Fourth Sunday in Ordinary Time, Cycle B = SUPERBOWL XLIII SUNDAY!
Today at noon Mass Fr. Breier mentioned Superbowl issues. Several of us in the choir and many in the congregation sported NFL-licensed Steelers wear. We were warned by Don and Fr. Breier for moderation in celebration...don't get "out of control."
A little over a week ago, there was a small wooden lemonade-stand near a construction site. Young students were asking the Steelers for autographs there.
Nancy and I headed to Union Grill for lunch, finding that it was closed. We then shopped at the museum stores and ate at the Fossil Fuels cafeteria. I found a nice gift for Joyce at the museum stores. Nancy collects pressed pennies, and we had our picture taken by the entomologic Superbowl XXXXIII sign w/ the expired, stuffed cardinals.
I will spend the Superbowl with William, Marissa, and their family.
Labels: Carnegie, celebration, Church, Curb Your Enthusiasm, dining, friends, gift, museum, Pittsburgh, Superbowl
New Cell Phones; Encyclopedia Article, First Draft Reworking
Today, Mom and Dad and I went to Eat and Park at the Waterfront for lunch. We then went to Verizon for our new cell phones, as our first cell phones were not holding a charge. The gentleman who helped us indicated two other brands that were better at holding a charge. We selected a model that has Bluetooth capabilities, though we rarely used a similar option on our first phones. It has photo capabilities, as well. Mom was nonplussed that the phone could not play the "Skater's Waltz" ringtone (Miranda's favorite), and I was not pleased that it wasn't obvious how to record sounds, and turn those sounds into ringtones, as was obvious on our first phones. Other than that, we were happy with our new phones, and I requested that we transfer our address books to our new ones.
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After a stop at CVS, I spent ~two hours at Hillman Library reworking the first draft of my encyclopedia article after editorial comments. Dinner was leftovers, and Mom and I watched some Curb Your Enthusiasm (the restaurant opening), as well as the episode of Wife Swap in which the New York househusband family swaps with the pet crematory family.
Labels: accessibility, Curb Your Enthusiasm, dining, encyclopedia, New York, phone, writing
Fourth of July 2008
Mom, Dad and I spent the best part of the day eating meals, napping, and watching Vertigo; after which mom and I decided to clear off my telephone table and my macaroni table in my living room. We debated getting pizza for dinner, and we finally decided on leftovers. Mom and I watched some Jeopardy and Curb Your Enthusiasm after dinner---Harry Potter is on tap currently.
Labels: cinema, cleaning, Curb Your Enthusiasm, dining, organizing, sleep, TV
Mr. Bean's Holiday, First 3 weeks
Mom and I watched, on this last night of super-duper conservative healing, some Larry David in Curb Your Enthusiasm, as well as the movie Mr. Bean's Holiday. William had earlier expressed surprise that I had never seen a Bean movie (yet).
Mom and I were totally enchanted by the antics of the characters in the movie, the scenery, the light, the aria from Gianni Schicchi, "O mio babbino caro," and the love and caring in the movie.
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It's soon the end of the first three weeks after surgery. I see the surgeon tomorrow, within twelve hours from now. I hope that he will say I need neither to have blood thinner shots in my stomach (in my soft underbelly) any longer, nor to wear TED (anti-embolism) hose any longer. I also want to have a general timeline for when I can return to certain activities, such as swimming, dancing, driving, etc.
Labels: BAD, cinema, Curb Your Enthusiasm, family, health, international culture, languages, light, love, surgery, surprise, talent, transportation, travel
Mother's Day 2008
I called Mom on the West Coast at about 7:30 am her time. "Are you my mother?" I said, quoting the children's book. [Because you must be, to answer the phone for me at THIS hour.] She returned the silly phone call later today.
Choir practice and singing at Mass was not the same as previous Pentecost Sundays, as we did not sing of the “The gale of God, the singing fire of life.” I love that Spirit-filled song---so moving and poetic and reminiscent of the winds carrying the Spirit.
It was one young man's Baptism, First Communion, and Confirmation (Patrick/Ambrose), Mother's Day, and Fr. Tom's last day on the job as Parochial Vicar here at St. Paul Cathedral. We on Pastoral Council gave him a gift of a filled piggy bank, and a gift certificate to Mitchell's Seafood restaurant. He is arriving at his new job in time to accompany the elementary school students of Good Shepard in Braddock to Kennywood. We attended the farewell party for him in the Social Hall after Mass. He really deserves to be the pastor of his own parish. He has so many gifts to give them.
I went from that event to tea/dinner at the Frick Cafe with Les, Chere, William, Marissa, Beatrice, and Solomon. The broccoli/cheddar cheese soup, pulled pork sandwich, and Tres Leches dessert were all wonderfully rich. Beatrice liked the blueberries and whipped cream from my dessert. We returned to William and Marissa's home to have Marissa and her mom play anagrams, and the rest of us to sleep or meditate.
Mom called near the end of my visit to ask,
"Who is the Larry like Seinfeld? What is the name of the show?" (Larry David, Curb Your Enthusiasm)
and
"What is the name of the cafeteria in downtown Parkersburg near the Parkersburg Art Center?" (Wawa guessed, incorrectly, Wendelken's)
Labels: California, Church, Curb Your Enthusiasm, family-Marissa, ice cream, niece and nephew, pastoral council, St. Paul Cathedral
Week off Teaching: Upwords, Monk and Curb Your Enthusiasm, Choir, Dining Out
It's been a great week off from classroom teaching. This past week Mom and I have been playing Upwords after dinner. We have some great boards, of which I took snapshots.
We've also seen some Monk, including a new episode tonight, Monk and the Three Julies, which had references to Hitchcock's Psycho. We also watched several episodes of Curb Your Enthusiasm, including one about The Baptism, from season 2.
After two weeks of no choir practice and one Sunday off, we were back to choir practice this Thursday night. Don actually admitted to missing us, and I admitted to doing exercise other than choral huffing (ha ha ha-ing) that day...I actually got 45 minutes of PT done, and some lat pulldowns. I also read the Scripture for Mass that day, with Fr. Brian as celebrant, John as server, and Don as music ministry.
Anjali and I had lunch at Victor's restaurant Tuesday, and four of us Wellesley gals (Kelly, Natalie, Stephanie, and I) dined at the Union Grill tonight. Stephanie announced that the eve of the last day we saw her Steve proposed to her. (We saw her lovely ring.)
Labels: BAD, Choir, Church, Curb Your Enthusiasm, dining, exercise, family, friends, games, lector, Monk, read, St. Paul Cathedral, TV, Wellesley
