Our cat.

Definitely, OUR cat.

Submission to the Parish Newsletter

It’s a very difficult thing to try and communicate a relationship with music in only a few words. But I’ll try.

When my mother was appointed rector at Most Holy and Undivided, I didn’t immediately make the transition to the new parish. Rather, I professed a desire to stay at Little Cottage Church. I believe that my intention to stay at LCC came largely from a desire to define a relationship with the church that wasn’t simply that of PK.

That said, and despite my declarations of loyalty to LCC, I stopped attending services there. I didn’t attend LCC; I didn’t attend MHU. My push for an independent attachment to the church had resulted in no attachment at all. I was, in effect, without church.

I happened to be at MHU for a Sunday morning service in December 2003 and through a variety of circumstances, found myself the subject of choral hounding at coffee hour by then-Music Director KW.

So I joined the choir.

And by the grace of God, and thanks to William Byrd and Anglican chant, my rupture from the church began to heal. And the more I sang, the more I understood that the relationship with the church and with God that I had abandoned was a relationship communicated through music. Music, to me, was prayer.

It was helpful, of course, that I thought the choir’s conductor was a handsome and nifty fellow. In my case, not only did the choir’s music prove to be a healing force, so too did the musician.

So here I am again, ten years later, at another crossroads in complicated relationship between me and church. My mother’s retirement, while a joyful event that she has very much earned, has incited in me moments of panic as I try to imagine what it means to be a parishioner at a church not led by her. I know that this feeling, too, shall pass.

Because I’ll just keep singing.

Friday Five: Winter Olympic Edition

We loves the Winter Olympics, yes we do. To the Friday Five, then!

1) Which of the Winter Olympic sports is your favorite to watch?

Oh, I like watching them all, but I do get very nervous watching any of the sports where a Canadian is vying for a win. The women's bobsled the other night almost killed me. I've been known to leave the room when it gets really exciting and WH always says, "You have to watch!" And I always say, "You can't make me!"

2)Some of the uniforms have attracted attention this year, such as the US Snowboarders' pseudo-flannel shirts and the Norwegian Curling team's -- ahem -- pants. Who do you think had the best-looking uniforms?

I'll take anything in red and white! With a maple leaf on it, that is. The Swiss red and white is all wrong.

3)And Curling. Really? What's up with that?

What is up with curling is that it is awesome. And, truthfully, one of the best televised sports in the world. The cameras can get very close, you can see every shot, and the competitors talk strategy so you know what's going on all the time! Seriously, check it out!

4) Define Nordic Combined. Don't look it up. Take a guess if you must.

Oh pooh... I think that cross-country skiing is involved, but I can never remember what it's combined with. I know that it's not shooting because that's biathlon. (Sidebar... can you imagine participating in a sport in which your competitors all had loaded weapons? That's motivation, for ya.)

Ok, confession time. I looked it up. And CR was right! It is ski jumping!

5) If you could be a Winter Olympics Champion just by wishing for it, which sport would you choose for winning your Gold Medal?

In this country, it would have to be hockey. Or curling. Hmmmm... if it was curling, I'd get to do more shouting, so let's go with that!

More cookery...

Yesterday was a smashing success. Our little freezer is packed full of delicious food (we had some taste tests) and more even that, the three of us had a wonderful time together, laughing and teasing and enjoying each other's company.

Tonight I'm making myself a cornish game hen. If I like this recipe, I'll make it again after WH gets back. I did make hens once before with mixed success so I thought it was time to try again. I've stuff the cavity with orange and rosemary and will make a sauce out of white wine, garlic and chicken stock. Here's the recipe, by the way.

The theme in the kitchen for 2010 is based on three principles: adventure, good planning and making use out of what we have. So we have been working on a project to develop a series of week-long meal plans that balance new recipes with old favourites, that allow us to cook new things about once a week and that involve a weekly survey of the food that is in our fridge, freezer and pantry and how we can incorporate those. Almost two months in, things are working out really well!

Except that the power just went out. If electricity ruins my game hen... I'm gonna be ticked.

Update - long power outage, but the food survived!

Gettin' ready to get my cook on!

Today is COOKING day.

Two friends, J and G, and I are getting together this afternoon to cook approximately 7 gillion meals that we can freeze to feed our families when we're too busy to cook something from scratch. On the menu are:

Chicken Enchiladas
Chicken en Croute (Freeze wonderfully and cook so amazingly from frozen)
Beef Stroganoff
Meatballs
Butternut Squash Soup with Sour Cream
Easy Pizza Spread

I did the grocery shopping last night, which included wonderful things like 7lbs of mushrooms, 24 chicken breasts, 9 boxes of chicken stock, and so on. I need to make one more stop at the grocery store today to get rotisserie chickens and to replace two containers of sour cream that came to a sad end on our driveway when we were unloading last night.

And by we, I mean MU and I. She provided great assistance in converting recipe measurements to grocery store units, suggesting replacements for Monterrey Jack cheese and generally keeping me from going off the rails when I couldn't find what I was looking for.
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We have been beset upon by fog this year in Prairie City and Prairie Hamlet, more than I can ever remember previously. It makes for nervous driving, but the frost on the trees that results is so beautiful. So I'm sitting here with my cup of hot coffee and the cats looking outside at a world that looks perfectly frozen.

Lovely.

Touching Base

Hey there, neglecterinos.

I'm still here.

Life chugs along apace, busy and stressful work, busy but lovely choral responsibilities, fulfilling and happy life at home.

And I am watching lots of Olympics, which I love.

WH is away these two weeks adjudicating in another province so we are learning the wonders of Skype. How nifty is that?!

The cats are the same - needy, but sweet.

And on we go.

I hope to write more profound things in the coming days, but we'll see.