Spiders and Shrieking

The other night, while I was innocently putting my dishes in the dishwaher, I disocer a very large 8-leged THING on the floor of my kitchen. This was somewhere between "black widow-grade" and "tarantula-grade" invader. So, naturally, I shrieked, until my knight in shining armor lovely husband live-in exterminator took care of the problem.

The result? Today is Spring Cleaning Day in our house! I'm contributing by doing laundry, washing dishes, moving the refrigerator, tossing stuff from the pantry, and taking out the recycling.

And, of course, encouraging the live-in exterminator lovely husband, staying out of the way, and suggesting that our day be interrupted by ice cream. Spring Cleaning Day is fun!

Later Update: Shelf fixed, new shower caddy assembled, new stain on carpet where I dropped the bowls of spaghetti... two steps forward, one step back.

Making Music

Seen over at RevEm and Mrs. M... who along with ReverendMother have been added to the sidebar as well. Based on the questions, I would've thought music would show up, but I guess that goes to show what I know!

Your Dominant Intelligence is Interpersonal Intelligence

You shine in your ability to realate to and understand others. Good at seeing others' points of view, you get how people think and feel. You have an uncanny ability to sense true feelings, intentions, and motivations. A natural born leader, you are great at teaching and mediating conflict. You would make a good counselor, salesperson, politician, or business person.

What Kind of Intelligence Do You Have?

Basketball Rules

Since the Eastern Conference Finals Game 1 isn't going so well for my team right now, I thought I'd take a minute to review my rules of basketball. Its very simple.

Rule #1: If you want to win, you have to make the ball go in the hoop. And you have to do that more than the other people.

Rule #2: You have to stay inside the box painted on the floor.

My Pistons seem to be having some issues with that first rule (except for Rip Hamilton, they shot 29% in the first half. Thats not good.) But, rough game means I want a distraction, so at least y'all get a post out of me.

How did I get to be such a basketball expert,you ask? Well, it turns out that marriage is about more than compromise, its also about growth. So, in our house, Luke has grown in his appreciate of football, and I have grown in my appreciation of basketball.

Plus, look how adorable Tayshaun is... how could you not watch?

Mothers

We celebrated Mothers Day in our families yesterday with a very long car trip. My mother and mother-in-law like to travel together to visit art exhibits in general Michigan vicinity. The Cleveland Art Museum has a great Monet exhibit right now, so the four of us piled into a car and drove down together. If you're going to spend eight hours in a car, its good to have two hours of walking in the middle, so it worked out well. To our surprise, the reciprocity of museum membership between Cleveland and Detroit meant that we got in to the exhibit for free! The exhibit was great, laid out chronologically, and it was especially interested to watch Monet grow in and out of styles. The final piece was one his Water Lillies series - a large canvas, maybe 10 feet wide and six feet high, with no refernce to the sky, the land. Just flowers floating in water, filling your whole perspective.

That quiet impact, that shift of perspective, might be a way to describe another Mothers Day celebration. A group of women in Ohio are calling on women all over the world to stand together on Mothers Day, in silence, to change the world. Can you join these women? Visit Standing Women for their story.

Double Double Party

Its time for the NBA playoffs, which means lots o' basketball on in my household. Before I got married, I would've thought a double double had something to do with ice cream. Or some Shakespearean witches. Now I know its a basketball term about stats - and poor Dirk Nowitzki managed to average a double double in the first 5 games of their Round 1 series, and he's still going to have a crappy off-season because his game six performance was so terrible. A double double is good, it just isn't enough to win a series.

Also, its what I'm calling my post because I'm playing two Friday fives.

So, last week first: The What Are You Game!
What are you...
Wearing? Jeans, a tank top and a cute red & white polka-dot short-sleeved button-down. And no shoes or socks, cuz I'm sitting on my front porch enjoying the sunny mid-60s weather on my day off.

Pondering? The workshop I'm doing tomorrow on "Essentials for Parish Youth Ministry" at a diocesan event. Specifically, a comment someone made recently that if you want a strong youth formation program, you need a good adult formation. I'm not sure about the ordering there, but I do think there is a close relationship. If I could articulate that before tomorrow afternoon, that'd be nice.

Reading? Anne Lamott's new book, Grace (Eventually), which my mom got for me for Easter. My latest issues of Blueprint magazine and Cooking Light. Also, I started Dianna Butler Bass Christianity For The Rest of Us, but I've misplaced it...

Dreaming? About re-decorating my office/spare room here at home. So far, an enormous map of the world, a new desk, and some star-shaped things are part of the idea.

Eating? Um, I was always taught not to eat at a computer. But for dinner tonight - panzanella, with basil from the plant on my patio and some Trader Joe's sourdough I picked up yesterday.


And now its time to Parrrrrrty!

1) Would you rather be the host or the guest?
Both! I like hosting parties on the smaller side and planning food, but I like going and not having to plan too.

2) When you are hosting, do you clean everything up the minute the guests go home? Will you accept help with the dishes?
Um, you'd have to ask my husband... so I guess thats a yes!

3) If you had the wherewithal, and I guess I mean more than money, to throw a great theme party, what would the theme be?
If I could think of party themes, I'd have more parties.

4) What's the worst time you ever had at a party?
I went to a wedding once where the bride's father had too much to drink and made a really uncomfortable toast... especially odd, since there wasn't any alcohol served at that wedding, come to think of it.

5) And to end on a brighter note, what was the best?
My own wedding reception! Seriously, we had great food, great people, great dancing. It was a blast - and people besides us said so too :)

Ice Cream Tonight!!

File this under "Public Service Announcements"...


Baskin-Robbins is holding 31-Cent Scoop Night
Tonight, Wednesday May 2nd

Its not quite as good as Free Scoop Day at Ben & Jerry's, but still. I scream, you scream...

I Sing A Song...

Well, memes are always a good way to break a cycle, and Beth tagged me for the current "four favorite saints" list.

The instructions are: Name your four favorite saints, your favorite blessed saint, and the person you think should be canonized.

So, lets see...

St. Cecelia: The patron saint of music, the junior choir at the church where I grew up was named for her. Me & my low church self actually had a St. Cecelia medal that I wore for a long time that I got from my time in choir.

St. Clare: The church where I grew up was named for her, and in high school, I had the chance to visit Assisi and sit in the church of her convent, which is still an all-time "God moment" for me.

St. Brigid: Again, some of this is that I've been able to visit Ireland, and spent a day in her town. But, also, her feast day is my mom's bday, so that's pretty good.

George Herbert: His poetry is just beautiful. I used to know a beautiful choral setting of "Love Bade Me Welcome," and remember how it felt to figure out the words.

Elizabeth Cady Stanton: I didn't come to know her through the church, so I'm gonna count her as my "blessed saint" even though I'm not clear on that distinction. Anyway, I wrote a paper on her for my AP History class in high school, and was really drawn to her as a personality.

As for someone who should be canonized... I think we do a pretty good job of adding folks to our commemoration calendar, but I'm going to go with Beth on this one. Thecla should be on our calendar, even if one could be "pedantic" and claim that Anglicans can rightly see her already as a saint!