Busy, Busy, Busy!

Happy Tuesday morning! I actually typed Monday, but realized that I am really late getting a blog out this week.  Life seems to have become very busy.  Of course, some of that is because Christmas is coming and I have lots to do for that!

Yesterday, I spent on a crochet project. I had finished one on Sunday and began the final one that I absolutely have to get done and put into the mail, as it is a gift.  At least it is part of a gift. Crocheting is a dexterity challenge for me, but although it is a bit slow going, I am happy to say that I am getting the job done!  My first project was the Christmas tree skirt I made for my friend Viv, and I have done several projects between then and now.

Adding to my busyness, is the priest course, which requires a lot of reading.  I’m going through church history right now and it is truly very interesting.  Fortunately, this week, we don’t have a class and then we have only two more before Christmas and then have a break until mid January.  This should work out well, because I have a bunch of other stuff that needs to be done!  Everything seems to need to be done now.  Mind you, I put the wheels in motion myself, for some of it.

I have connected with Community Care Northumberland. Cobourg is in Northumberland County. (As a side bar, Cobourg is the biggest town in Northumberland, and we have no cities.) So, I have signed up for a few things with CC Northumberland. I signed up to be a friendly visitor (as opposed to a grumpy visitor?) and I am meeting my first visitee, Brian on Thursday.  It’s one hour a week, so I am going to take on one more visitee.

I also volunteered to be on the CC Northumberland advisory committee.  This is just a meeting every other month, so it isn’t much of a commitment.

Additionally, I have volunteered for hospice/palliative care visiting.  For this, I need training. The province offers this training and I took the first of 12 units.  The first took about an hour, but I am going to try to finish by the end of the year. The hospice and palliative care is where I see my ministry.  This is where I am hoping I can make a difference.  After over 30 years in IT, I want to do something that makes my heart happy.  I think this is it.

On top of all that, I need to get my house ready for Christmas.  The upstairs tree goes up today.  The rest will have to wait until I have the crochet project done AND, we are away this Friday, Saturday and Sunday for the St. Michael’s Choir School Christmas Concert.  Cavan will be singing with with the alumni choir. Then next week, Cavan has a new customer to meet with in Sudbury, so I’m going for the ride.  I can read, or crochet on the trip. After that, I think we are going to Ogdensburg to pick up some stuff in our mailbox there and somewhere in there, I think Viv and I will do a Christmas tree thing.

Every year for many years now, Viv and I have gone to the Gardner Museum for the Twelve Trees of Christmas.  In more recent years, the trees have become too artsy for us and last  year, some were not even trees.  It was very disappointing.  This year, I am going to try to get her to do to Port Hope, where they have a spectacular showing of decorated trees that I think she will enjoy. We’ll have to see if we can fit that in!

So, busy, busy, busy! It will make December go by very quickly, but things should slow down to a bit of a routine in the new year, I hope!

I pray that all of your endeavors are successful and that you have time to enjoy Christmas and not be to busy.  May God bless you and your family!

Frankenmuth

Happy Sunday! We have a wee bit of snow falling here in the resort town of Cobourg.  It won’t last because it’s to stay above zero during the day for the next few days at least. The Farmer's’ Almanac is predicting a cold and snowy winter this year, but I’m not ready for it to start yet!  Will I ever be?

My apologies for not getting a blog out last week, but I was enjoying the weather and shopping in Frankenmuth. Viv and I were up last Sunday by 5am!  That’s how our trip began.  We were met at a Tim  Horton’s by a lovely gentleman by the name of Henry in a mini van, who picked up two other ladies before leaving Toronto and we were driven to Kitchener, where we boarded a big bus and headed out for our trip.  We had folks to pick up in Woodstock, London and Sarnia before we crossed the border.

With the new rules, we all had to leave the bus and go through US customs--the same at Canadian customs, when we returned.  They were very efficient and we were back on the bus in no time.  I should point out that there were 51 of us on the bus, not counting the driver Jim and our tour guide Sharon. Of the 51, only two were men. But we all know that shopping isn’t often a hobby of men!

We arrived at Bronner’s, that afternoon.  For those of you who don’t know, Bronner’s is the largest Christmas store in the world and I am one of the greatest fans of Christmas!  I found out that the INSIDE of Bronner’s is 2.2 acres! I was in heaven! We only had two hours to shop before we got back on the bus to head to the hotel. I could probably have spent an entire day there, just absorbing the ambiance!  As expected, I didn’t do much shopping, but we did find some really nice things and since we spent over $30 we got a free ornament.

I should point out that I didn't realize how much shopping this trip entailed.  I should have asked more questions.  My understand was we would visit Bronner’s and then on the way back, stop at an outlet mall.  Well, we were at Bronner’s the first day, there was more shopping possible that evening, several shopping stops the next day and two shopping stops on the way home!  I am really not a shopper and with the exchange rate, it wasn’t cost effective to shop that much in the US.

Viv and I did not go shopping on the second day, we just wandered through Frankenmuth, which has some nice little shops of its own. I did buy a few things, but Viv bought very little. On our way home, We got a couple of long sleeved Christmas t-shirts at Kohl’s and some spa socks as gifts.  I also got some nice little Christmas gift bags from Dollar Tree.  That was it for the first stop.  The second and last stop, on our way home was at the Great Lakes Outlet Mall.  It is a huge mall, but all Viv and I got was lunch--at Johnny Rocket’s--and a cinnamon bun each, from Cinnabon for the trip home as we were not stopping again.

Well, we loved Bronner's, but I could have gone without the other shopping. With all said and done, it was still a nice trip and the weather was amazing.  The Drury’s in Frankenmuth is lovely and provided a free breakfast and happy hour food, which were full meals, so all we had to do was get our own lunch.

Unfortunately, I returned home with quite a cold, which truthfully began before I left.  I’ve been nursing that all week, but I think I’m finally getting to the end of it.

All in all, a good time and a busy week when I returned. Until next time, I pray for the health of all and ask for God’s blessings on everyone!

Ordination!

Happy Monday! It’s a lovely day out here in Cobourg--really warm for a November day.  Let’s avoid the snow as much as possible!  I’m hoping that we get little snow this year, but the predictions are suggesting a snowy and cold winter this year.  Oh well, foodstuffs stocked up.  I guess I can manage for a while.

Yesterday was ordination!  It was also a beautiful sunny day and remarkably warm for November.  What a wonderful group at the church.  A good sized congregation and then the eight of us ordained as deacons and two as priests.  I found it a very moving service and was especially moved at the wording of the hymns chosen.  I am so thrilled to be part of this wonderfully warm and welcoming church.

There is part of me that was concerned about being worthy, but Father Thomas’s sermon put my mind at rest.  Jesus didn’t pick the perfect, he picked flawed people and made them his disciples.  We must rely on guidance from the Divine to carry out His work.

I have a few things to do to finish my preparations--business cards, meeting with some people, etc., to get this part of my journey really on the way but that is okay.  I worked on some of the easy stuff today, like updating LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter, but there is much to be done.

I mentioned the possibilities I have set up to contact, in last week’s blog--extendicare, hospice, funeral services.  I think that when I get new business cards, I’ll see the funeral homes in and around Cobourg.  That’s the great thing about the Community Catholic Church of Canada--we’re flexible.  We are all inclusive and even offer non-denominational assistance, so I might be able to fill a need here.  We’ll see.  I shall keep my eyes and ears open for opportunities around here and I’m sure that there is a place for me somewhere.

Also, I have committed to the priest course and even ordered the first three of the books I will need.  There is lots of reading for this course, but I am up to the task.  I do have a bit of a ‘holiday’ coming up first, though.  My friend Viv and I have our bus tour to Frankenmuth coming up this weekend.  I don’t plan to do much shopping, but it should be a good time nonetheless

Well, my friends, I must confess that the excitement of the last few weeks has taken it’s toll on my MS, so I’m making this blog short.  I will try to get a blog done Saturday before I head out, but if not I may miss a week, but stay tuned, I’ll update you, at the latest, in two weeks, with my deacon journey and the Frankenmuth trip.

God bless you all.  Enjoy your own journey, and if you are in Ontario and are feeling the call to do God’s work, let me know.  There is a new deacon’s course kicking off in January and you, too, could be a member of this growing, loving church!