Tag Archives: church

Merry everything.

30 Dec

I have some catching up to do so let’s just do that right now – Merry Christmas!  I hope yours was wonderful and filled with joy and all that good stuff.

Mine was all that and life has just been crazy since then.  Christmas Eve service was beautiful in all its candlelight splendor.  Afterwards, I drove in the snow to meet my fellow Christmas eve misfits.  This year, because Paige had to get back to Waseca to lead a late night service, we met at Applebees for dinner out.  It was low stress and great fun for the misfit pastors unable to be with family that night.

Christmas morning was greeted by somewhat icky roads but a service we still had.  Afterwards, Mabel and I were Wisconsin-bound.  It took a bit of extra time on icy roads and in falling snow but we made it safe and sound AND in time to play the traditional holiday card game.  We spent a few nights in Wisconsin, catching up with family and friends alike and booking an apartment for the stay in Dublin in a couple months.  [Woot!]

Mabel and I drove back to Austin on Saturday with an additional passenger. Cousin Molly decided she would come along and spend a few days of her winter break at the parsonage.  We’ve been watching movies, going to the Mall of America & IKEA, and chilling.

Molly was able to come along because, alas, I’m driving home again tomorrow afternoon.  Alaskan brother Ben is coming home for a visit and sister Emma flies out for Dublin in a few short days.  It’s important for me to be home to say my hellos and goodbyes.  [It’s just a lot of driving!]

So that’s where I’ve been and what I’ve been up to.  Here are some photos to prove it:

Mabel opens her Christmas gift from Shad and Gracie.
Coloring and playing cards: multi-tasking at Christmas.
I dared Connor to slip under the ropes and dodge the glare of the mall cop to take this photo.
Molly cooks up something delicious at IKEA.
Cutting fabric for her new curtains. [That’s tonight’s project.]
Trying out a funky hula hoop at MOA. This girl is not afraid to do crazy things in public. [She also wore a sticky mustache for a bit of time.]
She sure loves her pomegranates. Our snack, along with popcorn, after doing pilates. It was a p-kinda-of-night.

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Lefse, fist bumps, and Doctor Who.

25 Nov

That was my weekend – lefse and fist bumps and Doctor Who.  Sounds pretty high on the awesome scale, right?  It was.

photo-8

On Saturday, I packed up my lefse griddle and pastry board and drove to Owatonna for a midday lefse adventure.  My gnome friends invited me over to cook rounds of potato goodness.  It was a great way to spend a Saturday.  Laughter and potatoes.  Sabrina wrote about it on her blog and gives a better summary of the day than I could ever muster – check it out here.

On Sunday, there were fist bumps.  So I’m sick.  My cold keeps progressing through different stages and yesterday was the tickle-in-my-throat stage.  Ugh.  Because of my sickness, I try and model germ-free ways to greet each other and share the peace during worship; thus, I did not shake hands.  [I think it’s silly to suspend the passing of the peace in the winter.  Let’s share peace in other ways: wave, elbows, fist bumps, peace sign.  Endless possibilities.]  For the sharing of the peace, I waved.  Then, at the close of service, as I greeted people in the back, I fist bumped everyone.  It was hilarious.  One of the ushers, a twenty-something, said afterwards, That was the funniest thing I’ll see all day.  Old people learning to fist bump.  To their credit, they were all very receptive and fist bumped like pros.  [And, let’s face it, I added to their list.  #49 on their list of Why My Pastor is Crazy and Weird.]

Lastly, Doctor Who.  I get it.  I finally get it.  Doctor Who gets lots of hype these days, especially this past weekend with an anniversary special and all.  I’ve tried for a long time to watch the show.  I want to be in the know; I want to follow the crowd and love the thing that everyone else loves.  [Wait a second …]  Months ago, friends recommended that I start at the beginning.  Okay.  I did … but I didn’t get it.  Turns out that was because they didn’t mean start at the 1960s beginning but the Christopher Eccleston beginning.  That made a difference.  I just made it through his tenure at Doctor and have begun David Tennant’s … and I get it.  I like it.  I’m going to keep watching while I quilt my British flag hexagon quilt.  It feels fitting that most of it be constructed while watching the BBC.

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