Nine Dollars a Pack

This is it, people! I promised the Chick that when I got home from this trip, I would be a smoke free mother. While in the Windy City I bought my last pack at the hotel. It cost me nine dollars. The math says 45 cents a smoke. Yikes!

I have been away from blogging this week due to travels and having the cruddy laptop with me. Plus I forgot the wireless card at home. At least I think it's at home. While being gone a few interesting things (or at least interesting to me) happened.

• Spent some time with Adventure Girl. We went to the Tom Skillings' Tornado Seminar. I now know far more than I ever thought I would know about tornados. At some points, the speakers started to sound like Charlie Brown's teacher....
• Went to a couple of great restaurants: Carnivale for Peruvian food and Tuscany on Taylor. Both great places. Had yucca... still don't like it, but the paco paco and the sangria were great. Had veal with a white wine sauce, squares of gorgonzola and asparagus. Yummy!
• Spent time with Baby Sister and her gang of boys. Baby Sister convinced me to open a Facebook account. Not sure how dedicated I will be and Chatterbox said, "Mrs.. I am shocked you have a facebook!"
• My major project for this trip went great!
• I've slept in seven different beds in two weeks. Fell out of bed number six when the wake up call rang me awake. Have a carpet burn and a nasty bruise on my knee. Feel pretty goofy about it. My uber boss says it has happened to him when he has travelled. Felt goofy but better after that.
• Going home tomorrow. Hope the BugMan remembers to fetch me.
  

Can't stay up ALL Night!

The gift of the BE is twenty new friends. And most of them are blogging and emailing and chatting to beat the band right now. It's fifteen minutes past my bedtime and I don't want to go to sleep because I am afraid I'll miss something. (We call it "Family Reunion Syndrome" at my house.)

I said this in another spot, but it can't be said too often. When you have online friends they are wonderful. I have prayed for these folks. I've tried to cheer them and cheer for them. I've laughed and cried and sighed with them. But now they are no longer two dimensional. As I told Will Smama, the package got fuller. As a result, the things they have written over the last few days have been much deeper. Much truer. And I can feel the blogged hugs because I know what the real hugs feel like.

I can hear their laughs and their lovely voices. Such a blessing I had not imagined when I made my deposit six months ago.

But now I really should go to bed. Tomorrow is another day of work. And I do need to do some work. Although it will be hard not to check a few blogs in between the tasks of the day!

Bloggers are decent people at bottom

So on NPR today, this was the quote from some guy who apparently gets negative feedback from bloggers, "...even bloggers are decent people at bottom." The guy's a political commentator and clearly he doesn't know the RevGalBlogPals. Beyond decent! Just fabulous people!

I had a great time on the BE aka The Big Event with my RevGalBlogPals. Didn't even need to leave the dock in New Orleans. We could have just sat on the aft deck and I would have been happy. The scenery was just icing on the delicious cake!

Since getting back, lots of folks have wanted reports on what the BE was all about. It was about JOY! Pure joy. I am so glad I got out of my midwestern, Norwegian, mildly introverted box and went on this trip. All the extra supply preaching to pay the way was well worth it!

Some highlights were definitely...

• Charbroiled oysters at the oyster bar with GracebytheSea. Also enjoyed the raw oysters and the melt in your mouth oysters in my not to be believed gumbo at Emeril's. A food previously described as slimey or boiled erasers now has a very joyful spot in my heart.


• A Joy Tattoo! We were all given a word to meditate on during the trip. Mine was joy. Couldn't get a spray paint tattoo of joy- so I took the one shown above- energy. The joy of the trip has given me energy. Hope my boss appreciates my new artwork on Sunday. Hee hee hee! If it washes off before then, I may color it in with a sharpy marker! Several us went under the paintgun. Mine is the one on the wrist. Will Smama's is the real one!


• Three martinis and twelve olives! This was my quote for the night before we went home. I slept real well and I remember, Cheeshead, I remember! What a lovely, lovely night!


• The back of the boat. We sat on the aft deck in the afternoon alternately amusing and scaring off other cruisers. It was a blessed place and very close to the soft serve ice cream.


• Learning about geocaching. The Vicar of Hogsmeade is a geocacher. It's like a scavenger hunt with a GPS. She took a group out on Cozumel and they FOUND it! I'm thinking we all need to hide geocaches on our church signs.


• Mexican food in Mexico. Fabulous food with Songbird, RevDrKate and our own English rose. Still can't believe she came all the way from England! What a treat!


• Laughing. Crying. Listening. Talking. Reading. It was all good!

We're almost outta here!

In an hour and a half, the Bug Man will come home from his bug job to take me to the airport. I am LEAVING for vacation with the RevGals on the Big Event cruise. I have tried to get all my work done before I left. I have prepaid bills so that the Bug Man has no worries. I have confirmed the Chick's doctor's appointment for Friday. And I think I am all packed.

As I have been getting ready to leave, I have found less time to even consider blogging. But here are a few of the things that have been true of my life:

• I was unable for many weeks to remember what part of Mexico we were docking at for our daylong excursion. I really didn't care. I just want to eat some Mexican food and they have that everywhere in Mexico. I can now say with confidence that we are docking in Cozumel.
• I have had insomnia. This even happened last night when I crashed at about 1:30am. All of my usual tricks have been only moderately successful. I want to take a nap on my vacation.
• I am really not worried about leaving my staff for a week. They are way too competent for me to worry. I love this!
• We had a lovely Easter meal with Dorothy and her hubby. Ham and asparagus and cheesy potatoes and a fabulous rendition of a "poke cake" that Dorothy made with strawberries and fresh whipped cream. Think strawberry shortcake and then kick it up a notch!
• I wonder if I can take a ham sandwich on the plane. Probably not. We have a lot of leftove ham.
• I have a major project at work that is 90% done. It is due a few days after we get home. It involves writing and powerpointing. My eyes got bleary and I decided to stop at 4:00 yesterday. It will just have to wait.
• My folks are almost home after spending Holy Week at Spring Training in Arizona. They continue to make retirement look like a really fun deal! I hope to try it when I'm their age.

Well, that's all I can think to say for now. I am not taking my laptop on the ship. It's heavier than it looks and I also think I need a little "radio silence" in my life. I'm going to give every effort not to go to the computer lounge to check my email. Or at least not more than once a day....

The V Crowd

I was over at Dorothy's blog and saw this photo of our "Vagina Monologues" cast. Just had to add it to the blog. What a wonderful group of women to play with! I'm in the very back in the middle.

Good Friday Five

When I was a little girl I really didn't get why we called today "good". It didn't make sense. I wondered if the adults had made a mistake. This was the day when Jesus died on the cross. How could that be good. Fortunately, I caught on after a while. This is a good day. A day when we try to understand the heighth and depth and breadth of God's love for us.

On the RevGalBlogPals I posted these questions today:

1. Our prayer concerns are as varied as we are this day. For whom would you like us to pray? Please pray for Jim and his family.


2. Are there things you have done or will do today to help the young ones understand this important day in our lives? It was important to me as a parent that the Chick understand from an early age that Jesus really did die. I didn't want her to misunderstand and think that he was just resting. We didn't do anything special, beyond bringing her to worship and talking it through. But she knew fairly early on what happened on Good Friday.


3. Music plays an important part in sharing the story of this day. Is there a hymn or piece of music that you have found particularly meaningful to your celebrations of Good Friday? "O Sacred Head, Now Wounded" touches something deep within me.


4. As you hear the passion narrative, is there a character that you particularly resonate with? I think it must be Peter in his desires to get it right and his failures even though he loves Jesus deeply.


5. Where have you seen the gracious God of love at work lately? In the children I spent the last five Sunday's with. They so got what was going on in worship. And they are ready to share the good news.

God's blessings on your Good Friday.

From Palms to Passion

This is a transitional piece I will use at the end of our mostly Palm Sunday service tomorrow.

Today is a curious sort of day. A day which began with an exciting parade and children singing praises to the Lord. It's a day of wonder as we remember that Jesus entered Jerusalem in triumph with all the pomp and circumstance of a beloved king.

And it is tempting to just stay at the Palm glory and give little thought to what will happen next. For Thursday brings a last meal with treasured friends. And a new covenant of love and forgiveness. But it also brings betrayal and denial.

And then it's Friday. A day of accusation and fear. A day of wrenching torment and brutal death. All too quickly the shouts of "Hosanna!" will give way to the call to "Crucify him! Crucify him!"
As you make your way through this holiest of weeks I would invite you to follow the way of the cross. Let yourself be caught up in this most wonderful of all stories. Hear the words as if it was the first time. For there is always more to discover on this holy journey.
Let yourself be transformed by the passionate love of Christ.
Our postlude for this morning is based on the hymn "O Sacred Head Now Wounded." And I encourage you not to leave with the dismissal today. But instead, stay and listen to the postlude. Take a moment for meditation and prayer. And consider all that our Lord has done for us. For he chose the path which led to pain before joy- the cross before glory. May the cross be planted in our hearts this day, so that in its power and love we may come at last to joy and glory.

The Bug Man's Wrist Hurts

For the last 18 months, the Bug Man has been complaining that his wrist hurts. Now don't get me wrong. I try to be a sympathetic wife, but when someone complains about something every other day, you get numb.

He broke his wrist in July 2005 while trying to get rid of some wasps. (It's his job, don't you know.) The wasps weren't mad or anything. It was the ladder that was not cooperating and the Man fell off and landed all wrong. He put the ladder back on the truck, said goodbye to his client, and drove himself to the hospital. This was no small feat what with the truck having a manual transmission. The doctor reset the wrist and he was in a cast for six weeks. Six long weeks. The only thing that kept us all from killing each other was a subscription to MLB.com. The Bug Man watched a lot of Cardinals games on the computer to the frustration of Soda Chicky who couldn't use the computer as much as she might like.

After feeling sore and achey for over a year, the Man went back to the doctor. After doing an MRI and seeing a specialist, it has been determined that he has a torn ligament and the bones did not heal correctly. The ligament may well have been torn the entire time. This only shows up on an MRI which they didn't do at the time. So at the end of April he will have surgery.
They'll repair the ligament and put a plate and a screw in as well. If they need to, they will take bone chips from his hip to fill in the gaps. This is all out-patient surgery.

I asked my mother-in-law if she wanted to come take care of him. She said, and I quote, "Hell, no." This is very strong language from the MIL and indicates what a delightful patient her son is.

I am thankful that we will be into baseball season come the end of April. I am thankful that we know that some of this pain will be ended. I am not thankful that the Bug Man will be miserable for some time to come. And I am praying for patience for the Chick and I! Sigh....

Friday Five... How Time Flies By!

At the RevGalBlogPals, Mother Laura writes:

Our Lent is almost over, while our Orthodox sisters and brothers, whose liturgical year follows the older Julian calendar, are just starting theirs. Nicholas did a recent book report on George Washington, and we were surprised to find out that our first President's birthday was originally Feb. 11, since he was born just before the change to the Gregorian calendar. Apparently the change almost caused rioting, as some indignant people were sure that they were being cheated out of eleven days of their lives! To help you adjust--and enjoy the process--here's a Friday Five about time and transitions....

1. If you could travel to any historical time period, which would it be, and why? I would like to go to a time with indoor plumbing.... I think it would be interesting to wander around in the 1920's. Can't remember all the plumbing details, but there was so much happening before the crash.
2. What futuristic/science fiction development would you most like to see? Beam me up, Scottie!
3. Which do you enjoy more: remembering the past, or dreaming for the future? I love to hear stories. "Mom tell us a story about when you were little?" was always my request on long car trips.
4. What do you find most memorable about this year's Lent? I've preached for four weeks in a row. Haven't done that in years! It's rare that a person doing supply gets to fill in for five weeks in a row at the same church. It will be a little bittersweet to say goodbye this coming Sunday.
5. How will you spend your time during this upcoming Holy Week? What part do you look forward to most? Since I don't serve a traditional parish, my week will not look like most pastors. I have a new employee that I'm training. I have a shorter work week. I'm the "go to girl" when someone doesn't show up to read, lead or acolyte at church this week. I am looking forward to worshipping in my home congregation. I haven't worshipped there in almost two months. It will be nice to be home.

More About the Vagina Monologues

When Eve Ensler was developing "The Vagina Monologues" she started with hundreds of "Vagina Interviews". Women were asked a series of questions and the monologues came out of these varied and fascinating interviews. I have been thinking about the questions this past few weeks and decided I would dare to post my own answers.

• If your vagina got dressed what would it wear? A white cotton batiste nightgown, soft from several washings. It would be long and tailored like a man's shirt.


• If it could speak, what would it say? Whatever it wanted to say. Whenever it wanted to say it. Without fear. It's always been gutsier than I am.


• What does your vagina remind you of? "The Dinner Party" by Judy Chicago. The Emily Dickinson setting especially. It reminds me of the vagina and the vagina reminds me of it.


• What's special about your vagina? It's mine. They're all special. They're defining.


• What does it smell like? An October walk on the beach in Monterey.

If this prompts you to write your own thoughts, wonderful! If this is too much information, relax!

And Dorothy, we're not in Kansas anymore.

Friday Five: Signs of Hope, Signs of Spring

Sally posted these hope filled questions for the RGBP Friday Five.

1. Sign of hope? Tonight I was part of a group that performed "The Vagina Monologues." As we heard the challenge to end violence against women and girls in the next decade, I was filled with a sense of hope. Hope that perhaps this is possible. If not in whole, at least in part. I was delighted by this strong group of women who dared to speak such amazing words. And delighted by the response of the men and women who shared the evening with us.


2. An unexpected word of light in a dark place? A friend noticed something in me this week and said so... It's too long and complicated to explain the whole thing, but being noticed for a certain gift affirmed it... affirmed me... and it was a light for my day that I will hold onto for days to come.


3. A sign of spring? There are groovy little green things poking up from the ground in the churchyard. My favorites are on their way... tulips!


4. Challenging/ surprising? Being invited to participate in the Vagina Monologues was a surprising challenge. (I got to moan a la Grace Slick at one point in the evening.) I never tried out for plays in school. My dramatic performances have been mostly the kind that pastors take on during VBS. That and first person sermons. It was a challenge to speak vagina vocabulary tonight. And a surprise that I like wandering out of my box. I need to do more of that.


5. Share a hope for the coming week/month/year.... See number 4.

Bonus play... a piece of music/ poem guaranteed to cheer you? I have been listening to Cole Porter songs on my Ipod of late. Cheers me up every time.

Strange Days Indeed

Tonight the television was on and suddenly I looked up to see Julia Louis-Dreyfus do something strange with her lipstick. "The New Adventures of Old Christine" is not my favorite show, but I do so wish I could have saved the two opening minutes of the show. The reason is this....

.... Burt's Bees Lip Shimmer in the delightful shade of "Nutmeg." Last night the Bug Man walked into the bedroom looking like a bad Lucille Ball impressionist. He had picked up the Chick's Lip Shimmer and used it like regular chapstick. It is NOT regular chapstick. He did know how goofy he looked before strolling into our room, but he wanted to "share".

Tonight, "Old Christine" was moaning about her recent boyfriend break up and did the exact same thing. I paused the TiVo and waited until the Bug Man came back into the room. Too strange to be believed.

The really hard to believe part is that the Man couldn't tell the difference between chapstick and lip shimmer. Here's hoping he doesn't throw the nutmeg colored stuff in a coat pocket before heading off to work some day!

All About Soda Chicky

The Chick made a point this evening of sitting next to me and requesting/ordering that I pull up my blog. She wanted to see what I had written about her lately. She was saddened to find that there was nothing about her recent illness on my blog. Not wanting to win any more points in the "Bad Mother Contest" I will now tell you the painful story of the Chick's health of late.

For nearly four weeks, the Chick has struggled with stomach aches and nausea. On Trip #1 to the doctor it was decided that she had a virus. She was given an anti-emetic prescription and we went home. The little pills helped her not throw up but it really "bound her up" as my father would say. A week later she was still feeling rather punk. Trip #2 to the doctor was for her "well baby" check up. (What do you call it when the baby is 14?) We caught her on a good day except that she went into total meltdown when it came time to get her HPV vaccine and a flu shot.

Visit #3 found me suggesting that perhaps she had inherited all of her parent's collective bad genes. The doctor found some merit in all of this and ordered an xray of the Chick's abdomen. Sure enough, she was full of crap! (This is the less technical explanation.) She is now taking the new wonder drug MiroLax. It seems to be doing the trick along with regular doses of Pepcid.

While we were trying to figure out what was really ailing her, I found myself feeling really useless. I'd done what everyone was suggesting. I'd taken her to the doctor. I'd gotten the prescribed meds, but the kid still felt horrid. I told her one afternoon that I felt like I had been given a really great toy that I had somehow misused and now I couldn't figure out how to fix it. Rather than making her feel objectified, it helped her know that I really was concerned and I really did want her to feel better. (When I forced her to go to school on more than one occasion, she wasn't too sure about me. I got lots of votes for "Bad Mother" on those occasions.)

So the Chicky is feeling much better. She had a Snow Day yesterday which also helped her mood immeasurably. The good news is that she was bored today. Always a good sign that one needs to get out of the house!

Between bouts of feeling truly yucky, the Chick and her friends Barnum and Lovely Girl redecorated the Chick's room. They moved the furniture around. Lovely Girl made some style suggestions. Barnum came along for a trip to Linens n' Things and the place is almost the room of their imaginings. I need to do some minor sewing and a little craftiness and the place will be put together.

So Chicky... I hope this meets your expectations. Not too embarrassing. Not too personal. And yes, Lovely Girl finally has her own blogging secret identity.

Love, Mom

Prayers for Rusty

A very dear friend of my parents died last night. Her name was Alta. The day after she retired from her job in November, they found that she was seriously ill. Almost three months to the day, she died in hospice care. My heart aches tonight for those who love her.

At Christmas time we visited my folks. My mother asked me to make a prayer shawl for Alta. I was honored to be asked and we quickly went to the Ben Franklin store to pick up the supplies. For two days I prayed and crocheted while football games, BBC reruns and other goofiness went by on the television. I prayed for Alta and her husband Rusty. I prayed for my parents whose lives have been so warmly touched by these dear friends. I prayed for their small mountain congregation and their priest who serves them.

After we left, Mom and Dad delivered the shawl to Alta at the hospital. She was due to have her second major surgery in a month. In the movement from room to room, the shawl was misplaced. But last weekend, Rusty found it packed in with some things. He tried to give it back to my mother. But she said no, it was his and it was packed with prayers for him to hold onto.

I sit tonight hundreds and hundreds of miles away from my parents, wishing I could do something to help them in their grief. I can't fix a meal or stay up late for a long chat. I can't help with practical matters. I can't do much of anything. But I will keep praying. And my mother has reminded me again, what a precious gift that can be. And so Mom and Dad, please know I am praying for Rusty and his family and for the two of you. Praying for comfort and love and strength.

A Heavenly Friday Five

On the RevGalBlogPals, Singing Owl posted the Friday Five as a memorial of sorts to her dear sister who died this week of Alzheimer's. Singing Owl asked what is your idea of a heavenly (i.e. wonderful and perfect):

1. Family get-together: Some place where the grown ups could talk and relax while all the kids were having fun. The beach sounds good. Or a lake some place where it was not too warm and not cold.


2. Song or musical piece: Hmmm.... nothing immediately comes to mind. I like a lot of different kinds of music. A thrilling Bach postlude. A totally cool Marty Haugen hymn with guitars, piano, claves and flute. Little kids singing a sweet Sunday School tune.


3. Gift: Time with a dear friend for a good meal and good conversation. Time would be the gift.


4. You choose whatever you like-food, pair of shoes, vacation, house, or something else. Just tell us what it is and what a heavenly version of it would be. Tonight we watched Gordon Ramsay trying to turn around an Indian restaurant. It made me remember a stellar meal I had last Fall in Minneapolis. The restaurant was delicious to smell! The food was authentic and marvelous. The company great. The service good. I want to go back!


5. And for a serious moment, or what would you like your entrance into the next life to be like? Not too difficult for those who love me and all that Christ promises. What, from your vantage point now, would make Heaven "heavenly?" .When asked if there would be sex in heaven, C.S. Lewis once said that no, there wouldn't be sex in Heaven. But we wouldn't miss it because Heaven would be too wonderful for us to regret the loss of this important human connection. So I guess I think heaven must be beyond my imagination. And when I try to imagine it, I find that there are always faults with my notions. I am trusting that God has it well taken care of. And that is the most heavenly bit of all.

Playing Tag

I've been tagged by The Quixotic Pastor.




The rules for the meme are:

1. Link to the person who tagged you.
2. Post the rules on your blog.
3. Share six non important things/habits/quirks about yourself.
4. Tag six random people at the end of your post by linking to their blogs.
5. Let each random person know they have been tagged by leaving a comment on their website.

So here are the six non important things/habits/quirks:

1. I'm afraid of heights and as a result I have a standard way to get on downward bound escalator that is so engrained I didn't know I was doing it until Adventure Girl pointed it out one day.
2. I like cheerios dry, straight out of the box. I have stolen/borrowed/shared cheerios from Pseudo Grandbaby's diaper bag on more than one occasion.
3. I can't get to sleep at night if my feet are cold. So I wear socks but once my feet are warm the socks have to go. Sometimes at the end of the week, when we change the sheets there are three pairs of socks buried at the end of the bed.
4. I really like cottage cheese mixed with green salsa. It's a disgusting looking but tasty dip. Nobody else in my family likes it. That's okay! More for me!
5. It kind of bugs me that Barak Obama is younger than I am.
6. I have ignored hair balls on the floor knowing that the Bug Man will find them in a few minutes and clean them up. I am a bad, bad wife......

Whether they like it or not, I am tagging Cheesehead, the Lutheran Zephyr, Pink Shoes, Soda Chicky, Papa Joe and Hot Cup Lutheran.

Friday Five: The Water and The Word

In this Sunday's gospel Nicodemus asks Jesus, "How can anyone be born after having grown old? Can one enter a second time into the mother's womb and be born?" Poor old Nicodemus! He was so confused about the whole "water and Spirit" business of baptism. Maybe he was just tired, all that wandering around looking for Jesus in the middle of the night!

For today's five, I asked everyone to tell us about their baptismal experiences.

1. When and where were you baptized? Do you remember it? Know any interesting tidbits? I was baptized as a baby on January 1, 1961 in the church my parents belonged to before my dad was drafted into the army. They came home over the holidays and had me baptized. My sisters and I were all baptized at St. John Lutheran Church- but they are three different churches. This has made it more difficult for my mother to be sure whose momentos are whose.


2. What's the most unexpected thing you've ever witnessed at a baptism? While baptizing my nephew, he spit up. I've done a lot of baptisms but that had never happened before. Not wanting to create a fuss and wanting him to put "his best face forward" I took the baptismal napkin which was damp from drying his head and made a quick swipe across his face. I have wondered if my sister washed the napkin later or if that's just a part of his baptismal memento.


3. Does your congregation have any special traditions surrounding baptisms? The church we belong to currently has a lovely font up in the front of the chancel. When there is a baptism, a gentleman in the parish creates a wreath of greens and flowers that fits around the top of the font. It's really quite sweet.


4. Are you a godparent or baptismal sponsor? Have a story to tell? I am the godmother of Little Sister #2's daughter. She was very good at her baptism, but I cried more than I might have. The service was at the Easter Vigil during my second year at sem. I was having a real crisis of faith and the baptismal service really put me in touch with my fears and questions.


5. Do you have a favorite baptismal song or hymn? Why do I ask questions that I don't know the answers to! I really like "O Blessed Spring" by Susan Cherwien and Bob Farlee.

O blessed spring, where Word and sign
embrace us into Christ the Vine:
here Christ enjoins each one to be
a branch of this life-giving Tree.

Through summer heat of youthful years,
uncertain faith, rebellious tears,
sustained by Christ’s infusing rain,
the boughs will shout for joy again.

When autumn cools and youth is cold,
when limbs their heavy harvest hold,
then through us, warm, the Christ will move
with gifts of beauty, wisdom, love.

As winter comes, as winters must,
we breathe our last, return to dust;
still held in Christ, our souls take wing
and trust the promise of the spring.

Christ, holy Vine, Christ, living Tree,
be praised for this blest mystery:
that Word and water thus revive
and join us to your Tree of Life.

Text: Susan Palo Cherwien, b. 1953
©1993 Susan Palo Cherwien, admin. Augsburg Fortress

Duplication in any form prohibited without permission or valid license from copyright administrator.

I wasn't really all that hungry!

Last Friday, Sweet Girl, Scarecrow, the Bug Man and I were scheduled to go out for dinner. It took us several weeks of negotiation before we found a time when Sweet Girl didn't have internship stuff happening; Scarecrow didn't have youth group stuff happening; Bug Man didn't have to get up early to kill bugs; and as for me.... my schedule was pretty open.

Scarecrow is a foodie! There is no other way to explain it. He loves to cook. He loves excellent food and he refuses to pay good money for a meal he could have made at home. For more than a week he googled, contemplated and debated the best place for us to have dinner. Then we needed to figure out what to do with the kids. Should Soda Chicky watch Pseudo Grandbaby? Could we find another sitter for PGB? Should we find a place where the Chicky and PGB would be welcome?

Last Friday the Scarecrow changed the restaurant four times. He called me several times and silly me! I only remembered the converation up to restaurant number three. At 6:15, the Bug Man and I were 45 minutes early for our reservation. We sat in the car listening to the radio until we thought that might be bad for the car. Boy were we right! The car ceased to start. Only made a "click click click" noise. We decided to go in the restaurant in the hopes that absence would lead the car into a cheerier state of being.

We gave the hostess Scarecrow's name and she seemed to think that there was a misprint in her list. Like many Philly dining spots, this was a BYOB. So we drank half a bottle of wine and ate the tasty bread while watching people and the various plates of food go by. At 7:15 we began to be concerned for our friends. I didn't have my cell phone or their phone numbers. But we called Sweet Girl's dad (they were babysitting). The two were "on their way, must be caught in traffic." We waited ten more minutes until our server explained that we didn't have a reservation and that they needed our table. Sigh....

Three phone calls later we knew that I had forgotten we were going to restaurant number four, not number three. Sweet Girl and the Scarecrow were miles away drinking their own bottle of wine. Our car still wouldn't start and the Bug Man was starting to do "the potty dance" on the sidewalk next to our car.

Thankfully, Sweet Girl's dad was only fifteen minutes away and came to our rescue. He had jumper cables so we got the car started. We drove towards home only stopping at the WaWa to get sandwiches and so Bug Man could use the bathroom. (We took turns sitting in the car with the engine running.)

Needless to say, I have been teased quite a bit about all of this. I had a roast beef sandwich for dinner. Bug Man had pastrami. Scarecrow had oysters on the half shell and duckling. Sweet Girl said the Snapper Soup was delicious. We hope to go out sometime before PGB enters kindergarten.

Friday Five - Lenten Reflections

This week on the Rev Gals it's questions about Lent.

1. Did you celebrate Mardi Gras and/or Ash Wednesday this week? How? Shrove Tuesday I made pancakes for Soda Chicky. It's a bit of a tradition. On Ash Wednesday I went to chapel with Scarecrow, Dorothy, the Tin Man and Pseudo Baby.


2. What was your most memorable Mardi Gras/Ash Wednesday/Lent? At a former parish we celebrated by having "The Mad Monks of Melody" play for a Mardi Gras dinner and worship. They're a Dixieland jazz band which is made up of musicians who met as Barbershoppers. A fun time was had by all. Nothing like marching around the sanctuary to "When the Saints Go Marching In".


3. Did you/your church/your family celebrate Lent as a child? If not, when and how did you discover it? Lent was always a part of our family. We went to church on Wednesday nights. Often there were special family devotions. No giving up of things. Not a Lutheran thing really.


4. Are you more in the give-up camp, or the take-on camp, or somewhere in between? As a kid, giving-up was "a Catholic thing." As an adult and pastor, I feel that giving things up only makes sense if the abstinence leads you to think about God. If it's just something to be unhappy and grouchy about- forget it.


5. How do you plan to keep Lent this year? Midweek worship at night or mid-day. Reading and having a four week preaching gig.

Not my kind of brownie pan!

For a mere $34 you can buy this pan so that all your brownies have edges. BUT I LIKE THE ONES IN THE MIDDLE! This was posted in an AOL piece on strange cooking gadgets. There was also a thing that is meant for cutting hotdogs so that they look like octopi. Sheesh! You can do that with a knife. But don't! I think it may actually make the dogs taste worse. At least that was my experience at "Under the Sea" nights at our kids' midweek program. Usually served with blue jello jigglers that had Swedish fish "swimming" around.