Cookies

Nothing happens at the Black's but the Two Little Girls know about it.  Especially in the kitchen.

If you pull out baking bowls or flour or sugar (particularly sugar) or vanilla, you will soon hear the familiar (sometimes dreaded) sound of their little wooden high-chairs *scroooooonkeeeeenkskenrrnenssk* scraping across the dining room, squeaking slowly (but steadily) into the kitchen, and up to the counter, right in front of your workspace.

"I'm just gonna see what's in this loodle bowl here," they say. 

Oh Christmas Tree

Christmas trees are a serious business here at the in-law's.  The sagas of tree-getting are many and varied (and hilarious).  There was the year that Dad brought home 4 trees. Yeah--four.  Because they were all that the lot had left.  They were so lonely, I guess. 

Then there was the year that they got a 16-some foot tree, since in their old house they had cathedral ceilings.  And the year they lived 30 minutes from any hardware stores and broke three different tree stands trying to hold up a large-ish tree, which means three trips to and from town to get a new stand. 


There was the year they got a fabulous deal on a tree that was supposed to have gone to a large company for their rather large foyer, but the tree somehow never made it there.  So dad brought that one home.  Seriously--this tree was 10 feet in diameter at the bottom.  It was totally ginormous.  


That was the Christmas Taylor and I had started dating.  


That was also the year the Christmas tree nearly fell on me... [story for another time]

On Being a [Law] Student's Wife

It takes a certain kind of woman to be a student's wife.  I'm not tooting my own horn, here--it takes a certain kind of woman to be married to any one kind of man.  I know I couldn't be a Navy wife, and I don't think I'd be very good as a rock star's wife.  I might be able to manage as, say, a dentist's wife, or an engineer's wife, but the life of a student's wife suits me best.  At least for now.

There's a unique rhythm to life when your husband's a student, a give and take and lull and roar of the semester.  Each season has its characteristics and each different phase of the semester carries with it its own peculiar "mood" in the home.

Right now, for instance, we are in the death throes of finals.  Taylor has finished two finals so far, one Tax (exciting, right? (apparently, though, it was a pretty good class)) and one on the History of Western Legal Thought (yeah, that was a pretty cool class, too), and he's spent days figuratively chained to the kitchen table on his (nifty, new) lap top, outlining writing outlining writing outlining.  He comes up for air occasionally and watches a movie with me, eats, or he'll make coffee or open a beer (which beverage is solely dependent on the time of day).  Sometimes he spends the day at a cafe, just to change up the scene.  But he's a hard worker, for sure.  Tomorrow he has his First Amendment final and Cyber Law on Wednesday.  So he's still outlining and writing and reading and studying.

Now, you may be asking yourself (and rightly so) how this picture differs from the rest of the semester.  Well... it doesn't. Not really.  Except that there's less class-ing involved during finals, and there's a bit more, shall we say, tension in the air as the cold wraith-like breath of finals threatens to frighten the life away from the law student's soul.  You can imagine this is not a nice feeling right before Christmas. And no matter how often people tell me "well, isn't it nice to be done before the holidays?" I know that you're never done in school.. not if there's another semester looming ahead of you.

That's just part of the rhythm, and a lot like "real" life outside of school.  There's always something else to be done, even when on break.  As a student's wife, Advent will always be tense with finals and the rush of finishing piddly things before the semester ends.  Christmas break is never wholly break, with articles or notes to finish by January.

I know there are lots of wives (or, let's be fair, husbands too) who couldn't be married to a student.  It's a life that has its own unique set of challenges (and perks).  But that's why we got married.  We wanted to share the challenges we knew we'd face, and we wanted to be together through the difficulties we couldn't predict.  It's simply better together.

And I love that he's home so much in the afternoons.  He'll be reading or writing, often with his headphones on, but I just like to have him in the house.  If he was working a 9 to 5, I couldn't rub his shoulders whenever I wanted, and I couldn't strategically interrupt him for a few kisses now and then.  I like that we can go to a cafe together to "get work done," me with my knitting or embroidery and him with his books and computer.  I love that he gets time off from classes during Christmas and during the summer, when we can plan trips and adventures.  I love that he loves what he's doing.

Being a law student's wife isn't any harder than being any other kind of wife, really.  It's different than being a builder's wife or a poet's wife, but no harder, I think.  I love it.  Because I love being married to Taylor.

And right now, he's a law student.  He won't be a student forever (right, Love?).  Who knows what he'll be when he graduates :)  Another exciting adventure awaits us..

Do Not Be Afraid, Mary

The first time I visited Taylor's family was during Advent, just after Thanksgiving.  Raised Roman Catholic, I was used to starting advent sometime in December, but Byzantine advent starts two weeks earlier.  The colors, instead of purple and rose (a red-headed Jesuit once emphatically told me it was not pink), are a somber, but still lively red--the color of fasting.

The fast moves through Thanksgiving (Byzantines always make room for feasts!) and the last days of November, entering December with the triumphant feast of Holy Father Nicholas.  As December 25 approaches, everything about the liturgy tingles with anticipation--the melodies, the antiphons, the psalms, the Gospel, and the singing!

In fact, the intensity of the singing in Taylor's house sometimes causes a chuckle during the second and third weeks of advent, when the prokimemon is proclaimed: "Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have won God's favor.  You will conceive from the Spirit and bear God's son."  Do not be afraid, visitors, we sing this loud because we are very excited for Christmas to come... It's a wonderful way to prepare for the feast. 

Hope

The first year Taylor and I were in Boston, he worked a lot on the weekends at a church in Belmont.  He was gone all day on Sundays and often a good deal on Saturdays.  So I had a lot of time on my hands.  I filled the hours with crafting, mostly, and I made an Advent Calendar for us.

I had grown up with a felt calendar which my grandmother had made for our family.  It was so exciting to take turns every day pulling each new ornament out of its numbered pocket and finding the perfect spot to snap it on the tree.  Each ornament had its own explanation, which we read from the little booklet disguised as a present under the felt tree.  It was so perfect for children.

Almost

Such a funny word, huh?  All-most. To be all of something that isn't quite. It's similar to being all muddy. Or all giddy.  Or all blue.  Right?

Oh--Hello November

So, remember last year when it was NaBloWriMo in November?  (A cursory look seems to indicate it was October this year.. oops).  Well, I so enjoyed a reason to write everyday that month that I fully intended to do it again this year.

And then I was in Hawaii with my husband's family on November 1st and y'know what? It completely slipped my mind :)  Which is understandable, I think (wait till you see the pictures--I think you'll forgive me, too).

But hey Byzantines:  guess what--Philipovka is just around the corner! When did this happen?! I was thinking about Kris Kringle presents last evening and I realized: HOLY MOLEY NOVEMBER 15 IS ON MONDAY!  You might think all-caps is unnecessary, but I was more than a bit taken aback.

Philipovka means the beginning of the nightly meal prayers, and the advent wreath and the red cloths on the icon corner.  I have to get out my felt advent calendar and start snapping little ornaments on the tree. It means I need to get my act in gear for Christmas presents and to start (really start) thinking about Thanksgiving.  It means, to put it succinctly, that the year is almost over.  I'm not sure I'm ready for that.

Though still, to my mind, the end of the year is always such fun with all the holidays and the presents and the cooking and baking and eating, oh! the eating.  I love the Christmas season for the same reason I love the Easter season--it's so centered around the senses--a truly tangible holiday:  the smells of baking, or leaves outside, the touch of the well know Christmas decorations in my hands as I unwrap each one and hang it up; the soft glow of lights on the tree and the sight of a beautifully set table ready for a party.  These things remain with me closely.

And I find myself wanting to slow the year down a bit, to savor its ending just a little more this year..

Back to blog writing months.. I've worked out a compromise.  I'll blog every day during Advent.  That is, during Byzantine Advent, which is Philipovka, starting November 15.  Blogging every day will, at least, help me realize the passing of days, which may not slow time down, realistically, but it will help me appreciate the days more.

And that's important, too.

Tradition

to Annie
from K.K.

It's not the same when I type it out.  If you want the full effect of the memory those words have for me when I think of them, they have to be in Momma's handwriting, scrawled in pencil on a Christmas gift tag, attached to an evidently hurriedly-wrapped present found on my pillow in the morning.

Kris Kringle presents were just one of the traditions Momma kept during Advent.  I recall, over the years, we did many things through the Catholic grade school we all attended.  Mostly it was a Jesse tree, which we'd color and cut and paste and decorate at school the last week of November and bring home to keep track on throughout December. There were also the paper chains--do you remember those? Each day's paper link had something helpful to do on it.  But it was our domestic church traditions that are most important to me.

Like those Kris Kringle presents.  Now, I could be romanticizing my past, but I seem to recall we got the best KK presents on the coldest, windiest days of the year, when we were most reluctant to get out of bed.  One morning (probably during Kindergarten), I remember waking up and, looking around, perceiving that it was not in fact Christmas yet, I immediately pulled the covers over my head to go back to sleep.  [Sometimes, I still wish I could do that.]

But, there were still those presents that Kris Kringle (who wrote just like Momma...) left for us as the anticipation grew. They were always rather small presents, nothing too elaborate.  Sometimes it was just a candy or treat wrapped up for us. On Sundays, there was a family gift--something we could all share and enjoy.  Sometimes it was a box of tasty Christmas chocolates, or delicious cookies.  Sometimes it was a beautiful Christmas book, which we would read as a family later that night.

In the evenings on the four Sundays of Advent, Momma would gather us around the dining room table which was always laid, quite simply, with the advent wreath and candles.  It was a gigantic wreath.  I have faint memories of it going with the (artificial) Christmas tree we had for years, but I can't be sure.  All I remember was that it was pokey and big and very green and huge. And it was the very first Christmas decoration we got out every year.  There was a white, 5-candle holder that fit nicely inside it, holding our purple and pink candles.  Momma always had a white candle for the middle, to light on Christmas eve.

So we would all stand around the table, holding hands, all the lights turned off except the candles.  The first week, Vivian lit the candle. The next week, I got to light two.  Bethany lit three the next week (she got to light the pink candle! Pink because the third Sunday means we're almost there. Christ is almost here!) and Summer lit four the Sunday before Christmas.  On Christmas Eve we'd come home from church and Ray would light all five candles (five, Vivian and I thought, that's a whole lot of candles. I wish I could light that many).

And, holding hands, we would sing. [No, not the song from the Grinch] :)  We sang an ancient hymn, blending our voices in the soft glow of candle light, letting the still, silent darkness wrap our melody round with holy waiting.  O Come, O Come, Emmanuel!  And ransom captive Israel that mourns in lonely exile here, until the Son of God appear.

Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel shall come to thee, O Israel.  

This seems to be the season for remembering traditions.  This is time of year when families gather and spend time together, close inside against the cold.  History emerges from dusty attic boxes; it comes to light at the bottom of a hot cocoa mug.  Tradition and historicity cannot be ignored during the holiday season, as they can much of the rest of the year.  But I say it is a blessing that we cannot hide it.

We can't ignore our past stories. We should seek to understand them and pass them on.  Maybe if they make sense, we'll feel more inclined to hold on to them.  I know I will keep mine close, especially as my family grows, and I have my own little ones to tell stories to.

Early

T and I had our own little Christmas this Saturday. I know it's early, but our suitcases are already stuffed with presents we're bringing for other people, so we had to open the ones we had here now.  And if this mini-Christmas is any indication of big-Christmas, this year will be grand.

We had breakfast with the Vollebregts--two of our great friends from undergrad, and it was great to catch up with them! Their flights got in one at night and one in the morning, so Jake crashed at our place and we picked Jess up the next morning. A delightful visit with great friends!

After cleaning up the breakfast dishes, T drove me down to our favorite spot in Brookline Village so I could get some yarn (for the giving tree at St. Clement's) and he could get some oh-so-tasty coffee from KooKoo.  As we were walking into the stores, though, we noticed a "POTTERY SALE" sign on one of the shops. So we stopped in and I found this cute little jewelry holder, which T got me as an early Christmas present. I love it :) It's just perfect for my "pretties." And the purpley glaze in the well at the bottom adds a lovely touch!

When we got home, I made a quick lunch and sat down to knit a scarf. I hope it keeps someone nice and warm (via the giving tree and the Little Brothers of St. Francis). I used a bulky green wool and just knit knit knit the whole skein.

In the afternoon, T went to meet with some of his fellow law students, to commiserate? defy? discuss? anticipate? the impending last final of their first 1L semester (which is today--GOOD LUCK TAYLOR!!).  While he was doing that, I was making the house ready for our Christmas Date.

I cleaned up the living room, set the table, lit some candles, and arranged the presents we had on a table.  I tidied the bedroom, and made the bed.  I warmed up some leftovers for dinner (there's nothing better than a free date night where you also don't have to cook) and put the special Kris Kringle present (for the 6th Sunday of Advent) out with the other presents.

So Taylor came home and we had cabbage soup with bread for an appetizer. Then we had re-heated chicken pieces with baby bok choy and cous cous with tomatoes.  For dessert, we had leftover chocolate cake (but we didn't eat it, we were too full).

After eating we sat down to open presents. Taylor got me two FABULOUS pairs of new flats. I love them! There's a black/darn brown/deep purpley pair (y'know--the color that goes with pretty much everything), and he also got me a very fun pair of reddish-maroony shoes with a big bow on the toe.  They make me happy :)

We opened the Kris Kringle presents that T's Mum (so generously) sent us for each week. She gave Taylor a new Tolkien collection he didn't have yet (Tales from the Perilous Realm), which is a very nice edition of some of our favorite stories and poems! Great illustrations, too. For me, I got a collapsible salad spinner I've had my eye on for a while. Space is precious in a one-bedroom condo in Boston, and I loves me my salads--so this little contraption should be well-loved :)

My brother's family sent us our gifts here in Boston, so we also opened those.  In addition to some fun scrapbooking materials :) they sent us a book on Tolkien and Lewis, and a wall-quotation (that you can stick to your wall so that it looks painted on):

May the hair on your toes never fall off. 

How appropriate :)

We read Tales from the Perilous Realm to each other, and spent a very cozy evening together.  As we headed to bed, the snow started to fall...  All night the wind blew and more snow fell (through the screens on our windows, actually--we had a couple inches in one window sill! (between the inside window and the stomr window)), and in the morning, when we opened the curtains, we has frosted window panes.  Very beautiful, actually :)

And on my walk to the office today, it would seem the remaining students had a lot of fun with the fresh snow.  Or.. it could have been the Jesuits?! This hill is right outside the back door of their residence :)

 Happy Snow, Boston.  Thanks for snowing before we left--a White mini-Christmas--and stopping in time for us to leave!

Can't wait to go to CA. Just a few more hours!

Approach

This is the season where we prepare for Christ's coming. First, we commemorate His arrival as the new born son of a virgin.  But also, we prepare ourselves for His second coming, robed in Glory, at the end of the age.

Sound apocalyptic?  Well, that's just the point. Christians are always thinking about the "end times" or the "last things."  At least, we're supposed to bear those things in mind always. It's not that we can't (or shouldn't) focus on the present moment, this small point in time where we, in our finite-ness, exist. But we are exiles here, in many ways, and we were created with a longing for Love that only Love Himself can satisfy. That's why we are always looking to His coming again.

What must it have been like, I wonder, for those who were present at His first coming?  for Mary and Joseph as they prepared themselves, as any other ancient couple would, for the birth of their first child?  I can imagine Mary touching her growing belly frequently, heart beating quickly, wondering how her life will change as her Child grows, but overwhelmed always with the joy of motherhood. And Joseph is falling more and more in love with his wife, whom he has been called by God to protect and shelter, as he shares in the pregnancy of the God-made-man.

For the wise men of the east who saw His star at its rising and came to do Him homage?  How long did it take them to find Bethlehem and the Child, bearing their precious gifts all the long way? What were they thinking, on the way, as they made an uncertain journey toward an uncertain end?





And the angels--all the host of bodiless warriors in God's court--who saw God incarnate!  What wonder they must have felt! What joy and mystification.  [How blessed we humans are, we bodily beings, who by virtue of our bodies can have the One God inside us!]  How the angels did adore and sing His praises!

So happy Advent, everyone. Make the most of your preparations for Christmas (heart, soul, and home)--it only comes once a year, but (as my favorite and now-most-annoyingly-stuck-in-my-head childhood Advent song says):

Stay Awake *snap, snap* 

Be Ready *snap, snap*

You do not know the hour when the Lord is coming.

Stay Awake! *snap, snap* 

Be Ready! *snap, snap* 

The Lord is coming soon! 

Alleluia! 

[Nativity set poured and fired by Momma; painted and photographed by me.]

Christmas Time is Here

...families drawing near...

Fun for all that children call

their favorite time of year."

I must confess, it doesn't feel like Christmas is on its way.. at least for me.  Maybe it's just the stress of the season (and T being in law school this year--this will be the latest we've left for home for Christmas yet).  Maybe it's that I've been preoccupied with so many things-not-Christmas lately. Maybe it's because many of our good friends (not all!) are far away and busy.

Maybe because this is the first Christmas without Momma.

Momma always made Christmas so special for all of us.  In the weeks before Christmas, she'd bake all sorts of wonderful goodies (sugar cookies, molasses cookies, biscotti, baklava, cream cheese cookies, Springerles, caramels, and more!). Sometimes she'd stay up late into the night baking for us, for her students, and for our friends. Last year, I helped her stuff 200 bags of goodies with three different kinds of homemade cookies, which she gave to her students. I wonder if she knew it was the last time she'd get to do that for them.

And there was something magical about the house at Christmas time. I remember the first Christmas I was in college, coming home to the house-already-decorated.  I got home late at night, so all the lights were out, except the Tree, softly glowing and sparkling in the front window.  Gifts were heaped underneath the boughs; all the decorations from my childhood memory were present and accounted for--the drawling "Jingle Bell" bell, the "Better Watch Out" music box in a Santa Face, Momma's wooden nativity set, her wax village, Western village, and Dickens' village all arranged with great care. She was up still, waiting for me to get home. She took me around the house showing me new decorations or nativity sets she bought that year. She always said Thanksgiving was her favorite holiday, because she only had to worry about food (not presents and decorations), but I know she really loved Christmas just as much. Sure it was a little more stressful than Thanksgiving, but she loved it. We all knew it.

But this year, I'm not "into it" for some reason.  I made some cookies. I've decorated our house (just a little, though, since we won't be here for Christmas). We've been doing our Advent prayers and snapping the ornaments on our tree calendar.  When we get to California next Monday, I'll have some shopping to do with Daddy. We will celebrate Vivian's birthday. Doubtless, there will be "house" projects we can work on (though not so many as Momma would have for us) :)  We'll have a Christmas Eve dinner--just Daddy, Vivian, Taylor and me.  I will make the Christmas morning Kringle, and we will open our presents and go through our stockings.

But it will be different without Momma. And I miss her...

Nicholas the Saintly

Yesterday there was a divine liturgy in honor of St. Nicholas, Wonderworker, patron of the Byzantine church and of children.  T and I attended with our friend Matt. It was quite the pan-Byzantine service.  There was a Melkite priest, a Ukrainian priest, an Armenian deacon, a Ruthenian server, and a Ukrainian choir. And it was beautiful.

We celebrated in a chapel on the BC campus, "converted" to accommodate the liturgy.  Even though there were so many rites present, since we all celebrate the Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom, and the various parts are all the same.  Sure, the translation into English is sometimes different, but you still can't really get lost.  It was wonderful to be in that familiar place, liturgically speaking. All the incense, the singing, the candles and icons and rich vestments.  Those friends of mine who are fortunate enough to attend Liturgy every Sunday are blessed indeed!  T and I can't wait to move back to the west coast--back to our Byzantine homes :)

I know Roman Catholics celebrate St. Nicholas day, too, but it's such a big deal for Byzantines--him being the patron of our church.  Kris Kringle came this morning and left us a book about St. Nicholas.  While I take issue with one or two words in the text (i.e. "Nicholas supposedly defended the faith with a magnificent confession.") the illustrations are beautiful and very Byzantine. It was nice to see the traditional representation of the Saint with his bishop's stole.  Of course, the book explains how today's Santa Clause arose from the story of Nicholas, and so we come full circle.  But it's still nice to hear about the beginning, as it were.

Happy Feast, everyone!

St. Nicholas, pray for us!

PRAYER TO ST. NICHOLAS OF MYRA O Saint Nicholas, 
bountiful Father and special Patron of our Byzantine 
Catholic Church. You are a shepherd and teacher to all 
who invoke your protection, and who, by devout prayer, 
call upon you for aid. Hasten and save the flock of 
Christ from ravenous wolves; and by your holy prayers 
protect all Christians and save them from worldly 
disturbances, earthquakes, attacks from abroad, from 
internal strife, from famine, flood, fire, sword, and 
sudden death. As you had mercy on those three men in 
prison and saved them from the king's wrath, now also 
have mercy on me who by word, deed, and thought have 
sunk into the darkness of sin, Save me from the just 
anger of God, and from eternal punishment. Through your 
intercession and aid as well as through his own mercy 
and grace, may Christ our God allow me to lead a 
tranquil and sinless life, and save me from standing at 
"his left," but deem me worthy to stand at "his right" 
with all the saints. Amen.

Sunday (Sunday, Someday)

Does anyone remember Strong Bad? He (and his ridiculous emails) were "all the rage" when I was in undergrad... Every time I write about Sunday, I think of this email :) too funny.

[Not to mention that a group of us actually went to a monster truck rally that came to Spokane. We dressed appropriately for the event, too. And, we finished many of the announcer's lines with "covered in syrup!" Good times.]

Um.. anyway :)

Today our Roman Catholic brethren begin Advent.  It's always a joy to see festive greenery in the church.  One of the hardest things for T and me in Boston is that we don't have a Byzantine church here. That is, there are lots of Eastern rite churches in the area, but no Ruthenian parishes.  Thankfully, the Roman church we attend (St. Clement's Eucharistic Shrine) is a beautiful church with a truly wonderful community, and we are very happy there.

But still, we miss our Byzantine traditions. As the altar server lit the first candle in the wreath, I couldn't help thinking "We're on week three already."  It's not a "we're better than you" thing--but I couldn't help feeling (just a little bit) that they were "catching up," if that makes any sense.  I don't mean to sound resentful at all (far from it), but I've been waiting for greenery in the church for two weeks. At any rate, I'm glad it's here now :)

After, Mass, we came home and had leftovers for lunch (is there anything better than Thanksgiving leftovers?). I tidied the house, finished a knitting project, and blocked my knitting for the first time.  I made a tasty turkey soup (based on this recipe) with buttermilk bread for dinner.  Then we headed downtown to Myers and Chang for their Dollar Oyster Night.  Tasty (cheap) oysters + great company = fun night for all.  T thinks oyster Sunday needs to become a weekly thing.. probably at least through finals :) Hope he survives!

And now, time for bed.

Pilgrim's Feast (hehe)

Christmas.

I know it's "too early" to be talking about Christmas (ha! not for Byzantines!), but I was very strongly reminded of it today.  We're having some friends over for Thanksgiving this year and I decided it would be fun to make sugar cookies to have for dessert.

I made the dough yesterday (being careful not to sample any--darn food allergies!) and stuck it in the fridge until this afternoon.  I wasn't expecting to be brought back to my childhood holidays. But there I was, remembering all the many times we'd made sugar cookies at Momma's house.

We'd make dozens and dozens of cookies, all shapes, all sizes, and for all the holidays. We'd have turkeys and pilgrims and leaves and pumpkins. There would be stockings and santas and Nativity figures and Christmas trees and presents and reindeer and sleighs.  There would be snowflakes and snowmen and bells and stars and gingerbread men (and women).  Then we would spend countless hours decorating them (with all different colors using only spoons and toothpicks!) for all the different holidays.  There were always sugar cookies around from November through January in our house. It was beautiful :)

So go ahead, siblings, try it. Make some sugar cookie dough, close your eyes, and smell it.  Then take a small taste, and you're in Momma's kitchen, elbows propped up on her butcher block table, kneeling on the bench, waiting to pick away (and devour) more scraps of sugar'd cookie dough.  Next thing you know, you'll be wondering where the sprinkles are so you can shake the sparkle-colored sugar over the lovely cookies before Momma puts them in the oven.  I can already taste the powdered sugar frosting she used to decorate them.

Momma's sugar cookie recipe
Cream in mixer:
--3/4 c crisco (or other solid shortening; using butter makes the cookies come out pretty soft, and more prone to breaking when you decorate them)
--1 c sugar

Add:
--2 eggs
--1 tsp vanilla extract

Sift together and add to liquid ingredients:
--2 1/2 c flour
--1 tsp baking powder
--1 tsp salt

Refrigerate dough for at least 4 hours (I did it overnight--it keeps a few days).  Roll out on to floured surface and cut cookies out.  Bake on ungreased cookie sheet for 6-8 minutes at 400 degrees.

Some Finer Things

One of the nice things about having a 6 week fast before Christmas (with T and me, at least) is that you get at least 6 Kris Kringle presents.

You might ask, "What are Kris Kringle presents?"  They're awesome, that's what they are :)  As kids, "Kris Kringle" always found the best presents and small gifts to give us.  On Sundays there would be a gift for the family, usually a Christmas book or chocolates--something we could all share and enjoy.  During the weekdays (it seemed to me, most often, on those days when my poor 3rd grade week was just too long to endure), we'd wake up and find a small treasure--sometimes wrapped, sometimes not--waiting on our pillow or on our dresser for us.  It was always such a treat, and so unexpected.

Two years ago, I decided Kris Kringle should come to our house, too.  And what'd'y'know? we found gifts waiting for us all 6 Sundays of Advent :)

The best part is that you never know where the present will show up, or even when.  We got this on on Wednesday--a special present. I guess Kris knew we needed a few things from the Body Shop.

Taylor really wished that he got a cut-throat razor to go with it, but I'm not so sure about those yet...

He really did enjoy his new brush, though--it was super cute, and, he says, "much better than that stuff from the can."  Well done, Kris Kringle!

And now we sit,

freshly brewed
oolong tea

in nifty

new

 double-walled

 glasses,

tidying up our day

before heading to bed.

The finer things in life

are usually very small.

But always fantastic.

Enjoy them :)

CHECKing In!

Look what I've done this week :)

1. 4 of these:  CHECK (yes, I started with this one on purpose)
2. 5 of these:  ALSO CHECK! (ok, I only had to "make" this one once)
3. 5 of these:  CHECK! 
4. 5 of these: Check-a-partial-one. Given the above three CHECKs, these don't seem so bad anymore :) 
5. 3 of these:  Check a-partial-One!  Two and Three: pending successful completion of one. 
6. 1 set of these:  Check part One and Two. Third part--in progress! 
7. 1 of these:  No check. Coming up next, though! :)
8. mail this: CHECK! 
9. Order these: CHECK!
10. 2 of these: nope, haven't started these either. 

In other news, it's been sunny here of late. Sunny. And Windy. And (therefore) chilly.

Why does everyone think Sun automatically makes it a "nice day"?  Having been raised in a desert, where it's sunny all the time, I'm here to tell you that premise if flawed.  Don't get me wrong--sunshine is great (really!) but what's wrong with clouds?

Anyway :)  Enjoy the sunshine, wherever you are!

O Joyful Light

Advent is here.  That joyful season when we prepare to celebrate Christ's birth.  I've been thinking about Christmas for months now (homemade gifts + an ever-expanding family), but with the advent of Philipovka, it's time to prepare the soul (and body, and home) as well.

Yesterday, after work, I tidied up the house and got out the red cloths and candles for the icon corner.  I put away the familiar white cloth behind the crucifix, and I folded the fancier cloth that sits on the shelf, under our candles and icons and holy cards.  When our small red candle is lit for prayers, the red flame stands out against the golden icons.

I pulled our Star of David out from the shelf and unwrapped the six red candles I had saved from last year and set it up on our table. I placed our prayer booklets for meals, with matches and a candle snuffer, on the table next to the candles.

I unpacked the Advent Calendar and hung it on our bedroom door.

There.

Now I'm ready to wait for Christ.

Menu planning for the next 6 weeks will be a bit different.  See, part of our Christmas preparation is to fast, and I need to factor that in to my meal schedule.  Oatmeal for breakfast, very small lunch or snack, modest dinner, no desserts.  I know that some people may think fasting is "old fashioned" and "unnecessary" but I firmly believe in its benefits (spiritually as well as physically).  By abstaining from certain foods for certain reasons, our bodies remind us to prepare for Christmas, to pray, and to give thanks for the gifts we have.  Abstinence makes the heart grow (fonder, more charitable, holier).  Also, how much more feast-ive is the Christmas day feast when the fast is broken and the much-missed foods return to the table!  If one can fast from good things, one is free from slavery to them, and thus, closer to God.

Over the next several weeks, I will decorate our house for Christmas.  We will put up our nativity sets, hang lights and Christmas pictures, find a tree, and decorate it beautifully.  We will hear readings at Church each day that increase the anticipation and excitement with a voice crying out in the wilderness, "Ready the Way of the Lord!"  The house will be full of goodies which only make an appearance at Christmastime (cunningly saved in winter tins to await the end of the fast).  We will play Christmas music and wrap presents and visit family and warm our hearts and souls and bodies against the cold with all manner of Good Things.

But for now, it is just the beginning of the journey toward Christmas, and we enter the wilderness for 40 days to make ourselves ready.

Last night we had lentil and sweet potato soup with a quick wheat bread (recipe from my birthday cookbook).

Lentil and Sweet Potato Soup

2 c. red or brown lentils (or combination) soaked overnight
2 medium sweet potatoes
3 onions (or 3 heaping T dried onion)
2 qt water (or combination water and broth of choice)
1/2 tsp paprika
juice of one lemon
dash cayenne pepper (add this after soup is done simmering! if it boils, it intensifies!)
salt to taste

Combine water [and stock], lentils, sweet potatoes, and onions in soup pot and simmer until veggies are tender.

Blend soup until smooth.

Add seasonings to taste.


Whole Wheat Buttermilk Bread
adapted from: From a Monastery Kitchen

1 c flour
2 heaping c coarse-ground whole wheat flour
2 T sesame seeds
2 T toasted wheat germ (I used milled flax seeds)
2 T rye meal
1 tsp salt
1 T brown sugar
1 heaping tsp baking soda
2 c buttermilk (dairy allergy/vegan? use milk substitute + 2 T vinegar)

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Mix all dry ingredients together. Add 2 c buttermilk and stir until just combined (adding water if mixture is too dry--it should have the consistency of banana bread batter).

Grease bread pan. Pour mixture into the pan and bake for about 40 minutes. Cool (or not) and serve.

St. Philip's Fast

[I know it's a little early, but T and I are going to NY today and I won't have time to post until we get back.]

Today is the eve of the Feast of St. Philip and (for Byzantines) the eve before the beginning of Advent.  This year, as a Kris Kringle present, I made an Advent Calendar for Taylor's family :)

Hope they like it.  And I hope this post hasn't spoiled the surprise, since it's one day early!

Black's Advent Calendar

Holy Bread!

I told the receptionist I wouldn't be in until lunchtime today.

I told my boss the same thing.

"Why!?" they questioned.

Because I'm making Holy Bread :)

We are having a Divine Liturgy on the feast of St. Nicholas this year (in the Holy Trinity Chapel at 129 Lake Street--come if you're in the area!), and Kate (Fr. DePaulo's wife) and I made the phosphora for the Eucharist. She came over this morning with the seal and we made the bread in my mixer.  

It really was a fun experience. It gave us a chance to talk a bit, with no interruptions or distractions, because the bread had to knead for 20 minutes (!) and then rise for an hour. We talked about all sorts of things, not forgetting childbirth, dating and marriage, family, birth order (she's the youngest, I'm the second youngest (but I am the shortest!)), and general house-wife type things :) 

We decided to make only a half recipe (one loaf) and we even divided the dough into two smaller loaves--we don't know how many people will come to the Liturgy. But it turned out well (despite a small mushrooming). 

I really like the idea of the laity making the Bread used in Liturgy. It harkens back to the days when parishes were smaller and communities were closer. I want to belong to a parish where the parishoners bring the Holy Gifts to present to the Lord. I want to raise our children in an environment where God is in all things at all times. 

My domestic church book says of phosphora: 

"While mixing, kneading, and waiting for the bread to rise or bake, family members can pray for the intentions they wish to commemorate during the Liturgy. In some parishes, the priest sings these names aloud during the Great Entrance [when the priest and servers and deacon process around the church with the Holy Gifts], so when you bring the Bread to church, include a list of the intentions you wish commemorated." 

What a beautiful way to pray for those you love! Remembering them while making the Bread that will become the Body of Christ, the Body which stregthens us on our journey to heaven... 

And just so you all know, mine list would be quite long :) 

------- Paul VI said: 

"The Eucharistic mystery stands at the heart and center of the liturgy since it is the fount of life by which we are cleansed and strengthened to live not for ourselves but for God and to be united in love among ourselves."

And what do we do at the Eucharist but bring the small everything that we have--we poor, fallen creatures, loved unconditionally by a benevolent Lord--to have it transformed into something awe-some? Bread becomes the Body of Christ, wine His Blood. What can we become, if we let Him transform us? 

Blessed Feast of St. Philip!

And while we're at it, happy beginning of (Byzantine) Advent! Yes, this is the beginning of our Christmas fast--a full 6 weeks before Christmas (just like Great Lent).  As Fr. Bill always says, "It's the quality of the fast, not the quantity" :)  And St. Philip's fast is not as strict as the Lenten fast--which is good, because it would be no fun to fast during Thanksgiving! 

I have to admit, I really enjoy starting our Christmas preparations this early in the year. I've always been one to listen to Christmas music in *gasp* September! I can't wait to begin my Christmas baking and to make and wrap this years presents. I love being "sneaky" in hiding T's presents and figuring out what my family wants this year. It's a beautiful season, and I'm glad I now get two more "official" weeks of it than I used to :) 

And what better way to celebrate the beginning of this season than with Byzantine Vespers? Yes! T and I were the main cantors at a vespers service this evening at the St. John's Chapel on the Brighton campus of BC (in the chapel in Bishop Peterson Hall--now known as 129 Lake Street). I think it went very well--it was certainly nice to attend vespers again. We didn't have too many people there, but we got about 6 or 7 that were not part of the organizing group. Incidentally, we'll have a Divine Liturgy on the feast of St. Nicholas, Saturday December 6--ALL are welcome to attend! The more the merrier! Please come! (Same place--Holy Trinity Chapel at 129 Lake Street.)

...

Also, I have completed one of my sneaky projects (item number 4 in this post) and the Claytons have received it! Here are some photos I took before I wrapped it and mailed it (from Kris Kringle, of course).  *Renee, I don't know if you've opened it yet, but today is the day you're supposed to, so I'm posting the pictures anyway :) So there. 

Claytons' Advent Calendar