All posts by CadyLy

Lenten Project – Unexpected Developments: Day 13

Critical Mass, Lent

I’m not quite sure how it happened, but apparently I have acquired a sous chef who will come over approximately 3 nights a week and help teach me and provide me with some recipes.

Don’t worry – I will make sure it remains a penance.  🙂  And I do expect to be doing all of the labor.  For my sous chef, she figures that this will dovetail nicely with her own plans for Lent.

How fun!  Is it Lent yet????

Note:  Someone pointed this out to me yesterday….  If you plan on attending a meal, if possible, please let me know a day in advance, so I have some idea of how many people I will be cooking for and can adjust quantities as needed.

Please!  Visit often!  Yay, people!

I will post pictures as I progress.  Please also use this blog to submit any tips or reflections on the experience!

Am I Privileged?

Uncategorized

(From What Privileges Do You Have?, based on an exercise about class and privilege developed by Will Barratt, Meagan Cahill, Angie Carlen, Minnette Huck, Drew Lurker, Stacy Ploskonka at Illinois State University. If you participate in this blog game, they ask that you PLEASE acknowledge their copyright.) 

Unceremoniously ganked from Kasia….

Bold the true statements.

1. Father went to college (Nope!  I’m the first!)
2. Father finished college
3. Mother went to college
4. Mother finished college
5. Have any relative who is an attorney, physician, or professor
6. Were the same or higher class than your high school teachers.
7. Had more than 50 books in your childhood home.
8. Had more than 500 books in your childhood home. (I read *a lot*.  My mom would bring home romance novels from work because I was always running out of things to read.)
9. Were read children’s books by a parent. (I am not sure about this one, as I learned to read quite early – around age 3-4 – so I don’t know if my parents read to me previously. I’ll have to ask my mommie.)
10. Had lessons of any kind before you turned 18.
11. Had more than two kinds of lessons before you turned 18.
12. The people in the media who dress and talk like me are portrayed positively. Um, yeah, no, not really, but not perhaps as bad as it could be.
13. Had a credit card with your name on it before you turned 18.
14. Your parents paid for the majority of your college costs
15. Your parents paid for all of your college costs
16. Went to a private high school
17. Went to summer camp
18. Had a private tutor before you turned 18
19.Family vacations involved staying at hotels (when we went on long car trips, at age 10 and age 13)
20. Your clothing was all bought new before you turned 18
21. Your parents bought you a car that was not a hand-me-down from them.  (1986 Firebird:  Chase-me red; boy, was that a fight.  Dad wanted me to have a big car with steel I-beams, so I would be safe, and preferred large cars like a Monte Carlo SS or a boat like a Ford LTD (although he wouldn’t buy a Ford, at least then); I wanted something small like a Beretta — he said absolutely not.  As a general thing, I don’t usually argue with my dad; however, I was stubborn on this point and we were at an impasse.  Until my uncle Jim found this car, and called my dad on it.  If we didn’t want it, he was going to get it.  It had 106,000 miles and the V6 and not the V8, but we took it anyway for $1000 from a med student at U of M named Tom.  I had it for a year and a half or so, and then sold it before I left for the Navy for $1000 to my dad’s friend who was a Detroit cop and wanted a cheap car to go to work in.  It lasted about 2 weeks, then the engine blew.  It must have been heartbroken that I didn’t own it any longer.)
 22. There was original art in your house when you were a child.
23. You and your family lived in a single-family house.
24. Your parent(s) owned their own house or apartment before you left home.
25. You had your own room as a child.
26. You had a phone in your room before you turned 18. (Even my own line, since my dad didn’t want to answer the phone when it was for me)
27. Participatedin a SAT/ACT prep course.
28. Had your own TV in your room in high school
29. Owned a mutual fund or IRA in high school or college.
30. Flew anywhere on a commercial airline before you turned 16.
31. Went on a cruise with your family
32. Went on more than one cruise with your family
33. Your parents took you to museums and art galleries as you grew up.
34. You were unaware of how much heating bills were for your family. (Nope, I got to make out the bills when Mom had poison ivy.)

10 out of 34…more than 29% privileged.  Mommie always said I was spoiled, but not rotten.  🙂

Behold! My Lenten Project!

Critical Mass, Lent

This year, I have decided to take on probably one the things the I have most issues with, for a variety of reasons. I am going to make myself deal with food, cooking, and the grocery store. I just may need therapy later, but I think this is the time to try and do something positive, when in the past I have done anything but. For my Lenten penance, I will not be able to eat anything from fast food or a restaurant. I cannot cheat and buy little microwave dinners. I must learn to actually plan, prepare and cook actual, healthy dinners. And not just dinners, but lunches and (maybe) breakfast. (Okay, my one dietitian friend is *really* pushing for me to have 3 meals a day, all balanced. I don’t know if I can go that far. Let’s be a little realistic.) I can only eat food gotten from a grocery store and made at home (vegetable markets and specialty shops, I think would be legal). So, no buying pre-made meals at the store (Drat!). I anticipate this to be difficult. On paper (or blog), it may not seem like a big deal, but then, this is me, so if you know me, you know how monumental this actually is. Given that, I should be dreading it. Oddly enough, I am excited. Tackling one of my biggest demons. Heeheehee! Bring it on!

Since I certainly will not be able to make it through this in isolation, in addition to the enormous amounts of prayer that I will need to get by, I have enlisted the aid of my friends in this manner: I have extended an open invitation for anyone to join me — for any meal — to give me company and support. I figure that this will be good for a number of reasons.
1. I will not go insane. Or at least, maybe, to a lesser degree.
2. I will get to see people more (hopefully). And, I love spending time with people.
3. I get to share the fruits of my labor (or plague them with bad cooking…but hey! It’s Lent! More penance for them!)
4. Other people need a healthy meal too, and since they might be spending more time in prayer, etc. themselves for Lent, my cooking may help their endeavors as well.

So, here is a near-copy of my 40 (like the number?) printed invitations that I am going to be giving out to try and entice people to my table (although, please feel free to contact me and drop in):

Congratulations!

You have been invited to participate in Jenn’s Lenten penance! Don’t worry, you don’t have to do anything but enjoy. This year, Jenn has committed herself to the Betty Crocker Penance. No fast food, no restaurants, no cheating — just home-cooked, healthy meals…so she’s actually got to use that kitchen-thing.

For her sanity, she is extending an open invitation for you to stop by, any day, for a home-cooked meal and companionship. Feel free to bring a friend!  I hope to see you often during these 40 days!

Love, Jenn

(Please see [this blog] for more information, menu, and meal times.)

dscn0438-1.jpg

Lent!

Critical Mass, Lent

Whoo-hoo!  I’m all excited about Lent!  I have plans….  And, they may involve you….  🙂

Now, here’s the million dollar question:  is it okay to involve other people in your Lenten penance, as long as you the the one doing the penance, right?

Next, I need a really good cause for my Lenten penance.  Any suggestions?

Out of the Mouths of Babes

Critical Mass, Neat Things I Didn't Author

A nurse on the pediatric ward, before listening to the little ones chests, would plug the stethoscope into their ears and let them listen to their own hearts. Their eyes would always light up with awe, but she never got a response equal to four-year old David’s comment.

Gently, she tucked the stethoscope into his ears and placed the disk over his heart. “Listen,” she said, “What do you suppose that is?” He drew his eyebrows together in a puzzled line and looked up as if lost in the mystery of the strange tap-tap-tapping deep in his chest.

Then, his face broke out in a wondrous grin and he asked, “Is that Jesus knocking?”

De-evolution and Other Wrongness

Of Vice and Virtue

Oh, my poor maligned character!

I go into my one surgeon’s office, complaining that I am de-evolving into an alligator.  I don’t *actually* believe that, but I am annoyed with this odd skin thing.  I’m on my 4th diagnosis, and they just shrug and say probably some form of eczema and give me steroids for when it gets really bad.  Other leading things I accuse it of being are:

1.  Allergy to winter (since it gets worse when the weather gets cold)

2.  Leprosy (it’s not, so don’t try to kick me out of church!  🙂 )

My doctor says, “Oh, I thought it was a hickey you got from the tool.”  (I probably shouldn’t have introduced him to the term “tool.”)  After my emphatic denial, he says, “That’s what I thought, but I didn’t want to ask.”

Please.  As if I would just go out and do things like that with some random boy!

A Favorite Quote

Neat Things I Didn't Author
  • Pierre Teilhard de Chardin (1 May 1881 – 10 April 1955) was a French Jesuit priest trained as a paleontologist and a philosopher, and was present at the discovery of Peking Man.
  • “The day will come when, after harnessing space, the winds, the tides, gravitation, we shall harness for God the energies of love. And, on that day, for the second time in the history of the world, man will have discovered fire.”
    • Peking, February 1934, “The Evolution of Chastity” in Toward the Future, London: Collins, 1975: 86-87.

    God’s Coffee

    Critical Mass, Of Vice and Virtue

    Okay, by now, many of you will know that I have a particular aversion to e-mail forwards.  That said, occasionally I will pass one on because it is particularly cute or profound.  This one, while a decent message, is being posted because, well, I love God, and I have a certain fondness for coffee (no, really, I do!  Who would have thought?  :P), and I couldn’t pass it up.

    Now, if only coffee were used more often as a metaphor for theological teachings….  🙂 

    God’s Coffee

    A group of alumni, all highly established in their respective careers, got together for a visit with their old university professor. The conversation soon turned to complaints about the endless stress of work and life in general …Offering his guests coffee, the professor went into the kitchen and soon returned with a large pot of coffee and an eclectic assortment of cups: porcelain, plastic, glass, crystal – some plain, some expensive, some quite exquisite. Quietly he told them to help themselves to some fresh coffee.. When each of his former students had a cup of coffee in hand, the old professor quietly cleared his throat and began to patiently address the small gathering …

    ”You may have noticed that all of the nicer looking cups were taken up first, leaving behind the plainer and cheaper ones. While it is only natural for you to want only the best for yourselves, that is actually the source of much of your stress-related problems.” He continued …”Be assured that the cup itself adds no quality to the coffee. In fact, the cup merely disguises or dresses up what we drink. What each of you really wanted was coffee, not a cup, but you  instinctively went for the best cups” … Then you began eyeing each other’s cups ….”

    ”Now consider this:  Life is coffee. Jobs, money, and position in society are merely cups. They are just tools to shape and contain Life, and the type of cup we have does not truly define nor change the quality of the Life we live. Often, by concentrating only on the cup, we fail to enjoy the coffee that God has provided us … God brews the coffee, but he does not supply the cups. 

    “Enjoy your coffee!”  The happiest people don’t have the best of everything, they just make the best of everything they have ….

    So please remember: Live simply. Love generously. Care Deeply. Speak Kindly. Leave the Rest to God.

    And remember – the richest person is not the one who has the most, but the one who needs the least.

    “Integrity is doing the right thing, even if nobody is watching.” — Jim Stoval

    “Do all the good you can, and make as little fuss about it as possible.” –Charles Dickens

    Questions – Maccabean Revolt

    Bible Study, Critical Mass, Question of the Day

    A couple of questions arose in Bible study which were unable to be adequately answered in discussion:

    1.  Regarding 2 Mc 7, the 7 brothers and their mom had unwavering faith in God and were able to withstand their tormentors due to their hope (as in certainty in the goodness and fidelity of God, as opposed to wishful thinking) in the Lord.  They knew that God would raise them, and had complete faith in this, and were so able to look beyond the horrible things which were done to them.  Where did they get this faith in the resurrection?  Paragraph 992 of the Catechism states that, “God revealed the resurrection of the dead to his people progressively.”  Okay, how was this progressively revealed to the people such that by the time of this event, the woman and her sons would have such great faith?  The reference in the Catechism begins with this text in Maccabees, and continues to talk of Jesus’s ministry.  So, how was this shown prior to Maccabees?  The only thing that I could think of, and I admit that it’s not a stunning argument, is when Elijah was taken up in the fiery chariot.  But this would only seem to point to a reality outside of that which we concretely know now here on Earth, not necessarily on the resurrection of the dead (since he didn’t “die”).  And, we haven’t gotten to the New Testament quite yet, but isn’t there a part where Jesus goes up to the mountain and sees Elijah and Moses?  *That* would point to a resurrection of the dead, since, I believe, Moses died.  However, if I’m remembering correctly about that story (and it is in the NT and not the OT), it still doesn’t explain the faith of this family during the time of the Maccabean Revolt.  Any ideas?

    2.  On a tangent to our discussion (since we were reading one of the deuterocanon books, the conversation drifted to the canon of Scripture), we were noting that the Protestants and the Hebrews use a shorter canon that does not include 7 books of the Old Testament which were in the Greek Septuagint that the Catholic Church has used to define their canon.  Alright, I don’t (at the moment) have a question about the canon; however, if the Hebrew canon doesn’t have Maccabees, how do they preserve the tradition of Hanukkah, seeing as that story is told in Maccabees?  Or is it found elsewhere in Hebrew-accepted Scripture?

    First Anniversary

    Critical Mass, Humor of the Day, Tales of My Amazing Priests

    Okay, so yesterday I was late getting out the door, later still after clearing the snow off the car, and slightly delayed due to slower (although not horrible) traffic.  End result?  I was about 4 minutes late for Mass.

    This means that I came in as the Gospel was being proclaimed.  What?!?  I wasn’t that late!  He must have known that I was going to be late and got everyone to agree to skip the first reading and started with the responsorial psalm.  Seriously.  Okay, okay.  He wouldn’t do that, but I thought I was doing pretty good, here to find out I missed almost half of Mass.  Maybe it just took me 10 minutes to walk from the parking lot to the chapel?

    Anyway, I had the vague impression that there was something that I had wanted to say to Fr. John after Mass, but I could not remember what it was.  Sometimes I have a horrible memory, so during Benediction, I just kept looking at the Lord in the Blessed Sacrament, trying to remember if there was something that I should be remembering.

    Ah ha!  (Thank You!)  I was going to tell Fr. John that yesterday was my one year of coming into the church (building) and going up to an usher after Mass and asking, “How do you join?”

    So, I stand outside the sacristy after Mass, ready to pounce, along with the other parishioners who have questions for him.  As incoherent as I often am in e-mails and blogs, I am usually far more incoherent in person, speaking.  So, I can totally understand if he thinks I’m a bubblehead.  That and I laugh a lot — so much that one of my other priests has said, “You are a giggly little pumpkin.  Come, join us, giggle over here.”

    I say something like, “Hi!  It’s my one year coming into the church — coming through the door!  Thank you for scaring me back!”  And he replied, “That’s what I do!”

    Hahahahahahhahahahaha!

    One of these days, when I get more time (does that ever really happen?), I should post my “conversion story,” so you can get all the inside-joke references.  🙂