7 Quick Takes, don'tcha know

1) I went to an exercise class at my church the other night. It's offered a couple of times a week, through our senior citizen group, so I was one of the younger people there. It's called Aerobics Plus, and the Plus is weights and stretches. I haven't been to an exercise class in probably 10 years, so I was a little nervous, but the leader is encouraging and positive, and when I got to the point where I thought I couldn't go on, there were a few people there to look at who were significantly older than me, and they were doing it... or, there were some people there who are younger than me who were taking breaks, like I was, whenever the teacher turned her back. Encouraging!
The next day I felt pretty good, not agonizingly sore like I expected to be, and I slept great that night. I'll go back.

2) I heard Eve Ensler interviewed today on the CBC- she wrote The Vagina Monologues, which I have never seen but the title of which has always kind of conjured an odd mental image for me. It was a great interview, and she said some beautiful things about the work she is doing for girls around the world. She said (and I'm paraphrasing) that girls must be powerful because they are so feared- the one thing everyone tells both boys AND girls not to be, it's a girl. She said girls are emotional, intense, dramatic, and can't be talked out of what they know. She cited Malala Yousafzai, the young girl who was recently shot by the Taliban. She said great, intriguing things. 

3) Tonight I was sitting here with a cat in my lap, who then stepped on my iPad, snapping the cover off, which made him leap directly into my face. I have tiny cuts on my nose, cheek and ear- I mean tiny, really- but holy hell that hurt! I burst into tears and cried straight out for about ten minutes. I thought, Yes, Eve Ensler, I shall cry with abandon, and honor my girl-ness. I guess I've cried a couple of times since the kittens have joined our household, and whenever I do, they sit a few feet away from me, tails curled around them, watching me with expressions of horrified fascination. If I weren't already crying, it would totally make me laugh. 

4) It's 11:00 PM and I should be going... Tonight is the youth group laser tag overnight. I meet them at the LT place, which is here in our area, stay a while, and then come home to bed. It is a purely awesome night for young-people watching, complete with busy middle school power-walking, drama, bravado and sometimes fights. Great stuff. But it is really not my style to be going out after 11. I resolved pretty early in my youth ministry career that lock-ins were not going to be my signature move. Retreats, yes. Overnights, not so much. Since I am not The Youth Minister at these things, I get to play the part of a grandparent- coming in, loving everyone, and leaving when I need a nap.

5) Here comes Election Day and I'm as curious about its outcome as I am glad to not have to watch those damned ads anymore. I've been thinking a lot lately about how the moment of voting is a purely private moment, one where no one knows how I will act, and where the decision as to how to act is fully mine. It's a moment for me to use my conscience and faith and understanding without having to convince anyone that I'm right, or worry about judgment. It's a faith-filled moment, for me. My parents taught me long ago that our votes are private, and I am relishing that unique moment of privacy that voting will afford me this year. 

6) Here comes Sandy! This weekend we'll be battening down the hatches, and then, dammit, battening them down again. (Ha! Old movie joke!) We've got  lots if emergency supplies by virtue of being campers, and live at the top of a hill, and I have a whole passel of books to read should the power go out, so I get to be relatively excited about this. Have I mentioned my storm-geekery? I love watching them approach on the radar, love the updates, love watching the weather reporters being tossed around, LOVE snow days. As long as our big old maple tree hangs in there, I'm ready!

7) I am feeling calm and happy and good lately- maybe because my Dad is doing well, and that feeling of crisis has passed for now. But also, I'm trying not to worry a out the changes that will eventually hit our Archdiocese, and I'm really enjoying the events that come around at work. I am so glad to not be carrying around fear like I was. The trick has been, I think, that old cliche of taking things on one at a time. When I group things together in my mind, it gets overwhelming-  but individually, they're just not so scary. I feel lighter and more joyful and more fun to be around when I'm carrying less fear. I'm just so panicked that it'll come back again. Just kidding. :)

7 Quick Takes, random as you please

1) Let's just get this out of the way. My Dad is scheduled for bypass surgery in a couple of weeks. There are lots of us- a base group of 10 people (11 counting Mom) on Team Dad. It's good- very good. And believe me when I tell you that communication is copious. Over the past several months, Dad has not been able to drive, so we've been taking turns getting him and my Mom where they need to go. The bulk of the burden has sat on the shoulders of my sister and brother, who live in the same town as Mom and Dad, but we've been trying to help out some, from here in MA- which, after all, isn't that far away. Now that we have a date, we're battening down the hatches, and getting ready to support Mom through Dad's days in the hospital and maybe rehab. We are mobilizing the troops. It's good not to be an only child. Anyhoo, keep him in your prayers, would ya?
2) I have been reading up a storm! I guess I'm finally fully recovered from grad school... this summer I've read some great fiction- just today I finished Code Name Verity, which incredibly is called a teen book (Amazon at least says it's for age 14+, which I guess sounds about right). It's full of intrigue and suspense and dear characters that I couldn't help but root for, and some surprises too.
3) I am the daughter of a World War II buff, and learned a lot about the war through him (the aforementioned Dad). Lots of WWII movies, lots of documentaries, lots of books. I have a pretty vivid imagined image of war, at least the version of war that happened back in the day before drones and when everything was analog and low-tech. When I have nightmares, which is rare, they usually feature a WWII kind of scene, bombed out or under air attack. One early morning as I was leaving my apartment, a WWII-model plane buzzed over my head, low and loud. It was nothing like the little planes that usually fly over (we live near a little municipal airport- turned out there was an air show going on that I hadn't heard about...) and I had this weird flashback to something I'd never actually experienced. It was all I could do not to hit the deck.
4) I think it's my vicarious war experience (which is to say, Dad didn't exactly "experience" the War himself- he was a kid- he experienced it from the home front) that helps me be satisfied with just enough. I have a plan for evacuation, if it ever comes to that, and I think about food sources and emergency supplies, for the day that maybe we don't have access to the things we have now. I appreciate our abundance, and feel unbelievably fortunate. Vicariously-vicarious experience of war, I reckon, is the best way to experience it.
5) On yet another completely un-related topic, I am realizing that something needs to change for me, footwear-wise. Every summer for the last few years, I've bought a new pair of teva flip-flops, which have been lovely. They have "mush" bottoms, and I could stay on my feet for a long time. But this summer, one day while I was working in the garden, I heard and felt my big toe SNAP, and OOOEEEY did it hurt! For a long time! I don't know if it was broken, or sprained? Or if you can sprain your toe? But all I could do was limp and tape my foot on big walking days.
This summer, though, I discovered espadrilles. They're heaven!! They smell pretty bad, and are NOT good in the rain, but they feel wonderful and are closed-toe, comfortable but just dressy enough to wear to Mass.
6) In other beauty news, this summer I ordered the wrong thing on Amazon when I was trying to buy face lotion (I use Nutritioniste lotion, but it's hard to find in stores, so I order it online). What I got instead was Nutritioniste serum, whatever that is. I mean it, I don't know what it is, and can't really figure it out from any online descriptions. Is it a medicine?Is it a moisturizer? I know one thing- my face is smooth now!! So smooth!!! So, there you go. Hurray for serum.
7) as a closing kiss, here's my favorite pic of the new kitten, Charley:

Lookit that face!!!! I'm smitten with this kitten.

Soundtracks

So, I may have mentioned that this is a stressful week for me. I have three big events at work this weekend, bang-bang-bang... and I have big roles in all of them, especially Saturday's ministry day. My Dad had knee replacement surgery this week, which meant a lot of organizing of my siblings and me, to take turns being up there in Maine with my Mom. With most of us on an educational schedule, this would already have been a tough time to fit everything in. I'm jealous of my sisters and brother who live close enough to run up there in between things.
My Dad has had some complications, including a particularly scary one today. I've been worrying in between all the amazing amount of stuff I had to do today, from a 3 hour New Testament class (that last hour's a KILLER) and getting everything done for this weekend. On my way to class, I knew I needed some music to crowd out the thoughts in my head. I wanted something I could sing to, LOUD, with lots of words and no deep meaning.
I grabbed "Katy Lied" by Steely Dan out of my CD case and knew right away that it was the perfect choice. It's lyrics are mostly nonsense, something really hard to make any meaning out of. Whatever story they put together is so odd that it's hard to apply to one's life. And this particular album doesn't spend a lot of time on instrumental breaks.
I first got this album when I was leaving Washington to head back home from a serious folly, on a train trip that would take 4 days. It was a new album to me so it had the added distraction value of giving me lyrics to learn. It kept me going all the way across the country. I feel like I owe a lot to this album!
So Steely Dan it is, until I can get through a trip leg without fear and worry creeping in. Hopefully this won't contaminate the album for the future.