series, but I strongly disagree. Yes, it was dark and unresolved. Characters were left without their lives being tied up in neat little bows. But since when has SouthLAnd tied anything up in neat little bows? This show - all five seasons - have been about the unresolved, nitty-gritty aspects of life. If they were to take each character and give them a "happily ever after," it would be nice, but it would be incongruous with the rest of the show. No character has had complete and total resolution in any part of their lives for five seasons. Why should it end differently? Each character has been left at the "end of their line." They have all reached their destination.

16 April 2013

A Visit from Munchkins! (and their parents)

 Beautiful baby girl.
 In love with rolly-pollies.

 Monkey see...
 Monkey do.




Beautiful mommy and baby.

11 April 2013

A SouthLAnd Addendum

So last week I wrote about "what happened" with Ben, Sammy, and the gang. I must sincerely apologize because it seems I was wrong. I know where I went wrong, though. My incorrect premise was as follows: Ben is a basically good guy who hasn't reached the conniving, selfish, rock-bottom stage of badness.

Turns out he has.

I didn't think Officer Ben Sherman had fallen so far. I mean, really? Not only hiring someone to break into Sammy's house and steal stuff, but to completely graffiti the place with another gang's symbol. C'mon, Ben. You have fallen so far from the starry-eyed, do-gooder rookie we met in Season One.

The walls are closing in on Ben. Time to pay the piper. It's not going to be pretty.


09 April 2013

Incompetence

I am totally incompetent, ya'll. Logistics are just wayyyy beyond me. Graduations, weddings, more weddings, camping, etc. It just overwhelms me.

There are a lot of factors that play into this overwhelmingness, but it's mostly the fact that I just love my friends and want to be there for every special moment of their lives. Because I love them. I am also super dependent on the generosity of other people because, remember, I can't drive. I'm just sorta at the mercy of my wonderful friends. It makes me feel like such a bum. "Yes, I'd love to come to your [insert event here]. Can you find me a ride & a place to sleep. Thanks."

Yes, I feel like a jerk. An incompetent jerk. Gah.

Ok, end of rant.

Happy Tuesday, peeps.

08 April 2013

When Teasing Becomes Bullying

We've all done it. Teasing is a great way to break up tension or get a laugh from everyone. Some people enjoy it, some people don't. But even the people who enjoy it have a limit. Sometimes we forget that and cross it. Sometimes, behind the laughter, there is hurt.

An example of this struck me recently. I was in a van full of college students. All of us were incredibly sleep deprived. One of the young men is a fun and outgoing guy. I had just met him the day before and, as I often do with new acquaintances, had been teasing him to break the ice a bit. All day long, we had been going back and forth, with "joking insults." Everything from "fat" to "stupid" - sometimes self-inflicted, sometimes not.

I was not along in teasing him, which is part of what me bolder and less observant of how it might have been affecting him. Everyone else was teasing him, including siblings, cousins, and friends. It was rather relentless, as I look back on it.

As we were driving in the van, one of his sisters said something about his stupidity or ineptitude in something. Earlier in the day, this young man probably would have laughed. But a line had been crossed. He was tired, which probably amplified his sensitivity, and he snapped. He was angry, but not in a threatening way. He was angry in a way that showed that he was hurting. For a few minutes, I was privy to a young man whose skin wasn't as thick as he pretended. I gently steered the conversation to other things - away from him - and glanced back at him in the rear-view mirror. His brow was furrowed.

His sister, on the defensive, brought the subject back. "Well, if you feel that way about being teased, why do you invite it?"

He mumbled, "Just because I invite it doesn't mean I really want it."

This statement really struck me. How many times do we hide behind a wall to protect ourselves? Pretend to be impervious, tough, or nonchalant, just because we're afraid of being hurt? I know I do it... if I insult myself, it doesn't allow others to do it. I can remain "in control," in some perverted, backwards way.

"So even you have a limit?" asked his friend.

"Of course I do. I'm human, aren't I?" he replied.

Just a few minutes later, as we were sitting around watching a movie, someone said something teasingly to this young man. He asked her, "Why do you all tease me all this time?" She responded, not knowing what had happened earlier, "You know you would be disappointed if we didn't." And just like that, the wall went back up. He grimaced. Then grinned. "You know me so well already, it's ridiculous." Then the smile disappeared, he crossed his arms, and sat back in his corner.

Teasing is not necessarily a bad thing. It is not usually mean spirited. Most people find it funny most of the time. But we have to realize that even those people who seem impervious can be hurt. We shouldn't stop paying attention just because they seem comfortable.

07 April 2013

How It Ended

So, you know that battery story? The one that involved fondue skewers, baking soda, and a freezer? Well... it ended in the most embarrassing way possible.

Off to the Genius Bar at the Apple store we went. I explained the problem and enumerated some of the ways in which I tried to solve the problem. Chris, the young man who was helping me, graciously took the keyboard into the back to try something. He came out five minutes later to tell me that... wait for it...

this model only has two batteries in it.

Not three. That thing I was trying to get out? Not a battery. Just part of the keyboard that looks deceptively like the positive end of a battery.

Here's the kicker: there's a little tiny diagram on the back depicting two batteries. The main purpose is to show you which direction the batteries should go, but there are two of them. I totally didn't notice that the picture was there. Instead, I spent two hours trying to get a non-existent battery out.

I am so humiliated. Not about what happened at the store. Chris was very gracious. I'm super embarrassed that I didn't notice that. I am embarrassed for myself. Ohhhh, boy.

And that, dear readers, is how it ended. *face palm*

05 April 2013

"Well, at least you're cute."

I usually use the above excuse for myself. Some people don't appreciate it (ahem, Jeffrey, ahem), others find it funny. In the past few days, however, people have been saying it about me. This makes me feel much less guilty about using it myself. Here are the circumstances.

This first is a simple scenario. I was talking to a guy friend at TAC about the Miramar Airshow. I mentioned that it was huge and super awesome and that they have a booth where you can hold guns. This guy didn't believe that was a privilege shared by all. He said, "They just let you do that because you're cute and adorable and stuff." While that isn't true (they really do let everyone - cute or not - hold the guns), it was certainly flattering.

The second situation was a little more complex. It involves a wireless keyboard with a battery stuck in it. As the resident "google a solution and implement it" person in our house, I set off, trying a variety of remedies. I tried a stick with glue on the end, which was absolutely ineffectual. (Krazy glue, I'm sure, would have worked, but the brush part got stuck in the bottle and broke off from the cap. Scrapbooking glue wasn't quite intense enough.) I tried to extract the battery with duct tape stuck to the end of the stick. The only result was getting a wad of tape jammed down with the battery. It took a lot of careful maneuvering with a fondue skewer to get it back out. Next, on the off chance it was stuck due to corrosion, I dripped a baking soda and water solution into the tube. There is now a coating of white powder in the battery chamber, along with the ever-stuck battery. My last solution was to freeze the whole keyboard and then blow-dry the tubing after the battery was chilled in hope that the expansion of the tube and the contraction of the battery would allow for the wiggle room I needed. No luck. Anyway, after an hour of these futile efforts, it was decreed that we would bring it into the Apple store. Mum says she'll bring me because, and I quote, "They won't laugh at you for trying all of those things since you're cute."

Hehe.

04 April 2013

What The Heck Happened

So there is much twitter twatting about what happened at the end of last night's SouthLAnd episode. Using my moderately-priced liberal arts education, I have logically deduced the most likely scenario, ruling out several other theories by their circumstantial implausibility. So if you're confused and want to be unconfused, here's what happened (I think...).

The Facts:

Sammy got into a confrontation with Stroke-Face earlier in the episode. A graffiti slogan for his gang was spray-painted on a house in the background. Some of his gang members were standing there, looking on.

Ben wanted to get the incriminating tape out of Sammy's house, so he hired Elena's brother to get it for him. Elena's brother has no known gang ties, but it's probable that he is in a gang. Since he is Hispanic, however, there is no way that he's in Stroke-Face's all-black gang.

Here's the probable scenario:

Elena's brother went into Sammy's house, looking for the tape. He probably evaded the notice of the nanny, either by coming in through an upstairs window or sneaking carefully up the stairs. In either case, he didn't do anything to the nanny. He probably didn't even know she was there. (Supported by the fact that he was freaking out, telling Ben that "I thought you said nobody would be in there!")

While upstairs, he probably heard the louder break-in of Stroke-Face's gang. They proceeded to vandalize Sammy's house with their graffiti and beat up the babysitter. At this point, Elena's brother would have the tape in his hand and would be ready to just bug out of there. But being a human being with some sense of right and wrong, he took Nate (who would've been sleeping in his crib) and hid him in a closet. (Because no 18 month old is going to hide himself in the closet. He's just going to cry.) After that, he would've run for it.

So, while Ben did co-conspire to breaking and entering, which is illegal, he didn't cause the massive, almost devastating gang incident. If Nate had been kidnapped, hurt, or killed, it would have been tragic, but unrelated to Ben sending Elena's brother in to get the tape.

And that, ladies and gentlemen, is what happened... in all likelihood. I may be off on some of the particulars, but I do know this: Ben's involvement and the gang break-in were unrelated. The SouthLAnd team just wants to confuse us all. :)

03 April 2013

Things People Say


me “[Man who shall remain nameless], I will sit in you lap if you don’t get out of my seat.”
him “Oh, I wouldn’t mind. As long as it’s free…”

SEC Embraces a Pink Coat

There's a headline in today's WSJ that reads "SEC Embraces Social Media."  It's about a decision to allow companies to use social media to broadcast their news, as long as the stockholders know which platform the company has decided to use. What it reminded me of, however, was a story from my trip to DC that I don't think I've told you, lovely readers. The story of my encounter with the SEC.

I was riding the metro from Bethesda to CUA at commute time. I was alone and pretty nervous. I'm not a huge fan of traveling by myself, nor am I comfortable on public transportation. I looked like a non-local, wearing a pink pea coat, short-sleeve shirt, skirt, and footless tights on a 35 degree and rainy day. I think my look of bewildered naivety worked in my favor: people shoved me less hard than they shoved those around me.

As I squished my way onto the car full of commuters, I ended up next to a young man carrying a leather briefcase, embossed with "Securities and Exchange Commission" and their emblem. He raised a quizzical eyebrow at me, but didn't say anything. At every stop, I lurched forward and backwards. I would have fallen all the way over if the car didn't resemble a can packed with sardines. There wasn't any place to go. I noticed that all those around me weren't having the same balance issues; I then noticed that they were all facing with one foot toward the front of the train and one foot toward the back, allowing for the maximum balance. I, of course, was the only person facing the other way, with one foot toward either side of the train.

Every time I lurched back and forth, this guy would look at me and suppress a smile. After about 40 minutes of this, as the train got a little less crowded, I actually fell over, right onto this young man.  A huge smile broke out over his face as he said, "You're not from around here, are you?"

"No," I said, laughing.

"California?," he asked.

"Yes, actually. How did you know?," I responded, with no little amount of surprise.

"The pink coat," he replied. "I like it."

And that, ladies and gents, is the story of the SEC embracing a pink coat.

02 April 2013

No Place I'd Rather Be

Hours and hours of work. Almost no sleep. Lots of flower arranging, singing, and "WOW"ing in commemoration of Our Lord's Passion, Death, and Resurrection.

So much love, both Divine and human.

Anyone who doesn't love spending the Triduum and Easter at Thomas Aquinas College is crazy.

I arrived on Wednesday night. After picking up dinner at In-N-Out, I planned an elaborate way to surprise Shelle, which involved hiding in the "Jesus closet" in the sacristy. Plans changed when I was walking to the chapel and noticed that she was on the volleyball court, with no sign of leaving any time soon. The altered plan simply involved me walking up behind her, crossing my arms, and saying, "Well, you certainly don't look like you need any help." She screamed and came a'runnin'. It was fabulous. I haven't pulled off many surprises on her and this one was pretty epic. Just earlier that day, she was bemoaning my absence in the sacristy over the Triduum to someone... little did either of them know that I was coming to the rescue. :)

Surprising people is fun. One of the best reactions was from Jims, a dear friend of mine. I was talking to someone else, hidden from his line of sight by a bush. A mutual friend saw him and called him over. He resisted, insisting that he had someone else to meet. She told him that he really needed to come over. I popped out from behind the bush and hollered at him that he wouldn't be disappointed if he did. From that distance, he didn't recognize me, so when he came over, he moved slowly. When he had covered about half of the distance between us, he recognized me, shouted my name, and started running. The smile on his face was the best. 

I spent Wednesday night sitting around a table, surrounded by some of my very best friends. People came and went, but it was a constant atmosphere of laughter and fun.

Thursday, the work began. We had to clean, shine, and set up so many things for the Mass. It was crazy busy, but so. much. fun.



Friday was a lighter day. The service required minimum preparations and everyone was more mellow, probably from low blood sugar due to fasting.


Saturday, the sacristan team met at 6:30 am to pick all of the flowers for the arrangements that I would spend all day putting together. We tromped through the bushes in over-sized boots, cutting calla lilies and irises. I'm not really sure how things went inside the sacristy for the rest of the day since I spent all day outside with the flowers. It was worth every second, though. They turned out better than ever.

The Vigil Mass could not have gone smoother. Every event organized and run by human beings is going to have problems, but no major accidents occurred. A young lady was baptized into the Catholic Church, which was the cause of much joy and celebration. In celebration of Christ's Resurrection, we partied til dawn. At dawn, I managed to pull some sort of weird stunt, which ended with a broken toe, a sprained ankle, and a twisted knee. Although painful and unfortunate, Mark, Sean, Aaron, Shelle, and I were able to make the best of it.


Four hours of sleep later, I headed into town with friends for a wonderful and delicious Easter dinner. Not only was the food delicious, but everyone was so kind to me in my injured state. The boys put out a great deal of effort to make me comfortable and be immensely helpful. I didn't expect any less from my Godbrother, but I was pleasantly surprised by the care and consideration shown by the gentlemen I had just met.

Singing Easter spirituals
Almost sisters :)

Late in the evening, a group of us "big kids" headed over to another home to watch "Les Mis." It was cozy, enjoyable, and, at times, hilarious (like when Joe's legs landed with a big thump on the floor when he fell asleep during a particularly emotional scene).

I could not imagine a better way to have spent the best week of the year. Everything was perfect.