Week end Wrap-Up

It’s been a week of successes and failures here at Chez Ouiz:

1. SUCCESS: I finished my hat!
2. FAIL: Unfortunately, I ended it too soon and it’s waaaaaay too short for me to wear. I’m OK with that, though (even though I secretly did want to be able to wear it, despite its hideous golden color). I learned how to knit a hat in the round, learned how to decrease, and was pull it off without too many mistakes (well, except for the glaring one that I can’t wear it, but still…) I’d show you a picture of it, but I’d have to go into my bedroom to get it, and that would wake the baby, so you’ll just have to imagine it.

3. SUCCESS: I made an applesauce cake for Epiphany. It was beautiful — I ground the wheat just before baking, I made the applesauce from scratch (not a huge challenge, but still, it sounds so good, doesn’t it?), and everything turned out great.
4. FAIL: Grace, in her enthusiasm to be a helper, got too close to the cake and, you guessed it, managed to knock it off the counter.

This is what we wound up having for dessert…

Sigh.

5. SUCCESS: Poor Grace. She had been soooo excited about helping me with the cake. When she accidentally knocked it off the counter, she had a look of absolute horror on her face… and then she just crumpled and started crying, saying, “I’m so sorry! I didn’t mean to knock it off the counter!” How could I get mad at someone like that? We had a good hug, and I told her it was OK, and we’d eat it anyway.

When dh came home, I told him the story of the mangled cake — truth be told, I was feeling mighty good about the fact that I hadn’t yelled, and I thought I deserved a few murmurs of sympathy for all my hard work dashed on the floor like that. Nope. My husband’s reaction when I told him wasn’t, “Oh honey, I’m so sorry!” but rather, “Oh, poor Grace! She must have been so devastated!” When my oldest son Sean asked him why he wasn’t concerned about the work I did, he said, “Son, your mom’s a great cook and I’m sure the cake will still taste fantastic… but it’s just a cake and your sister is much more important than that.” It shocked me a bit, but he was totally right. (I’m so glad I married him!)

6. SUCCESS: We managed to have our traditional Epiphany “show” — the kids dress up like the Holy Family, shepherds, Wise Men, etc (yeah, it’s easy when you’ve got 8 kids!) and we reenact the Nativity story.
7. FAIL: Blogger is having problems at the moment, so I can’t show a picture of the whole thing. Sigh.

8. SUCCESS: My son Thomas is a huge fan of Dr. Who (the 4th Doctor, thank you very much!), and has taken to wearing a striped sweater over his shoulders to try to mimic the Doctor’s scarf. I picked up a skein of multicolored yarn over the weekend and started knitting a simple scarf for him. I’m branching out into (ooh! Here it comes!) knitting AND purling. Yes indeed, I’m advancing in the world of knitting! *grin*
9. FAIL: I somehow managed to goof up on the first color change. No, no one but I will know it’s there, but still… I hate making mistakes! Grrr. (was able to “unknit” part of the mistake, but getting down to where it all started was going to be too difficult, so I opted to make it a “feature” instead.)

10. SUCCESS: Thanks to my brother reminding me of it this evening, I got to show my husband the first episode of On the Air by David Lynch. Did anyone besides me watch this when it aired in 1992? I loved it, but there were just a few episodes before they got rid of it.
11. FAIL: I can’t find any other episodes on-line! I know I had taped it, but I can’t find the video in the house either. I’m afraid I may have “house beautiful-ed” it during a previous purge, and it’s gone, gone, gone.

 On a completely different note, my husband and I are sitting here listening to bad 80’s music at the moment. Did you ever notice how much funnier Prince is if you substitute the word “clown” in the song “When Doves Cry”?

The big news around here this evening is the snow. Will we get hit with several inches of the white stuff, as they are predicting, or will we wake up and find that once again, the storm passed us by? My kids are banking on a day of sledding and minimal schoolwork, with the added bonus of having daddy home all day tomorrow. As predicted, the grocery stores were HOPPING on Saturday. All we have to have is just the slightest chance of snow, and everyone runs out for bread, milk, and eggs like we’re going to be snowed under for several weeks.

When we had snow two weeks ago — and it was really no more than an inch or so — our parish CANCELLED Mass. We didn’t know about it beforehand, so we showed up at our normal time, as did a handful of other parishoners. Our priest, who is FROM NIGERIA (not known for its blizzards) managed to make it there just fine and celebrated Mass for us anyway.

Our biggest prayer is that we don’t lose power. THAT would be bad, since we don’t have any other way to heat our house.

Speaking of Mass, I got my “comeuppance” this morning. We have a priest that is nice, but can be a bit… well, I’m not sure how to describe him. He can be brash at times, slightly irreverent, and tends to ramble during his homilies. Today was no exception, and I found myself actually cringing as he went off on some tangent. I bowed my head to pray for him, although to be honest, I was proud and judgmental. After all, I had a better idea of what his homily should be…..

WRONG. The next thing I know, he turns his “tangent” into a main part of his homily, and he delivered a strong reminder to us all about the commitment that was made at our baptism, and what it means to us now. He urged us all to learn what it means to be Catholic, and to not be ashamed to live it. Our life in Christ is one of commitment and our attempts to stay faithful (with His grace). I cannot do his homily justice, of course, but I sat there humbled and grateful for this man who is shepherding those under his care faithfully.

He also tends to “ad lib” here and there, and after the Consecration, he usually says something like:

“This is the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world. This is He who has faithfully fed the saints and martyrs throughout the centuries. How happy are we to be called to this supper…”

It’s a small addition, but it hits me every time. St. Tarcisius comes to mind, as well as St. (Padre) Pio and Blessed Mother Teresa of Calcutta. What a privilege we have!